The Rashīdī History 162.3

162.3

leave us." Thereupon the Amirs rose up [and withdrew] ; Mir Vali alone remained. The few words were merely a repetition of some civilities relating to Mirza Aba Bakr, which he had already uttered in the presence of the Amirs. They then separated, and each man returned to his own army. After this, occurred the event [battle] at Tutluk, which weighed down the scale of Mir Vali in the balance of the regulations of Mirza Aba Bakr. Mirza Aba Bakr asked the generals who had been present at the interview what had been said ; they told him all that had passed, and added : " This is what was said in our presence, but afterwards Sayyid Muhammad Mirza spoke to Mir Vali in private, and we do not know what he said then." When, after the battle at Tutluk, Mir Vali came to Mirza Aba Bakr's presence, the latter asked what Sayyid Muhammad Mirza had said to him in private, and Mir Vali told him what my uncle had said. Then Mirza Aba Bakr replied: "But that is exactly what he said before all the others ; one does not demand a private interview merely to repeat such things as these." He said nothing further, but from that moment he began to suspect Mir Vali, thinking: "What Sayyid Muhammad really said to him in private he will not tell me ; perhaps he is in league with him, and is planning my ruin." So he seized Mir Vali and sent him to the Kazik, together with his brothers. Some of them he castrated.