DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5827#0185
BABER,
151
a drinking-cup, and was proud of displaying it at
great entertainments."*
' Thus was Baber released from his greatest enemy.
The conqueror formed an alliance with him, and he
soon found himself at the head of sixty thousand
horse. With this army he defeated the Uzbecks,
subdued the kingdom of Bukhara, a third time ob-
tained possession of Samerkund, and was acknow-
ledged its sovereign. The king's ill fortune, how-
ever, speedily prevailed. Bukhara was again invad-
ed by the Uzbecks, his troops wTere defeated, and
he was once more obliged to abandon the capital.
Shah Ismael sent an army to his assistance, which
being joined by Baber, invested the fortress of Karshi,
then in possession of the Uzbecks. Upon its surrender
the Persians put fifteen thousand citizens, including
the garrison, to the sword. This greatly disgusted
Baber, the citizens being chiefly Jagatay Turks, his
countrymen, to whom he was greatly attached.
The enemy now collected their forces for a final
struggle; and having defeated the combined armies of
Baber and Shah Ismael, the general of the latter be-
ing slain in the action, the former became a fugitive,
as he had already frequently been, and scarcely a
hope remained to him of recovering his hei'editary do-
minions. To add to his distress, the Moghuls revolted,
fell upon him in the night, slaughtered his followers,
and plundered his baggage. This attack wTas so unex-
pected, that the royal fugitive not being prepared to re-
pel it, was obliged to take refuge in his night-clothes
* Memoirs of Baber, pp. 239, 240.
151
a drinking-cup, and was proud of displaying it at
great entertainments."*
' Thus was Baber released from his greatest enemy.
The conqueror formed an alliance with him, and he
soon found himself at the head of sixty thousand
horse. With this army he defeated the Uzbecks,
subdued the kingdom of Bukhara, a third time ob-
tained possession of Samerkund, and was acknow-
ledged its sovereign. The king's ill fortune, how-
ever, speedily prevailed. Bukhara was again invad-
ed by the Uzbecks, his troops wTere defeated, and
he was once more obliged to abandon the capital.
Shah Ismael sent an army to his assistance, which
being joined by Baber, invested the fortress of Karshi,
then in possession of the Uzbecks. Upon its surrender
the Persians put fifteen thousand citizens, including
the garrison, to the sword. This greatly disgusted
Baber, the citizens being chiefly Jagatay Turks, his
countrymen, to whom he was greatly attached.
The enemy now collected their forces for a final
struggle; and having defeated the combined armies of
Baber and Shah Ismael, the general of the latter be-
ing slain in the action, the former became a fugitive,
as he had already frequently been, and scarcely a
hope remained to him of recovering his hei'editary do-
minions. To add to his distress, the Moghuls revolted,
fell upon him in the night, slaughtered his followers,
and plundered his baggage. This attack wTas so unex-
pected, that the royal fugitive not being prepared to re-
pel it, was obliged to take refuge in his night-clothes
* Memoirs of Baber, pp. 239, 240.