vividly described by Mirza Haydar in the following words: "The Uzbeg Sultans entered the fort on the same night on which the Turkomans and Bāber, who were encamped before the place, were busy preparing their siege implements. At dawn they arranged their forces in the midst of the suburbs, and stood facing the enemy. On the other side, too, preparations were made for a fight. Since the Uzbegs were in the suburbs, the field of battle was a narrow one. The Uzbeg infantry began to pour forth a shower of arrows from every quarter, so that soon the grip of Islam wrenched aside the hands of heresy and unbelief, and victory declared for the true faith.1 The victorious breezes of Islam overturned the banners of the schismatics. The Turkomans were so completely routed that most of them perished on the field; all the wounds that had been effected by the swords at Karshi were now sewn up by the arrow-stitches of vengeance. They sent Mir Najm and all the Turkoman Amīrs to hell; and the emperor retired, broken and crestfallen, to Hisar." Bāber now determined on relinquishing his designs on Transoxiana, and, returning to Kabul, he prepared for an easier conquest-that of Hindustan. On gaining possession of Transoxiana, the Shaybanides divided it into a number of appanages, the eldest Sultan usually assuming the leadership of the rest. His name alone was read in the public prayers throughout the whole empire, and appeared on the coins of all the states which composed it.

For nearly ninety-nine years did the Shaybānīs, that is, the descendants of Abu-l-Khayr Khān,2 rule in Transoxiana. M. Veliaminof-Zernof was the first to

1 Mirza Haydar does hesitate to speak thus of the fortunes of his own cousin Baber, who had in his opinion sold himself to the heretic Persians.

2 As Grigorieff suggested, the name Abū-l-Khayride would fit this dynasty far better than that of Shaybanide.

elucidate the complications in their system of government during the sixteenth century.1 In his article on the coins of Bokhārā and Khiva, above quoted, he published a list of the chief Khāns, whom he calls the Khākāns, of the Shaybānīs, and also a genealogical table showing their descent from Abū-l-Khayr Khān.2

The separate appanages passed from father to son, and thus the residence of the Khākān, or chief Khan, was continually changing from one city to another. Thus Bokhārā lost its proud position as capital of Transoxiana, and took rank with other towns as the headquarters of successive chiefs.3

After the battle of Ghujduvān, in A.H. 918 (1512), in accordance with their established custom, tūra and yasak, the Shaybānī Sultans proceeded to elect their Khākān. Kuchunji Khān, as the eldest, was appointed to the high office; while Suyunjik was nominated Kälgha, or heir-apparent. The latter, however, died before Kuchunji, whereupon Jānībeg became the Kälgha; but he too predeceased Kuchunji, and the title of Kälgha passed to Abū Sa'īd Khān, who eventually became Khākān, A.H. 936 (1529). On his death he was succeeded by 'Ubaydullah Khan, A.H. 939 (1533).

The various appanages of Transoxiana were thus apportioned in 918 by Jānībeg:-Kuchunji received Samarkand; Suyunjik, Tashkent; and 'Ubaydullah,

1 "Bokharan and Khivan Coins," a monograph published in the Memoirs of the Eastern Branch of the Russian Archæological Society, vol. iv., St. Petersburg, 1859. This excellent and original monograph is extensively laid under contribution in the present chapter, as it was also by Sir H. Howorth in his chapter on the Shaybanides, pt. ii. div. ii. chap. ix.

2 See note, p. 190.

The Tazkira Mukīm Khānī, being a history of the appanage of Bokhārā, makes no mention of Kuchunji, or Abū Sa'id, who ruled in Samarkand, though they both attained the position of Khākān. Cf. Histoire de la Grande Bokharie, par Mouhamed Joussouf el-Munshi, etc., par Senkovsky, St. Petersburg, 1824.

THE UZBEG APPANAGES.

Abu-l-Khayr

Karakul and Karshi, besides Bokhārā, which was his by inheritance. Jānībeg reserved for himself and his children all the country of Miyankul, Soghd of Samarkand, and the town of Kerminé, which was his residence. Omitting the unimportant reigns of the seven following Khākāns,1 we will pass at once to a short account of the greatest of the Abu-l-Khayrides, 'Abdullah II., the last but one of his dynasty; and for this purpose we cannot do better than summarise the account given by Professor Vambéry in his History of Bokhara.2

In A.H.964(1556) he had put an end to the sub-dynasty of Bokhārā, and in A.H. 968 (1560) proclaimed his father in that town as "Khākān of the world"; in A.H. 986 (1578) he similarly abolished the sub-dynasty of Samarkand, which had sprung up during Iskandar's reign at Bokhārā; and in A.H. 991 (1583), on his father's death, he became Khākān.

"In imitation of Shaybānī Khan and 'Ubaydullah, who, although practically sovereigns of the country, had left the actual seat of the Khanate to others, the more freely to pursue their military career, 'Abdullah placed his father Iskandar on the throne, and put himself at the head of his army to re-conquer the original frontiers of Shaybani's empire. The greater part of his life was spent in this enterprise, but he was more fortunate in his conquests than any of his predecessors, and also contributed more to the restoration of prosperity to the countries of the Oxus and the Jaxartes. . . . Under him the frontiers of the Khanate of Bokhārā were pushed forward in the north far beyond the inhabited province

1 Their names were-Abū Sa'īd, 'Ubaydullah, 'Abdullah I., 'Abd-ul-Latif, Nawruz Ahmed, Pir Mohammad, and Iskandar. All are described at some length by Vambéry and Howorth, the latter basing his account on a great variety of authorities.

2 P. 284 et seq.

of Turkestan. In the east, not only all Farghāna, but also Kashghar and Khotan, were subdued by the Shaybānides. In the south, an aggressive policy had been pursued on the one hand by the family of Bāber, and on the other by the Safavis, who both coveted the possession of Balkh; but the power of the Uzbegs was even greater than in the time of the first Shaybānides. Balkh was fortified, Tokhāristān and Badakhshān were incorporated with Transoxiana, and once more the bright green waters of the Murghāb became the frontiers of Turania. In the west, the armies of 'Abdullah were again victorious, in spite of the united opposition of the Iranians and Khwārazmians. Astarābād was surprised and taken; the Prince of Gilan, an ally of Sultan Murad III., had to take refuge at Constantinople, and the frontiers of the empire of the Shaybānides were extended in this direction farther than they had ever been before. For the moment 'Abdullah . . . got possession of a great part of Khorāsān, including the towns of Herāt, Meshed, Sarakhs, Merv, etc., all of which he retained very nearly to his death."

Soon after 'Abdullah's death anarchy broke out in Transoxiana, and the way was prepared for a change of dynasty. The line of Shaybānī, after holding the government for nearly a century, gave place to the dynasty of Astrakhan.1 During its tenure of power the Khāns of Bokhārā and Khwārazm were continually at variance. On the conquest of Transoxiana by Abu-l-Khayr and Shaybānī, both Khanates were simultaneously occupied by the invaders. Subsequently, when Shāh Ismail drove Shaybānī out of Khwārazm, he placed a Persian governor in charge of the province, but the Sunni people detested the Shi'ite Shāh, and expelled him in 921. During the Khākānship of Kuchunji the Uzbegs 2 Cf. Howorth, ii. 876.

1 Cat. Coins Brit. Mus. vii.

1