The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III: Turks and Afghans v3.c25.116

v3.c25.116

On this occasion he received in his camp Muhammad Zamān Mīrzā, a prince of the house of Tīmūr, whose pretensions had so incensed his kinsman, the emperor, that he had been sentenced to imprisonment in the fortress of Bayāna and to the loss of his eyes, which he saved by flight. Humāyūn, whose relations with Bahādur had hitherto been perfectly friendly, took umbrage at his harbouring the fugitive and his followers, and a correspondence ensued which led to a permanent rupture between the two monarchs. Two of the letters which passed between them have been preserved in their entirety and offer a striking picture of the diplomatic methods of that day. Humāyūn pointed out that although his ancestor Tīmūr had desisted from attacking the Ottoman Sultan Bāyazīd while he was engaged in fighting the Franks he protested against Bāyazīd’s harbouring princes who had rebelled against himself. He therefore demanded that the prince should be either surrendered or expelled. To this Bahādur, who is said to have dictated his reply when in his cups, sent a most insulting answer, in which he ironically suggested that Humāyūn had boasted of the exploits of ‘his sire seven degrees removed’ because he himself had achieved nothing worthy of record.