The Rashīdī History 140.7

140.7

When news of their helpless condition reached Ubaid Ullah Khan, most of whose efforts were guided [at least] by good intentions, he felt it his bounden duty, both from a desire to restore order in the country, and also from a sense of right and justice, to go and expel these evil doers. At the end of the winter, therefore, he set out for Hisar. When [the Moghuls] heard of the approach of the Uzbeg, they knew not which way to turn, for they had themselves darkened their road to the Emperor; nor did they think fit to go to the Khan in Andijan, because whenever they might enter the Khan's service, they would be obliged to do some work which they considered beneath their dignity: the hands of their tyranny would be cut off and the feet of their insubordination crushed. On this account they abhorred the idea of going to the court of the Khán. Moreover, the roads were rendered impassable by the snow. For these several reasons, they took up a strong position in the mountains of the Surkháb and of Yakhsh. On one side it was protected by the River Surkháb, on two others by the mountains, while on the remaining side was deep snow, on which they placed much reliance.