The Memoirs of Bābur 901.9

901.9

Mazīd Tarkhān went off through the Gate of the Four Roads for Bukhārā; Sl. `Alī Mīrzā and Darwesh Muḥ. Tarkhān were made prisoner. Bāī-sunghar Mīrzā was in Aḥmad Ḥājī Beg's house when people brought Darwesh Muḥammad Tarkhān in. He put him a few questions but got no good answer. In truth Darwesh Muḥammad's was a deed for which good answer could not be made. He was ordered to death. In his helplessness he clung to a pillar[304] of the house; would they let him go because he clung to a pillar? They made him reach his doom (_siyāsat_) and ordered Sl. `Alī Mīrzā to the Gūk Sarāī there to have the fire-pencil drawn across his eyes. (_Author's note._) The Gūk Sarāī is one of Tīmūr Beg's great buildings in the citadel of Samarkand. It has this singular and special characteristic, if a Tīmūrid is to be seated on the throne, here he takes his seat; if one lose his head, coveting the throne, here he loses it; therefore the name Gūk Sarāī has a metaphorical sense (_kināyat_) and to say of any ruler's son, "They have taken him to the Gūk Sarāī," means, to death.[305] To the Gūk Sarāī accordingly Sl. `Alī Mīrzā was taken but when the fire-pencil was drawn across his eyes, whether by the surgeon's choice or by his inadvertence, no harm was done. [Sidenote: Fol. 37b.] This the Mīrzā did not reveal at once but went to Khwāja Yahya's house and a few days later, to the Tarkhāns in Bukhārā.