Soon after this time, I received a letter from Amyr Hussyn, informing that he intended leaving Arheng Seray, and going to reside at Balkh, and asked me to accompany him, saying, " that after we are conjointly seated on the throne of dominion, we will take possession of all Khurasan, and then divide the countries of Turan and Khurasan between us, in a brotherly manner." At the same time, a friend of mine, who was one of his council, wrote to me, advising me to say, "that I was quite satisfied with my residence at Kesh, and did not wish to change it;" he further cautioned me to be on my guard against Hussyn's stratagems. From this hint, I was convinced that the Amyr had designs either to kill or confine me, I therefore refused to go to Balkh. This circumstance encreased the animosity between us, and he devised several plans for my destruction, and used many stratagems to get me in his power, but finding he could not succeed, he then endeavoured to disperse my followers, and send my Kushun and horde into the desert. As his avarice and envy exceeded all bounds, he forgot all his solemn promises and oaths to me, and sent Pulad Bughā and Amyr Khēlyl, who were nearly connected with him, to expel my tribe out of the country, and compel them to remove to the district of Balkh.

The enmity of Amyr Hussyn being thus evident, I delivered him to the vengeance of the holy book, but my twelve chiefs came to me in a body, and having made their salutations, said, “ if your Highness wishes to keep the command of your horde and clan, exert yourself; if not, let us go, that we may do the best we can for ourselves; till this day we have worn the sword of manliness, and have often used it in your service; now Pulad Bughā and Khēlyl are come, and wish to treat us as peasants, to tie us hand and neck, and oblige us to remove to Balkh." Although I endeavoured to comfort them, they would not be satisfied, till I took an oath that I would not do any thing without their advice and concurrence: when I had thus tranquillized them, I said to them, " Amyr Hussyn has sworn on the Koran never to injure me, if he should break his promise, be assured that the sacred volume will throw him into my power;" and it turned out exactly as I said.

When the violence of Amyr Hussyn rose to the extreme, his disposition totally changed, and he became proud, haughty, and arrogant, and did every thing he could to annihilate me; it therefore became requisite to take measures for averting the danger, and of living in safety. I in consequence arranged my army, and placing the foot of courage in the stirrup of resolution, I ordered Pulād Bugha and Amyr Khēlyl, although the agents of, and supported by Amyr Hussyn, to be brought before me, I addressed them as follows; "what has Amyr Hussyn become a renegado, and turned Christian, that he forgets his oath taken

on the holy Koran, and has bound round him the sword of vengeance against me, and against my horde and clan? He shall not do so with impunity; three times has he sworn by the sacred volume, and given me solemn promises, and now breaks his vows, and has beaten the drum of enmity, and seeks my life; I have therefore made my preparations, and will shortly pay him a visit."

I then summoned all the (Oulemā) learned body, and having explained to them all the circumstances above related, demanded their (Futwā) decision, they replied," as he has been the first to break his promise, and has dared to forswear himself, doubtless he will fall into your Highness's power." When Pulad Bugha and Khelyl heard these words, they trembled, I therefore sent them away that they might inform their master of what they had seen and heard. As soon as this intelligence was communicated to Amyr Hussyn, he beat the drum of discord, and sought an opportunity of seizing me by intrigue, but I placing the foot of determination in the plain of sincerity, boldly declared whatever came into my mind, and said, " as long as Hussyn chose to be my friend, I was his friend, but now that he has chosen to be my enemy, he shall find me an enemy, and placing my trust in the favour of God, I loudly proclaimed, that up to this time, I have been amicably inclined towards him, but he, having broken his oath and promises, seeks to destroy me, I will therefore do every thing in my power to avert his evil designs :" on hearing this speech, my chiefs were all delighted, bound on the sword of unanimity, and prepared their clans for war.

CHAPTER XXVII.

The plan that I proposed for encountering Amyr Hussyn, was this, seeing that my chiefs were unanimous in their determination to oppose Amyr Hussyn, and that they were firmly attached to me. In a fortunate hour I sought for an omen in the Koran, and this verse came forth; " you cannot better testify your gratitude to him, (Muhammed) than by doing good to his relations;" the (Oulemā) prelates said, "the meaning of this verse is, that you should consider the descendants of the Prophet as of your own tribe and friends, and in obedience to this order it is incumbent on your Highness to come forth, for from this expedition, much benefit will arise to the descendants of his holiness." This prediction of theirs was verified, when, during the war with Hussyn, I took possession of Termūz; the very illustrious and venerable prelate, Abū al Berkāt, who was the chief Syed of that city, came out to meet me, and presented me the drum and standard of Amyr Hussyn, saying, "by the command of the Prophet,

whom I have seen in a dream, I have brought you this drum and standard:" I was much pleased by the arrival of Syed Abū al Berkāt, considering it a most auspicious event, and therefore conferred great favours and honours on all the posterity of the Prophet, who dwelt in the city. I made him sit by me, consulted him on all occasions, and did not deviate in the smallest degree from his instructions; nay, I even considered him, as one of the many favours received from Providence, reposed all my confidence in him, both spiritual and temporal, and made him my constant companion, either while marching or halting, and whenever any difficulty occurred, I referred the business to him, and he solved the difficulty.

When he brought me the drum and standard of Amyr Hussyn, which were the insignia of his royalty, the news soon spread through the country, in consequence of which, several of Hussyn's enemies joined me; the first of these was Shykh Muhammed Selduz, who having deserted from Amyr Hussyn, was wandering about the desert; when he heard of my opposition to that Prince, he came over to me with all his horde, but as the smoke of vanity had mounted into his brain, he conceived himself one of the greatest of my nobles, and when he was joined by all his horde and partizans, his pride became excessive, he was in short a light-headed man, and a great talker. On the very day that he joined me, he asked me to give him the district of Khutelān, and I gave it to him: but at this time, Amyr Ky Khuserū Khutelany, whose brother had been put to death by Hussyn, in consequence of which he had deserted, and for some time wandered about the country, at length entered and took possession of Khutelan, and having collected a great number of followers, wrote to me, " if you are deter"mined in your opposition to Hussyn, I will join you:" I sent him an answer,* in which I recapitulated every circumstance of Hussyn's unprincipled conduct towards me, and concluded by saying, " that I had taken the field with a firm resolution of defeating his projects, and trusted that the Koran by which he had sworn, would avenge his perfidy."

When Ky Khuseru received my letter, he was much delighted, and joined me with all his troops; when he came into my presence, I took him in my arms, and assured him of my support. I then ordered the drum of march to be beaten, and leaving Termūz, I kept along the bank of the river till I came to Hissarabād, where I halted. At this place, Aljaitu, who was governor of Kunduz, on the part of Hussyn, came and joined me with his troops, and said, “I trust that by the good fortune of your Highness, I shall be delivered for ever from the grasp of this tyrant."

* The letter is given in the text, but it is merely a repetition of what has been stated,

At this time, I also received a letter from Muhammed Shah, the (Valy) ruler of Badukhshan, replete with complaints against Amyr Hussyn; I sent him an answer, in which I stated," that my injuries from Amyr Hussyn, far exceeded “his, that I now considered that tyrant as an unbeliever, and that I was deter"mined to ruin him, therefore if he would join me, (please God) his complaints "should soon be converted into thanksgivings."

As soon as Muhammed Shāh received my letter, he marched from Badukhshan with a large force, and paid his respects to me.

The people of Badukhshān, and the hordes of Maveralnaher, also sent me petitions full of complaints against Hussyn, and entreating me to send some person to take the the command of them. In compliance with their request, I sent Amyr Jakū to them, and every person who was discontented with Hussyn, assembled round my officer.

When all these valiant chiefs had joined my standard, I considered this assistance as sent to me by the Prince of Prophets, Muhammed, (on whom be blessings) and exulting in the presence of the holy Syed Abū al Berkāt, I sought in the Koran for an omen, and this verse opened, " verily God intends to take away impurity from your house, and to render you pure," which the learned expounded to me, as relating to the family of the Prophet, whose spirits were purified from the defilement of associating with idolaters and unbelievers, the instant they quitted the body. And that it was applicable to my situation, as I should soon be freed from the impurity of my enemies and adversaries; this circumstance encreased my affection and friendship for the posterity of Muhammed, and I considered the arrival of the holy Syed Abū al Berkāt, as one of the greatest blessings of Providence, and resolved in future, that the Koran and the Syed should be my constant companions, so that in every important transaction, I might consult with them, and ever regulate my conduct by the commands and prohibitions of God.

When I found myself surrounded by a numerous army, consisting of natives of various countries, and by different tribes, I summoned the principal chiefs to council, and laid before them my apprehension that Amyr Hussyn would doubtless endeavour to escape from this desert of difficulties, by some of his innumerable artifices and intrigues, and that I was distrustful of the people of the hordes as being easily alarmed or deceived, and instanced to them the case of Amyr Musā, who from some apprehension, deserted and went back to Samerkund; that it was therefore advisable to summon a general assembly, and let us conjointly take the oath of animosity to Amyr Hussyn, and confirm it on the Koran; the measure was agreed to, and all the chiefs of the hordes and clans, being collected, again took the oath required of them.

The whole of the chiefs of the tribes and hordes having thus bound round them the girdle of fealty to me, the first thing I did was to send off Shykh Behader Aly with a number of warriors, as an advance guard, for at this time I received information that Amyr Hussyn had despatched an army, under the command of Chuban Serbedal, to oppose my progress.

My advanced guard soon fell in with the enemy, and in the first charge, broke and put them to flight, I therefore beat the drum of march, and having crossed the skirts of the mountain of Shadman, and keeping close to the river, entered the valley of Guz, and encamped near the fort of Azburg.

At this place, I was informed that Amyr Hussyn had sent letters to various of my chiefs, to excite them to mutiny, saying to them," that they had deviated from the custom and manners of the Turks, and of the ancient chiefs of the hordes, clans, and tribes, by paying obedience to any person but their legitimate Sovereign, and according to the Turkish canons, our lawful monarch (Khan) must be a descendant of Kubul and Jengyz Khan, this conduct of yours is an act of injustice to the posterity of these Princes." When I heard of this circumstance, I immediately summoned all the chiefs, and said to them, " my only object in engaging in a war with Amyr Hussyn, is for the ease and comfort of the Muselmans, and my other subjects, who are all dissatisfied with him; and with respect to the canons and rules of the Turks, have we not the Prince Syurghumtumush as our Khan, therefore how can any person venture to say that we have deviated from the laws and customs of our ancestors." I then issued the orders for immediately marching against Amyr Hussyn, in order to put a stop to his attempts of seducing my people.

About this time, Shykh Behader Aly, to whom I had given the charge of my advanced guard, brought bound neck and hand to me, Chuban Serbedal, the commander of Hussyn's advance guard, whom he had taken prisoner. I was also joined by Muhammed Khuajē with his troops. I then resolved to move rapidly and attack the city of Balkh, so that if Amyr Hussyn should come out and meet me in the plain, I could not wish for any thing better, but if he should fortify the place and stand a siege, God would soon render it an easy business, in consequence of his breaking of his oath on the Koran.

Soon after this time, I received information that Amyr Hussyn had come out of the fort into the plain; I therefore ordered my chiefs to advance rapidly, and attack his army; I also sent my son Omer Shaikh (then only sixteen years of age) to assault the walls of the town, he advanced so close to the place, that an arrow pierced his foot, and entered the side of his horse; notwithstanding this severe wound, the Prince continued the attack, till Hussyn being alarmed, took refuge in the citadel, and ordered the gates to be barred. My courageous son, in spite