provinces. Amir Haydar1 marched against them at the head of an army so powerful as to render resistance impossible. The rebels threw themselves into strong places, but were driven from these retreats by concentrated artillery fire. Two of them, 'Omar Bi and Fazil Bi, were tracked to a village by the Amir's troops, were captured and put to death; while Mahmud Bi, the third, sought safety in Kokand.2 Amir Haydar's store of energy was apparently exhausted by this early test. He permitted Iltuzar Khan of Khiva to ravage the suburbs of his capital, and not until the cry of his suffering subjects could no longer be disregarded did he give orders for an expedition to avenge their woes. It consisted of 30,000 Uzbegs under the command of a general of distinction named Mahammad Niyāz Bi. The avenging host followed the course of the Amu Darya until the confines of Khiva had been reached.3 In the meantime,

Iltuzar, overjoyed at the prospect of victory, crossed the Amu Darya in the enemy's rear and established himself in an entrenched camp with 4000 chosen men. The invaders were on the horns of a dilemma. To leave the river was to enter a waterless desert, wherein none would emerge alive; while retreat to Bokhārā was barred by the Khivans' entrenchments. In desperation they attacked the foe with suddenness and vigour, driving them into the Amu Daryā and securing a decisive victory. Khiva lay open to their attack, but the pusillanimous Haydar was content to rest on his vicariously won laurels, and to pass the rest

1 Amir Haydar was the first of the present dynasty to assume the title of Pādishāh.

2 'Abd ul-Kerīm, pp. 154-156. Vambéry gives a different version (History of Bokhara, p. 462), but we prefer to follow the native chronicler, who held high diplomatic posts in Bokhārā at the commencement of the century, and may be presumed to have had personal knowledge of the events which he records (see M. Charles Schefer's Introduction to his Chronicle, p. iii). 3 'Abd ul-Kerim, pp. 163, 164.

of his reign in the practice of a pharisaical piety and association with priests, who ruled the people in his name with a rod of iron. As is too frequently the fate of Oriental princes, he was unable to resist the enervating influence of the harem, and lost his power of initiative by wallowing in licensed debauchery. after an inglorious reign of twenty-seven years.

He died in 1826,

1 "He always has four legitimate wives: when he wishes to espouse a new wife he divorces one of her predecessors, giving her a house and pension corresponding with her condition. Every month he receives a young virgin, either as wife or slave. He marries the slaves who have not given him children, either to priests or soldiers" (Abd ul-Kerim, p. 163).

CHAPTER XXIX

AMIR NASRULLAH, A BOKHĀRAN NERO

IN writing of the monkish Haydar's successor, Vambéry appositely quotes an old Uïghūr proverb, "The princes of an age are its mirrors."1 Nasrullah Khan epitomised the vices which flourished unchecked in Bokhārā. The passion for low intrigue, the lust and cruelty, the selfrighteousness and hypocrisy so often associated with the Mohammedan character, were found in him in their highest development.

As the third son of Haydar, he had small chance of succeeding to the throne; but he kept that goal constantly in view during his father's lifetime, and paved the way thither by pandering to the greed of the military caste. No opportunity was lost of gaining adherents among the Amir's courtiers. Hakim Bi, the Kushbegi, or vezir, and his father-in-law Ayaz Topchi-bāshi,2 who held an important military command, were devoted to his interests.3

On Haydar's death, his eldest son, Husayn Khān, took possession of the citadel of Bokhārā and was proclaimed Amir. He received fervent assurances of loyalty from Nasrullah, who was the while actively plotting

1 History of Bokhara, p. 365. Nasrullah by Sir H. Howorth. pp. 790-809.

2" General of artillery."

A long chapter is devoted to Amir See his History of the Mongols, part ii.

3 Khanikoff, Bokhara, p. 296.

to subvert his authority, and who held a council of war at Karshi, at which Mu'min Beg Dādkhāh, one of Husayn's chief lieutenants, assisted.

At this crisis he learnt that his brother had died suddenly after a reign of barely three months, and took immediate steps to assert his claims.1 He obtained a legal decision in his favour from the chief-justice of Karshi, who also invited the clergy of Samarkand to espouse his cause. In the meantime another brother named 'Omar Khan seized the reins of power at Bokhārā, and sent orders to the governor of Samarkand on no account to surrender his charge. But on Nasrullah's arrival the gates were flung open to him by the influence of the mullas, and he was enthroned on the famous Blue Stone, or Kok-tash, whereon nearly every Amir since Timur's reign had received investiture. Then began a triumphant progress throughout the realm. KattiKurgan, Kerminé, and other cities surrendered to the pretender, who replaced their governors by creatures of his own, and bade the former swell his train. Thus attended, he arrived before Bokhārā and closely invested the city. Starvation soon decimated its swarming population. A pound of meat sold for seven tangas, flour was introduced through Nasrullah's trenches in coffins, and the stench of stagnant water in the irrigation canals grew intolerable. The Kushbegi and his father-in-law Ayaz took advantage of the people's agony to proffer their submission, and undertook to give the signal of capitulation by blowing up an ancient cannon, said to have weighed nearly thirteen tons.3 On hearing the muffled roar of the explosion, Nasrullah immediately at

3

1 The Kushbegi was vehemently suspected of removing him by poison (Khanikoff, p. 298).

2 About four shillings.

$ Khanikoff, p. 301.