Raiders from the North

‘When the attack began he was in his scarlet tent on the riverbank. He managed to mount his horse and ride against the enemy but an arrow struck him in the throat and he fell to the ground where he lay, his heels drumming the earth in his agony. We managed to reach him and drag him from among the horses’ hoofs. But there was nothing the doctors — the hakims — could do for him. They could not staunch the loss of blood. He was dead within the hour. As the news spread among our forces some of the chieftains, fearing what was to come, called off their men and turned for their home villages.’ Baisanghar’s voice was bitter with contempt.

‘And why have you come here?’

‘It was your uncle’s dying wish. He believed that God was punishing him for coveting Ferghana. As his last breath bubbled through the blood in his throat he asked me to seek your forgiveness so that he may rest in tranquillity in Paradise.’

That didn’t sound at all like his uncle, Babur reflected, but perhaps the proximity of death changed men.

‘What proof have you of what you say?’ Wazir Khan’s one eye was still alive with suspicion, and Babur noticed he had not ordered his men to stand down. Even now three had their bows raised, trained on Baisanghar.

‘Here is my proof.’ Baisanghar thrust his hand deep inside his hide jerkin and pulled out a small, stained pouch. Loosing the plaited thong around its neck he extracted a piece of brocade. Carefully, reverently, he unrolled it to reveal what lay inside: a heavy, blood-smeared gold ring.

Babur gasped as Baisanghar held it out. ‘See,’ his voice was almost a whisper, ‘the ring of Timur the Great.’ The snarling tiger etched into the yellow metal seemed to writhe and spit.

The atmosphere at the council of war was very different this time. As Babur entered, flanked by his vizier and Wazir Khan, the chiefs were noisily debating the astonishing turn of events.

‘The message is clear, Majesty.’ Tambal’s eyes gleamed with excitement. ‘The king has named you his heir — he had no sons. Others will try to claim it, but Samarkand is yours if we move quickly.’

Babur could not resist an ironic smile. ‘And the Uzbeks? A few days ago you were afraid of them. And you were right — they have just butchered my uncle, ravaged his armies and looted his baggage train. Suppose they, too, now have their eyes on Samarkand?’

‘But it’s almost autumn. The seasons are our friend. Every year it’s the same. As winter approaches Shaibani Khan withdraws north to his lair in Turkestan and does not move again until the snows melt.’

‘What do you say, Ali Mazid Beg?’ But Babur already knew. The man’s whole body exuded ebullience and confidence and his eyes were brilliant at the thought of the glories and booty ahead. Samarkand was rich but, more than that, it had been the centre of Timur’s empire, the glorious place every Timurid prince and noble ached for. Babur felt the same longing. While still so young, fortune had handed him an opportunity that might never come again. He had no wish for a long life and a peaceful death propped on silken cushions if his last living thoughts were to be of missed chances. His road to Paradise must not be paved with regrets.

Ali Mazid Beg did not disappoint him. ‘I say we should ride quickly, before the winter comes.’

‘And you, Wazir Khan, what is your view?’

Babur had had no time to discuss plans with him. Would he say something to quell the excitement pumping so violently through him that his body was almost vibrating? Wazir Khan’s single eye was gazing intently at him, considering. Here it comes, Babur thought, the words of cold reason to slow my pulses. He will tell me I am just a youth, that defending my kingdom is one thing but conquests are another. He will counsel me to wait, tell me prudence must be allied with courage, patience with ambition.

‘Tambal is right. Having tasted blood, Shaibani and his Uzbeks should now be riding north, away from Ferghana along the Jaxartes river. I will send out scouts to make sure. But even without the Uzbek menace our armies are too few for such a venture. We need allies, paid men — mercenaries, if you will. We must persuade the mountain tribes to ride with us. If we pay they will come, and if they come we may — God willing — be victorious.’

Babur gazed at Wazir Khan as if he had never before appreciated him properly. ‘You will be my commander- in-chief. Do whatever is necessary. We ride in two weeks.’

‘Majesty.’ Wazir Khan bowed his head.

Hoofbeats pounded the cold earth, over and over again, so that their rhythm seemed the only reality. Babur twined his fingers in his horse’s mane to steady himself as he swayed with fatigue. Since leaving his fortress at Akhsi, he had ridden ahead each day with the advance guard, leaving the heavily laden pack-beasts carrying tents and cooking equipment to follow and meet up with them at nightfall. Four days ago his entire force had crossed from Ferghana into lands belonging to Samarkand but had encountered nothing more threatening than a few herdsmen.

Babur looked up. In an hour the sun would be sinking in their faces but before then their three-hundred-mile journey west between high mountain passes and across foaming rivers should be over. The domes of the city of Samarkand itself would lie before them like an offering. Perhaps even tonight he would occupy Timur’s capital. Babur indulged himself by picturing the grateful populace thronging round him, overcome that a new Timurid king had come to save them.

At the thought, he kicked on his horse once more and, despite its fatigue, the animal shot forward up the slope of a hill. There in the distance, across the shining waters of the Zarafshan river, Samarkand lay silhouetted against a vibrant sky. Babur stared as if mesmerised. His breath caught in his throat. Perhaps, until this moment, he had not quite believed that Samarkand really existed. Now there was no doubt. This was no fable, no haunt of phantoms, but a place, inhabited by men of flesh and blood, that he had come to claim as his own.

Babur let out a whoop but his cry of jubilation died on his lips. To the south, several miles from the city, was an encampment among the nearly leafless tress of Samarkand’s fabled orchards that, just a few weeks earlier, would have dipped under their burden of fragrant apples and golden pomegranates. Banners flew in the chill breeze and smoke spiralled from cooking fires. As he watched, Babur saw a detachment of riders gallop into this camp, swerving expertly between the tents to be greeted by the metallic blare of trumpets.

So, despite all his haste, he was not the first would-be king to reach Samarkand. Someone had forestalled him. Disappointment sharp as physical pain skewered him.

Wazir Khan was beside him, cursing vividly as he, too, stared at the scene ahead. ‘I will send scouts, Majesty.’

‘Is it Shaibani Khan?’

‘I don’t think so. The camp isn’t large enough. And the city doesn’t appear to be under attack or even siege, which it would surely be if Shaibani Khan were here.’

‘Then who?’

‘I don’t know. But it isn’t safe to go forward. We must retreat down this hill, make camp in its lee, where we cannot be seen, and wait for our main force to catch up tomorrow.’

Wazir Khan read the bleak disappointment on Babur’s face. ‘This is Qolba Hill, a place of dreams and hopes. Five years ago I was with your father, here, on this very spot, with the armies of Ferghana behind us. Like you, Majesty, he gazed on Samarkand and what he saw made him catch his breath with ambition and desire.’

‘What happened?’

‘The king, your uncle, was away fighting rebellious tribes to the west. It was the perfect time to attack, but God was not with us. That very night your father, who had ridden so hard that one of his best horses collapsed under him, was stricken by such a deep fever that the doctors feared for his life. We had no choice but to turn back. Your father took it hard but it was his fate.’

‘Why did my uncle and my father hate each other so much? They were brothers.’

‘Only half-brothers, born of different women, and rivals from the moment they were old enough to realise that each coveted the same thing — Timur’s city. Your uncle Ahmed was the older by four years. He seized Samarkand and spent the rest of his life taunting your father. Yet your father had something he did not. In spite of all his women and all the potions he swallowed or rubbed into his groin, your uncle could not father a son to succeed him. And that, more than anything, he could not forgive. That was why he planned to take Ferghana from you and leave you nothing — perhaps not even your life.’

In his mind’s eye Babur saw his distraught mother sobbing in anguish at the news of his uncle’s advance. She had understood the depths of his enmity. But in his dying moments his uncle had relented and sent Babur Timur’s ring. Surely that was a sign? He was meant to rule Samarkand and not, like his father, live out a life blighted by