The Rashīdī History 50.4

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.