[308] Sheibani Khan, or Shahabeg Khan, a descendant of the Great Zengis, the enemy of Baber the first of the Moguls, was the founder of the Usbeg power on the ruins of that of Timour, in Central Asia. He was defeated and killed by Shah Ismael Sofi at the battle of Merv Shah Jehan in 1514. See Baber’s _Memoirs_, translated by Mr. Erskine. [309] Sunnees. [310] Herat, a city of great importance in the history of Persia, and the key or gate of India, as it has been aptly described; it is well fortified, and the emporium of commerce between Cabul, Bokhara, Hindostan, and Persia, with a population of forty thousand; it is now subject to Affghanistan. [311] Khaf. [312] Sanderem, probably Amol or Balfrush, in Mazanderan. [313] Sari, the capital of Mazanderan, a well fortified town of fifteen thousand inhabitants, with a brisk trade with Astrakhan and the interior of Persia, twenty miles from Balfrush. [314] The Caspian. [315] Ispahan. [316] Sheibani Khan. [317] Shirvan. [318] Kara Bagh. [319] Canar. [320] See page 50. [321] See page 48. [322] The great battle of Merv Shah Jehan, 1514. The city of Merv, the ancient capital of Margiana, was founded by Alexander the Great, and embellished by Antiochus Nicator, who gave it the name of Antiochia. It was long the seat of the Seljooks and also of the great Alp Arslan, whose tomb is there. It has now declined in importance, having been repeatedly sacked by the Usbegs. [323] He was killed in the battle. [324] Samarcand, a city once almost the capital of the world, being well known as the seat of Timour, but now greatly declined in importance. It is a hundred and thirty miles from Bokhara, and is still the _entrepôt_ for a caravan trade, with ten thousand inhabitants. [325] The Iris, present Kizzil Irmak. [326] Iris. [327] Erzingan. [328] Khoi, the capital of a rich district, with a considerable trade between Turkey and Persia; it has a population of twenty-five thousand, and is a well-built, handsome town, on the Ak Schai, a tributary of the Aras.