1887.] E. E. Oliver —The Safwi Dynasty of Persia. 45 
being torn from their grave and scattered to the winds by infuriate 
Sunnis.* Meanwhile ’Abbas was lying ill at Tihran, and for some 
time after his recovery was too much occupied to take any vigorous 
action in Khurasan, a large part of which remained at the mercy of 
’Abdu-llah (Shaibani). He had in 997 H. to put down a rebellion in 
Pars, where one Ya’qub had shut himself up in the fort of Istakhr, from 
whence he returned by Yazd to Qazwin, in 998 H., to watch the Turks 
on the Tifiis frontier, and in 999 H. to reduce the province of Gilan ; and 
it was not until about 1004 H. that he was able to commence active 
operations against the Uzbaks. He first took Sabzwar and Mashhad, 
and later Hirat, near which place he at last forced the Uzbaks, under 
Tdhir Khan,f to fight, and defeated them with great slaughter, the 6th 
of Muharram, 1006 H., Prince Din Muhammad Khan^ and great num¬ 
bers of their leaders being among the slain,—a victory that gave Khura¬ 
san a long rest. 
In Transoxania the dynasty of Ashtrakhan had just, 1007 H., 
succeeded the Shaibanis, the first of whom, Baqi Muhammad, § united 
both houses. Din Muhammad, the elder brother, had been slain by the 
Persians, but the younger, Wall, || established himself at Balkh, now 
reputed little better than a collection of mud huts, but then spoken of 
as “ the Mother of cities.” About 1011 H. the Persians would seem to 
have suffered a severe defeat at the hands of this Baqi Muhammad, a 
defeat from which, Yambery says, ’Abbas escaped with difficulty. The 
principal object of ’Abbas in the Transoxus direction would, however, 
seem not so much to have been conquest, as the establishment of a good 
understanding with the rulers of Bukhara. We find him afterwards 
assisting Wall Muhammad with a large Persian army against his nephew 
Imam Quli,^[ and though unsuccessful, he eventually established peaceful 
relations on the Oxus, which lasted the whole of his reign. The tomb 
of Imam ’All Raza became more than ever an object of devotion to the 
pious, the priceless diamond ’Abdu-l-Mumin had looted was restored, 
and ’Abbas, by way of showing his own piety, walked on one occasion, 
accompanied by all his staff, from Isfahan to Mashhad. 
* See the most interesting detailed account in Vambery’s Bukhara. 
f A nephew of ’Abdu-llah. This fight took place just before the dynasty 
closed with Pir Muhammad Khan II, in 1007 H. 
’Abdu-llah, 991—100G. Zahra Khanam marries - Jan. 
X Din Muhrnd. § I. B&qi Muhrnd., 1007. || II. Wall 
1 _Muhrnd., 1014. 
a 
*([ III. Imam Quli, 1017. 
IV. Nadir Muhammad, 1050. 
