Toward the end of Shavval we left Khiva, and in five days we came to
Kharezm, where I made the acquaintance of Dost Mohammed Khan and his
brother Esh-Sultan.[188] I visited the graves of Sheik Nedjmeddin
Kubera, Sheik Ali Rametin, Sheik Khalweti Yan, Imam Mohammed Bari'i,
Sahib Kuduri, Djar Ullah Ulama, Molla Husein Kharezmi (the expounder of
the Koran), Seid Ata, and Hekim Ata.
When it was brought to my knowledge that the holy Sheik Abdullatif
had died in the city of Vezir, I could not rest until I had made a
pilgrimage to his grave in company with a few friends. As this saint
had been, moreover, my spiritual adviser in Sufism, I recited the whole
Koran over his grave, to insure for him everlasting peace and bliss
in Paradise. We also cooked a _pilaf_ (a rice dish) and I prepared a
chronogram in commemoration of his death.
Having received letters of commendation to the Manghit chiefs, from
Hadji Mohammed Sultan, Timur Sultan, and Mahmud Sultan, the three sons
of Agatai Khan, I returned to Kharezm, where Sheik Sadr Alem, the envoy
of Borak Khan, had meanwhile also arrived. Our party consisted besides
ourselves of the wife of Sheik Husein of Kharezm (daughter of Makhdum
Aazam), the Sheik's son, and a few Moslems; we traveled in carriages.
Most of the company wore clothes of sheepskin and they wanted us to
do the same, for they said, the Manghit[189] are worse even than the
Ozbegs, and when they see strangers they invariably take them for
Russians,[190] which is synonymous to saying, they attack them. Thus we
were compelled to don the outlandish garb (sheepskin), for, as I said
to encourage my people: "A wise man follows the ways of the world and
makes no trouble of it."
Thus equipped we started in the first days of Zilkaada. For more than a
month we wandered about in the Deshti Kipchak[191] (Kirghiz steppe). It
was late in the autumn, and at that time of the year not a bird, not a
wild ass (_Onagre_) can be seen, for there is not a vestige of verdure,
not a drop of water to be found. It was one interminable wilderness;
one desert steppe. At last we came to a place called Sham, and shortly
after to Saraidjik,[192] where we met some Hadjis and three of the
Moslems which had been discharged at Samarkand. These latter were quite
naked, and at sight of us they cried: "Whither go ye? Astrakhan is
taken by the Russians, Ahmed Tchaush has fought in battle with them,
and our Aga has been plundered by the troops of Arslan Mirza. The way
is blocked, be warned and go back." In vain I quoted the lines:
"We are but poor beggars, what harm can befall us?
For ten armed men can not rob one who has nothing."
The rest of the company, especially the merchants, were not of my
opinion; they proposed to delay a few days in Kharezm and await events,
for:
"Speed is from the devil and patience is from God."
The envoy and the other Moslems were of the same mind, and so I
reluctantly retraced my steps to Kharezm. The envoy returned to
Samarkand, but all the rest remained in Kharezm, and when Dost Mohammed
Khan, the ruler of Khiva, inquired of me by which route I now proposed
to travel, I replied, "I will go by the way of Meshhed in Khorassan
to Irak Adjemi, and from there to Bagdad." Thereupon the Khan said:
"Remain here with us. In the spring the Manghits seek their pastures,
possibly the Russians may also quit the land by that time, and,
remember, the way to Bagdad is long."
But I could not agree to this, and in support of my argument I quoted
the proverb: "To the lover Bagdad is not far distant"; so at last the
Khan had to give in. He agreed to my departure, gave me a beautiful
horse, and to my companions he gave the carriage in which we had
traveled up to here.
As regards our route my first plan was to travel by the way of the
Caspian Sea and Shirvan, but my companions did not like this, because
the Mussulman army which had lately broken up from Kaffa[193] had
become involved in a bloody war with Abdullah Khan, who would not
permit any Turks to pass that way. Next we made inquiries about the
roads of Circassia, past Demir-Kapu, but we heard that the Circassians
had raised a revolt. There remained therefore only the way of Khorassan
and Irak, and concerning these districts we learned that the Persian
King was in perfect harmony with our glorious Padishah,[194] but that
the Bey of Kizilbash (the Shiite officer) would probably prevent us
from obtaining admittance to the Shah. I thought to myself, "Where God
does not slay, man's attempts are but futile"; moreover, "they who fear
death should not venture on travels"; so after duly consulting the
horoscope,[195] and having made quite sure that there was no other way
open to us, I decided to travel through Persia. The camels were hired
and all was ready; I went to take leave of Dost Mohammed, the ruler of
Khiva, who remarked casually that it was quite impossible for us to
travel with firearms through the enemy's land. Thereupon we gave half
of our arms to the Khan, and the other half to his younger brother Esh
Sultan. We received a letter of commendation to Ali Sultan, a brother
of Tin Sultan, and being well stocked with provisions and large skins
for water, and trusting in God, we started on our journey to Kharezm in
the beginning of the month Zilhidje.