62 
LIVES OF THE MOGHUL EMPERORS. 
competitors and Timur each ruling over his separate 
province, and uniting for the general security in case of 
invasion. This produced an animated discussion, but 
at length the majority of voices declared in favour of 
the son of Teragay. Ky Khusero, however, one of 
the candidates, not content with this decision, proposed 
that the matter should be finally decided by lot. This 
was at length assented to. The names of the four 
claimants for the succession being written on slips of 
paper and placed under the carpet upon which the 
Mohammedans kneel when they say their prayers, 
the lots were drawn, and that of dominion fell to 
Timur. This at once decided the dispute. The other 
amyrs yielded to what they took to be the determina- 
tion of an Omnipotent will. 
All the chiefs immediately crowded round the new 
sovereign, congratulated him, and offered him homage. 
One of the syeds then present having prayed for Ti- 
mur’s prosperity, took up the Koran, and placing it 
upon the heads of the chiefs one by one, said, " Let 
those who choose to enter into this covenant come ; 
and those who choose to fall off, let them fall to 
which each person replied, a We have heard and do 
obey.” Thus was Timur established in his eleva- 
tion to supreme power, and thenceforward his career 
was one of brilliant and unexampled success. 
