was Kerachar Nuyan, who was the Gurgan (son-in-law) of Jagtay Khān, as he was a sensible man, he of his own accord adopted the faith of Muhammed, and said to his family and people, when I look around me in the universe, I see ' but one world, yet I am of opinion that there are other worlds besides this ;* 'but I am also convinced, that there is one only God who hath created all these worlds, and who is all sufficient to rule, and direct all these worlds; but as 'he has chosen this world as his special dominion, he has deemed it requisite

to have ministers (to instruct mankind): he hath therefore chosen Muhammed 'to be his Vizier in this world, and as it was requisite that Muhammed should have ministers (to extend his religion), he hath appointed the holy race of Khalifs to this dignity."

"Now my son, as this speech of our ancestor is quite conformable to my judgment, I also have become a sincere Musselman; I request, O Timūr,

Istly. That you will imitate the example of your illustrious progenitor in conforming to the sacred religion of Muhammed, (on whom, and on his posterity and companions, be the peace of God), I intreat you never to deviate from his law, but ever to respect and honour his descendants and followers in the persons of the Syeds, the learned, and the prelates of his religion; associate with them, and constantly ask the blessings of the dervishes, the hermits, and the righteous upon all your undertakings; obey the commands of God, and have compassion upon his creatures.

2dly. That you will encourage and give currency and support to the religion of the Prophet.

3rdly. That you will believe that we are all the servants of God, and appointed by his decree to inhabit this terrestial globe; that [our destinies are predicted, and that whatever is written on our foreheads, must come to pass; as it is decreed that we shall all do so and so, and have not the power of quitting this world, we we must be content with whatever fate determines, and be satisfied with whatever God shall give us; we should also assist our poor brethren, and constantly, by every means in our power, befriend all the creatures of God; let us always acknowledge the unity of God, and by our practice, strengthen the four pillars of the law; viz. prayer, fasting, pilgrimage, and alms.

4thly. Be affectionate to your relations and connections, injure no person, nor keep any one in bonds, unless the bonds of kindness; deprive no man of his rights by fraud or tyranny; clothe yourself in the robe of justice; avoid the society of the bad and wicked; keep no man in prison more than three days, and distribute provision to the poor and hungry; and plant yourself in the hearts of * See Appendix VII.

your subjects by beneficence, otherwise you will fall from your power and prosperity."

When my father had finished his discourse, I promised faithfully to follow his counsel, and to comply with his advice.

When I attained the age of seventeen, my father being indifferent about worldly affairs, and in delicate health, I took upon me the charge of his private affairs, and made the following arrangements; I formed every hundred sheep into a separate flock, and appointed a shepherd to each flock, whose profits were to be one fourth of the milk, the butter, and the wool; I did the same with the goats, separating the wethers from the females; I likewise denominated every twenty horses a stable, separating the horses from the mares; also the camels in the same manner.

Of the various omens which predicted my future greatness, one which most tended to raise my hopes was this; one day I went to pay my respects to the famous Saint Amyr Kelāl, and when I entered the assembly, I seated myself at the very lowest end of the room, (literally where the shoes are taken off); the Saint looked at me and said, “ although this boy is in appearance so little and young, he is in fact, a great personage;" he then made room for me near himself, and after looking at and conversing with me for some time, he fell into a slumber; after he awoke, one of his servants presented to him a tray of bread and sweetmeats, he stretched out his hand, and having taken seven cakes and sweetmeats, gave them to me, saying," eat a mouthful of each of these, in consequence of which, the seven regions of the world shall become subject to you;"* I was astonished at these words, and the people of the assembly looked first at each other, and then on me, but through awe of the Saint, no one ventured to speak; I therefore folded up the cakes, and carried them to my father, who said to me, "Kelāl is a great personage, a descendant of the Prophet, a seeer of visions, and a worker of miracles, whatever he has told you of his visions, will certainly come to pass; take care of these cakes, and do not give of them to any body, but regard them as the greatest blessing from the blessings of that holy personage." Some time after this event, my father went with me to pay his respects to the Saint, who said to him, O Prince;

(Here follows a line in the Jagtay Turky.)

at this time there was a basket of nuts before him, he ordered my father to count them; after he had done so, he informed him that there were three hundred and seventy nuts, the Saint said, " each of these three hundred nuts signifies a year,

* Many of these Santons were considered as deranged, but their predictions were not the less credited.

the remainder are the number of Timur's posterity, which shall reign for three hundred years ;" he then presented the basket to my father, which I took, and placed the nuts with the cakes; when I mentioned these circumstances to my mother, she took my head between her hands and blessed me: the cakes and the nuts remained in my possession for many years, during all which time my prosperity encreased.

Some time after the affair of the nuts, my mother went also to pay her respects to the Saint, and was most graciously received, at length he said to her,

(Here follows a verse in the Jagtay Türky.)

"Seventy of Timur's sons, grandsons, and descendants, shall reign for the "term of three hundred years, provided that they make no change of (the "Muhammedan) religion, but give currency to the faith of Islām; neither shall they vex nor injure the descendants of the Prophet, but do every thing in their power to give him satisfaction for the blessing he conferred on mankind; "bounty shall be heaped upon bounty, and prosperity added to prosperity, as long as they continue to shew kindness to the relatives and descendants of his "Holiness."

When my mother reported to me the conversation of the Saint, although then only seventeen years of age, I made a solemn vow to the all merciful God, that I would never neglect the descendants of the Prophet, but do every thing in my power for their honour. ·

CHAPTER II. .

When I had entered my eighteenth year, I became vain of my abilities, and thought no person superior to myself, or any thing too difficult for my undertaking; I was at this time very fond of riding and hunting, one day having pursued a deer, while at full gallop, I came suddenly to the brink of a ditch, more than five guz (ten or fifteen feet) in breadth, and four guz in depth, I attempted to turn my horse, but he was obstinate; I therefore tried to make him jump over the ditch, he reached the opposite bank with his fore feet, but not being able to clear it, fell, while he was struggling, I had slipped my feet out of the stirrups, sprang from the saddle, and reached the bank, the horse tumbled into the ditch, and was disabled; my companions soon after came up, and congratulated me on my good fortune and happy escape; I said, "it was God who had preserved me, who is also the bestower of fortune;" my friends not being able to jump the ditch, I went round to them, and having mounted a led horse, proceeded homewards. When we had gone some distance, it became

E

dark, and began to rain, in consequence of which, we lost the road, and as the night was extremely cold, we thought we should have perished (in the desert).

About this time we saw some black (felt) tents or huts, upon which my companions said, "these are hillocks of sand and dust," so we gave ourselves up for lost; I therefore threw the reins on my horses neck, and took hold of the mane, the horse raised his head and began to neigh, and stretched his neck. When we arrived near the tents, we saw a light shining through one of the doors, which gave us courage; I therefore alighted from my horse, and entered the tent, the inhabitants of which supposing I was a thief, hallooed out and prepared to attack me; but when I told them all the circumstances, they were ashamed, and having cleared out a room which was constructed under ground, lighted a fire for us, on which my companions entered, and we took possession of the room; the good people shortly brought us some Temakh Keruny soup, of which I eat a great quantity, and was quite refreshed; they also brought us some blankets, upon which we lay down, but they were so full of fleas, that I could not sleep a wink all night. After I had mounted the Imperial throne, I recollected all the circumstances of my hunting excursion, of the cold and frost of the night, and of our society in the cellar, in consequence of which I sent for the family, (and made them Terkhan), i. e. amply rewarded them. During this year, I was very ill for four months, and they could not find out any cure for my disorder, I therefore gave up all hopes of life; for a week I could eat nothing, but on the seventh day, they gave me a pomegranate; soon after I became quite languid and insensible, and while in the swoon, I fancied that they had bound me on a wheel, and were bearing me towards heaven, and afterwards descending to the earth; I did not recover from the fit, till they had burned me between the fore finger and the thumb, when I felt the heat of the iron, I opened my eyes, and saw the servants and my father and mother standing around me crying aloud, I also joined in lamentation; soon after this I became hungry, and the physicians having asked me what I would like, and they would bring it, I called for Yekhny, and some of the Temakh broth; I eat a whole plate full of the latter, and during the night fell into a deep perspiration, and from that time recovered.

Another of the auspicious omens predicting my sovereignty, was this; one day during this year, I was seated in my father's monastery, and was reading the 67th Chapter of the Koran;* when a gray-haired Syed entered the monastery, and having looked attentively at me, demanded my name, (having told him) he compared it with the chapter I was reading, and said, " God Almighty has given the sovereignty of the earth to this boy and his posterity;" I looked upon this *See Appendix VI.

circumstance as a mere dream, but when it reached the ears of my father, he encouraged my hopes, and shewed my Horoscope to one of the Astrologers of Turkestan, who said, " he will be superior in his own dominions, in dignity, and authority, to any of his predecessors, and he will add other countries to his own dominions, and will be an ornament to religion:" he then said to me, your descendants and posterity shall rise to the very highest dignity:" when I had heard these words, I gave him a handsome present..

At this period, I passed much of my time in reading the Korān, and playing at chess; I was also much employed in charitable actions, and soliciting the blessings of the hermits and dervishes.

I was also fond of horsemanship, and I employed a celebrated riding master to teach me the art, and also to instruct me in the science of manoeuvering an army; I frequently assembled my companions, and having taken upon myself the title of Commander, made them all obedient to me; and whenever we rode out, I used to divide them into two armies, and taught them how to advance, and how to retreat in the field of battle.

CHAPTER III.

About this period, I asked my father to tell me the history of our family from the time of Yafet Aghlan, which he did, nearly in the following manner:

"It is written in the Turkish history, that we are descended from Yafet Aghlan, commonly called (Abu al Atrāk) Father of the Turks, son of (the Patriarch,) Japhet, he was the first monarch of the Turks: when his fifth son Aljeh Khān ascended the throne, the all gracious God bestowed on him twin sons, one of which was called Tatar, the other Moghul; when they were grown up, Aljeh Khān divided the kingdom of Tūrkestān between them during his life-time; after they were seated on their respective thrones, they became proud of their authority, and forsook the religion of their ancestors, placing their feet in the paths of infidelity: Tatar had eight sons, from whom are descended eight (Oulous) tribes. Moghul had nine sons, from whom are descended nine clans : these two parties frequently disagreed, and fought many battles in the plains of Türkestān.

Till at length, after the establishment of the Islām faith, Tumenāh Khān was seated on the throne of dominion of the region of Turkestan; he had two sons by one birth, one of which he named Kajuly, the other Kubel Khān; wḥen Kajuly had arrived at the age of manhood, he dreamt one night, that he saw