'A General Sketch of the History of Persia' [‎231] (280/636)

THE HISTORIAN ABU-'L-GHAZY.
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should be given of the famous historian and genealogist
of the race of Jengiz-KMn.
Abu-'l-GMzy KMn, the lineal descendant of Shai-
bany, grandson of Jengiz-Khan, was the son of Arap
Muhammad, the ruler of Khiva. Owing to civil wars
between his brothers, he fled into Persia in 1633, and
was detained in a sort of honourable captivity by the
Shah, for ten years. At length he effected his escape
from IsfaMn, and journeying in disguise through
Khur&s&n, he reached Khiva, and was proclaimed Khan
in 1643. In 1655 he invaded BukMra; but always
proved a true and faithful ally to Persia, and was of
great service in keeping the lawless Turkmans and
the turbulent amir of BukMra, Abdu-'l-Aziz Khan, in
constant check. Abu-'l-GMzy passed all his leisure time
in the diligent study of the genealogy of all the Mongol
and Tatar tribes, and in collecting materials for their
history. He died in 1663, and was succeeded by his
son, Anusha KMn.
The labours of Abu-'l-GMzy resulted in the produc
tion of a work in the Mongol language, called the
Shajari Turki, in ten parts. The first nine give an
account of the ancestry and deeds of Jengiz-Khan,
and the last treats of his own reigning dynasty in Khiva
The work came to the knowledge of Europeans in
a very remarkable way. A Swedish officer, named
Strahlenburg, had been taken prisoner by the Eussians,
and sent to Tobolsk, where he remained for thirteen
years. A merchant chanced to arrive there with a
manuscript of Abu-'l-GMzy's work, which was bought
by Strahlenburg; and, on his release, he brought it with