The Memoirs of Bābur 912
The Bābur-nāma in English (A. S. Beveridge) 912
- Language
- English
Contents
912.1.1
912 AH.-MAY 24TH 1506 TO MAY 13TH 1507 AD.[1171] (_a. Bābur starts to join Sl. Ḥusain Mīrzā._) In the month of Muḥarram we set out by way of Ghūr-bund [Sidenote: Fol. 183b.] and Shibr-tū to oppose the Aūzbeg. As Jahāngīr Mīrzā had gone out of the country in some sort of displeasure, we said, "There might come much mischief and trouble if he drew the clans (_aīmāq_) to himself;" and "What trouble might come of it!" and, "First let's get the clans in hand!" So said, we hurried forward, riding light and leaving the baggage (_aūrūq_) at Ushtur-shahr in charge of Walī the treasurer and Daulat-qadam of the scouts. That day we reached Fort [Z.]aḥāq; from there we crossed the pass of the Little-dome (Guṃbazak-kūtal), trampled through Sāīghān, went over the Dandān-shikan pass and dismounted in the meadow of Kāhmard. From Kāhmard we sent Sayyid Afẓal the Seer-of-dreams (_Khwāb-bīn_) and Sl. Muḥammad _Dūldāī_ to Sl. Ḥusain Mīrzā with a letter giving the particulars of our start from Kābul.[1172] Jahāngīr Mīrzā must have lagged on the road, for when he got opposite Bāmīān and went with 20 or 30 persons to visit it, he saw near it the tents of our people left with the baggage. Thinking we were there, he and his party hurried back to their camp and, without an eye to anything, without regard for their own people marching in the rear, made off for Yaka-aūlāng.[1173] (_b. Action of Shaibāq Khān._)
912.1.2
When Shaibāq Khān had laid siege to Balkh, in which was Sl. Qul-i-nachāq,[1174] he sent two or three sulṯāns with 3 or 4000 men to overrun Badakhshān. At the time Mubārak Shāh and Zubair had again joined Nāṣir Mīrzā, spite of former resentments and bickerings, and they all were lying at Shakdān, below Kishm [Sidenote: Fol. 184.] and east of the Kishm-water. Moving through the night, one body of Aūzbegs crossed that water at the top of the morning and advanced on the Mīrzā; he at once drew off to rising-ground, mustered his force, sounded trumpets, met and overcame them. Behind the Aūzbegs was the Kishm-water in flood, many were drowned in it, a mass of them died by arrow and sword, more were made prisoner. Another body of Aūzbegs, sent against Mubārak Shāh and Zubair where they lay, higher up the water and nearer Kishm, made them retire to the rising-ground. Of this the Mīrzā heard; when he had beaten off his own assailants, he moved against theirs. So did the Kohistān begs, gathered with horse and foot, still higher up the river. Unable to make stand against this attack, the Aūzbegs fled, but of this body also a mass died by sword, arrow, and water. In all some 1000 to 1500 may have died. This was Nāṣir Mīrzā's one good success; a man of his brought us news about it while we were in the dale of Kāhmard. (_c. Bābur moves on into Khurāsān._)
912.1.3
While we were in Kāhmard, our army fetched corn from Ghūrī and Dahāna. There too we had letters from Sayyid [Sidenote: Fol. 184b.] Afẓal and Sl. Muḥammad _Dūldāī_ whom we had sent into Khurāsān; their news was of Sl. Ḥusain Mīrzā's death. This news notwithstanding, we set forward for Khurāsān; though there were other grounds for doing this, what decided us was anxious thought for the reputation of this (Tīmūrid) dynasty. We went up the trough (_aīchī_) of the Ājar-valley, on over Tūp and Mandaghān, crossed the Balkh-water and came out on Ṣāf-hill. Hearing there that Aūzbegs were overrunning Sān and Chār-yak,[1175] we sent a force under Qāsim Beg against them; he got up with them, beat them well, cut many heads off, and returned.
912.1.4
We lay a few days in the meadow of Ṣāf-hill, waiting for news of Jahāngīr Mīrzā and the clans (_aīmāq_) to whom persons had been sent. We hunted once, those hills being very full of wild sheep and goats (_kiyīk_). All the clans came in and waited on me within a few days; it was to me they came; they had not gone to Jahāngīr Mīrzā though he had sent men often enough to them, once sending even `Imādu'd-dīn Mas`ūd. He himself was forced to come at last; he saw me at the foot of the valley when I came down off Ṣāf-hill. Being anxious about Khurāsān, we neither paid him attention nor took thought for the clans, but went right on through Gurzwān, Almār, Qaiṣār, Chīchīk-tū, and Fakhru'd-dīn's-death (_aūlūm_) into the Bām-valley, [Sidenote: Fol. 185.] one of the dependencies of Bādghīs. The world being full of divisions,[1176] things were being taken from country and people with the long arm; we ourselves began to take something, by laying an impost on the Turks and clans of those parts, in two or three months taking perhaps 300 _tūmāns_ of _kipkī_.[1177] (_d. Coalition of the Khurāsān Mīrzās._) A few days before our arrival (in Bām-valley?) some of the Khurāsān light troops and of Ẕū'n-nūn Beg's men had well beaten Aūzbeg raiders in Pand-dih (Panj-dih?) and Marūchāq, killing a mass of men.[1178]
912.1.5
Badī`u'z-zamān Mīrzā and Muz̤affar-i-ḥusain Mīrzā with Muḥammad Barandūq _Barlās_, Ẕū'n-nūn _Arghūn_ and his son Shāh Beg resolved to move on Shaibāq Khān, then besieging Sl. Qul-i-nachāq (?) in Balkh. Accordingly they summoned all Sl. Ḥusain Mīrzā's sons, and got out of Herī to effect their purpose. At Chihil-dukhtarān Abū'l-muḥsin M. joined them from Marv; Ibn-i-ḥusain M. followed, coming up from Tūn and Qāīn. Kūpuk (Kīpik) M. was in Mashhad; often though they sent to him, he behaved unmanly, spoke senseless words, and did not come. Between him and Muz̤affar Mīrzā, there was jealousy; when Muz̤affar M. was made (joint-)ruler, he said, "How should _I_ go to _his_ presence?" Through this disgusting jealousy he did not come now, even at this crisis when all his brethren, older and younger, were assembling in concord, resolute against such a foe [Sidenote: Fol. 185b.] as Shaibāq Khān. Kūpuk M. laid his own absence to rivalry, but everybody else laid it to his cowardice. One word! In this world acts such as his outlive the man; if a man have any share of intelligence, why try to be ill-spoken of after death? if he be ambitious, why not try so to act that, he gone, men will praise him? In the honourable mention of their names, wise men find a second life!
912.1.6
Envoys from the Mīrzās came to me also, Mūh. Barandūq _Barlās_ himself following them. As for me, what was to hinder my going? It was for that very purpose I had travelled one or two hundred _yīghāch_ (500-600 miles)! I at once started with Muḥ. Barandūq Beg for Murgh-āb[1179] where the Mīrzās were lying. (_e. Bābur meets the Mīrzās._) The meeting with the Mīrzās was on Monday the 8th of the latter Jumāda (Oct. 26th 1506 AH.). Abū'l-muḥsin Mīrzā came out a mile to meet me; we approached one another; on my side, I dismounted, on his side, he; we advanced, saw one another and remounted. Near the camp Muz̤affar Mīrzā and Ibn-i-ḥusain Mīrzā met us; they, being younger than Abū'l-muḥsin Mīrzā ought to have come out further than he to meet me.[1180] Their dilatoriness may not have been due to pride, but to heaviness [Sidenote: Fol. 186.] after wine; their negligence may have been no slight on me, but due to their own social pleasures. On this Muz̤affar Mīrzā laid stress;[1181] we two saw one another without dismounting, so did Ibn-i-ḥusain Mīrzā and I. We rode on together and, in an amazing crowd and press, dismounted at Badī`u'z-zamān Mīrzā's Gate. Such was the throng that some were lifted off the ground for three or four steps together, while others, wishing for some reason to get out, were carried, willy-nilly, four or five steps the other way.
912.1.7
We reached Badī`u'z-zamān Mīrzā's Audience-tent. It had been agreed that I, on entering, should bend the knee (_yūkūnghāī_) once, that the Mīrzā should rise and advance to the edge of the estrade,[1182] and that we should see one another there. I went in, bent the knee once, and was going right forward; the Mīrzā rose rather languidly and advanced rather slowly; Qāsim Beg, as he was my well-wisher and held my reputation as his own, gave my girdle a tug; I understood, moved more slowly, and so the meeting was on the appointed spot. Four divans (_tūshuk_) had been placed in the tent. Always in the Mīrzā's tents one side was like a gate-way[1183] and at the edge of this gate-way he always sat. A divan was set there now [Sidenote: Fol. 186b.] on which he and Muz̤affar Mīrzā sat together. Abū'l-muḥsin, Mīrzā and I sat on another, set in the right-hand place of honour (_tūr_). On another, to Badī`u'z-zamān Mīrzā's left, sat Ibn-i-ḥusain Mīrzā with Qāsim Sl. _Aūzbeg_, a son-in-law of the late Mīrzā and father of Qāsim-i-ḥusain Sulṯān. To my right and below my divan was one on which sat Jahāngīr Mīrzā and `Abdu'r-razzāq Mīrzā. To the left of Qāsim Sl. and Ibn-i-ḥusain Mīrzā, but a good deal lower, were Muḥ. Barandūq Beg, Ẕū'n-nūn Beg and Qāsim Beg.
912.2.1
Although this was not a social gathering, cooked viands were brought in, drinkables[1184] were set with the food, and near them gold and silver cups. Our forefathers through a long space of time, had respected the Chīngīz-tūrā (ordinance), doing nothing opposed to it, whether in assembly or Court, in sittings-down or risings-up. Though it has not Divine authority so that a man obeys it of necessity, still good rules of conduct must be obeyed by whom-soever they are left; just in the same way that, if a forefather have done ill, his ill must be changed for good. After the meal I rode from the Mīrzā's camp some 2 miles to [Sidenote: Fol. 187.] our own dismounting-place. (_f. Bābur claims due respect._) At my second visit Badī`u'z-zamān Mīrzā shewed me less respect than at my first. I therefore had it said to Muḥ. Barandūq Beg and to Ẕū'n-nūn Beg that, small though my age was (_aet._ 24), my place of honour was large; that I had seated myself twice on the throne of our forefathers in Samarkand by blow straight-dealt; and that to be laggard in shewing me respect was unreasonable, since it was for this (Tīmūrid) dynasty's sake I had thus fought and striven with that alien foe. This said, and as it was reasonable, they admitted their mistake at once and shewed the respect claimed. (_g. Bābur's temperance._)
912.2.2
There was a wine-party (_chāghīr-majlisī_) once when I went after the Mid-day Prayer to Badī`u'z-zamān Mīrzā's presence. At that time I drank no wine. The party was altogether elegant; every sort of relish to wine (_gazak_) was set out on the napery, with brochettes of fowl and goose, and all sorts of viands. The Mīrzā's entertainments were much renowned; truly was this one free from the pang of thirst (_bī ghall_), reposeful and tranquil. I was at two or three of his wine-parties while we were on the bank of the Murgh-āb; once it was known I did not drink, no pressure to do so was put on me. I went to one wine-party of Muz̤affar Mīrzā's. Ḥusain of `Alī _Jalāīr_ and Mīr Badr were both there, they being in his service. When Mīr Badr had had enough (_kaifīyat_), he danced, [Sidenote: Fol. 187b.] and danced well what seemed to be his own invention. (_h. Comments on the Mīrzās._) Three months it took the Mīrzās to get out of Herī, agree amongst themselves, collect troops, and reach Murgh-āb. Meantime Sl. Qul-i-nachāq (?), reduced to extremity, had surrendered Balkh to the Aūzbeg but that Aūzbeg, hearing of our alliance against him, had hurried back to Samarkand. The Mīrzās were good enough as company and in social matters, in conversation and parties, but they were strangers to war, strategy, equipment, bold fight and encounter. (_i. Winter plans._)
912.2.3
While we were on the Murgh-āb, news came that Ḥaq-naẕīr _Chapā_ (var. Ḥiān) was over-running the neighbourhood of Chīchīk-tū with 4 or 500 men. All the Mīrzās there present, do what they would, could not manage to send a light troop against those raiders! It is 10 _yīghāch_ (50-55 m.) from Murgh-āb to Chīchīk-tū. I asked the work; they, with a thought for their own reputation, would not give it to me. The year being almost at an end when Shaibāq Khān retired, the Mīrzās decided to winter where it was convenient and to reassemble next summer in order to repel their foe. They pressed me to winter in Khurāsān, but this not one of my well-wishers saw it good for me to do because, while Kābul and Ghaznī were full of a turbulent and ill-conducted medley of [Sidenote: Fol. 188.] people and hordes, Turks, Mughūls, clans and nomads (_aīmāq u aḥsham_), Afghāns and Hazāra, the roads between us and that not yet desirably subjected country of Kābul were, one, the mountain-road, a month's journey even without delay through snow or other cause,—the other, the low-country road, a journey of 40 or 50 days.
912.2.4
Consequently we excused ourselves to the Mīrzās, but they would accept no excuse and, for all our pleas, only urged the more. In the end Badī`u'z-zamān Mīrzā, Abū'l-muḥsin Mīrzā and Muz̤affar Mīrzā themselves rode to my tent and urged me to stay the winter. It was impossible to refuse men of such ruling position, come in person to press us to stay on. Besides this, the whole habitable world has not such a town as Herī had become under Sl. Ḥusain Mīrzā, whose orders and efforts had increased its splendour and beauty as ten to one, rather, as twenty to one. As I greatly wished to stay, I consented to do so. Abū'l-muḥsin M. went to Marv, his own district; Ibn-i-ḥusain M. went to his, Tūn and Qāīn; Badī`u'z-zamān M. and Muz̤affar M. set off for Herī; I followed them a few days later, taking the road by Chihil-dukhtarān and Tāsh-rabāṯ.[1185] (_j. Bābur visits the Begīms in Herī._)
912.2.5
All the Begīms, _i.e._ my paternal-aunt Pāyanda-sulṯān Begīm, Khadīja Begīm, Apāq Begīm, and my other paternal-aunt Begīms, daughters of Sl. Abū-sa`īd Mīrzā,[1186] were gathered together, at the time I went to see them, in Sl. Ḥusain Mīrzā's College at his [Sidenote: Fol. 188b.] Mausoleum. Having bent the knee with (_yūkūnūb bīla_) Pāyanda-sulṯān Begīm first of all, I had an interview with her; next, not bending the knee,[1187] I had an interview with Apāq Begīm; next, having bent the knee with Khadīja Begīm, I had an interview with her. After sitting there for some time during recitation of the Qorān,[1188] we went to the South College where Khadīja Begīm's tents had been set up and where food was placed before us. After partaking of this, we went to Pāyanda-sulṯān Begīm's tents and there spent the night. The New-year's Garden was given us first for a camping-ground; there our camp was arranged; and there I spent the night of the day following my visit to the Begīms, but as I did not find it a convenient place, `Alī-sher Beg's residence was assigned to me, where I was as long as I stayed in Herī, every few days shewing myself in Badī`u'z-zamān Mīrzā's presence in the World-adorning Garden. (_k. The Mīrzās entertain Bābur in Herī._)
912.2.6
A few days after Muz̤affar Mīrzā had settled down in the White-garden, he invited me to his quarters; Khadīja Begīm was also there, and with me went Jahāngīr Mīrzā. When we had eaten a meal in the Begīm's presence,[1189] Muz̤affar Mīrzā took me to where there was a wine-party, in the T̤arab-khāna (Joy-house) built by Bābur Mīrzā, a sweet little abode, a smallish, two-storeyed house in the middle of a smallish garden. Great pains have been taken with its upper storey; this has a retreat (_ḥujra_) in each of its four corners, the space between each two retreats being like a _shāh-nīshīn_[1190]; in between these retreats and [Sidenote: Fol. 189.] _shāh-nīshīns_ is one large room on all sides of which are pictures which, although Bābur Mīrzā built the house, were commanded by Abū-sa`īd Mīrzā and depict his own wars and encounters. Two divans had been set in the north _shāh-nīshīn_, facing each other, and with their sides turned to the north. On one Muz̤affar Mīrzā and I sat, on the other Sl. Mas`ūd Mīrzā[1191] and Jahāngīr Mīrzā. We being guests, Muz̤affar Mīrzā gave me place above himself. The social cups were filled, the cup-bearers ordered to carry them to the guests; the guests drank down the mere wine as if it were water-of-life; when it mounted to their heads, the party waxed warm. They thought to make me also drink and to draw me into their own circle.
912.2.7
Though up till then I had not committed the sin of wine-drinking[1192] and known the cheering sensation of comfortable drunkenness, I was inclined to drink wine and my heart was drawn to cross that stream (_wāda_). I had had no inclination for wine in my childhood; I knew nothing of its cheer and pleasure. If, as sometimes, my father pressed wine on me, I excused myself; I did not commit the sin. After he [Sidenote: Fol. 189b.] died, Khwāja Qāẓī's right guidance kept me guiltless; as at that time I abstained from forbidden viands, what room was there for the sin of wine? Later on when, with the young man's lusts and at the prompting of sensual passion, desire for wine arose, there was no-one to press it on me, no-one indeed aware of my leaning towards it; so that, inclined for it though my heart was, it was difficult of myself to do such a thing, one thitherto undone. It crossed my mind now, when the Mīrzās were so pressing and when too we were in a town so refined as Herī, "Where should I drink if not here? here where all the chattels and utensils of luxury and comfort are gathered and in use." So saying to myself, I resolved to drink wine; I determined to cross that stream; but it occurred to me that as I had not taken wine in Badī`u'z-zamān Mīrzā's house or from his hand, who was to me as an elder brother, things might find way into his mind if I took wine in his younger brother's house and from his hand. Having so said to myself, I mentioned my doubt and difficulty.
912.2.8
Said they, "Both the excuse and the obstacle are reasonable," pressed me no more to drink then but settled that when I was in company with both Mīrzās, I should drink under the insistance of both.
912.3.1
Amongst the musicians present at this party were Ḥāfiẓ Ḥājī, [Sidenote: Fol. 190.] Jalālu'd-dīn Maḥmūd the flautist, and Ghulām _shādī_'s younger brother, Ghulām _bacha_ the Jews'-harpist. Ḥāfiẓ Ḥājī sang well, as Herī people sing, quietly, delicately, and in tune. With Jahāngīr Mīrzā was a Samarkandī singer Mīr Jān whose singing was always loud, harsh and out-of-tune. The Mīrzā, having had enough, ordered him to sing; he did so, loudly, harshly and without taste. Khurāsānīs have quite refined manners; if, under this singing, one did stop his ears, the face of another put question, not one could stop the singer, out of consideration for the Mīrzā. After the Evening Prayer we left the T̤arab-khāna for a new house in Muz̤affar Mīrzā's winter-quarters. There Yūsuf-i-`alī danced in the drunken time, and being, as he was, a master in music, danced well. The party waxed very warm there. Muz̤affar Mīrzā gave me a sword-belt, a lambskin surtout, and a grey _tīpūchāq_ (horse). Jānak recited in Turkī. Two slaves of the Mīrzā's, known as Big-moon and Little-moon, did offensive, drunken tricks in the drunken time. The party was warm till night when those assembled scattered, I, however, staying the night in that house. Qāsim Beg getting to hear that I had been pressed to drink wine, sent some-one to Ẕū'n-nūn Beg with advice for him and for Muz̤affar Mīrzā, given in very plain words; the result was [Sidenote: Fol. 190b.] that the Mīrzās entirely ceased to press wine upon me.
912.3.2
Badī`u'z-zamān Mīrzā, hearing that Muz̤affar M. had entertained me, asked me to a party arranged in the Maqauwī-khāna of the World-adorning Garden. He asked also some of my close circle[1193] and some of our braves. Those about me could never drink (openly) on my own account; if they ever did drink, they did it perhaps once in 40 days, with doorstrap fast and under a hundred fears. Such as these were now invited; here too they drank with a hundred precautions, sometimes calling off my attention, sometimes making a screen of their hands, notwithstanding that I had given them permission to follow common custom, because this party was given by one standing to me as a father or elder brother. People brought in weeping-willows....[1194] At this party they set a roast goose before me but as I was no carver or disjointer of birds, I left it alone. "Do you not like it?" inquired the Mīrzā. Said I, "I am a poor carver." On this he at once disjointed the bird and set it again before [Sidenote: Fol. 191.] me. In such matters he had no match. At the end of the party he gave me an enamelled waist-dagger, a _chār-qāb_,[1195] and a _tīpūchāq_. (_l. Bābur sees the sights of Herī._) Every day of the time I was in Herī I rode out to see a new sight; my guide in these excursions was Yūsuf-i-`alī Kūkūldāsh; wherever we dismounted, he set food before me. Except Sl. Ḥusain Mīrzā's Almshouse, not one famous spot, maybe, was left unseen in those 40 days.
912.3.3
I saw the Gāzur-gāh,[1196] `Alī-sher's Bāghcha (Little-garden), the Paper-mortars,[1197] Takht-astāna (Royal-residence), Pul-i-gāh, Kahad-stān,[1198] Naẕar-gāh-garden, Ni`matābād (Pleasure-place), Gāzur-gāh Avenue, Sl. Aḥmad Mīrzā's Ḥaẕirat,[1199] Takht-i-safar,[1200] Takht-i-nawā'ī, Takht-i-barkar, Takht-i-Ḥājī Beg, Takht-i-Bahā'u'd-dīn `Umar, Takht-i-Shaikh Zainu'd-dīn, Maulānā `Abdu'r-raḥmān _Jāmī_'s honoured shrine and tomb,[1201] Namāz-gāh-i-mukhtār,[1202] the Fish-pond,[1203] Sāq-i-sulaimān,[1204] Bulūrī (Crystal) which originally may have been Abū'l-walīd,[1205] Imām Fakhr,[1206] Avenue-garden, Mīrzā's Colleges and tomb, Guhār-shād Begīm's College, tomb,[1207] and Congregational Mosque, the Ravens'-garden, New-garden, Zubaida-garden,[1208] Sl. Abū-sa`īd Mīrzā's White-house [Sidenote: Fol.
912.3.4
191b.] outside the `Iraq-gate, Pūrān,[1209] the Archer's-seat, Chargh (hawk)-meadow, Amīr Wāḥid,[1210] Mālān-bridge,[1211] Khwāja-tāq,[1212] White-garden, T̤arab-khāna, Bāgh-i-jahān-ārā, Kūshk,[1213] Maqauwī-khāna, Lily-house, Twelve-towers, the great tank to the north of Jahān-ārā and the four dwellings on its four sides, the five Fort-gates, _viz._ the Malik, `Irāq, Fīrūzābād, Khūsh[1214] and Qībchāq Gates, Chārsū, Shaikhu'l-islām's College, Maliks' Congregational Mosque, Town-garden, Badī`u'z-zamān Mīrzā's College on the bank of the Anjīl-canal, `Alī-sher Beg's dwellings where we resided and which people call Unsīya (Ease), his tomb and mosque which they call Qudsīya (Holy), his College and Almshouse which they call Khalāṣīya and Akhlāṣīya (Freedom and Sincerity), his Hot-bath and Hospital which they call Ṣafā'īya and Shafā'īya. All these I visited in that space of time. (_m. Bābur engages Ma`ṣūma-sulṯān in marriage._) It must have been before those throneless times[1215] that Ḥabība-sulṯān Begīm, the mother of Sl. Aḥmad Mīrzā's youngest daughter Ma`ṣūma-sulṯān Begīm, brought her daughter into Herī. One day when I was visiting my Ākā, Ma`ṣūma-sulṯān Begīm came there with her mother and at once felt arise in her a great inclination towards me. Private messengers having been sent, my Ākā and my Yīnkā, as I used to call Pāyanda-sulṯān Begīm [Sidenote: Fol. 192.] and Habība-sulṯān Begīm, settled between them that the latter should bring her daughter after me to Kābul.[1216]
912.3.5
(_n. Bābur leaves Khurāsān._) Very pressingly had Muḥ Barandūq Beg and Ẕū'n-nūn _Arghūn_ said, "Winter here!" but they had given me no winter-quarters nor had they made any winter-arrangements for me. Winter came on; snow fell on the mountains between us and Kābul; anxiety grew about Kābul; no winter-quarters were offered, no arrangements made! As we could not speak out, of necessity we left Herī! On the pretext of finding winter-quarters, we got out of the town on the 7th day of the month of Sha`bān (Dec. 24th 1506 AD.), and went to near Bādghīs. Such were our slowness and our tarryings that the Ramẓān-moon was seen a few marches only beyond the Langar of Mir Ghiyāṣ.[1217] Of our braves who were absent on various affairs, some joined us, some followed us into Kābul 20 days or a month later, some stayed in Herī and took service with the Mīrzās. One of these last was Sayyidīm `Alī the gate-ward, who became Badī`u'z-zamān Mīrzā's retainer. To no servant of Khusrau Shāh had I shewn so much favour as to him; he had been given Ghaznī when Jahāngīr Mīrzā abandoned it, and in it when he came away with the army, had left his younger brother Dost-i-anjū (?) Shaikh. There were in truth [Sidenote: Fol. 192b.] no better men amongst Khusrau Shāh's retainers than this man Sayyidīm `Alī the gate-ward and Muḥibb-i-`alī the armourer. Sayyidīm was of excellent nature and manners, a bold swordsman, a singularly competent and methodical man. His house was never without company and assembly;
912.3.6
he was greatly generous, had wit and charm, a variety of talk and story, and was a sweet-natured, good-humoured, ingenious, fun-loving person. His fault was that he practised vice and pederasty. He may have swerved from the Faith; may also have been a hypocrite in his dealings; some of what seemed double-dealing people attributed to his jokes, but, still, there must have been a something![1218] When Badī`u'z-zamān Mīrzā had let Shaibāq Khān take Herī and had gone to Shāh Beg (_Arghūn_), he had Sayyidīm `Alī thrown into the Harmand because of his double-dealing words spoken between the Mīrzā and Shāh Beg. Muḥibb-i-`alī's story will come into the narrative of events hereafter to be written. (_o. A perilous mountain-journey._) From the Langar of Mīr Ghiyās̤ we had ourselves guided past the border-villages of Gharjistān to Chach-charān.[1219] From the almshouse to Gharjistān was an unbroken sheet of snow; it was deeper further on; near Chach-charān itself it was above the horses' knees. Chach-charān depended on Ẕū'n-nūn _Arghūn_; his retainer Mīr Jān-aīrdī was in it now; from him we took, on payment, the whole of Ẕū'n-nūn Beg's store of provisions. A march or two further on, the snow was very deep, being above [Sidenote: Fol. 193.] the stirrup, indeed in many places the horses' feet did not touch the ground.
912.3.7
We had consulted at the Langar of Mīr Ghiyās̤ which road to take for return to Kābul; most of us agreed in saying, "It is winter, the mountain-road is difficult and dangerous; the Qandahār road, though a little longer, is safe and easy." Qāsim Beg said, "That road is long; you will go by this one." As he made much dispute, we took the mountain-road. Our guide was a Pashāī named Pīr Sulṯān (Old sultan?). Whether it was through old age, whether from want of heart, whether because of the deep snow, he lost the road and could not guide us. As we were on this route under the insistance of Qāsim Beg, he and his sons, for his name's sake, dismounted, trampled the snow down, found the road again and took the lead. One day the snow was so deep and the way so uncertain that we could not go on; there being no help for it, back we turned, dismounted where there was fuel, picked out 60 or 70 good men and sent them down the valley in our tracks to fetch any one soever of the Hazāra, wintering in the valley-bottom, who might shew us the road. That place could not be left till our men returned three or four days later. They brought no [Sidenote: Fol. 193b.] guide; once more we sent Sulṯān _Pashāī_ ahead and, putting our trust in God, again took the road by which we had come back from where it was lost. Much misery and hardship were endured in those few days, more than at any time of my life. In that stress I composed the following opening couplet:—
912.4.1
Is there one cruel turn of Fortune's wheel unseen of me? Is there a pang, a grief my wounded heart has missed? We went on for nearly a week, trampling down the snow and not getting forward more than two or three miles a day. I was one of the snow-stampers, with 10 or 15 of my household, Qāsim Beg, his sons Tīngrī-bīrdī and Qaṃbar-i-`alī and two or three of their retainers. These mentioned used to go forward for 7 or 8 yards, stamping the snow down and at each step sinking to the waist or the breast. After a few steps the leading man would stand still, exhausted by the labour, and another would go forward. By the time 10, 15, 20, men on foot had stamped the snow down, it became so that a horse might be led over it. A horse would be led, would sink to the stirrups, could do no more than 10 or 12 steps, and would be drawn aside to let another go on. After we, 10, 15, 20, men had stamped down the snow and had led horses forward in this fashion, very serviceable [Sidenote: Fol. 194.] braves and men of renowned name would enter the beaten track, hanging their heads. It was not a time to urge or compel! the man with will and hardihood for such tasks does them by his own request! Stamping the snow down in this way, we got out of that afflicting place (_ānjūkān yīr_) in three or four days to a cave known as the Khawāl-i-qūtī (Blessed-cave), below the Zirrīn-pass.
912.4.2
That night the snow fell in such an amazing blizzard of cutting wind that every man feared for his life. The storm had become extremely violent by the time we reached the _khawāl_, as people in those parts call a mountain-cave (_ghar_) or hollow (_khāwāk_). We dismounted at its mouth. Deep snow! a one-man road! and even on that stamped-down and trampled road, pitfalls for horses! the days at their shortest! The first arrivals reached the cave by daylight; others kept coming in from the Evening Prayer till the Bed-time one; later than that people dismounted wherever they happened to be; dawn shot with many still in the saddle.
912.4.3
The cave seeming to be rather small, I took a shovel and shovelled out a place near its mouth, the size of a sitting-mat [Sidenote: Fol. 194b.] (_takiya-namad_), digging it out breast-high but even then not reaching the ground. This made me a little shelter from the wind when I sat right down in it. I did not go into the cave though people kept saying, "Come inside," because this was in my mind, "Some of my men in snow and storm, I in the comfort of a warm house! the whole horde (_aūlūs_) outside in misery and pain, I inside sleeping at ease! That would be far from a man's act, quite another matter than comradeship! Whatever hardship and wretchedness there is, I will face; what strong men stand, I will stand; for, as the Persian proverb says, to die with friends is a nuptial." Till the Bed-time Prayer I sat through that blizzard of snow and wind in the dug-out, the snow-fall being such that my head, back, and ears were overlaid four hands thick. The cold of that night affected my ears. At the Bed-time Prayer some-one, looking more carefully at the cave, shouted out, "It is a very roomy cave with place for every-body." On hearing this I shook off my roofing of snow and, asking the braves near to come also, went inside. There was room for 50 or 60! People brought out their rations, cold meat, parched grain, whatever they had. From such cold and tumult to a place so warm, cosy and quiet![1220]
912.4.4
Next day the snow and wind having ceased, we made an early start and we got to the pass by again stamping down [Sidenote: Fol. 195.] a road in the snow. The proper road seems to make a détour up the flank of the mountain and to go over higher up, by what is understood to be called the Zirrīn-pass. Instead of taking that road, we went straight up the valley-bottom (_qūl_).[1221] It was night before we reached the further side of the (Bakkak-)pass; we spent the night there in the mouth of the valley, a night of mighty cold, got through with great distress and suffering. Many a man had his hands and feet frost-bitten; that night's cold took both Kīpa's feet, both Sīūndūk _Turkmān_'s hands, both Āhī's feet. Early next morning we moved down the valley; putting our trust in God, we went straight down, by bad slopes and sudden falls, knowing and seeing it could not be the right way. It was the Evening Prayer when we got out of that valley. No long-memoried old man knew that any-one had been heard of as crossing that pass with the snow so deep, or indeed that it had ever entered the heart of man to cross it at that time of year. Though for a few days we had suffered greatly through the depth of the snow, yet its depth, in the end, enabled us to reach our destination. For why? How otherwise should we have traversed those pathless slopes and sudden falls? [Sidenote: Fol. 195b.] All ill, all good in the count, is gain if looked at aright!
912.4.5
The Yaka-aūlāng people at once heard of our arrival and our dismounting; followed, warm houses, fat sheep, grass and horse-corn, water without stint, ample wood and dried dung for fires! To escape from such snow and cold to such a village, to such warm dwellings, was comfort those will understand who have had our trials, relief known to those who have felt our hardships. We tarried one day in Yaka-aūlāng, happy-of-heart and easy-of-mind; marched 2 _yīghāch_ (10-12 m.) next day and dismounted. The day following was the Ramẓān Feast[1222]; we went on through Bāmīān, crossed by Shibr-tū and dismounted before reaching Janglīk. (_p. Second raid on the Turkmān Hazāras._) The Turkmān Hazāras with their wives and little children must have made their winter-quarters just upon our road[1223]; they had no word about us; when we got in amongst their cattle-pens and tents (_alāchūq_) two or three groups of these went to ruin and plunder, the people themselves drawing off with their little children and abandoning houses and goods. News was [Sidenote: Fol. 196.] brought from ahead that, at a place where there were narrows, a body of Hazāras was shooting arrows, holding up part of the army, and letting no-one pass. We, hurrying on, arrived to find no narrows at all; a few Hazāras were shooting from a naze, standing in a body on the hill[1224] like very good soldiers.[1225]
912.4.6
They saw the blackness of the foe; Stood idle-handed and amazed; I arriving, went swift that way, Pressed on with shout, "Move on! move on!" I wanted to hurry my men on, To make them stand up to the foe. With a "Hurry up!" to my men, I went on to the front. Not a man gave ear to my words. I had no armour nor horse-mail nor arms, I had but my arrows and quiver. I went, the rest, maybe all of them, stood, Stood still as if slain by the foe! Your servant you take that you may have use Of his arms, of his life, the whole time; Not that the servant stand still While the beg makes advance to the front; Not that the servant take rest While his beg is making the rounds. From no such a servant will come Speed, or use in your Gate, or zest for your food. At last I charged forward myself, [Sidenote: Fol. 196b.] Herding the foe up the hill; Seeing me go, my men also moved, Leaving their terrors behind. With me they swift spread over the slope, Moving on without heed to the shaft; Sometimes on foot, mounted sometimes, Boldly we ever moved on, Still from the hill poured the shafts. Our strength seen, the foe took to flight. We got out on the hill; we drove the Hazāras, Drove them like deer by valley and ridge; We shot those wretches like deer; We shared out the booty in goods and in sheep; The Turkmān Hazāras' kinsfolk we took; We made captive their people of sorts (_qarā_); We laid hands on their men of renown; Their wives and their children we took.
912.4.7
I myself collected a few of the Hazāras' sheep, gave them into Yārak T̤aghāī's charge, and went to the front. By ridge and valley, driving horses and sheep before us, we went to Tīmūr Beg's Langar and there dismounted. Fourteen or fifteen Hazāra thieves had fallen into our hands; I had thought of having them put to death when we next dismounted, with various torture, as a warning to all highwaymen and robbers, but Qāsim Beg came across them on the road and, with mistimed [Sidenote: Fol. 197.] compassion, set them free.
912.5.1
To do good to the bad is one and the same As the doing of ill to the good; On brackish soil no spikenard grows, Waste no seed of toil upon it.[1226] Out of compassion the rest of the prisoners were released also. (_j. Disloyalty in Kābul._) News came while we were raiding the Turkmān Hazāras, that Muḥammad Ḥusain Mīrzā _Dūghlāt_ and Sl. Sanjar _Barlās_ had drawn over to themselves the Mughūls left in Kābul, declared Mīrzā Khān (Wais) supreme (_pādshāh_), laid siege to the fort and spread a _report_ that Badī`u'z-zamān Mīrzā and Muz̤affar Mīrzā had sent me, a prisoner, to Fort Ikhtiyāru'd-dīn, now known as Ālā-qūrghān. In command of the Kābul-fort there had been left Mullā Bābā of Pashāghar, Khalīfa, Muḥibb-i-`alī the armourer, Aḥmad-i-yūsuf and Aḥmad-i-qāsim. They did well, made the fort fast, strengthened it, and kept watch. (_k. Bābur's advance to Kābul._)
912.5.2
From Tīmūr Beg's Langar we sent Qāsim Beg's servant, Muḥ. of Andijān, a _Tūqbāī_, to the Kābul begs, with written details of our arrival and of the following arrangements:—"When we are out of the Ghūr-bund narrows,[1227] we will fall on them suddenly; let our signal to you be the fire we will light directly we have passed Minār-hill; do you in reply light one in the citadel, on [Sidenote: Fol. 197b.] the old Kūshk (kiosk)," now the Treasury, "so that we may be sure you know of our coming. We will come up from our side; you come out from yours; neglect nothing your hands can find to do!" This having been put into writing, Muḥammad _Andijānī_ was sent off. Riding next dawn from the Langar, we dismounted over against Ushtur-shahr. Early next morning we passed the Ghūr-bund narrows, dismounted at Bridge-head, there watered and rested our horses, and at the Mid-day Prayer set forward again. Till we reached the _tūtqāwal_,[1228] there was no snow, beyond that, the further we went the deeper the snow. The cold between Ẕamma-yakhshī and Minār was such as we had rarely felt in our lives.
912.5.3
We sent on Aḥmad the messenger (_yāsāwal_) and Qarā Aḥmad _yūrūnchī_[1229] to say to the begs, "Here we are at the time promised; be ready! be bold! "After crossing Minār-hill[1230] and dismounting on its skirt, helpless with cold, we lit fires to warm ourselves. It was not time to light the signal-fire; we just lit these because we were helpless in that mighty cold. Near shoot of dawn we rode on from Minār-hill; between it and Kābul the snow was up to the horses' knees and had hardened, so off the road to move was difficult. Riding single-file the whole way, we got to Kābul [Sidenote: Fol. 198.] in good time undiscovered.[1231] Before we were at Bībī Māh-rūī (Lady Moon-face), the blaze of fire on the citadel let us know that the begs were looking out. (_l. Attack made on the rebels._)
912.5.4
On reaching Sayyid Qāsim's bridge, Sherīm T̤aghāī and the men of the right were sent towards Mullā Bābā's bridge, while we of the left and centre took the Bābā Lūlī road. Where Khalīfa's garden now is, there was then a smallish garden made by Aūlūgh Beg Mīrzā for a Langar (almshouse); none of its trees or shrubs were left but its enclosing wall was there. In this garden Mīrzā Khān was seated, Muḥ. Ḥusain Mīrzā being in Aūlūgh Beg Mīrzā's great Bāgh-i-bihisht. I had gone as far along the lane of Mullā Bābā's garden as the burial-ground when four men met us who had hurried forward into Mīrzā Khān's quarters, been beaten, and forced to turn back. One of the four was Sayyid Qāsim Lord of the Gate, another was Qāsim Beg's son Qaṃbar-i-`alī, another was Sher-qulī the scout, another was Sl. Aḥmad _Mughūl_ one of Sher-qulī's band. These four, without a "God forbid!" (_taḥāshī_) had gone right into Mīrzā Khān's quarters; thereupon he, hearing an uproar, had mounted and got away. Abū'l-ḥasan the armourer's younger brother even, Muḥ. Ḥusain by name, had taken service with Mīrzā Khān; he had slashed at Sher-qulī, [Sidenote: Fol. 198b.] one of those four, thrown him down, and was just striking his head off, when Sher-qulī freed himself. Those four, tasters of the sword, tasters of the arrow, wounded one and all, came pelting back on us to the place mentioned.
912.5.5
Our horsemen, jammed in the narrow lane, were standing still, unable to move forward or back. Said I to the braves near, "Get off and force a road". Off got Nāṣir's Dost, Khwāja Muḥammad `Alī the librarian, Bābā Sher-zād (Tiger-whelp), Shāh Maḥmūd and others, pushed forward and at once cleared the way. The enemy took to flight. We had looked for the begs to come out from the Fort but they could not come in time for the work; they only dropped in, by ones and twos, after we had made the enemy scurry off. Aḥmad-i-yūsuf had come from them before I went into the Chār-bāgh where Mīrzā Khān had been; he went in with me, but we both turned back when we saw the Mīrzā had gone off. Coming in at the garden-gate was Dost of Sar-i-pul, a foot-soldier I had promoted for his boldness to be Kotwāl and had left in Kābul; he made straight for me, sword in hand. I had my cuirass on but had not fastened the _gharīcha_[1232] nor had I put on [Sidenote: Fol. 199.] my helm. Whether he did not recognize me because of change wrought by cold and snow, or whether because of the flurry of the fight, though I shouted "Hāī Dost! hāī Dost!" and though Aḥmad-i-yūsuf also shouted, he, without a "God forbid!" brought down his sword on my unprotected arm. Only by God's grace can it have been that not a hairbreadth of harm was done to me. If a sword shook the Earth from her place, Not a vein would it cut till God wills.
912.5.6
It was through the virtue of a prayer I had repeated that the Great God averted this danger and turned this evil aside. That prayer was as follows:— "O my God! Thou art my Creator; except Thee there is no God. On Thee do I repose my trust; Thou art the Lord of the mighty throne. What God wills comes to pass; and what he does not will comes not to pass; and there is no power or strength but through the high and exalted God; and, of a truth, in all things God is almighty; and verily He comprehends all things by his knowledge, and has taken account of everything. O my Creator! as I sincerely trust in Thee, do Thou seize by the forelock all evil proceeding from within myself, and all evil coming from without, and all evil proceeding from every man who can be the occasion of evil, and all such evil as can proceed from any living thing, and remove them far from me; since, of a truth, Thou art the Lord of the exalted throne!"[1233] On leaving that garden we went to Muḥ. Ḥusain Mīrzā's quarters in the Bāgh-i-bihisht, but he had fled and gone off to hide himself. Seven or eight men stood in a breach of the [Sidenote: Fol. 199b.] garden-wall; I spurred at them; they could not stand; they fled; I got up with them and cut at one with my sword; he rolled over in such a way that I fancied his head was off, passed on and went away; it seems he was Mīrzā Khān's foster-brother, Tūlik Kūkūldāsh and that my sword fell on his shoulder.
912.5.7
At the gate of Muḥ. Ḥusain Mīrzā's quarters, a Mughūl I recognized for one of my own servants, drew his bow and aimed at my face from a place on the roof as near me as a gate-ward stands to a Gate. People on all sides shouted, "Hāi! hāi! it is the Pādshāh." He changed his aim, shot off his arrow and ran away. The affair was beyond the shooting of arrows! His Mīrzā, his leaders, had run away or been taken; why was he shooting? There they brought Sl. Sanjar _Barlās_, led in by a rope round his neck; he even, to whom I had given the Nīngnahār _tūmān_, had had his part in the mutiny! Greatly agitated, he kept crying out, "Hāi! what fault is in me?" Said I, "Can there be one clearer than that you are higher than the purpose and counsels of this crew?"[1234] But as he was the sister's son of my Khān _dādā's_ mother, Shāh Begīm, I gave the order, "Do not lead him with such dishonour; it is not death." On leaving that place, I sent Aḥmad-i-qasim _Kohbur_, one of the begs of the Fort, with a few braves, in pursuit of [Sidenote: Fol. 200.] Mīrzā Khān. (_m. Bābur's dealings with disloyal women._) When I left the Bāgh-i-bihisht, I went to visit Shāh Begīm and (Mihr-nigār) Khānīm who had settled themselves in tents by the side of the garden. As townspeople and black-bludgeoners had raised a riot, and were putting hands out to pillage property and to catch persons in corners and outside places, I sent men, to beat the rabble off, and had it herded right away.[1235]
912.6.1
Shāh Begīm and Khānīm were seated in one tent. I dismounted at the usual distance, approached with my former deference and courtesy, and had an interview with them. They were extremely agitated, upset, and ashamed; could neither excuse themselves reasonably[1236] nor make the enquiries of affection. I had not expected this (disloyalty) of them; it was not as though that party, evil as was the position it had taken up, consisted of persons who would not give ear to the words of Shāh Begīm and Khānīm; Mīrzā Khān was the begīm's grandson, in her presence night and day; if she had not fallen in with the affair, she could have kept him with her. Twice over when fickle Fortune and discordant Fate had parted [Sidenote: Fol. 200b.] me from throne and country, retainer and following, I, and my mother with me, had taken refuge with them and had had no kindness soever from them. At that time my younger brother (_i.e._ cousin) Mīrzā Khān and his mother Sulṯān-nigār Khānīm held valuable cultivated districts; yet my mother and I,—to leave all question of a district aside,—were not made possessors of a single village or a few yoke of plough-oxen.[1237] Was my mother not Yūnas Khān's daughter? was I not his grandson?
912.6.2
In my days of plenty I have given from my hand what matched the blood-relationship and the position of whatsoever member of that (Chaghatāī) dynasty chanced down upon me. For example, when the honoured Shāh Begīm came to me, I gave her Pamghān, one of the best places in Kābul, and failed in no sort of filial duty and service towards her. Again, when Sl. Sa`īd Khān, Khān in Kāshghar, came [914 _AH._] with five or six naked followers on foot, I looked upon him as an honoured guest and gave him Mandrāwar of the Lamghān _tūmāns_. Beyond this also, when Shāh Ismā`īl had killed Shaibāq Khān in Marv and I crossed over to Qūndūz (916 _AH._-1511 _AD._), the Andijānīs, some driving their (Aūzbeg) _dāroghas_ out, some making their places fast, turned their eyes to me and sent me a man; at that time I trusted those old family servants to that same Sl. Sa`īd Khān, gave him a force, made him Khān and sped him forth. Again, down to the present time (_circa_ 934 _AH._) I have not looked upon any member of that family who has come to me, in any other light than as a blood-relation. For example, there [Sidenote: Fol. 201.] are now in my service Chīn-tīmūr Sulṯān; Aīsān-tīmūr Sulṯān, Tūkhtā-būghā Sulṯān, and Bābā Sulṯān;[1238] on one and all of these I have looked with more favour than on blood-relations of my own.
912.6.3
I do not write this in order to make complaint; I have written the plain truth. I do not set these matters down in order to make known my own deserts; I have set down exactly what has happened. In this History I have held firmly to it that the truth should be reached in every matter, and that every act should be recorded precisely as it occurred. From this it follows of necessity that I have set down of good and bad whatever is known, concerning father and elder brother, kinsman and stranger; of them all I have set down carefully the known virtues and defects. Let the reader accept my excuse; let the reader pass on from the place of severity! (_n. Letters of victory._) Rising from that place and going to the Chār-bāgh where Mīrzā Khān had been, we sent letters of victory to all the countries, clans, and retainers. This done, I rode to the citadel. (_o. Arrest of rebel leaders._)
912.6.4
Muḥammad Ḥusain Mīrzā in his terror having run away into Khānīm's bedding-room and got himself fastened up in a bundle of bedding, we appointed Mīrīm _Dīwān_ with other begs of the fort, to take control in those dwellings, capture, and bring him in. Mīrīm _Dīwān_ said some plain rough words at Khānīm's [Sidenote: Fol. 201b.] gate, by some means or other found the Mīrzā, and brought him before me in the citadel. I rose at once to receive the Mīrzā with my usual deference, not even shewing too harsh a face. If I had had that Muḥ. Ḥusain M. cut in pieces, there was the ground for it that he had had part in base and shameful action, started and spurred on mutiny and treason. Death he deserved with one after another of varied pain and torture, but because there had come to be various connexion between us, his very sons and daughters being by my own mother's sister Khūb-nigār Khānīm, I kept this just claim in mind, let him go free, and permitted him to set out towards Khurāsān. The cowardly ingrate then forgot altogether the good I did him by the gift of his life; he blamed and slandered me to Shaibāq Khān. Little time passed, however, before the Khān gave him his deserts by death. Leave thou to Fate the man who does thee wrong, For Fate is an avenging servitor.[1239]
912.6.5
Aḥmad-i-qāsim _Kohbur_ and the party of braves sent in pursuit of Mīrzā Khān, overtook him in the low hills of Qargha-yīlāq, not able even to run away, without heart or force to stir a finger! [Sidenote: Fol. 202.] They took him, and brought him to where I sat in the northeast porch of the old Court-house. Said I to him, "Come! let's have a look at one another" (_kūrūshālīng_), but twice before he could bend the knee and come forward, he fell down through agitation. When we had looked at one another, I placed him by my side to give him heart, and I drank first of the sherbet brought in, in order to remove his fears.[1240] As those who had joined him, soldiers, peasants, Mughūls and Chaghatāīs,[1241] were in suspense, we simply ordered him to remain for a few days in his elder sister's house; but a few days later he was allowed to set out for Khurāsān[1242] because those mentioned above were somewhat uncertain and it did not seem well for him to stay in Kābul. (_p. Excursion to Koh-dāman._) After letting those two go, we made an excursion to Bārān, Chāsh-tūpa, and the skirt of Gul-i-bahār.[1243] More beautiful in Spring than any part even of Kābul are the open-lands of Bārān, the plain of Chāsh-tūpa, and the skirt of Gul-i-bahār. Many sorts of tulip bloom there; when I had them counted once, it came out at 34 different kinds as [has been said].[1244] This couplet has been written in praise of these places,—
First 41 of 50 passages. Read on