The Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV: The Mughul Period v4.c18.56

v4.c18.56

Since his accession Shāh Jahān had always cherished a desire to win back for his house Samarqand, the home and first capital of Tīmūr, which had been taken from Tīmūr’s descendants by the Uzbegs under Muhammad Shaibānī. Since then another dynasty had sprung up known as the Jānids of Astrakhan, from which the founders had been expelled by the Russians. One of these married a daughter of the Shaibānid ruler and their son Bāqī Muhammad became chief of the Uzbegs. The offer of help by Imām Qulī, who was chief when Shāh ‘Abbās took Qandahār in 1622, has been mentioned in the previous chapter. Uzbeg cupidity was aroused by the confusion in India during Jahāngīr’s last years and shortly after the accession of Shāh Jahān Nazr Muhammad, brother of Imām Qulī, undertook the conquest of Kābul. He met with some success, but as the summer advanced his troops melted and he withdrew. There was still no breach between the Mughuls and Imām Qulī, and a second raid by Nazr Muhammad in May, 1629, ceased after his capture of Bāmīān. A few years later Nazr Muhammad himself sent apologies which were accepted and a return envoy carried the usual vainglorious accounts of Shāh Jahān’s achievements.