64 - LIVES OF THE MOGHUL EMPERORS. 
throughout his Memoirs he describes himself as con- 
sulting the Koran on every remarkable event of his 
life,, and whenever he meditated any great enterprise. 
In spite of his powerful and vigorous understanding, he 
was the slave of superstition; for he appears to have 
had great faith in dreams and omens, which made him 
frequently a dupe to the juggles of priestcraft. Upon 
being raised by the unanimous consent of the nobles 
to fill the imperial throne of Jagatay, to which he 
reunited the dependent kingdoms of Khuarazm and 
Kandahar, the former a district of Tartary, the latter 
of Afghanistan, he treated the inhabitants of the coun- 
try he had just conquered with extreme rigour, be- 
heading some, imprisoning others, enslaving their wives 
and children, seizing their riches, and ravaging their 
lands. Having settled the affairs of Balkh, appointed a 
governor, and given him a code of written regulations 
for his guidance, he quitted that city and proceeded 
to Samerkund, where he soon after defeated a plot 
against his life, and, contrary to his usual mode of 
proceeding with his refractory or treacherous subjects, 
displayed a clemency which deserves to be recorded. 
He put none of the conspirators to death, pardoned 
one of the principals on account of a family connexion, 
and confined the other in a dungeon. 
Timur, having a few months after possessed him- 
self of the strong fortress of Kat in the principality 
of Khuarazm, married his son Jehangire to Khan Zareh, 
niece of the king of that country, a princess so cele- 
brated for her beauty, that it was said of her “ she had 
the genius of an angel and the shape of a fairy.” He 
likewise put to death Ky Khusero, who had thrown off 
