134 
LIVES OF THE MOGHUL EMPERORS. 
tion to the government of his kingdom, and soon 
after gave a splendid entertainment, which continu- 
ed five months, to celebrate the circumcision of his 
sons. It was upon this occasion that his son Omer 
Sheikh Mirza, Baber’s father, received the government 
of Ferghana.* 
About this time Jehan Shah, prince of the Turko- 
mans of the Black Sheep, having been defeated and 
slain by Uzun Hassan, Beg of the Turkomans of the 
White Sheep, Hassan Ally, son of the former, solicited 
the aid of Abusaid, who readily undertook to restore 
him to his paternal dominions. As Abusaid advanced 
towards the hills of Azerbijan, a fruitful district of Per- 
sia, forming part of ancient Media, Uzun Hassan made 
overtures of peace ; but the invader insisting that he 
should come and humble himself before a descend- 
ant of Timur Beg, the haughty Turkoman refused 
the conditions, and, retiring to the mountains, cut off 
the enemy’s supplies, harassed his troops by sudden ir- 
ruptions and frequent surprises, until at length, re- 
duced to the saddest privations, they deserted the im- 
perial standard by degrees, and Abusaid was finally 
obliged to seek his safety in flight. This, however, 
did not avail him : he was pursued, taken, and be- 
headed, a. d. 1468.t 
At the death of Abusaid, his dominions were divided 
between his sons. The eldest, Sultan Ahmed Mirza, 
took possession of Samerkund and Bukhara. Sultan 
Mahmood Mirza claimed the government of Asterabad, 
a district of Persia, and of Khorassan; but, though 
* See Erskine’s Introduction to Baber’s Memoirs, 
t D’Herbelot, art. Abusaid. 
