The Rashīdī History 109.4

109.4

On this news being brought to Shahi Beg Khan, he and all his wisest advisers were agreed that this bringing together, into one place, of the troops [of Tambal] only made the conquest easier for them. With all speed, therefore, they hastened to Andijan, and being sure that they should find him, prepared for a siege; it was resolved that Shahi Beg Khan should conduct the siege in person, while the rest of the Sultans should ravage and spoil the country round, seizing the forts and men, and laying waste the whole region. The next year they would return to complete the work of devastation. But the hand of fate seized Tambal by the collar and hastened him to his end. He came out of the fort saying: "Let us meet them in the open field"; and he led 10,000 men out of the walls. When Sháhi Beg Khán arrived, Tambal, judging of their numbers from the dust they raised, retired. But before he could reach the fort, many of his men had fallen by the edge of the sword, and Tambal and his brothers, broken and terrified, crept into the citadel. It had been decided that that year they should lay waste his territories and then return home, so that the enterprise should be easy the next year. He himself, however, went to meet his fate: and thus the undertaking which was to have been accomplished the year following, was achieved in forty days.