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Muhammad Shaybani, the Khan of the Uzbeks had set up the Khanate of Bukhara and was so powerful and successful in his military exploits that he wrested Samarkand, Herat and Bukhara from the Timurid dynasty. He captured Khurasan as well but by 1510 he found in Shah Ismail I, the founder of a new Safavid Persian Empire, a serious threat. He decided to confront this threat head on and marched towards Merv where his army was ambushed by the Persians. Some 17,000 Qizilbash ambushed and defeated a superior Uzbek force numbering 28,000. The Uzbek ruler, Muhammad Shaybani, was caught and killed. When news of the defeat of their Khan reached the Uzbeks in Bukhara and Samarkand the result was shock and panic. Those Mughals who had supported Muhammad Shaybani and presently stationed in Khurasan left for Kunduz. News of these new developments arrived in Babur’s Kabul. He immediately decided to recover the Kingdom of his forefathers. ==Initial Movements== Babur marched towards Kunduz in the winter passing through the difficult Ab Darrah Pass. He spent the Eid ul-Fitr, Muslim festival marking the end of the month of Ramadan, near Bamyan. He reached Kunduz in January, 1511. As soon as his troops were rested and winter ended he marched towards the Fort of Qila Hissar Shadman taking it and expelling two important Uzbek leaders; Hamza Sultan and Mahdi Sultan. While Babur lay at Kunduz an embassy arrived from Shah Ismail bringing the Emperor's sister Khanzada Begum with rich presents and tenders of amity. Shah Ismail reunited Babur with his sister, who had been imprisoned by and forced to marry the recently deceased Muhammad Shaybani. Ismail also provided Babur with a large wealth of luxury goods and military assistance, for which Babur reciprocated by adopting the dress and outward customs of the Persians. Over the following few years, Babur and Shah Ismail I would form a partnership in an attempt to take over parts of Mawarannahr (Transoxiana) in Central Asia. Babur had already discovered that though the Uzbeks had suffered a severe defeat at the Battle of Marv, their power was yet unbroken. On the death of Shaybani the Uzbek chiefs assembled to elect a ''Supreme Khan'' in his place. Their choice according to the usages of the Uzbeks was decided by a mixed consideration of age and family. They did not raise to the dignity of Timur Sultan the son of Shaybani but Kuchum Khan Uzbek, a son of Abul-Khayr Khan and who was the eldest Sultan of the family. Timur Sultan the son of Shaybani ruled in Samarkand; Ubaydullah Khan, the son of Mahmud Sultan and nephew of Shaybani possessed Bukhara; Jani Beg Sultan, a son of Shaybani’s uncle held Andijan while Kuchum probably occupied Turkistan and his son Siunjek Sultan, Tashkent. The mastermind of Shaybani was gone, but the veteran captains and the physical force of the Uzbeks still presented a formidable barrier to the progress of Babur. Though each chief was nearly independent in his own territories all were ready to act in union when any assault was made from without against any one member of the confederacy. As The Uzbeks had ascertained that Shah Ismail had conceded the possession of Mawarannahr to Babur, they no longer apprehended an attack from him in person and their whole force being now disposable, they took their measures accordingly. It was resolved that Kuchum Khan and Siunjek Sultan should in concert with Jani Beg Sultan recover possession of Fergana that Ubaydullah Khan should remain at Karshi while Timur Sultan and other chiefs should assist Hamza Sultan and Mahdi Sultan in driving Babur out of Hissar. Nor were they slow in carrying the concerted measures into effect. When Babur reached Pul Sangin on the Surkhab he found that Hamza Sultan from Hissar had occupied it. He discovered also that the Uzbek army was far more numerous than he had supposed and commanded by chiefs of the first distinction and that to meet them in the field would be extremely dangerous. The Uzbeks on their part when informed of the inferiority of Babur's force passed the river lower down than Pul Sangin the stone bridge by swimming. Intelligence of this movement having reached him about afternoon prayers he instantly put his army in motion and marched for Ab Darrah where the passes in the hills are extremely narrow and steep; All that night and the succeeding day till noon he continued marching with the utmost celerity when he at length arrived at a position which the most experienced leaders considered to be very strong and there took his ground. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Battle of Ab Darrah Pass」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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