_Beykend_ was considered a city, and its inhabitants are highly indignant if any one call it a village. Were a Beykender in Bagdad questioned as to his home, he would say Bokhara. It was once a considerable spot, had many beautiful buildings and mosques, and in the year 240 Heg. had yet many rabats (stone houses in the form of a caraverserai). The number of these exceeded a thousand, all inhabited by people who, in summer, dwelt at their own country seats, but in winter spent the fruits of their industry in the town, and thus were very gay. The Beykenders were also great merchants, who carried on a trade to China and the Sea. The fortifications of this town are older than Bokhara, and it gave Kuteibe much trouble to take it. In earlier times each prince had here his castle. Between Beykend and Farab is a tract of twelve farsangs, which goes through a sandy desert. Arslan Khan had raised here a magnificent building, and with much cost brought the Canal Djaramgam into this vicinity. In the neighbourhood of Beykend there are many beds of reeds and large lakes, which they call Barkent ferrakh or _Karakol_. According to a credible statement these are about twenty farsangs in extent, and abound in water-fowl and fish, beyond any other portion of Khorassan. Here the Canal Djaramgam had not sufficient water, so Arslan Khan wished to bring from these lakes a stream to Beykend, which place lies on a slight elevation. They began to dig, but they struck on an excessively hard rock, which rendered useless all their hammering and hewing. Loads of fat and vinegar were employed for the softening of the stone, but in vain, and the work was abandoned. _Farab_ has a large mosque, of which the walls and cupola are built of tiles, without a particle of wood visible. It had its own princes, who governed from Bokhara in a settled order, and, to a certain degree, independently. QUEEN KHATUN AND THE FOUR FIRST ARABIAN FIELD MARSHALS.[35] [35] Khatun means in Turkish, _woman_, of which word we wish to avail ourselves instead of a name, as this is the practice in the MS. before us. In the time of the Arabian occupation, or more properly speaking, in that time when the first outposts of the Arabian adventurer pressed to the distant East, there was in Bokhara a woman on the throne, who, during the minority of her son Tugshade, held for fifteen years the reins of government with both might and rectitude. Of this woman, who is considered to be the Nushirvan (emblem of justice) of Central Asia, it is reported that she went daily from her castle on the Rigistan[36] on horseback, and, surrounded by all classes, busied herself with state affairs. Towards the end of year 53 Heg., the Arabians, under the leading of Abdullah-ben-Ziad, crossed the Oxus, and took the once celebrated Peykend, through which victory they came into possession of much treasure, and about 4,000 prisoners.