On the guitar strings, Yarkand

Author: Tie Mei / Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2006-05-01
Features: Lashid inherited the traditions of the Mongols, ensuring his children received a good education from a young age and underwent trials on the battlefield during their youth. His beloved eldest son, Abdu·Latif Sultán, was brave and resolute. He obeyed his father's command to rule over Mongolia for a period. In wars against the Kirghiz and Kazakh people, he was an invincible general. If he had lived, he would have been my child, though my age was not sufficient to be his mother. Yet, Lashid's fate was somewhat like that of the Hun king Attila. Of course, the story of Attila I am telling now is not from historical books but from the plot of a 20th-century American Hollywood film I witnessed through a time tunnel.
In 441 AD, Attila, the leader of the Huns ruling the grasslands between the Ural Mountains and the Carpathian Mountains, declared war on the Eastern Roman Empire. At that time, the Roman and German worlds were terrified of the Hunnic invasion. They described the Huns as follows: "They live like beasts, eating raw food without seasoning, gnawing on roots and tender meat crushed under their saddlebags. From childhood, they are accustomed to enduring cold, hunger, and thirst. Their clothing consists of a dark-colored hemp inner garment and a rabbit-skin outer coat. The inner garment is dark and is not changed until it wears out on the body. They are almost as firmly attached to their ugly little horses as if they were riveted to them. These horses are tireless and gallop like lightning. In battle, they charge at their enemies, emitting terrible screams. When hindered, they disperse and return at the same speed, smashing and overturning everything in their path. Their archery skills are unmatched; their aim is true, and wherever their arrows strike, death follows."
Attila was the outstanding leader of such a people. It was said that he was superstitious, believed in shamans (witches), and loved strong drink. Therefore, when Hollywood created this character, they designed a woman secretly in love with him as a shaman. Attila fought on the battlefield, facing a one-on-one duel, while the witch prayed by a fire, casting spells to save him and help him defeat his opponent. When Attila was shot by an arrow from his opponent, the witch took his place and bore the pain. In the end, Attila became the leader of the Huns, and the witch paid for it with her life.
Attila was ambitious to conquer Rome and deeply admired the progress and civilization of the Romans. He ordered the construction of a bathhouse in his camp, a task that proved more difficult for his generals, who were skilled only in warfare, than winning a battle. Attila attacked and destroyed some cities in Gaul and Italy. In a village, his army killed the parents of a young girl, who vowed to avenge her parents' deaths. The Roman governor Aetius told the girl what to do, and she became a pawn in his hands. The strength of the pawn lay in her resemblance to Attila's deceased queen, so Attila wanted to marry her. On the night of the wedding, the girl poisoned the wine and handed it to Attila.
Apart from history itself, no one knows how Attila died, only that he passed away prematurely in 453 AD. As for Lashid's eldest son, Latif, he was forged into an excellent warrior by his bloodline and the spirit of that era. The Chronicles recorded Latif's death: Abdu·Latif Sultán attacked the forces of the Kazakh Khan Haknazar, captured many prisoners, and gained numerous spoils of war. The defeated Haknazar Khan reassembled the Kazakhs and the Kirghiz to pursue Latif. However, Latif was indulging in the pleasures of victory and paid no attention to the danger he was in, and was captured alive in the night by the enemy.
"People brought the fatally wounded Sultán before Haknazar Khan. Haknazar Khan showed him the respect due to him, and Abdu·Latif Sultán agreed to transfer from this mortal world to the eternal pastures of paradise." Latif died at the age of 29, and his body was returned to Yarkand and buried in the mausoleum of the Khanate—the Arton Khan Mausoleum (now located within the city of Shache)—where I was also buried in the 16th century. Latif's death shattered Lashid's heart. In 1556, he led a powerful army to avenge his son, uniting with the Yuezhi people and fighting all the way to the Emin River, crushing the Kazakh army. P92-94