licit pleasures in which he indulged. One of the
occasions on which Yakoob Beg endeavoured to instil into his sovereign
some idea of the responsibilities of his office was this invasion by the
Khoja-Tungani power of Altyshahr. Early in the summer a large force,
estimated at 40,000 men, collected by the cities of Aksu, Kucha, and
Turfan, appeared at Maralbashi, whence it equally threatened Kashgar or
protected Yarkand. Yakoob Beg's utmost efforts, if we are to credit the
native report, only availed to bring some 2,500 men into the field; but
it is more reasonable to suppose, that, with his Kirghiz, Kipchak, and
Badakshi auxiliaries, he had many more troops under him, perhaps 12,500
instead of 2,500 men. Be the exact numbers of the forces what they may,
however, it is certain that he was greatly outnumbered by the invader,
and that the diverse elements of his army detracted very much from its
effective strength. The Tungan army advanced from Maralbashi on Yangy
Hissar, where Yakoob Beg had concentrated his army. He had drawn Buzurg
Khan and such of the court followers as he could from their ignominious
inaction in the capital to encounter the dangers and risks of a field of
battle. Both sides were eager for the encounter, which took place in the
neighbourhood of Yangy Hissar. The tactical disposition made by Yakoob
Beg of his forces was such as would command the approval of skilled
officers, and, having done all that mortal man could do to insure the
result, he commended himself and his cause to Allah. The battle was long
and stoutly contested. During hours it was impossible to say to which
side the balance of victory was inclining; at last the Kirghiz troops,
half-hearted in their fighting, were driven from the field, and the
Badakshi division, which had up to that moment stubbornly held its
ground, immediately followed the shameful example thus set it. There now
only remained the division under the immediate orders of Yakoob Beg to
withstand the onset of a whole army victorious in two different quarters
of the field. The situation, on which the fate of the whole enterprise
depended, might have filled the boldest heart with momentary despair.
Yakoob Beg had, however, so braced himself to the effort, that no more
than ordinary emotion was permitted to betray the disturbed mind within,
and with the exclamation that "Victory is the gift of God," he inspired
his soldiery to continue the fight throughout the afternoon. The enemy