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The History Of Timur - Bec - I


Auteur :
Éditeur : J. Darby Date & Lieu : 1723, London
Préface : Pages : 542
Traduction : ISBN :
Langue : AnglaisFormat : 125x190 mm
Code FIKP : Liv. En.Thème : Histoire

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The History Of Timur - Bec - I


The History Of Timur - Bec

Cherefeddin Ali

J. Darby


The History of Genghizcan the Great, first Emperor of the antient Moguls and Tartars; in four Books Containing his Life, Advancement and Conquests with a short History of his Successors to the present Time: the Manners, Customs and Laws of the antient Moguls and Tartars; and the Geography of the vast Countries . of Mogolistan, Tmquestan, Capscbac Yugurestan, and the Eastern and western Tartary. Collected from several Oriental Authors, and European Travellers; whose Names, with an Abridgment of their Lives, are added to this Book. By the late M. Petis de la Croix Senior, Secretary and Interpreter to; the .King in the Turkish and Arabick Languages. And now faithfully translated into English.



THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE

In the name of God, whose bounty and justice extend over all beings. He disposes crowns according to his pleasure, and grants victory to those whom he judges most fit to accomplish his eternal decrees: he defends and continually advances Mahometanism, for the increase of his glory: and it is certain that a fortune rais'd by his hand is immovable, and easily overcomes all the difficulty which tend to obstruct it.

Such was the fortune of the great and invincible Timur, whose history we undertake. The reader will not be surprised at the heroic actions which raised him to the supreme dignity of emperor of Tartary, and subjected all Asia to him, from the frontiers of China to those of Greece, that is, the countrys of Turky, Tartary, Persia, India and Syria; when he shall be acquainted with the sublime qualitys with which this prince was endow'd. He was a very pious and religious observer of the Mahometan law. He was so prudent, that he always governed the state himself, without having recourse to a prime minister; and he succeeded in all his enterprises, herein wherein he had no other end than the glory of God, the increase of religion, and the good of the people. He was exceeding liberal and courteous to every one, excepting those who refused to obey him, whom he punish'd with the utmost rigor. He was a great lover of justice; and none under his government ever exercis'd violence and tyranny unpunished. He esteemed learning and learned men: and 'twas his constant endeavour to render the arts flourishing thro-out his empire. He discovered the greatness of his foul on so many occasions, that it wou'd be needless to speak of it here. As to his bravery, he never committed any action unworthy the quality of his ancestors, who had been all kings or princes: and this history contains a series of incontestable proofs of it. He was fearless and courageous, equally capable of forming a great design with wisdom, and of executing it with vigor. He was very kind to his domestics; exceeding charitable to the poor and afflicted; and built a great number of hospitals, convents of dervises, and mosques. In fine, one may justly say, that nothing was wanting in this prince to render him worthy of the glory, to which God was pleased to advance him.

Timur's father was the wife and virtuous prince Emir Tragai, and his mother the chaste and beautiful Tekine Catun, the lawful wife1 of the Emir Tragai. He was born in the town of Sebz, situate without the walls of the deli clous city of Kech2, capital of the said Emir's dominions, on tuesday-night the fifth of Chaban of the year of the Hegira 736*, which answers to that of the Mouse in the Mogul calendar, under the reign of the Sultan Cazan, king of Transoxiana and Turkestan.
This prince's birth had been predicted to Cachouli Behader, one of his ancestors, in a dream, wherein eight stars seemed to shoot out of him, and the eighth cast so great a splendor, that it enlightened the four quarters of the World; which Toumene Can, Cachouli's father, interpreted, that a prince of his race should be born in the eighth generation who should fill the world with the splendor of his virtues and conquests.

Timur's horoscope, which was drawn at the moment of his nativity, predicted to him the crown and empire, with all manner of prosperity, and a numerous issue.

This prince from his childhood discover'd his excellent dispositions to the accomplishment of the predictions of his horoscope: for as soon as he attained to the age of reason, something might be seen in all his actions, which she w'd an air of sovereignty: he wou'd talk of nothing but thrones and crowns; his favorite diversions represented the military art, in which he disposed of the youth who attended him, as a prince disposes of his subjects, raising to the highest dignitys those who appear'd most deserving, and giving to others the bare title of soldiers; he made figures of canes to represent the army of an, enemy, and then attack'd 'em with his troops, among whom he observed a military discipline.
When he was more advanced in age, and capable of applying himself to the exercises of the body, far from causing those pleasures which most young persons fall into, as dancing and the like, which rather effeminate than ennoble the mind, he gave himself up to the science of arms. His chief diversions were riding, racing, fencing, and the like. He was likewise often at the chace, the only recreation he took after his continual fatigues.

In these noble exercises Timur; pass'd that part of his life which preceded his great and wonderful actions, that is, from his tenth year till the twenty-fifth or thereabouts j for at that age ambition having got possession of his heart, he began to despise dangers, to gain victory's, and acquire, the name of a great conqueror and intrepid hero. In the midst of all his glory, he had an admirable conduct over himself, and made justice the rule of all his actions: he never used the privilege which conquerors claim, of treating those ill whom fortune has made their staves; except when his honor was concerned, or he was oblig'd to it to preserve his conquests.

If Timur was so great and noble during the whole course of .his life, the Mirzas3 his children did not in the least degenerate from him especially the great and invincible Charoc his eldest4 son, and since his successor in the empire, who tho as powerful as Solomon, always made such use of his authority, as not to give the least matter of complaint to any of his subjects. This prince never addicted himself to plays and pleasures, with which he was constantly surrounded. His only employment was to take care of the affairs of state, and to render justice to his people: and if he was ob lig'd to recreate himself for some hours, he employ'd his time in contemplation, and reading useful books; so that one may say he lived the most solitary life, and free from all manner of vanitys, in the midst of the tumults of a court. I can't here pretend to give a detail of all the virtues of the great Charoc, and of his son the invincible Ibrahim Sultan, who excell'd as well in letters as in arms, and was an admirable writer: wherefore I refer the reader to the second and third parts of this work, where I have related all their great and noble actions5.

To return to our history: I may venture to fay it is preferable to all which have been yet written, even of the most renown'd conquerors; and that for three reasons.

The first is the knowledg every one may draw from thence, as it will instruct 'em in the chronology, geography, and history of Asia, and in those virtues, which are proper for the imitation of the greatest princes. This history is like a theatre, where fortune is represented deriding the policy of men, sometimes baffling their designs at her pleasure, at other times favoring 'em; sometimes suffering herself to be governed by it, at other times destroying all the artifices it makes use of, to avoid the dangers to which it is expos'd. In this work we see Timur laying the foundations of a monarchy, which at first appears chimerical in the eyes of the wisest men: yet by degrees he raises himself above his equals. Sometimes we fee him in a manner seeking his fortune as a private soldier; at other times commanding armys and dethroning kings: sometimes he is obligM to quit his conquests, and wander about abandoned by every one; till at length he deprives emperors of their crowns, and is settled in the empire of Asia by the conquest of Tartary, India, Persia, Arabia, Egypt, Natolia, and other kingdoms; all which part of the world became subject to his laws, And after these noble actions we fee him quit terrestrial crowns for immortality, which was his principal aim, and the glorious end to which all these enterprizes tended, leaving his empire in a happy and profound peace.

The second reason, which may make this work deserve approbation, is the exactness with which the actions of Timur are related, a quality seldom to be met with in the history of great princes; all his exploits being related even with the minutest circumstances. The author of Timur s life in Turkish verse tells us, that this prince wou'd not permit him to insert some particular facts in his work, fearing they should appear fabulous in verse, and reserving 'em (as Timur himself often said) for this present history.

The third reason why this work should be esteemed, is, that truth appears in all the facts herein related, and that not the least exaggeration has been used. To convince the reader of this, I need only inform him of the method us'din compiling it. Timur had always Tartar and Persian secretarys to attend him, who were some of the most learned men of his empire, whom he order'd to write down all his actions and discourses, with every circumstance which might anyway relate either to religion, the public, or his ministers; and all this without the least addition, either to embellish the style or to set off the glory of any of his soldiers or generals, by lessening that of the enemy. And thus this history, as well as that in Turkish verse, has been composed.

Beside s, as several officers and great lords of the court had caused some particular facts to be wrote down, of which themselves were eyewitnesses, having had a considerable share in 'em; this prince order'd all these fragments to be collected, and had the patience to range 'em in order himself, after which he caus'd 'em to be compared and examined in the following manner. A person read over one of these papers, and when he was come to some remarkable action, the witnesses verify'd the circumstances of it, relating 'em exactly as they had seen 'em. Then the emperor himself examin'd the truth of the fact; and having confronted what the witnesses said with the contents of the memoirs, he dictated to the secretarys the manner in which they should insert the facts in the body of the work, and then order'd it to be read over to him again, to fee if nothing cou'd be added or taken from it.

The reader will find by what I have said, that this history has been written with all imaginable fidelity and that the honor of its composition ought to be ascrib'dto Timur himself, since he took the trouble . of collecting and comparing all the parts of it. The author only gave the finishing stroke, adorning it with all the elegance and beauty of the Persian language, to bring it to its utmost perfection.

What is further remarkable in this work, is the exactness with which the chronology, and the day and hour of the event, are observed: all the encampments and roads are also remarked, with the distance of one place from another.
Lastly, as the events are all link'd together, and naturally follow each other; we thought it advisable to relate several facts, which preceded the time that Timur-Bec performed any thing so remarkable, as to deserve the observation of the world, because we supposed it necessary to a perfect knowledg of his history.

1) One need not wonder to hear the author, speaking of Timur's mother, fay she was the lawful wife of the Emir Tragai; the Mahometans being permitted by their law to have concubines, whose children are not accounted legitimate.
2) A town of Transoxiana, long. 99. 30 lat. 39. 30.
3 Mirza signifys the son of a prince.
4) This seems to be a mistake; for by the last chapter of the following work, it appears he was Timur's youngest son.
5 The second and third parts of this work, which the author speaks of, have not been translated; and I believe jhe.re are no copys of 'em in France.

* An. Dom, 1326


 

The History of Timur - Bec
Commonly call'd
Tamerlain

Just publish'd


The History of Genghizcan the Great, first Emperor of the antient Moguls and Tartars; in four Books Containing his Life, Advancement and Conquests with a short History of his Successors to the present Time: the Manners, Customs and Laws of the antient Moguls and Tartars; and the Geography of the vast Countries . of Mogolistan, Tmquestan, Capscbac Yugurestan, and the Eastern and western Tartary. Collected from several Oriental Authors, and European Travellers; whose Names, with an Abridgment of their Lives, are added to this Book. By the late M. Petis de la Croix Senior, Secretary and Interpreter to; the .King in the Turkish and Arabick Languages. And now faithfully translated into English.



To His Highness
Prince Frederick
May it please your Highness


The knowledge of history has always been esteemed a necessary qualification in a prince. By this he fees the maxims of policy exemplify'd in life; and perceives as well the great, advantages of a just and mild administration, as the fatal consequences of oppression and cruelty. This supplys the place of experience, and acquaints him in one short view with what; otherwise wou'd cost many years observation; furnishing his; mind with such rules of conduct as may render his people happy, and himself immortal.

As, therefore your Highness must by this time hive made a considerable progress in this delightful, as well as useful study I humbly beg leave to address to your Highness the following history of Timur - Bec. I might offer several reasons from the work itself, to apologize for this presumption.

The prince, who is the subject of it, was excelled by none upon record for the extent of his conquests, and by very few perhaps for the justice and prudence of his government. The life therefore of so great a potentate can't be an unsuitable present to a young prince, who is the growing hopes of the British nation, and (which is the earnest desire of every true Briton) may hereafter sway the scepter of these kingdoms. Besides, many noble virtues of this prince will appear in the course of the history, in which he is resembled by that great and living pattern, most proper for your Highness's imitation, your Royal Grandfather, King George. For as clemency, a generous companion to his enemys, and a constant regard to the welfare of his subjects, are the shining characters of our present Sovereign; so were they likewise very conspicuous thro the whole reign of Timur - Bec. And I promise my self it will afford your Highness no small pleasure, to find that the author of this work has done justice to the memory of this great hero; whose history, either thro the malice, or ignorance of other writers, has been generally hitherto so much misrepresented.

I wou'd not be thought to justify all the parts of his conduct, or the principles by which he was acting in the pursuit of his conquests. But it seems very plain, that these were rather owing to the false notions of his religion, than to his natural temper. He had learnt from his great prophet Mahomet, j that religion was to be propagated by the sword; and that the world happy, was to bring all mankind under one government, and one faith. But 'tis our felicity, that your Highness has had the advantage both of juster maxims, and nobler examples.

Tho your Highness is well acquainted with the French tongue, from whence this version has been made; yet as that is but a translation, I can't think you will be less pleas'd to view this history in an English dress; since no language can be supposed more agreeable to a prince, than that of the people whom; he is design'd to govern.

When I acquaint your Highness that this is my first performance, and at such an age when few venture thus to appear in public; I hope my early zeal to pay this homage to your Highness, will be some excuse for me, and not render the work less acceptable.

May your Highness increase in virtue as you advance in years, and equal both your Royal Grandfather and Father in all those princely endowments, which render them the delight and admiration of mankind, and such eminent blessings to the British nation. I am,

May it please your Highness,
Your Highness's most tumble,
most obedient, and most
devoted Servant



The History of Timur - Bec

Book I.


Several events which preceded Timur - Bec's ascending the throne of Zagatai

Chap. I.

Of Sultan Cazan, grand Can of Zagatai; his defeat and death. Mir1 Cazagan, a Turkish Prince, takes upon him the government of the empire, and establishes a grand Can. The war of Mir Cazagan against Malek Hussein, prince of Herat.

IN the year of the Hegira 733*, Sultan Cazan2 the son of Isour Aglen, who sprang from Genghiz Can, ascended the throne of the Cans of Zagatai, (that is, of the country that was given to Zagatai Can, the son of Genghiz Can, ...

1) Mir is a contraction of Emir, which among the Eastern nations signifys a chief prince or commander.
2) He was the 21st of the successors of Zagatai Can.

*  Chap. I=> An. Dom. 1332. Mog. The Hen.


 




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