Battle of the Chirciq River The Battle of the Chirciq River was fought between Sultan Mahmud Khan of Moghulistan and Sultan Ahmed Mirza , the Timurid ruler of Samarkand & Bukhara in 1488 C . E . over the city of Tashkent . The Moghuls decisively defeated the Timurids as a result of the defection of 3 , 000 Uzbeks under the command of Muhammad Shaybani Khan . Background . Tashkent was conquered by Yunus Khan , the Khan of Moghulistan during the Timurid Civil Wars . After he died in 1487 C . E . , his son Sultan Mahmud Khan became the new Khan . With this change of power in Tashkent , the Timurids of Ferghana ordered by Umar Shaikh Mirza II decided to attack Tashkent and placed a strong army in the " Ushtar Fort " . However , Sultan Mahmud Khan marched quickly to besiege the fort and took it by assault . Next year , however , the Amirs of the Timurids of Samarkand & Bukhara compelled and convinced Sultan Ahmed Mirza to attack the Moghuls and take Tashkent , otherwise they will be a source of trouble for the region and it ' s trade . Finally , the Mirza collected an army 150 , 000 strong , and led it against Tashkent . Battle . Sultan Mahmud Khan passed through the suburbs of Tashkent and stood facing the advancing Timurids . Between them flowed the Chirciq River which it was impossible to cross . The armies remained there for the next three days . In the army of the Mirza was Muhammad Shaybani Khan , the son of Shah Budagh Oghlan , the son of Abul - Khayr Khan ibn Dawlat Shaykh ibn Ibrahim Khan . Muhammad Shaybani Khan was not able to hold his own in the steppes , he betook himself to Transoxiana , and became a retainer of one of Sultan Ahmed Mirza ' s Amirs named Mir Abdul Ali . He was in this army , and had 3000 followers . When Sultan Ahmed Mirza had remained three days on the bank of the river , Muhammad Shaybani Khan sent to Sultan Mahmud Khan a message to ask if he would meet and confer with him . That same night they met and they agreed that on the morrow the Khan should attack Mir Abdul Ali , the master of Muhammad Shaybani Khan , who , on his part , undertook to throw the army into disorder , and then to take flight . On the next day the Moghul army was drawn up in battle array , and the infantry passed the river ; the cavalry also entered the stream , when the infantry of the Timurids began the battle . The Moghul army directed its force against Mir Abdul Ali . At this moment Muhammad Shaybani Khan turned and fled with his 3000 Uzbeks , and throwing himself on the baggage of the army , began to plunder . In fact , wherever this disordered rabble found themselves , their device was to fall upon the baggage , so that the army of Sultan Ahmed Mirza was put to flight . But since the Chirciq River , which the people of Tashkent at that time called " Parak " , was in front of them , most of his soldiers were drowned in it . The troops of Sultan Ahmed Mirza suffered a severe defeat , while he , discomfited and beaten , fled to Samarkand . Peace was again arranged between the Khan and Sultan Ahmed Mirza . Aftermath . This victory did much to raise Sultan Mahmud Khan in the estimation of the surrounding Sultans , who henceforward stood in great fear of him , and thus his position became secure . Sultan Mahmud Khan seized and threw into prison Muhammad Majid Tarkhan , who had been appointed Governor of Turkistan by Sultan Ahmed Mirza ; and this Muhammad Majid Tarkhan was one of the principal causes of the peace , for he was a relation , on the mother ' s side , of Sultan Ahmed Mirza . As a reward for the services Muhammad Shaybani Khan rendered in the battle , the Khan made over Turkistan to him ; and on this account disagreement arose between the Kazakh Khanate and Sultan Mahmud Khan , who had previously been on terms of friendship . The Kazakhs complained that he should not have given over a territory to their enemy , the Uzbeks ; in consequence of this quarrel , between the Moghuls and the Kazakh Khanate , two battles took place , Sultan Mahmud Khan suffering defeat on both occasions .