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slaved himself, resolved to secure the latter, happen what might. He accordingly fled from Yarkand with many followers, and retired to his palace at Kashgar. There, not content with pillaging the palace of Yakoob Beg, he proclaimed him a traitor and rebel, and offered a reward to whomsoever should bring him his head. Another general was appointed to the command of the army, and preparations were made for defending Kashgar against any attempt of Yakoob Beg to attack it. But fortunately the Tungani in the citadel of Yarkand were not aware of this dissension among the Kashgari, and as they were struck with admiration for the valour of Yakoob Beg, they surrendered to him soon after the flight of Buzurg. He was then able to turn his undivided attention to his refractory chief. Yakoob Beg had always, as we have said, befriended the church; he was now to experience some benefit for that very commendable respect. Among the first means of crushing Yakoob Beg that Buzurg Khan had employed was an appeal to the Sheikh-ul-islam of Kashgar to proclaim his Baturbashi outside the pale of the law. This the ecclesiastic refused to do, and asserted, on the contrary, that Yakoob Beg had deserved well both of his country and of the Mahomedan world. Foiled in his effort to stir up a religious feeling against his general, Buzurg Khan was reduced to the more cogent, but in his hands quite useless, argument of the sword. Nor was the field, limited as it must appear to us, free from other pretenders. Sadic Beg, instead of coalescing with Buzurg Khan, set up his own pretensions to rule the country; and the Kucha Khojas and Tungani began to collect troops in view of possible eventualities. The army of Buzurg Khan, which had marched out to oppose the entry of Yakoob Beg, was outflanked and defeated by Abdulla in the country between Yangy Hissar and the capital; and Yakoob Beg, pressing on with irresistible strides, was received in Kashgar with the acclamations of the people and of his soldiers. He was then publicly proclaimed ruler, and his friend the Sheikh-ul-islam ratified the people's choice. Buzurg Khan, who had taken refuge in the Yangy-Shahr, was seized in his palace there, after a very slight resistance. Some of the more prominent of Yakoob Beg's rivals were executed, and Buzurg Khan himself was placed in a state of honourable confinement. He still persisted in futile intrigues, and so long as he remained in Kashgar was a source of endless
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