A HISTORY OF INNER ASIA

The Shaybanids 155
(1499–1551), the author of the Tarikh-i Rashidi, says about the khan and
Bukhara under his rule: 4
It is my view that in the course of these last hundred years, in the whole world
where there have been sovereigns, none like him has been heard of or seen.First
of all he was a Muslim ruler, devout, pious, abstinent.He scrupulously applied
the tenets of the Holy Law to all matters of religion, confession, commonwealth,
state, the army, and the populace, and would not suffer a deviation from
this law by a hair’s breadth.In the thicket of valor he was [like] a charging lion,
in the sea of generosity his palm was [like] a pearl-bearing shell – an individual
adorned with an array of good qualities.He wrote the seven styles of calligraphy,
the naskh best of all.He copied several exemplars of God’s Word [i.e.the
Koran] and sent them to the two noble cities [i.e.Mecca and Medina].He also
wrote nastaliq well, and had a divan of poetry in Turki, Arabic, and Farsi
[Persian] to his credit.He was versed in the art of music, and his compositions
are [still] sung by musicians.[In short,] he was a sovereign [endowed] with every
kind of laudable quality.In his time, there was such a gathering of learned men
and such a large population in Bukhara, which was his capital, that one was
reminded of Herat in the days of Sultan Husayn Mirza.
Abdallah Khan at first ruled in the name of his father Iskander, whose
succession he secured only after tough competition with several relatives
of the extended dynastic family; for the principle of family rule, characteristic
of Turco-Mongol nomads, still lingered on, and other princes
supported by their parties of Uzbek emirs were ready only too often to
throw off allegiance to the khan or to start claiming the throne for themselves.Even
after the consolidation of his rule and during his official
tenure of office, Abdallah had to wage campaigns to reaffirm his authority.Beyond
the limits of Transoxania to the south, Khurasan remained
the chronic battleground with the Safavids, but just east of there, northern
Afghanistan – the ancient Tokharistan – became a prized Shaybanid
territory.The importance of Balkh, its capital, turned partly on the role
this city came to play as a communications and commercial link between
Central Asia and Timurid or Mughal (“Great Moghul”) India, where
Babur’s antagonism to the Shaybanids gave way, by the time of his
grandson Akbar (1542–1605; ruled from 1556), to friendly relations
which, besides trade, included diplomatic and cultural contacts.A goodneighbor
policy and even alliance and personal contacts also developed
4 Mirza Haydar Dughlat, Tarikh-i-Rashidi: a History of the Moghuls of Central Asia, tr.E.Denison Ross,
London 1898, p.283; and ed.and tr.W.M.Thackston, Harvard University Department of Near
Eastern Languages and Civilizations, 1996, vol.1 (Persian text) pp.233–34; vol.2 (English translation),
p.182.