[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Dark Ages](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages) › [Kashmir](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.kashmir) › [Tārīkh-i Rashīdī](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.kashmir.tarikh-i-rashidi) › [The Tarikh-i-Rashidi (Elias, Ross)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.kashmir.tarikh-i-rashidi~en-ross) › 4.2 # The Rashīdī History 4.2 The Tarikh-i-Rashidi (Elias, Ross) 4.2 - **Language:** English ### [4.2.1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.kashmir.tarikh-i-rashidi~en-ross.4.2.1) Chaghatai's own capital was at Almáligh, in the valley of the Upper Ili, near the site of the present Kulja, and consequently in the extreme east of his dominion. His reason for fixing it in that remote position, instead of at Bokhara or Samarkand, was probably one of necessity. His Mongol tribesmen and followers — the mainstay of his power — were passionately fond of the life of the steppes: the only existence worthy of men and conquerors, was that passed in the felt tents of their ancestors, among the flocks and herds that they tended in time of peace, and led with them on their distant campaigns. The dwellers in houses and towns were, in their eyes, a degenerate and effeminate race; — the tillers of the soil, slaves who toiled like cattle, in order that their betters might pass their time in luxury. They would serve no Khan who did not pass a life worthy of free-born men and "gentlemen rovers"; and Chaghatai and his immediate successors probably saw, as his later descendants are described by Mirza Haidar to have seen, that the one way of retaining the allegiance of his own people, was to humour their desires in this respect, and live, with them, a nomad's life. ### [4.2.2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.kashmir.tarikh-i-rashidi~en-ross.4.2.2) Chaghatai died in 1241, after a reign of about fourteen years, and within the same year the death of Oktai occurred at Karakorum. Thus two out of four of the chief divisions of the Mongol empire were suddenly deprived of their sovereigns, with the result that nearly the whole of the successors of Chingiz were set disputing for the succession. "Among the most violent as regards party spirit and warlike temper," writes Mr. Oliver in his summary of this period, "were some of the representatives of Chaghatai. For the time being, it ended in Turakina, Oktai's widow, being appointed regent; but there were set up lasting disputes among the rival claimants, and the seeds of much future mischief were sown. For long after, the disputes regarding the succession to the throne of the great Kaan became inextricably mixed up with the affairs, more especially of the eastern part, of Chaghatai's Khanate, and it is impossible to give an intelligible account of the latter without occasional references to the former." ### [4.2.3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.kashmir.tarikh-i-rashidi~en-ross.4.2.3) Little is known of the way in which Chaghatai disposed of his kingdom at his death, and there appears to be no mention, anywhere, of his having followed the ancestral custom of his house in distributing it among his descendants. He is recorded to have left a numerous family, but to have been succeeded by a grandson, and a minor, named Kara Hulaku, while his widow, Ebuskun, assumed the regency. This statement, however, seems to apply to Turkistan, Transoxiana, and the adjacent regions : at all events not to Kashghar, Yarkand, Khotan, Aksu, and the southern slopes of the Tian Shan mountains — or, in other words, to the province south of the line of the Tian Shan, which is called, in our times, Eastern Turkistan. As regards this province, Mirza Haidar tells us that it was given by Chaghatai, presumably at his death, to the clan or house of Dughlat, whose members were reckoned to be of the purest Mongol descent, and one of the noblest divisions of that people. We shall hear more of this clan and the province they ruled, farther on ; but the important point to notice here, with reference to subsequent events, is that the Dughlats were made hereditary chiefs, or Amirs, of the various districts of Eastern Turkistan, as far back as the time of Chaghatai, for it is chiefly on this incident that hinges the permanent division of the Chaghatai realm into two branches, at a later date. ### [4.2.4](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.kashmir.tarikh-i-rashidi~en-ross.4.2.4) Ebuskun's sway was a short one, for as early as 1247 Almaligh was attacked by Kuyuk, the son and successor of Oktai, and she was deprived of her power. For a time, disorder prevailed throughout the Khanate ; but Kuyuk seems to have had sufficient power to set up one Yasu (or Isu) Mangu, who, being himself a worthless debauchee, governed the country through the agency of a Musulman Wazir, called Khwaja Baha-ud-Din. Kuyuk died within three years of his accession, and was followed, as supreme Khakan, by Mangu, who, in 1252, restored Kara Hulaku and Ebuskun to their former dignities. Baha-ud-Din and Yasu Mangu were now, in their turn, removed, the former being put to death at once. Kara Hulaku died within a few months of his restoration, and after his death we hear no more of Ebuskun. Hulaku's throne passed over to his own widow — one Organah Khatun — whose first act was to execute Yasu Mangu, under some compact, which appears to have been made for his riddance, between her predecessor and the Khakan Mangu. Organah is described as possessing much beauty, wisdom, and influence, and as long as Mangu lived she was allowed to reign in peace. But he died in 1259, when a war of succession to the supreme Khakanate broke out between his brothers Artukbuka and Kublai. ### [4.2.5](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.kashmir.tarikh-i-rashidi~en-ross.4.2.5) In this strife, the Chaghatai princess appears to have taken no part, but she suffered nevertheless, for in 1261 she was driven from Almaligh by Algu (a great-grandson of Chingiz), who had been nominated by Artukbuka to rule in her place, and to bring over the Chaghatai forces to assist him in his war with Kublai. Algu, however, betrayed his patron, who, abandoning Karakorum to his rival Kublai, marched against Almaligh, whence Algu had to fly for safety, first to Kashghar and Khotan, and finally to Samarkand. Artukbuka spent the winter of 1263 in Almaligh, devastating the district and putting to death many of Algu's followers. By these excesses he weakened his own army and resources to so great a degree, that he had to submit to Kublai and make peace with Algu, stipulating to retain for himself a portion only, of the eastern part of the Chaghatai Khanate. These transactions brought about not only a reconciliation between Algu and Organah, but a marriage. Both, however, died within a few months, and Artukbuka, having done homage to Kublai, by prostrating himself at the door of Kublai's tent, the latter remained supreme from Peking to Transoxiana, and acquired the title of Khakan. He was the "Great Kaan" of Marco Polo. ### [4.2.6](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.kashmir.tarikh-i-rashidi~en-ross.4.2.6) But a rival was beginning to show himself in the person of Kaidu, a grandson of Oktai. This prince was plotting, in western Kipchak, for the assistance of his uncle Batu, in asserting his claim to the province of Turkistan—the north-western division of the Chaghatai Khanate—and probably also for the region then becoming known as Moghulistan, which lay immediately to the eastward of Turkistan, and comprised the Zungar country, already alluded to. At the death of Algu, Kublai nominated Mubarak Shah, a son of Algu and Organah, to the Chaghatai succession, but immediately afterwards is said to have appointed, as his vice-regent, another great-grandson of Chaghatai, named Borak (or Barák), to support Mubarak Shah in resisting Kaidu. So far from assisting the young Khan, Borák drove him from the throne, made common cause with Kaidu, and for a time exercised joint sovereignty with the latter over Transoxiana. But jealousies were not long in showing themselves between the allies, and quarrels ensued which were only partially composed at a kuriltai, or conference of the chiefs of the tribes, held in Turkistan in 1269, when certain points were agreed on, the most important being "the implied recognition of Kaidu as the rightful Khakan of the Moghuls, which from this time was extended by the Chaghatai Khans both to him and his son Chapar." ### [4.2.7](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.kashmir.tarikh-i-rashidi~en-ross.4.2.7) Borak now proceeded to indemnify himself by invading Khorasan, but his campaigns resulted in nothing but defeat, and eventually he retired to Bokhara, where he died, or was perhaps poisoned, in 1270. "His reign," says Mr. Oliver, "had extended only to some four years, but they were years of misery and destruction to some of the fairest lands and most prosperous cities on the Zarafshan. His death delivered them from at least one cowardly tyrant and persecutor, though they still continued to suffer from the fratricidal wars that constantly raged between the rival chiefs of the lines of Oktai and Chaghatai, and the unhappy citizens had even more reason than Venice of old for invoking 'a plague on both their houses.'" Borak's death left Kaidu sole master of the western portion of the Khanate. The dispossessed Mubarak Shah and other chiefs took the oath of allegiance to him, thus rendering him a still more dangerous rival of Kublai. In 1270 (668 h.), much to the indignation of the sons of Borak, he nominated Nikpai, a grandson of Chaghatai, chief of the tribe, but in less than two years Nikpai seems to have revolted, been killed, and succeeded by Tuka Timur, another scion of the house (circa 1271, or 670 h.), who, in less than two years more, was ousted by Dava, the son of Borak (circa 1273, or 672 h.). Dava had made up his quarrel with Kaidu, his claims having been constantly urged by the latter's son Chapar. ### [4.2.8](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.kashmir.tarikh-i-rashidi~en-ross.4.2.8) His reign was the longest ever enjoyed by a descendant of Chaghatai, and the Khanate might have hoped for some peace from an alliance between the rival houses, but unfortunately a third firebrand appeared on the scene. --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.kashmir.tarikh-i-rashidi~en-ross.4.2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.kashmir.tarikh-i-rashidi~en-ross.4.2) · Pramāṇa