The Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV: The Mughul Period v4.c12: Chapter I. Bābur
The Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV: The Mughul Period v4.c12
- Language
- English
Contents
- v4.c12.s1 I — 14 parts
- v4.c12.s2 II — 3 parts
- v4.c12.s3 The Four Invasions — 37 parts
Chapter I. Bābur
I
v4.c12.s1.1
IN chapter IX of volume III, which dealt with the Lodī dynasty, the narrative was brought down to the revolts of the Afghān chiefs in Lucknow and Bihār against Ibrāhīm Shāh Lodī, and the intrigues of Daulat Khān, the semi-independent governor of Lahore. In the present chapter will be described the events which led to the expulsion of the Lodīs from upper India by the emperor Bābur.
v4.c12.s1.2
It would have sufficed for the purposes of an Indian history if the narrative had been resumed at the point where the disaffected Afghāns first began to intrigue with the Timurid ruler of Kābul in the year 1523. But the early life of the emperor Bābur offers so strange and engrossing a subject that it would be improper not to present the reader with a summary at least of the previous career of the man who founded the Mughul Empire of Delhi. We must, therefore, momentarily focus our attention on the country situate between Persia and Turkestān, in which Bābur was born and where he spent the first thirty years of his life. Since Tamerlane's invasion of India in 1398 (see vol. III, chap. VII) this country never seems to have attracted the attention of his descendants, for though these included men of rare gifts none of them were great soldiers or statesmen. The two we remember best are Ulugh Beg, Tīmūr's grandson, who was an eminent astrologer, and Sultān Husain Baiqara, Tīmūr's great-great-grandson, who for fifty-four years made Herāt one of the greatest centres of literature and art that the world has ever seen—a veritable cinquecento Florence in the heart of Asia. But between 1405, when Tīmūr died, and 1500 (by which time Tīmūr's central Asian kingdoms had been divided between the Uzbegs and the Safavids) among all the Timurid princes—who are known to Muslim historians as the Mīrzās—there was none capable of consolidating their common heritage. The hereditary instinct for great adventures seems to have lain dormant in the Timurid stock, until it suddenly revealed itself again in the person of the emperor Bābur. The whole result of Tamerlane's invasion of India had been the appointment of a governor of Multān, who, although he founded the short-lived dynasty of Sayyids, never even assumed the title of king. Of the other lands conquered by Tīmūr nothing remained to his immediate successors except Transoxiana, most of the modern Afghānistān, Khurāsān, and part of Persia, and his conquest of Delhi counted for no more when he died than his defeat of the Ottoman Sultān Bāyazīd.
v4.c12.s1.3
At the time of Bābur's birth, in 1483, these countries were no longer a single empire, but were broken up into a number of separate states large and small ruled over by Timurid princes among whom there was constant rivalry and warfare. Among these princes was Bābur's father, 'Umar Shaikh Mīrzā, who had inherited the kingdom of Farghāna. In 1494 'Umar Shaikh died and was succeeded by Bābur, then a child of eleven. For the next twenty years he was engaged in continual struggles with his cousins, in which his main objective was always the kingdom of Transoxiana with its capital Samarqand, for, like his great ancestor Tīmūr, Bābur had a deep-seated affection for this city. His only lasting success during this period was his occupation in 1504 of Kābul, a Timurid state, which then became his headquarters. It was to Kābul that he withdrew after his defeat by the Uzbegs at the battle of Ghazdawān in 1512, when he finally abandoned all hope of realising his chief ambition; but there, instead of resigning himself to the relative obscurity of a minor principality, he began to contemplate what neither Chingīz Khān nor Tīmūr had been able to achieve, namely the conquest of Hindūstān. Nothing could have seemed less probable when Bābur at the age of eleven inherited his father's small kingdom of Farghāna than that he should one day become emperor of Hindūstān; and in the first thirty years of his active career, in spite of his untiring energy and indomitable courage, he achieved nothing beyond turning his cousins out of Badakhshān, Kābul and Ghaznī.
v4.c12.s1.4
It is almost impossible in a brief survey to infuse life and interest into the petty wars and intrigues in which young Bābur found himself involved in his early career. The bones of contention were the various towns in Transoxiana and Khurāsān, notably Samarqand, Bukhārā and Herāt, and the protagonists were the Timurid Mīrzās and the Mughul Khāns. These years are packed with incidents and adventures, forming a panorama in which the outstanding figure is the youthful prince who was destined to found a great empire in a land far removed and greatly differing in climate, population and culture from his own. The history of the country lying between the Oxus and the Jaxartes between 1494 and 1512 can only be made interesting if told in great detail; that is to say, if one concentrates on the principal personalities, their ambitions and quarrels. Sketched briefly these events have little meaning, and simply offer a number of names, many of which are quite confusing on account of their similarity and sometimes even their identity with each other. Since, however, it is with the founding of the Mughul dynasty of Delhi that this chapter is concerned, it is clear that we must pass quite rapidly over Bābur's career in the north and only deal fully with his great Indian adventure.
v4.c12.s1.5
In the history of the first twenty years of Bābur's career the scene changes so rapidly and the protagonists are so numerous that even in the briefest account something in the nature of a list of *dramatis personae* is required, for without such a list there must be confusion in the reader's mind.
v4.c12.s1.6
Zahīr-ud-Dīn Muhammad Bābur, the founder of the Mughul Empire in Hindūstān, was born in Farghāna on 14 February, 1483. His father, ‘Umar Shaikh Mīrzā, was descended in the fourth generation from the great Tamerlane, and his mother, Qutluq Nigār Khānum, the daughter of Yūnus Khān, was descended from Chagatāi Khān, the son of Chingīz Khān. ‘Umar Shaikh Mīrzā was one of the nine sons of Sultān Abū Sa‘īd Khān, who, in 1452, had succeeded to what yet remained of Tamerlane's vast empire, thanks very largely to the support of the Uzbegs of Turkestān under their Qipchaq leader, Abu-’l-Khair Khān. On the death of Sultān Abū Sa‘īd Khān in 1469 his empire was divided among his sons.
v4.c12.s1.7
The eldest son Ahmad had obtained Transoxiana with its capital Samarqand, and the second son Mahmūd became lord of Badakhshān and Hisār. The fourth son of Abū Sa‘īd Mīrzā, Ulugh Beg, became lord of Kābul and Ghaznī, and he had a son called ‘Abdur-Razzāq. The fifth son ‘Umar Shaikh, the father of Bābur, inherited the kingdom of Farghāna with its capital Andijān. The most powerful of the Timurids at this time was, however, Sultān Husain Baiqara, who belonged to the Mīrān-Shāh branch of Tamerlane's family, and was ruling Khurāsān from Herāt. His territories included in the east, Balkh; in the west, Bistām and Dāmaghān; in the north, Khwārazm (Khiva); and in the south, Qandahār. He had a son named Badī‘-uz-Zamān Mīrzā. Bābur had two brothers, Jahāngīr Mīrzā and Nāsir Mīrzā. Such were the chief Timurid princes or Mīrzās. The most prominent chiefs and nobles outside the family of Tamerlane were Khusrav Shāh, a Qipchaq Mongol, who was minister of Mahmūd Mīrzā and for a time governor of Qunduz; and Zū-’n-Nūn Arghūn, also a Mongol, who was governor of Qandahār on behalf of Sultān Husain Baiqara—he claimed descent from Arghūn Khān, son of Abāqa, son of Hulāgū, Īl-khānī rulers of Persia two centuries earlier. His two sons, Shāh Beg and Muhammad Muqīm Khān, both play a prominent part in this story. The great chiefs of the Uzbegs who ultimately usurped the eastern possessions of the Timurids, were Abu-’l-Khair Khān; his grandson Muhammad Shaibānī Khān (also known as Shāhībeg or Shaibak, a corruption of Shāhbakht); and ‘Ubaid-ullah Khān, the nephew of Shaibānī. Amongst the Chaghatāi Chingīz-Khānids were Sultān Ahmad Khān and Sultān Mahmūd Khān, the sons of Yūnus Khān, the father of Bābur's mother. Ahmad had several sons of whom we hear at this time, notably Mansūr Sultān, Sa‘īd Khān and Chīn-Tīmūr. Finally, mention may be made of Mīrzā Haidar Dughlāt, Bābur's cousin and friend, the author of the famous *Tārīkh-i-Rashīdī*.
v4.c12.s1.8
In order to follow the career of Bābur we must first familiarise ourselves with a map which includes on the north the Sea of Aral, on the west Meshed (and Kirmān), on the south upper India, and on the east Kashmīr, Tibet, and Chinese Turkestān. We must think of various countries in the terms of the sixteenth century. Transoxiana, or Māvarā-un-nahr, comprised most of the country between the Oxus and the Jaxartes, including Samarqand and Bukhārā. In the south-east is Farghāna with its capital Andijān. Khurāsān included Marv, Balkh, Herāt, Qandahār and Khwārazm (Khiva). Kābul (which included Ghaznī) was independent. Hisār and Qunduz were included in Badakhshān.
v4.c12.s1.9
In 1494 Ahmad, the son of Yūnus Khān, died, and was succeeded by his brother Mahmūd, who died in the following year, when his territories were divided between his two sons, Baisunqur and Mas‘ūd. ‘Umar Shaikh also died in 1494, and his kingdom of Farghāna was inherited by his son Bābur, then only eleven years of age. From the very outset of his career the young prince found himself the object of external foes and of internal intrigues; for he had inherited his father’s quarrels as well as his insecure throne. The first years of Bābur’s reign were mainly occupied in fighting against his cousin Baisunqur, from whom he captured Samarqand in 1497, after a siege of seven months.
v4.c12.s1.10
At this stage we hear of the arrival in Transoxiana of Shaibānī Khān, chief of the Uzbegs, who was destined to play a great part in the early history both of Bābur and of Shāh Isma‘īl, the founder of the Safavid dynasty of Persia. Baisunqur Mīrzā had invited Shaibānī Khān to come and help him against his cousin Bābur. The Khān of the Uzbegs came but again withdrew without rendering any assistance, having seen enough to make him realise, as Erskine says: “the richness of the prey and the weakness of its defenders.” In 1501, after suffering a defeat at Sar-i-pul, Bābur withdrew to Samarqand which, after a protracted siege, he surrendered to Shaibānī Khān. Bābur himself only obtained his freedom by a promise that his sister should marry the Uzbeg Khān. He now withdrew to Tāshkent, which had been given to Sultān Mahmūd Khān, son of Yūnus Khān, by ‘Umar Shaikh; and there Bābur spent three years in hiding and misery. In June 1504 we find him accompanied by a handful of men and women, a refugee without a home and without a destination. Shaibānī Khān, the Uzbeg, in the meanwhile had become master of Transoxiana, and had put to flight Khusrav Shāh, the governor of Qunduz. This disaster and the consequent dispersal of Khusrav’s army came as a blessing to Bābur, to whose camp large numbers of deserters fled. Those chiefs who now attached themselves to Bābur were called the “Guest Begs”. Bābur now found himself at the head of a force of over four thousand men (according to Mīrzā Haidar, twenty thousand) and he was obliged to choose between marching to help in the defence of Herāt which was being attacked by Shaibānī Khān, or of moving farther south, over the Hindu Kush. Feeling his forces were not sufficiently strong to cope with Shaibānī's large army, he chose the latter alternative. Having led his men over the formidable passes of the Hindu Kush, he came at last within sight of Kābul. As we have seen, Kābul had on the death of his father Abū Sa'īd passed into the hands of Ulugh Beg, on whose death in 1501 it went to his son 'Abdur-Razzāq, who had been immediately displaced by Muqīm the Arghūn. Had Bābur found Kābul safely in the power of his cousin 'Abdur-Razzāq, he would have had no good excuse for trying to take possession of that important military post, but seeing that it was in the hands of an usurper, whom 'Abdur-Razzāq had been unable to withstand, he not only attacked but, as much by ruse as by daring, captured it, and having done so asserted his hereditary right to the kingdom of Kābul and pensioned off his cousin with an estate. We are justified in assuming that it was while Bābur was bringing order into his new kingdom and somewhat vainly attempting to collect its revenues that he was first inspired with his Indian dream. The temptations offered by the fertile plains of Hindūstān did not affect his passionate affection for the land of his birth, to which he so constantly refers in his *Memoirs*, and it is unlikely that he had contemplated settling in India until after his defeat at Ghazdawān in 1512. Moreover, to conquer Hindūstān did not necessarily mean lasting severance from Turkestān; rather would success in the south give the means whereby to recapture Farghāna and Samarqand.
v4.c12.s1.11
In January, 1505 Bābur set out *via* Bādām-chasma, Jagdalik, Ādīnapūr, Ningrahār, Jam-rūd through the Khyber Pass and Kohāt, and thence along the mountains to the west of the Indus as far as Derā Ghāzī Khān. Although it was mid-winter he and his men, encountering such climatic conditions as they had never before experienced, suffered much from the sub-tropical sun of upper India. The raid lasted four months, and by May 1506 Bābur was back again in Kābul (Abu-'l-Fazl's first invasion). In March, 1508, Humāyūn was born in Kābul, of Bābur's third wife Māhīm. In the meanwhile Shaibānī Khān had captured Khiva, and was threatening Balkh. Husain Baiqara, realising that the town of Herāt was now endangered, called on Bābur and other princes of the Timurid house to come to his rescue; and although Bābur set out with all haste from Kābul in response to this appeal, he had only reached Kahmard when news came that the old Sultān was dead (May, 1506). Bābur, nevertheless, continued his march on Herāt in order to oppose the Uzbeg Khān in Khurāsān, perhaps chiefly with the idea of saving the face of the Timurids in general. On 26 October, 1506, he met the assembled Mīrzās, who persuaded him to spend the winter in Herāt, but on 24 December, finding that no proper arrangements for winter quarters had been made, he moved out of Herāt and marched back over the snow-clad passes to Kābul, raiding the Hazāras on his way. Meanwhile there had been a conspiracy in Kābul to place his cousin Mīrzā Khān, son of Mahmūd Mīrzā, on the throne. He quickly suppressed this rebellion. In the spring of 1507 Shaibānī Khān set out from Samarqand to invade Khurāsān, and owing to the indecision of the Mīrzās he was allowed to take Herāt (June, 1507), which, being in a wretched state of defence, fell at the explosion of the first mine.
v4.c12.s1.12
Bābur had long desired to get possession of Qandahār on account of its strategic importance. On the fall of Herāt the Arghūn princes in Qandahār had appealed to Bābur for military aid, but no sooner had Bābur set out than they changed their minds and determined to oppose him. Bābur, advancing by way of Qalāt, which he took, met Muqīm and Shāh Beg, the sons of Zū'n Nūn Arghūn, in a pitched battle, in which the Arghūns were put to flight. Shortly afterwards Nāsir Mīrzā brought news that Shaibānī Khān was on his way to lay siege to Qandahār, having apparently been encouraged in this enterprise by the fugitive Muqīm. Shaibānī fully expected to find Bābur in Qandahār, but Bābur on this occasion did not display his wonted courage. Instead of waiting to meet the Uzbegs he held a council of war, at which it was decided to undertake a raid into Hindūstān, and in September, 1507, he set out on an expedition which is regarded by Abu-'l-Fazl as Bābur's second invasion of India. Meanwhile Shaibānī Khān had attacked Qandahār, but withdrew without taking it, his presence being required in the north owing to the rebellion of one of his chiefs. On reaching Mandrāwar Bābur retraced his steps to Kābul, but whether this was on account of disagreement among his nobles—for they had started without any fixed plan—or as a result of Shaibānī's withdrawal, we cannot determine. It was on his return to Kābul from this expedition that Bābur ordered that he should in future be styled not Mīrzā (prince), but Pādishāh (emperor). It was perhaps an unsuitable moment for him to change his title, but it should be remembered that Kābul was the only Timurid state which remained after the fall of Herāt.
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April, 1509, to April, 1510, was passed quietly in Kābul, but exciting news began to arrive of the hostilities which had broken out between Shāh Isma'īl Safavī and the redoubtable Uzbeg Khān, who had now been in possession of Transoxiana for about nine years. In the summer of 1510 Shaibānī had led an army against the elusive Hazāras eastward of Herāt, and, having failed to discover them, he gave leave of absence to his troops for the winter; but no sooner had he done so than news came that Shāh Isma'īl had set out with his army for Khurāsān. Most of this province had been wrested from the aged Sultān Husain (1506) by Shaibānī, and his troops had even penetrated into the province of Kirmān. This led to an acrimonious correspondence between the Shiah king and the Sunnī usurper (containing taunting references to the possible visit of the former to Meshed and of the latter to Mecca). Isma‘īl, having overrun Khurāsān as far as Meshed, went in pursuit of Shaibānī in the direction of Marv, where the latter shut himself up. Isma‘īl, in order to bring him out into the open, gave out that he was returning home after paying a ceremonial visit to the Holy City of Meshed. The ruse had the desired result, and on 2 December, 1510, a battle was engaged outside Marv, in which Shaibānī was defeated and slain. The Uzbegs now withdrew from Khurāsān into Transoxiana, and Isma‘īl wintered in Herāt. News of the victory at Marv was brought to Bābur, who, with hopes revived of regaining his lost territories, set out with all possible speed via Bāmiān and reached Qunduz in January, 1511. Shāh Isma‘īl sent an embassy, laden with rich presents and bringing Bābur’s sister Khānzāda Begam, who had, as we have seen, been given in marriage to Shaibānī Khān. On the approach of Bābur, however, fearing the results of her devotion to her brother, Shaibānī had divorced her and married her to a man who afterwards fell in the battle near Marv. Bābur sent Khān Mīrzā to thank Isma‘īl and to congratulate him on his victory over their common enemy; he further suggested that Isma‘īl might help him to recover Transoxiana. The latter consented and began to invade this country but, owing to affairs in Āzarbaijān which required his personal attention, he accepted proposals of peace made by certain Uzbeg chiefs, and withdrew again to Herāt. In the meanwhile Bābur learnt that his cousin Mīrzā Haidar had driven the Uzbegs out of Farghāna. Not long after, Bābur with the help of some Qizilbāsh troops took Bukhārā and Samarqand, and the Uzbegs withdrew to Turkestān. In October, 1511, he was proclaimed king at Samarqand. His dominions now included Tāshkent and Kābul, Qunduz and Hisār, Samarqand, Bukhārā and Farghāna.
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When the Uzbegs, who had retired beyond the Jaxartes, learnt that Shāh Isma‘īl had withdrawn, they resolved to attempt the recovery of Transoxiana. ‘Ubaid-ullah Khān, who had succeeded his uncle Shaibānī Khān, now attacked Bukhārā; whereupon Bābur moved out of Samarqand to meet him. In May, 1512, an encounter took place at Kul-i-Malik, in which Bābur was defeated, and, finding it impossible to remain in Samarqand, he withdrew to Hisār, whither the Uzbegs followed him in August. In the meanwhile Najm Beg (Najm-i-Sānī), who had been despatched to help Bābur by Shāh Isma‘īl on reaching the frontier of Khurāsān, hearing of Bābur’s defeat at Kul-i-Malik, collected further troops from Herāt, advanced on Balkh and in October met Bābur at the Darband-i-Āhanīn. The combined armies took Khuzar and moved on Qarshī, whose inhabitants were put mercilessly to the sword, much to the disgust of Bābur who desired them to be spared. Najm Beg now advanced on Bukhārā. The Uzbegs entrenched themselves in the fort of Ghazdawān where they were besieged by Bairam Beg and Najm Beg, but it was winter and, while the Uzbegs were well provisioned, Najm Beg was unable to feed his troops. Bābur and others advised him to withdraw to Qarshī till the winter was over, and then to return with plentiful supplies. Najm Beg agreed, but on the morrow the Uzbegs attacked and utterly defeated the Persians. Bābur, who was at this time thirty, now abandoned all hope of reascending the throne of Samarqand, which he had won and lost no less than three times. His Mughul allies turned against him and, barely escaping in his sleeping attire from a sudden attack made on his camp, he withdrew first to Hisār and then to Qunduz, and finally he again crossed the Hindu Kush and returned to Kābul. Khān Mīrzā (Wais Mīrzā), the son of Mahmūd Mīrzā, was left in Badakhshān, which Bābur still possessed and Nāsir Mīrzā, who had been left in charge of Kābul, was on Bābur's return appointed to Ghaznī. His death, due to intemperate habits which shortly after intervened, led to a revolt among the Mughul chiefs. Bābur, having disposed of this rebellion, now settled down for four years (1515–18) to what was the nearest approach to a "quiet life" that he had ever known. Müller says "Bābur dedicated the next four years to ceaseless wars in every direction, for without them it was not possible to teach the mountain dwellers of Kābul and Ghaznī the respect due to his overlordship"—which means that he conducted a series of punitive expeditions. Grenard states that these expeditions were "merely an Asiatic method of advertising the advantages of obedience". His raids were "shopping expeditions". For example, Bābur himself writes in one place: "We resolved that, since grain was plentiful in Hashtnagar, it was expedient to lead a raid against the Afghāns there." At any rate, during these years Bābur undertook nothing in the nature of military expeditions on a larger scale.
II
v4.c12.s2.1
We may now turn to the second phase of Bābur's career, namely his invasions and conquest of Hindūstān. In this part of his history we shall encounter many names already familiar to the student of these volumes; it may, nevertheless, be useful to enumerate some of those persons with whom the narrative is mostly concerned. Hitherto Bābur had been dealing with men of his own race or of races closely connected with it, either Mongols or Turks. That is, of course, only true in regard to the chiefs and leaders; for the population of Khurāsān, Badakhshān and Kābul were more Iranian than Turkish. Not till he crossed the Sind or Indus river did Bābur encounter rulers and chiefs of Indo-Aryan stock, and whereas the first twenty years of his active life were spent in competition with Tatar chiefs, his last years (1524–30) were passed in fighting against Afghāns and Hindus. Hindūstān was as foreign to him and to his army—in spite of the bond of Islam—as Egypt was to Napoleon and his French troops.
v4.c12.s2.2
Although the Punjab had been overrun by Tamerlane in 1398–9 this event had only caused a temporary interruption in the Turko-Afghān period, which had begun with Qutb-ud-dīn Aibak in 1206. This period had witnessed the rise and fall of six dynasties, none of which lasted a full century. When Tamerlane invaded India he brought to an end the Tughluq dynasty, which had ruled over Delhi for nearly a hundred years. He left no prince to continue his conquest; all he did was to appoint Khizr Khān governor of Multān, and for nearly forty years this man and his descendants ruled in Delhi under the name of the Sayyid dynasty, the last of whom, ‘Alā-ud-Dīn (1444–50), abdicated in favour of Buhlūl Lodī. On his passage to India, however, Tamerlane had established his rule in all the country between the Oxus and the Indus, and when at the beginning of the sixteenth century his descendant Bābur crossed the Hindu Kush, he regarded not merely Kābul and Ghaznī as his lawful heritage, but even the Punjab. Recalling the precedent set by the Mongols in the thirteenth century and by Tamerlane in the fourteenth, it came as a complete surprise both to the Afghāns and to the Hindu rajas when Bābur made it clear that he had come to stay. But though he made the way ready for the Mughul Empire of Delhi, it was only a military preparation, and his own son having failed to put these gains on a lasting basis, it fell to the lot of his grandson, Akbar, to turn all these advantages to permanent account.
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When Buhlūl Lodī, the elected head of a confederacy of Afghān chiefs, appeared on the scene, the old empire of Delhi had really ceased to exist. His grandfather had been governor of Multān under Fīrūz Tughluq, and his father and several of his uncles had served under the Sayyids. Buhlūl annexed the Punjab to Delhi; his son Sikandar Lodī during a reign of thirty years added considerably to the kingdom he had inherited from his father. But the Delhi kingdom was actually a congeries of semi-independent governorships mostly held by Afghāns (Lodīs, Farmūlīs or Lohānīs). Bābur himself says that when he first entered Hindūstān this country was governed by five Muslim and two pagan rulers, namely the Lodīs in the Delhi empire which extended from Bhera to Bihār; Sultān Muhammad Muzaffar in Gujarāt; the Bahmanīs in the Deccan; Mahmūd Khaljī in Mālwā; Nusrat Shāh in Bengal; the Raja of Vijayanagar, and Rānā Sanga in Chitor. In order to make himself master of Hindūstān, Bābur would have to dispose of the Lodīs and of Rānā Sanga. The leading *dramatis personae* in this Indian episode are Ibrāhīm Lodī—the son of Sikandar Lodī, the son of Buhlūl Lodī—who came to the throne in 1517; and ‘Ālam Khān or ‘Alā-ud-Dīn—another son of Buhlūl Lodī. Outside the ruling house were Daulat Khān, governor of Lahore, the son of Tātār Khān, who held Sirhind and all the countries of the Punjab to the north of the Sutlej; Dilāwar Khān, Ghāzī Khān and Hājjī Khān, his sons; Hasan Khān Mewātī, Biban—an Afghān chief, king of Oudh—and Rānā Sangram Singh, or Rānā Sanga of Chitor, who was the acknowledged head of the Hindu chiefs.
The Four Invasions
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There has been some disagreement among the Muslim historians regarding the various invasions of Hindūstān by Bābur. Bābur himself, writing in 1526 after the battle of Pānīpat, says that from the time of his conquest of Kābul in 1505 his desire for Hindūstān had been constant, but that until 1519 it had not, for a variety of reasons, been possible to make a move on that country, and so its territories had remained unsubdued. At the beginning of this year, however, Bābur made a sudden descent on Bājaur which he captured after a short siege. At the same time with a view to winning over the people he concluded an alliance with the Yūsufzāis by marrying the daughter of one of their chiefs; and when shortly after the fort of Bhera on the Jhelum submitted without offering resistance Bābur gave orders that no violence should be done to the inhabitants or to their flocks and crops. Bābur himself evidently regarded his occupation of Bājaur and Bhera as his first Indian expedition. "From then till now we laboriously held tight to Hindūstān, five times leading an army into it. The fifth time...made Hindūstān our conquest and possession."¹ Abu-'l-Fazl also reckons that Bābur made five expeditions, but he regards the abortive expeditions of January, 1505, and of September, 1507, as the first and second, and the successful invasion in January, 1519, as the third. Abu-'l-Fazl confesses he could get no information about his fourth expedition; the fifth is, of course, that which led to the battle of Pānīpat. Unfortunately there is a gap in the *Memoirs* between 2 January, 1520, and 16 November, 1525, so that we cannot know precisely which expeditions Bābur regarded as the second, third and fourth.
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¹ *Memoirs*, translated by Mrs Beveridge, p. 479.
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In January, 1505, Bābur took Kohāt and Tarbila in Multān, and returned in May of that year without having crossed the Indus. In September, 1507, he turned back owing to disagreement among his chiefs after reaching Mandrāwar.
v4.c12.s3.4
In order to understand the circumstances which facilitated the ultimate conquest of India by Bābur, we must take up the narrative where it broke off in chapter ix of vol. iii of this series.
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Ibrāhīm Shāh Lodī, in 1523, was confronted with rebellion and risings in all the outlying parts of his kingdom. His relations had one and all turned against him, but his most serious rivals were his uncle, 'Ālam Khān (also known as 'Alā-ud-dīn) who had been living under the protection of Sultān Muzaffar of Gujarāt (see vol. III, p. 321), and Daulat Khān Lodī, the governor of Lahore. During the revolts against Shāh Ibrāhīm, Daulat Khān, who had formed the confederacy, sent his son Ghāzī Khān to Delhi in order to ascertain the position of affairs at headquarters, and on his return to Lahore Ghāzī Khān warned his father that Ibrāhīm intended to deprive him of his governorship. Daulat Khān was determined to resist, but doubting his power to do so unaided he sent messengers to Kābul, offering to acknowledge Bābur as his sovereign in return for assistance. Bābur readily agreed, although 'Ālam Khān, the uncle of Shāh Ibrāhīm, who had recently fled to Kābul, was at the time begging Bābur to place him on the throne of Delhi.
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The Lodī army sent against Daulat Khān under the leadership of Bihār Khān encountered Bābur's army near Lahore and was utterly defeated, and Bābur found himself master of that city, a victory which he quickly followed up by the capture of Dipālpur, where he was joined by Daulat Khān and his two sons Ghāzī and Dilāwar. Instead of handing over Lahore to Daulat Khān, Bābur only presented him with Jullundur and Sultānpur as assignments. Daulat Khān was naturally disgusted and went into hiding with his son Ghāzī, intending to take the first opportunity which might offer of regaining what he had lost. Dilāwar Khān, who had acted treacherously towards his father, was now given Sultānpur and the title of Khān Khānān.
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'Ālam, who still aspired to the throne of Delhi, now offered Bābur the formal cession of Lahore if he would help him to achieve this end. This offer on the part of a leading Lodī prince naturally appealed to Bābur, as it would give him a legitimate right to what he had only taken by force. He therefore instructed his generals whom he had left in Lahore to assist 'Ālam Khān in his attack on Delhi. That Bābur himself could not take part in this expedition was due to the fact that the Uzbegs were laying siege to Balkh, and as the safety of this city was almost as vital to himself as to Shāh Isma'īl, to whom it now belonged, he felt it incumbent upon him to go to the aid of his Persian ally. 'Ālam Khān now felt that the sooner he acted the better, as it would not only be to his own advantage if he could defeat his nephew Ibrāhīm without the personal aid of Bābur, but also because there was the risk that if things did not go well with Bābur, the Indian contingent might at any moment be recalled. Daulat Khān, as soon as Bābur left India, emerged from his hiding-place, and with a view to the possible recovery of Lahore offered to help 'Ālam Khān to conquer Delhi. Bābur's officers, however, could not agree to this arrangement, in that Daulat Khān was no longer on friendly terms with Bābur. After much discussion it was finally agreed that Daulat and his son Ghāzī were to remain in charge of the Punjab, while his other sons Dilāwar and Hājjī were to accompany ‘Ālam Khān in his attack on Delhi. The attack came to nothing—chiefly owing to treachery on both sides—and Ibrāhīm still remained lord of Delhi. But Bābur, who had disposed of his troubles in the north, was not far off.
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Leaving Mīrzā Kāmrān, then a mere child, in nominal charge of Kābul and Qandahār, Bābur set out over the Indus river to Siālkot. On his march he was joined first by Humāyūn with the troops from Badakhshān, and later on the same day by Khvāja Kilān with the Ghaznī troops. It was at Siālkot that Bābur heard of ‘Ālam Khān's failure to take Delhi. Daulat Khān and Ghāzī, on learning of Bābur's approach, fled to the fortress of Milwat (Malot) north of Lahore. Bābur blockaded Milwat on every side and Daulat Khān, seeing no hope of escape, capitulated.¹ Daulat Khān died on the way to Bhera, where he was to have been imprisoned. ‘Ālam Khān again fled to Bābur, bringing with him a certain number of his scattered troops, who had suffered severely at the hands of Ibrāhīm. He arrived on foot and nearly destitute.
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¹ Ghāzī Khān seems to have been a man of culture and taste, for Bābur speaks of his library where he found precious books, which he divided between Humāyūn and Kāmrān.
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Lahore and its dependent provinces being practically subdued, Bābur was now able to devote his whole attention to the capture of Delhi. Realising the political importance of having an Afghān prince in his camp, he paid every attention to ‘Ālam Khān suitable to his rank; and, although the latter had everything to lose by Bābur's success, he was entrusted with a command both at Pānīpat and at Khānua. The opposing parties were now both advancing to an encounter. Ibrāhīm marched his main forces due north from Delhi along the right bank of the Jumna, while a secondary force under Hāmid Khān moved up from Hissār Fīrūza in the south-west. This force, coming into contact with Bābur's right wing, was totally routed by Humāyūn, who was then eighteen years of age. This was Humāyūn's first experience of battle. Bābur marched to Ambāla, and following the river Jumna arrived at Pānīpat, which he occupied. Here Bābur, whose forces probably numbered some 25,000, took up a defensive position, drawing up his army in a long line. On his extreme right were the town and suburbs of Pānīpat. His centre was protected by rows of movable carts (*arāba*), seven hundred in number, connected by twisted bull-hides; between every pair of guns there were six or seven movable breastworks (*tura*) for the protection of the matchlock men. In the centre (*ghul*) was Bābur himself. His left was protected by ditches and branches of trees.
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His principal officers were Humāyūn and Khvāja Kilān on the right, Muhammad Sultān Mīrzā and Mahdī Khvāja on the left, Chīn Tīmūr Sultān on the right centre (*ung-ghul*), and Mīr ‘Alī Khalīfa—the Prime Minister—on the left centre (*sul-ghul*). On the extreme right and left of the whole line were strong flanking parties (*tulghama*), ready at a moment's notice to wheel round and take the enemy in the flank or rear. On 12 April Bābur was ready to receive Ibrāhīm's attack, but for eight days nothing happened, except for the attempts of small parties of the emperor's troops to vex the enemy by riding up to their camp and shooting arrows among them. On 20 April Bābur, growing impatient, sent out a force of four or five thousand men to make a night attack, which though badly conducted had the desired effect of making Ibrāhīm move. On 21 April at daybreak the Afghāns were seen to approach. Ibrāhīm had with him 100,000 men and nearly 1000 elephants. It seemed that the main attack was to be made on the emperor's right. At first they moved forward at a quick pace in the manner of shock troops, and the first slackening of their speed when they came near Bābur's defences caused confusion with the lines which were following close on their heels. Bābur at once took advantage of this check to use his flanking parties, which wheeled round and attacked the enemy in the rear.
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In the meanwhile the emperor's left wing under Mahdī Khvāja had been faring badly at the hands of the Afghāns, but strong support being sent from the centre, the Mughuls were able to repel them. At this juncture Bābur ordered his gunners to open fire, and then the main attacking force of the Afghāns found themselves exposed to arrows on either flank and to shot or bullets in front. The battle lasted till noon and was throughout most hotly contested, but the superior strategy and experience of the Timurid prince enabled him to bring confusion among the vastly superior numbers of the Afghāns, who finally took to flight leaving, it is said, over 15,000 dead on the field, including Sultān Ibrāhīm himself and Vikramājīt the old Rājā of Gwalior, who had fought nobly on the side of the man who had but lately deprived him of his principality. Bābur's first care now was to secure the public treasures of Delhi and Āgra, and to prevent plundering by his victorious army. He himself entered Delhi and Humāyūn was sent forward to Āgra, which still held out: and though he was not able at once to enter the forts, he prevented any treasure being carried off. An incident now occurred which has its place among the romantic anecdotes of Indian history. The wives and children of the Rājā of Gwalior, who had been left in the fort of Āgra, were seized, while attempting to escape, by Humāyūn's men. Humāyūn, hearing of this, treated them with the utmost courtesy and protected them from their captors.
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In order to show their gratitude to the young prince they presented him with jewels and precious stones; among these was a diamond of enormous value, which has been identified with the famous *Koh-i-Nūr* now in the Tower of London. Humāyūn handed over this diamond by way of homage to his father, who returned it to him as a gift. On the Friday following Bābur's arrival in Delhi (27 April, 1526¹) his name was read in the Grand Mosque as "Emperor of Hindūstān" and his highest ambition was at last attained. In his *Memoirs* Bābur compares his own success to the similar achievements of Sultān Mahmūd of Ghaznī and of Sultān Shihāb-ud-Dīn Ghūrī, and points out that though he owed everything to divine favour, his own performance was infinitely superior to theirs for they had had at their disposal enormous resources in men and money.
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¹ Hodivala, *Historical Studies in Mughal Numismatics*, pp. 261–2.
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The Indian summer having now set in, Bābur's most devoted chiefs and followers were beginning to murmur, including the loyal Khvāja Kilān, who, advocating that Bābur should follow the example of Tamerlane and abandon Hindūstān, was allowed to withdraw and become governor of Ghaznī; to others was offered the choice of staying or returning.
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No chapter in the *Memoirs* is more interesting than that containing Bābur's description of India and its fauna and flora, which follows his description of the battle of Pānīpat. It is fitting in this place to quote his general impressions of this country:
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Hindūstān is a country of few charms. Its people have no good looks; of social intercourse, paying and receiving visits there is none; of genius and capacity none; of manners none; in handicraft and work there is no form or symmetry, method or quality; there are no good horses, no good dogs, no grapes, musk-melons or first-rate fruits, no ice or cold water, no good bread or cooked food in the *bazars*, no hot-baths, no colleges, no candles, torches or candlesticks.
In place of candle and torch they have a great dirty gang they call lamp-men (*dīwātī*), who in the left hand hold a smallish wooden tripod to one corner of which a thing like the top of a candlestick is fixed, having a wick in it about as thick as the thumb. In the right hand they hold a gourd, through a narrow slit made in which oil is let trickle in a thin thread when the wick needs it. Great people keep a hundred or two of these lamp-men. This is the Hindūstān substitute for lamps and candlesticks! If their rulers and begs have work at night needing candles, these dirty lamp-men bring these lamps, go close up and there stand.
Except their large rivers and their standing-waters which flow in ravines or hollows (there are no waters). There are no running-waters in their gardens or residences ('*imāratlar*). These residences have no charm, air (*hawā*), regularity or symmetry.
Peasants and people of low standing go about naked. They tie on a thing called *langūta*, a decency-clout which hangs two spans below the navel. From the tie of this pendant decency-clout, another clout is passed between the thighs and made fast behind. Women also tie on a cloth (*lang*), one-half of which goes round the waist, the other is thrown over the head.
Pleasant things of Hindūstān are that it is a large country and has masses of gold and silver. Its air in the Rains is very fine. Sometimes it rains 10, 15 or 20 times a day; torrents pour down all at once and rivers flow where no water had been. While it rains and through the Rains, the air is remarkably fine, not to be surpassed for healthiness and charm. The fault is that the air becomes very soft and damp. A bow of those (Transoxanian) countries after going through the Rains in Hindūstān, may not be drawn even; it is ruined; not only the bow, everything is affected, armour, book, cloth, and utensils all; a house even does not last long. Not only in the Rains but also in the cold and the hot seasons, the airs are excellent; at these times, however, the north-west wind constantly gets up laden with dust and earth. It gets up in great strength every year in the heats, under the Bull and Twins, when the Rains are near; so strong and carrying so much dust and earth that there is no seeing one another. People call this wind Darkener of the
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Sky (H. *āndhī*). The weather is hot under the Bull and Twins, but not intolerably so, not so hot as in Balkh and Qandahār and not for half so long.
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Another good thing in Hindūstān is that it has unnumbered and endless workmen of every kind. There is a fixed caste (*jam‘i*) for every sort of work and for every thing, which has done that work or that thing from father to son till now. Mulla Sharaf, writing in the *Zafar-nāma* about the building of Tīmūr Beg’s Stone Mosque, lays stress on the fact that on it 200 stone-cutters worked, from Āzarbaijān, Fārs, Hindūstān and other countries. But 680 men worked daily on my buildings in Āgra and of Āgra stone-cutters only; while 1491 stone-cutters worked daily on my buildings in Āgra, Sīkrī, Biāna (Bayāna), Dholpur, Gwāliar and Kol. In the same way there are numberless artisans and workmen of every sort in Hindūstān. (*Memoirs*, pp. 518–20.)
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The difficulties with which Bābur was now confronted cannot be better described than in his own words:
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On our first coming to Āgra, there was remarkable dislike and hostility between its people and mine, the peasantry and soldiers running away in fear of our men. Delhi and Āgra excepted, not a fortified town but strengthened its defences and neither was in obedience nor submitted. Qāsim Sambhalī was in Sambhal; Nizām Khān was in Biāna; in Mewāt was Hasan Khān Mewātī himself—impious mannikin!—who was the sole leader of the trouble and mischief. Muhammad Zaitūn was in Dholpur; Tātār Khān Sarang-khānī was in Gwāliar; Husain Khān Nūhānī was in Rāprī; Qutb Khān was in Itāwa (Etawa); ‘Ālam Khān (Kālpī) was in Kālpī. Qanauj and the other side of Gang (Ganges) was all held by Afghans in independent hostility, such as Nāsir Khān Nūhānī, Ma‘rūf Farmūlī and a crowd of other amīrs. These had been in rebellion for three or four years before Ibrāhīm’s death and when I defeated him, were holding Qanauj and the whole country beyond it. At the present time they were lying two or three marches on our side of Qanauj and had made Bihār Khān the son of Daryā Khān Nūhānī their pādshāh, under the style Sultān Muhammad. Marghūb the slave was in Mahawin [Mahāban]; he remained there, thus close, for some time but came no nearer.
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It was the hot-season when we came to Āgra. All the inhabitants had run away in terror. Neither grain for ourselves nor corn for our horses was to be had. The villages, out of hostility and hatred to us, had taken to thieving and highway-robbery; there was no moving on the roads. There had been no chance since the treasure was distributed to send men in strength into the parganas and elsewhere. Moreover the year was a very hot one; violent pestilential winds struck people down in heaps together; masses began to die off.
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On these accounts the greater part of the begs and best braves became unwilling to stay in Hindūstān, indeed set their faces for leaving it. It is no reproach to old and experienced begs if they speak of such matters; even if they do so, this man (Bābur) has enough sense and reason to get at what is honest or what is mutinous in their representations, to distinguish between loss and gain. But as this man had seen his task whole, for himself, when he resolved on it, what taste was there in their reiterating that things should be done differently? What recommends the expression of distasteful opinions by men of little standing? Here is a curious thing: This last time of our riding out from Kābul, a few men of little standing had just been made begs; what I looked for from them was that if I went through fire and water and came out again, they would have gone in with me unhesitatingly, and with me have come out, that wherever I went, there at my side would they be—not that they would speak against my fixed purpose, not that they would turn back from any task or great affair on which, all counselling, all consenting, we had resolved, so long as that counsel was not abandoned. Badly as these new begs behaved, Secretary Ahmadī and Treasurer Walī behaved still worse. Khwāja Kilān had done well in the march out from Kābul, in Ibrāhīm’s defeat and until Āgra was occupied; he had spoken bold words and shewn ambitious views. But a few days after the capture of Āgra, all his views changed—the one zealous for departure at any price was Khwāja Kilān.
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When I knew of this unsteadiness amongst (my) people, I summoned all the begs and took counsel. Said I, “There is no supremacy and grip on the world without means and resources; without lands and retainers sovereignty and command are impossible. By the labours of several years, by encountering hardship, by long travel, by flinging myself and the army into battle, and by deadly slaughter, we, through God’s grace, beat these masses of enemies in order that we might take their broad lands. And now what force compels us, what necessity has arisen that we should, without cause, abandon countries taken at such risk of life? Was it for us to remain in Kābul, the sport of harsh poverty? Henceforth, let no well-wisher of mine speak of such things! But let not those turn back from going who, weak in strong persistence, have set their faces to depart!” By these words, which recalled just and reasonable views to their minds, I made them, willy-nilly, quit their fears. (*Memoirs*, pp. 523–5.)
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Meanwhile, some of the Afghān chiefs set up Ibrāhīm’s brother, Mahmūd, but most of them, seeing that Bābur, who had made Āgra his headquarters, had come to stay and did not, like Tamerlane, intend to withdraw, laid down their arms. While Bābur was in Kābul, Rānā Sanga of Chitor (the modern Udaipur), who was at this time recognised as head of all the Rājputs, had exchanged friendly embassies with him, and had even offered to help him against Ibrāhīm. His life had been one of constant wars, in the course of which he had defeated Sultān Mahmūd Khalji, and captured the provinces of Bhilsa, Sārangpur, Chanderī and Ranthambhor. He is said to have been so often wounded in battle that in addition to having eighty scars he had but one eye and one arm and was a cripple. He is said to have had at his disposal when necessary seven rajas and one hundred and four chiefs. But Bābur as emperor of Delhi and Bābur as a leader of raids from Kābul were two different people, and Rānā Sanga now declared war against him, and for the first time Bābur found himself engaged in a *jihād* or Holy War against the idolator. Humāyūn meanwhile was sent on a punitive expedition against the various amīrs in the east, who under Nāsir Khān Nūhānī and Ma‘rūf Farmūlī had taken Kanauj. During this expedition Humāyūn took Jaunpur and Ghāzīpur. Gwalior was also taken by a stratagem, of which Bābur gives a vivid account. It may be mentioned that after the capture of Gwalior, Bābur had a narrow escape from death by poisoning, for which Sultān Ibrāhīm’s mother was responsible. Rānā Sanga now marched on Bayāna, where Mahdī Khvāja was governor, but the troops who came out to oppose the Rānā, being unable to withstand him, turned back. The Rānā, who had now been joined by a number of powerful chiefs including Silahdi (Silāh-ud-Dīn) of Rāisen (30,000 horse) and Hasan Khān, the renegade raja of Mewāt (12,000 horse), advanced with 100,000 horse to a hill near Khānua, a village in the Bharatpur state thirty-seven miles west of Āgra. Bābur was at this moment in a highly precarious position, being practically surrounded in his camp on all sides by an enemy in possession of the open country. As he himself confesses, he was at this crisis overwhelmed by religious compunction.
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He had on many occasions intended to give up wine drinking, and now he issued a *farmān* on the subject, and having disposed of all his gold and silver wine vessels he poured his wine into a well. He further vowed that he would remit the *tamgha* or stamp duty to all Muslims. As before the battle of Pānīpat, he found it necessary to speak stirring words of encouragement to his troops, who were even more dejected than their master. On 16 March, 1527, was fought the battle of Khānua. Bābur again adopted the *arāba* formation. He himself was in the centre; Chīn Tīmūr and Khusrav Kūkiltash were on the right; Humāyūn (who had returned from his successful campaign in the east), Dilāwar Khān Khānān and other Indian nobles were also on the right wing; Sayyid Mahdī Khvāja was on the left; and on the right and left were flanking parties; the artillery line was commanded by Nizām-ud-dīn ‘Alī Khalīfa. The Rānā’s left wing opened the battle by attacking Bābur’s right, but was driven back by Chīn Tīmūr. Mustafā Rūmī, the Turkish gunner, brought forward the carts and guns from the centre of Humāyūn’s division, and broke the enemy’s ranks. Then followed an attack by the Rānā’s right wing, which was repulsed, and finally Bābur led his centre forward. After ten hours’ fighting Bābur’s forces were victorious, and the Rānā took to flight. Hasan Khān Mewātī was among the slain. Sultān Mahmūd Lodī who was present at the battle escaped. After his victory over Rānā Sanga, Bābur proceeded to reduce Mewāt, and on 7 April, 1527, he entered its capital Alwar in triumph. By the end of 1527 Bābur’s authority was established everywhere except in Oudh.
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