The Nāṣirī Generations 279.3

279.3

There is considerable discrepancy respecting the fate of the last Altan Khan. Some say that he donned the dress of an ascetic, and was never heard of more; others again assert, that, when the city of Baltae was taken, he fled and disappeared; and some say that he fled to a fortress on the frontiers of his territory, and, having caused a funeral pyre to be prepared, when the Mughals attacked the place, mounted it with his wife and child, fired it, and perished. The Khita-is, however, affirm that, when the Mughals set fire to the city of Baltae in all directions, the Altan Khan perished in the flames; but the previous statement is notorious that he hung himself to a tree, and, two days after he left the Korchi disguised in his robes, the Mughals captured the city. This event happened in Jamadi-ul-Awwal, the fifth month of 631 H., about March, 1233 A.D. Thus fell the empire of the Altan Khans, and thus perished the last ruler of the thirty-six dynasties which had reigned over Khita. From the time of the investment of his capital, and his flight from city to city, two years passed away; and, after the Altan Khan's death, the whole of his dominions, by degrees, were reduced under the sway of the Mughals.