Early Career
In 1456 Abu Sa'id, who had become the ruler of Transoxiana, sent for Yunus Khan. Abu Sa'id had become annoyed with the frequent raids that the Moghuls under Esen Buqa made into his territory. He raised Yunus to the khanship and sent him with an army to Moghulistan to oppose his brother. Yunus Khan quickly gained the support of several amirs and married the daughter one of those amirs, Mir Pir Haji Kunji. Her name was Isan Daulat Begum. But when he moved to take the town of Kashgar he was met by the joined army of Amir Sayyid Ali of Kashgar and Esen Buqa, and in the ensuing battle was defeated. Soon afterwards he retreated from Moghulistan and returned to the court of Abu Sa'id, who gave him territory around Lake Issyk-Kul. After a while Yunus Khan again entered Moghulistan and gained the support of the amirs, but was unable to make any substantial gains in the country against Esen Buqa.
In 1457 dughlat Amir Sayyid Ali of Kashgar had died and his son Saniz Mirza had sought the assistance of Yunus Khan to gain power in Kashgar. When Yunus Khan came to Kashgar he sent one of the most respectful Sayyids of Kashgar, Amir Zia-ud-Din, to Shah Sultan Muhammad Badakhshi, in Badakhshan, to ask one of his six daughters in marriage. Shah Sultan Muhammad Badakhshi or prince Lali was believed to have been the direct descendant of Iskandar Zulkarnain (Alexander the Great), son of Filikus Rumi (Phillip II of Macedon), who according legend left one of his sons in isolated mountain country out of reach of rivals in hope he will continue his affair in the East. Prince Lali gave his fourth daughter Shah Begum to Sayyid Zia-ud-Din who brought her back with him to Kashgar and delivered over to the Yunus Khan. Yunus Khan had two sons and two daughters by Shah Begum. The eldest of all was Sultan Mahmud Khan. He was born in 1462. Next to him came Sultan Ahmad Khan, known later as Alacha (Slayer) Khan for his attempts to usurp absolute power in the Steppe and slaughtering of Kalmaks. The two daughters were Sultan Nigar Khanim and Daulat Sultan Khanim.
In 1462 Esen Buqa died, and the Moghuls were divided over whether to support Yunus or Esen Buqa's son, Dost Muhammad, who took up residence in Aksu, denying thus the nomad style of life and becoming the ruler of all settled lands in Eastern Moghulistan, known at the time as Uyghurstan. The dughlat amir of Kashgar Muhammad Haidar Mirza supported Dost Muhammad, but his brother the amir of Yarkand Saniz Mirza supported Yunus Khan, and expelled the former from Kashgar, but he died after only a few years, in 1464, and Dost Muhammad plundered Kashgar. In 1468 or 1469, however, Dost Muhammad died and Yunus Khan seized Aksu. Dost Muhammad's son, Kebek Sultan, was whisked away to Turpan (Uyghurstan), where he ruled for a few years.
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