Swords From the East (63 page)

Perceiving this, several young cavaliers about him formed a plan for escaping with him; but he would not consent.

As the hour of fate was at hand, he could not shun it. He had quarters assigned him, near one of the Uzbek leaders. Three or four days afterward they put him to death in the meadow of Kulbeh. From his over-anxiety to preserve this transitory and mortal life, he had left a name of infamy behind him; and, from following the advice of a woman, struck himself from the list of those who have earned for themselves a glorious name.

After the murder of Ali, the Uzbek Khan banished Kwajah Yahia with his two sons. They were followed by a party of Uzbeks who martyred the Kwajah and both his sons.

Shaibani Khan denied all participation in the Kwajah's death, saying that it was the act of his men. This is only making the matter worse, according to the saying, "The excuse is worse than the fault."

I was without town or territory, without any spot to which I could go; I was only eighteen and had neither seen much action nor been improved by great experience; I had opposed to me an enemy like Shaibani Khan, a man of skill, of deep experience, and a man in the prime of life. No per son came from Samarkand to give me any information though the townspeople were well disposed toward me, yet from dread of Shaibani Khan none of them dared to think of such a step.

At this time Shaibani Khan had gone out of the city a ways accompanied by three or four thousand Uzbeks and as many allies. My men, good and had, amounted only to two hundred and forty.

Having consulted with all my Begs and officers, we were agreed that as Shaibani Khan had taken Samarkand so recently, the men of the place had probably formed no attachment to him, nor he to them. If anything ever was to be done, this was the crisis. Should we succeed in scaling the fort by surprise and making ourselves masters of it, the inhabitants of Samarkand would certainly declare in our favor; if they did not assist me, at least they would not fight for the Uzbeks.

At all events, after the city was once taken, whatever God's will might be, be it done!

Having come to these conclusions, we mounted and left the camp after noon prayers and rode rapidly the greater part of the night. At midnight we reached the bridge of the public park whence I detached forward seventy or eighty of my best men with instructions to fix their scaling ladders on the wall opposite the Lovers' Cave. After mounting by the ladders and entering the fort, they were to advance at once against the guard at the Firozeh Gate, to take possession of it, and then to let me know of their success by a messenger.

They accordingly went, scaled the walls opposite the Lovers' Cave, and entered the place without giving the least alarm. Thence they proceeded to the Firozeh Gate, where they found a merchant of Turkestan*
serving under Shaibani Khan. They instantly fell upon him and put him and a number of his retainers to the sword, broke the lock of the gate with axes, and threw it open.

At that very moment I came up to the gate and instantly entered.

The citizens in general were fast asleep, but the shopkeepers, peeping out of their shops and discovering what had happened, offered up prayers of thanksgiving. In a time the rest of the citizens were informed of the event, when they manifested great joy, and most hearty congratulations passed on both sides between them and my followers. They pur sued the Uzbeks in every street and corner with sticks and stones, hunting them down and killing them like mad dogs; they put to death about four or five hundred Uzbeks in this manner. The governor of the city was in Kwajah Yahia's house, but contrived to make his escape and rejoined Shaibani Khan.

On entering the gate I had instantly proceeded toward the college and the convent serai, and on reaching the latter I took my seat under the grand Tak, or arched hall. Till morning the tumult and war-shouts were heard on every side. Some of the chief people and shopkeepers came with much joy to bid me welcome, bringing such offerings of food ready dressed as they had at hand, and breathed out prayers for my success.

When it was morning, information was brought that the Uzbeks were in possession of the Iron Gate and were maintaining themselves in it. I immediately mounted my horse and galloped to the place, accompanied only by fifteen or twenty men; but the rabble of the town, who were prowling about in every land and corner, had driven the Uzbeks from the Iron Gate before I could come up.

Shaibani Khan, on learning what was passing, set out hurriedly, and about sunrise appeared before the Iron Gate with a hundred or a hundred and fifty horse. It was a noble opportunity; but I had a mere handful of men with me. The Khan, soon discovering that he could accomplish nothing, did not stop, but turned back and retired.

The men of rank and consequence now came and waited on me, offering their congratulations. For nearly a hundred and forty years Samarkand had been the capital of my family. A foreign robber-one knew not whence he came-had seized the kingdom, which dropped from our hands. Almighty God now restored my plundered and pillaged country to me.

At this time, Shaibani Kahn's wife and family with his heavy baggage arrived from Turkestan. He had remained until now near one of the suburbs; but, perceiving such a disposition in the inhabitants to come over spontaneously to my side, he marched off from his encampments toward Bokhara.

By divine favor, before the end of three months most of the fortified places around Samarkand had come under my allegiance. My affairs went prosperously everywhere. About this time I had a daughter by Aisha Sultan Begum, my first wife. She received the name of the Ornament of Women. This was my first child, and at the time I was just nineteen. In a month or forty days she departed to the mercy of God.

No sooner had I gained Samarkand than I repeatedly dispatched messengers to all the Khans and Sultans, Amirs and chiefs on every hand. Some of the neighboring princes, although men of experience, gave me all unceremonious refusal; others who had been guilty of injuries to my family remained inactive out of apprehension. The Khan, my elder uncle, sent four or five hundred men from the mountain country of Moghulistan; from my brother, Jahangir, the younger brother of Tambal brought a hundred men to my assistance.*

This winter my affairs prospered, while those of Shaibani Khan were at a low ebb. At the taking of Samarkand I had with me in all only two hundred and forty men. In five or six months they had so much increased that I could venture to engage so powerful a chief as Shaibani Khan in battle at Sir-i-pul, as shall be mentioned.

In the month of April I marched out of the city to meet Shaibani Khan, and fixed my headquarters at the New Garden for the purpose of collecting the troops and getting ready the necessaries of war.

Setting out from the New Garden, I proceeded by quick marches to Siri-pul-The Bridgehead-after passing which I halted and camped, strongly fortifying our camp with a palisade and ditch. Shaibani Khan moved forward from the opposite direction to meet us. There were about four miles between his camp and mine.

Every day parties of my men fell in with the enemy and skirmished with them. One warrior-who had a standard-behaved ill, ran off, and took refuge in the trench. There were persons who said the standard was Sidi Kara Beg's; and, in truth, Sidi Kara, though most valiant in speech, by no means made the same figure with his sword. One night Shaibani Khan attempted to surprise us, but we were so well defended by our ditch and chevaux-de-frise that he could achieve nothing. After raising the war shout on the edge of our ditch and giving us a few discharges of arrows, they drew off.

I now turned my whole attention to the approaching battle. Kamber Ali, the Skinner, assisted me. Two thousand men had arrived in Kesh and would have joined me in two days; fifteen hundred additional men who had been sent by the Khan, my uncle, would have come up next morning. Such was our situation when I precipitated matters and hurried on the battle.

The cause of my eagerness to engage was that the Eight Stars*
were on that day exactly between the two armies; and if I had suffered that day to pass, they would have continued favorable to the enemy for fourteen days. This was all nonsense, and my haste was without the least excuse!

In the morning, after the warriors arrayed themselves in their armor and caparisoned and covered their horses with cloth of mail, we marched out and moved toward the enemy, having drawn up the army in order of battle, with right and left wing, center and advance. In the center were Kasim Beg and some of my inferior nobility and their adherents. In the advance was the Skinner with a number of my best-armed men and most faithful partisans.

We marched right forward to the enemy, and they appeared ready, drawn up to receive us.

"He who draws his sword with impatient haste, will afterward gnaw his fingers with regret! "

When the lines of the two armies approached each other, the extremity of their right wing turned my left flank and wheeled upon my rear. I changed my position to meet theirs. By this movement my advance, which contained most of my veteran warriors, was thrown to the right and scarcely any of them were left with me.t

In spite of this, we charged and beat off the forces that came to attack us in front, driving them back on their center. Several of his oldest officers represented to Shaibani Khan that it was necessary to retreat and that all was over. He, however, remained firm and held his ground.

The enemy's right, having meanwhile routed my left, now attacked me in the rear. My front was left defenseless. The enemy began to charge us in front and rear, pouring in showers of arrows. The Moghul forces that had joined me recently, instead of fighting, dismounted and betook themselves to plundering my people.

The Uzbeks made several onsets against the nucleus around me. They were worsted and driven back, they rallied again and charged. Surrounded and attacked on all sides, my men were driven from their ground. My advance guard was nowhere to be seen. Only ten or fifteen persons were now left with me. The river was near at hand. We made the best of our way to it and no sooner gained its banks than we plunged in, armed at all points, both horse and man.

For upward of a bowshot we were forced to swim our horses, loaded as they were. Yet they plunged through it. On getting out of the water on the south bank we cut off our horses' heavy furniture and threw it away. The wretches of Moghuls were most active in unhorsing and stripping stragglers-a number of excellent soldiers were unhorsed and put to death by them.

"Though the Moghul name were writ in gold, it is base-and false is the fruit of the Moghul seed!
"*

Between the time of afternoon and evening prayers I reached one of the gates, and entered the citadel of Samarkand.

Many Begs of the highest rank, many fine soldiers and men of every description perished in this fight. The greater part of the rest fled and dispersed in every direction. Kamber Ali, the Skinner, the Moghul whom I had most distinguished by the highest marks of favor, at this time of need did not stand by me.

Next day I called together the remnant of my officers and held a general consultation. We came to a resolution to put the city in the best possible state of defense and to maintain ourselves in it, for life or for death. With Kasim Beg and my most trusted followers I formed a body of reserve. I had a great tent pitched in the Astronomers' college in the center of the city, in which I established my headquarters. The other Begs and cavaliers I distributed at the different gates and around the ramparts.

After two or three days Shaibani Khan approached and took up his position at some distance from the city. The worthless rabble came out of every nook of Samarkand to the gate of the College, shouting aloud, "Glory to the Prophet!" and clamorously marched out for battle.

This ignorant mob that had never experienced the wound of arrow or saber nor witnessed the tumult of battle, plucked up courage and ventured to advance a considerable distance from the ramparts. When the experienced veterans remonstrated with them on such useless advances, they only answered with abuse.

One day Shaihani Khan made an attack near the Iron Gate. The rabble, who had become very courageous, had advanced most valiantly a great way from the city. I made a party of horse follow them to cover their retreat.

The whole of the Uzbeks, dismounting, fought on foot, swept back the city rabble, and drove them in through the Iron Gate. The fugitives, occupied only with their flight, had ceased to shoot arrows or to think of fighting for their ground. The warriors who were with me kept up a discharge from the top of the gateway, and this shower of arrows prevented the enemy from entering. Another day Shaibani Khan made an attack between the Iron Gate and that of the Sheik-Zadeh. As I was at that time with the reserve, I led them immediately to the quarter that was attacked, without attending to the Needlemakers' Gate. That same day I struck a pale white-colored horse an excellent shot with my crossbow; it fell dead the moment the arrow touched it.

But meanwhile the enemy had attacked so vigorously that they effected a footing close under the rampart. Being hotly engaged in repelling the enemy where I was, I had entertained no fear of danger on the other side, where they had prepared and brought with them twenty-five or twenty-six scaling ladders, each of them so broad that two or three men could mount abreast. The Uzbeks had placed in ambush seven or eight hundred chosen men opposite the Ironsmiths' and Needlemakers' Gates with these ladders, while they made a false attack on my side.

Our attention was entirely drawn off by this attack, and the Uzbeks in ambush no sooner saw the rampart opposite them empty of defenders than they rose and advanced swiftly, placing their scaling ladders all at once between the two gates.

As there was fighting on my side of the ramparts, the men in charge of this spot were not apprehensive of danger, and most of them were dispersed in the dwellings and markets. Only Koch Beg and three other cavaliers were on the wall. Nevertheless, these four boldly assailed the Uzbeks. Some of the enemy had already mounted the wall and others were in the act of scaling it when the four arrived on the spot, fell on them sword in hand, dealing out furious blows, and drove the assailants back over the wall. Koch Beg distinguished himself above all, and this was an exploit forever to be cited in his honor. Black Birlas too, who was almost alone at the Needlemakers' Gate, made a good stand. My men now came up from the houses, made a desperate charge, and the attempt was defeated.