INTRODUCTORY NOTICES. 
3 
and dying in 1018-H. (1609) ; of Abdu-l-Karlm in the year 1000-H. 
(1592); of Xbdu-r-Rahim at Yarqand in 1011-H. (1602-3) and at 
Kuchar in 1017-H. (or 1608). 1 
To these five sources, fragmentary and imperfect as they are, it would 
have been gratifying to be able to add the history of Khojas as an author¬ 
ity, but it is not possible. A few of the names of the Khans are men¬ 
tioned, but not a date is vouchsafed throughout the book; while for about 
half a century following on the death of Abdu-r-Rashid, no events are 
recorded that can be set up as landmarks from which to infer them even 
approximately. 
During the whole of this period nothing is heard of the Khojas in any 
other capacity than that of priests and workers of miracles. They appear 
to have been content to exercise over the Khans or Chiefs, to whose service 
they nominally attached themselves, the great powers they possessed as 
“ Khalifas,” or spiritual guides. This, indeed, is what they had already 
been doing for more than a century past, among the various rulers in 
Central Asia who entertained them : for it had long been the custom 
for every Khan, Chief or Amir of standing, to attach one or more of 
them to his court, where the “ holy man ” became, usually, the object 
of much superstitious reverence. But as the power of the Mo gh ul 
Khans declined, that of the Khojas no doubt increased. What must have 
been wanting, previously, to enable them to obtain control, not only over 
the minds of the Khans but over the affairs of the country, was that the 
dynasty should be divided against itself ; and this opportunity was 
afforded them, to some extent, during the generation that followed Abdu-r- 
Rashid. Still more was this the case during the two succeeding and final 
generations of Mo gh ul Chiefs, for it was then that the Khojas began to 
raise themselves to temporal power, and brought their country’s independ¬ 
ence to an end. 
Of grandsons of A.bdu-r-Rashid, I can only find mention of two names. 
One of these, a certain Shuja‘u-d-Din Ahmad, son of Muhammad Khan, 
occurs merely in some deeds seen and noted by Mr. Shaw, in Kashghar 
or Yarqand, and there is nothing to show whether he ever ruled over 
even a province of the country, or, if he did, which one it was. The other, 
called Abdu-llah, a son of Abdu-r-Rahlm, appears to have been a man 
of some mark and his name often occurs in the History of the Khojas, as 
well as in Mr. Shaw’s list of “ Sanads.” He had his seat of Government 
at Yarqand, but no mention is to be found of which provinces acknow¬ 
ledged his sway. Nor can the length of the reign of either of these 
cousins be indicated more nearly than by a few odd dates, during which 
1 See the Genealogical Table attached. 
