The Rashīdī History 197: CHAPTER LXXVII. · REASONS FOR BÂBÂ SULTAN'S FLIGHT, AND THE CONCLUSION OF HIS STORY.
The Tarikh-i-Rashidi (Elias, Ross) 197
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CHAPTER LXXVII. · REASONS FOR BÂBÂ SULTAN'S FLIGHT, AND THE CONCLUSION OF HIS STORY.
197.1
Bâbâ Sultân has been already mentioned above, as the son of the Khân's brother, Sultân Khalil Sultan. He was a mere child when his father was drowned in the river, at Akhsi, by Jani Beg Sultan, in the year 914. After the Khan took Andijan, Baba Sultan remained in the Khan's service, and was treated with such consideration that he became an object of envy to [the Khan's own] children. Khwaja Ali Bahadur, who has been frequently mentioned, was appointed his governor [Ataka]. This man, as has been explained, had a plan [for seizing] Moghulistan, and taking Baba Sultan with him. But my uncle opposed this, and arranged that Rashid Sultan should go instead. On this account, Baba Sultan was offended. Despite the attentions the Khan showed him, his resentment increased daily, and in proportion as Rashid Sultan rose [in power], his jealousy became the more bitter. Moreover, some devils of companions (who are to be found everywhere, and who sow the seeds of hypocrisy in the soil of men's hearts) did their best to incite him to sedition and revolt; so that at length he came to the conclusion that there was nothing left but flight.
197.2
One of these men was named Mazid, a person of evil ways, whom the Khan had at first favoured, but finding that he did not perform his duties in the posts to which he was appointed, the Khan deprived him of his rank. This person found it inconvenient to remain in Kashghar, so he approached Baba Sultan, and filled his ears with many idle tales, which Baba Sultan, from the vanity of youth, or rather from sheer ignorance, took for truth. Among other deceitful statements, he said to him: "It is a ruler of capability such as you, that Kashghar stands in need of, and everybody is seeking for a really good king. Wherever you go, the people accept you as Baba Shahi. Look, for example, at Sultan Avais in Khatlan-Hisar. Failing to find a good king, he set himself up on his own account, and now bows his head to no one. If you present yourself before him, he will make you king, while he himself will advance and take the whole of Badakhshan, and accomplish much that I cannot [now] explain. The truth of the matter is, that the sovereignty of Khorasan and Mavara-un-Nahr is far more important than that of Kashghar and Moghulistan [and you may attain it]." Such idle tales as these did he string together, and by persistence, made them appear reasonable. Thus was Baba Sultan duped by this man and one or two others of the same sort.
197.3
In the summer of the afore-mentioned year, they fled from Yarkand. The Khan did not send in pursuit of them, but said: "If they find some one better than I am, well and good; if not, they will return." Baba Sultan fled to Sultan Avais, and thence to Badakhshan. Here he saw that he had been deceived, and that these cowardly men had misled him for their own private ends. Repentant, he returned to Kashghar. But the Khan was unwilling [that he should remain], as shall be shortly explained. So being obliged to quit the country, he withdrew to Hindustan, where he conducted himself badly. Babar Padishah gave him Ruhtak, an important town in Hisar-Firuza, where he followed his uncommendable courses, but shortly afterwards was seized with dysentery, and died in the course of the year 937, at the age of twenty-four. In his youth he had been so spoiled by the Khan, that his masters could do nothing with him, and his studies came to naught. [Two couplets]. . . . Yet he was not devoid of natural talents, for he was a skilled archer and conversed well. At an early period he was fond of me, and we were such warm friends that we always used the same tent on journeys, and the same dwelling at court. His aunt was with me and my sister with him, on which account we were always able to associate without ceremony. Then occurred the affair of my uncle; a bitterness arose between them, and he plotted against the Khan.
197.4
All my warnings and reproofs were in vain, and after this our friendship began to cool. When he came back [from his flight into Badakhshan] the Khan sent me to order him away again. [On our meeting, Baba Sultan] began to make profuse excuses and apologies and to profess regret that he had turned a deaf ear to my counsels. [Verses]. . . . Seeing him thus sad and repentant, I hoped he might persist in reforming his conduct, but on reaching India, a change for the worse came over him, and on account of his former evil associations, he never again mended his ways. [Verse]. . . . His body was carried from Ruhtak to Badakhshan, and was buried in the tomb of Shah Sultan Muhammad Badakhshi—his grandfather on his grandmother's side.