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T.H.   Khudabanda now raised an army of Kirghiz and Kalmâk to avenge this attack

upon Yarkand. Muhammad Amin at once appealed to Afâk for protection, and the Saint thus disclosed to the ruler of the State his own ambition : Hold ! Khan ! Restrain your desires. This country of Mogholistan is the garden of the Khojas.

I entrust it to your care. Do no violence, nor oppression. Be the friend of God's friends. Withhold your tongue from the slander of my people, and be the enemy of

my enemies. If you fail in these duties, eternal pains and tortures are your lot, for the wrath of the Saints is a reflexion of the wrath of God. Khudabanda is your vassal. He now draws his sword ? Go you against him. The spirit of the Saints upholds your arms. Victory and triumph are yours. My son from Krashghar, Khoja Muhammad Yahya, goes with you."

Accordingly they set out together with a large army against Alai. The fort was taken, Khudabanda was seized and taken before Muhammad Amin, who at once slew him. The victory was claimed by the Khoja as the result of Afak's miraculous aid ; and on the return of the victorious army, he presented the deserving of the soldiers before his father for reward. Amongst the foremost of these was Khuda- birdi Bi, Chongbaghish Kirghiz, who was the first to assault and force the gate of the castle. The Saint cast a benign glance on the hero, and inquired " What desirest thou ? Oh Mir !" The Kirghiz saluting replied " Tacs6• .Pcfdshahim I = Sire ! My King ! By your high favour I have no lack of worldly wealth. I have herds of horses, and strings of cam.els, and droves of oxen. My flocks of goats and sheep are countless, and there is no limit to the number of my slaves and wenches; but I have no son." " How many wives have you ?" asked the Saint. "Tacs2r ! I have two wives" replied the Mir. Afak took two apples from a tray set before him, and handing them to the Kirghiz Bi, said " Give this to the one wife, and this tq the other wife." And so he dismissed him. The hero returned home and did as he was bid. Each wife conceived, and in due course each gave birth to a son. This miracle is notorious in all the Kashghar and Yarkand territory.

Following this in 1043 H.=1630 A.D., Muhammad Amin Khan, alarmed at the rapid rise of Afak and jealous of his power, declared war against him, and closing the roads to Hindustan and Badakhshan to prevent his escape, vowed to exterminate the whole Khoja race. On this Afak summoned the aid of Yahya, called also Khan Khoja, as the eldest of his sons ; and on his arrival from Kashghar with a numerous army, the troops of the Khan deserted to the Khoja ; and thus reduced to helplessness Muhammad Amin forgot his boasts and threats, and. sought safety by flight. He was pursued, captured, and executed beyond the Yarkand river.

Afâk after this gained supreme control of the government. In his later years he resigned the reins of authority to Yahya, who for fifteen years had been the custodian of the family sepulchre at Artosh and the superior of its attached monas. tery, and retired to spend his declining years in the society of his disciples over whom his magic influence produced a spell of servile devotion.

Afak converted nearly a hundred thousand people to Islam, not reckoning the ladies of the nobility and gentry amongst whom he exercised an influence and control of a mysterious and imperious nature. He died suddenly at Yarkand in the midst of a theological discussion with his disciples in the beginning of Rajah 1105 H.=1693 A.D. and was buried in the vault of his father at Alttin Artosh. His funeral was attended by ten thousand relatives, disciples, and retainers. His grave is now the holiest shrine in the country, and is called 1Vlazdr fyzaclanwar Astdnae Hazrat Eshân Alisharn Hazrat Afcik=" The shrine bounteous in lights, the threshold of His Eminent Presence, the Most High Presence."

During the life of Afâk, the mausoleum and monastery built over the grave of his father, were destroyed and burned by the Kirghiz and Kazzâk invaders. Yahya rebuilt them, and, adding a college and alms-houses, much enlarged the area of the shrine. And he gave the revenues of Fyzabad, Daulatbagh, and the Arwat canal in bequest for their maintenance. These buildings were completed only shortly