a message to Beg Chuck, who commanded the Jete troops, that he must immediately return all the Syeds, and the children of all the Muselmans, that had been taken away. As this message had no effect, I spoke to Alyas Khuajē on the subject; but as the Jetes would not pay any attention to his orders, I put them to the proof, by mounting my cavalry, and liberating the seventy Syeds.

In consequence of this pious act, I dreamt that night that I saw the Prophet, who said to me, " in reward for this assistance that you have given to my descendants, the Almighty God will cause seventy of your descendants to occupy the throne of sovereignty." I wrote this circumstance to my Peer, who sent me the following answer; that if the gracious God bestowed on the posterity of "Subuctageen such a reward for his compassion to a deer, you who have assisted "the descendants of the Prophet, how much greater will be your reward even to "the extent of seventy of your descendants:" I was much rejoiced by this answer to my letter, and I daily added to my respect and esteem for the posterity of the Prophet, and I always illuminated my assemblies by the presence of these illustrious personages. For my Peer said, " in whatever horde or town there are not any Syeds, and in whatever palace the learned have not free entrance, there exists neither blessings, goodness, piety nor chastity."

As I had exerted myself in repelling the injustice and cruelty of the Jetes, their chiefs bound round them the girdles of fraud and deceit, and they wrote to Tugleck Timur Khān, “ that Timur had raised the standard of rebellion, and "had taken possession of the whole province of Maveralnaher, and intends to put your son Alyas Kuajē to death." When the letters of the chiefs, especially that of Beg Chuck, who considered himself the Commander in Chief of the Jetteh forces, reached the Khan, he believed their falsehoods to be truth; he issued an edict for my being put to death; this was the third edict he had issued for my murder.

On receipt of this order, the Jete chiefs consulted together, and laid snares for my destruction; I was quite aware of their intentions, but pretended ignorance, for I could place no reliance on the inhabitants of Maveralnaher, to aid me against my foes; I therefore resolved to consult my Peer, and wrote to him on the subject; he replied, in conformity with the holy tradition of Muhammed, "Flee when its not safe to remain :" I then consulted the Koran, and this verse opened," the sun returns to its resting place, such is the Divine decree of the Omniscient and Omnipotent."

I therefore left Samerkund, and repaired to the mountain of Salan, where I remained eight days; at the end of that time, I received a hint from (the Saint) Amyr Kelāl, that I should go towards the country of Khuarizm.

CHAPTER XI.

At this time, a messenger came from Amyr Hussyn, who was at that period a wanderer in the mountains and deserts, stating that as we were then both emigrants, it would be advisable to unite our efforts; I wrote him a letter appointing to meet him at the well of Sajai (or Sajuch); thither I repaired, and in a few days was joined by him; we then entered into consultation respecting our affairs, and determined that we should go to Tukel Behader of Khyūk, and prevail on him to join us; when we reached Khyūk, that scoundrel pretended to forget our former acquaintance: according to the proverb, " mankind imitate their rulers," and wished to seize us; when I discovered his views, I explained them to Amyr Hussyn, who at first would not believe me, but I gave him such proofs, that he was at length convinced, and we made preparations for going to Khuarizm, intending, when we should get possession of that country, to raise the standard of sovereignty, and endeavour to conquer Maveralnaher.

The plan we laid for invading Khuarizm, was this ;* finding that Tukel Behader had behaved in so ungrateful and treacherous a manner, we left Khyūk in the middle of the night, and proceeded with all expedition towards Khuarizm ; when we reached Banat (or Bayab), we rested our horses, and resolved to attempt taking the fort of Aurkunj by surprize, which would then lead to the subjection of all Khuarizm: whilst we were deliberating on this matter, we observed a cloud of dust arise in the desert, and could soon discern an advance guard of cavalry coming towards us; we immediately mounted, and I sent off Tughy Berlās to reconnoitre; I then rode to the top of a hill in the desert, and waited there ; after a short time, Tughy Berlās returned and informed me, that the foe was Tukel Behader, who had come in pursuit of us, having with him about one thousand cavalry; I immediately sent for Amyr Hussyn, and drew up our forces on the hill, in such a manner as to make them appear more numerous than they In fact we had but sixty well mounted troopers with us, these I formed into five sections; the first of these I placed under the command of Tughy Berlās, the second I gave under charge of Syf Addeen, the third to Bulkhy Behader, the fourth consisted of Amyr Hussyn and his followers, and the fifth were my own (Khanēzād) dependants, with whom I took possession of the top of the hill: when I had made this arrangement, I gave each of them a flag to distinguish them.

were.

* Khuarizm is an extensive kingdom, situated on the eastern side of the Caspian Sea, and divided from Maveralnaher by the river Jihun, which falls into the Aral lake.

At this time, Tukel Behader having drawn out his thousand cavalry, charged us, but was vigorously opposed by Tughy Berlās and Syf Addeen, so that his leading divisions fell back in astonishment. These two officers pursued their advantage, and fought with such intrepidity, that both their horses were disabled; they however continued to fight on foot, till I sent them two of my own horses, on which they mounted. The horse of Bulkhy Behader, was also knocked down, so that I was obliged to remount him from my own stud. At this period, of the whole number of the enemy, only three hundred remained, the others had been either killed, wounded, or fled. In the mean time, Amyr Hussyn had also drawn the sword of courage, and having charged the centre of the enemy's line approached close to Tukel Behader, but the soldiers of the latter surrounded him ; seeing my brother-in-law in this situation, I rushed forward sword in hand, and liberated him.

When the hour of evening prayer arrived, the chiefs of the enemy drew in their reins; at this time they had only one hundred and fifty men remaining, while my strength was reduced to twelve.*

After a short time, Tukel Behader again drew up his men, and charged us; Amyr Hussyn and our remaining companions, devoted ourselves to death, and when they attempted to seize us, I exerted myself in such a manner as to overthrow several of their champions; at this moment, the horse of Amyr Hussyn being wounded by an arrow, threw him; his wife Dil Shad Agha, however immediately dismounted, and gave him her horse. I remounted Dil Shād Aghā upon the same horse with my wife, the sister of Amyr Hussyn; we then commenced shooting our arrows, not one of which missed its mark, till our quivers were emptied. There now remained of us but seven mounted persons; but the enemy being also very much reduced, they withdrew from the fight, and alighted in the plain: our small party took the opportunity of proceeding on our journey; we were soon followed by our adversaries, but they missed us, and lost their way in the desert. After we had travelled a long way in these extensive plains, we came to a well, and being very hungry and thirsty, we alighted; fortunately for us, the water of the well was delicious.

We remained at the well all night, and in the morning I reckoned our people, and found that they were seven mounted persons, and three foot soldiers of Balkh; we continued by the well all that day, and fortunately for us, a shepherd who was tending his flock in the desert, brought them to drink at the well; as our provisions were exhausted, we bought several goats, parts of them we roasted, and parts of them we dressed between stones, and enjoyed ourselves exceedingly :

See printed Institutes, page 35.

we remained there another night, during which time, the three footmen of Balkh, ungratefully stole three of our horses, and rode off with them: we were thus reduced to seven persons, with only four horses; but I did not then despond, and even comforted my companions; my respected wife Aljay Turkān Aghā, also kept up her spirits, and said, "surely our fortunes are now arrived at the lowest point, (and must rise) that we should be obliged to walk.”

What added to our distress was, that none of us knew the road; fortunately we discovered a shepherd, who pointed out a pathway to us, and said, “ this path will lead you to the huts of some Turkumāns ;" I was delighted with this intelligence, and I set out on foot: when we arrived in the vicinity of the huts, we found that the inhabitants had apparently left them, and gone away; we therefore entered and took possession of one of them, but some of the Tūrkumāns who had remained behind, when they saw us, thought we were thieves, and made an attack on us. I placed my wife, the sister of Amyr Hussyn, in one of the huts, and with three or four of my men, we made an appearance of repelling them with bows and arrows, but we were without arrows, (having expended them in the battle); we then drew our swords, but when they came close to us, one of them named Syed Muhammed, who was an old acquaintance, recollected me, came and embraced me, and had compassion on my situation, and when informed of all the circumstances, he forbade the Turkumāns to injure us, and said to them," this is Timur the Governor of Maveralnaher;" the men being also ashamed of their conduct, came and bent the knee to me; Syed Muhammed took me to his own habitation, and paid me much respect and honour, and shewed us all the attention in his power.

At this time I had on two ruby armlets, one of these I gave to him; in return for which, he procured three horses for me, also some travelling equipage, armour, and arms; for three days he entertained us most hospitably, and gave us an escort of ten troopers, commanded by Fulanchy and Ajerchy.

Of the horses which he provided for me, I gave two to Amyr Hussyn, and being thus well equipped, I determined within myself, that I should go, and remain in the Mahmudy desert, till my followers gaining intelligence of the circumstance, might come and join me.

I therefore made Fulanchy our guide, and we wandered in the desert for two days and two nights, without water or bread; till at length we reached the village of Mahmudy, but which we found in a ruinous and deserted state, and void of inhabitants; we however alighted among the ruins, and as we could not find water, we were obliged to dig a well, and remained there for a month.

CHAPTER XII.

At the end of this time, Aly Beg Ghurbany, chief of the Turkumāns, having been informed that Timur was in the desert, and was endeavouring to collect his followers for the purpose of plundering the Turkumāns, was alarmed, and sent a a party to seize me by surprize.

In fact, whilst we were quite off our guard, they made a night attack on us, seized me, and led me to the Turkuman cantonment; when arrived there, Aly Beg, without seeing me, ordered me to be confined in a cow-house, swarming with fleas and other vermin, where he kept me and my wife without any other companion than the vermin, for fifty-three days and nights; at this time I made a vow to God, that I would never keep any person, whether guilty or innocent, for any length of time, in prison or in chains.*

At length, encouraged by the predictions of my rising to sovereignty, I resolved either to make my escape from the horrid place, or terminate my existence; I therefore determined to make the attempt, and either to be victorious, or to die manfully at first I endeavoured to win over my keepers, by promises of reward, but being unsuccessful, I seized the sword of one of the sentinels, and attacked the guard; they fled, and I pursued them even into the presence of their chieftain: when Aly Beg saw my determined bravery and exertion, he was struck with remorse, and repented of his conduct, and sent back all the things that he had plundered from me.

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At this time, a letter was delivered to him from his brother Muhammed Beg Ghurbāny, the contents of which were," it is reported in Khurasan, that you have "seized and imprisoned Amyr Timur, such conduct is highly unbecoming and improper; it is requisite that you should immediately apologize to him, that you treat him with the greatest honour and respect, and that you deliver to "his Highness the curiosities and presents which I have sent." In consequence of this letter, Aly Beg waited on me in a hut, which had been assigned for the purpose, asked my pardon, and gave me some of the presents which his brother had sent, but as he was a mean and avaricious wretch, he purloined many of them.

Having thus escaped from the clutches of Aly Beg, I was enabled to collect twelve horsemen; however, with these I again raised the standard of royalty, and resolved to proceed to the desert of Khuarizm: after two days we reached a village, where I alighted and took possession of a house, but I had no sooner done so, than a party of Turkumāns came out of the other houses, and prepared

*See printed Institutes, page 37.