The Rashīdī History 201.2

201.2

[No sooner was he gone than] the inhabitants of [Badakhshan] began to despair; and all the Amirs, with Sultan Avais at their head, despatched express messengers to the Khan, representing: "Humayun Mirza has gone to Hindustan, leaving this province in the hands of Fakir Ali, who is quite incapable of coping with the Uzbeg, [and therefore] of establishing tranquillity in Badakhshan. If, by such and such a date, the Khan were to come, all would be well; otherwise we must succumb to the Uzbeg. But if the Uzbeg come and attack us before the arrival of the Khan, they will not be able [by the date mentioned] to obtain a firm footing. We implore his help. Perhaps he may be the cause of our salvation. Moreover, Badakhshan belongs to the Khan by right of inheritance from his grandmother, Shah Begum; nor is there a more rightful heir than he." So persistent were they in their appeals, that the Khan became convinced that if he did not go [to their aid] Badakhshan would fall into the hands of the Uzbeg. Therefore, at the beginning of Moharram of the year '36, he set out for Badakhshan, leaving Rashid Sultan in Yarkand. It has been mentioned above, that Tahir Khan had been left alone, and in the winter had been deserted by the Kirghiz and all his following. On this account the Khan showed him magnanimity and did nothing. After he had been a short time among the Kirghiz, about twenty or thirty thousand Uzbeg again gathered round him; and he prepared himself in every way [for war].