Livro VI - _Account Of My Mounting The Throne Of The Sovereignty In The City Of, Capítulo VIII

[Sidenote: A. D. 1375.]

In the year 777, and the forty-first of my age, the Jete commander, Kummer Addyn, who had escaped from the whirlpool of death, and had reached the shore of safety, finding by experience, that he could not effect any thing against me, repaired to the court of the Khān of Jetteh, where he collected a large army, and again advanced towards Maveralnaher. At this time, the Amyrs Sar Bughā and Aādil Shāh, who had deserted from me, and joined Kummer Addyn, having wandered for two years among the mountains of Jerahuk, and finding they had no remedy but to return to my court, sent a messenger to me, acknowledging their faults, and requesting my pardon. I therefore sent Khuajē Kukultāsh and Alchy Bughā, to bring them to my presence; when my agents arrived at Atrar, Aādil Shāh being alarmed, again fled and took refuge at Aksumā, but the Tūrks who inhabited those plains, foolishly plundered all his wealth and property. Sar Bughā, who had been my declared and open enemy, advanced manfully, and came with great sincerity to my court, having his sword suspended round his neck; on entering into my presence, he placed the sword on the ground, and said, “there is the scymitar, and here is my neck, cut away, but still I am hopeful from the generosity of your Highness, for since I quitted your service, I have only experienced disgrace and ill luck, therefore I am returned to you.” I encouraged him, and gave him the command of the horde of Jelayr, and as he was a courageous fellow, I liberally forgave him, and he undertook to be the guide of my forces against the Jetes.

I then sent off an army under the command of my son Omer Shykh, against Kummer Addyn, but I gave him strict injunctions that he was upon all occasions to consult with Sar Bughā. Previous to their marching, Ak Bughā advised, that as the Jetes were as watchful as crows, one division should make a detour, and get in the rear of their camp, while the main body should attack them in front; I therefore gave orders that my son Omer Shykh, accompanied by Sar Bughā, should march directly against the Jete army, whilst Ketay Behader should go round and plunder the horde. Omer Shykh, with the main body, reached the plain of Khuratū (encampment of the Jetes) at the moment that Kummer Addyn was sitting down to dinner; when he saw the victorious army approaching, he was confounded, vaulted on his horse, and turned his face towards the desert, and no one knew whither he was gone, but his whole army dispersed.

Omer Shykh continued to search for the fugitive for some time in the desert, but not being able to discover any trace of him, turned the reins of his steed towards Samerkund, and Khetay Behader having plundered the Jete horde, rejoined the Prince: the victorious army having returned to Samerkund, had the honour to kiss the royal carpet.

My mind being now quite at ease with regard to Kummer Addyn, I was informed that Beg Timūr, the son of Aurūs Khān of Kipchāk, had advanced with an army of five thousand horse into the territory, occupied by the tribe of Jujy, had plundered them of all their property, and compelled their Prince Tuktāmush Khān, a descendant of the imperial family, to flee towards me for refuge. As Tuktāmush was an acquaintance of mine, he sent a messenger to me with his blessing (_Dwa_): I in consequence sent out Tumen Timūr to meet the Prince, with orders to bring him to Samerkund with the greatest honour and respect: I also prepared a great banquet for him, and assembled all the chiefs, the Syeds, and the learned, to meet him, and gave to the whole assembly, abundance to eat and to drink, and conferred dresses of honour, and presents of jewels and horses on every one according to his rank, and having made them all happy, I dismissed them.—Farewell, Farewell.

* * * * *

Here ends the Book called the Tuarikh Mubarik Shāhy, (History of the illustrious Monarch) which contains the Military Regulations of Timūr Shāh Saheb Kerāny, compiled by himself. (See Appendix No. 9.)

_Conclusion of Colonel Davy’s MS._

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Footnote 116:

Atrar is the place where Timūr died, it is situated on the Sihūn, in the 44th degree of Latitude; Aksumā is said to have been a castle built on a mountain, overlooking the plains of Kipjak. Petis de la Croix, page 73.

Footnote 117:

He was descended from Jengyz Khān by Tūshy, the eldest son, and succeeded to the throne of Kipchāk, on the death of Aurūs Khān, A. H. 778, A. D. 1376. See Abul Ghazy’s History of the Tartars.

Footnote 118:

Although a suppliant, he still considered himself as superior to Timūr, who never took any other title than (Amyr) commander; the same _hauteur_ is still kept up by the (Delhy) royal family towards the Nuwabs of Hindūstān.

Footnote 119:

This _Conclusion_ is certainly a mistake of the copyist, as I have found in two other MSS. belonging to Colonel Davy, a further continuation of the history, but they both end in the following curious manner.

“Be it known that from this (Majlis) place, (page 284 of Petis de la Croix) to the time of the Emperor’s making his last testament, in the plains of (Khetā) Tartary, together with his Institutes, nearly forty thousand (Byts) lines are deficient or obliterated.”

“If it please God to grant me health and strength, it shall be compleated.” (Appendix No. 10.)

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Page 133, for Book V. read Book VI.

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(Page 1.)

‏‏بِسمُ اللهِ الرّحمان الرّحيم‎

‏حَمد بليغ سجني را که بمقتضاي کريمه انا جعلناگ خليفتً في الارضِ عنقاي بقاي سلطنت صاحبقراني را ببال اقبال جهان گشاي بر قُلعه قاف گيتي ستاني اشيان فرمود سپاس بيقياس يزداني راکه صولت خلافت و دودمان تيمور ي را بجهت رواج دِين مبين مُحمدي و تجديد شريعت غراي مُصطفي برجميع سلاسل سلاطين عالم برتر و مُعظم داشت و ستايش بيشمار جهان افريني راکه همچنان ايره افلاک و عناصر ومواليد بمرکز عالم قوام داد و دايره سُلطنت عظمي ارا بذات

کثير البرکات شهنشاه جم جاه بمِصداق کريمه الّسُلطان العادل ظُل اللهِ حافظ بُلادُ اللهِ ثبات و بقا داده ‎

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(Page 1.)

‏اما بعد المحتاج الي رحمة ربِه الهادي ابو طالب الحسيني بعز عرض باريافتگان پايه سرير ميرساند که در حرمين اشرفين دُرکتب خانه جعفر حاکم يِمن کتابي تُرکي ديدم از مُلفظات عالي حضرت جنت مکاني فردوس اشيانه صاحب‎ قراني غفرات الله تعالي که و قايع خود ‏بيت از سِن هفت سالگي تاهفتاد و يک سالکي‎

‏که بچه کیفیت خود بمرتبه سلطنت راسانیدم چون عبارات و الفاطُ تُرکي و عربي قريب الفهم نبود عبارت شکسته ریخته معلق انرا از تُرکي نفارسي نقل نمودم الله تعالي ذات کامل الصفات عالي حضرت خاقاني صاحب قران ثاني را از حوادثِ دوران مَحفوظ و مَصیون دارادُ و ظل سلطنت و عدالت این بادشاه عادل را بر مفارق عالمیان گسترده داراد‎

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(Page 3.)

‏فرزندانِ مُلک گیر کامکار ونبایر ذوي القدر جهاندار و غیره معلوم‎

‏تُرکي‎

‏اُوسُن اوله کم عالي مقام او ندانستم کم روین مقام یلقان اولمش کم ایتمش کشي برم‎

‏لوایح و قایع خودرا بنابر این بتُرکي انشأ نمودم که هریک از نبایرِ من که بر تخت سلطنت صعود نماید و دولت سلطنت مراکه برنجها و محنتها و قدا قیها وجنگها بتاید ربّاني و نصرت مُحمدي صلي الله اليه وسلم بچنک اورده ام نگاه باني نموده بدین تزک عمل نمایند تا دولت وسلطنت ایشان از خلل وزوال ایمن گردد‎

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(Page 7.)

Shykh (Sudder Addyn) Sefy was rendered famous by his posterity; he asserted that he was descended from Aly, son-in-law of Muhammed, and resided in the city of Ardebil, province of Azerbijān, and was reputed as a Saint. Tamerlane held him in such esteem, that at his request he gave him all the captives that he had taken in Asia Minor.

All these captives who owed their lives and liberty to the Shykh, evinced the greatest gratitude to him, and cultivated his friendship by rich presents, and frequently visiting him, in such a manner, that his reputation rose very high; he left several children, who became very powerful.

It was from Shykh Sefy that the royal family of Sophys of Persia were descended.

D’Herbelot, Bibliothèque Oriental.

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(Page 14.)

Syed Mahmūd, commonly known by the name of Geesū Derāz, (long hair) became a very celebrated Saint in Hindūstan; his tomb yet exists in the vicinity of Kulberga, in the Dekhan, and is still resorted to by numerous Muhammedan pilgrims. He wrote several treatises on _Sūfyism_, four of which are described in the Catalogue of Tippoo Sultān’s Library, No. 17 to 20.

I take the opportunity of mentioning, that although Muhammed declared that he would have no monks in his religion, yet it abounds with more orders of them under the denomination of Fakeers, Dervishes, and Sūfies, than exist in any Catholic country, and the number of Saints equals that in the Roman Kalendar. The tenets of the Sūfies resemble those of the Mystics and Quietists of Europe. The Shykhs or Presidents of these monasteries are supposed to possess a prescience of events, and some of them the power of performing miracles.

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(Page 21.)

The proper title of the 67th Chapter of the Korān, is _Al Mūlk_, but is more generally known by the name of _Tebarek Allezy_, and is very much admired by the Muselmāns, the following is the verse given in page 26.

‏آمِنتُم مَن فِي السّمَا ٱن يَحْسِف بِکُم آلآرضَ فَاِذا هي تَمُوْرُ‎

It is not meant by this, that he was the first who bore the name of _Timūr_, as it occurs previously to this period, in the Moghul history; Arab Shāh says that it means _Iron_ in the Tūrky language; he employs two lines to give the true orthography of the word, but acknowledges that the pronunciation has been changed in the course of time.

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(Page 23.)

We are not to understand by this expression, the plurality of worlds of the astronomers, but what the Asiatics term the invisible world of angels, spirits, genii, &c.

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(Page 30.)

‏در ٱن وقت مُنجمي از مُنجماننِ فارس بماور ٱلنهر امده بود او در مجلسِ عُلماء زمان میکفت که ازگردش افلک چنین مَعلوم میشود که در سنّه هفت صد و سي مولودي از رحمِ مادر در عرصهء و جود خواهد امد که عالم گیر گردد‎

‏بیت درهفت صد و سي در نهم ماه رجب طالع شود ٱن کوکب فرخند لقب‎

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(Page 154.)

‏تمت تمام شد هذا الکتاب تواریخ مُبارک شاهي که دستور العمل محاربات تیمور صاحب قران خود تصنیف فرموده بودند‎

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(Page 154.)

‏معلوم باد که ازاین مجلس تا مجلسِ وصیت که امیر در دست انداز صحراي خطا نموده اند بایرلیع تزْک قریب بچهل هزار بیتِ دیکر خواهد بود از سواد بیاض رفته انشاء الله اگر دل و دماغ یاري دهد باتمام خواهد رسید ‎

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(Addenda.)

‏وصیت دیگر انکه تزوکاتي که در امور سلطنت خود نوشته ام انرا در ذیل وقایعِ من ثبت نموده احکام انرا دستور العمل خویش سازید و سرشته انرا دردست داشته باشید تا سلطنت و مملکت خودرا بحال خود توانید نگاه داشت و این وصیت که درین وقت بشما کرده ام و به نصایح و اموري که شمارا مامور گردانیده ام تادم واپسینِ من هرچه از گفتار و کردار من بوقوع اید در وقایع من از زبانِ من مُندرَج گردانید‎

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‏ودر تقویت دین و مِلت مُحمدي صلي الله و الهُ و اصحابهُ و سلم و رواج مذهب بر حقُ اهل سنّت و جماعت و محو ساختن مذاهِب باطله خواهید کوشید چه مُلک و دین از یک شکم زاده اند‎

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Continuation of the family of Timūr to the present time, with the contemporary Kings of England.

N. B. This is not meant to be a minute statement, but merely to give a general outline of the subject.

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SEVERAL months after I had commenced this Translation, I procured from my friend Major William Yule of Edinburgh, many years First Assistant to the Resident (Ambassador) at the Court of Lucknow, an authentic transcript of the Delhy Imperial copy, mentioned in Major Davy’s letter, prefixed to the printed volume of Timūr’s Institutes, and noticed in the Preface of this work, which he, Major Yule, obtained as a special favour from the Emperor, or Great Moghul. I also received from my friend Lieutenant Colonel William Franklin, a second copy of the above work, which had been procured by General Sir David Ochterlony, while Resident at the Court of Delhy, and Commander of the northern provinces of India.

They are both large Quarto volumes, the former is neatly written, but the latter is most correct; they both contain the Memoirs of Timūr till his death, but they are too voluminous for me to undertake the translation of them. I shall however compare them with Petis de la Croix’s version of Sherif Addyn’s History, and if they contain any thing new, will notice it. I have minutely compared them with Colonel Davy’s manuscript as far as it extends, and find that the only additions they contain, are extracts from Sherif Addyn’s History; an explanation of some particulars omitted in the Memoirs, and an attempt to prove that Timūr was of the Sūny sect, although there is the strongest evidence that he was a very bigoted Shyā, (follower of Aly) as may be proved by his destruction of the cities of Aleppo and Damascus, the account of which is to be found in the 65th Chapter of Gibbon’s Roman Empire.

In order to enable the Public, and especially the Oriental Translation Committee, to judge whether it may be worth while to employ some younger person to continue these Memoirs, by a translation of the transcript of the _Imperial edition_, I herewith subjoin the Editor’s Preface to that work, also that part of the Book which has given rise to the report that Timūr had written an account of his own death, which has been erroneously quoted as a proof that the whole composition is a forgery.

TO THE MULFUZĀT TIMŪRY.

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HE commences with the usual form of praise of God, and blessings on Muhammed, on the four Khalifs, Abū Beker, Omer, Osman and Aly; he then repeats the account given by Abū Talib Hussyny of discovering the book in the library of Jāfer Pashā, and of its contents.

He then states that the Emperor Shāh Jehān of Hindūstān, having perused the book was not satisfied with it, and ordered him, Muhammed Afzel Bukhāry, to revise it.

“In the year 1047 of the Hejira, and tenth of his Majesty Shāh Jehān’s reign, (A. D. 1637) the royal orders were issued to me, the meanest of the servants of the Imperial Court, (Muhammed Afzel Bukhāry) to read and revise this book from beginning to end, and to assimilate it with the _Zuffer Nameh_, of the correctness of which no intelligent person can have a doubt, and compare it with some other trust-worthy histories, to omit some things which the translator had inserted, and to insert some occurrences which he had omitted; also to translate the Tūrky and Arabic sentences into Persian, and to correct several of the dates, which do not agree with the _Zuffer Nameh_.”

“In submission to the royal order, the least of the servants of his Majesty, having bound round him the girdle of obedience, has exerted himself as much as possible in revising and correcting the said translation, and has thrown out all the unauthenticated passages which Abū Talib had inserted. He has inserted several passages that have been omitted by that translator, and he has thereby made the book conform with the Zuffer Nameh. Thus under the happy auspices of his Imperial Majesty, equal in dignity to Solomon, the Defender of the Faith, and the Protector of Princes, this work has been brought to a conclusion, and now only waits the stamp of approval of his Majesty (the King of the world).”

* * * * *

It appears in Dow’s History of Hindostan, that Muhammed Afzel was the name of the Emperor, Shāh Jehān’s preceptor; he was probably the person employed to revise this work, but he has not complied with his promise of translating all the Tūrky passages, although a native of Bokhārā, where that language was well understood.

The conclusion of the work states the arrival of the Emperor Timūr at _Atrar_, on his route to China; of his last illness; of his having assembled all his family, his ministers, and other principal personages, and of his having in their presence made his will, consisting of four clauses.

The two first clauses are to recommend union among his descendants, and loyalty to his nobles; the third clause appoints his grandson Pyr Muhammed Jehāngyr to be his successor and possessor of the kingdom of Samerkund, and that all his descendants should consider Jehāngyr as their superior. The fourth clause entreats his posterity to observe the rules and regulations that he had written during his reign, and to insert them as an Appendix to his Memoirs; he further desires that they will continue his Memoirs to the last moment of his existence as if written or spoken by himself;

“I desire that this my Testament, and whatever I shall say to the last moment of my existence, shall be written in my Memoirs as if proceeding from my own mouth.” (Appendix 11.)

He repeats his exhortation to his descendants to observe union, “to support the religion of Muhammed, to give currency to the tenets of the _Sūnies_, and to exert themselves in eradicating every false religion.” (Appendix 12.) He then forbids any one to speak to, or again disturb, him, but leave him to the mercy of God.

Shortly after this exhortation he resigned his soul to his Creator, on Tuesday the 17th of Shabān, A. H. 807, March 19th, A. D. 1405.

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Footnote 120:

The Persian history by Sherif Addyn Aly Yezdy, and the work translated by Petis de la Croix.

Footnote 121:

Atrar was a large town situated two Parasangs or leagues north of the Sihūn, (Jaxartes).

Footnote 122:

This distribution was conformable to the English law, Jehāngyr being the heir of his deceased eldest son, but the throne was taken possession of by Khelyl Sultān, another of Timūr’s grandsons, the son of Mirān Shāh; he died at the end of three years, when Maveralnaher was taken possession of by Shāh Rūkh, the youngest son of Timūr, but the other Princes having also seized upon the different provinces under their command, the mighty empire fell to pieces.

It may be interesting to some persons to know that the dominions of Timūr were visited in the year 1812, by Izzet Allah, an intelligent native of India, whose journal has been published in the Asiatic Researches, from which we learn that the Chinese have extended their conquests as far as the Sihūn or Jaxartes, that the _towns_ of Transoxiana are in possession of different Uzbek chiefs, and the _country_ is occupied by the Nomade Kirghys hordes.

* * * * *

_The following works of Major Stewart may be had at_ Messrs. Parbury, Allen, and Co. _Booksellers to the Honourable East India Company, Leadenhall Street_.

1. Descriptive Catalogue of Tippoo Sultān’s Library, 1 vol. 4to. 2. Travels of Abu Mirza Talib, 3 vol. 12mo. 3. History of Bengal, 1 vol. 4to. 4. Introduction to the Anvari Soohyly, 1 vol. 4to. 5. Original Persian Letters, 1 vol. 4to.

Transcriber’s Notes

New original cover art and table of contents included with this eBook are granted to the public domain.

Archaic and non-standard spelling has been retained, except for what seem to be obvious printer’s errors, listed below.

Hyphenation has been regularized in cases where there is a predominant form in the text. Changes made have been noted below.

Diacritic (Macron) use by the author is very inconsistent within the text, and has not been regularized. The system of transcription is the author’s own, but is not followed with any rigor.

Spelling of various words of Turkic and Persian origin is similarly inconsistent, and has not been regularized, except in cases of what seem to be obvious printer’s errors.

The book’s appendix originally had its own page numbering. The transcriber opted to continue main page numbering.

The Year markings, which appear in sidenotes throughout the text, are inconsistent, see for example pages 40, 66 and 72. This has not been remedied in the eBook.

The following changes have been made:

Pg. v: Proper name consistency: ‘Langlés’ to ‘Langlès’ - Langlès correct spelling

Pg. vi: Proper name consistency: ‘Langlés’ to ‘Langlès’ - Langlès correct spelling

Pg. ix: Corrected typo: ‘at page 1’ to ‘at page v’ - Corrected reference to page number

Pg. 2: Punctuation consistency: ‘A.D. 1628.’ to ‘A. D. 1628.’ - Inserted space for consistency

Pg. 3: Punctuation consistency: ‘N.B.’ to ‘N. B.’ - Inserted space for consistency

Pg. 3: Punctuation consistency: ‘A.D. 1783’ to ‘A. D. 1783’ - Inserted space for consistency

Pg. 3: Punctuation consistency: ‘A.D. 1787’ to ‘A. D. 1787’ - Inserted space for consistency

Pg. 3: Reference error: ‘Appendix No. 2’ to ‘Appendix No. 3’ - The appendix refers to this page, and seems to contain two non-persian lines

Pg. 11: Quote corrections: ‘from this dream.”’ to ‘from this dream.’ - Removed close-quote from middle of extended quotation

Pg. 15: Proper name consistency: ‘Behardur’ to ‘Behadur’

Pg. 21: Corrected typo: ‘See Appendix VI. also’ to ‘See Appendix VI. Also’ - Corrected capitalization

Pg. 21: Quote correction: ‘shake_,” (Tamurū)’ to ‘shake_,’ (Tamurū)’ Changed double-quote to single

Pg. 22: Corrected typo: ‘dont’ to ‘don’t’

Pg. 23: Quote corrections: ‘this dignity.”’ to ‘this dignity.’’ - Changed double-quote to single

Pg. 23: Quote corrections: ‘1stly, etc.’ to ‘“1stly, etc.’ - Added open-quotes to 4 paras

Pg. 23: Corrected typo: ‘terrestial globe’ to ‘terrestrial globe’

Pg. 23: Abbreviation consistency: ‘2dly. That you will’ to ‘2ndly. That you will’ - 2ndly elsewhere

Pg. 32: Corrected typo: ‘to to the dignity of’ to ‘to the dignity of’ - Doubled word removed

Pg. 33: Corrected typo: ‘eat a quantity’ to ‘ate a quantity’ - Corrected tense

Pg. 33: Proper name consistency: ‘Irāk’ to ‘Irāc’ - Corrected for consistency

Pg. 41: Corrected typo: ‘dependance’ to ‘dependence’ - Corrected for consistency

Pg. 53: Corrected typo: ‘he he was under great obligations’ to ‘he was under great obligations’ - Doubled word removed

Pg. 56: Quote corrections: ‘the state of the case’ to ‘“the state of the case’ - Added missing open-quote to quotation

Pg. 56: Corrected typo: ‘and the pins philanthrophy’ to ‘and the pins philanthropy’

Pg. 63: Corrected typo: ‘sent a a party’ to ‘sent a party’ - Doubled word removed

Pg. 66: Punctuation fix: ‘other means of redress”’ to ‘other means of redress.”’ - Added missing period to quote end

Pg. 83: Corrected typo: ‘se uel’ to ‘sequel’ - Missing letter in word

Pg. 86: Quote corrections: ‘I will support you;’ to ‘I will support you;”’ - Added missing close-quote

Pg. 88: Corrected typo: ‘retrogade’ to ‘retrograde’

Pg. 90: Corrected typo: ‘fortified the town opposed’ to ‘fortified the town, opposed’ - Added missing comma

Pg. 94: Punctuation fix: ‘I entered, the thirty-second’ to ‘I entered the thirty-second’ - Removed extra comma

Pg. 108: Corrected typo: ‘to to his protection’ to ‘to his protection’ - Doubled word removed

Pg. 108: Corrected typo: ‘I I took two of his’ to ‘I took two of his’ - Doubled word removed

Pg. 120: Hyphenation consistency: ‘recrossed’ to ‘re-crossed’ - Hyphenated elsewhere

Pg. 123: Quote corrections: ‘taken away from him.’ to ‘taken away from him.”’ - Added missing close-quote

Pg. 127: Corrected typo: ‘to take the the command’ to ‘to take the command’ - Doubled word removed

Pg. 131: Quote corrections: ‘cattle and property:’ to ‘cattle and property:”’ - Added missing close-quote

Pg. 133: Changed ‘Book V.’ to read ‘Book VI.’ as noted in the Corrigendum

Pg. 135: Quote corrections: ‘and inaugurated me.”’ to ‘and inaugurated me.’ - Removed extra close-quote at para end

Pg. 138: Corrected typo: ‘for my goverment’ to ‘for my government’

Pg. 139: Corrected typo: ‘manœuvring armies’ to ‘manœuvering armies’ - manœuvering elsewhere

Pg. 143: Proper name consistency: ‘Abūal Mualy’ to ‘Abū al Mualy’ - Separated elsewhere

Pg. 146: Punctuation fix: ‘them, he Ky Khuserū’ to ‘them, he, Ky Khuserū’ - Added missing comma

Pg. 148: Corrected typo: ‘bethrothed’ to ‘betrothed’