The Rashīdī History 152.5

152.5

Being all of one mind, the Khan, in the month of Rabi-ul-avval, of the aforesaid year, left Farghana before Suyunjuk Khan had entered it, and marched towards Kashghar by way of Moghulistan. At this time Mirza Aba Bakr executed a very surprising work, the truth of which is attested by all who were in Kashghar at the time, and I myself have seen and measured the building . . . . Now, he had destroyed the ancient citadel of Kashghar a long time before, as well as its suburbs, and had carried the inhabitants off to Yarkand, while he had turned several inhabited places into cultivated fields. When he heard of the Khan's approach, he commanded a fort to be built on the banks of the River Tuman. I have taken the dimensions of that fort several times. It may include about fifty jarib, more or less, and its height in some places is twenty maid gaz. The circumference of the towers at each angle is more than thirty gaz. On the ramparts, in most places, four horsemen can ride abreast. This huge fort was constructed in seven days, which is, of course, a most extraordinary feat, and confirms what has been said above, of Mirza Aba Bakr's power and activity. It is now necessary to give some account of Kashghar.