,
dismayed at the dauntless courage shown by this mere handful of men, and
having incurred great loss in his effort to crush them, drew off his
weakened forces towards evening; and Yakoob Beg, boldly seizing the
opportunity for assuming the offensive, drove them from the field in
disorder and with considerable loss. In addition to the loss in killed
and wounded, more than 1,000 Tungan soldiers enlisted under the standard
of Yakoob Beg, and that general found himself on the morrow of one of
his greatest battles, with a greater force under his command than he had
just before it commenced. This great triumph gave fresh lustre to the
Khoja family, and redounded to the military renown of Yakoob Beg. Nor
should it be forgotten that on this occasion he showed that he
possessed, besides military genius of some merit, qualities of an
estimable character. For the first time in the annals of these wars the
prisoners were treated with some consideration. For some reason or other
this victory was not followed up, and the defeated Kucha army retired on
Maralbashi, which it continued to hold for some months longer. The
indirect results of this victory were scarcely less important, however,
than the immediate and direct consequences of it.

Buzurg Khan, who had been present at this battle, was among the first to
seek refuge in flight; and when he received intelligence of the final
success his satisfaction was almost eclipsed by his personal chagrin and
mortification. Up to this event he had been content to let Yakoob Beg
act the king so long as he could indulge undisturbed in his
debaucheries; but from this date there became mingled with his wounded
vanity a conviction that Yakoob Beg was becoming so powerful and so
popular that he might prove a dangerous subject. The weak-minded prince
then permitted himself to be made the tool of every rival that the
success of Yakoob Beg had raised up for himself either in the court or
in the camp, and listened to tales brought him of his lieutenant's
plots, when the conspirators most to be feared by himself were the
ambitious chieftains in whose power he was placing his person and his
crown. After the defeat of the Kucha army, the ruling parties in Yarkand
thought it would be wise to come to terms with their victorious and
aggressive neighbour, and accordingly an embassy was despatched to Yangy
Hissar by the Khojas of Yarkand to tender their submission to the
sovereign of Kashgar, and to ask to be