The Rashīdī History 109.9

109.9

A few days later, Mahmud Sultán entered Kunduz, where I myself happened to be, with my sisters and my younger brother. It has been stated already, that a marriage connection had been formed between my father and Sultánim Begum, and after the above related circumstances, we were carried off to Kunduz. During our sojourn there, Sultánim Begum gave birth to a son, named Abdullah, whose history will be told in various connections. My father had accompanied Mahmud Sultán, for the greatest intimacy existed between them. The reason for this was as follows. In his earlier days, Sháhi Beg Khán had made every possible effort to obtain supreme power, and was bound by no promises or agreements. Whenever an occasion offered he pushed his ambitious projects: if he was successful he would say : " It was God's will " ; if he failed he was always ready with a thousand excuses and pretexts. In this way, frequent misunderstandings arose between him and Sultán Mahmud Khán. The wonder is that in every instance, his pretext, such as it was, should have been accepted. It would be tedious to enter here into the details of this matter, which will be given in the First Part (Tárikh-i-Rashidi). I will, however, give one instance in this place. Sháhi Beg was then in Turkistan at the height of favour and prosperity, when Sultán Mahmud Khán led an army against Tambal.