The Memoirs of Bābur 912.6.6

912.6.6

Kābul in Spring is an Eden of verdure and blossom; Matchless in Kābul the Spring of Gul-i-bahār and Bārān. On this excursion I finished the ode,— _My heart, like the bud of the red, red rose, Lies fold within fold aflame; [Sidenote: Fol. 202b.] Would the breath of even a myriad Springs Blow my heart's bud to a rose?_ In truth, few places are quite equal to these for spring-excursions, for hawking (_qūsh sālmāq_) or bird-shooting (_qūsh ātmāq_), as has been briefly mentioned in the praise and description of the Kābul and Ghaznī country. (_q. Nāṣir Mīrzā expelled from Badakhshān._) This year the begs of Badakhshān _i.e._ Muḥammad the armourer, Mubārak Shāh, Zubair and Jahāngīr, grew angry and mutinous because of the misconduct of Nāṣir Mīrzā and some of those he cherished. Coming to an agreement together, they drew out an army of horse and foot, arrayed it on the level lands by the Kūkcha-water, and moved towards Yaftal and Rāgh, to near Khamchān, by way of the lower hills. The Mīrzā and his inexperienced begs, in their thoughtless and unobservant fashion, came out to fight them just in those lower hills. The battle-field was uneven ground; the Badakhshīs had a dense mass of men on foot who stood firm under repeated charges by the Mīrzā's horse, and returned such attack that the horsemen fled, unable to keep their ground. Having beaten the Mīrzā, the Badakhshīs plundered his dependants and connexions.