XV. Description of Kashgar
This
article was taken from http://depts.washington.edu/uwch/silkroad/texts/rash1.html
Kashgar is an old and famous town. In former times the Sultns of Kashghar were of the
family of Afrasiab the Turk, whom the Moghuls call Bugha Khan...Among
the Sultans of Kashghar [here the author is talking
about the Karakhanids] was a certain Satuk Bughra Khan, who was
converted to Islam in his early years. During his occupation of the throne, he
brought over the whole country of Kashghar to the
true faith. After his death, several of his descendants ruled in Kashghar, and even in Mavara-un-Nahr,
until the conquest of Chingiz Khan.
[Tai Yang Khan fled from Chingiz
Khan. Kushluk, son of Tai Yang Khan] took Kashghar from the vassals of the Gur
Khan of Kara Khitai, who had himself taken it from
the vassals of the descendants of Afrasiab....[The
details of Kushluk's actions follow here, where he is
alleged to have forced the population in the cities of the western Tarim Basin to become Christians or Buddhists.]
After Chingiz Khan had
subjugated the whole of Kashghar, he went and set his
mind at rest with regard to the affairs of
Kashghar is bounded on the north by the mountains of Moghulistan, which stretch from west to the east, and from
them rivers flow towards the south. Those hills extend from Shash,
on one side, to beyond Turfan [on the other], their
extremities reaching into the land of the Kalmak,
which quarter none but the Kalmak themselves have
seen, or know anything about. I have questioned some of those who have seen
something of that country, but I can recall nothing of what they told me, which
would be worthy of mention in this book. Moghulistan
will [afterwards] he described shortly. From Shash to
Turfan is three months' journey. On the west side of Kashghar is another long mountain range, of which the
mountains of Moghulistan are an off-shoot. This range
runs from north to south. I travelled on those
mountains for six months without coming to their extremity. They also shall be
presently described, in the account of Tibet. From these mountains, rivers run
from west to east, and to these rivers Kashghar owes
its fertility. The whole of the confines of Khotan, Yarkand and Kashghar lie at the
base of these mountains. To the east and south of Kashghar
and Khotan are deserts, which consist of nothing but
heaps of shifting sands, impenetrable jungles, waste lands and salt-deserts. In
ancient times there were large towns in these [wastes], and the names of two of
them have been preserved, namely Lob and Katak; but
of the rest no name or trace remains: all are buried under the sand. Hunters,
who go there after wild camels, relate that sometimes the foundations of cities
are visible, and that they have recognised noble
buildings such as castles, minarets, mosques and colleges, but that when they
returned a short time afterwards, no trace of these was to be found; for the
sand had again overwhelmed them. On such a scale were these cities of which,
nowadays, neither name nor vestige remains! In a word, the habitable districts
of Kashghar and Khotan lie
along the western skirts of these mountains. On the frontier of Kashghar is the district of Artuj;
from there to the confines of Khotan, at Kariya and Jariya, is one month's
journey. But as for the breadth of fertility of the cultivated region (from the
foot of the western range to the eastward) by travelling
quickly one can leave all cultivation behind in a day or two. On the banks of
every stream that comes down from that range, grain is sown and the land is
cultivated.
The first of these is the River Timan
[Tuman], which comes from a mountain standing between
Kashghar and Farghana. This
river flows between the ancient citadel of Kashghar,
which Mirza Aba Bakr destroyed, and the new one which he built, on the
banks of this river, as has been related. Part of Kashghar
is fertilised by this same river. The second river is
the Kara Tazghun. In the dialect of Kashghar, Tazghun means a river.
It flows about three farsakhs to the south of the
above mentioned fort. The greater part of the province of Kashghar
is watered by it. At a distance of three farsakhs
from it, is a third river called Kusan Tazghun, on the banks of which is the town of Yangi-Hisar, and its dependent districts. The town is
supplied with water by this river. The distance from Kashghar
to Yangi-Hisar is six statute farsakhs.
At about six farsakhs from Yangi-Kisar
is an insignificant hamlet called Kara Chanak, in
front of which flows another stream called Shahnaz,
which waters several [other] places. The valley of the Shahnaz
lies in the western range, and the [high] road from Kashghar
to Badakhshan runs through this valley. On the road
from Kara Chanak to Kilpin
Rabat, is a resting place for those coming and going [on the road]; the
distance between Kilpin Rabat and Kara Chanak is five statute farsakhs.
Further on is another halting place--a monastery [langar]--which
is called Kush Gumbaz, an
excellent stage watered by the Shahnaz. It has both
cultivated grounds and gardens [baghat] which all
form a part of the foundation [vakf] of this "langar." Travellers enjoy
the advantages which the "langar" offers.
The next stage is a village called Kizil. The water there is brackish, and
nobody stops there who is not obliged to. It is considered the halfway stage
between Yangi-Hisar and Yarkand.
It is about ten farsakhs from Kizil to Kuk Rabat, and from Dik Rabat to
the edge of the district of Yarkand, which is called Rabatchi, is by measurement seven statute farsakhs. Between Rabatchi and
Kara Chanak there is but little inhabited country,
except for the stages that have been mentioned.
Yarkand was formerly a very important city. The old town was dug out
by Mirza Aba Bakr; it was among the excavations which we have spoken
about, and much treasure was found [in it]. It is not known whether the old
town was called Yarkand, or whether it had another name.
In the days of my ancestors, Yarkand was a companion
city to Yangi-Hisar. Mirza Aba Bakr made Yarkand
his capital. He introduced streams [into the town] and laid out gardens; and it
is generally reported that these numbered 12,000, most of which were in the
city and its environs. But I cannot imagine that this figure is correct. Mirza Aba Bakr
built a citadel which, in most places, is thirty statute gaz
in height. The inside of the citadel is roughly about a hundred chub, and in it
has been built a very high fort [ark]. The citadel has six gateways, which are
devised for great strength. The gates themselves are placed about a hundred gaz within [the walls] and on either side are two towers
near together, so that should any one wish to enter either of the gates, he
must [first] pass between these two towers. If an enemy attack the interior, he
is assailed with arrows and stones from front and rear, as well as from right
and left. This system is to be met with in very few forts. In the fort [ark] of
this citadel, magnificent buildings have been constructed; but to describe them
would be tedious. In the suburbs are about ten gardens, in which are erected
lofty edifices, containing about a hundred rooms each. All these rooms are
fitted with shelves and recesses in the wall, they have ceilings of plaster
work, and dados of glazed tiles and frescoes. Along the public roads are
avenues of white poplar, so that one may walk for a statutory farsakh and a half on every side of the city, under the
shade of these trees. Streams run by most of the avenues.
The water of Yarkand is the
best in the world. Every praise which doctors have bestowed upon any water is
true of this. It comes down from the mountains of Tibet (a month's journey
distant), which are covered with snow and ice; it flows swiftly over a stony
and sandy soil from south to north, and when it reaches Sarigh-Kul,
which forms the extremity of the hilly country of Kasbghar,
it rushes on, with like rapidity, from rock to rock, leaping and tossing, for
seven days [journey] in an easterly direction, until it arrives at the level
ground. Here it continues its rapid course over a stony bed for two days more,
and when it reaches the bed of the river of Yarkand,
in which there are few stones, the current in some degree abates its speed. A
curious fact concerning this stream is, that in the early part of the spring it
becomes so small that one might almost cross it, in some places, by stepping
from stone to stone. In the season of Leo, it swells so much that it becomes,
in places, nearly a statutory mile [mil] in breadth, [while its depth is then
nowhere less than four gaz], and for a distance of
one karuh [about 1.5 mi.] it is no less than ten gaz in depth. Jade [Yashb]is
found in this stream. Most of the country and districts of Yarkand
are irrigated by it. At a distance of about seven farsakhs,
flows another stream called Tiz-Ab [Tiznaf], which waters the rest of the country. For about
three days' journey, at a medium pace, from Yarkand
[in the direction of Khotan] are well populated towns
and villages; the farthest of these is called Lahuk.
From this place to Khotan is ten days' slow marching,
during which time, excepting at the halting places, one meets with no
habitations.
In Khotan there are two rivers,
called Kara Kash and Urung Kash, in both of which jade is met with, and it is found
nowhere else in the world. The waters of these two rivers are preferred [by
some] to that of Yarkand, but personally, I could
never find the superiority in them. Khotan is amongst
the most famous towns in the world, but at the present time its jade is the
only thing that remains worth writing about. One curious circumstance
concerning Khotan, is that magpies. are never seen
there; or if, at any time, one happens to appear, it is taken as a bad omen,
and the people band together and drive it away.
The Imam Ala-ud-Din Muhammad of
Khotan is mentioned in all histories, but no one in Khotan knows which is his tomb, nor even recalls his name.
There are many other tombs there, about which nothing is known. According to
tradition (the truth of which is contradicted by books on history) there lie
buried there, among others, many martyrs, such as Imam Zabiha
[or Zabija], Jafar Tayyar, and Imam Jafar Sadik, and several others of the Companions [of the
Prophet]. But the falsehood of these traditions is evident. It is possible that
some of the followers of these companions bearing their names, came here and
suffered martyrdom, for before the conversion of Kashghar
to Islam, some of the followers of the companions came to Kashghar
and conducted a holy war [ghazat] there [and at Khotan]. But the strange thing there is that the martyrs,
whom they have deposited in the tombs, are sometimes exposed to view, from the
sand being blown away by the wind, and no change is noticeable in them; they
are recognisable, and their wounds--nay more, the
very blood which has issued from the wounds, all dried up, is still visible.
Every one who makes the circuit of these graves, witnesses these things.
The tombs of Yarkand, however,
belong to no one who is mentioned in histories or other books. But the people
of Yarkand believe that there lie [buried there] the
Seven Muhammadans. Their story, as related by the mujavir [tomb guardians] is not worth recording here, but Maulana Khwaja Ahmad, who was a
disciple of Hazrat Ishan,
and a good and industrious old man...., has told me that the Seven Muhammadans were grandees; but I do not remember having
read of them in any history. Another tomb is that of Dava
Khan Padishah; but concerning him I could learn nothing from the mujavir. Suddenly Hazrat Shahab-ud-Din Khwaja Khavand Mahmud passed in front of
the tomb, and turning to me said: 'This man possesses a wonderfully strong
power of attraction, and I never pass by here without being strongly drawn
towards [his tomb]." The edifice is a lofty one and is covered outside
with plaster, upon which are paintings and inscriptions. In spite of having
examined them carefully, my efforts did not enable me to read them, for most of
them were in Kufic character, but not in the Kufic which is employed nowadays. A few are in Suls [a large Naskhi hand]
writing, but it is not inscribed in such a manner as to be easily read. Near
this, is a dome, upon the archway of which is some Turki
writing which is mostly destroyed. It is there written: "In the year 656..
. . ," but the rest is obliterated and cannot be read. This date
corresponds very nearly with the date of Dava Khan,
better known as Dava Sahan,
and I am convinced that this is his tomb. [Note: the author's identification
here seems to be erroneous, in part because his chronology is wrong.] I hold
the proof to be conclusive for several reasons. Firstly, at that date there was
no other Dava Khan reigning; and this name of Dava Khan does not indicate, in the least, that he was a Shaikh or an Imam; nor does the fact of such a magnificent
tomb having been raised over him. Again the father of Dava
Khan, Barak Khan, became a Musulman
in Bokhara, received the title of Ghayyas-ud-Din,
and was succeeded on the throne by his son Dava Khan.
From this it is quite evident that Dava Khan was Musulman. He is very much lauded in histories, and it is
not surprising that God should have raised him to such high rank, considering
his "Islam," and his noble qualities. After his death, any man who
believed this to be his tomb, did it reverence, and as time went on [its
identity] became an established fact; but God alone knows the truth.
If, as is indeed the case, this is the tomb of the famous
Dava Khan, his story is told in histories....
Within the citadel of Yarkand
and near to the fort [ark] is a tomb called Abjaji
Ata, in which is the bone of a man's thigh, in two pieces. I have always
noticed this with great wonder. I once pointed it out to Khidmat
Maulana Shah Sayyid Ashik, one of the most profoundly learned and pious Ulama in Mavara-un-Nahr, who
expressed great astonishment, and said: "Let us take the
measurement." He ordered to be brought the corresponding thigh-bone of a
man of the present time; be broke off clods of earth of the weight of that bone
and tied them up in handkerchiefs, till they were exactly the weight of the
bone which was in two pieces. He afterwards counted the clods and found there
were sixty. Then the Maulana said: "The owner of
this bone must have been sixty times the size of men of our time." This is
indeed a most wonderful thing!
As for the tombs of Kashghar,
the first is that of Satuk Bughra
Khan, of the race of Afrasiab, and ancestor of Yusuf Kadr Khan and Sultan Ilak Mazi. He was the first Turk
to become a Musulman, and he is related to have said:
"Satuk was the first of the Turks to become a Musulmdan." I have heard from darvishes
that to visit his tomb is a source of great spiritual advantage. There are many
other tombs, excellent accounts of which are to be found in books. Among them
are those of Husain Fasl Khwaja, Kutb-i-Alam, Shaikh Habib, Fakih
ibn Bakr and others. The
strangest is the enclosure of Husain Fasl Khwaja, which they call the
"Enclosure of the Muftis," for a hole has been made in his grave
opposite to where his face is. No change has taken place: his beard is [still]
perfectly straight, and he is recognisable. I have
heard the Ulama of Kashghar
say that whenever they had a difficult question to decide, they would write a
copy of it and place it in the tomb; on the morrow, when they came, they found
the answer written down. And this has been tried and tested. (The
responsibility be upon their shoulders.)
All the people of Khotan and Kashghar are divided up into four classes. One is called Tuman, which means peasantry: they are dependent upon the
Khan, and pay their taxes to him yearly. Another class is called Kuchin, which means soldiery, who are all dependent upon my
relations [presumably the Dughlat]. A third is called
Imak [or Aimak], all of
whom receive a fixed revenue [mukataa]of grain, cloth
and the like. These people are also dependent upon my relations. The fourth
class are the controllers of legal jurisdiction, and the custodians of
religious houses and pious foundations; most of these are of my family. They
need not, however, be specified in this place.
There are in that country one or two things quite
peculiar to it. Firstly, the Jade-stone, which is found in the rivers of Yarkand and Khotan, and of which not
a trace is to be found in any other part of the world. Secondly, the wild
camel, which if taken in such a way that it receives no injury, can be placed
in a line [of camels], and will follow exactly like a domestic camel. This
animal is found in the deserts to the south and east of Khotan.
Thirdly, in the hills of that country are wild oxen [kutas]
of extreme size and nobility; they are the most ferocious of savage beasts When
one of them attacks a human being, its butting with the horns, its kick, and its
lick are all equally fatal. When on my journey from Tibet to Badakhshan (which journey I will speak of presently) we
were a party of twenty-one persons, and on the road a kutas
was killed. It was only with the utmost trouble and difficulty that four men
were able to extract the beast's stomach. One man could not lift one of its
shoulder blades. After the twenty-one persons had each carried away as much as
he was able for food, two-thirds were still left.
Again, most of the fruits of that country are very
plentiful. Among others the pears are especially good, and I never saw their
equal anywhere else; they are, in fact, quite incomparable. Its roses and
rose-water are also excellent, and almost as good as those of Herat. Moreover,
its fruits have an advantage over the fruits of other countries, in that they
are less unwholesome. The cold in winter is very severe, and the heat in summer
is moderate; but the climate is very healthy. The fruits, which generally are
injurious when taken at breakfast or after any food, are there, on account of
the excellence of the climate, followed by no evil consequences and do no harm.
During the autumn it is not the custom to sell fruit in the provinces of Kashghar and Khotan, nor is it
usual to hinder any one from plucking it. Nay more, it is planted along the
roadsides, so that any one who wishes to do so, may take of it.
But [Kashghar] has also many
defects. For example, although the climate is very healthy, there are continual
storms of dust and sand, and violent winds charged with black dust. Although
Hindustan is notorious for this phenomenon, yet in Kashghar
it is still more prevalent. The cultivation of the ground is very laborious and
yields but little profit. In Kashghar it is
impossible to support an army upon the produce of the country. Compared with
the Dasht-i-Kipchak, the Kalmak
country and Moghulistan, it has the semblance of a
town, but with regard to productiveness and its capacity to support an army, it
cannot be compared to those steppes. The inhabitants of towns who go there
regard Kashghar as a wild country, while the people
of the steppes consider it a refined city. It is a sort of Purgatory between
the Paradise of Towns and the Hell of Deserts. "Ask those from Hell of
Purgatory, and they will call it Paradise" [A quotation from a famous poem
"Gulistan" by the Persian Saadi]. In a word, it is free from the discord of men and
the trampling of hoofs, and it is a safe retreat for the contented and the
rich. Great blessings accrue to the pious, now, from the blessed saints who
lived there in time past. From two pious persons, out of many I have seen, I
have heard that when people migrate from that country to some other, they
cannot find the same peace of mind, and they remember Kashghar
[with regret]. This is the highest praise.
Return to the General Narrative
I had brought the Khan's history down to the point where
he, having left the province of Farghana, set out for
Kashghar by way of Moghulistan.
As soon as Mirza Aba Bakr heard of this, he built the citadel of Kashghar in seven days, and placed in it one thousand horse
and foot, with provisions for several years, giving his own son Yusfan command over them. Then, having settled whatever
business he had there as best he could, he started for Yangi-Hisar,
which he also supplied with provisions, arms and siege implements, and finally
went on to Yarkand.
In the meanwhile the Khan reached Atu
Bum Bashi, which is one of the frontiers of Moghulistan on the side of Kashghar.
Leaving his family and baggage there, to follow slowly after, he marched
forward with an unencumbered army. On the first night he encamped at a place
called Mirza turki; on the
second day he halted at Tushku, arriving at Artuj on the third day, and there he performed the circuit
[tawaf] of the shrine of Shaikh
Habib, an eminent Shaikh.
The miracle is recorded of him that in building the monastery, one of the beams
was found too short, and that he pulled it, and extended it [to the required
length]. This beam [the Khan] saw, and having repeated verses from the Koran
and uttered prayers, he begged that he might profit by the spirit of the Shaikh...
[Ü ]
XVI. [After thus invoking the aid of the local saint,
Said Khan resumed his march, coming up to the outlying defenses of Kashgar. The author then provides a detailed description of
the composition of his forces, in which his own Dughlat
family, led by his uncle Sayyid Muhammad Mirza, figures prominently. He notes that at age fifteen,
he also had a minor command in the army. This material, not reproduced here,
would be valuable for reconstructing the history of the "politics"
and local clan affiliations in the region. After defeating Aba
Bakr's forces outside of Kashgar,
the Khan chose to march on Yanghi Hisar
and Yarkand. Sappers managed to blow up parts of the
fort at the first of these towns; its fall then led to the capitulation of Kashgar. The author's description of the disarray in Aba Bakr's forces contains some
intentional humor and apparent word play. With little hope of defending his territory,
Aba Bakr fled in haste from
Yarkand. The description of the treasures he
attempted to take with him is of some interest as an indicator of the wealth
that could be amassed in Turkestan.]
When Mirza Aba
Bakr had pitched his camp...he wished to pass his
forces in review, but his efforts to do so were in vain. For those Amirs, who had been used all their lives to handling the
yoke [yugh], when they now raised the standard [tugh] and formed in line, thought they were thrashing corn,
and got in each other's way; nor could they distinguish between right and left
and centre. When their spirited steeds reared and shied, they held on anyhow to
the withers, and when, in fear of their lives, they pulled at the bridle, and
the horse would rear, the rider would lose his control, and slip back on the
horse's haunches. If the animal started off, they would throw up the bridle and
fall, like a drop of sweat, to the ground. Their bows got broken, and their
arrows fell out [of the quivers]. When Mirza Aba Bakr saw this kind of
horsemanship--such soldiering and such archery--he said: "With such a
troop as this, it would be dangerous to try and rob a kitchen-garden"; and
he returned, dispirited and anxious, to his tent, seriously meditating flight.
Following this, came news that the citadel of Yangi-Hisar had fallen; and when the people of Kashghar heard of that, they too abandoned their citadel
and dispersed. On this intelligence reaching the Mirza,
he felt that further delay was useless [and that the hour for flight had come]
[Couplet] . . . . Therefore, having packed up the richest of his clothes and
his valuables, having divorced his kingdom, and handed Yarkand
over to his eldest son, Jahangir Mirza,
he fled. [Verses] .
Jahangir Mirza, who had passed all his life
in seclusion, was of a timorous disposition. Finding himself suddenly placed
upon the throne of a disordered State, he did what he was able in the way of
government, and then, at the end of five days (hearing that his father was at a
distance, and that the enemy were near at hand), set out in flight. He
collected all the treasure he could carry off, and issued a general order that
every one might take what he wished. Those who were afraid of the Moghuls, accompanied him in his flight. The rest fell upon whatever
treasure remained, plundering the granaries and burning, or destroying,
property of all kinds.
Four days after the departure of Mirza
Jahangir, Khwaja Ah Bahadur arrived with two or three thousand men, and two
days later the Khan followed, all of which shall be related presently. Mirza Jahangir retired to Sanju, which is the frontier on the highroad to Tibet,
while Mirza Aba Bakr went to Khotan. But, seeing
no possibility of making a stand in the citadel there, he marched on to Karanghutagh, whither he was followed, in hot pursuit, by a
party of Moghuls. As the roads were difficult, it
would have been hard--nay, impossible, for him to carry off all the property he
had with him; he therefore collected it all together, and set it on fire. I
have heard from those who had charge of it, that there were nine hundred
mule-loads of embroidered and brocaded garments. Many of them were embroidered
in gold in the European, Ottoman [Rumi], and Chinese
fashions; while some of the robes were studded with jewels and all kinds of
precious stones. All these were consumed in the fire; while his gold and silver
vases, cups, and various kinds of ornaments set with jewels, and his
saddle-bags filled with gold-dust, he threw from the bridge into the River Ak-Tash, which flows through the middle of [the valley of] Karanghutagh. He killed his riding horses and mules; then,
taking what it was possible to carry on such a road, set out for Tibet.
On reaching Tibet [Ladak], he
found that all the forts which he had garrisoned had been abandoned by his men,
who had fled in different directions; so that his forts and treasures had again
fallen into the hands of the infidels of Tibet. Hence he could do nothing in
that country. He could discern no shore of safety from amid the furious waves
of hardship and trial, which tossed around him. Mirza
Aba Bakr had now for a
space of forty-eight years so filled the book [of life] with black records,
that there was no space left to write anything more. He had devoted all his
energies to accumulating earthly goods, and the pen is unable to describe his
worldly magnificence. But, although he used ostentatiously to speak of the next
world, and to express hopes of attaining it, yet he never performed an action
that did not, as it were, open to him a door of hell or shut upon him a gate of
paradise. Between himself and paradise was a long road.
In short, in the fulness of
time, he reaped the fruits of his past misdeeds; so that, finding it impossible
to remain in Tibet, he preferred death to life. Leaving his family and children
there, he departed, saying: "I am going [to give myself up to the Khan].
It is evident that I shall be killed with the poison of oppression. If this
happens, bury my body in the sepulchre of my
ancestors. Although I have not discharged the duties of kinship towards Sayyid Muhammad Mirza and Mirza Haidar, I beg you to show
them kindness. And if, contrary to my expectations, they should not kill me, I
have still a plan [which may be executed]." With such intentions he set
out, towards the middle of winter, to visit the Khan. On his way, he met with a
party of his own servants, whom my uncle had sent into Tibet to fetch him,
threatening them with this and that [penalty] if they did not succeed. When Mirza Aba Bakr
met them, he asked their news; they replied: "We have been sent to find
you:" and then they strung together a few lies to try and reassure him.
But he did not believe them, and said: "All I want you to do is to take
me, living, before the Khan and Sayyid Muhammad;
after that, you can do what you please." They launched out into
professions of readiness to comply with his wish. Then, as it was late, having
said his night prayers, he went to sleep: and the saying, "Sleep is the
brother of Death," was verified in his case. When he retired to rest, the
men of the party consulted together, resolved to cut off his head and carry it
to the Khan, [as this would appear an important service] and cause the Khan to
place confidence in them.
Bad as he was, these people [should not have] betrayed
their charge, and used perfidy in place of good faith. However, they cut off
his head while he slept and then returned, as shall be narrated shortly. Thus
were all his subjects--prince and pauper, high and low--delivered from his
wickedness. [Verses, etc.] ...
At the end of Rajab of the year 920, the Khan made his
triumphant entry into the town of Yarkand, and with
the splendour of his glittering sword, he allayed the
dust of tyranny and enmity [etc.] . . . The victorious Kha'n
mounted the throne of the town. He then went up to the citadel [ark], within
which were many lofty buildings, containing, each of them, rooms and
upper-apartments and battlements, so numerous as to astound the beholder. And
these buildings were filled with cloths, chintzes, carpets, porcelain,
cuirasses, horse-trappings, saddles, bows and other things useful to man. All
these things had been seized by Mirza Aba Bakr, or procured by whatever
means he chose to employ, and had been hidden away by him, so that no one might
know of their existence. Of such as remained over, Mirza
Jahangir had destroyed and wasted as much as he was
able; and on his departure had sanctioned a general pillage, which, until the
arrival of Khwaja Ali Bahadur,
was carried on by the whole population--each taking what he could. When Khwaja Ali Bahadur entered the
town, he, likewise, devoted himself to pillage. Seven days later the Khan
arrived, and he too gave his men permission to plunder right and left.
Everything in the way of money, as well as the valuable cloths and stuffs, had
been carried off, but the houses were still full [of other things]. Two months
after the flight of Mirza Aba
Bakr, there were still great quantities of cuirasses
and the like, lying about the houses and passages, that no one had cared to
carry away. [Five couplets]...
Thus, all that Mirza Aba Bakr had, in the course of
forty-eight years, amassed with infinite toil, and guarded with savage
miserliness, he was finally obliged, with a thousand heart-rendings,
to abandon; while the Khan, with one stroke of his pen, gave it all over to a
general sack, and during two months the dust thereof rose to the sky.
[Verses]...
At the end of two months, every man returned
safely--laden with plunder from different directions--and presented the Khan
with tribute [pishkash], according to the quantity of
booty he had taken. But the Khan, in order to win the hearts of his people,
divided the property up into shares in accordance with the old Moghul custom, and distributed it among his soldiers. I
remember distinctly that some of the Amirs who had
come from Karaughutagh, presented, besides arms and
vases, an Andijan man of gold-dust. Now an Andijan man is... [the equivalent of nearly 320 lbs. troy].
From this the extent of the rest of the booty may be conceived....
[When those sent to catch Aba Bakr] came to the bridge over which Mirza
Aba Bakr had thrown his
effects, they found the roads blocked with the carcasses of the...horses which
he had killed, and of the mules, on which had been loaded the saddle-bags full
of money and stuffs. I do not quite recall whether there were 900 mules or 900
strings of mules. They next came to the spot where he had burnt his brocades,
etc., and saw that these valuables were become an ash-heap from which smoke was
still rising. The gold and precious stones with which these clothes had been
adorned were still remaining. These they gathered from among the ashes, and
found that the jewels and rubies had not been affected [by the fire]. But the
turquoises had turned black, and become brittle. No trace of their original colour was left. The rubies too, were broken into little
pieces, and had changed to an ugly colour. The pearls
were reduced to ashes, so that they could no longer be distinguished; also the
amber--which bad lost all its charm.
The Amirs and their men, having
gathered what they could from the ashes, again set out upon their road, when
they suddenly noticed the boxes of gold-dust shining at the bottom of the
river. Indeed the jewelry and vessels of silver and gold, shone forth the rays
of the sun, as it were, from the depths of the stream. They thereupon proceeded
to attempt the recovery of these valuables, from the water. The river was
rushing over the rocks in such a torrent that no one could, by any device, have
entered it. So each man prepared a long pole, at the end of which a hook was
attached. To reach the bottom, it was necessary to join several of these poles
together. Now when Mirza' Aba'
Bakr had thrown these treasures into the river, he
had ordered his men to cut the leather cases into pieces, so that the gold-dust
might be scattered in the water. But since the cutting up of the cases took a
long time, and the Mirza was impatient to go forward,
he [finally] ordered them to be thrown in just as they were, and thus they had
remained from that time.
When they struck the cases, their hooks broke most of
them in pieces, and [the contents] were washed away by the current. Sometimes,
however, if a man took great care, it did not break, and was lifted out of the
water. They were found to contain a mule's-load each. Such of the vases and
vessels as had handles, or something to lay hold of, were hooked up, but
nothing was recovered upon which a firm hold with the hooks could not be
obtained. They only secured a very small quantity of the gold-dust; about a
hundred-thousandth part of the whole. However, they were enriched by what they
did secure, and got more than enough to enable them to realise
all their desires. At present, as compared with those times, all this wealth
and all these Moghuls are as a mere drop in the
ocean....
[The denouement of the conquest included the murder of Aba Bakr's son by unknown
assassins and the marriage of Aba Bakr's
widow to the victorious Said Khan, according to the custom mentioned above.]