Life of Ahmad — Page 8
8 CHAPTER 2 AHMAD’S as FOREFATHERS Ahmad as , the Promised Messiah, Founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement, belonged to a very distinguished family. He was a descendant of Haji Barl a s, who was the uncle of Amir Timur. It is an established fact that Timur belonged to the famous tribe of Barl a s which had lived and ruled in Kish for 200 years. This part of the world was known in ancient times as Sogdiana of which Samarkand was the capital. The Encyclopaedia Britannica says that the Sogdians. . . were a tribe of Iranians. The word 'Samarkand' itself is of Iranian origin. The word 'Barl a s' also is Iranian and means 'a brave man of noble stock. ' Hence the Promised Messiah as was originally Iranian by race, though he and his family were all known as Mughals in India. A member of the family, Mirza H a d i Baig, came to India from Samarkand with Babar, the first Mughal Emperor of India, or perhaps slightly later, on account of domestic dissensions or an affliction. He brought with him his followers and servants, the party