The Uzbeg had only 3000 men under his command; but, nothing daunted by the fearful odds, he rallied his troops and attacked Bāber’s force with such fury that, after a bloody encounter, he put them utterly to rout, A.H. 918 (1512). After this disaster Bāber returned to Samarkand, but, finding no supporters there, fled to Hisār, after a reign of just eight months.[440]
Though the Uzbegs were again masters of Transoxiana, their position was by no means secure. On the west, Bāber, with the aid of 60,000 Persians, sent at his request by Shāh Isma`īl, under Amīr Yār Ahmed Isfahānī, known as Najm-i-Sāni, or the Second Star, passed the Iron Gates and, entering Karshī, massacred the inhabitants and sacked the town. On the east, the Khān of Moghūlistan, on learning Bāber’s success at Karshī, marched out by way of Andijān to attack Suyunjik Khān, one of the chief Uzbeg Sultans. An encounter took place at Bishkand,[441] in which the Khān was utterly defeated.
Meanwhile Bāber and his Persian auxiliaries were marching in the direction of Samarkand, causing great alarm among the Uzbegs. On reaching Ghujduvān[442] they encountered Jānībeg Sultan,[443] who had thrown himself into the fort. A fierce battle ensued, which is vividly described by Mīrzā Haydar in the following words: “The Uzbeg Sultans entered the fort on the same night on which the Turkomans and Bāber, who were encamped before the place, were busy preparing their siege implements. At dawn they arranged their forces in the midst of the suburbs, and stood facing the enemy. On the other side, too, preparations were made for a fight. Since the Uzbegs were in the suburbs, the field of battle was a narrow one. The Uzbeg infantry began to pour forth a shower of arrows from every quarter, so that soon the grip of Islām wrenched aside the hands of heresy and unbelief, and victory declared for the true faith.[444] The victorious breezes of Islām overturned the banners of the schismatics. The Turkomans were so completely routed that most of them perished on the field; all the wounds that had been effected by the swords at Karshī were now sewn up by the arrow-stitches of vengeance. They sent Mīr Najm and all the Turkoman Amīrs to hell; and the emperor retired, broken and crestfallen, to Hisār.” Bāber now determined on relinquishing his designs on Transoxiana, and, returning to Kābul, he prepared for an easier conquest--that of Hindustān. On gaining possession of Transoxiana, the Shaybānides divided it into a number of appanages, the eldest Sultan usually assuming the leadership of the rest. His name alone was read in the public prayers throughout the whole empire, and appeared on the coins of all the states which composed it.