Rebellion of Mohammad Yaqub Khan [‎185v] (60/174)

102
TlllKCE x\13D001i MrtirK.
[ 1869.
451. The next news was that the Ameei? of Bokhara, accompanied by
' r 1Q+1 T , 1Rfiq Ishak Khan, had come down to Kirkee*
Diary ending 19th July 1869. OxUS clearly, W6 nOW 866, in Order
* Spelt Kurgai, but as it is said to be in the direc- /aH-owvnH to raise the COlintlV
tion of Charjoee, I gather that Kirkee is meant. to check any attempt^ tO laiSC XHC LULlLltiy
on the part of his son, Abdool Mullik, who, it was also said, was m t lat nei ?
bom-hood. Abdool Raheem Khan, Atalik, the Meer of Koondooz (i. e.. acting
for the Meer Sooltan Moorad Khan, who was still in Oabul), wrote to Meer
Raheem Kool, Akabashi, the Meet of Kirkee, to ask whet J 1 ^ n *f
Tl« Meer of Kirkee rejliedt kb.t
t Diary endmg 26 th July. £| ie ^ meer { n person was expected shortly.
But he said the rebellious prince had made his escape (from a place called
Chool), and was said to have made his way to Andkhoee and Maimena. \V as
this, he a.sked. the case ?
452. By this time Prince Abdool Mullik had himself written to Abdool
Raheem’ Khan, telling w of his endeavour to raise a religious war against the
Russians, of his failure and his retreat during the winter to Khorassan. f hence,
he said, he had advanced to the Oxus, having some prospect of help from tlie
Toorkoman tribes. His father, however, having sent troops against him, and
persuaded the Toorkomans to refuse help, he had determined to go to Tukhtapool,
i e ., the shrine of Muzar-i-Shureef, on pilgrimage, and wait there the progress
of events. He asked Abdool Kureem’s advice as to whether he should come
on through Shiberghan or not.
(a) F. B. in his letter dated 17th Novemb er 1869, gives the following account of the Prince's rebellion, and
of the way in which Surrah Beg of Koolab co-operated :
Last year Abdool Mullik Zora, the son of the Ameer of Bokhara, who was waging a religious war in opposition
to the wishes of his father against the Russians, persuaded by messages the people of Karshi, Sherabad, bhnhr-
Subz, Koolab, and Hissar-Shadman, &c., to rebel against the Ameer of Bokhara. Subsequently, the people of Hissar,
Deh-i-now, Zurchi, Sarasia, Karatak, &c., were induced to rebel against the Ameer. Kachkma Beg, the. Ameer s
Governor of Hissar-Shadman, was t expelled, and the rebels appointed their own Meers on condition of their waging
a religions war.
In Faizabad (in Hissar territory) Rahman Ali Beg, brother of Meer Surrah Beg of Koolab, was Governor on the
part of the Ameer, and finding Hissar and Deh-i-now unprotected, he attacked these places under instructions or
his brother. But, although the people of Deh-i-now, Zurchi, and Sarasia were hostile to the Ameer, they -were unw il-
ling to make over their country to the Koolab Chief, and prepared for defence. Meer Surrah Beg sent reinforcements
to support his brother, Rahman Ali Beg. In those territories there is an Afghan population who were located there
by Ahmed Shah, Abdali. They are known as old Afghans. They were bribed by Rahman Ali Beg, and haying
taken 1,000 tunkas from him, they set fire to the gate of the fort. But before the gate was consumed, the garrison
built a hew wall to oppose the entrance of the enemy. Subsequently, this Surrah Beg advanced in person against
the enemy and took possession of Deh-i-now, Sarasia, Regar, Hissar, &c. He summoned the Governor of Sherabad-
Kungharat to surrender. He did not come in person, but sent presents. Meer Surrah Beg realized the following
sums and returned to Koolab :
From Deh-i-now
Znrchi
Sarasia
Regar
Karatak
Hissar.Shadman
Doshamba
20,000 tunkas.
15,000
8,000
15,000 „
15,000
20,000
10,000 „
He appointed his own Governors at the various places.
The Ameer of Bokhara wrote to Meer Surrah Beg, stating that the people of Deh-i-now and Hissar were his (the
Ameer’s) rebellious subjects, and enquiring whether the Meer had conquered those places for the Ameer or for himself.
The Meer replied that as the Ameer was in league with infidels (the Russians), he (the Meer) disowned allegiance to
him, aiid that his conquests were made for the Ameer’s son, Abdool Mullik Tora. Meer Surrah Beg sent several thou
sand tonkas to the Tora, who had occupied Karshi against his father. But Karshi was subsequently recovered by the
Ameer with the aid of the Russians, and the Tora fled to Shuhr-i-Subz, thence to ' Samarkand, Khiva, Charjoee, and
eventually to Cabnl. He- is now at Koolab with his friend Meer Surrah Beg. Last month, the Ameer advanced
against the Meer and recovered—
Deb-i-now
Zurchi
Sarasia
Sargui
Regar
Karatak
Hissar.
On the 26th November F. B. wrote from Karshi: On the 21st November news arrived from the camp of the Ameer
of Bokhara at Hissar-Shadman, to the effect that the people of Koolab told Meer Surrah Beg that they would not
fight against the Ameer, as they were afraid they would expose themselves to the same disasters as were suffered by the
people of Karshi, whose houses were burned and plundered by the troops of the Ameer and the Russians. This
appears to be the effect of the presence of the Russian officers in the Ameer’s camp. Meer Surrah Beg then fled secret
ly at night across the Oxus in the direction of Koondooz, taking with him his family and property, and about
20,000 families who had emigrated to Koolab from Koondooz during the rule of Afzul Khan These people having been
.supporters of Meer Surrah Beg were afraid of being punished by the Ameer. The people of Koolab wrote to the
Ameer and begged him to send his officers, on whose arrival they made over the country to them.