The Memoirs of Bābur 2.3.3

2.3.3

* * * Next morning, about the time of early prayers, they arrived close upon the enemy, who put themselves in some kind of order, and marched out to meet them: but our troops no sooner came up than the enemy fled, and were followed in close pursuit and slaughtered all the way to the limits of Ibrahim's camp. The detachment took Haitim Khan, Daud Khan's eldest brother, and one of the generals, with seventy or eighty prisoners, and six or eight elephants, all of which they brought in when they waited on me. Several of the prisoners were put to death, to strike terror into the enemy. Marching thence, I arranged the whole army in order of battle, with right and left wing and centre, and after reviewing it, performed the vim. The custom of the vim is, that the whole army being mounted, the commander takes a bow or whip in his hand, and guesses at the number of the army, according to a fashion in use, and in conformity with which they affirm that the army may be so many. The number that I guessed was greater than the army turned out to be. At this station I directed that, according to the custom of Rum, the gun-carriages should be connected together with twisted bull-hides, as with chains. Between every two gun-carriages were six or seven tûras or breast-works. The matchlockmen stood behind these guns, or tûras, and discharged their matchlocks. I halted five or six days in this camp, for the purpose of getting this apparatus arranged.