The Memoirs of Bābur 913
The Bābur-nāma in English (A. S. Beveridge) 913
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Contents
913.1.1
913 AH.-MAY 13TH 1507 TO MAY 2ND 1508 AD.[1246] (_a. Raid on the Ghiljī Afghāns._) We had ridden out of Kābul with the intention of over-running the Ghiljī;[1247] when we dismounted at Sar-i-dih news was brought that a mass of Mahmands (Afghāns) was lying in Masht and Sih-kāna one _yīghāch_ (_circa_ 5 m.) away from us.[1248] Our begs and braves agreed in saying, "The Mahmands must be over-run", but I said, "Would it be right to turn aside and raid our own peasants instead of doing what we set out to do? It cannot be."
913.1.2
Riding at night from Sar-i-dih, we crossed the plain of Kattawāz in the dark, a quite black night, one level stretch of land, no mountain or rising-ground in sight, no known road or track, not a man able to lead us! In the end I took the lead. I had been in those parts several times before; drawing inferences from those times, I took the Pole-star on my right shoulder-blade[1249] and, with some anxiety, moved on. God brought it right! We went straight to the Qīāq-tū and the Aūlābā-tū torrent, that is to say, straight for Khwāja Ismā`īl _Sirītī_ where the Ghiljīs were lying, the road to which crosses the torrent named. Dismounting near the torrent, we let ourselves and our horses sleep a little, [Sidenote: Fol. 203b.] took breath, and bestirred ourselves at shoot of dawn. The Sun was up before we got out of those low hills and valley-bottoms to the plain on which the Ghiljī lay with a good _yīghāch_[1250] of road between them and us; once out on the plain we could see their blackness, either their own or from the smoke of their fires.
913.1.3
Whether bitten by their own whim,[1251] or whether wanting to hurry, the whole army streamed off at the gallop (_chāpqūn qūīdīlār_); off galloped I after them and, by shooting an arrow now at a man, now at a horse, checked them after a _kuroh_ or two (3 m.?). It is very difficult indeed to check 5 or 6000 braves galloping loose-rein! God brought it right! They were checked! When we had gone about one _shar`ī_ (2 m.) further, always with the Afghān blackness in sight, the raid[1252] was allowed. Masses of sheep fell to us, more than in any other raid. After we had dismounted and made the spoils turn back,[1253] one body of Afghāns after another came down into the plain, provoking a fight. Some of the begs and of the household went against one body and killed every man; Nāṣir Mīrzā did the same with another, and a pillar of Afghān heads was set up. An arrow pierced the foot of that foot-soldier Dost the Kotwāl who has been mentioned already;[1254] when we reached Kābul, he died.
913.1.4
Marching from Khwāja Ismā`īl, we dismounted once more at Aūlābā-tū. Some of the begs and of my own household were ordered to go forward and carefully separate off the Fifth (_Khums_) of the enemy's spoils. By way of favour, we did not [Sidenote: Fol. 204.] take the Fifth from Qāsim Beg and some others.[1255] From what was written down,[1256] the Fifth came out at 16,000, that is to say, this 16,000 was the fifth of 80,000 sheep; no question however but that with those lost and those not asked for, a _lak_ (100,000) of sheep had been taken. (_b. A hunting-circle._)
913.1.5
Next day when we had ridden from that camp, a hunting-circle was formed on the plain of Kattawāz where deer (_kiyīk_)[1257] and wild-ass are always plentiful and always fat. Masses went into the ring; masses were killed. During the hunt I galloped after a wild-ass, on getting near shot one arrow, shot another, but did not bring it down, it only running more slowly for the two wounds. Spurring forwards and getting into position[1258] quite close to it, I chopped at the nape of its neck behind the ears, and cut through the wind-pipe; it stopped, turned over and died. My sword cut well! The wild-ass was surprisingly fat. Its rib may have been a little under one yard in length. Sherīm T̤aghāī and other observers of _kiyīk_ in Mughūlistān said with surprise, "Even in Mughūlistān we have seen few _kiyīk_ so fat!" I shot another wild-ass; most of the wild-asses and deer brought down in that hunt were fat, but not one of them was so fat as the one I first killed. Turning back from that raid, we went to Kābul and there dismounted. (_c. Shaibāq Khān moves against Khurāsān._)
913.1.6
Shaibāq Khān had got an army to horse at the end of last year, meaning to go from Samarkand against Khurāsān, his [Sidenote: Fol. 204b.] march out being somewhat hastened by the coming to him of a servant of that vile traitor to his salt, Shāh Manṣūr the Paymaster, then in Andikhūd. When the Khān was approaching Andikhūd, that vile wretch said, "I have sent a man to the Aūzbeg," relied on this, adorned himself, stuck up an aigrette on his head, and went out, bearing gift and tribute. On this the leaderless[1259] Aūzbegs poured down on him from all sides, and turned upside down (_tart-part_) the blockhead, his offering and his people of all sorts. (_d. Irresolution of the Khurāsān Mīrzās._)
913.1.7
Badī`u´z-zamān Mīrzā, Muz̤affar Mīrzā, Muḥ. Barandūq _Barlās_ and Ẕū´n-nūn _Arghūn_ were all lying with their army in Bābā Khākī,[1260] not decided to fight, not settled to make (Herī) fort fast, there they sat, confounded, vague, uncertain what to do. Muḥammad Barandūq _Barlās_ was a knowledgeable man; he kept saying, "You let Muz̤affar Mīrzā and me make the fort fast; let Badī`u´z-zamān Mīrzā and Ẕū´n-nūn Beg go into the mountains near Herī and gather in Sl. `Alī _Arghūn_ from Sīstān and Zamīn-dāwar, Shāh Beg and Muqīm from Qandahār with all their armies, and let them collect also what there is of Nikdīrī and Hazāra force; this done, let them make a swift and telling move. The enemy would find it difficult to go into the mountains, and could not come against the (Herī) fort because [Sidenote: Fol. 205.] he would be afraid of the army outside." He said well, his plan was practical.
913.1.8
Brave though Ẕū´n-nūn _Arghūn_ was, he was mean, a lover-of-goods, far from businesslike or judicious, rather shallow-pated, and a bit of a fool. As has been mentioned,[1261] when that elder and that younger brother became joint-rulers in Herī, he had chief authority in Badī`u´z-zamān Mīrzā's presence. He was not willing now for Muḥ. Barandūq Beg to remain inside Herī town; being the lover-of-goods he was, he wanted to be there himself. But he could not make this seem one and the same thing![1262] Is there a better sign of his shallow-pate and craze than that he degraded himself and became contemptible by accepting the lies and flattery of rogues and sycophants? Here are the particulars[1263]:—While he was so dominant and trusted in Herī, certain Shaikhs and Mullās went to him and said, "The Spheres are holding commerce with us; you are styled _Hizabru´l-lāh_ (Lion of God); you will overcome the Aūzbeg." Believing these words, he put his bathing-cloth round his neck and gave thanks. It was through this he did not accept Muḥammad Barandūq Beg's sensible counsel, did not strengthen the works (_aīsh_) of the fort, get ready fighting equipment, set scout or rearward to warn of the foe's approach, or plan out such method of array that, should the foe appear, his men would fight with ready heart. (_e. Shaibāq Khān takes Herī._)
913.1.9
Shaibāq Khān passed through Murgh-āb to near Sīr-kāī[1264] in [Sidenote: Fol. 205b.] the month of Muḥarram (913 AH. May-June 1507 AD.). When the Mīrzās heard of it, they were altogether upset, could not act, collect troops, array those they had. Dreamers, they moved through a dream![1265] Ẕū'n-nūn _Arghūn_, made glorious by that flattery, went out to Qarā-rabāṯ, with 100 to 150 men, to face 40,000 to 50,000 Aūzbegs: a mass of these coming up, hustled his off, took him, killed him and cut off his head.[1266] In Fort Ikhtiyāru'd-dīn, it is known as Ālā-qūrghān,[1267] were the Mīrzās' mothers, elder and younger sisters, wives and treasure. The Mīrzās reached the town at night, let their horses rest till midnight, slept, and at dawn flung forth again. They could not think about strengthening the fort; in the respite and crack of time there was, they just ran away,[1268] leaving mother, sister, wife and little child to Aūzbeg captivity.
913.1.10
What there was of Sl. Ḥusain Mīrzā's _ḥaram_, Pāyanda-sulṯān Begīm and Khadīja Begīm at the head of it, was inside Ālā-qūrghān; there too were the _ḥarams_ of Badī`u'z-zamān Mīrzā[1269] and Muz̤affar Mīrzā with their little children, treasure, and households (_biyutāt_). What was desirable for making the fort fast had not been done; even braves to reinforce it had not arrived. `Āshiq-i-muḥammad _Arghūn_, the younger brother of Mazīd Beg, had fled from the army on foot and gone into it; [Sidenote: Fol. 206.] in it was also Amīr `Umar Beg's son `Alī Khān (_Turkmān_); Shaikh `Abdu'l-lāh the taster was there; Mīrzā Beg _Kāī-khusraūī_ was there; and Mīrak _Gūr_ (or _Kūr_) the Dīwān was there.
913.2.1
When Shaibāq Khān arrived two or three days later; the Shaikhu'l-islām and notables went out to him with the keys of the outer-fort. That same `Āshiq-i-muḥammad held Ālā-qūrghān for 16 or 17 days; then a mine, run from the horse-market outside, was fired and brought a tower down; the garrison lost heart, could hold out no longer, so let the fort be taken. (_f. Shaibāq Khān in Herī._) Shaibāq Khān, after taking Herī,[1270] behaved badly not only to the wives and children of its rulers but to every person soever. For the sake of this five-days' fleeting world, he earned himself a bad name. His first improper act and deed in Herī was that, for the sake of this rotten world (_chirk dunyā_), he caused Khadīja Begīm various miseries, through letting the vile wretch Pay-master Shāh Manṣūr get hold of her to loot. Then he let `Abdu'l-wahhāb _Mughūl_ take to loot a person so saintly and so revered as Shaikh Pūrān, and each one of Shaikh Pūrān's children be taken by a separate person. He let the band of poets be seized by Mullā Banā'ī, a matter about which this verse is well-known in Khurāsān:— Except `Abdu'l-lāh the stupid fool (_kīr-khar_), Not a poet to-day sees the colour of gold; From the poets' band Banā'ī would get gold, All he will get is _kīr-khar_.[1271] [Sidenote: Fol. 206b.]
913.2.2
Directly he had possession of Herī, Shaibāq Khān married and took Muz̤affar Mīrzā's wife, Khān-zāda Khānīm, without regard to the running-out of the legal term.[1272] His own illiteracy not forbidding, he instructed in the exposition of the Qoran, Qāẓī Ikhtiyār and Muḥammad Mīr Yūsuf, two of the celebrated and highly-skilled mullās of Herī; he took a pen and corrected the hand-writing of Mullā Sl. `Alī of Mashhad and the drawing of Bih-zād; and every few days, when he had composed some tasteless couplet, he would have it read from the pulpit, hung in the Chār-sū [Square], and for it accept the offerings of the towns-people![1273] Spite of his early-rising, his not neglecting the Five Prayers, and his fair knowledge of the art of reciting the Qorān, there issued from him many an act and deed as absurd, as impudent, and as heathenish as those just named. (_g. Death of two Mīrzās._)
913.2.3
Ten or fifteen days after he had possession of Herī, Shaibāq Khān came from Kahd-stān[1274] to Pul-i-sālār. From that place he sent Tīmūr Sl. and `Ubaid Sl. with the army there present, against Abū'l-muḥsin Mīrzā and Kūpuk (Kīpik) Mīrzā then seated carelessly in Mashhad. The two Mīrzās had thought at one time of making Qalāt[1275] fast; at another, this after they had had news of the approach of the Aūzbeg, they were for moving on Shaibāq Khān himself, by forced marches and along a different road,[1276]—which might have turned out an amazingly good idea! But while they sit still there in Mashhad with nothing decided, the Sulṯāns arrive by forced marches. The Mīrzās for their part [Sidenote: Fol. 207.] array and go out; Abū'l-muḥsin Mīrzā is quickly overcome and routed; Kūpuk Mīrzā charges his brother's assailants with somewhat few men; him too they carry off; both brothers are dismounted and seated in one place; after an embrace (_qūchūsh_), they kiss farewell; Abū'l-muḥsin shews some want of courage; in Kūpuk Mirza it all makes no change at all. The heads of both are sent to Shaibāq Khān in Pul-i-sālār. (_h. Bābur marches for Qandahār._)
913.2.4
In those days Shāh Beg and his younger brother Muḥammad Muqīm, being afraid of Shaibāq Khān, sent one envoy after another to me with dutiful letters (_`arz-dāsht_), giving sign of amity and good-wishes. Muqīm, in a letter of his own, explicitly invited me. For us to look on at the Aūzbeg over-running the whole country, was not seemly; and as by letters and envoys, Shāh Beg and Muqīm had given me invitation, there remained little doubt they would wait upon me.[1277] When all begs and counsellors had been consulted, the matter was left at this:—We were to get an army to horse, join the Arghūn begs and decide in accord and agreement with them, whether to move into Khurāsān or elsewhere as might seem good. (_i. In Ghasnī and Qalāt-i-ghilzāī._) Ḥabība-sulṯān Begīm, my aunt (_yīnkā_) as I used to call her, met us in Ghaznī, having come from Herī, according to arrangement, in order to bring her daughter Maṣ`ūma-sulṯān Begīm. [Sidenote: Fol. 207b.] With the honoured Begīm came Khusrau Kūkūldāsh, Sl. Qulī _Chūnāq_ (One-eared) and Gadāī _Balāl_ who had returned to me after flight from Herī, first to Ibn-i-ḥusain Mīrzā then to Abū'l-muḥsin Mīrzā,[1278] with neither of whom they could remain.
913.2.5
In Qalāt the army came upon a mass of Hindūstān traders, come there to traffic and, as it seemed, unable to go on. The general opinion about them was that people who, at a time of such hostilities, are coming into an enemy's country[1279] must be plundered. With this however I did not agree; said I, "What is the traders' offence? If we, looking to God's pleasure, leave such scrapings of gain aside, the Most High God will apportion our reward. It is now just as it was a short time back when we rode out to raid the Ghiljī; many of you then were of one mind to raid the Mahmand Afghāns, their sheep and goods, their wives and families, just because they were within five miles of you! Then as now I did not agree with you. On the very next day the Most High God apportioned you more sheep belonging to Afghān enemies, than had ever before fallen to the share of the army." Something by way of _peshkash_ (offering) was taken from each trader when we dismounted on the other side of Qalāt. (_j. Further march south._) Beyond Qalāt two Mīrzās joined us, fleeing from Qandahār. One was Mīrzā Khān (Wais) who had been allowed to go into Khurāsān after his defeat at Kābul. The other was `Abdu'r-razzāq [Sidenote: Fol. 208.] Mīrzā who had stayed on in Khurāsān when I left. With them came and waited on me the mother of Jahāngīr Mīrzā's son Pīr-i-muḥammad, a grandson of Pahār Mīrzā.[1280] (_k. Behaviour of the Arghūn chiefs._)
913.2.6
When we sent persons and letters to Shāh Beg and Muqīm, saying, "Here we are at your word; a stranger-foe like the Aūzbeg has taken Khurāsān; come! let us settle, in concert and amity, what will be for the general good," they returned a rude and ill-mannered answer, going back from the dutiful letters they had written and from the invitations they had given. One of their incivilities was that Shāh Beg stamped his letter to me in the middle of its reverse, where begs seal if writing to begs, where indeed a great beg seals if writing to one of the lower circle.[1281] But for such ill-manners and his rude answers, his affair would never have gone so far as it did, for, as they say,— A strife-stirring word will accomplish the downfall of an ancient line. By these their headstrong acts they gave to the winds house, family, and the hoards of 30 to 40 years. One day while we were near Shahr-i-ṣafā[1282] a false alarm being given in the very heart of the camp, the whole army was made to arm and mount. At the time I was occupied with a bath [Sidenote: Fol. 208b.] and purification; the begs were much flurried; I mounted when I was ready; as the alarm was false, it died away after a time.
913.2.7
March by march we moved on to Guzar.[1283] There we tried again to discuss with the Arghūns but, paying no attention to us, they maintained the same obstinate and perverse attitude. Certain well-wishers who knew the local land and water, represented to me, that the head of the torrents (_rūdlār_) which come down to Qandahār, being towards Bābā Ḥasan Abdāl and Khalishak,[1284] a move ought to be made in that direction, in order to cut off (_yīqmāq_) all those torrents.[1285] Leaving the matter there, we next day made our men put on their mail, arrayed in right and left, and marched for Qandahār. (_l. Battle of Qandahār._)
913.2.8
Shāh Beg and Muqīm had seated themselves under an awning which was set in front of the naze of the Qandahār-hill where I am now having a rock-residence cut out.[1286] Muqīm's men pushed forward amongst the trees to rather near us. T̤ūfān _Arghūn_ had fled to us when we were near Shahr-i-ṣafā; he now betook himself alone close up to the Arghūn array to where one named `Ashaqu'l-lāh was advancing rather fast leading 7 or 8 men. Alone, T̤ūfān _Arghūn_ faced him, slashed swords with him, unhorsed him, cut off his head and brought it to me as we were passing Sang-i-lakhshak;[1287] an omen we accepted! Not thinking it well to fight where we were, amongst suburbs and trees, we went on along the skirt of the hill. Just as we had settled on ground for the camp, in a meadow on the Qandahār side of the [Sidenote: Fol. 209.] torrent,[1288] opposite Khalishak, and were dismounting, Sher Qulī the scout hurried up and represented that the enemy was arrayed to fight and on the move towards us.
913.3.1
As on our march from Qalāt the army had suffered much from hunger and thirst, most of the soldiers on getting near Khalishak scattered up and down for sheep and cattle, grain and eatables. Without looking to collect them, we galloped off. Our force may have been 2000 in all, but perhaps not over 1000 were in the battle because those mentioned as scattering up and down could not rejoin in time to fight. Though our men were few I had them organized and posted on a first-rate plan and method; I had never arrayed them before by such a good one. For my immediate command (_khāṣa tābīn_) I had selected braves from whose hands comes work[1289] and had inscribed them by tens and fifties, each ten and each fifty under a leader who knew the post in the right or left of the centre for his ten or his fifty, knew the work of each in the battle, and was there on the observant watch; so that, after mounting, the right and left, right and left hands, right and left sides, charged right and left without the trouble of arraying them or the need of a _tawāchī_.[1290]
913.3.2
(_Author's note on his terminology._) [Sidenote: Fol. 209b.] Although _barānghār_, _aūng qūl_, _aūng yān_ and _aūng_ (right wing, right hand, right side and right) all have the same meaning, I have applied them in different senses in order to vary terms and mark distinctions. As, in the battle-array, the (Ar.) _maimana_ and _maisara_ _i.e._ what people call (Turkī) _barānghār_ and _jawānghār_ (r. and l. wings) are not included in the (Ar.) _qalb_, _i.e._ what people call (T.) _ghūl_ (centre), so it is in arraying the centre itself. Taking the array of the centre only, its (Ar.) _yamīn_ and _yasār_ (r. and l.) are called (by me) _aūng qūl_ and _sūl qūl_ (r. and l. hands). Again,—the (Ar.) _khāṣa tābīn_ (royal troop) in the centre has its _yamīn_ and _yasār_ which are called (by me) _aūng yān_ and _sūl yān_ (r. and l. sides, T. _yān_). Again,—in the _khāṣa tābīn_ there is the (T.) _būī_ (_nīng_) _tīkīnī_ (close circle); its _yamīn_ and _yasār_ are called _sūng_ and _sūl_. In the Turkī tongue they call one single thing a _būī_,[1291] but that is not the _būī_ meant here; what is meant here is close (_yāqīn_). The right wing (_barānghār_) was Mīrzā Khān (Wais), Sherīm T̤aghāī, Yārak T̤aghāī with his elder and younger brethren, Chilma _Mughūl_, Ayūb Beg, Muḥammad Beg, Ibrāhīm Beg, `Alī Sayyid _Mughūl_ with his Mughūls, Sl. Qulī _chuhra_, Khudā-bakhsh and Abū'l-ḥasan with his elder and younger brethren.
913.3.3
The left (_jawānghār_) was `Abdu'r-razzāq Mīrzā, Qāsim Beg, Tīngrī-bīrdī, Qaṃbar-i-`alī, Aḥmad _Aīlchī-būghā_, Ghūrī _Barlās_, Sayyid Ḥusain Akbar, and Mīr Shāh _Qūchin_. The advance (_aīrāwal_) was Nāṣir Mīrzā, Sayyid Qāsim Lord of the Gate, Muḥibb-i-`alī the armourer, Pāpā Aūghulī (Pāpā's son?), Allāh-wairan _Turkmān_, Sher Qulī _Mughūl_ the scout with his elder and younger brethren, and Muḥammad `Alī. In the centre (_ghūl_), on my right hand, were Qāsim Kūkūldāsh, Khusrau Kūkūldāsh, Sl. Muḥammad _Dūldāī_, Shāh Maḥmūd the secretary, Qūl-i-bāyazīd the taster, and Kamāl the sherbet-server [Sidenote: Fol. 210.] server; on my left were Khwāja Muḥammad `Alī, Nāṣir's Dost, Nāṣir's Mīrīm, Bābā Sher-zād, Khān-qulī, Walī the treasurer, Qūtlūq-qadam the scout, Maqsūd the water-bearer (_sū-chī_), and Bābā Shaikh. Those in the centre were all of my household; there were no great begs; not one of those enumerated had reached the rank of beg. Those inscribed in this _būī_[1292] were Sher Beg, Ḥātim the Armoury-master, Kūpuk, Qulī Bābā, Abū'l-ḥasan the armourer;—of the Mughūls, Aūrūs (Russian) `Alī Sayyid,[1293] Darwīsh-i-`alī Sayyid, Khūsh-kīldī, Chilma, Dost-kīldī, Chilma _Tāghchī_, Dāmāchī, Mindī;—of the Turkmāns, Manṣūr, Rustam-i-`alī with his elder and younger brother, and Shāh Nāẕir and Sīūndūk. The enemy was in two divisions, one under Shāh Shujā' _Arghūn_, known as Shāh Beg and hereafter to be written of simply as Shāh Beg, the other under his younger brother Muqīm.
913.3.4
Some estimated the dark mass of Arghūns[1294] at 6 or 7000 men; no question whatever but that Shāh Beg's own men in mail were 4 or 5000. He faced our right, Muqīm with a force smaller may-be than his brother's, faced our left. Muqīm made a mightily strong attack on our left, that is on Qāsim Beg from whom two or three persons came before fighting began, to ask for reinforcement; we however could not detach a man because in front of us also the enemy was very strong. We made our onset without any delay; the enemy fell suddenly on our van, [Sidenote: Fol. 210b.] turned it back and rammed it on our centre. When we, after a discharge of arrows, advanced, they, who also had been shooting for a time, seemed likely to make a stand (_tūkhtaghāndīk_). Some-one, shouting to his men, came forward towards me, dismounted and was for adjusting his arrow, but he could do nothing because we moved on without stay. He remounted and rode off; it may have been Shāh Beg himself. During the fight Pīrī Beg _Turkmān_ and 4 or 5 of his brethren turned their faces from the foe and, turban in hand,[1295] came over to us. (_Author's note on Pīrī Beg._) This Pīrī Beg was one of those Turkmāns who came [into Herī] with the Turkmān Begs led by `Abdu'l-bāqī Mīrzā and Murād Beg, after Shāh Ismā`īl vanquished the Bāyandar sulṯāns and seized the `Irāq countries.[1296]
913.3.5
Our right was the first to overcome the foe; it made him hurry off. Its extreme point had gone pricking (_sānjīlīb_)[1297] as far as where I have now laid out a garden. Our left extended as far as the great tree-tangled[1298] irrigation-channels, a good way below Bābā Ḥasan Abdāl. Muqīm was opposite it, its numbers very small compared with his. God brought it right! Between it and Muqīm were three or four of the tree-tangled water-channels going on to Qandahār;[1299] it held the crossing-place and allowed no passage; small body though it was, it made splendid stand [Sidenote: Fol. 211.] and kept its ground. Ḥalwāchī Tarkhān[1300] slashed away in the water with Tīngrī-bīrdī and Qaṃbar-i-`alī. Qaṃbar-i-`alī was wounded; an arrow stuck in Qāsim Beg's forehead; another struck Ghūrī _Barlās_ above the eyebrow and came out above his cheek.[1301] We meantime, after putting our adversary to flight, had crossed those same channels towards the naze of Murghān-koh (Birds'-hill). Some-one on a grey _tīpūchāq_ was going backwards and forwards irresolutely along the hill-skirt, while we were getting across; I likened him to Shāh Beg; seemingly it was he. Our men having beaten their opponents, all went off to pursue and unhorse them. Remained with me eleven to count, `Abdu'l-lāh the librarian being one. Muqīm was still keeping his ground and fighting. Without a glance at the fewness of our men, we had the nagarets sounded and, putting our trust in God, moved with face set for Muqīm.
913.3.6
(Turkī) For few or for many God is full strength; No man has might in His Court. (Arabic) How often, God willing it, a small force has vanquished a large one! Learning from the nagarets that we were approaching, Muqīm forgot his fixed plan and took the road of flight. God brought it right! After putting our foe to flight, we moved for Qandahār and dismounted in Farrukh-zād Beg's Chār-bāgh, of which at this time not a trace remains! (_m. Bābur enters Qandahār._) [Sidenote: Fol. 211b.] Shāh Beg and Muqīm could not get into Qandahār when they took to flight; Shāh Beg went towards Shāl and Mastūng (Quetta), Muqīm towards Zamīn-dāwar. They left no-one able to make the fort fast. Aḥmad `Alī Tarkhān was in it together with other elder and younger brethren of Qulī Beg _Arghūn_ whose attachment and good-feeling for me were known. After parley they asked protection for the families of their elder and younger brethren; their request was granted and all mentioned were encompassed with favour. They then opened the Māshūr-gate of the town; with leaderless men in mind, no other was opened. At that gate were posted Sherīm T̤aghāī and Yārīm Beg. I went in with a few of the household, charged the leaderless men and had two or three put to death by way of example.[1302] (_n. The spoils of Qandahār._)
913.3.7
I got to Muqīm's treasury first, that being in the outer-fort; `Abdu'r-razzāq Mīrzā must have been quicker than I, for he was just dismounting there when I arrived; I gave him a few things from it. I put Dost-i-nāṣir Beg, Qul-i-bāyazīd the taster and, of pay-masters, Muḥammad _bakhshī_ in charge of it, then passed on into the citadel and posted Khwāja Muḥammad `Alī, Shāh Maḥmūd and, of the pay-masters, T̤aghāī Shāh _bakhshī_ in charge of Shāh Beg's treasury. Nāṣir's Mīrīm and Maqṣūd the sherbet-server were sent to keep the house of Ẕū'n-nūn's _Dīwān_ Mīr Jān for Nāṣir Mīrzā; for Mīrzā Khān was kept Shaikh Abū-sa`īd _Tarkhānī's_; for `Abdu'r-razzāq Mīrzā ... 's.[1303] [Sidenote: Fol. 212.] Such masses of white money had never been seen in those countries; no-one indeed was to be heard of who had seen so much. That night, when we ourselves stayed in the citadel, Shāh Beg's slave Saṃbhal was captured and brought in. Though he was then Shāh Beg's intimate, he had not yet received his later favour.[1304] I had him given into someone's charge but as good watch was not kept, he was allowed to escape. Next day I went back to my camp in Farrukh-zād Beg's Chār-bāgh.
913.4.1
I gave the Qandahār country to Nāṣir Mīrzā. After the treasure had been got into order, loaded up and started off, he took the loads of white _tankas_ off a string of camels (_i.e._ _7_ beasts) at the citadel-treasury, and kept them. I did not demand them back; I just gave them to him. On leaving Qandahār, we dismounted in the Qūsh-khāna meadow. After setting the army forward, I had gone for an excursion, so I got into camp rather late. It was another camp! not to be recognized! Excellent _tīpūchāqs_, strings and strings of he-camels, she-camels, and mules, bearing saddle-bags (_khurzīn_) of silken stuffs and cloth,—tents of scarlet (cloth) and velvet, all sorts of awnings, every kind of work-shop, ass-load after ass-load of chests! The goods of the elder and younger (Arghūn) brethren had been kept in separate treasuries; out of each had come chest upon chest, bale upon bale of stuffs and clothes-in-wear (_artmāq artmāq_), sack upon sack of white _tankas_. In _aūtāgh_ and _chādar_ (lattice-tent and pole-tent) was much spoil for every man soever; many sheep also had been taken but sheep were less cared about!
913.4.2
I made over to Qāsim Beg Muqīm's retainers in Qalāt, under [Sidenote: Fol. 212b.] Qūj _Arghūn_ and Tāju'd-dīn Maḥmūd, with their goods and effects. Qāsim Beg was a knowing person; he saw it unadvisable for us to stay long near Qandahār, so, by talking and talking, worrying and worrying, he got us to march off. As has been said, I had bestowed Qandahār on Nāṣir Mīrzā; he was given leave to go there; we started for Kābul. There had been no chance of portioning out the spoils while we were near Qandahār; it was done at Qarā-bāgh where we delayed two or three days. To count the coins being difficult, they were apportioned by weighing them in scales. Begs of all ranks, retainers and household (_tābīn_) loaded up ass-load after ass-load of sacks full of white _tankas_, and took them away for their own subsistence and the pay of their soldiers. We went back to Kābul with masses of goods and treasure, great honour and reputation. (_o. Bābur's marriage with Ma`ṣūma-sulṯān._) After this return to Kābul I concluded alliance (_`aqd qīldīm_) with Sl. Aḥmad Mīrzā's daughter Ma`ṣūma-sulṯān Begīm whom I had asked in marriage at Khurāsān, and had had brought from there. (_p. Shaibāq Khān before Qandahār._)
913.4.3
A few days later a servant of Nāṣir Mīrzā brought the news that Shaibāq Khān had come and laid siege to Qandahār. That Muqīm had fled to Zamīn-dāwar has been said already; from there he went on and saw Shaibāq Khān. From Shāh Beg also one person after another had gone to Shaibāq Khān. At the instigation and petition of these two, the Khān came [Sidenote: Fol. 213.] swiftly down on Qandahār by the mountain road,[1305] thinking to find me there. This was the very thing that experienced person Qāsim Beg had in his mind when he worried us into marching off from near Qandahār. (Persian) What a mirror shews to the young man, A baked brick shews to the old one! Shaibāq Khān arriving, besieged Nāṣir Mīrzā in Qandahār. (_q. Alarm in Kābul._)
913.4.4
When this news came, the begs were summoned for counsel. The matters for discussion were these:—Strangers and ancient foes, such as are Shaibāq Khān and the Aūzbegs, are in possession of all the countries once held by Tīmūr Beg's descendants; even where Turks and Chaghatāīs[1306] survive in corners and border-lands, they have all joined the Aūzbeg, willingly or with aversion; one remains, I myself, in Kābul, the foe mightily strong, I very weak, with no means of making terms, no strength to oppose; that, in the presence of such power and potency, we had to think of some place for ourselves and, at this crisis and in the crack of time there was, to put a wider space between us and the strong foeman; that choice lay between Badakhshān and Hindūstān and that decision must now be made. Qāsim Beg and Sherīm T̤aghāī were agreed for Badakhshān; (_Author's note on Badakhshān._) Those holding their heads up in Badakhshān at this crisis were, of Badakhshīs, Mubārak Shāh and Zubair, Jahāngīr _Turkmān_ and Muḥammad the armourer. They had driven Nāṣir Mīrzā out but had not joined the Aūzbeg. [Sidenote: Fol. 213b.] I and several household-begs preferred going towards Hindūstān and were for making a start to Lamghān.[1307] (_r. Movements of some Mīrzās._)
913.4.5
After taking Qandahār, I had bestowed Qalāt and the Turnūk (Tarnak) country on `Abdu'r-razzāq Mīrzā and had left him in Qalāt, but with the Aūzbeg besieging Qandahār, he could not stay in Qalāt, so left it and came to Kābul. He arriving just as we were marching out, was there left in charge.[1308] There being in Badakhshān no ruler or ruler's son, Mīrzā Khān inclined to go in that direction, both because of his relationship to Shāh Begīm[1309] and with her approval. He was allowed to go and the honoured Begīm herself started off with him. My honoured maternal-aunt Mihr-nigār Khānīm also wished to go to Badakhshān, notwithstanding that it was more seemly for her to be with me, a blood-relation; but whatever objection was made, she was not to be dissuaded; she also betook[1310] herself to Badakhshān. (_s. Bābur's second start for Hindūstān._) Under our plan of going to Hindūstān, we marched out of Kābul in the month of the first Jumāda (September 1507 AD.), taking the road through Little Kābul and going down by Sūrkh-rabāṯ to Qūrūq-sāī.
913.4.6
The Afghāns belonging between Kābul and Lamghān (Ningnahār) are thieves and abettors of thieves even in quiet times; for just such a happening as this they had prayed in vain. Said they, "He has abandoned Kābul", and multiplied their misdeeds by ten, changing their very merits for faults. To such [Sidenote: Fol. 214.] lengths did things go that on the morning we marched from Jagdālīk, the Afghāns located between it and Lamghān, such as the Khiẓr-khail, Shimū-khail, Khirilchī and Khūgīanī, thought of blocking the pass, arrayed on the mountain to the north, and advancing with sound of tambour and flourish of sword, began to shew themselves off. On our mounting I ordered our men to move along the mountain-side, each man from where he had dismounted;[1311] off they set at the gallop up every ridge and every valley of the saddle.[1312] The Afghāns stood awhile, but could not let even one arrow fly,[1313] and betook themselves to flight. While I was on the mountain during the pursuit, I shot one in the hand as he was running back below me. That arrow-stricken man and a few others were brought in; some were put to death by impalement, as an example. We dismounted over against the Adīnapūr-fort in the Nīngnahār _tūmān_. (_t. A raid for winter stores._)
913.4.7
Up till then we had taken no thought where to camp, where to go, where to stay; we had just marched up and down, camping in fresh places, while waiting for news.[1314] It was late in the autumn; most lowlanders had carried in their rice. People knowing the local land and water represented that the Mīl Kāfirs up the water of the `Alīshang _tūmān_ grow great quantities of rice, so that we might be able to collect winter supplies from them for the army. Accordingly we rode out of the Nīngnahār dale (_julga_), crossed (the Bārān-water) at Sāīkal, and went swiftly as far as the Pūr-amīn (easeful) valley. [Sidenote: Fol. 214b.] There the soldiers took a mass of rice. The rice-fields were all at the bottom of the hills. The people fled but some Kāfirs went to their death. A few of our braves had been sent to a look-out (_sar-kūb_)[1315] on a naze of the Pūr-anīm valley; when they were returning to us, the Kāfirs rushed from the hill above, shooting at them. They overtook Qāsim Beg's son-in-law Pūrān, chopped at him with an axe, and were just taking him when some of the braves went back, brought strength to bear, drove them off and got Pūrān away. After one night spent in the Kāfirs' rice-fields, we returned to camp with a mass of provisions collected. (_u. Marriage of Muqīm's daughter._) While we were near Mandrāwar in those days, an alliance was concluded between Muqīm's daughter Māh-chūchūk, now married to Shāh Ḥasan _Arghūn_, and Qāsim Kūkūldāsh.[1316]
913.4.8
(_v. Abandonment of the Hindūstān project._) As it was not found desirable to go on into Hindūstān, I sent Mullā Bābā of Pashāghar back to Kābul with a few braves. Meantime I marched from near Mandrāwar to Atar and Shīwa and lay there for a few days. From Atar I visited Kūnār and Nūr-gal; from Kūnār I went back to camp on a raft; it was the first time I had sat on one; it pleased me much, and the raft came into common use thereafter. (_w. Shaibāq Khān retires from Qandahār._) In those same days Mullā Bābā of Farkat came from Nāṣir Mīrzā with news in detail that Shaibāq Khān, after taking the outer-fort of Qandahār, had not been able to take the citadel but had retired; also that the Mīrzā, on various accounts, had left Qandahār and gone to Ghaznī.
913.4.9
Shaibāq Khān's arrival before Qandahār, within a few days [Sidenote: Fol. 215.] of our own departure, had taken the garrison by surprise, and they had not been able to make fast the outer-fort. He ran mines several times round about the citadel and made several assaults. The place was about to be lost. At that anxious time Khwāja Muḥ. Amīn, Khwāja Dost Khāwand, Muḥ. `Alī, a foot-soldier, and Shāmī (Syrian?) let themselves down from the walls and got away. Just as those in the citadel were about to surrender in despair, Shaibāq Khān interposed words of peace and uprose from before the place. Why he rose was this:—It appears that before he went there, he had sent his _ḥaram_ to Nīrah-tū,[1317] and that in Nīrah-tū some-one lifted up his head and got command in the fort; the Khān therefore made a sort of peace and retired from Qandahār. (_x. Bābur returns to Kābul._) Mid-winter though it was we went back to Kābul by the Bād-i-pīch road. I ordered the date of that transit and that crossing of the pass to be cut on a stone above Bād-i-pīch;[1318] Ḥāfiẓ Mīrak wrote the inscription, Ustād Shāh Muḥammad did the cutting, not well though, through haste. I bestowed Ghaznī on Nāṣir Mīrzā and gave `Abdu'r-razzāq Mīrzā the Nīngnahār _tūmān_ with Mandrāwar, Nūr-valley, Kūnār and Nūr-gal.[1319] (_y. Bābur styles himself Pādshāh._) Up to that date people had styled Tīmūr Beg's descendants _Mīrzā_, even when they were ruling; now I ordered that people should style me _Pādshāh_.[1320]
913.4.10
(_z. Birth of Bābur's first son._) At the end of this year, on Tuesday the 4th day of the month of Ẕū'l-qa`da (March 6th 1506 AD.), the Sun being in Pisces [Sidenote: Fol. 215b.] (_Ḥūt_), Humāyūn was born in the citadel of Kābul. The date of his birth was found by the poet Maulānā Masnadī in the words _Sulṯān Humāyūn Khān_,[1321] and a minor poet of Kābul found it in _Shāh-i-fīrūs-qadr_ (Shāh of victorious might). A few days later he received the name Humāyūn; when he was five or six days old, I went out to the Chār-bāgh where was had the feast of his nativity. All the begs, small and great, brought gifts; such a mass of white _tankas_ was heaped up as had never been seen before. It was a first-rate feast!