History of the Qaraunah Turks in India c9.8

c9.8

Amir Chauban’s death was a heavy blow to the Ilkhāns whom he had served with rare fidelity. His sons were indignant at the brutal murder of their father, and one of them Timur-tash fled to the Sultan of Egypt to implore his intervention to avenge the death of his father, but Abu Sa‘id forestalled him by informing the ruler of Egypt that the death of Chauban was due to his unbridled exercise of authority. Timur-tash was well received at the Egyptian court, but when Abu Sa‘id insistently demanded his extradition, the Sultan of Egypt imprisoned him, and caused his death by poison on the night of Thursday, August 22, 1328 A.D. Khorasan remained in a state of chronic disorder. Narin Togāi, the ambitious governor of the province wished to extend the sphere of his authority and came into collision with the Malik of Herat, and in the encounters that followed he was repulsed by Shams-al-Din, one of the sons of the Malik, and was compelled to retreat. Mortified by this defeat the governor vented his wrath upon his subjects, and levied a heavy blackmail upon them in order to carry out his nefarious plans. The news of his oppressions and exactions reached Abu Sa‘id, who was filled with rage, and the imperious lady Baghdad Khātūn employed her art to inflame the mind of her husband against one whom she considered to be an accomplice in the murder of her father and brother. The disaffected governor was condemned to death on October 5, 1327 A.D., and his head was suspended from the walls of Sultania. The Khan of Chaghtai, who had not forgotten his defeat of 1326 A.D., derived encouragement from these internal disorders and complications, and towards the end of May, 1328 A.D. he again determined to lead an expedition into Khorasan, but the danger was averted by the promptitude of Abu Sa'id who was capable of energetic action in emergent circumstances. In 1329 A.D. Ghiyas-al-Din, governor of Herat, died and was succeeded by his eldest son Shams-al-Din who died in 1330 A.D. and was succeeded by Hāfiz who was assassinated by his grandees in 1332 A.D. The state of disorder in Herat and Khorasan, accompanied by the scrambles and machinations of parties in which the Sultana Baghdad Khātūn played an important part, added to the difficulties of Abu Sa'id. The Chaghtai prince still looked with greedy eyes on Khorasan, and watched with secret satisfaction the state of disorder that existed in the province.