The Memoirs of Bābur 914.3

914.3

Before the diary of 925 AH. (1519 AD.) takes up the broken thread of his autobiography, there is a _lacuna_ of narrative extending over nearly eleven years. The break was not intended, several references in the _Bābur-nāma_ shewing Bābur's purpose to describe events of the unchronicled years.[1332] Mr. Erskine, in the Leyden and Erskine _Memoirs_, carried Bābur's biography through the major _lacunæ_, but without firsthand help from the best sources, the _Habību's-siyar_ and _Tārīkh-i-rashīdī_. He had not the help of the first even in his _History of India_. M. de Courteille working as a translator only, made no attempt to fill the gaps. Bābur's biography has yet to be completed; much time is demanded by the task, not only in order to exhaust known sources and seek others further afield, but to weigh and balance the contradictory statements of writers deep-sundered in sympathy and outlook. To strike such a balance is essential when dealing with the events of 914 to 920 AH. because in those years Bābur had part in an embittered conflict between Sunni and Shī`a. What I offer below, as a stop-gap, is a mere summary of events, mainly based on material not used by Mr. Erskine, with a few comments prompted by acquaintance with Bāburiana. _USEFUL SOURCES_