Livro V - Commencement Of The History, Capítulo XVIII

[Sidenote: A. D. 1365.]

In the year 767, being thirty-one years of age, I prepared for marching to Samerkund, but first gave orders to repair the palace of Kepee Khān, whose name in the Tūrky language, was Kārshy; and I commanded that a fortress should be erected at the gate of the town, and some other buildings constructed. As soon as the morning of spring had dawned, in compliance with my promise to Amyr Hussyn, I proceeded towards Samerkund, and having arrived there, pitched my camp in its vicinity.

Amyr Hussyn having preceded me, had taken up his quarters in the city, and the first thing he did, was to cast the eyes of covetousness on the wealth of Amyr Jakū, and my other officers, whom I had sent to take possession of the place; and having determined to plunder them, he appointed collectors over them. As he thus acted in a very shameless manner, I had a great mind to draw the sword of revenge from its scabbard, but recollecting our near connection, and the gratitude due to his family, I restrained my anger, and swallowed all he said or did. As my officers had expended all they had gained, upon the refitment of their men and horses, they had no money: I therefore sent a message to Amyr Hussyn, “that if he wished me to make a brotherly division of the wealth of Samerkund, I would do it;” I therefore sent him several of my own horses and camels; but as his avarice was very great, I further sent him a large sum of money; and his sister (my wife) Aljay Tūrkān Aghā, also sent him some of her jewels: when he saw the ornaments of his sister, he so far forgot his brotherly affection, as to take them all, and even contended for more. In order to stop his further contention, I sent him a second sum of money, but all my officers were incensed by his extortion, and disgusted with his meanness, and thus planted the seeds of enmity against him in their hearts.

The fire of avarice of Amyr Hussyn being thus stirred into a flame, he began to covet also the property of the inhabitants of Samerkund, and he resolved to extort sums of money from them; to effect this, he incited some of the seditious, to make a complaint against Mūllā Khurdek and Mūllā Abū Beker, who in order to preserve the city from the Jetes, had collected a sum of money from the inhabitants, and had expended it on the new fortifications. He therefore summoned these respectable persons before him; they in their defence, produced my written order, directing them to use every means in their power to defend the city; that in consequence they had raised a contribution, and had expended it in so proper a manner, that they had succeeded in repelling the enemy; that all the accounts were ready, that he might have them examined, and if he found them guilty of extortion or fraud, he might levy the amount from them: Amyr Hussyn paid no attention to this request, would not examine the account, but ordered them to pay him the whole amount; this unjust demand not being complied with, he punished several of the Mūllā Zādēs (learned men) with his own hands. In consequence of this misconduct, and the excessive avarice of Amyr Hussyn, all the people were disgusted with him, and sought his ruin.

It was in consequence of this conduct, that his enemies caused a breach between him and me, and although I swore that my only feeling towards him was that of friendship, he would not believe me, but persevered in his enmity and hatred.

At length the party who wished for his destruction, deserted him and came over to me: I however comforted them, and requested them to return, and wrote to Amyr Hussyn, “begging him to be reconciled to his officers, and to treat them with kindness;” but in his usual passionate manner, he would not listen to my advice; till at length Amyr Musā, Aly Derveish, and Ferhad Behader, all of whom were brothers of Amyr Hussyn’s women, rose up in enmity against him, and resolved to destroy him. To effect their purpose, they determined to widen the breach between Amyr Hussyn and me; they therefore in conjunction with the Princess Audu, a relation of his, wrote him a fictitious letter couched in these words; “O blockhead, rouse yourself from your sleep, the Amyr Timūr is your avowed enemy, he has bound round him the girdle of animosity; in a short period, in union with your chiefs, he will overwhelm you, and make you his prisoner, like the King at Chess.” When this false letter reached Hussyn, he bound round him the girdle of hatred and aversion to me, and sent me the letter.

In consequence of which, I summoned the Amyrs Musā, Aly Derveish, and Ferhad to my presence; but they being sensible of their treachery, were ashamed, and fled to Khujend; although their flight was a clear proof of their falsehood, the wound still rankled in the liver of Hussyn, and encreased his enmity towards me; in consequence of which, he devised schemes for my destruction.

In order to avert this misfortune, I consulted with Shyr Behram Jelayr, by what means I might satisfy the mind of Amyr Hussyn; as Shyr Behram was at enmity with the Prince, he did not conceal it from me, but openly said, “Hussyn is not only your avowed enemy, but mine, and whenever he finds an opportunity, will certainly destroy us both, I have, therefore, no confidence in him whatever.”

On hearing this discourse of Behram, I began to be alarmed, but did not say any thing on that subject; I merely replied, “that as there had been a long friendship and near connection between Hussyn and me, how can I possibly oppose him, or raise the standard of enmity against him; I will not believe your accusation, unless you can give me some proof of his treachery:” Behram said, “if you do not believe me, try him; let me write him a letter, begging his forgiveness, if he bears no malice against me, he will pardon me, otherwise he will refuse to do so.” I consented, and he wrote the letter, but Amyr Hussyn immediately tore it to pieces, got into a passion, and sent him a message, “that he hoped shortly to annihilate him.”

When informed of this circumstance, I was convinced that Amyr Hussyn was now my implacable enemy, I therefore assembled my army, and I sent Shyr Behram into Khutelān, that he might collect his forces there; I also sent with him Aādil Behader, but made the former leave his son Tash Khuajē with me, as security for his behaviour.

Shyr Behram having reached Khutelān, collected a number of troops, possessed himself of the fortress of _Pelak Suturg_, and raised the standard of rebellion against Hussyn; the latter however thought it proper to dissemble, contrived to deceive him, and brought him over to his party.

He then induced him to forget all his promises and oaths of allegiance to me; I therefore wrote to Shyr Behram, a sharp letter, reproaching him for his ingratitude and want of fidelity, and ended by saying that, “as it was he that had blown up the flame of discord between Amyr Hussyn and me, I prayed to God that the same flame might consume him, and that he might have cause to repent of his treachery.” After some time it all came to pass, as had been reflected on the tablet of my mind; and he was overwhelmed with misfortunes.

Finding that Amyr Hussyn was now my determined enemy, and that it was requisite to attend to my personal safety; I therefore sent Behram Jelayr, Amyr Jakū, and several other officers, by way of Khujend, to secure the horde of Jelayr, and to effect some other business of importance. Behram succeeded in dispossessing his cousin, and in getting the command of the tribe of Jelayr; but being doubtful whether the enmity between me and Amyr Hussyn would last, and that he might be involved in difficulties, between the two parties, he procrastinated his return.