EMBASSY TO CHINA.
MARCH, 1873.]
75
AN EMBASSY TO KHATA OR CHINA A.D. 1419. From the Appendic to the Rouzat-al-Ssafá of Muhammad Khávend Shāh or Mirkhond. TRANSLATED FROM THE PERSIAN By
EDWARD
REHATSEK, M.C.E.
In the year 820 (A. D. 1419), the pious defunct well-known king Mirz à Sh 4 h Rokhº sent
an embassy to Khat à under the leadership and direction of S h a dy Khājah, who was accom
panied by the royal prince Mirz à B & y s an q ar, Sultán Ahmad, and Khájah Gh a y áth-ul
din, the painter, who was a clever artist; he ordered the first-mentioned Khājah that notes in
writing should be taken, from the day of their start ing from the capital of Herät till the day of their return, concerning everything they might expe rience; such as the adventures they should meet, the state of the roads, the laws of the countries,
positions of towns, the state of buildings, the man ners of kings, and other things of this kind, with out adding or omitting anything.
Khájah Ghayāth-ul-din obeyed the above orders, and, having consigned everything he saw to his itinerary, presented it on his return : the following
(May 31st), they arrived in a place called Siluy it subject to the jurisdiction of Muhammad Beg, where they remained for some time, so that some who were servants of the Sháh of Badakhshan, and had lagged behind, were enabled to rejoin them. They started from that place on the 22nd (June 4th), and crossing the river Lang a r, met the next day the governor of A'l 6 s, Muhammad Beg Sult án Gurk a n, who was the son-in-law of Sh 4 h Jeh ān, and whose daughter had been married by Mirzā Muham mad Jogy; and on the 28th of the same month (10th June) they entered the Jalgäh of Yald tâz and the Ayl of Shir Behrām, and in that desert they found solid ice of the thickness of two fingers, although the sun was in the sign of Cancer.
On the 8th of Jomády the second (20th June), they heard that the sons of Muhammad Beg Wähy, who were the ambassadors of A'wys Khán, had been
plundered ; this circumstance put the [other] am
account of the strange and wonderful events the
bassadors on their guard, so that they continued
envoys met with, and all they saw, has been extract ed from his diary; but the responsibility rests with
their journey, crossing rivers and climbing over
the travellers.
poured from the clouds, and the abundant dews; and they arrived at the end of the month (11th July)
They started from the capital Her it on the 16th of Dhulqādah (Dec. 3rd) on their journey to
Khat à, and arrived on the 9th Dhulhejjah (Dec. 27th) in Balkh, where they remained, on account of the great falling [of snow?] and the severe cold, till the beginning of Muharram of 823, and
mountains, in spite of the rain, which continually
in the city of T turf in. They found that in that country most of the inhabitants were polytheists,
and had large idol-houses, in the halls whereof they kept a tall idol. On the 2nd of the month Rajab (13th July), they departed from that place, and
arrived on the 22nd of that month (Feb. 7th)
arrived on the 5th (16th July) in Qarā- Khájah ;
in Samarqand. Mirzā Olugh Beg had already before this despatched his own ambas sadors, Sultân Sháh and Muhammad Bakh shi, with a company of Khatá people. The envoys
on the 10th of the month (21st July), Khatáy writers came, who wrote down the names of the ambassadors and the number of their men.
On the
qand till the ambassador of Mirzá Syurgh a t
19th (30th July) they made a halt in the district of At à-Ss of y, where one of the high princes of Tarm ad had constructed [for himself] a corner
mesh arrived from Er 4 q, the ambassador of the Amir Shāh Malak came from Ardvān, and the ambassador from the Sháh of Bad a kh sh án, Tāj
[of refuge], and had cast the anchor of perma nency ; they, however, beat the drum of departure from it, and arrived on the 21st (1st August) in the
ul-din, joined them. Then they left the town of Samarqand in company of the Khatá envoys on the
town of Qāyl, where Amir Fakhar-ul-din had built
10th Ssafar (25th Feb.), and having passed through Tásh kant and Byram, they entered among
near it the polytheists had constructed a large and a small temple with wonderful pictures, and on the gate of the idol-house they had drawn two Dyws in the act of fighting with each other ; the governor of Qāyl was an extremely handsome and affable young man, whose name was Haykal Taymûr Bábery. After leaving Qāy 1, they travelled 25 stages, and obtained water every alternate day; and on the 12th (August 22nd) they met in that boundless desert
from Khorāsan remained in the town of Samar
the Ayl of the Mughuls, and when they arrived, the news came that A wys Khán had attacked Shir Muhammad Ogh llan, and that on that account disturbances had arisen among the Al 6s, but that afterwards peace had been restored. Amir Khodād a d, who enjoys great authority in that country, met the ambassadors and treated them well; and on the 18th of Jomády the first
a high, very costly, and ornamented mosque, but
- Son of the celebrated conqueror Tamerlane.