The Memoirs of Bābur 911.7
The Bābur-nāma in English (A. S. Beveridge) 911.7
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911.7.1
Khwāja `Abdu'l-lāh _Marwārīd_ (Pearl)[1103] was another; he was at first Chief Justice but later on became one of the Mīrzā's favourite household-begs. He was full of accomplishments; on the dulcimer he had no equal, and he invented the shake on the dulcimer; he wrote in several scripts, most beautifully in the _ta`līq_; he composed admirable letters, wrote good verse, with Bayānī for his pen-name, and was a pleasant companion. Compared with his other accomplishments, his verse ranks low, but he knew what was poetry. Vicious and shameless, he became the captive of a sinful disease through his vicious excesses, outlived his hands and feet, tasted the agonies of varied torture for several years, and departed from the world under that affliction.[1104] Sayyid Muḥammad-i-aūrūs was another; he was the son of that Aūrūs (Russian?) _Arghūn_ who, when Sl. Abū-sa`īd Mīrzā took the throne, was his beg in chief authority. At that time there were excellent archer-braves; one of the most distinguished was Sayyid Muḥammad-i-aūrūs. His bow strong, his shaft long, he must have been a bold (_yūrak_) shot and a good one. He was Commandant in Andikhūd for some time. Mir (Qaṃbar-i-)`alī the Master of the Horse was another. He it was who, by sending a man to Sl. Ḥusain Mīrzā, brought him down on the defenceless Yādgār-i-muḥammad Mīrzā.
911.7.2
Sayyid Ḥasan _Aūghlāqchī_ was another, a son of Sayyid _Aūghlāqchī_ and a younger brother of Sayyid Yūsuf Beg.[1105] He was the father of a capable and accomplished son, named Mīrzā Farrukh. He had come to my presence before I took Samarkand [Sidenote: Fol. 175b.] in 917 AH. (1511 AD.). Though he had written little verse, he wrote fairly; he understood the astrolabe and astronomy well, was excellent company, his talk good too, but he was rather a bad drinker (_bad shrāb_). He died in the fight at Ghaj-dawān.[1106] Tīngrī-bīrdī the storekeeper (_sāmānchī_) was another; he was a plain (_turk_), bold, sword-slashing brave. As has been said, he charged out of the Gate of Balkh on Khusrau Shāh's great retainer Naẕar Bahādur and overcame him (903 AH.). There were a few Turkmān braves also who were received with great favour when they came to the Mīrzā's presence. One of the first to come was `Alī Khān _Bāyandar_.[1107] Asad Beg and Taham-tan (Strong-bodied) Beg were others, an elder and younger brother these; Badī`u'z-zamān Mīrzā took Taham-tan Beg's daughter and by her had Muḥammad-i-zamān Mīrzā. Mīr `Umar Beg was another; later on he was in Badī`u'z-zamān Mīrzā's service; he was a brave, plain, excellent person. His son, Abū'l-fatḥ by name, came from `Irāq to my presence, a very soft, unsteady and feeble person; such a son from such a father!
911.7.3
Of those who came into Khurāsān after Shāh Ismā`īl took `Irāq and Aẕarbāījān (_circa_ 906 AH.-1500 AD.), one was `Abdu'l-bāqī Mīrzā of Tīmūr Beg's line. He was a Mīrān-shāhī[1108] whose ancestors will have gone long before into those parts, put thought [Sidenote: Fol. 176.] of sovereignty out of their heads, served those ruling there, and from them have received favour. That Tīmūr `Us̤mān who was the great, trusted beg of Ya`qūb Beg (_White-sheep Turkmān_) and who had once even thought of sending against Khurāsān the mass of men he had gathered to himself, must have been this `Abdu'l-bāqī Mīrzā's paternal-uncle. Sl. Ḥusain Mīrzā took `Abdu'l-bāqī Mīrzā at once into favour, making him a son-in-law by giving him Sulṯānīm Begīm, the mother of Muḥammad Sl. Mīrzā.[1109] Another late-comer was Murād Beg _Bāyandarī_. (_h. His Chief Justices_ (_ṣadūr_).) One was Mīr Sar-i-barahna (Bare-head)[1110]; he was from a village in Andijān and appears to have made claim to be a sayyid (_mutasayyid_). He was a very agreeable companion, pleasant of temper and speech. His were the judgment and rulings that carried weight amongst men of letters and poets of Khurāsān. He wasted his time by composing, in imitation of the story of Amīr Ḥamza,[1111] a work which is one long, far-fetched lie, opposed to sense and nature.
911.7.4
Kamālu'd-dīn Ḥusain _Gāzur-gāhī_[1112] was another. Though not a Ṣūfī, he was mystical.[1113] Such mystics as he will have gathered in `Alī-sher Beg's presence and there have gone into their raptures and ecstacies. Kamālu'd-dīn will have been better-born than most of them; his promotion will have been due to his good birth, since he had no other merit to speak of.[1114] A production of his exists, under the name _Majālisu'l-`ushshāq_ (Assemblies of lovers), the authorship of which he ascribes (in its preface) to Sl. Ḥusain Mīrzā.[1115] It is mostly a lie and a tasteless lie. He has written such irreverent things in it that some [Sidenote: Fol. 176b.] of them cast doubt upon his orthodoxy; for example, he represents the Prophets,—Peace be on them,—and Saints as subject to earthly passion, and gives to each a minion and a mistress. Another and singularly absurd thing is that, although in his preface he says, "This is Sl. Ḥusain Mīrzā's own written word and literary composition," he, never-the-less, enters, in the body of the book, "All by the sub-signed author", at the head of odes and verses well-known to be his own. It was his flattery gave Ẕū'n-nūn _Arghūn_ the title Lion of God. (_i. His wazīrs._) One was Majdu'd-dīn Muḥammad, son of Khwāja Pīr Aḥmad of Khwāf, the one man (_yak-qalam_) of Shāhrukh Mīrzā's Finance-office.[1116] In Sl. Ḥusain Mīrzā's Finance-office there was not at first proper order or method; waste and extravagance resulted;
911.7.5
the peasant did not prosper, and the soldier was not satisfied. Once while Majdu'd-dīn Muḥammad was still _parwānchī_[1117] and styled Mīrak (Little Mīr), it became a matter of importance to the Mīrzā to have some money; when he asked the Finance-officials for it, they said none had been collected and that there was none. Majdu'd-dīn Muḥammad must have heard this and have smiled, for the Mīrzā asked him why he smiled; privacy was made and he told Mīrzā what was in his mind. Said he, "If the honoured Mīrzā will pledge himself to strengthen [Sidenote: Fol. 177.] my hands by not opposing my orders, it shall so be before long that the country shall prosper, the peasant be content, the soldier well-off, and the Treasury full." The Mīrzā for his part gave the pledge desired, put Majdu'd-dīn Muḥammad in authority throughout Khurāsān, and entrusted all public business to him. He in his turn by using all possible diligence and effort, before long had made soldier and peasant grateful and content, filled the Treasury to abundance, and made the districts habitable and cultivated. He did all this however in face of opposition from the begs and men high in place, all being led by `Alī-sher Beg, all out of temper with what Majdu'd-dīn Muḥammad had effected.
911.7.6
By their effort and evil suggestion he was arrested and dismissed.[1118] In succession to him Niẕāmu'l-mulk of Khwāf was made Dīwān but in a short time they got him arrested also, and him they got put to death.[1119] They then brought Khwāja Afẓal out of `Irāq and made him Dīwān; he had just been made a beg when I came to Kābul (910 AH.), and he also impressed the Seal in Dīwān. Khwāja `Atā[1120] was another; although, unlike those already mentioned, he was not in high office or Finance-minister (_dīwān_), nothing was settled without his concurrence the whole Khura-sānāt over. He was a pious, praying, upright (_mutadaiyin_) person; he must have been diligent in business also. (_j. Others of the Court._) Those enumerated were Sl. Ḥusain Mīrzā's retainers and followers.[1121] His was a wonderful Age; in it Khurāsān, and [Sidenote: Fol. 177b.] Herī above all, was full of learned and matchless men. Whatever the work a man took up, he aimed and aspired at bringing that work to perfection. One such man was Maulānā `Abdu'r-raḥmān _Jāmī_, who was unrivalled in his day for esoteric and exoteric knowledge. Famous indeed are his poems! The Mullā's dignity it is out of my power to describe; it has occurred to me merely to mention his honoured name and one atom of his excellence, as a benediction and good omen for this part of my humble book.
911.7.7
Shaikhu'l-islām Saifu'd-dīn Aḥmad was another. He was of the line of that Mullā Sa`du'd-dīn (Mas`ūd) _Taftazānī_[1122] whose descendants from his time downwards have given the Shaikhu'l-islām to Khurāsān. He was a very learned man, admirably versed in the Arabian sciences[1123] and the Traditions, most God-fearing and orthodox. Himself a Shafi`ī,[1124] he was tolerant of all the sects. People say he never once in 70 years omitted the Congregational Prayer. He was martyred when Shāh Ismā`īl took Herī (916 AH.); there now remains no man of his honoured line.[1125] Maulānā Shaikh Ḥusain was another; he is mentioned here, although his first appearance and his promotion were under Sl. Abū-sa`īd Mīrzā, because he was living still under Sl. Ḥusain [Sidenote: Fol. 178.] Mīrzā. Being well-versed in the sciences of philosophy, logic and rhetoric, he was able to find much meaning in a few words and to bring it out opportunely in conversation. Being very intimate and influential with Sl. Abū-sa`īd Mīrzā, he took part in all momentous affairs of the Mīrzā's dominions; there was no better _muḥtasib_[1126]; this will have been why he was so much trusted. Because he had been an intimate of that Mīrzā, the incomparable man was treated with insult in Sl. Ḥusain Mīrzā's time.