He tells us that Rashid had thirteen sons, the eldest of whom was named Abdul Latif. This prince is extolled for his bravery, and is said to have been sent several times, by his father, into Moghulistan, to oppose the Kirghiz and the Kazáks, and that, though he was always victorious over his enemies, he lost his life during the wars.[1] His brother Abdul Karim, who was reigning in 1593, when Ahmad Rázi wrote, is also praised for his courage and accomplishments, after the manner of Asiatic writers. Abdul Rahim, the third son, is stated to have left the country without his father's consent and to have led an expedition into Tibet, where he was killed; while the fourth, named Abdul Aziz, died a natural death at the age of sixteen. The fifth son's name was Adham Sultan, but he was known as Sufi Sultan. He had been made governor of Kashghar, by his father, and retained the post for sixteen years, but he survived the latter only for a short time. He appears to have been succeeded at Kashghar by his brother, Muhammad Sultan, the sixth son of Rashid, who was governor of that place at the date of the completion of the Haft Iklim.[2] The seventh was called Muhammad Báki, but nothing is recorded of him. The eighth was Koraish Sultan, who had dissensions with his brother Abdul Karim, and retired to India, where he was received with every honour, presumably by the Chaghatais. He left two children, who were still alive when Ahmad Rázi wrote his history. Of the five remaining sons of Rashid Sultan nothing is related; the names of three only are
- ↑ Haidar Rázi, the author of the Zabdat-ut-Tavárikh, says that Abdul Latif was killed at the age of twenty-nine in a fight with "Tou Nazar Khan, sovereign of the Kazáks and Kirghiz." The date is quite uncertain; but for some years ending in 1580 the Kazák-Kirghiz (or White Horde) were ruled by one Ak Nazar, who is perhaps the personage intended by "Tou Nazar." (See Not. et Extraits, xiv., p. 511, and Howorth, ii., pp. 632–34.)
- ↑ Since completing this Introduction I have been favoured, through the good offices of Capt. F. E. Younghusband, with the loan of some valuable papers by the late Mr. R. B. Shaw, among which I find the following note referring evidently to this sixth son of Abdur Rashid, although called "Khan" and not "Sultan." It runs: "A Yarligh, or title-deed, is still in existence granted by Muhammad Khan, son of Abdul Rashid, as reigning sovereign, which confers the dignity of Tarkhán or 'franklin' on a certain Mhd. Fazl of 'Puski.' It is dated from Kashghar in H. 996 = A.D. 1587." The year 996, however, fell chiefly in 1588—i.e., from Dec. 2, 1587, to Nov. 20, 1588.
Again, with reference to Abdul Rahim, the third son, Mr. Shaw has noted certain title-deeds which indicate that he was governor of Yarkand in 1011 H. (1602–3 A.D.), and of Kuchar in 1017 (1608–9). It also appears from these notes, that several grandsons of Abdur Rashid inherited power of some kind in the various districts of Eastern Turkistan, down to near the middle of the seventeenth century.
