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899 AH.— OCT. 12th. 1493 TO OCT. 2nd. 1494
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Shah Begim Yunas Khan had two sons and two daughters. Her first-born but younger than all Aisan-daulat Begim's daughters, was SI. Mahmud Khan, called Khanika Khan^ by many in and about Samarkand. Next younger than he was SI. Ahmad Khan, known as Alacha Khan. People say he was called this because he killed many Qalmaqs on the several occasions he beat them. In the Mughul and Qalmaq tongues, one who will kill {afdturguch'i) is called dldchi ; Alachi they called him therefore and this by repetition, became Alacha.^ As occasion arises, the acts and circumstances of these two Khans will find mention in this history {tdrikh).

Sultan-nigar Khanim was the youngest but one of Yunas Khan's children. Her they made go forth {chlqdnb idlldv) Fol. 12. to SI. Mahmud Mirza ; by him she had one child, SI. Wais (Khan Mirza), mention of whom will come into this history. When SI. Mahmud Mirza died (goo ah. -1495 ad.), she took her son off to her brothers in Tashkint without a word to any single person. They, a few years later, gave her to Adik (Aung) Sultan,^ a Qazaq sultan of the line of Juji Khan, Chingiz Khan's eldest son. When Shaibani Khan defeated the Khans (her brothers), and took Tashkint and Shahrukhiya (go8 AH.), she got away with 10 or 12 of her Mughul servants, to (her husband), Adik Sultan. She had two daughters by Adik Sultan ; one she gave to a Shaiban sultan, the other to Rashid Sultan, the son of (her cousin) SI. Sa'id Khan. After Adik Sultan's death, (his brother), Qasim Khan , Khan of the Qazaq horde, took her.* Of all the Qazaq khans and sultans, no one, they say, ever kept the horde in such good order as he ;

1 i.e. Khan's child.

2 The careful pointing of the II ai. MS. clears up earlier confusion by showing the narrowing of the vowels from dldchi to alacha.

3 The Elph. MS. (f. 7) writes Aung, Khan's son, Prester John's title, where other MSS. have Adik. Babur's brevity has confused his account of Sultan- nigar. Widowed of Mahmud in 900 ah. she married Adik ; Adik, later, joined Shaibani Khan but left him in 908 ah. perhaps secretly, to join his own Qazaq horde. He was followed by his wife, apparently also making a private departure. As Adik died shortly after 908 ah. his daughters were born before that date and not after it as has been understood. Cf. T.R. and G.B.'s H.N. s.nn. ; also Mems. p. 14 and Mims. i, 24.

  • Presumably by tribal custom, ylnkdllk, marriage with a brother's widow.

Such marriages seem to have been made frequently for the protection of women left defenceless.