The Memoirs of Bābur 911.6
The Bābur-nāma in English (A. S. Beveridge) 911.6
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Jahāngīr _Barlās_ was another.[1079] For a time he shared the Kābul command with Muḥammad Barandūq _Barlās_, later on [Sidenote: Fol. 172.] went to Sl. Ḥusain Mīrzā's presence and received very great favour. His movements and poses (_ḥarakāt u sakanāt_) were graceful and charming; he was also a man of pleasant temper. As he knew the rules of hunting and hawking, in those matters the Mīrzā gave him chief charge. He was a favourite of Badī`u'z-zamān Mīrzā and, bearing that Mīrzā's friendliness in mind, used to praise him. Mīrzā Aḥmad of `Alī _Farsī Barlās_ was another. Though he wrote no verse, he knew what was poetry. He was a gay-hearted, elegant person, one by himself. `Abdu'l-khalīq Beg was another. Fīrūz Shāh, Shāhrukh Mīrzā's greatly favoured beg, was his grandfather;[1080] hence people called him Fīrūz Shāh's `Abdu'l-khalīq. He held Khwārizm for a time. Ibrāhīm _Dūldāī_ was another. He had good knowledge of revenue matters and the conduct of public business; his work was that of a second Muḥ. Barandūq. Ẕū'n-nūn _Arghūn_ was another.[1081] He was a brave man, using his sword well in Sl. Abū-sa`īd Mīrzā's presence and later on getting his hand into the work whatever the fight. As to his courage there was no question at all, but he was a bit of a fool. After he left our (_Mīrān-shāhī_) Mīrzās to go to Sl. Ḥusain Mīrzā, the Mīrzā gave him Ghūr and the Nikdīrīs. He did [Sidenote: Fol.
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172b.] excellent work in those parts with 70 to 80 men, with so few beating masses and masses of Hazāras and Nikdīrīs; he had not his match for keeping those tribes in order. After a while Zamīn-dāwar was given to him. His son Shāh-i-shujā` _Arghūn_ used to move about with him and even in childhood used to chop away with his sword. The Mīrzā favoured Shāh-i-shujā` and, somewhat against Ẕū'n-nūn Beg's wishes, joined him with his father in the government of Qandahār. Later on this father and son made dissension between that father and that son,[1082] and stirred up much commotion. After I had overcome Khusrau Shāh and parted his retainers from him, and after I had taken Kābul from Ẕū'n-nūn _Arghūn_'s son Muqīm, Ẕū'n-nūn Beg and Khusrau Shāh both went, in their helplessness, to see Sl. Ḥusain Mīrzā. Ẕū'n-nūn _Arghūn_ grew greater after the Mīrzā's death when they gave him the districts of the Herī Koh-dāman, such as Aūba (Ubeh) and Chachcharān.[1083] He was made Lord of Badī`u'z-zamān Mīrzā's Gate[1084] and Muḥammad Barandūq _Barlās_ Lord of Muz̤affar-i-ḥusain Mīrzā's, when the two Mīrzās became joint-rulers in Herī. Brave though he was, he was a little crazed and shallow-pated; if he had not been so, would he have accepted flattery as he did? would he have made himself so contemptible? Here are the details of the matter:—While he was so dominant and so trusted in Herī, a few shaikhs and mullās went to him and said, "The Spheres are holding commerce with us;
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you are to be styled _Hizabru'l-lāh_ (Lion of God); you will overcome the Aūzbeg." Fully accepting this flattery, he put his _fūṯa_ (bathing-cloth) round his neck[1085] and gave thanks. Then, after Shaibāq Khān, coming against the Mīrzās, had beaten them one [Sidenote: Fol. 173.] by one near Bādghīs, Ẕū'n-nūn _Arghūn_ met him face to face near Qarā-rabāṯ and, relying on that promise, stood up against him with 100 to 150 men. A mass of Aūzbegs came up, overcame them and hustled them off; he himself was taken and put to death.[1086] He was orthodox and no neglecter of the Prayers, indeed made the extra ones. He was mad for chess; he played it according to his own fancy and, if others play with one hand, he played with both.[1087] Avarice and stinginess ruled in his character. Darwīsh-i-`alī Beg was another,[1088] the younger full-brother of `Alī-sher Beg. He had the Balkh Command for a time and there did good beg-like things, but he was a muddle-head and somewhat wanting in merit. He was dismissed from the Balkh Command because his muddle-headedness had hampered the Mīrzā in his first campaign against Qūndūz and Ḥiṣār. He came to my presence when I went to Qūndūz in 916 AH. (1510 AD.), brutalized and stupefied, far from capable begship and out-side peaceful home-life. Such favour as he had had, he appears to have had for `Alī-sher Beg's sake.
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Mughūl Beg was another. He was Governor of Herī for a time, later on was given Astarābād, and from there fled to Ya`qūb Beg in `Irāq. He was of amorous disposition[1089] and an incessant dicer. Sayyid Badr (Full-moon) was another, a very strong man, [Sidenote: Fol. 173b.] graceful in his movements and singularly well-mannered. He danced wonderfully well, doing one dance quite unique and seeming to be his own invention.[1090] His whole service was with the Mīrzā whose comrade he was in wine and social pleasure. Islīm _Barlās_ was another, a plain (_turk_) person who understood hawking well and did some things to perfection. Drawing a bow of 30 to 40 _bātmāns_ strength,[1091] he would make his shaft pass right through the target (_takhta_). In the gallop from the head of the _qabaq-maidān_,[1092] he would loosen his bow, string it again, and then hit the gourd (_qabaq_). He would tie his string-grip (_zih-gīr_) to the one end of a string from 1 to 1-1/2 yards long, fasten the other end to a tree, let his shaft fly, and shoot through the string-grip while it revolved.[1093] Many such remarkable feats he did. He served the Mīrzā continuously and was at every social gathering. Sl. Junaid _Barlās_ was another;[1094] in his latter days he went to Sl. Aḥmad Mīrzā's presence.[1095] He is the father of the Sl. Junaid _Barlās_ on whom at the present time[1096] the joint-government of Jaunpūr depends.
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Shaikh Abū-sa`īd Khān _Dar-miyān_ (In-between) was another. It is not known whether he got the name of Dar-miyān because he took a horse to the Mīrzā _in the middle_ of a fight, or whether because he put himself _in between_ the Mīrzā and some-one designing on his life.[1097] Bih-būd Beg was another. He had served in the pages' circle (_chuhra jīrgasī_) during the guerilla times and gave such [Sidenote: Fol. 174.] satisfaction by his service that the Mīrzā did him the favour of putting his name on the stamp (_tamghā_) and the coin (_sikka_).[1098] Shaikhīm Beg was another.[1099] People used to call him Shaikhīm _Suhailī_ because Suhailī was his pen-name. He wrote all sorts of verse, bringing in terrifying words and mental images. Here is a couplet of his:— In the anguish of my nights, the whirlpool of my sighs engulphs the firmament; Like a dragon, the torrent of my tears swallows the quarters of the world. Well-known it is that when he once recited that couplet in Maulānā `Abdu'r-raḥmān _Jāmī's_ presence, the honoured Mullā asked him whether he was reciting verse or frightening people. He put a _dīwān_ together; _mas̤nawīs_ of his are also in existence.
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Muḥammad-i-walī Beg was another, the son of the Walī Beg already mentioned. Latterly he became one of the Mīrzā's great begs but, great beg though he was, he never neglected his service and used to recline (_yāstānīb_) day and night in the Gate. Through doing this, his free meals and open table were always set just outside the Gate. Quite certainly a man who was so constantly in waiting, _would_ receive the favour he received! It is an evil noticeable today that effort must be made before the man, dubbed Beg because he has five or six of the bald and blind at his back, can be got into the Gate at all! Where this sort of service is, it must be to their own misfortune! Muḥammad-i-walī Beg's public table and free meals were good; he kept his servants neat and well-dressed and with his own hands gave [Sidenote: Fol. 174b.] ample portion to the poor and destitute, but he was foul-mouthed and evil-spoken. He and also Darwīsh-i-`alī the librarian were in my service when I took Samarkand in 917 AH. (Oct. 1511 AD.); he was palsied then; his talk lacked salt; his former claim to favour was gone. His assiduous waiting appears to have been the cause of his promotion.
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Bābā `Alī the Lord of the Gate was another. First, `Alī-sher Beg showed him favour; next, because of his courage, the Mīrzā took him into service, made him Lord of the Gate, and promoted him to be a beg. One of his sons is serving me now (_circa_ 934 AH.), that Yūnas of `Alī who is a beg, a confidant, and of my household. He will often be mentioned.[1100] Badru'd-dīn (Full-moon of the Faith) was another. He had been in the service of Sl. Abū-sa`īd Mīrzā's Chief Justice Mīrak `Abdu'r-raḥīm; it is said he was very nimble and sure-footed, a man who could leap over seven horses at once. He and Bābā `Alī were close companions. Ḥasan of `Alī _Jalāīr_ was another. His original name was Ḥusain _Jalāīr_ but he came to be called `Alī's Ḥasan.[1101] His father `Alī _Jalāīr_ must have been favoured and made a beg by Bābur Mīrzā; no man was greater later on when Yādgār-i-muḥammad M. took Herī. Ḥasan-i-`alī was Sl. Ḥusain Mīrzā's _Qūsh-begī_.[1102] He made T̤ufailī (Uninvited-guest) his pen-name; wrote good odes and was the Master of this art in his day. He wrote odes on my name when he came to my presence at the time I took Samarkand in 917 AH. (1511 AD.). Impudent (_bī bāk_) and [Sidenote: Fol. 175.] prodigal he was, a keeper of catamites, a constant dicer and draught-player.