P. S. I fear that the number of proper names which occur in this work will tire my readers, but such is the style of Oriental history; the reason assigned for it is, that it may serve as a record of the actions of each chief, and should the author omit any persons, he might be called to account by the heirs. Mirza Abu Talib, who wrote his Travels through Europe, in 1803, apologized to his countrymen for the number of _barbarous_ names he was obliged to relate to them, so that the complaint is mutual. ----- Footnote 7: An ample detail of all these nations will be found in Gibbon’s History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Footnote 8: See printed copy of the Institutes of Timūr, pages 131 and 285: Gibbon following the French orthography, calls him Chagan. Footnote 9: Since writing the above, I have been informed by one of our best Chinese scholars, that the Mandarins of that country are called _Kwans_, but that the title of Jengyz was _Ching-sze Kho-han_. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ MEMOIRS OF TIMŪR. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ PREFACE TO THE PERSIAN TRANSLATION. -------------- In the Name of the most merciful God, Eternal praise is due to the Almighty, who, through his special favour, said to Adam, Verily we have made thee our vicegerent over the earth;— He, who fixed the nest of the Phœnix (Ankay) with expanded wings of victory of the everlasting dominion of his Majesty (Timūr) on the pinnacle of the lofty mountain of _Kāf_, commanding the world;— Boundless thanks be also to the Omnipotent, who has exalted above all the sovereigns of the world the dignity of the _Khelāfet_ and the family of the Prophet, in order to disseminate the glorious religion of Muhammed, and renovate the luminous law of _Mustafā_;— Glory to the Creator, who, having formed the circumference of the heavens, with all the elements, around the axis of the earth, established the circle of supreme sovereignty in the blessed person of his Majesty, confirming the sacred verse of the Korān, “A just monarch is the Shadow of God, and the guardian of his kingdoms.”