The Rashīdī History 50: CHAPTER XXVI. · THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE REIGN OF KHIZIR KHWAJA KHAN, SON OF TUGHLUK TIMUR KHAN.
The Tarikh-i-Rashidi (Elias, Ross) 50
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CHAPTER XXVI. · THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE REIGN OF KHIZIR KHWAJA KHAN, SON OF TUGHLUK TIMUR KHAN.
50.1
It has been mentioned above, that Tughluk Timur Khan's youngest son was Khizir Khwaja Khan, and that while he was yet at his mother's breast, he had been saved from the cruelty and enmity of Kamaruddin by Mir Agha, the mother of Amir Khudaidad. When Khizir Khwaja Khan attained the age of twelve years, [his friends] still fearing Amir Kamaruddin, removed him from Kashghar. Amir Khudaidad wished him to be accompanied by a few trustworthy men, but Mir Agha opposed this plan, saying: "Do not send any of your own servants, for when the boy becomes Khan, base born people [such as they] will become influential, and then they will prove enemies to yourself and your children. They will imagine that the people do not pay them sufficient respect, but say among themselves, 'These are only servants.' For this reason rather send others than your own retainers—send strangers." So twelve men were sent with him, of whom every one eventually became an Amir, and many of their descendants are alive now. Among their number was Arjirak, from whom are descended the Amirs of Itarji; Tajri of Khwarizm, from whom are sprung the Amirs of Kunji; while another was of the tribe of Chalish Siadi [or Sayyadi]; and his sons also became Amirs, with the style [lakab] of Kushji, but they are also called Kukildash. These persons all attained the rank of Amir, as did also the remainder of the twelve.
50.2
In short, they conducted Khizir Khwaja Khan up to the hills, which lie between Badakhshan and Kashghar. But as the spies of Kamaruddin got news of his hiding-place, he was obliged to abandon it and take flight to the hills of Khotan. Then again fearing discovery, he passed on from this place to Sarigh Uighur, Jurjan, and Lob Katak, in which regions he remained twelve years. On the death of Kamaruddin, search was made for Khizir Khwaja Khan, and Amir Khudaidad sent some people to fetch him from where he was in hiding. As soon as he was brought in, Khudaidad called the people together and raised him to the Khanship. Thus did the splendour of the Khan come to illumine the sovereignty of the Moghuls, so that the affairs of Moghulistan prospered.
50.3
The Khan then concluded a peace with Amir Timur, who formed an alliance with him by marrying Tavakkul Khanim, a maiden from the royal haram. During his reign the Khan undertook a holy war [ghazat] against Khitai. He, in person, attacked and conquered Karakhoja and Turfan, two very important towns, situated at the border of Khitai, and forced their inhabitants to become Musulmans, so that at the present time it is called "Dar al Islam." As a seat of the Moghul Khakans this country stands next in importance to Kashghar. It is moreover related that, in that campaign, this country was divided up in the manner ordained by the Holy Shariat. And there fell to the lot of the Khan, one piece of satin and one grey cow. The Khan's object in doing this, was the glorification of the realm of Islam.
50.4
It is related in the Zafar-Nama, that as soon as Amir Timur had satisfied his lust for conquest in the north, south and west, he prepared an expedition against the countries lying to the east, especially against Khitai, which is the most important of them; and a long description is given of the [projected] expedition, the substance of which is that he mustered an army of eight hundred thousand men, supplying them with provender sufficient for seven years — as was the custom in the armies of Irak and Rum. As the country lying between Khitai and Mavara-un-Nahr was but little cultivated and thinly populated, he ordered each man to take, in addition to other supplies, two milch-kine and ten milch goats, telling them that when their supplies should be exhausted, they were to milk these animals; and when, in turn, the milk should come to an end, they were to convert the animals themselves into provisions. Having completed these preparations, Amir Timur set out from Samarkand, and for that winter took up his quarters [kishlak] in Turkistan. While there, he sent to ask Khizir Khwaja Khan if it would be possible to cultivate the ground [in Moghulistan], in order to furnish supplies for the army.
50.5
I have frequently heard my father (upon whom rest the mercy of God) relate that in the beginning of the spring the new kimiz had come in, and on that day, according to an ancient Moghul custom, a great feast had been prepared. As Amir Khudaidad was on the point of offering a cup of kimiz to the Khan, one of the chief nobles announced the arrival of an ambassador from Amir Timur, and stated the purport of his mission. [The noble] added: "It is much to be regretted that we have not power to resist him, and that we should be compelled to pay him tribute." At these reflections, the cup of kimiz fell from the hands of the Khan, whereupon Amir Khudaidad said: "You must now drink of the cup of tranquillity (rahat), in conformity with this couplet: To grieve over what has not yet come to pass is taking sorrow in anticipation. 'Tis better that I should defer to the morrow the things of to-morrow." Then he added: "It has been said that if an apple be thrown up to the sky, God has had time to bestow a hundred blessings before it descends again. Ere another year be passed, how many thousand favours may He not confer! This consideration ought to bring you comfort."
50.6
Scarcely had he done speaking, when they saw advancing rapidly from the shore of Lake Karas, a man mounted on a black horse, and clothed in white robes. He rode on as far as the executioner's tent, where it is customary to dismount. This man, however, rode on without stopping, right past the station of the guards who were sitting in a line. The chamberlains ran up from every side to try and stop him in his course, but he did not slacken his speed till he came up to where the Khan was standing. Then he called out in a loud voice: "Amir Timur is no more, he has died at Otrar!" Having uttered these words he again rode off at full speed. Many horsemen were sent after him, but none could overtake him; and no other intimation of the news was received. However, after an interval of forty-five days, information came that Amir Timur had died at Otrar; so there no longer remained any doubt about the matter, and the Khan was relieved of all anxiety and distress. The Khan was born before the year 770 of the Hajra, and the above recorded events took place in 807 of the Hajra. But it is not known how long the Khan survived Amir Timur—God knows best.
50.7
When the Khan ascended the throne of the Khanate, the foundations of the State, which, under the usurpation of Kamaruddin and the ascendency of Amir Timur, had been much shaken, were once more strengthened and consolidated. Old customs and rights, which had fallen into disuse or oblivion, were revived, while the affairs of the kingdom and the business of the nobles were restored to order. Among other matters that received attention was the restoration to his rights of Amir Khudaidad. For in the reign of Chingiz Khan there had been granted to the ancestors of Amir Khudaidad the following seven privileges: 1. Tabl (or the drum). 2. Alam (or the Standard), the former being called in Turki "nakkara," the latter "tuman tugh." 3. Two of his servants might wear the Kushun-tugh; Kushun-tugh is synonymous with "chapar tugh." 4. He might wear the Kur in the councils of the Khan, though it is a custom among the Moghuls that no one but the Khan may carry his quiver in his hand. 5. Certain privileges in connection with the Khan's hunt. 6. He was to be an Amir over all the Moghuls, and in the farmans his name was to be entered as "Sirdar of the Ulus of Moghuls." 7. In the presence of the Khan, the other Amirs were to sit a bow's length further than he from the Khan.
50.8
Such were the seven privileges bestowed upon Urtubu by Chingiz Khan. When Amir Bulaji had brought Tughluk Timur Khan from the land of Kipchak, and had set him on the throne of the Khanate, he, in return for his services, received in addition to the seven privileges above enumerated, two others, so that he enjoyed nine in all. The first of the new privileges was, that he should have the power of dismissing or appointing Amirs of Kushuns (that is, Amirs who had one thousand followers) without applying to, or consulting with, the Khan; and the second was as follows: Bulaji and his descendants should be permitted to commit nine crimes without being tried. On committing the tenth offence, trial should be conducted under the following conditions:—The accused should be set upon a white two-year-old horse; under the hoofs of the horse, nine folds of white felt should be placed—as a token of respect—and he should in that position address the Khan, while the Khan should speak to him from an elevation. When the interrogatory and investigation had been conducted in this fashion, if the offence should be a mortal one, and the other nine crimes should also be proved against him, two Amirs should stand by and watch him while his veins were opened and all his blood drawn from his body. Thus he should perish. Then the two Amirs, wailing and lamenting, should carry his body out.
50.9
These nine privileges were contained in a farman issued under the seal of Tughluk Timur Khan, which I once saw myself. For it was handed down in our family, and ultimately came into the hands of my father (upon whom be the peace of God). It was however destroyed or lost, in the disturbed times of Shahi Beg Khán. It was written in the Moghul language and character, and bore the date and place of the year of the Hog, at Kunduz; which goes to prove that Tughluk Timur Khán's rule extended as far as Kunduz. No one alive now knows anything about the reign of that Khan, but I have copied into this history the account of it given in the Zafar-náma. Since Khizir Khwája Khán had been saved from the yawning abyss of Kamaruddin's violence, and had been placed upon the throne of the Kháns, by the aid of Amir Buláji's son, Amir Khudáidád, he rewarded the latter Amir by superadding three privileges to the nine existing ones; making the prerogatives of Amir Khudáidád twelve in number. Thus: 10. That on the occasion of festivals, when the Khan's chamberlains [yosául] arranged the ranks, one of the chamberlains of Amir Khudáidád, taking part in the proceedings, should stand on the right hand side, holding the Khán's cup: another on the left side, should hold the cup of Amir Khudáidád, and those two cups were to be exclusively reserved for the Khan and Amir Khudáidád. 11. That he should set his seal on all firmáns that might be issued, but that the Khán's seal should be set above his.
50.10
12. [No 12th mansab is mentioned in any of the texts]. Such were the twelve prerogatives [mansab] for which a firmán was granted to Amir Khudáidád, after whose death they descended to his son Amir Muhammad Shah Kurkán. When this latter died, they devolved on Amir Sayyid Ali Kurkán, the son of Muhammad Shah's brother, and after Sayyid Ali to Muhammad Haidar Mirza Kurkán his son, and after him to his son Muhammad Husain Mirza Kurkán, father of the present writer Muhammad Haidar, known familiarly as Mirza Haidar. After the martyrdom of my father, my uncle, Sayyid Muhammad Mirza, attached himself to Sultán Ash-Shahid—Sultán Said Khán; the Khan Said Shahid confirmed all these privileges to my uncle. The particulars of the matter are recorded in the Second Part of this Tarikh-i-Rashidi. These privileges (that is to say, the first [seven] of them) were in force from before the year 625 of the Hajra, which is the date of Chingiz Khán, down to the death of the Khan and the murder of my uncle, the date of which was the 1st of Moharram, 940 of the Hajra. When this calamity took place and the Khanship came to Sultan Rashid, the customs of our forefathers were exchanged for other, and very different, practices.
50.11
Praise be to the gracious Creator, in that when my turn arrived to be created, he made me a free man and independent of the Khans, for the great "mansab" He has granted me, is but an atom of those boundless favours which are the salvation of this world and the next. In the same way that thou hast made me materially free, make me also spiritually independent and prosperous! [Verses]: Oh! God, make all the world my ill-wishers, And keep me apart from them all. Keep my heart from worldly matters, And cause me to have but one purpose and aim in life.