The Memoirs of Bābur 913.1
The Bābur-nāma in English (A. S. Beveridge) 913.1
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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.