two stars rise from the breast of Kubel Khān, and shortly after set; again he thought he saw a star, equal in splendour to the sun, which illuminated the whole world; when he awoke, he related his dream to his father, who expounded it in this manner; from the posterity of your brother, a boy shall be born in the third generation, who shall be the conqueror of the world:' Tumenāh Khān then gave orders for a grand feast, to which he invited all the nobles and principal persons; during the feast the brothers, having embraced each other, entered into an agreement, which was drawn up in the Turkish language, and engraved on a plate of steel, and which was deposited in the treasury; the subject of the agreement was this,' that the posterity of the two brothers should never quarrel with each other; that the dignity of Khan should for ever remain in the descendants of Kubel Khan, and that of (Sepah Salar) Commander in Chief, and prime minister in the family of Kajuly.'*

In A. H. 549, Mungu Behadur, son of Kubel Khān, had a boy, born with his two hands full of blood, to whom he gave the name of Timujy; when this personage arrived at the age of forty-nine, after much toil and danger, he was seated on the throne of Turkestan.

On the day that he took the title of Khan, a dervish entered the assembly, and proclaimed," the Lord hath said to me, 'I have given the surface of the earth to Timujy,' and I confer on you the title of Jengyz Khan, that is to say, King of Kings." But Jengyz abandoned the duty of a conqueror, by slaughtering the people, and by plundering the dominions of God, and put to death many thousands of the Muselmāns.

On the morning of the day that he died, he bestowed the sovereignty of Maveralnaher on his eldest son Jagtay Khan; he appointed Kerachār Nuyān, son of Ayzdumjyn Berlās, son of Kajuly Behadur, who is my fourth and your fifth ancestor, to be generalissimo and prime minister; and caused the agreement entered into by Kajuly and Kubel Khān, to be brought from the treasury, and given to them; Jagtay having perused it, delivered it to Kerachār Nuyān, and conferred on him the title of Gurgan or Kurkān (Great Prince).

When God had bestowed on Kerachār Nuyān a son, he called him Anchel Nuyan; Kerachār was not at first one of the true believers, but followed the religion of the (Majusy) Materialists, who say that God is in every thing, and in every person; he was however anxious to acquire a proper knowledge of God, and therefore sought the acquaintance of all holy men, at length he asked the opinion of one of those learned personages, who was descended from Muhammed, * See Institutes, page 25.

This name is spelled in Persian both Jagtay and Chagtay, a large portion of Turkestan is called after him.

what do the Muselmans say respecting the true knowledge of God; the holy man replied, the faith of the Muselmans is this, that from all eternity there has existed an Omnipotent and Omniscient Being, he is our God, and he is the God of all creatures, it is therefore not proper to say, as the Materialists do, for there is only one God, the creator of all things; we deny a plurality of Gods, and assert that there is only one:' Kerachār after some reflection, said, 'it is true, God can have no partner, he is all sufficient.' He then submitted himself to the holy man as a convert, and repeated the Creed after his preceptor; viz. 'there is no God but God, Muhammed is the Messenger of God;' glory be to him who is eternal, omniscient, and omnipotent, the all seeing, the all hearing, the giver of speech, the causer of all events.

Praise be also to his Messenger Muhammed, who by the miracle of dividing the moon, evinced he was the true Prophet, he is the minister of the glorious God, and the Khalifs are his Viziers.

From that time Kerachār became firm in his faith, and invited all the people to imitate his example, in consequence of which, the religion of Muhammed encreased and became current through all that region."

He also divided the country of Irān equally between the (Ayelat) different clans, and appointed the plains of Kesh for the residence of the tribe of Berlās, (his own tribe) giving them the water, the grass, and pasturage of that and several other places for their support; Kerachār then took on him the business of generalissimo, and subdued the countries of Kashgar, of Badakhshan, Andejān, and Hassar, also parts of Khorasan, which he retained as his own private territory. When Kerachar departed this life, he was succeeded by his eldest son Amyr Ayltekuz, as generalissimo, who conquered several countries; when your grandfather Amyr Burkul succeeded as Sepah Salar, finding that there were dissentions among the tribes and clans, (Alusāt va Kushunāt) he was disgusted, and having retired from his office, contented himself with the government of his own clan of Berlas he however possessed an incalculable number of sheep and goats, of cattle, of slaves and servants.

On the death of your grandfather Amyr Burkul, I succeeded to his possessions, but I preferred the company of the learned and the religious persons, and associated mostly with them, frequently soliciting their blessings and prayers, that the Almighty God, would bestow on me a son, which should raise the fame and encrease the dignity of the tribe of Berlās.

About this time, a celebrated Astrologer came from Fars to Maveralnaher, and one day when seated in the assembly of the learned personages, he said, 'from the revolution of the heavens it is well known to me, that, in the year

seven hundred and thirty, (of the Hejira) a child shall be born, who will prove the conqueror of the world.' Verse, In the year seven hundred and thirty, on the 9th of the month, Rejeb, a star of auspicious title shall arise;' God hath bestowed this boy on you."

When my father had related all these circumstances to me, I was convinced in my own mind, that I was born to succeed to the sovereignty, and believed myself endued with all the requisite abilities; I became however very religious, constantly prayed to God for success, and made numerous offerings of cattle and sheep to the Syeds, the learned, and devout personages.

Thus I sent an offering of twenty sheep to the (Saint) Amyr Kelal, but in consequence of heavy rain, they missed the road, and I thought were lost; but some days after having gone to pay my respects to him, I saw the sheep standing at his door, and returned thanks to God, that my offering had been accepted. As soon as the Saint cast his eyes on me, he said to the by-standers, “the sovereignty of the territories of God has been bestowed on this young Türk ;" he then began to say his prayers, I also imitated his example: after he had finished his devotions, he said, "good fortune and royalty is to be your fate, provided that you support the religion of Islam."

At this time I repented (of my follies), and left off playing chess; I strictly adhered to the law, and followed the dictates of religion; I also made a vow never to injure any creature, and whenever I did so by chance, was very sorry for it; thus one day having unintentionally trodden on an Ant, I felt as if my foot had lost all its power; I constantly begged the intercession of the first Khalifs, and was benevolent to all mankind.

A. D. 1355.

In the year 756, I attained my twentieth year, and having reached the age of maturity, my father Teragay made over to me a number of tents, sheep, camels, slaves, servants, and attendants, from which during this year I gained much profit. The first arrangement I made of my private affairs was this, I gave the command of eighteen slaves to one slave, to whom I gave the title of Aun Bashy, and I named every twenty horses a (Tavyleh) stable, and every hundred camels a (Kuttar) string, and every thousand sheep a (Gileh) flock, and gave each of these in charge of a particular slave, and allotted to each of them, a certain share of the profits. During this year I was again very unwell, and a physician of Samerkund having administered pomegranates to me, I was seized with a violent palpitation, and became quite insensible, upon which

* The date here mentioned is supposed to be a mistake either of the Persian translator, or of the copyist, as all other authorities fix the birth of Timur on the 25th of Shaban, A. H. 736, corresponding with the 7th of May, A. D. 1336.

my father and mother, and all the attendants wept bitterly; after this, a physician of Turkestan seared me with a hot iron, upon which I came to myself; they afterwards gave me some Yelmak broth, and other food, and I became convalescent. In gratitude for my recovery, I made valuable offerings of sheep and horses; thus I gave an hundred camels in honour of the Prophet, and fifty more in honour of the illustrious Khalifs, and gave ample charities to the poor, the hermits, and dervishes, through whose prayers I entirely recovered.

CHAPTER IV.

In this year A. H. 756, Amyr Kezān Sultan, son of Sur Aghlan, held the standard of sovereignty over the tribe of Chagtai,* and for fifteen years had extended the hand of oppression over the people of Maveralnaher, and placed his feet out of the path of justice and equity: in consequence of his tyranny, his subjects were in a state of despair, confining themselves to their houses, and praying for his death.

I was also much incensed by his bad conduct, and felt every inclination to rebel against him, and take revenge of his cruelty, but I could not find any body of consequence to join me; nor until I had distributed all my wealth among them, could I prevail upon any person to unite with me, whilst I was very much affected at the sight of their oppressed state.

At length Amyr Kürgen, who was one of the greatest chiefs of the tribe of Jagtay, rebelled against him, and in the year 746, (A. D. 1345) fought with him in the desert of Derreh Zengy, but was defeated.

The tyrant having been successful, renewed his oppressions, and returned to Kershy; this astonished the people, who expected that Providence would have interfered in their behalf.

In consequence of such evil conduct, a Syed of Termuz said, “ that as long as Amyr Kezān retains these habits, he will never be conquered;" the people therefore began openly to curse him, which only stimulated him to fresh acts of injustice. Some of the effects of the malconduct of this worthless monarch were: 1stly. A very severe frost, which destroyed the cattle.

2ndly. A total want of rain, in consequence of which the cultivation was quite dried up, and the fruits were annihilated.

3rdly. A famine which swept off the people.

During the following year, Amyr Kūrgen having again recruited his army,

*See Note to page 28.

advanced towards Kershy, and having engaged the tyrant, defeated and took him prisoner; he at first confined him, but at the end of two years put him to death, and relieved the kingdom of Maveralnaher from his oppressions.*

Amyr Kürgen then took possession of the kingdom, restored much of the property that had been unlawfully seized, and conducted himself with equity; but as the nobles would not acknowledge his authority, I had some intention of taking the sovereignty upon myself; however the chiefs anticipated my design, and raised Danishmundchē Aghlān, one of the descendants of Jengyz Khān, to to the dignity of Khān, to whom they vowed fidelity, and made him monarch of all Maveralnaher. '

Amyr Kürgen, with the title of Commander, ruled the kingdom in the name of Danishmundche Khan, for the term of ten years, with great propriety; reestablished the laws, and gave encouragement to the Muhammedan religion.

A. D. 1356.

When I had attained my twenty-first year, I wished to have united all the tribe of Berlas, and to have rebelled; I was joined by forty of my school-fellows, and we consulted upon taking possession of the mountain of Kāān; but at this time my mother was called to the divine mercy, and my sister Tūrkān Akā took charge of my household; I was for some time very melancholy, and gave up my ambitious intentions. After the days of mourning for my mother were accomplished, my father betrothed me to the daughter of Amyr Jaku Berlās. About this time, my father deputed me to Amyr Kūrgen, on some business respecting our tribe and clan, by which means I became acquainted with the Amyr, who took a great liking to me, adopted me as his son, and gave me one of his grand-daughters in marriage, with great honour and much wealth, and seated me near himself in the assembly.

After the death of the Amyr, as his son was not equal to the duties (of Vizier), I had some wish to take the office myself, and had got the consent of several of the chiefs; but recollecting my debt of gratitude to the father, I said to myself," better be patient," and took patience.

In this year, I one day went into the desert to hunt, when we came to the hunting ground, a violent storm of both snow and rain came on; afterwards the snow being very deep, I lost my road, and wandered about; at length I saw something dark, when I approached it, I found it was a hill, at the bottom of which there was a great cave, in which some families of the Arlat clan had

* He was the last of the descendants of Jengyz Khan, who actually reigned over Transoxiana, although several young men had the empty title of Khan conferred on them, but they were mere puppets in the hands of the powerful chiefs.

† This was a boast of Timur, as he was then very young; Aghlan signifies both a boy and a Prince.