neighbourhood. Bābur went from Samarkand to meet him. Several details of
what followed, not given by Ḥaidar and, in one particular, contradicting
him, are given by Khwānd-amīr. The statement in which the two historians
contradict one another is Ḥaidar's that `Ubaid had 3000 men only, Bābur
40,000. Several considerations give to Khwānd-amīr's opposed statement
that Bābur's force was small, the semblance of being nearer the fact.
Ḥaidar, it may be said, did not go out on this campaign; he was ill in
Samarkand and continued ill there for some time; Khwānd-amīr's details
have the well-informed air of things learned at first-hand, perhaps from
some-one in Hindūstān after 934 AH.
Matters which make against Bābur's having a large effective force at
Kul-i-malik, and favour Khwānd-amīr's statement about the affair are
these:—`Ubaid must have formed some estimate of what he had to meet, and
he brought 3000 men. Where could Bābur have obtained 40,000 men worth
reckoning in a fight? In several times of crisis his own immediate and
ever-faithful troop is put at 500; as his cause was now unpopular, local
accretions may have been few. Some Mughūls from Merv and from Kābul were
near Samarkand (T.R. pp. 263, 265); most were with Sa`īd in Andijān; but
however many Mughūls may have been in his neighbourhood, none could be
counted on as resolute for his success. If too, he had had more than a
small effective force, would he not have tried to hold Samarkand with
the remnant of defeat until Persian help arrived? All things considered,
there is ground for accepting Khwānd-amīr's statement that Bābur met
`Ubaid with a small force.
Following his account therefore:—Bābur in his excess of daring, marched
to put the Aūzbeg down with a small force only, against the advice of
the prudent, of whom Muḥammad Mazīd Tarkhān was one, who all said it was
wrong to go out unprepared and without reinforcement. Paying them no
attention, Bābur marched for Bukhārā, was rendered still more daring by
news had when he neared it, that the enemy had retired some stages, and
followed him up almost to his camp. `Ubaid was in great force; many
Aūzbegs perished but, in the end, they were victors and Bābur was
compelled to take refuge in Bukhārā. The encounter took place near
Kul-i-malik (King's-lake) in Ṣafar 918 AH. (April-May 1512 AD.).
_c. Bābur leaves Samarkand._
It was not possible to maintain a footing in Samarkand; Bābur therefore
collected his family and train[1340] and betook himself to Ḥiṣār. There
went with him on this expedition Māhīm and her children Humāyūn,
Mihr-jahān and Bārbūl,—the motherless Ma`ṣūma,—Gul-rukh with her son
Kāmrān (Gulbadan f. 7). I have not found any account of his route;
Ḥaidar gives no details about the journey; he did not travel with Bābur,
being still invalided in Samarkand. Perhaps the absence of information
is a sign that the Aūzbegs had not yet appeared on the direct road for
Ḥiṣār. A local tradition however would make Bābur go round through
Farghāna. He certainly might have gone into Farghāna hoping to
co-operate with Sa`īd Khān; Tāshkīnt was still holding out under
Aḥmad-i-qāsim _Kohbur_ and it is clear that all activity in Bābur's
force had not been quenched because during the Tāshkīnt siege, Dost Beg
broke through the enemy's ranks and made his way into the town. Sairām
held out longer than Tāshkīnt. Of any such move by Bābur into Andijān
the only hint received is given by what may be a mere legend.[1341]
_d. Bābur in Ḥiṣār._
After experiencing such gains and such losses, Bābur was still under 30
years of age.
The Aūzbegs, after his departure, re-occupied Bukhārā and Samarkand
without harm done to the towns-people, and a few weeks later, in Jumāda
I (July-August) followed him to Ḥiṣār. Meantime he with Mīrzā Khān's
help, had so closed the streets of the town by massive earth-works that
the sulṯāns were convinced its defenders were ready to spend the last
drop of their blood in holding it, and therefore retired without
attack.[1342] Some sources give as their reason for retirement that
Bābur had been reinforced from Balkh; Bairām Beg, it is true, had sent a
force but one of 300 men only; so few cannot have alarmed except as the
harbinger of more. Greater precision as to dates would shew whether they
can have heard of Najm S̤ānī's army advancing by way of Balkh.
_e. Qarshī and Ghaj-davān._
Meantime Najm S̤ānī, having with him some 11,000 men, had started on his
corrective mission against Bābur. When he reached the Khurāsān frontier,
he heard of the defeat at Kul-i-malik and the flight to Ḥiṣār, gathered
other troops from Harāt and elsewhere, and advanced to Balkh. He stayed
there for 20 days with Bairām Beg, perhaps occupied, in part, by
communications with the Shāh and Bābur. From the latter repeated request
for help is said to have come; help was given, some sources say without
the Shāh's permission. A rendezvous was fixed, Najm S̤ānī marched to
Tīrmīẕ, there crossed the Amū and in Rajab (Sep.-Oct.) encamped near the
Darband-i-ahanīn. On Bābur's approach through the Chak-chaq pass, he
paid him the civility of going several miles out from his camp to give
him honouring reception.
Advancing thence for Bukhārā, the combined armies took Khuzār and moved
on to Qarshī. This town Bābur wished to pass by, as it had been passed
by on his previous march for Bukhārā; each time perhaps he wished to
spare its people, formerly his subjects, whom he desired to rule again,
and who are reputed to have been mostly his fellow Turks. Najm S̤ānī
refused to pass on; he said Qarshī must be taken because it was
`Ubaidu'l-lāh Khān's nest; in it was `Ubaid's uncle Shaikhīm Mīrzā; it
was captured; the Aūzbeg garrison was put to the sword and, spite of
Bābur's earnest entreaties, all the towns-people, 15,000 persons it is
said, down to the "suckling and decrepit", were massacred. Amongst the
victims was Banā'ī who happened to be within it. This action roused the
utmost anger against Najm S̤ānī; it disgusted Bābur, not only through
its merciless slaughter but because it made clear the disregard in which
he was held by his magnificent fellow-general.
From murdered Qarshī Najm S̤ānī advanced for Bukhārā. On getting within
a few miles of it, he heard that an Aūzbeg force was approaching under
Tīmūr and Abū-sa`īd, presumably from Samarkand therefore. He sent Bairām
Beg to attack them; they drew off to the north and threw themselves into
Ghaj-davān, the combined armies following them. This move placed Najm
S̤ānī across the Zar-afshān, on the border of the desert with which the
Aūzbegs were familiar, and with `Ubaid on his flank in Bukhārā.
As to what followed the sources vary; they are brief; they differ less
in statement of the same occurrence than in their choice of details to
record; as Mr. Erskine observes their varying stories are not
incompatible. Their widest difference is a statement of time but the two
periods named, one a few days, the other four months, may not be meant
to apply to the same event. Four months the siege is said to have
lasted; this could not have been said if it had been a few days only.
The siege seems to have been of some duration.
At first there were minor engagements, ending with varying success;
provisions and provender became scarce; Najm S̤ānī's officers urged
retirement, so too did Bābur. He would listen to none of them. At length
`Ubaid Khān rode out from Bukhārā at the head of excellent troops; he
joined the Ghaj-davān garrison and the united Aūzbegs posted themselves
in the suburbs where walled lanes and gardens narrowed the field and
lessened Najm S̤ānī's advantage in numbers. On Tuesday Ramẓān 3rd (Nov.
12th)[1343] a battle was fought in which his army was routed and he
himself slain.
_f. Bābur and Yār-i-aḥmad Najm Sānī._
Some writers say that Najm S̤ānī's men did not fight well; it must be
remembered that they may have been weakened by privation and that they
had wished to retire. Of Bābur it is said that he, who was the reserve,
did not fight at all; it is difficult to see good cause why, under all
the circumstances, he should risk the loss of his men. It seems likely
that Ḥaidar's strong language about this defeat would suit Bābur's
temper also. "The victorious breezes of Islām overturned the banners of
the schismatics.... Most of them perished on the field; the rents made
by the sword at Qarshī were sewn up at Ghaj-davān by the arrow-stitches
of vengeance. Najm S̤ānī and all the Turkmān amīrs were sent to hell."
The belief that Bābur had failed Najm S̤ānī persisted at the Persian
Court, for his inaction was made a reproach to his son Humāyūn in 951
AH. (1544 AD.), when Humāyūn was a refugee with Ismā`īl's son T̤ahmāsp.
Badāyūnī tells a story which, with great inaccuracy of name and place,
represents the view taken at that time. The part of the anecdote
pertinent here is that Bābur on the eve of the battle at Ghaj-davān,
shot an arrow into the Aūzbeg camp which carried the following couplet,
expressive of his ill-will to the Shāh and perhaps also of his rejection
of the Shī`a guise he himself had worn.
I made the Shāh's Najm road-stuff for the Aūzbegs;
If fault has been mine, I have now cleansed the road.[1344]
_g. The Mughūls attack Bābur._
On his second return to Ḥiṣār Bābur was subjected to great danger by a
sudden attack made upon him by the Mughūls where he lay at night in his
camp outside the town. Firishta says, but without particulars of their
offence, that Bābur had reproached them for their misconduct; the
absence of detail connecting the affair with the defeat just sustained,
leads to the supposition that their misdeeds were a part of the tyranny
over the country-people punished later by `Ubaidu'l-lāh Khān. Roused
from his sleep by the noise of his guards' resistance to the Mughūl
attack, Bābur escaped with difficulty and without a single
attendant[1345] into the fort. The conspirators plundered his camp and
withdrew to Qarā-tīgīn. He was in no position to oppose them, left a few
men in Ḥiṣār and went to Mīrzā Khān in Qūndūz.
After he left, Ḥiṣār endured a desolating famine, a phenomenal snowfall
and the ravages of the Mughūls. `Ubaid Khān avenged Bābur on the horde;
hearing of their excesses, he encamped outside the position they had
taken up in Wakhsh defended by river, hills and snow, waited till a road
thawed, then fell upon them and avenged the year's misery they had
inflicted on the Ḥiṣārīs. Ḥaidar says of them that it was their villainy
lost Ḥiṣār to Bābur and gained it for the Aūzbeg.[1346]
These Mughūls had for chiefs men who when Sa`īd went to Andijān, elected
to stay with Bābur. One of the three named by Ḥaidar was Ayūb _Begchīk_.
He repented his disloyalty; when he lay dying some two years later (920
AH.) in Yāngī-ḥiṣār, he told Sa`īd Khān who visited him, that what was
"lacerating his bowels and killing him with remorse", was his
faithlessness to Bābur in Ḥiṣār, the oath he had broken at the
instigation of those "hogs and bears", the Mughūl chiefs (T.R. p. 315).
In this year but before the Mughūl treachery to Bābur, Ḥaidar left him,
starting in Rajab (Sep.-Oct.) to Sa`id in Andijān and thus making a
beginning of his 19 years spell of service.
919 AH.-MARCH 9TH 1513 TO FEB. 26TH 1514 AD.
Bābur may have spent this year in Khishm (Ḥ.S. iii, 372). During two or
three months of it, he had one of the Shāh's retainers in his service,
Khwāja Kamālu'd-dīn Maḥmūd, who had fled from Ghaj-davān to Balkh, heard
there that the Balkhīs favoured an Aūzbeg chief whose coming was
announced, and therefore went to Bābur. In Jumāda 11 (August), hearing
that the Aūzbeg sultan had left Balkh, he returned there but was not
admitted because the Balkhīs feared reprisals for their welcome to the
Aūzbeg, a fear which may indicate that he had taken some considerable
reinforcement to Bābur. He went on into Khurāsān and was there killed;
Balkh was recaptured for the Shāh by Deo Sulṯān, a removal from Aūzbeg
possession which helps to explain how Bābur came to be there in 923 AH.
920 AH.—FEB. 26TH 1514 TO FEB. 15TH 1515 AD.
Ḥaidar writes of Bābur as though he were in Qūndūz this year (TR. p.
263), says that he suffered the greatest misery and want, bore it with
his accustomed courtesy and patience but, at last, despairing of success
in recovering Ḥiṣār, went back to Kābul. Now it seems to be that he made
the stay in Khwāst to which he refers later (f. 241_b_) and during which
his daughter Gul-rang was born, as Gul-badan's chronicle allows known.
It was at the end of the year, after the privation of winter therefore,
that he reached Kābul. When he re-occupied Samarkand in 917 AH., he had
given Kābul to his half-brother Nāṣir Mīrzā; the Mīrzā received him now
with warm welcome and protestations of devotion and respect, spoke of
having guarded Kābul for him and asked permission to return to his own
old fief Ghaznī. His behaviour made a deep impression on Bābur; it would
be felt as a humane touch on the sore of failure.
921 AH.—FEB. 15TH 1515 TO FEB. 5TH 1516 AD.
_a. Rebellion of chiefs in Ghaznī._
Nāṣir Mīrzā died shortly after (_dar hamān ayyām_) his return to Ghaznī.
Disputes then arose amongst the various commanders who were in Ghaznī;
Sherīm T̤aghāī was one of them and the main strength of the tumult was
given by the Mughūls. Many others were however involved in it, even such
an old servant as Bābā of Pashāghar taking part (f. 234_b_; T.R. p.
356). Ḥaidar did not know precisely the cause of the dispute, or shew
why it should have turned against Bābur, since he attributes it to
possession taken by Satan of the brains of the chiefs and a consequent
access of vain-glory and wickedness. Possibly some question of
succession to Nāṣir arose. Dost Beg distinguished himself in the regular
battle which ensued; Qāsim Beg's son Qaṃbar-i-`alī hurried down from
Qūndūz and also did his good part to win it for Bābur. Many of the
rioters were killed, others fled to Kāshghar. Sherīm T̤aghāī was one of
the latter; as Sa`īd Khān gave him no welcome, he could not stay there;
he fell back on the much injured Bābur who, says Ḥaidar, showed him his
usual benevolence, turned his eyes from his offences and looked only at
his past services until he died shortly afterwards (T.R. p. 357).[1347]
922 AH.—FEB. 5TH 1516 TO JAN. 24TH 1517 AD.
This year may have been spent in and near Kābul in the quiet promoted by
the dispersion of the Mughūls.
In this year was born Bābur's son Muḥammad known as _`Askarī_from his
being born in camp. He was the son of Gulrukh _Begchīk_ and full-brother
of Kāmrān.
923 AH.—JAN. 24TH 1517 TO JAN. 13TH 1518 AD.
_a. Bābur visits Balkh._
Khwānd-amīr is the authority for the little that is known of Bābur's
action in this year (Ḥ.S. iii, 367 _et seq._). It is connected with the
doings of Badī`u'z-zamān _Bāī-qarā's_ son Muḥammad-i-zamān. This Mīrzā
had had great wanderings, during a part of which Khwānd-amīr was with
him. In 920 AH. he was in Shāh Ismā`īl's service and in Balkh, but was
not able to keep it. Bābur invited him to Kābul,—the date of invitation
will have been later therefore than Bābur's return there at the end of
920 AH. The Mīrzā was on his way but was dissuaded from going into Kābul
by Mahdī Khwāja and went instead into Ghurjistān. Bābur was angered by
his non-arrival and pursued him in order to punish him but did not
succeed in reaching Ghurjistān and went back to Kābul by way of
Fīrūz-koh and Ghūr. The Mīrzā was captured eventually and sent to Kābul.
Bābur treated him with kindness, after a few months gave him his
daughter Ma`ṣūma in marriage, and sent him to Balkh. He appears to have
been still in Balkh when Khwānd-amīr was writing of the above
occurrences in 929 AH. The marriage took place either at the end of 923
or beginning of 924 AH. The Mīrzā was then 21, Ma`ṣūma 9; she almost
certainly did not then go to Balkh. At some time in 923 AH. Bābur is
said by Khwānd-amīr to have visited that town.[1348]
_b. Attempt on Qandahār._
In this year Bābur marched for Qandahār but the move ended peacefully,
because a way was opened for gifts and terms by an illness which befell
him when he was near the town.
The _Tārīkh-i-sind_ gives what purports to be Shāh Beg's explanation of
Bābur's repeated attempts on Qandahār. He said these had been made and
would be made because Bābur had not forgiven Muqīm for taking Kābul 14
years earlier from the Tīmūrid `Abdu'r-razzāq; that this had brought him
to Qandahār in 913 AH., this had made him then take away Māhchuchak,
Muqīm's daughter; that there were now (923 AH.) many unemployed Mīrzās
in Kābul for whom posts could not be found in regions where the Persians
and Aūzbegs were dominant; that an outlet for their ambitions and for
Bābur's own would be sought against the weaker opponent he himself was.
Bābur's decision to attack in this year is said to have been taken while
Shāh Beg was still a prisoner of Shāh Ismā`īl in the Harāt country; he
must have been released meantime by the admirable patience of his slave
Saṃbhal.
924 AH.—JAN. 13TH 1518 TO JAN. 3RD 1519 AD.
In this year Shāh Beg's son Shāh Ḥasan came to Bābur after quarrel with
his father. He stayed some two years, and during that time was married
to Khalīfa's daughter Gul-barg (Rose-leaf). His return to Qandahār will
have taken place shortly before Bābur's campaign of 926 A.H. against it,
a renewed effort which resulted in possession on Shawwāl 13th 928 AH.
(Sep. 6th 1522 AD.).[1349]
In this year began the campaign in the north-east territories of Kābul,
an account of which is carried on in the diary of 925 AH. It would seem
that in the present year Chaghān-sarāī was captured, and also the
fortress at the head of the valley of Bābā-qarā, belonging to
Ḥaidar-i-`alī _Bajaurī_ (f. 216_b_).[1350]
[Illustration: View from above Babur's Grave and Shah-jahan's
Mosque.]
925 AH.-JAN. 3RD TO DEC. 23RD 1519 AD.[1351]
(_a. Bābur takes the fort of Bajaur._)
(_Jan. 3rd_) On Monday[1352] the first day of the month of Muḥarram,
there was a violent earthquake in the lower part of the dale (_julga_)
of Chandāwal,[1353] which lasted nearly half an astronomical hour.
(_Jan. 4th_) Marching at dawn from that camp with the intention of
attacking the fort of Bajaur,[1354] we dismounted near it and sent a
trusty man of the Dilazāk[1355] Afghāns to advise its sulṯān[1356] and
people to take up a position of service (_qullūq_) and surrender the
fort. Not accepting this counsel, that stupid and ill-fated band sent
back a wild answer, where-upon the army was ordered to make ready
mantelets, ladders and other appliances for taking a fort. For this
purpose a day's (_Jan. 5th_) halt was made on that same ground.
(_Jan. 6th_) On Thursday the 4th of Muḥarram, orders were given that the
army should put on mail, arm and get to horse;[1357] that the left wing
should move swiftly to the upper side of the fort, cross the water at
the water-entry,[1358] and dismount on the [Sidenote: Fol. 217.] north
side of the fort; that the centre, not taking the way across the water,
should dismount in the rough, up-and-down land to the north-west of the
fort; and that the right should dismount to the west of the lower gate.
While the begs of the left under Dost Beg were dismounting, after
crossing the water, a hundred to a hundred and fifty men on foot came
out of the fort, shooting arrows. The begs, shooting in their turn,
advanced till they had forced those men back to the foot of the
ramparts, Mullā `Abdu'l-malūk of Khwāst, like a madman,[1359] going up
right under them on his horse. There and then the fort would have been
taken if the ladders and mantelets had been ready, and if it had not
been so late in the day. Mullā Tirik-i-`alī[1360] and a servant of
Tīngrī-bīrdī crossed swords with the enemy; each overcame his man, cut
off and brought in his head; for this each was promised a reward.
As the Bajaurīs had never before seen matchlocks (_tufang_) they at
first took no care about them, indeed they made fun when they heard the
report and answered it by unseemly gestures. On that day[1361] Ustād
`Alī-qulī shot at and brought down five men with his matchlock; Walī the
Treasurer, for his part, brought down two; other matchlockmen were also
very active in firing and did well, shooting through shield, through
cuirass, through _kusarū_,[1362] and bringing down one man after
another. Perhaps 7, 8, or 10 Bajaurīs had fallen to the matchlock-fire
(_ẓarb_) before night. After that it so became that not a head could be
put out because of the fire. The order [Sidenote: Fol. 217b.] was given,
"It is night; let the army retire, and at dawn, if the appliances are
ready, let them swarm up into the fort."
(_Jan. 7th_) At the first dawn of light (_farẓ waqt_) on Friday the 5th
of Muḥarram, orders were given that, when the battle-nagarets had
sounded, the army should advance, each man from his place to his
appointed post (_yīrlīk yīrdīn_) and should swarm up. The left and
centre advanced from their ground with mantelets in place all along
their lines, fixed their ladders, and swarmed up them. The whole left
hand of the centre, under Khalīfa, Shāh Ḥasan _Arghūn_ and Yūsuf's
Aḥmad, was ordered to reinforce the left wing. Dost Beg's men went
forward to the foot of the north-eastern tower of the fort, and busied
themselves in undermining and bringing it down. Ustād `Alī-qulī was
there also; he shot very well on that day with his matchlock, and he
twice fired off the _firingī_.[1363] Walī the Treasurer also brought
down a man with his matchlock. Malik `Alī _quṯnī_[1364] was first up a
ladder of all the men from the left hand of the centre, and there was
busy with fight and blow. At the post of the centre, Muḥ. `Alī
_Jang-jang_[1365] and his younger brother Nau-roz got up, each by a
different ladder, and made lance and sword to touch. Bābā the waiting
man (_yasāwal_), getting up by another ladder, occupied himself in
breaking down the fort-wall with his [Sidenote: Fol. 218.] axe. Most of
our braves went well forward, shooting off dense flights of arrows and
not letting the enemy put out a head; others made themselves desperately
busy in breaching and pulling down the fort, caring naught for the
enemy's fight and blow, giving no eye to his arrows and stones. By
breakfast-time Dost Beg's men had undermined and breached the
north-eastern tower, got in and put the foe to flight. The men of the
centre got in up the ladders by the same time, but those (_aūl_) others
were first (_awwal_?) in.[1366] By the favour and pleasure of the High
God, this strong and mighty fort was taken in two or three astronomical
hours! Matching the fort were the utter struggle and effort of our
braves; distinguish themselves they did, and won the name and fame of
heroes.
As the Bajaurīs were rebels and at enmity with the people of Islām, and
as, by reason of the heathenish and hostile customs prevailing in their
midst, the very name of Islām was rooted out from their tribe, they were
put to general massacre and their wives and children were made captive.
At a guess more than 3000 men went to their death; as the fight did not
reach to the eastern side of the fort, a few got away there.
The fort taken, we entered and inspected it. On the walls, in houses,
streets and alleys, the dead lay, in what numbers! Comers and goers to
and fro were passing over the bodies. [Sidenote: Fol. 218b.] Returning
from our inspection, we sat down in the Bajaur sulṯān's residence. The
country of Bajaur we bestowed on Khwāja Kalān,[1367] assigning a large
number of braves to reinforce him. At the Evening Prayer we went back to
camp.
(_b. Movements in Bajaur._)
(_Jan. 8th_) Marching at dawn (Muḥ. 6th), we dismounted by the
spring[1368] of Bābā Qarā in the dale of Bajaur. At Khwāja Kalān's
request the prisoners remaining were pardoned their offences, reunited
to their wives and children, and given leave to go, but several sulṯāns
and of the most stubborn were made to reach their doom of death. Some
heads of sulṯāns and of others were sent to Kābul with the news of
success; some also to Badakhshān, Qūndūz and Balkh with the
letters-of-victory.
Shāh Manṣūr _Yūsuf-zāī_,—he was with us as an envoy from his
tribe,—[1369] was an eye-witness of the victory and general massacre. We
allowed him to leave after putting a coat (_tūn_) on him and after
writing orders with threats to the Yūsuf-zāī.
(_Jan. 11th_) With mind easy about the important affairs of the Bajaur
fort, we marched, on Tuesday the 9th of Muḥarram, one _kuroh_ (2 m.)
down the dale of Bajaur and ordered that a tower of heads should be set
up on the rising-ground.
(_Jan. 12th_) On Wednesday the 10th of Muḥarram, we rode out to visit
the Bajaur fort. There was a wine-party in Khwāja Kalān's house,[1370]
several goat-skins of wine having been brought down by Kāfirs
neighbouring on Bajaur. All wine and fruit [Sidenote: Fol. 219.] had in
Bajaur comes from adjacent parts of Kāfiristān.
(_Jan. 13th_) We spent the night there and after inspecting the towers
and ramparts of the fort early in the morning (Muḥ. 11th), I mounted and
went back to camp.
(_Jan. 14th_) Marching at dawn (Muḥ. 12th), we dismounted on the bank of
the Khwāja Khiẓr torrent.[1371]
(_Jan. 15th_) Marching thence, we dismounted (Muḥ. 13th) on the bank of
the Chandāwal torrent. Here all those inscribed in the Bajaur
reinforcement, were ordered to leave.
(_Jan. 16th_) On Sunday the 14th of Muḥarram, a standard was bestowed on
Khwāja Kalān and leave given him for Bajaur. A few days after I had let
him go, the following little verse having come into my head, it was
written down and sent to him:—[1372]
Not such the pact and bargain betwixt my friend and me,
At length the tooth of parting, unpacted grief for me!
Against caprice of Fortune, what weapons (_chāra_) arm the man?
At length by force of arms (_ba jaur_) my friend is snatched from me!
(_Jan. 19th_) On Wednesday the 17th of Muḥarram, Sl. `Alā'u'd-dīn of
Sawād, the rival (_mu`āriẓ_) of Sl. Wais of Sawād,[1373] came and waited
on me.
(_Jan. 20th_) On Thursday the 18th of the month, we hunted the hill
between Bajaur and Chandāwal.[1374] There the _būghū-marāl_[1375] have
become quite black, except for the tail which is of another colour;
lower down, in Hindūstān, they seem to become black all over.[1376]
Today a _sārīq-qūsh_[1377] was taken; that was black all over, its very
eyes being black! Today an eagle (_būrkūt_)[1378] took a deer (_kīyīk_).
Corn being somewhat scarce in the army, we went into the Kahrāj-valley,
and took some. [Sidenote: Fol. 219b.]
(_Jan. 21st_) On Friday (Muḥ. 19th) we marched for Sawād, with the
intention of attacking the Yūsuf-zāī Afghāns, and dismounted in
between[1379] the water of Panj-kūra and the united waters of Chandāwal
and Bajaur. Shāh Manṣūr _Yūsuf-zāī_ had brought a few well-flavoured and
quite intoxicating confections (_kamālī_); making one of them into
three, I ate one portion, Gadāī T̤aghāī another, `Abdu'l-lāh the
librarian another. It produced remarkable intoxication; so much so that
at the Evening Prayer when the begs gathered for counsel, I was not able
to go out. A strange thing it was! If in these days[1380] I ate the
whole of such a confection, I doubt if it would produce half as much
intoxication.
(_c. An impost laid on Kahrāj._)
(_Jan. 22nd_) Marching from that ground, (Muḥ. 20th), we dismounted over
against Kahrāj, at the mouth of the valleys of Kahrāj and
Peshgrām.[1381] Snow fell ankle-deep while we were on that ground; it
would seem to be rare for snow to fall thereabouts, for people were much
surprised. In agreement with Sl. Wais of Sawād there was laid on the
Kahrāj people an impost of 4000 ass-loads of rice for the use of the
army, and he himself was sent to collect it. Never before had those rude
mountaineers borne such a burden; they could not give (all) the grain
and were brought to ruin.
(_cc. Raid on Panj-kūra._)
(_Jan. 25th_) On Tuesday the 23rd of Muḥarram an army was [Sidenote:
Fol. 220.] sent under Hindū Beg to raid Panj-kūra. Panj-kūra lies more
than half-way up the mountain;[1382] to reach its villages a person must
go for nearly a _kuroh_ (2 m.) through a pass. The people had fled and
got away; our men brought a few beasts of sorts, and masses of corn from
their houses.
(_Jan. 26th_) Next day (Muḥ. 24th) Qūj Beg was put at the head of a
force and sent out to raid.
(_Jan. 27th_) On Thursday the 25th of the month, we dismounted at the
village of Māndīsh, in the trough of the Kahrāj-valley, for the purpose
of getting corn for the army.
(_d. Māhīm's adoption of Dil-dār's unborn child._)
(_Jan. 28th_) Several children born of Humāyūn's mother had not lived.
Hind-āl was not yet born.[1383] While we were in those parts, came a
letter from Māhīm in which she wrote, "Whether it be a boy, whether it
be a girl, is my luck and chance; give it to me; I will declare it my
child and will take charge of it." On Friday the 26th of the month, we
being still on that ground, Yūsuf-i-`alī the stirrup-holder was sent off
to Kābul with letters[1384] bestowing Hind-āl, not yet born, on Māhīm.
(_dd. Construction of a stone platform._)
While we were still on that same ground in the Māndīsh-country, I had a
platform made with stones (_tāsh bīla_) on a height in the middle of the
valley, so large that it held the tents of the advance-camp. All the
household and soldiers carried the stones for it, one by one like ants.
(_e. Bābur's marriage with his Afghān wife, Bībī Mubāraka._)
In order to conciliate the Yūsuf-zāī horde, I had asked for a daughter
of one of my well-wishers, Malik Sulaimān Shāh's son Malik Shāh Manṣūr,
at the time he came to me as envoy [Sidenote: Fol. 220b.] from the
Yūsuf-zāī Afghāns.[1385]
While we were on this ground news came that his daughter[1386] was on
her way with the Yūsuf-zāī tribute. At the Evening Prayer there was a
wine-party to which Sl. `Alā'u'd-dīn (of Sawād) was invited and at which
he was given a seat and special dress of honour (_khilcat-i-khāṣa_).
(_Jan. 30th_) On Sunday the 28th, we marched from that valley. Shāh
Manṣūr's younger brother T̤āūs (Handsome) Khān brought the
above-mentioned daughter of his brother to our ground after we had
dismounted.
(_f. Repopulation of the fort of Bajaur._)
For the convenience of having the Bī-sūt people in Bajaur-fort,[1387]
Yūsuf'i-`alī the taster was sent from this camp to get them on the march
and take them to that fort. Also, written orders were despatched to
Kābul that the army there left should join us.
(_Feb. 4th_) On Friday the 3rd of the month of Ṣafar, we dismounted at
the confluence of the waters of Bajaur and Panj-kūra.
(_Feb. 6th_) On Sunday the 5th of the month, we went from that ground to
Bajaur where there was a drinking-party in Khwāja Kalān's house.
(_g. Expedition against the Afghān clans._)
(_Feb. 8th_) On Tuesday the 7th of the month the begs and the Dilazāk
Afghān headmen were summoned, and, after consultation, matters were left
at this:—"The year is at its end,[1388] only a few days of the Fish are
left; the plainsmen have carried in all their corn; if we went now into
Sawād, the army would [Sidenote: Fol. 221.] dwindle through getting no
corn. The thing to do is to march along the Aṃbahar and Pānī-mānī road,
cross the Sawād-water above Hash-nagar, and surprise the Yūsuf-zāī and
Muḥammadī Afghāns who are located in the plain over against the
Yūsuf-zāī _sangur_ of Māhūrā. Another year, coming earlier in the
harvest-time, the Afghāns of this place must be our first thought." So
the matter was left.
(_Feb. 9th_) Next day, Wednesday, we bestowed horses and robes on Sl.
Wais and Sl. `Alā'u'u-dīn of Sawād, gave them leave to go, marched off
ourselves and dismounted over against Bajaur.
(_Feb. 10th_) We marched next day, leaving Shāh Manṣūr's daughter in
Bajaur-fort until the return of the army. We dismounted after passing
Khwāja Khiẓr, and from that camp leave was given to Khwāja Kalān; and
the heavy baggage, the worn-out horses and superfluous effects of the
army were started off into Lamghān by the Kūnār road.
(_Feb. 11th_) Next morning Khwāja Mīr-i-mīrān was put in charge of the
camel baggage-train and started off by the Qūrghā-tū and Darwāza road,
through the Qarā-kūpa-pass. Riding light for the raid, we ourselves
crossed the Ambahar-pass, and yet another great pass, and dismounted at
Pānī-mālī nearer[1389] the Afternoon Prayer. Aūghān-bīrdī was sent
forward with a few others to learn[1390] how things were.
(_Feb. 12th_) The distance between us and the Afghāns being
short, we did not make an early start. Aūghān-bīrdī came back at
breakfast-time.[1391] He had got the better of an Afghān and had cut
his head off, but had dropped it on the road. He [Sidenote: Fol. 221b.]
brought no news so sure as the heart asks (_kūnkūl-tīladīk_). Midday
come, we marched on, crossed the Sawād-water, and dismounted
nearer[1392] the Afternoon Prayer. At the Bed-time Prayer, we remounted
and rode swiftly on.
(_Feb. 13th_) Rustam _Turkmān_ had been sent scouting; when the Sun was
spear-high he brought word that the Afghāns had heard about us and were
shifting about, one body of them making off by the mountain-road. On
this we moved the faster, sending raiders on ahead who killed a few, cut
off their heads and brought a band of prisoners, some cattle and flocks.
The Dilazāk Afghāns also cut off and brought in a few heads. Turning
back, we dismounted near Kātlāng and from there sent a guide to meet the
baggage-train under Khwāja Mīr-i-mīrān and bring it to join us in
Maqām.[1393]
(_Feb. 14th_) Marching on next day, we dismounted between Kātlāng and
Maqām. A man of Shāh Manṣūr's arrived. Khusrau Kūkūldāsh and Aḥmadī the
secretary were sent with a few more to meet the baggage-train.
(_Feb. 15th_) On Wednesday the 14th of the month, the baggage-train
rejoined us while we were dismounting at Maqām.
It will have been within the previous 30 or 40 years that a heretic
qalandar named Shahbāz perverted a body of Yūsuf-zāī and another of
Dilazāk. His tomb was on a free and dominating height of the lower hill
at the bill (_tūmshūq_) of the [Sidenote: Fol. 222.] Maqām mountain.
Thought I, "What is there to recommend the tomb of a heretic qalandar
for a place in air so free?" and ordered the tomb destroyed and levelled
with the ground. The place was so charming and open that we elected to
sit there some time and to eat a confection (_ma'jūn_).
(_h. Bābur crosses the Indus for the first time._)
We had turned off from Bajaur with Bhīra in our thoughts.[1394] Ever
since we came into Kābul it had been in my mind to move on Hindūstān,
but this had not been done for a variety of reasons. Nothing to count
had fallen into the soldiers' hands during the three or four months we
had been leading this army. Now that Bhīra, the borderland of Hindūstān,
was so near, I thought a something might fall into our men's hands if,
riding light, we went suddenly into it. To this thought I clung, but
some of my well-wishers, after we had raided the Afghāns and dismounted
at Maqām, set the matter in this way before me:—"If we are to go into
Hindūstān, it should be on a proper basis; one part of the army stayed
behind in Kābul; a body of effective braves was left behind in Bajaur; a
good part of this army has gone into Lamghān because its horses were
worn-out; and the horses of those who have come this far, are so poor
that they have not a day's hard riding in them." Reasonable as these
considerations were, yet, having made the start, we paid no [Sidenote:
Fol. 222b.] attention to them but set off next day for the ford through
the water of Sind.[1395] Mīr Muḥammad the raftsman and his elder and
younger brethren were sent with a few braves to examine the Sind-river
(_daryā_), above and below the ford.
(_Feb. 16th_) After starting off the camp for the river, I went to hunt
rhinoceros on the Sawātī side which place people call also Karg-khāna
(Rhino-home).[1396] A few were discovered but the jungle was dense and
they did not come out of it. When one with a calf came into the open and
betook itself to flight, many arrows were shot at it and it rushed into
the near jungle; the jungle was fired but that same rhino was not had.
Another calf was killed as it lay, scorched by the fire, writhing and
palpitating. Each person took a share of the spoil. After leaving
Sawātī, we wandered about a good deal; it was the Bed-time Prayer when
we got to camp.
Those sent to examine the ford came back after doing it.
(_Feb. 17th_) Next day, Thursday the 16th,[1397] the horses and
baggage-camels crossed through the ford and the camp-bazar and
foot-soldiers were put over on rafts. Some Nīl-ābīs came and saw me at
the ford-head (_guẕar-bāshī_), bringing a horse in mail and 300
_shāhrukhīs_ as an offering. At the Mid-day Prayer of this same day,
when every-one had crossed the river, we marched on; we went on until
one watch of the night had passed (_circa_ 9 p.m.) when we dismounted
near the water of Kacha-kot.[1398]
(_Feb. 18th_) Marching on next day, we crossed the Kacha-kot-water; noon
returning, went through the Sangdakī-pass and dismounted. While Sayyid
Qāsim Lord of the Gate was [Sidenote: Fol. 223.] in charge of the rear
(_chāghdāwal_) he overcame a few Gujūrs who had got up with the rear
march, cut off and brought in 4 or 5 of their heads.
(_Feb. 19th_) Marching thence at dawn and crossing the Sūhān-water, we
dismounted at the Mid-day Prayer. Those behind kept coming in till
midnight; the march had been mightily long, and, as many horses were
weak and out-of-condition, a great number were left on the road.
(_i. The Salt-range._)
Fourteen miles (_7 kos_) north of Bhīra lies the mountain-range written
of in the _Z̤afar-nāma_ and other books as the Koh-i-jūd.[1399] I had
not known why it was called this; I now knew. On it dwell two tribes,
descendants from one parent-source, one is called Jūd, the other
Janjūha. These two from of old have been the rulers and lawful
commanders of the peoples and hordes (_aūlūs_) of the range and of the
country between Bhīra and Nīl-āb. Their rule is friendly and brotherly
however; they cannot take what their hearts might desire; the portion
ancient custom has fixed is given and taken, no less and no more. The
agreement is to give one _shāhrukhī_[1400] for each yoke of oxen and
seven for headship in a household; there is also service in the army.
The Jūd and Janjūha both are divided into several clans. The Koh-i-jūd
runs for 14 miles along the Bhīra country, taking off from those Kashmīr
mountains that are one with [Sidenote: Fol. 223b.] Hindū-kūsh, and it
draws out to the south-west as far as the foot of Dīn-kot on the
Sind-river.[1401] On one half of it are the Jūd, the Janjūha on the
other. People call it Koh-i-jūd through connecting it with the Jūd
tribe.[1402] The principal headman gets the title of Rāī; others, his
younger brothers and sons, are styled Malik. The Janjūha headmen are
maternal uncles of Langar Khan. The ruler of the people and horde near
the Sūhān-water was named Malik Hast. The name originally was Asad but
as Hindūstānīs sometimes drop a vowel _e.g._ they say _khabr_ for
_khabar_ (news), they had said Asd for Asad, and this went on to Hast.
Langar Khān was sent off to Malik Hast at once when we dismounted. He
galloped off, made Malik Hast hopeful of our favour and kindness, and at
the Bed-time Prayer, returned with him. Malik Hast brought an offering
of a horse in mail and waited on me. He may have been 22 or 23 years
old.[1403]
The various flocks and herds belonging to the country-people were close
round our camp. As it was always in my heart to possess Hindūstān, and
as these several countries, Bhīra, Khūsh-āb, Chīn-āb and Chīnīūt[1404]
had once been held by the Turk, I pictured them as my own and was
resolved to get them into my hands, whether peacefully or by force. For
these reasons it being imperative to treat these hillmen well, this
following [Sidenote: Fol. 224.] order was given:—"Do no hurt or harm to
the flocks and herds of these people, nor even to their cotton-ends and
broken needles!"
(_j. The Kalda-kahār lake_.)
(_Feb. 20th_) Marching thence next day, we dismounted at the Mid-day
Prayer amongst fields of densely-growing corn in Kalda-kahār.
Kalda-kahār is some 20 miles north of Bhīra, a level land shut in[1405]
amongst the Jūd mountains. In the middle of it is a lake some six miles
round, the in-gatherings of rain from all sides. On the north of this
lake lies an excellent meadow; on the hill-skirt to the west of it there
is a spring[1406] having its source in the heights overlooking the lake.
The place being suitable I have made a garden there, called the
Bāgh-i-ṣafā,[1407] as will be told later; it is a very charming place
with good air.
(_Feb. 21st_) We rode from Kalda-kahār at dawn next day. When we reached
the top of the Hamtātū-pass a few local people waited on me, bringing a
humble gift. They were joined with `Abdu'r-raḥīm the chief-scribe
(_shaghāwal_) and sent with him to speak the Bhīra people fair and say,
"The possession of this country by a Turk has come down from of old;
beware not to bring ruin on its people by giving way to fear and
anxiety; our eye is on this land and on this people; raid and rapine
shall not be."
We dismounted near the foot of the pass at breakfast-time, [Sidenote:
Fol. 224b.] and thence sent seven or eight men ahead, under Qurbān of
Chīrkh and `Abdu'l-malūk of Khwāst. Of those sent one Mīr Muḥammad (a
servant ?) of Mahdī Khwāja[1408] brought in a man. A few Afghān headmen,
who had come meantime with offerings and done obeisance, were joined
with Langar Khān to go and speak the Bhīra people fair.
After crossing the pass and getting out of the jungle, we arrayed in
right and left and centre, and moved forward for Bhīra. As we got near
it there came in, of the servants of Daulat Khān _Yūsuf-khail's_ son
`Alī Khān, Sīktū's son Dīwa _Hindū_; with them came several of the
notables of Bhīra who brought a horse and camel as an offering and did
me obeisance. At the Mid-day Prayer we dismounted on the east of Bhīra,
on the bank of the Bahat (Jehlam), in a sown-field, without hurt or harm
being allowed to touch the people of Bhīra.
(_k. History of Bhīra._)
Tīmūr Beg had gone into Hindūstān; from the time he went out again these
several countries _viz._ Bhīra, Khūsh-āb, Chīn-āb and Chīnīūt, had been
held by his descendants and the dependants and adherents of those
descendants. After the death of Sl. Mas`ūd Mīrzā and his son `Alī
_Asghar_ Mīrzā, the sons of Mīr `Alī Beg [Sidenote: Fol. 225.] _viz._
Bābā-i-kābulī, Daryā Khān and Apāq Khān, known later as Ghāzī Khān, all
of whom Sl. Mas`ūd M. had cherished, through their dominant position,
got possession of Kābul, Zābul and the afore-named countries and
_parganas_ of Hindūstān. In Sl. Abū-sa`īd Mīrzā's time, Kābul and Zābul
went from their hands, the Hindūstān countries remaining. In 910 AH.
(1504 AD.) the year I first came into Kābul, the government of Bhīra,
Khūsh-āb and Chīn-āb depended on Sayyid `Alī Khān, son of Ghāzī Khān and
grandson of Mīr `Alī Beg, who read the _khuṯba_ for Sikandar son of
Buhlūl (_Lūdī Afghān_) and was subject to him. When I led that army out
(910 AH.) Sayyid `Alī Khān left Bhīra in terror, crossed the
Bahat-water, and seated himself in Sher-kot, one of the villages of
Bhīra. A few years later the Afghāns became suspicious about him on my
account; he, giving way to his own fears and anxieties, made these
countries over to the then governor [Sidenote: Fol. 225b.] in Lāhūr,
Daulat Khān, son of Tātār Khān _Yūsuf-khail_, who gave them to his own
eldest son `Alī Khān, and in `Alī Khān's possession they now were.
(_Author's note on Sl. Mas`ūd Mīrzā._) He was the son of
Sūyūrghatmīsh Mīrzā, son of Shāhrukh Mīrzā, (son of Tīmūr),
and was known as Sl. Mas`ūd _Kābulī_ because the government
and administration of Kābul and Zābul were then dependent on
him (deposed 843 AH.-1440 AD.)
(_Author's note to 910 AH._) That year, with the wish to enter
Hindūstān, Khaibar had been crossed and Parashāwūr (_sic_) had
been reached, when Bāqī _Chaghānīānī_ insisted on a move
against Lower Bangash _i.e._ Kohāt, a mass of Afghāns were
raided and scraped clean (_qīrīb_), the Bannū plain was raided
and plundered, and return was made through Dūkī (Dūgī).
(_Author's note on Daulat Khān Yūsuf-khail._) This Tātār Khān,
the father of Daulat Khān, was one of six or seven _sardārs_
who, sallying out and becoming dominant in Hindūstān, made
Buhlūl Pādshāh. He held the country north of the Satluj
(_sic_) and Sahrind,[1409] the revenues of which exceeded 3
_krūrs_.[1410] On Tātār Khān's death, Sl. Sikandar (_Lūdī_),
as over-lord, took those countries from Tātār Khān's sons and
gave Lāhūr only to Daulat Khān. That happened a year or two
before I came into the country of Kābul (910 AH.).
(_l. Bābur's journey resumed._)
(_Feb. 22nd_) Next morning foragers were sent to several convenient
places; on the same day I visited Bhīra; and on the same day Sangur Khān
_Janjūha_ came, made offering of a horse, and did me obeisance.
(_Feb. 23rd_) On Wednesday the 22nd of the month, the headmen and
_chauderis_[1411] of Bhīra were summoned, a sum of 400,000
_shāhrukhīs_[1412] was agreed on as the price of peace _(māl-i-amān)_,
and collectors were appointed. We also made an excursion, going in a
boat and there eating a confection.
(_Feb. 24th_) Ḥaidar the standard-bearer had been sent to the Bilūchīs
located in Bhīra and Khūsh-āb; on Thursday morning they made an offering
of an almond-coloured _tīpūchāq_ [horse], and did obeisance. As it was
represented to me that some of the soldiery were behaving without sense
and were laying-hands on Bhīra people, persons were sent who caused some
of those [Sidenote: Fol. 226.] senseless people to meet their
death-doom, of others slit the noses and so led them round the camp.
(_Feb. 25th_) On Friday came a dutiful letter from the Khūshābīs; on
this Shāh Shujā` _Arghūn's_ son Shāh Ḥasan was appointed to go to
Khūsh-āb.
(_Feb. 26th_) On Saturday the 25th of the month,[1413] Shāh Ḥasan was
started for Khūsh-āb.
(_Feb. 27th_) On Sunday so much rain fell[1414] that water covered all
the plain. A small brackish stream[1415] flowing between Bhīra and the
gardens in which the army lay, had become like a great river before the
Mid-day Prayer; while at the ford near Bhīra there was no footing for
more than an arrow's flight; people crossing had to swim. In the
afternoon I rode out to watch the water coming down (_kīrkān sū_); the
rain and storm were such that on the way back there was some fear about
getting in to camp. I crossed that same water (_kīrkān sū_) with my
horse swimming. The army-people were much alarmed; most of them
abandoned tents and heavy baggage, shouldered armour, horse-mail and
arms, made their horses swim and crossed bare-back. Most streams flooded
the plain.
(_Feb. 28th_) Next day boats were brought from the river (Jehlam), and
in these most of the army brought their tents and baggage over. Towards
mid-day, Qūj Beg's men went 2 miles up the water and there found a ford
by which the rest crossed.
[Sidenote: Fol. 226b.] (_March 1st_) After a night spent in Bhīra-fort,
Jahān-nūma they call it, we marched early on the Tuesday morning out of
the worry of the rain-flood to the higher ground north of Bhīra.
As there was some delay about the moneys asked for and agreed to
(_taqabbul_), the country was divided into four districts and the begs
were ordered to try to make an end of the matter. Khalīfa was appointed
to one district, Qūj Beg to another, Nāṣir's Dost to another, Sayyid
Qāsim and Muḥibb-i-`alī to another. Picturing as our own the countries
once occupied by the Turk, there was to be no over-running or
plundering.
(_m. Envoys sent to the court in Dihlī._)
(_March 3rd_) People were always saying, "It could do no harm to send an
envoy, for peace' sake, to countries that once depended on the Turk."
Accordingly on Thursday the 1st of Rabī`u'l-awwal, Mullā Murshid was
appointed to go to Sl. Ibrāhīm who through the death of his father Sl.
Iskandar had attained to rule in Hindūstān some 5 or 6 months
earlier(?). I sent him a goshawk (_qārchīgha_) and asked for the
countries which from of old had depended on the Turk. Mullā Murshid was
given charge of writings (_khāṯt̤lār_) for Daulat Khān (_Yūsuf-khail_)
and writings for Sl. Ibrāhīm; matters were sent also by word-of-mouth;
and he was given leave to go. Far from sense and wisdom, shut off from
judgment and counsel must people in Hindūstān be, the Afghāns above all;
for they could not move and make stand like a foe, nor did they know
ways and rules of friendliness. [Sidenote: Fol. 227.] Daulat Khān kept
my man several days in Lāhūr without seeing him himself or speeding him
on to Sl. Ibrāhīm; and he came back to Kābul a few months later without
bringing a reply.
(_n. Birth of Hind-āl._)
(_March 4th_) On Friday the 2nd of the month, the foot-soldiers Shaibak
and Darwesh-i-`alī,—he is now a matchlockman,—bringing dutiful letters
from Kābul, brought news also of Hind-āl's birth. As the news came
during the expedition into Hindūstān, I took it as an omen, and gave the
name Hind-āl (Taking of Hind). Dutiful letters came also from
Muḥammad-i-zamān M. in Balkh, by the hand of Qaṃbar Beg.
(_March 5th_) Next morning when the Court rose, we rode out for an
excursion, entered a boat and there drank _`araq_.[1416] The people of
the party were Khwāja Dost-khāwand, Khusrau, Mīrīm, Mīrzā Qulī,
Muḥammadī, Aḥmadī, Gadāī, Na`man, Langar Khān, Rauh-dam,[1417]
Qāsim-i-`alī the opium-eater (_tariyākī_), Yūsuf-i-`alī and Tīngrī-qulī.
Towards the head of the boat there was a _tālār_[1418] on the flat top
of which I sat with a few people, a few others sitting below. There was
a sitting-place also at the tail of the boat; there Muḥammadī, Gadāī and
Na`man sat. _`Araq_ was drunk till the Other Prayer when, disgusted by
its bad flavour, by consent of those at the head of the boat, _ma'jūn_
was preferred. [Sidenote: Fol. 227b.] Those at the other end, knowing
nothing about our _ma'jūn_ drank _`araq_ right through. At the Bed-time
Prayer we rode from the boat and got into camp late. Thinking I had been
drinking _`araq_ Muḥammadī and Gadāī had said to one another, "Let's do
befitting service," lifted a pitcher of _`araq_ up to one another in
turn on their horses, and came in saying with wonderful joviality and
heartiness and speaking together, "Through this dark night have we come
carrying this pitcher in turns!" Later on when they knew that the party
was (now) meant to be otherwise and the hilarity to differ, that is to
say, that [there would be that] of the _ma'jūn_ band and that of the
drinkers, they were much disturbed because never does a _ma'jūn_ party
go well with a drinking-party. Said I, "Don't upset the party! Let those
who wish to drink _`araq_, drink _`araq_; let those who wish to eat
_ma'jūn_, eat _ma'jūn_. Let no-one on either side make talk or allusion
to the other." Some drank _`araq_, some ate _ma'jūn_, and for a time the
party went on quite politely. Bābā Jān the _qabūz_-player had not been
of our party (in the boat); we invited him when we reached the tents. He
asked to drink _`araq_. We invited Tardī Muḥammad _Qībchāq_ also and
made him a comrade of the drinkers. A _ma'jūn_ party never goes well
with an _`araq_ or a wine-party; the drinkers began to make wild talk
and chatter from all sides, mostly in allusion to _ma'jūn_ and
_ma'jūnīs_. Bābā Jān even, when drunk, said many wild things. The
drinkers soon made Tardī Khān mad-drunk, by giving him one full bowl
after another. Try as we did [Sidenote: Fol. 228.] to keep things
straight, nothing went well; there was much disgusting uproar; the party
became intolerable and was broken up.
(_March 7th_) On Monday the 5th of the month, the country of Bhīra was
given to Hindū Beg.
(_March 8th_) On Tuesday the Chīn-āb country was bestowed on Ḥusain
_Aīkrak_(?) and leave was given to him and the Chīn-āb people to set
out. At this time Sayyid `Alī Khān's son Minūchihr Khān, having let us
know (his intention), came and waited on me. He had started from
Hindūstān by the upper road, had met in with Tātār Khān _Kakar_;[1419]
Tātār Khān had not let him pass on, but had kept him, made him a
son-in-law by giving him his own daughter, and had detained him for some
time.
(_o. The Kakars._)
In amongst the mountains of Nīl-āb and Bhīra which connect with those of
Kashmīr, there are, besides the Jūd and Janjūha tribes, many Jats,
Gujūrs, and others akin to them, seated in villages everywhere on every
rising-ground. These are governed by headmen of the Kakar tribes, a
headship like that over the Jūd and Janjūha. At this time (925 AH.) the
headmen of the people of those hill-skirts were Tātār _Kakar_ and Hātī
_Kakar_, two descendants of one forefather; being paternal-uncles'
sons.[1420] Torrent-beds and ravines are their strongholds. Tātār's
place, named Parhāla,[1421] is a good deal below the snow-mountains;
Hātī's country connects with the mountains and also he had made Bābū
Khān's fief Kālanjar,[1422] look towards himself. Tātār [Sidenote: Fol.
228b.] _Kakar_ had seen Daulat Khān (_Yūsuf-khail_) and looked to him
with complete obedience. Hātī had not seen Daulat Khān; his attitude
towards him was bad and turbulent. At the word of the Hindūstān begs and
in agreement with them, Tātār had so posted himself as to blockade Hātī
from a distance. Just when we were in Bhīra, Hātī moved on pretext of
hunting, fell unexpectedly on Tātār, killed him, and took his country,
his wives and his having (_būlghāni_).[1423]
(_p. Bābur's journey resumed._)
Having ridden out at the Mid-day Prayer for an excursion, we got on a
boat and _`araq_ was drunk. The people of the party were Dost Beg, Mīrzā
Qulī, Aḥmadī, Gadāī, Muḥammad `Alī _Jang-jang_, `Asas,[1424] and
Aūghān-bīrdī _Mughūl_. The musicians were Rauḥ-dam, Bābā Jān,
Qāsim-i-`alī, Yūsuf-i-`alī, Tīngrī-qulī, Abū'l-qāsim, Rāmẓān _Lūlī_. We
drank in the boat till the Bed-time Prayer; then getting off it, full of
drink, we mounted, took torches in our hands, and went to camp from the
river's bank, leaning over from our horses on this side, leaning over
from that, at one loose-rein gallop! Very drunk I must have been for,
when they told me next day that we had galloped loose-rein into camp,
carrying torches, I could not recall it in the very least. After
reaching my quarters, I vomited a good deal.
(_March 11th_) On Friday we rode out on an excursion, crossed the water
(Jehlam) by boat and went about amongst the orchards (_bāghāt_) of
blossoming trees and the lands of the sugar-cultivation. We saw the
wheel with buckets, had water drawn, and asked [Sidenote: Fol. 229.]
particulars about getting it out; indeed we made them draw it again and
again. During this excursion a confection was preferred. In returning we
went on board a boat. A confection (_ma'jūn_) was given also to
Minūchihr Khān, such a one that, to keep him standing, two people had to
give him their arms. For a time the boat remained at anchor in
mid-stream; we then went down-stream; after a while had it drawn
up-stream again, slept in it that night and went back to camp near dawn.
(_March 12th_) On Saturday the 10th of the first Rabī`, the Sun entered
the Ram. Today we rode out before mid-day and got into a boat where
_`araq_ was drunk. The people of the party were Khwāja Dost-khāwand,
Dost Beg, Mīrīm, Mīrzā Qulī, Muḥammadī, Aḥmadī, Yūnas-i-`alī, Muḥ. `Alī
_Jang-jang_, Gadāī T̤aghāī, Mīr Khurd (and ?) `Asas. The musicians were
Rauḥdam, Bābā Jān, Qāsim, Yūsuf-i-`alī, Tīngrī-qulī and Ramẓān. We got
into a branch-water (_shakh-i-āb_), for some time went down-stream,
landed a good deal below Bhīra and on its opposite bank, and went late
into camp.
This same day Shāh Ḥasan returned from Khūsh-āb whither he had been sent
as envoy to demand the countries which from of old had depended on the
Turk; he had settled peaceably with them and had in his hands a part of
the money assessed on them.
The heats were near at hand. To reinforce Hindū Beg (in Bhīra) were
appointed Shāh Muḥammad Keeper of the Seal and his younger brother Dost
Beg Keeper of the Seal, together with several suitable braves; an
accepted (_yārāsha_) stipend [Sidenote: Fol. 229b.] was fixed and
settled in accordance with each man's position. Khūsh-āb was bestowed,
with a standard, on Langar Khān, the prime cause and mover of this
expedition; we settled also that he was to help Hindū Beg. We appointed
also to help Hindū Beg, the Turk and local soldiery of Bhīra, increasing
the allowances and pay of both. Amongst them was the afore-named
Minūchihr Khān whose name has been mentioned; there was also
Naẕar-i-`alī _Turk_, one of Minūchihr Khān's relations; there were also
Sangar Khān _Janjūha_ and Malik Hast _Janjūha_.
(_pp. Return for Kābul._)
(_March 13th_) Having settled the country in every way making for hope
of peace, we marched for Kābul from Bhīra on Sunday the 11th of the
first Rabī`. We dismounted in Kaldah-kahār. That day too it rained
amazingly; people with rain-cloaks[1425] were in the same case as those
who had none! The rear of the camp kept coming in till the Bed-time
Prayer.
(_q. Action taken against Hātī Kakar._)
(_March 14th_) People acquainted with the honour and glory (_āb u tāb_)
of this land and government, especially the Janjūhas, old foes of these
Kakars, represented, "Hātī is the bad man round-about; he it is robs on
the roads; he it is brings men to ruin; he ought either to be driven out
from these parts, or to be severely punished." Agreeing with this, we
left Khwāja Mīr-i-mīrān and Nāṣir's Mīrīm next day with the camp,
parting from them at big breakfast,[1426] and moved on Hātī _Kakar_. As
has been said, he had killed Tātār a few days earlier, and having taken
possession of Parhāla, was in it now. Dismounting at the Other
[Sidenote: Fol. 230.] Prayer, we gave the horses corn; at the Bed-time
Prayer we rode on again, our guide being a Gujūr servant of Malik Hast,
named Sar-u-pā. We rode the night through and dismounted at dawn, when
Beg Muḥammad _Mughūl_ was sent back to the camp, and we remounted when
it was growing light. At breakfast-time (9 a.m.) we put our mail on and
moved forward faster. The blackness of Parhāla shewed itself from 2
miles off; the gallop was then allowed (_chāpqūn qūīūldī_); the right
went east of Parhāla, Qūj Beg, who was also of the right, following as
its reserve; the men of the left and centre went straight for the fort,
Dost Beg being their rear-reserve.
Parhāla stands amongst ravines. It has two roads; one, by which we came,
leads to it from the south-east, goes along the top of ravines and on
either hand has hollows worn out by the torrents. A mile from Parhāla
this road, in four or five places before it reaches the Gate, becomes a
one-man road with a ravine falling from its either side; there for more
than an arrow's flight men must ride in single file. The other road
comes from the north-west; it gets up to Parhāla by the trough of a
valley and it also is a one-man road. There is no other road on any
side. Parhāla though without breast-work or battlement, has no
assailable place, its sides shooting perpendicularly [Sidenote: Fol.
230b.] down for 7, 8, 10 yards.
When the van of our left, having passed the narrow place, went in a body
to the Gate, Hātī, with whom were 30 to 40 men in armour, their horses
in mail, and a mass of foot-soldiers, forced his assailants to retire.
Dost Beg led his reserve forward, made a strong attack, dismounted a
number of Hātī's men, and beat him. All the country-round, Hātī was
celebrated for his daring, but try as he did, he could effect nothing;
he took to flight; he could not make a stand in those narrow places; he
could not make the fort fast when he got back into it. His assailants
went in just behind him and ran on through the ravine and narrows of the
north-west side of the fort, but he rode light and made his flight good.
Here again, Dost Beg did very well and recompense was added to
renown.[1427]
Meantime I had gone into the fort and dismounted at Tātār _Kakar's_
dwelling. Several men had joined in the attack for whom to stay with me
had been arranged; amongst them were Amīn-i-muḥammad Tarkhān _Argkūn_
and Qarācha.[1428] For this fault they were sent to meet the camp,
without _sar-u-pā_, into the wilds and open country with Sar-u-pā[1429]
for their guide, the Gujūr mentioned already.
(_March 16th_) Next day we went out by the north-west ravine and
dismounted in a sown field. A few serviceable braves under Wālī the
treasurer were sent out to meet the camp.[1430]
(_March 17th_) Marching on Thursday the 15th, we dismounted at Andarāba
on the Sūhān, a fort said to have depended from [Sidenote: Fol. 231.] of
old on ancestors of Malik Hast. Hātī _Kakar_ had killed Malik Hast's
father and destroyed the fort; there it now lay in ruins.
At the Bed-time Prayer of this same day, those left at Kalda-kahār with
the camp rejoined us.
(_r. Submissions to Bābur._)
It must have been after Hātī overcame Tātār that he started his kinsman
Parbat to me with tribute and an accoutred horse. Parbat did not light
upon us but, meeting in with the camp we had left behind, came on in the
company of the train. With it came also Langar Khān up from Bhīra on
matters of business. His affairs were put right and he, together with
several local people, was allowed to leave.
(_March 18th_) Marching on and crossing the Sūhān-water, we dismounted
on the rising-ground. Here Hātī's kinsman (Parbat) was robed in an
honorary dress (_khil`at_), given letters of encouragement for Hātī, and
despatched with a servant of Muḥammad `Alī _Jang-jang_. Nīl-āb and the
Qārlūq (Himalayan?) Hazāra had been given to Humāyūn (_aet._ 12); some
of his servants under Bābā Dost and Halāhil came now for their
darogha-ship.[1431]
(_March 19th_) Marching early next morning, we dismounted after riding 2
miles, went to view the camp from a height and ordered that the
camp-camels should be counted; it came out at 570. [Sidenote: Fol.
231b.]
We had heard of the qualities of the saṃbhal plant[1432]; we saw it on
this ground; along this hill-skirt it grows sparsely, a plant here, a
plant there; it grows abundantly and to a large size further along the
skirt-hills of Hindūstān. It will be described when an account is given
of the animals and plants of Hindūstān.[1433]
(_March 20th_) Marching from that camp at beat of drum (_i.e._ one hour
before day), we dismounted at breakfast-time (9 a.m.) below the
Sangdakī-pass, at mid-day marched on, crossed the pass, crossed the
torrent, and dismounted on the rising-ground.
(_March 21st_) Marching thence at midnight, we made an excursion to the
ford[1434] we had crossed when on our way to Bhīra. A great raft of
grain had stuck in the mud of that same ford and, do what its owners
would, could not be made to move. The corn was seized and shared out to
those with us. Timely indeed was that corn!
Near noon we were a little below the meeting of the waters of Kābul and
Sind, rather above old Nīl-āb; we dismounted there between two
waters.[1435] From Nīl-āb six boats were brought, and were apportioned
to the right, left and centre, who busied themselves energetically in
crossing the river (Indus). We got there on a Monday; they kept on
crossing the water through the night preceding Tuesday (_March 22nd_),
through Tuesday and up to Wednesday (_March 23rd_) and on Thursday
(_24th_) also a few crossed.
Hātl's kinsman Parbat, he who from Andarāba was sent to [Sidenote: Fol.
232.] Hātī with a servant of Muḥ. `Alī _Jang-jang_, came to the bank of
the river with Hātī's offering of an accoutred horse. Nīlābīs also came,
brought an accoutred horse and did obeisance.
(_s. Various postings._)
Muḥammad `Alī _Jang-jang_ had wished to stay in Bhīra but Bhīra being
bestowed on Hindū Beg, he was given the countries between it and the
Sind-river, such as the Qārlūq Hazāra, Hātī, Ghiyāṣ-wāl and Kīb
(Kitib):—
Where one is who submits like a _ra`iyat_, so treat him;
But him who submits not, strike, strip, crush and force to obey.
He also received a special head-wear in black velvet, a special Qīlmāq
corselet, and a standard. When Hātī's kinsman was given leave to go he
took for Hātī a sword and head-to-foot (_bāsh-ayāq_) with a royal letter
of encouragement.
(_March 24th_) On Thursday at sunrise we marched from the river's bank.
That day confection was eaten. While under its influence[1436] wonderful
fields of flowers were enjoyed. In some places sheets of yellow flowers
bloomed in plots; in others sheets of red (_arghwānī_) flowers in plots,
in some red and yellow bloomed together. We sat on a mound near the camp
to enjoy the sight. There were flowers on all sides of the mound, yellow
[Sidenote: Fol. 232b.] here, red there, as if arranged regularly to form
a sextuple. On two sides there were fewer flowers but as far as the eye
reached, flowers were in bloom. In spring near Parashāwar the fields of
flowers are very beautiful indeed.
(_March 25th_) We marched from that ground at dawn. At one place on the
road a tiger came out and roared. On hearing it, the horses,
willy-nilly, flung off in terror, carrying their riders in all
directions, and dashing into ravines and hollows. The tiger went again
into the jungle. To bring it out, we ordered a buffalo brought and put
on the edge of the jungle. The tiger again came out roaring. Arrows were
shot at it from all sides[1437]; I shot with the rest. Khalwī (var.
Khalwā) a foot-soldier, pricked it with a spear; it bit the spear and
broke off the spearhead. After tasting of those arrows, it went into the
bushes (_būta_) and stayed there. Bābā the waiting-man [_yasāwal_] went
with drawn sword close up to it; it sprang; he chopped at its head; `Alī
_Sīstānī_[1438] chopped at its loins; it plunged into the river and was
killed right in the water. It was got out and ordered to be skinned.
(_March 26th_) Marching on next day, we reached Bīgrām and went to see
Gūr-khattrī. This is a smallish abode, after the fashion of a hermitage
(_ṣauma`at_), rather confined and dark. After entering at the door and
going down a few steps, one must lie full length to get beyond. There is
no getting in without a lamp. All round near the building there is let
lie an enormous quantity of hair of the head and beard which men have
shaved off there. There are a great many retreats (_ḥujra_) near
Gūr-khattrī [Sidenote: Fol. 233.] like those of a rest-house or a
college. In the year we came into Kābul (910 AH.) and over-ran Kohāt,
Bannū and the plain, we made an excursion to Bīgrām, saw its great tree
and were consumed with regret at not seeing Gūr-khattrī, but it does not
seem a place to regret not-seeing.[1439]
On this same day an excellent hawk of mine went astray out of Shaikhīm
the head-falconer's charge; it had taken many cranes and storks and had
moulted (_tūlāb_) two or three times. So many things did it take that it
made a fowler of a person so little keen as I!
At this place were bestowed 100 mis̤qāls of silver, clothing (_tūnlūq_),
three bullocks and one buffalo, out of the offerings of Hindūstān, on
each of six persons, the chiefs of the Dilazāk Afghāns under Malik Bū
Khān and Malik Mūsa; to others, in their degree, were given money,
pieces of cloth, a bullock and a buffalo.
(_March 27th_) When we dismounted at `Alī-masjid, a Dilazāk Afghān of
the Yaq`ūb-khail, named Ma`rūf, brought an offering of 10 sheep, two
ass-loads of rice and eight large cheeses.
(_March 28th_) Marching on from `Alī-masjid, we dismounted at Yada-bīr;
from Yada-bīr Jūī-shāhī was reached by the Midday Prayer and we there
dismounted. Today Dost Beg was attacked by burning fever.
(_March 29th_) Marching from Jūī-shāhī at dawn, we ate our mid-day meal
in the Bāgh-i-wafā. At the Mid-day Prayer we betook ourselves out of the
garden, close to the Evening Prayer forded the Siyāh-āb at Gandamak,
satisfied our horses' hunger in a field of green corn, and rode on in a
_garī_ or two (24-48 min.).
After crossing the Sūrkh-āb, we dismounted at Kark and took [Sidenote:
Fol. 233b.] a sleep.
(_March 30th_) Riding before shoot of day from Kark, I went with 5 or 6
others by the road taking off for Qarā-tū in order to enjoy the sight of
a garden there made. Khalīfa and Shāh Ḥasan Beg and the rest went by the
other road to await me at Qūrūq-sāī.
When we reached Qarā-tū, Shāh Beg _Arghūn's_ commissary (_tawāchī_)
Qīzīl (Rufus) brought word that Shāh Beg had taken Kāhān, plundered it
and retired.
An order had been given that no-one soever should take news of us ahead.
We reached Kābul at the Mid-day Prayer, no person in it knowing about us
till we got to Qūtlūq-qadam's bridge. As Humāyūn and Kāmrān heard about
us only after that, there was not time to put them on horseback; they
made their pages carry them, came, and did obeisance between the gates
of the town and the citadel.[1440] At the Other Prayer there waited on
me Qāsim Beg, the town Qāẓī, the retainers left in Kābul and the
notables of the place.
(_April 2nd_) At the Other Prayer of Friday the 1st of the second Rabī`
there was a wine-party at which a special head-to-foot (_bāsh-ayāq_) was
bestowed on Shāh Ḥasan.
(_April 3rd_) At dawn on Saturday we went on board a boat and took our
morning.[1441] Nūr Beg, then not obedient (_tā'īb_), played the lute at
this gathering. At the Mid-day Prayer we left the boat to visit the
garden made between Kul-kīna[1442] and the mountain (Shāh-i-kābul). At
the Evening Prayer we went to the Violet-garden where there was drinking
again. From Kul-kīna I got in by the rampart and went into the citadel.
(_u. Dost Beg's death._)
(_April 6th_) On the night of Tuesday the 5th of the month,[1443] Dost
Beg, who on the road had had fever, went to God's mercy. [Sidenote: Fol.
234.]
Sad and grieved enough we were! His bier and corpse were carried to
Ghaznī where they laid him in front of the gate of the Sulṯān's garden
(_rauza_).
Dost Beg had been a very good brave (_yīkīt_) and he was still rising in
rank as a beg. Before he was made a beg, he did excellent things several
times as one of the household. One time was at Rabāṯ-i-zauraq,[1444] one
_yīghāch_ from Andijān when Sl. Aḥmad _Taṃbal_ attacked me at night (908
AH.). I, with 10 to 15 men, by making a stand, had forced his gallopers
back; when we reached his centre, he made a stand with as many as 100
men; there were then three men with me, _i.e._ there were four counting
myself. Nāṣir's Dost (_i.e._ Dost Beg) was one of the three; another was
Mīrzā Qulī _Kūkūldāsh_; Karīm-dād _Turkmān_ was the other. I was just in
my _jība_[1445]; Taṃbal and another were standing like gate-wards in
front of his array; I came face to face with Taṃbal, shot an arrow
striking his helm; shot another aiming at the attachment of his
shield;[1446] they shot one through my leg (_būtūm_); Taṃbal chopped at
my head. It was wonderful! The (under)-cap of my helm was on my head;
not a thread of it was cut, but on the head itself was a very bad wound.
Of other help came none; no-one was left with me; of necessity I brought
myself to gallop back. Dost Beg had been a little in my rear; (Taṃbal)
on leaving me alone, chopped at him.[1447]
[Sidenote: Fol. 234b.] Again, when we were getting out of Akhsī [908
AH.],[1448] Dost Beg chopped away at Bāqī _Ḥīz_[1449] who, although
people called him _Ḥīz_, was a mighty master of the sword. Dost Beg was
one of the eight left with me after we were out of Akhsī; he was the
third they unhorsed.
Again, after he had become a beg, when Sīūnjuk Khān (_Aūzbeg_), arriving
with the (Aūzbeg) sulṯāns before Tāshkīnt, besieged Aḥmad-i-qāsim
[_Kohbur_] in it [918 AH.],[1450] Dost Beg passed through them and
entered the town. During the siege he risked his honoured life
splendidly, but Aḥmad-i-qāsim, without a word to this honoured
man,[1451] flung out of the town and got away. Dost Beg for his own part
got the better of the Khān and sulṯāns and made his way well out of
Tāshkīnt.
Later on when Sherīm T̤aghāī, Mazīd and their adherents were in
rebellion,[1452] he came swiftly up from Ghaznī with two or three
hundred men, met three or four hundred effective braves sent out by
those same Mughūls to meet him, unhorsed a mass of them near
Sherūkān(?), cut off and brought in a number of heads.
Again, his men were first over the ramparts at the fort of Bajaur (925
AH.). At Parhāla, again, he advanced, beat Hātī, put him to flight, and
won Parhāla.
After Dost Beg's death, I bestowed his district on his younger brother
Nāṣir's Mīrīm.[1453]
(_v. Various incidents._)
(_April 9th_) On Friday the 8th of the second Rabī`, the walled-town was
left for the Chār-bāgh.
(_April 13th_) On Tuesday the 12th there arrived in Kābul the honoured
Sulṯānīm Begīm, Sl. Ḥusain Mīrzā's eldest daughter, the mother of
Muḥammad Sulṯān Mīrzā. During those throneless times,[1454] she had
settled down in Khwārizm where Yīlī-pārs [Sidenote: Fol. 235.] Sulṯān's
younger brother Aīsān-qulī Sl. took her daughter. The Bāgh-i-khilwat was
assigned her for her seat. When she had settled down and I went to see
her in that garden, out of respect and courtesy to her, she being as my
honoured elder sister, I bent the knee. She also bent the knee. We both
advancing, saw one another mid-way. We always observed the same ceremony
afterwards.
(_April 18th_) On Sunday the 17th, that traitor to his salt, Bābā
Shaikh[1455] was released from his long imprisonment, forgiven his
offences and given an honorary dress.
(_w. Visit to the Koh-dāman._)
(_April 20th_) On Tuesday the 19th of the month, we rode out at the
return of noon for Khwāja Sih-yārān. This day I was fasting. All
astonished, Yūnas-i-`alī and the rest said, "A Tuesday! a journey! and a
fast! This is amazing!" At Bīhzādī we dismounted at the Qāẓī's house. In
the evening when a stir was made for a social gathering, the Qāẓī set
this before me, "In my house such things never are; it is for the
honoured Pādshāh to command!" For his heart's content, drink was left
out, though all the material for a party was ready.
(_April 21st_) On Wednesday we went to Khwāja Sih-yārān.
(_April 22nd_) On Thursday the 22nd of the month, we had a large round
seat made in the garden under construction on the mountain-naze.[1456]
(_April 23rd_) On Friday we got on a raft from the bridge. On our coming
opposite the fowlers' houses, they brought a _dang_ [Sidenote: Fol.
235b.] (or _ding_)[1457] they had caught. I had never seen one before;
it is an odd-looking bird. It will come into the account of the birds of
Hindustan.[1458]
(_April 24th_) On Saturday the 23rd of the month cuttings were planted,
partly of plane, partly of _tāl_,[1459] above the round seat. At the
Mid-day Prayer there was a wine-party at the place.
(_April 25th_) At dawn we took our morning on the new seat. At noon we
mounted and started for Kābul, reached Khwāja Ḥasan quite drunk and
slept awhile, rode on and by midnight got to the Chār-bāgh. At Khwāja
Ḥasan, `Abdu'l-lāh, in his drunkenness, threw himself into water just as
he was in his _tūn aūfrāghī_.[1460] He was frozen with cold and could
not go on with us when we mounted after a little of the night had
passed. He stayed on Qūtlūq Khwāja's estate that night. Next day,
awakened to his past intemperance, he came on repentant. Said I, "At
once! will this sort of repentance answer or not? Would to God you would
repent now at once in such a way that you would drink nowhere except at
my parties!" He agreed to this and kept the rule for a few months, but
could not keep it longer.
(_x. Hindū Beg abandons Bhīra._)
(_April 26th_) On Monday the 25th came Hindū Beg. There having been hope
of peace, he had been left in those countries with somewhat scant
support. No sooner was our back turned than a mass of Hindūstānīs and
Afghāns gathered, disregarded us and, not listening to our words, moved
against Hindū Beg in Bhīra. The local peoples also went over to the
Afghāns. Hindū Beg could make no stand in Bhīra, came to Khūsh-āb, came
through the Dīn-kot country, came to Nīl-āb, came on to Kābul.
[Sidenote: Fol. 236.] Sīktū's son Dīwa _Hindū_ and another Hindū had
been brought prisoner from Bhīra. Each now giving a considerable ransom,
they were released. Horses and head-to-foot dresses having been given
them, leave to go was granted.
(_April 30th_) On Friday the 29th of the month, burning fever appeared
in my body. I got myself let blood. I had fever with sometimes two,
sometimes three days between the attacks. In no attack did it cease till
there had been sweat after sweat. After 10 or 12 days of illness, Mullā
Khwāja gave me narcissus mixed with wine; I drank it once or twice; even
that did no good.
(_May 15th_) On Sunday the 15th of the first Jumāda[1461] Khwāja
Muḥammad `Alī came from Khwāst, bringing a saddled horse as an offering
and also _taṣadduq_ money.[1462] Muḥ. Sharīf the astrologer and the
Mīr-zādas of Khwāst came with him and waited on me.
(_May 16th_) Next day, Monday, Mullā Kabīr came from Kāshghar; he had
gone round by Kāshghar on his way from Andijān to Kābul.
(_May 23rd_) On Monday the 23rd of the month, Malik Shāh Manṣūr
_Yūsuf-zāī_ arrived from Sawād with 6 or 7 Yūsuf-zāī chiefs, and did
obeisance.
(_May 31st_) On Monday the 1st of the second Jumāda, the chiefs of the
Yūsuf-zāī Afghāns led by Malik Shāh Manṣūr were dressed in robes of
honour (_khil`at_). To Malik Shāh Manṣūr was given a long silk coat and
an under-coat (? _jība_) with its buttons; to one of the other chiefs
was given a coat with silk sleeves, and to six others silk coats. To all
leave to go was granted. Agreement was made with them that they were not
[Sidenote: Fol. 236b.] to reckon as in the country of Sawād what was
above Abuha (?), that they should make all the peasants belonging to it
go out from amongst themselves, and also that the Afghān cultivators of
Bajaur and Sawād should cast into the revenue 6000 ass-loads of rice.
(_June 2nd_) On Wednesday the 3rd, I drank _jul-āb_.[1463]
(_June 5th_) On Saturday the 6th, I drank a working-draught
(_dārū-i-kār_).
(_June 7th_) On Monday the 8th, arrived the wedding-gift for the
marriage of Qāsim Beg's youngest son Ḥamza with Khalīfa's eldest
daughter. It was of 1000 _shāhrukhī_; they offered also a saddled horse.
(_June 8th_) On Tuesday Shāh Beg's Shāh Ḥasan asked for permission to go
away for a wine-party. He carried off to his house Khwāja Muḥ. `Alī and
some of the household-begs. In my presence were Yūnas-i-`alī and Gadāī
T̤aghāī. I was still abstaining from wine. Said I, "Not at all in this
way is it (_hech andāq būlmāī dūr_) that I will sit sober and the party
drink wine, I stay sane, full of water, and that set (_būlāk_) of people
get drunk; come you and drink in my presence! I will amuse myself a
little by watching what intercourse between the sober and the drunk is
like."[1464] The party was held in a smallish tent in which I sometimes
sat, in the Plane-tree garden south-east of the Picture-hall. Later on
Ghiyāṣ the house-buffoon (_kīdī_) arrived; several times for fun he was
ordered kept out, but at last he made a great disturbance and his
buffooneries found him a way in. We invited Tardī Muḥammad _Qībchāq_
also and Mullā _kitāb-dār_ (librarian). The following quatrain, written
impromptu, was sent to Shāh Ḥasan and those gathered in his [Sidenote:
Fol. 237.] house:—
In your beautiful flower-bed of banquetting friends,
Our fashion it is not to be;
If there be ease (_ḥuzūr_) in that gathering of yours,
Thank God! there is here no un-ease [_bī ḥuzūr_].[1465]
It was sent by Ibrāhīm _chuhra_. Between the two Prayers (_i.e._
afternoon) the party broke up drunk.
I used to go about in a litter while I was ill. The wine-mixture was
drunk on several of the earlier days, then, as it did no good I left it
off, but I drank it again at the end of my convalescence, at a party had
under an apple-tree on the south-west side of the Tālār-garden.
(_June 11th_) On Friday the 12th came Aḥmad Beg and Sl. Muḥammad
_Dūldāī_ who had been left to help in Bajaur.
(_June 16th_) On Wednesday the 17th of the month, Tīngrī-bīrdī and other
braves gave a party in Ḥaidar _Tāqi's_ garden; I also went and there
drank. We rose from it at the Bed-time Prayer when a move was made to
the great tent where again there was drinking.
(_June 23rd_) On Thursday the 25th of the month, Mullā Maḥmūd was
appointed to read extracts from the Qorān[1466] in my presence.
(_June 28th_) On Tuesday the last day of the month, Abū'l-muslim
Kūkūldāsh arrived as envoy from Shāh Shujā` _Arghūn_ bringing a
_tīpūchāq_. After bargain made about swimming the reservoir in the
Plane-tree garden, Yūsuf-i-`alī the stirrup-holder swam round it today
100 times and received a gift of a head-to-foot (dress), a saddled horse
and some money.
(_July 6th_) On Wednesday the 8th of Rajab, I went to Shāh Ḥasan's house
and drank there; most of the household and of [Sidenote: Fol. 237b.] the
begs were present.
(_July 9th_) On Saturday the 11th, there was drinking on the
terrace-roof of the pigeon-house between the Afternoon and Evening
Prayers. Rather late a few horsemen were observed, going from
Dih-i-afghān towards the town. It was made out to be Darwīsh-i-muḥammad
_Sārbān_, on his way to me as the envoy of Mīrzā Khān (Wais). We shouted
to him from the roof, "Drop the envoy's forms and ceremonies! Come! come
without formality!" He came and sat down in the company. He was then
obedient and did not drink. Drinking went on till the end of the
evening. Next day he came into the Court Session with due form and
ceremony, and presented Mīrzā Khān's gifts.
(_y. Various incidents._)
Last year[1467] with 100 efforts, much promise and threats, we had got
the clans to march into Kābul from the other side (of Hindū-kush). Kābul
is a confined country, not easily giving summer and winter quarters to
the various flocks and herds of the Turks and (Mughūl?) clans. If the
dwellers in the wilds follow their own hearts, they do not wish for
Kābul! They now waited (_khidmat qīlīb_) on Qāsim Beg and made him their
mediator with me for permission to re-cross to that other side. He tried
very hard, so in the end, they were allowed to cross over to the Qūndūz
and Bāghlān side.
Ḥāfiẕ the news-writer's elder brother had come from Samarkand; when I
now gave him leave to return, I sent my _Dīwān_ by him to Pūlād
Sulṯān.[1468] On the back of it I wrote the following [Sidenote: Fol.
238.] verse:—
O breeze! if thou enter that cypress' chamber (_ḥarīm_)
Remind her of me, my heart reft by absence;
She yearns not for Bābur; he fosters a hope
That her heart of steel God one day may melt.[1469]
(_July 15th_) On Friday the 17th of the month, Shaikh Mazīd Kūkūldāsh
waited on me from Muḥammad-i-zamān Mīrzā, bringing _taṣadduq_ tribute
and a horse.[1470] Today Shāh Beg's envoy Abū'l-muslim Kūkūldāsh was
robed in an honorary dress and given leave to go. Today also leave was
given for their own districts of Khwāst and Andar-āb to Khwāja Muḥammad
`Alī and Tīngrī-bīrdī.
(_July 21st_) On Thursday the 23rd came Muḥ. `Alī _Jang-jang_ who had
been left in charge of the countries near Kacha-kot and the Qārlūq. With
him came one of Hātī's people and Mīrzā-i-malū-i-qārlūq's son Shāh
Ḥasan. Today Mullā `Alī-jān waited on me, returned from fetching his
wife from Samarkand.
(_z. The `Abdu'r-raḥman Afghāns and Rustam-maidān._)
(_July 27th_) The `Abdu'r-raḥman Afghāns on the Gīrdīz border were
satisfactory neither in their tribute nor their behaviour; they were
hurtful also to the caravans which came and went. On Wednesday the 29th
of Rajab we rode out to over-run them. We dismounted and ate food near
Tang-i-waghchān,[1471] and rode on again at the Mid-day Prayer. In the
night we lost the road and got much bewildered in the ups and downs of
the land to the south-east of Pātakh-i-āb-i-shakna.[1472] After a time
we lit on [Sidenote: Fol. 238b.] a road and by it crossed the
Chashma-i-tūra[1473] pass.
(_July 28th_) At the first prayer (_farẓ-waqt_) we got out from the
valley-bottom adjacent[1474] to the level land, and the raid was
allowed. One detachment galloped towards the Kar-māsh[1475] mountain,
south-east of Gīrdīz, the left-hand of the centre led by Khusrau, Mīrzā
Qulī and Sayyid `Alī in their rear. Most of the army galloped up the
dale to the east of Gīrdīz, having in their rear men under Sayyid Qāsim
Lord of the Gate, Mīr Shāh _Qūchīn_, Qayyām (Aūrdū-shāh Beg?), Hindū
Beg, Qūtlūq-qadam and Ḥusain [Ḥasan?]. Most of the army having gone up
the dale, I followed at some distance. The dalesmen must have been a
good way up; those who went after them wore their horses out and nothing
to make up for this fell into their hands.
Some Afghāns on foot, some 40 or 50 of them, having appeared on the
plain, the rear-reserve went towards them. A courier was sent to me and
I hastened on at once. Before I got up with them, Ḥusain Ḥāsan, all
alone, foolishly and thoughtlessly, put his horse at those Afghāns, got
in amongst them and began to lay on with his sword. They shot his horse,
thus made him fall, slashed at him as he was getting up, flung him down,
knifed him from all sides and cut him to pieces, while the other braves
looked on, standing still and reaching him no helping hand! On hearing
news of it, I hurried still faster forward, and sent some of the
household and braves galloping loose-rein ahead [Sidenote: Fol. 239.]
under Gadāī T̤aghāī, Payānda-i-muḥammad _Qīplān_, Abū'l-ḥasan the
armourer and Mūmin Ātāka. Mūmin Ātāka was the first of them to bring an
Afghān down; he speared one, cut off his head and brought it in.
Abū'l-ḥasan the armourer, without mail as he was, went admirably
forward, stopped in front of the Afghāns, laid his horse at them,
chopped at one, got him down, cut off and brought in his head. Known
though both were for bravelike deeds done earlier, their action in this
affair added to their fame. Every one of those 40 or 50 Afghāns, falling
to the arrow, falling to the sword, was cut in pieces. After making a
clean sweep of them, we dismounted in a field of growing corn and
ordered a tower of their heads to be set up. As we went along the road I
said, with anger and scorn, to the begs who had been with Ḥusain, "You!
what men! there you stood on quite flat ground, and looked on while a
few Afghāns on foot overcame such a brave in the way they did! Your rank
and station must be taken from you; you must lose _pargana_ and country;
your beards must be shaved off and you must be exhibited in towns; for
there shall be punishment assuredly for him who looks on while such a
brave is beaten by such a foe [Sidenote: Fol. 239b.] on dead-level land,
and reaches out no hand to help!" The troop which went to Kar-māsh
brought back sheep and other spoil. One of them was Bābā Qashqa[1476]
_Mughūl_; an Afghān had made at him with a sword; he had stood still to
adjust an arrow, shot it off and brought his man down.
(_July 29th_) Next day at dawn we marched for Kābul. Pay-aster Muḥammad,
`Abdu'l-`azīz Master of the Horse, and Mīr Khūrd the taster were ordered
to stop at Chashma-tūra, and get pheasants from the people there.
As I had never been along the Rustam-maidān road,[1477] I went with a
few men to see it. Rustam-plain (_maidān_) lies amongst mountains and
towards their head is not a very charming place. The dale spreads rather
broad between its two ranges. To the south, on the skirt of the
rising-ground is a smallish spring, having very large poplars near it.
There are many trees also, but not so large, at the source on the way
out of Rustam-maidān for Gīrdīz. This is a narrower dale, but still
there is a plot of green meadow below the smaller trees mentioned, and
the little dale is charming. From the summit of the range, looking
south, the Karmāsh and Bangash mountains are seen at one's feet; and
beyond the Karmāsh show pile upon pile of the rain-clouds of Hindūstān.
Towards those other lands where no rain falls, not [Sidenote: Fol. 240.]
a cloud is seen.
We reached Hūnī at the Mid-day Prayer and there dismounted.
(_July 30th_) Dismounting next day at Muḥammad Āghā's village,[1478] we
perpetrated (_irtqāb_) a _ma'jūn_. There we had a drug thrown into water
for the fish; a few were taken.[1479]
(_July 31st_) On Sunday the 3rd of Sha`bān, we reached Kābul.
(_August 2nd_) On Tuesday the 5th of the month, Darwīsh-i-muḥammad
_Faẓlī_ and Khusrau's servants were summoned and, after enquiry made
into what short-comings of theirs there may have been when Ḥusain was
overcome, they were deprived of place and rank. At the Mid-day Prayer
there was a wine-party under a plane-tree, at which an honorary dress
was given to Bābā Qashqa _Mughūl_.
(_August 5th_) On Friday the 8th Kīpa returned from the presence of
Mīrzā Khān.
(_aa. Excursion to the Koh-dāman._)
(_August 11th_) On Thursday at the Other Prayer, I mounted for an
excursion to the Koh-dāman, Bārān and Khwāja Sih-yārān.[1480] At the
Bed-time Prayer, we dismounted at Māmā Khātūn.[1481]
(_August 12th_) Next day we dismounted at Istālīf; a confection was
eaten on that day.
(_August 13th_) On Saturday there was a wine-party at Istālīf.
(_August 14th_) Riding at dawn from Istālīf, we crossed the space
between it and the Sinjid-valley. Near Khwāja Sih-yārān a great snake
was killed as thick, it may be, as the fore-arm and as long as a
_qūlāch_.[1482] From its inside came out a slenderer snake, that seemed
to have been just swallowed, every part of it being [Sidenote: Fol.
240b.] whole; it may have been a little shorter than the larger one.
From inside this slenderer snake came out a little mouse; it too was
whole, broken nowhere.[1483]
On reaching Khwāja Sih-yārān there was a wine-party. Today orders were
written and despatched by Kīch-kīna the night-watch (_tūnqṯār_) to the
begs on that side (_i.e._ north of Hindū-kush), giving them a rendezvous
and saying, "An army is being got to horse, take thought, and come to
the rendezvous fixed."
(_August 15th_) We rode out at dawn and ate a confection. At the infall
of the Parwān-water many fish were taken in the local way of casting a
fish-drug into the water.[1484] Mīr Shāh Beg set food and water (_āsh u
āb_) before us; we then rode on to Gul-bahār. At a wine-party held after
the Evening Prayer, Darwīsh-i-muḥammad (_Sārbān_) was present. Though a
young man and a soldier, he had not yet committed the sin (_irtqāb_) of
wine, but was in obedience (_tā'ib_). Qūtlūq Khwāja _Kūkūldāsh_ had long
before abandoned soldiering to become a darwīsh; moreover he was very
old, his very beard was quite white; nevertheless he took his share of
wine at these parties. Said I to Darwīsh-i-muḥammad, "Qūtlūq Khwāja's
beard shames you! He, a darwīsh and an old man, always drinks wine; you,
a soldier, a young man, your beard quite black, never drink! What does
it mean?" My custom being not to press wine on a non-drinker, with so
much said, it all passed off as a joke; he was not pressed to drink.
(_August 16th_) At dawn we made our morning (_ṣubāḥī ṣubūḥī qīldūk_).
(_August 17th_) Riding on Wednesday from Gul-i-bahār, we [Sidenote: Fol.
241.] dismounted in Abūn-village[1485], ate food, remounted, went to a
summer-house in the orchards (_bāghāt-i-kham_) and there dismounted.
There was a wine-party after the Mid-day Prayer.
(_August 18th_) Riding on next day, we made the circuit of Khwāja
Khāwand Sa`īd's tomb, went to China-fort and there got on a raft. Just
where the Panjhīr-water comes in, the raft struck the naze of a hill and
began to sink. Rauḥ-dam, Tīngrī-qulī and Mīr Muḥammad the raftsman were
thrown into the water by the shock; Rauḥ-dam and Tīngrī-qulī were got on
the raft again; a China cup and a spoon and a ṯambour went into the
water. Lower down, the raft struck again opposite the Sang-i-barīda (the
cut-stone), either on a branch in mid-stream or on a stake stuck in as a
stop-water (_qāqghān qāzūq_). Right over on his back went Shāh Beg's
Shāh Ḥasan, clutching at Mīrzā Qulī Kūkūldāsh and making him fall too.
Darwīsh-i-muḥammad _Sārbān_ was also thrown into the water. Mīrzā Qulī
went over in his own fashion! Just when he fell, he was cutting a melon
which he had in his hand; as he went over, he stuck his knife into the
mat of the raft. He swam in his _tūn aūfrāghī_[1486] and got out of the
water without coming on the raft again. Leaving it that night, we slept
at raftsmen's houses. Darwīsh-i-muḥammad _Sārbān_ presented me with a
seven-coloured cup exactly like the one lost in the water.
(_August 19th_) On Friday we rode away from the river's bank and
dismounted below Aīndīkī on the skirt of Koh-i-bacha where, with our own
hands, we gathered plenty of tooth-picks.[1487] [Sidenote: Fol. 241b.]
Passing on, food was eaten at the houses of the Khwāja Khiẓr people. We
rode on and at the Mid-day Prayer, dismounted in a village of Qūtlūq
Khwāja's fief in Lamghān where he made ready a hasty meal (_mā ḥaẓirī_);
after partaking of this, we mounted and went to Kābul.
(_bb. Various incidents._)
(_August 22nd_) On Monday the 25th, a special honorary dress and a
saddled horse were bestowed on Darwīsh-i-muḥammad _Sārbān_ and he was
made to kneel as a retainer (_naukar_).
(_August 24th_) For 4 or 5 months I had not had my head shaved; on
Wednesday the 27th, I had it done. Today there was a wine-party.
(_August 26th_) On Friday the 29th, Mīr Khūrd was made to kneel as
Hind-āl's guardian.[1488] He made an offering of 1000 _shāhrukhīs_
(_circa_ £50).
(_August 31st_) On Wednesday the 5th of Ramẓān, a dutiful letter was
brought by Tūlik Kūkūldāsh's servant Barlās Jūkī(?). Aūzbeg raiders had
gone into those parts (Badakhshān); Tūlik had gone out, fought and
beaten them. Barlās Jūkī brought one live Aūzbeg and one head.
(_Sep. 2nd_) In the night of Saturday the 8th, we broke our fast[1489]
in Qāsim Beg's house; he led out a saddled horse for me.
(_Sep. 3rd_) On Sunday night the fast was broken in Khalīfa's house; he
offered me a saddled horse.
(_Sep. 4th_) Next day came Khwāja Muḥ. `Alī and Jān-i-nāṣir who had been
summoned from their districts for the good of the army.[1490]
(_Sep. 7th_) On Wednesday the 12th, Kāmrān's maternal uncle [Sidenote:
Fol. 242.] Sl. `Alī Mīrzā arrived.[1491] As has been mentioned,[1492] he
had gone to Kāshghar in the year I came from Khwāst into Kābul.
(_cc. A Yūsuf-zāī campaign._)
(_Sep. 8th_) We rode out on Thursday the 13th of the month of Ramẓān,
resolved and determined to check and ward off the Yūsuf-zāī, and we
dismounted in the meadow on the Dih-i-yaq`ūb side of Kābul. When we were
mounting, the equerry Bābā Jān led forward a rather good-for-nothing
horse; in my anger I struck him in the face a blow which dislocated my
fist below the ring-finger.[1493] The pain was not much at the time, but
was rather bad when we reached our encampment-ground. For some time I
suffered a good deal and could not write. It got well at last.
To this same assembly-ground were brought letters and presents (_bīlāk_)
from my maternal-aunt Daulat-sulṯān Khānīm[1494] in Kāshghar, by her
foster-brother Daulat-i-muḥammad. On the same day Bū Khān and Mūsa,
chiefs of the Dilazāk, came, bringing tribute, and did obeisance.
(_Sep. 11th_) On Sunday the 16th Qūj Beg came.
(_Sep. 14th_) Marching on Wednesday the 19th we passed through Būt-khāk
and, as usual, dismounted on the Būt-khāk water.[1495]
As Qūj Beg's districts, Bāmīān, Kāh-mard and Ghūrī, are close to the
Aūzbeg, he was excused from going with this army and given leave to
return to them from this ground. I bestowed on him a turban twisted for
myself, and also a head-to-foot (_bāsh-ayāq_).
(_Sep. 16th_) On Friday the 21st, we dismounted at Badām-chashma.
[Sidenote: Fol. 242b.]
(_Sep. 17th_) Next day we dismounted on the Bārīk-āb, I reaching the
camp after a visit to Qarā-tū. On this ground honey was obtained from a
tree.
(_Sep. 20th_) We went on march by march till Wednesday the 26th, and
dismounted in the Bāgh-i-wafā.
(_Sep. 21st_) Thursday we just stayed in the garden.
(_Sep. 22nd_) On Friday we marched out and dismounted beyond Sulṯānpūr.
Today Shāh Mīr Ḥusain came from his country. Today came also Dilazāk
chiefs under Bū Khān and Mūsa. My plan had been to put down the
Yūsuf-zāī in Sawād, but these chiefs set forth to me that there was a
large horde (_aūlūs_) in Hash-naghar and that much corn was to be had
there. They were very urgent for us to go to Hash-naghar. After
consultation the matter was left in this way:—As it is said there is
much corn in Hash-naghar, the Afghāns there shall be overrun; the forts
of Hash-naghar and Parashāwar shall be put into order; part of the corn
shall be stored in them and they be left in charge of Shāh Mīr Ḥusain
and a body of braves. To suit Shāh Mīr Ḥusain's convenience in this, he
was given 15 days leave, with a rendezvous named for him to come to
after going to his country and preparing his equipment.
(_Sep. 23rd_) Marching on next day, we reached Jūī-shāhī and there
dismounted. On this ground Tīngrī-bīrdī and Sl. Muḥammad _Dūldāī_
overtook us. Today came also Ḥamza from Qūndūz.[1496]
(_Sep. 25th_) On Sunday the last day of the month (Ramẓān), we marched
from Jūī-shāhī and dismounted at Qīrīq-arīq (forty-conduits), [Sidenote:
Fol. 243.] I going by raft, with a special few. The new moon of the
Feast was seen at that station.[1497] People had brought a few
beast-loads of wine from Nūr-valley;[1498] after the Evening Prayer
there was a wine-party, those present being Muḥibb-i-`alī the armourer,
Khwāja Muḥ. `Alī the librarian, Shāh Beg's Shāh Ḥasan, Sl. Muḥ. _Dūldāī_
and Darwīsh-i-muḥ. _Sārbān,_ then obedient (_tā'ib_). From my childhood
up it had been my rule not to press wine on a non-drinker;
Darwīsh-i-muḥammad was at every party and no pressure was put on him (by
me), but Khwāja Muḥ. `Alī left him no choice; he pressed him and pressed
him till he made him drink.
(_Sep. 26th_) On Monday we marched with the dawn of the Feast-day,[1499]
eating a confection on the road to dispel crop-sickness. While under its
composing influence (_nāklīk_), we were brought a colocynth-apple
(_khunṯul_). Darwīsh-i-muḥammad had never seen one; said I, "It is a
melon of Hindūstān," sliced it and gave him a piece. He bit into it at
once; it was night before the bitter taste went out of his mouth. At
Garm-chashma we dismounted on rising-ground where cold meat was being
set out for us when Langar Khān arrived to wait on me after being for a
time at his own place (Koh-i-jūd). He brought an offering of a horse and
a few confections. Passing on, we dismounted at Yada-bīr, at the Other
Prayer got on a raft there, went for as much as two miles on it, then
left it.
(_Sep. 27th_) Riding on next morning, we dismounted below the
Khaibar-pass. Today arrived Sl. Bāyazīd, come up by the [Sidenote: Fol.
243b.] Bāra-road after hearing of us; he set forth that the Afrīdī
Afghāns were seated in Bāra with their goods and families and that they
had grown a mass of corn which was still standing (lit. on foot). Our
plan being for the Yūsuf-zāī Afghāns of Hash-naghar, we paid him no
attention. At the Mid-day Prayer there was a wine-party in Khwāja
Muḥammad `Alī's tent. During the party details about our coming in this
direction were written and sent off by the hand of a sulṯān of Tīrah to
Khwāja Kalān in Bajaur. I wrote this couplet on the margin of the letter
(_farmān_):—
Say sweetly o breeze, to that beautiful fawn,
Thou hast given my head to the hills and the wild.[1500]
(_Sep. 28th_) Marching on at dawn across the pass, we got through the
Khaibar-narrows and dismounted at `Alī-masjid. At the Mid-day Prayer we
rode on, leaving the baggage behind, reached the Kābul-water at the
second watch (midnight) and there slept awhile.
(_Sep. 29th_) A ford[1501] was found at daylight; we had forded the
water (_sū-dīn kīchīldī_), when news came from our scout that the
Afghāns had heard of us and were in flight. We went on, passed through
the Sawād-water and dismounted amongst the Afghān corn-fields. Not a
half, not a fourth indeed of the promised corn was had. The plan of
fitting-up Hash-naghar, made under the hope of getting corn here, came
to nothing. [Sidenote: Fol. 244.] The Dilazāk Afghāns, who had urged it
on us, were ashamed. We next dismounted after fording the water of Sawād
to its Kābul side.
(_Sep. 30th_) Marching next morning from the Sawād-water, we crossed the
Kābul-water and dismounted. The Begs admitted to counsel were summoned
and a consultation having been had, the matter was left at this:—that
the Afrīdī Afghāns spoken of by Sl. Bāyazīd should be over-run,
Pūrshāwūr-fort be fitted up on the strength of their goods and corn, and
some-one left there in charge.
At this station Hindū Beg _Qūchīn_ and the Mīr-zādas of Khwāst overtook
us. Today _ma'jūn_ was eaten, the party being Darwesh-i-muḥammad
_Sārbān_, Muḥammad Kūkūldāsh, Gadāī T̤aghāī and `Asas; later on we
invited Shāh Ḥasan also. After food had been placed before us, we went
on a raft, at the Other Prayer. We called Langar Khān _Nīa-zāī_ on also.
At the Evening Prayer we got off the raft and went to camp.
(_Oct. 1st_) Marching at dawn, in accordance with the arrangement made
on the Kābul-water, we passed Jām and dismounted at the outfall of the
`Alī-masjid water.[1502]
(_dd. Badakhshān affairs._)
Sl. `Alī (T̤aghāī's servant ?) Abū'l-hāshim overtaking us, said, "On the
night of `Arafa,[1503] I was in Jūī-shāhī with a person from Badakhshān;
he told me that Sl. Sa`īd Khān had come with designs on Badakhshān, so I
came on from Jūī-shāhī along the Jām-rūd, to give the news to the
Pādshāh." On this the begs were summoned and advice was taken. In
consequence of this [Sidenote: Fol. 244b.] news, it seemed inadvisable
to victual the fort (Pūrshāwūr), and we started back intending to go to
Badakhshān.[1504] Langar Khān was appointed to help Muḥ. `Alī
_Jang-jang_; he was given an honorary dress and allowed to go.
That night a wine-party was held in Khwāja Muḥ. `Alī's tent. We marched
on next day, crossed Khaibar and dismounted below the pass.
(_ee. The Khiẓr-khail Afghāns._)
(_Oct. 3rd_) Many improper things the Khiẓr-khail had done! When the
army went to and fro, they used to shoot at the laggards and at those
dismounted apart, in order to get their horses. It seemed lawful
therefore and right to punish them. With this plan we marched from below
the pass at daybreak, ate our mid-day meal in Dih-i-ghulāmān
(Basaul),[1505] and after feeding our horses, rode on again at the
Mid-day Prayer.
Muḥ Ḥusain the armourer was made to gallop off to Kābul with orders to
keep prisoner all Khiẓr-khailīs there, and to submit to me an account of
their possessions; also, to write a detailed account of whatever news
there was from Badakhshān and to send a man off with it quickly from
Kābul to me.
That night we moved on till the second watch (midnight), got a little
beyond Sulṯānpūr, there slept awhile, then rode on again. The
Khiẓr-khail were understood to have their seat from Bahār (Vihāra?) and
Mīch-grām to Karā-sū (_sic_). Arriving before dawn, (_Oct. 4th_) the
raid was allowed. Most of the goods of the Khiẓr-khailīs and their small
children fell into the army's hands; a few tribesmen, being near the
mountains, drew off to [Sidenote: Fol. 245.] them and were left.
(_Oct. 5th_) We dismounted next day at Qīlaghū where pheasants were
taken on our ground. Today the baggage came up from the rear and was
unloaded here. Owing to this punitive raid, the Wazīrī Afghāns who never
had given in their tribute well, brought 300 sheep.
(_Oct. 9th_) I had written nothing since my hand was dislocated; here I
wrote a little, on Sunday the 14th of the month.[1506]
(_Oct. 10th_) Next day came Afghān chiefs leading the Khirilchī [and]
Samū-khail. The Dilazāk Afghāns entreated pardon for them; we gave it
and set the captured free, fixed their tribute at 4000 sheep, gave coats
(_tūn_) to their chiefs, appointed and sent out collectors.
(_Oct. 13th_) These matters settled, we marched on Thursday the 18th,
and dismounted at Bahār (Vihāra?) and Mīch-grām.
(_Oct. 14th_) Next day I went to the Bāgh-i-wafā. Those were the days of
the garden's beauty; its lawns were one sheet of trefoil; its
pomegranate-trees yellowed to autumn splendour,[1507] their fruit full
red; fruit on the orange-trees green and glad (_khurram_), countless
oranges but not yet as yellow as our hearts desired! The pomegranates
were excellent, not equal, however, to the best ones of Wilāyat.[1508]
The one excellent and blessed content we have had from the Bāgh-i-wafā
was had at this time. [Sidenote: Fol. 245b.] We were there three or four
days; during the time the whole camp had pomegranates in abundance.
(_Oct. 17th_) We marched from the garden on Monday. I stayed in it till
the first watch (9 a.m.) and gave away oranges; I bestowed the fruit of
two trees on Shāh Ḥasan; to several begs I gave the fruit of one tree
each; to some gave one tree for two persons. As we were thinking of
visiting Lamghān in the winter, I ordered that they should reserve
(_qūrūghlāīlār_) at least 20 of the trees growing round the reservoir.
That day we dismounted at Gandamak.
(_Oct. 18th_) Next day we dismounted at Jagdālīk. Near the Evening
Prayer there was a wine-party at which most of the household were
present. After a time Qāsim Beg's sister's son Gadāī _bihjat_[1509] used
very disturbing words and, being drunk, slid down on the cushion by my
side, so Gadāī T̤aghāī picked him up and carried him out from the party.
(_Oct. 19th_) Marching next day from that ground, I made an excursion up
the valley-bottom of the Bārīk-āb towards Qūrūq-sāī. A few purslain
trees were in the utmost autumn beauty. On dismounting, seasonable[1510]
food was set out. The vintage was the cause! wine was drunk! A sheep
was ordered brought from the road and made into _kabābs_ (_brochettes_).
We amused ourselves by setting fire to branches of holm-oak.[1511]
Mullā `Abdu'l-malik _dīwāna_[1512] having begged to take the news of our
coming into Kābul, was sent ahead. To this place came Ḥasan Nabīra from
Mīrzā Khān's presence; he must have come after letting me know [his
intention of coming].[1513] There was [Sidenote: Fol. 246.] drinking
till the Sun's decline; we then rode off. People in our party had become
very drunk, Sayyid Qāsim so much so, that two of his servants mounted
him and got him into camp with difficulty. Muḥ. Bāqir's Dost was so
drunk that people, headed by Amīn-i-muḥammad Tarkhān and Mastī _chuhra_,
could not get him on his horse; even when they poured water on his head,
nothing was effected. At that moment a body of Afghāns appeared.
Amīn-i-muḥammad, who had had enough himself, had this idea, "Rather than
leave him here, as he is, to be taken, let us cut his head off and carry
it with us." At last after 100 efforts, they mounted him and brought him
with them. We reached Kābul at midnight.
(_ff. Incidents in Kābul._)
In Court next morning Qulī Beg waited on me. He had been to Sl. Sa'īd
Khān's presence in Kāshghar as my envoy. To him as envoy to me had been
added Bīshka Mīrzā _Itārchī_[1514] who brought me gifts of the goods of
that country.
(_Oct. 25th_) On Wednesday the 1st of Ẕū'l-qa`da, I went by myself to
Qābil's tomb[1515] and there took my morning. The people of the party
came later by ones and twos. When the Sun waxed hot, we went to the
Violet-garden and drank there, by the side of the reservoir. Mid-day
coming on, we slept. At the Mid-day Prayer we drank again. At this
mid-day party I gave wine to Tīngrī-qulī Beg and to Mahndī (?) to whom
at any earlier party, wine had not been given. At the Bed-time
[Sidenote: Fol. 246b.] Prayer, I went to the Hot-bath where I stayed the
night.
(_Oct. 26th_) On Thursday honorary dresses were bestowed on the
Hindūstānī traders, headed by Yaḥya _Nūḥānī_, and they were allowed to
go.
(_Oct. 28th_) On Saturday the 4th, a dress and gifts were bestowed on
Bīshka Mīrzā, who had come from Kāshghar, and he was given leave to go.
(_Oct. 29th_) On Sunday there was a party in the little Picture-hall
over the (Chār-bāgh) gate; small retreat though it is, 16 persons were
present.
(_gg. Excursion to the Koh-dāman._)
(_Oct. 30th_) Today we went to Istālīf to see the harvest (_khizān_).
Today was done the sin (? _irtikāb qīlīb aīdī_) of _ma'jūn_. Much rain
fell; most of the begs and the household came into my tent, outside the
Bāgh-i-kalān.
(_Oct. 31st_) Next day there was a wine-party in the same garden,
lasting till night.
(_November 1st_) At dawn we took our morning (_ṣubāḥī ṣubūḥī qīldūk_)
and got drunk, took a sleep, and at the Mid-day Prayer rode from
Istālīf. On the road a confection was eaten. We reached Bih-zādī at the
Other Prayer. The harvest-crops were very beautiful; while we were
viewing them those disposed for wine began to agitate about it. The
harvest-colour was extremely beautiful; wine was drunk, though _ma'jūn_
had been eaten, sitting under autumnal trees. The party lasted till the
Bed-time Prayer. Khalīfa's Mullā Maḥmūd arriving, we had him summoned to
join the party. `Abdu'l-lāh was very drunk [Sidenote: Fol. 247.] indeed;
a word affecting Khalīfa (_ṯarfidīn_) being said, `Abdu'l-lāh forgot
Mullā Maḥmūd and recited this line:—
Regard whom thou wilt, he suffers from the same wound.[1516]
Mullā Maḥmūd was sober; he blamed `Abdu'l-lāh for repeating that line in
jest; `Abdu'l-lāh came to his senses, was troubled in mind, and after
this talked and chatted very sweetly.
Our excursion to view the harvest was over; we dismounted, close to the
Evening Prayer, in the Chār-bāgh.
(_Nov. 12th_) On Friday the 16th, after eating a confection
with a few special people in the Violet-garden, we went on a boat.
Humāyūn and Kāmrān were with us later; Humāyūn made a very good shot at
a duck.
(_hh. A Bohemian episode._)
(_Nov. 14th_) On Saturday the 18th, I rode out of the Chār-bāgh at
midnight, sent night-watch and groom back, crossed Mullā Bābā's bridge,
got out by the Dīūrīn-narrows, round by the bāzārs and _kārez_ of
Qūsh-nādur (var.), along the back of the Bear-house (_khirs-khāna_), and
near sunrise reached Tardī Beg _Khāk-sār's[1517] kārez_. He ran out
quickly on hearing of me. His shortness (_qālāshlīghī_) was known; I had
taken 100 _shāhrukhīs_ (£5) with me; I gave him these and told him to
get wine and other things ready as I had a fancy for a private and
unrestrained party. He went for wine towards Bih-zādī[1518]; I sent my
horse by his slave to the valley-bottom and sat down on the slope behind
the _kārez_. At the first watch (9 a.m.) Tardī Beg brought [Sidenote:
Fol. 247b.] a pitcher of wine which we drank by turns. After him came
Muḥammad-i-qāsim _Barlās_ and Shāh-zāda who had got to know of his
fetching the wine, and had followed him, their minds quite empty of any
thought about me. We invited them to the party. Said Tardī Beg, "Hul-hul
Anīga wishes to drink wine with you." Said I, "For my part, I never saw
a woman drink wine; invite her." We also invited Shāhī a qalandar, and
one of the _kārez_-men who played the rebeck. There was drinking till
the Evening Prayer on the rising-ground behind the _kārez_; we then went
into Tardī Beg's house and drank by lamp-light almost till the Bed-time
Prayer. The party was quite free and unpretending. I lay down, the
others went to another house and drank there till beat of drum
(midnight). Hul-hul Anīga came in and made me much disturbance; I got
rid of her at last by flinging myself down as if drunk. It was in my
mind to put people off their guard, and ride off alone to Astar-ghach,
but it did not come off because they got to know. In the end, I rode
away at beat of drum, after letting Tardī Beg and Shāh-zāda know. We
three mounted and made for Astar-ghach.
(_Nov. 15th_) We reached Khwāja Ḥasan below Istālīf by the first prayer
(_farẓ waqt_); dismounted for a while, ate a confection, [Sidenote: Fol.
248.] and went to view the harvest. When the Sun was up, we dismounted
at a garden in Istālīf and ate grapes. We slept at Khwāja Shahāb, a
dependency of Astar-ghach. Ātā, the Master of the Horse, must have had a
house somewhere near, for before we were awake he had brought food and a
pitcher of wine. The vintage was very fine. After drinking a few cups,
we rode on. We next dismounted in a garden beautiful with autumn; there
a party was held at which Khwāja Muḥammad Amīn joined us. Drinking went
on till the Bed-time Prayer. During that day and night `Abdu'l-lāh,
`Asas, Nūr Beg and Yūsuf-i-`alī all arrived from Kābul.
(_Nov. 16th_) After food at dawn, we rode out and visited the
Bāgh-i-pādshāhī below Astar-ghach. One young apple-tree in it had turned
an admirable autumn-colour; on each branch were left 5 or 6 leaves in
regular array; it was such that no painter trying to depict it could
have equalled. After riding from Astar-ghach we ate at Khwāja Ḥasan, and
reached Bih-zādī at the Evening Prayer. There we drank in the house of
Khwāja Muḥ. Amīn's servant Imām-i-muḥammad.
(_Nov. 17th_) Next day, Tuesday, we went into the Chār-bāgh of Kābul.
(_Nov. 18th_) On Thursday the 23rd, having marched (_kūchūb_), the fort
was entered.
(_Nov. 19th_) On Friday Muḥammad `Alī (son of ?) Ḥaidar the
stirrup-holder brought, as an offering, a _tūīgūn_[1519] he had caught.
(_Nov. 20th_) On Saturday the 25th, there was a party in the Plane-tree
garden from which I rose and mounted at the Bed-time Prayer. Sayyid
Qāsim being in shame at past occurrences,[1520] we dismounted at his
house and drank a few cups.
[Sidenote: Fol. 248b.] (_Nov. 24th_) On Thursday the 1st of Ẕū'l-ḥijja,
Tāju'd-dīn Maḥmūd, come from Qandahār, waited on me.
(_Dec. 12th_) On Monday the 19th, Muḥ. `Alī _Jang-jang_ came from
Nīl-āb.
(_Dec. 13th_) On Tuesday the ... of the month, Sangar Khān _Janjūha_,
come from Bhīra, waited on me.
(_Dec. 16th_) On Friday the 23rd, I finished (copying?) the odes and
couplets selected according to their measure from `Alī-sher Beg's four
Dīwāns.[1521]
(_Dec. 20th_) On Tuesday the 27th there was a social-gathering in the
citadel, at which it was ordered that if any-one went out from it drunk,
that person should not be invited to a party again.
(_Dec. 23rd_) On Friday the 30th of Ẕū'l-ḥijja it was ridden out with
the intention of making an excursion to Lamghān.
926 AH.-DEC. 23RD 1519 TO DEC. 12TH 1520 AD.[1522]
(_a. Excursion to the Koh-dāman and Kohistān._)
(_Dec. 23rd_) On Saturday Muḥarram 1st Khwāja Sih-yārān was reached. A
wine-party was had on the bank of the conduit, where this comes out on
the hill.[1523]
(_Dec. 24th_) Riding on next morning (2nd), we visited the moving sands
(_reg-i-rawān_). A party was held in Sayyid Qāsim's _Bulbul's_
house.[1524]
(_Dec. 25th_) Riding on from there, we ate a confection (_ma'jūn_), went
further and dismounted at Bilkir (?).
(_Dec. 26th_) At dawn (4th) we made our morning [_ṣubāḥī ṣubūḥī
qīldūk_], although there might be drinking at night. We rode on at the
Mid-day Prayer, dismounted at Dūr-nāma[1525] and there had a wine party.
(_Dec. 27th_) We took our morning early. Ḥaq-dād, the headman of
Dūr-namā made me an offering (_pesh-kash_) of his garden.
(_Dec. 28th_) Riding thence on Thursday (6th), we dismounted at the
villages of the Tājiks in Nijr-aū.
(_Dec. 29th_) On Friday (7th) we hunted the hill between Forty-ploughs
(_Chihil-qulba_) and the water of Bārān; many deer fell. [Sidenote: Fol.
249.] I had not shot an arrow since my hand was hurt; now, with an
easy[1526] bow, I shot a deer in the shoulder, the arrow going in to
half up the feather. Returning from hunting, we went on at the Other
Prayer in Nijr-aū.
(_Dec. 30th_) Next day (Saturday 8th) the tribute of the Nijr-aū people
was fixed at 60 gold mis̤qāls.[1527]
(_Jan. 1st_) On Monday (10th) we rode on intending to visit
Lamghān.[1528] I had expected Humāyūn to go with us, but as he inclined
to stay behind, leave was given him from Kūra-pass. We went on and
dismounted in Badr-aū (Tag-aū).
(_b. Excursions in Lamghān._)
(_Jan. ..._) Riding on, we dismounted at Aūlūgh-nūr.[1529] The fishermen
there took fish at one draught[1530] from the water of Bārān. At the
Other Prayer (afternoon) there was drinking on the raft; and there was
drinking in a tent after we left the raft at the Evening Prayer.
Ḥaidar the standard-bearer had been sent from Dāwar[1531] to the Kāfirs;
several Kāfir headmen came now to the foot of Bād-i-pīch (pass), brought
a few goat-skins of wine, and did obeisance. In descending that pass a
surprising number of ...[1532] was seen.
(_Jan. ..._) Next day getting on a raft, we ate a confection, got off
below Būlān and went to camp. There were two rafts.
(_Jan. 5th_) Marching on Friday (14th), we dismounted below Mandrāwar on
the hill-skirt. There was a late wine-party.
(_Jan. 6th_) On Saturday (15th), we passed through the Darūta narrows by
raft, got off a little above Jahān-namā'ī (Jalālābād) and went to the
Bāgh-i-wafā in front of Adīnapūr. When we were leaving the raft the
governor of Nīngnahār Qayyām Aūrdū Shāh came and did obeisance. Langar
Khān _Nīā-zāī_,—he had [Sidenote: Fol. 249b.] been in Nīl-āb for a
time,—waited upon me on the road. We dismounted in the Bāgh-i-wafā; its
oranges had yellowed beautifully; its spring-bloom was well-advanced,
and it was very charming. We stayed in it five or six days.
As it was my wish and inclination (_jū dagh-dagha_)to return to
obedience (_tā'ib_) in my 40th year, I was drinking to excess now that
less than a year was left.
(_Jan. 7th_) On Sunday the 16th, having made my morning (_ṣubūḥī_) and
became sober. Mullā Yārak played an air he had composed in five-time and
in the five-line measure (_makhammas_), while I chose to eat a
confection (_ma'jūn_). He had composed an excellent air. I had not
occupied myself with such things for some time; a wish to compose came
over me now, so I composed an air in four-time, as will be mentioned in
time.[1533]
(_Jan. 10th_) On Wednesday (19th) it was said for fun, while we
were making our morning (_ṣubūḥī_), "Let whoever speaks like a
Sārt (_i.e._ in Persian) drink a cup." Through this many drank. At
_sunnat-waqt_[1534] again, when we were sitting under the willows in the
middle of the meadow, it was said, "Let whoever speaks like a Turk,
drink a cup!" Through this also numbers drank. After the sun got up, we
drank under the orange-trees on the reservoir-bank.
(_Jan. 11th_) Next day (20th) we got on a raft from Darūta; got off
again below Jūī-shāhī and went to Atar.
(_Jan...._) We rode from there to visit Nūr-valley, went as far as Sūsān
(lily)-village, then turned back and dismounted in Amla.
[Sidenote: Fol. 250.] (_Jan. 14th_) As Khwāja Kalān had brought Bajaur
into good order, and as he was a friend of mine, I had sent for him and
had made Bajaur over to Shāh Mīr Ḥusain's charge. On Saturday the 22nd
of the month (Muḥarram), Shāh Mīr Ḥusain was given leave to go. That day
in Amla we drank.
(_Jan. 15th_) It rained (_yāmghūr yāghdūrūb_) next day (23rd).
When we reached Kula-grām in Kūnār[1535] where Malik `Alī's house is,
we dismounted at his middle son's house, overlooking an orange-orchard.
We did not go into the orchard because of the rain but just drank where
we were. The rain was very heavy. I taught Mullā `Alī Khān a ṯalisman I
knew; he wrote it on four pieces of paper and hung them on four sides;
as he did it, the rain stopped and the air began to clear.
(_Jan. 16th_) At dawn (24th) we got on a raft; on another several braves
went. People in Bajaur, Sawād, Kūnār and thereabouts make a beer (_bīr
būza_)[1536] the ferment of which is a thing they call _kīm_.[1537] This
_kīm_ they make of the roots of herbs and several simples, shaped like a
loaf, dried and kept by them. Some sorts of beer are surprisingly
exhilarating, but bitter and distasteful. We had thought of drinking
beer but, because of its bitter taste, preferred a confection. `Asas,
Ḥasan _Aīkirik_,[1538] and Mastī, on the other raft, were ordered to
drink some; they did so and became quite drunk. Ḥasan _Aīkirik_ set up a
disgusting disturbance; `Asas, very drunk, did such [Sidenote: Fol.
250b.] unpleasant things that we were most uncomfortable (_ba tang_). I
thought of having them put off on the far side of the water, but some of
the others begged them off.
I had sent for Khwāja Kalān at this time and had bestowed Bajaur on Shāh
Mīr Ḥusain. For why? Khwāja Kalān was a friend; his stay in Bajaur had
been long; moreover the Bajaur appointment appeared an easy one.
At the ford of the Kūnār-water Shāh Mīr Ḥusain met me on his way to
Bajaur. I sent for him and said a few trenchant words, gave him some
special armour, and let him go.
Opposite Nūr-gal (Rock-village) an old man begged from those on the
rafts; every-one gave him something, coat (_tūn_), turban, bathing-cloth
and so on, so he took a good deal away.
At a bad place in mid-stream the raft struck with a great shock; there
was much alarm; it did not sink but Mīr Muḥammad the raftsman was thrown
into the water. We were near Atar that night.
(_Jan. 17th_) On Tuesday (25th) we reached Mandrāwar.[1539] Qūtlūq-qadam
and his father had arranged a party inside the fort; though the place
had no charm, a few cups were drunk there to please them. We went to
camp at the Other Prayer.
(_Jan. 18th_) On Wednesday (26th) an excursion was made to
Kind-kir[1540] spring. Kind-kir is a dependent village of the Mandrāwar
_tūmān_, the one and only village of the Lamghānāt [Sidenote: Fol. 251.]
where dates are grown. It lies rather high on the mountain-skirt, its
date lands on its east side. At one edge of the date lands is the
spring, in a place aside (_yān yīr_). Six or seven yards below the
spring-head people have heaped up stones to make a shelter[1541] for
bathing and by so-doing have raised the water in the reservoir high
enough for it to pour over the heads of the bathers. The water is very
soft; it is felt a little cold in wintry days but is pleasant if one
stays in it.
(_Jan. 19th_) On Thursday (27th) Sher Khān _Tarkalānī_ got us to
dismount at his house and there gave us a feast (_ẓiyāfat_). Having
ridden on at the Mid-day Prayer, fish were taken out of the fish-ponds
of which particulars have been given.[1542]
(_Jan. 20th_) On Friday (28th) we dismounted near Khwāja Mīr-i-mīrān's
village. A party was held there at the Evening Prayer.
(_Jan. 21st_) On Saturday (29th) we hunted the hill between `Alī-shang
and Alangār. One hunting-circle having been made on the `Alī-shang side,
another on the Alangār, the deer were driven down off the hill and many
were killed. Returning from hunting, we dismounted in a garden belonging
to the Maliks of Alangār and there had a party.
Half of one of my front-teeth had broken off, the other half remaining;
this half broke off today while I was eating food.
(_Jan. 22nd_) At dawn (Ṣafar 1st) we rode out and had a fishing-net
cast, at mid-day went into `Alī-shang and drank in a garden.
(_Jan. 23rd_) Next day (Ṣafar 2nd) Ḥamza Khān, Malik of `Alī-shang was
made over to the avengers-of-blood[1543] for his evil deeds in shedding
innocent blood, and retaliation was made.
(_Jan. 24th_) On Tuesday, after reading a chapter of the Qorān
[Sidenote: Fol. 251b.] (_wird_), we turned for Kābul by the Yān-būlāgh
road. At the Other Prayer, we passed the [Bārān]-water from Aūlūgh-nūr
(Great-rock); reached Qarā-tū by the Evening Prayer, there gave our
horses corn and had a hasty meal prepared, rode on again as soon as they
had finished their barley.[1544]
TRANSLATOR'S NOTE ON 926 TO 932 AH.-1520 TO 1525 AD.
Bābur's diary breaks off here for five years and ten months.[1545] His
activities during the unrecorded period may well have left no time in
which to keep one up, for in it he went thrice to Qandahār, thrice into
India, once to Badakhshān, once to Balkh; twice at least he punished
refractory tribesmen; he received embassies from Hindūstān, and must
have had much to oversee in muster and equipment for his numerous
expeditions. Over and above this, he produced the _Mubīn_, a Turkī poem
of 2000 lines.
That the gap in his autobiography is not intentional several passages in
his writings show;[1546] he meant to fill it; there is no evidence that
he ever did so; the reasonable explanation of his failure is that he
died before he had reached this part of his book.
The events of these unrecorded years are less interesting than those of
the preceding gap, inasmuch as their drama of human passion is simpler;
it is one mainly of cross-currents of ambition, nothing in it matching
the maelstrom of sectarian hate, tribal antipathy, and racial struggle
which engulphed Bābur's fortunes beyond the Oxus.
None-the-less the period has its distinctive mark, the biographical one
set by his personality as his long-sustained effort works out towards
rule in Hindūstān. He becomes felt; his surroundings bend to his
purpose; his composite following accepts his goal; he gains the southern
key of Kābul and Hindūstān and presses the Arghūns out from his rear; in
the Panj-āb he becomes a power; the Rājpūt Rānā of Chitor proffers him
alliance against Ibrāhīm; and his intervention is sought in those
warrings of the Afghāns which were the matrix of his own success.
_a. Dramatis personae._
The following men played principal parts in the events of the
unchronicled years:—
Bābur in Kābul, Badakhshān and Balkh,[1547] his earlier following purged
of Mughūl rebellion, and augmented by the various Mīrzās-in-exile in
whose need of employment Shāh Beg saw Bābur's need of wider
territory.[1548]
Sulṯān Ibrāhīm _Lūdī_ who had succeeded after his father Sikandar's
death (Sunday Ẕū'l-qa`da 7th 923 _AH._-Nov. 21st 1517 AD.)[1549], was
now embroiled in civil war, and hated for his tyranny and cruelty.
Shāh Ismā`īl _Ṣafawī_, ruling down to Rajab 19th 930 AH. (May 24th 1524
AD.) and then succeeded by his son T̤ahmāsp _aet._ 10.
Kūchūm (Kūchkūnjī) Khān, Khāqān of the Aūzbegs, Shaibānī's successor,
now in possession of Transoxiana.
Sulṯān Sa`īd Khān _Chaghatāī_, with head-quarters in Kāshghar, a ruler
amongst the Mughūls but not their Khāqān, the supreme Khānship being his
elder brother Manṣūr's.
Shāh Shujā' Beg _Arghūn_, who, during the period, at various times held
Qandahār, Shāl, Mustang, Sīwīstān, and part of Sind. He died in 930 AH.
(1524 AD.) and was succeeded by his son Ḥasan who read the _khuṯba_ for
Bābur.
Khān Mīrzā _Mīrānshāhī_, who held Badakhshān from Bābur, with
head-quarters in Qūndūz; he died in 927 AH. (1520 AD.) and was succeeded
in his appointment by Humāyūn _aet._ 13.
Muḥammad-i-zamān _Bāī-qarā_ who held Balkh perhaps direct from Bābur,
perhaps from Ismā`īl through Bābur.
`Alā'u'd-dīn `Ālam Khān _Lūdī_, brother of the late Sulṯān Sikandar
_Lūdī_ and now desiring to supersede his nephew Ibrāhīm.
Daulat Khān _Yūsuf-khail_ (as Bābur uniformly describes him), or _Lūdī_
(as other writers do), holding Lāhor for Ibrāhīm _Lūdī_ at the beginning
of the period.
_SOURCES FOR THE EVENTS OF THIS GAP_
A complete history of the events the _Bābur-nāma_ leaves unrecorded has
yet to be written. The best existing one, whether Oriental or European,
is Erskine's _History of India_, but this does not exhaust the
sources—notably not using the _Ḥabību's-siyar_—and could be revised here
and there with advantage.
Most of the sources enumerated as useful for filling the previous gap
are so here; to them must be added, for the affairs of Qandahār,
Khwānd-amīr's _Ḥabību's-siyar_. This Mīr Ma`ṣūm's _Tārīkh-i-sind_
supplements usefully, but its brevity and its discrepant dates make it
demand adjustment; in some details it is expanded by Sayyid Jamāl's
_Tarkhān-_ or _Arghūn-nāma_.
For the affairs of Hindūstān the main sources are enumerated in Elliot
and Dowson's _History of India_ and in Nassau Lees' _Materials for the
history of India_. Doubtless all will be exhausted for the coming
_Cambridge History of India_.
_EVENTS OF THE UNCHRONICLED YEARS_
926 AH.-DEC. 23RD 1519 TO DEC. 12TH 1520 AD.
The question of which were Bābur's "Five expeditions" into Hindūstān has
been often discussed; it is useful therefore to establish the dates of
those known as made. I have entered one as made in this year for the
following reasons;—it broke short because Shāh Beg made incursion into
Bābur's territories, and that incursion was followed by a siege of
Qandahār which several matters mentioned below show to have taken place
in 926 AH.
_a. Expedition into Hindūstān._
The march out from Kābul may have been as soon as muster and equipment
allowed after the return from Lamghān chronicled in the diary. It was
made through Bajaur where refractory tribesmen were brought to order.
The Indus will have been forded at the usual place where, until the last
one of 932 AH. (1525 AD.), all expeditions crossed on the outward march.
Bhīra was traversed in which were Bābur's own Commanders, and advance
was made, beyond lands yet occupied, to Sīālkot, 72 miles north of Lāhor
and in the Rechna _dū-āb_. It was occupied without resistance; and a
further move made to what the MSS. call Sayyidpūr; this attempted
defence, was taken by assault and put to the sword. No place named
Sayyidpūr is given in the Gazetteer of India, but the _Āyīn-i-akbarī_
mentions a Sidhpūr which from its neighbourhood to Sīālkot may be what
Bābur took.
Nothing indicates an intention in Bābur to join battle with Ibrāhīm at
this time; Lāhor may have been his objective, after he had made a
demonstration in force to strengthen his footing in Bhīra. Whatever he
may have planned to do beyond Sidhpūr(?) was frustrated by the news
which took him back to Kābul and thence to Qandahār, that an incursion
into his territory had been made by Shāh Beg.
_b. Shāh Shujā` Beg's position._
Shāh Beg was now holding Qandahār, Shāl, Mustang and Sīwīstān.[1550] He
knew that he held Qandahār by uncertain tenure, in face of its
desirability for Bābur and his own lesser power. His ground was further
weakened by its usefulness for operations on Harāt and the presence with
Bābur of Bāī-qarā refugees, ready to seize a chance, if offered by
Ismā`īl's waning fortunes, for recovery of their former seat. Knowing
his weakness, he for several years had been pushing his way out into
Sind by way of the Bolān-pass.
His relations with Bābur were ostensibly good; he had sent him envoys
twice last year, the first time to announce a success at Kāhān had in
the end of 924 AH. (Nov. 1519 AD.). His son Ḥasan however, with whom he
was unreconciled, had been for more than a year in Bābur's company,—a
matter not unlikely to stir under-currents of unfriendliness on either
side.
His relations with Shāh Ismā`īl were deferential, in appearance even
vassal-like, as is shewn by Khwānd-amīr's account of his appeal for
intervention against Bābur to the Shāh's officers in Harāt. Whether he
read the _khuṯba_ for any suzerain is doubtful; his son Ḥasan, it may be
said, read it later on for Bābur.
_c. The impelling cause of this siege of Qandahār._
Precisely what Shāh Beg did to bring Bābur back from the Panj-āb and
down upon Qandahār is not found mentioned by any source. It seems likely
to have been an affair of subordinates instigated by or for him. Its
immediate agents may have been the Nīkdīrī (Nūkdīrī) and Hazāra tribes
Bābur punished on his way south. Their location was the western
border-land; they may have descended on the Great North Road or have
raided for food in that famine year. It seems certain that Shāh Beg made
no serious attempt on Kābul; he was too much occupied in Sind to allow
him to do so. Some unused source may throw light on the matter
incidentally; the offence may have been small in itself and yet
sufficient to determine Bābur to remove risk from his rear.[1551]
_d. Qandahār._
The Qandahār of Bābur's sieges was difficult of capture; he had not
taken it in 913 AH. (f. 208_b_) by siege or assault, but by default
after one day's fight in the open. The strength of its position can be
judged from the following account of its ruins as they were seen in 1879
AD., the military details of which supplement Bellew's description
quoted in Appendix J.
The fortifications are of great extent with a treble line of bastioned
walls and a high citadel in the centre. The place is in complete ruin
and its locality now useful only as a grazing ground.... "The town is in
three parts, each on a separate eminence, and capable of mutual
defence. The mountain had been covered with towers united by curtains,
and the one on the culminating point may be called impregnable. It
commanded the citadel which stood lower down on the second eminence, and
this in turn commanded the town which was on a table-land elevated above
the plain. The triple walls surrounding the city were at a considerable
distance from it. After exploring the citadel and ruins, we mounted by
the gorge to the summit of the hill with the impregnable fort. In this
gorge are the ruins of two tanks, some 80 feet square, all destroyed,
with the pillars fallen; the work is _pukka_ in brick and _chunām_
(cement) and each tank had been domed in; they would have held about
400,000 gallons each." (Le Messurier's _Kandahar in 1879 AD._ pp. 223,
245.)
_e. Bābur's sieges of Qandahār._
The term of five years is found associated with Bābur's sieges of
Qandahār, sometimes suggesting a single attempt of five years' duration.
This it is easy to show incorrect; its root may be Mīr Ma`ṣūm's
erroneous chronology.
The day on which the keys of Qandahār were made over to Bābur is known,
from the famous inscription which commemorates the event (Appendix J),
as Shawwāl 13th 928 AH. Working backwards from this, it is known that in
927 AH. terms of surrender were made and that Bābur went back to Kābul;
he is besieging it in 926 AH.—the year under description; his annals of
925 AH. are complete and contain no siege; the year 924 AH. appears to
have had no siege, Shāh Beg was on the Indus and his son was for at
least part of it with Bābur; 923 AH. was a year of intended siege,
frustrated by Bābur's own illness; of any siege in 922 AH. there is as
yet no record known. So that it is certain there was no unremitted
beleaguerment through five years.
_f. The siege of 926 AH. (1520 AD.)._
When Bābur sat down to lay regular siege to Qandahār, with mining and
battering of the walls,[1552] famine was desolating the country round.
The garrison was reduced to great distress; "pestilence," ever an ally
of Qandahār, broke out within the walls, spread to Bābur's camp, and in
the month of Tīr (June) led him to return to Kābul.
In the succeeding months of respite, Shāh Beg pushed on in Sind and his
former slave, now commander, Mehtar Saṃbhal revictualled the town.
927 AH.—DEC. 12TH 1520 TO DEC. 1ST 1521 AD.
_a. The manuscript sources._
Two accounts of the sieges of Qandahār in this and next year are
available, one in Khwānd-amīr's _Ḥabību's-siyar_, the other in Ma`ṣūm
_Bhakkarī's Tārīkh-i-sind_. As they have important differences, it is
necessary to consider the opportunities of their authors for
information.
Khwānd-amīr finished his history in 1524-29 AD. His account of these
affairs of Qandahār is contemporary; he was in close touch with several
of the actors in them and may have been in Harāt through their course;
one of his patrons, Amīr Ghiyāṣu'd-dīn, was put to death in this year in
Harāt because of suspicion that he was an ally of Bābur; his nephew,
another Ghiyāṣu'd-dīn was in Qandahār, the bearer next year of its keys
to Bābur; moreover he was with Bābur himself a few years later in
Hindūstān.
Mīr Ma`ṣūm wrote in 1600 AD. 70 to 75 years after Khwānd-amīr. Of these
sieges he tells what may have been traditional and mentions no
manuscript authorities. Blochmann's biography of him (_Āyīn-i-akbarī_ p.
514) shews his ample opportunity of learning orally what had happened in
the Arghūn invasion of Sind, but does not mention the opportunity for
hearing traditions about Qandahār which his term of office there allowed
him. During that term it was that he added an inscription, commemorative
of Akbar's dominion, to Bābur's own at Chihil-zīna, which records the
date of the capture of Qandahār (928 AH.-1522 AD.).
_b. The Ḥabību's-siyar account_ (lith. ed. iii, part 4, p. 97).
Khwānd-amīr's contemporary narrative allows Ma`ṣūm's to dovetail into it
as to some matters, but contradicts it in the important ones of date,
and mode of surrender by Shāh Beg to Bābur. It states that Bābur was
resolved in 926 AH. (1520 AD.) to uproot Shāh Shujā` Beg from Qandahār,
led an army against the place, and "opened the Gates of war". It gives
no account of the siege of 926 AH. but passes on to the occurrences of
927 AH. (1521 AD.) when Shāh Beg, unable to meet Bābur in the field,
shut himself up in the town and strengthened the defences. Bābur put his
utmost pressure on the besieged, "often riding his piebald horse close
to the moat and urging his men to fiery onset." The garrison resisted
manfully, breaching the "life-fortresses" of the Kābulīs with sword,
arrow, spear and death-dealing stone, but Bābur's heroes were most often
victorious, and drove their assailants back through the Gates.
_c. Death of Khān Mīrzā reported to Bābur._
Meantime, continues Khwānd-amīr, Khān Mīrzā had died in Badakhshān; the
news was brought to Bābur and caused him great grief; he appointed
Humāyūn to succeed the Mīrzā while he himself prosecuted the siege of
Qandahār and the conquest of the Garm-sīr.[1553]
_d. Negociations with Bābur._
The Governor of Harāt at this time was Shāh Ismā`īl's son T̤ahmāsp,
between six and seven years old. His guardian Amīr Khān took chief part
in the diplomatic intervention with Bābur, but associated with him was
Amīr Ghiyāṣu'd-dīn—the patron of Khwānd-amīr already mentioned—until put
to death as an ally of Bābur. The discussion had with Bābur reveals a
complexity of motives demanding attention. Nominally undertaken though
intervention was on behalf of Shāh Beg, and certainly so at his request,
the Persian officers seem to have been less anxious on his account than
for their own position in Khurāsān, their master's position at the time
being weakened by ill-success against the Sulṯān of Rūm. To Bābur, Shāh
Beg is written of as though he were an insubordinate vassal whom Bābur
was reducing to order for the Shāh, but when Amīr Khān heard that Shāh
Beg was hard pressed, he was much distressed because he feared a
victorious Bābur might move on Khurāsān. Nothing indicates however that
Bābur had Khurāsān in his thoughts; Hindūstān was his objective, and
Qandahār a help on the way; but as Amīr Khān had this fear about him, a
probable ground for it is provided by the presence with Bābur of
Bāī-qarā exiles whose ambition it must have been to recover their former
seat. Whether for Harāt, Kābul, or Hindūstān, Qandahār was strength.
Another matter not fitting the avowed purpose of the diplomatic
intervention is the death of Ghiyāṣu'd-dīn because an ally of Bābur;
this makes Amīr Khān seem to count Bābur as Ismā`īl's enemy.
Shāh Beg's requests for intervention began in 926 AH. (1520 AD.), as
also did the remonstrance of the Persian officers with Bābur; his
couriers followed one another with entreaty that the Amīrs would
contrive for Bābur to retire, with promise of obeisance and of yearly
tribute. The Amīrs set forth to Bābur that though Shāh Shujā` Beg had
offended and had been deserving of wrath and chastisement, yet, as he
was penitent and had promised loyalty and tribute, it was now proper for
Bābur to raise the siege (of 926 AH.) and go back to Kābul. To this
Bābur answered that Shāh Beg's promise was a vain thing, on which no
reliance could be placed; please God!, said he, he himself would take
Qandahār and send Shāh Beg a prisoner to Harāt; and that he should be
ready then to give the keys of the town and the possession of the
Garm-sīr to any-one appointed to receive them.
This correspondence suits an assumption that Bābur acted for Shāh
Ismā`īl, a diplomatic assumption merely, the verbal veil, on one side,
for anxiety lest Bābur or those with him should attack Harāt,—on the
other, for Bābur's resolve to hold Qandahār himself.
Amīr Khān was not satisfied with Bābur's answer, but had his attention
distracted by another matter, presumably `Ubaidu'l-lāh Khān's attack on
Harāt in the spring of the year (March-April 1521 AD.). Negociations
appear to have been resumed later, since Khwānd-amīr claims it as their
result that Bābur left Qandahār this year.
_e. The Tārīkh-i-sind account._
Mīr Ma`ṣūm is very brief; he says that in this year (his 922 AH.), Bābur
went down to Qandahār before the year's tribute in grain had been
collected, destroyed the standing crops, encompassed the town, and
reduced it to extremity; that Shāh Beg, wearied under reiterated attack
and pre-occupied by operations in Sind, proposed terms, and that these
were made with stipulation for the town to be his during one year more
and then to be given over to Bābur. These terms settled, Bābur went to
Kābul, Shāh Beg to Sīwī.
The Arghūn families were removed to Shāl and Sīwī, so that the year's
delay may have been an accommodation allowed for this purpose.
_f. Concerning dates._
There is much discrepancy between the dates of the two historians.
Khwānd-amīr's agree with the few fixed ones of the period and with the
course of events; several of Ma`ṣūm's, on the contrary, are _seriatim_
five (lunar) years earlier. For instance, events Khwānd-amīr places
under 927 AH. Ma`ṣūm places under 922 AH. Again, while Ma`ṣūm correctly
gives 913 AH. (1507 AD.) as the year of Bābur's first capture of
Qandahār, he sets up a discrepant series later, from the success Shāh
Beg had at Kāhān; this he allots to 921 AH. (1515 AD.) whereas Bābur
received news of it (f. 233_b_) in the beginning of 925 AH. (1519 AD.).
Again, Ma`ṣūm makes Shāh Ḥasan go to Bābur in 921 AH. and stay two
years; but Ḥasan spent the whole of 925 AH. with Bābur and is not
mentioned as having left before the second month of 926 AH. Again,
Ma`ṣūm makes Shāh Beg surrender the keys of Qandahār in 923 AH. (1517
AD.), but 928 AH. (1522 AD.) is shewn by Khwānd-amīr's dates and
narrative, and is inscribed at Chihil-zīna.[1554]
928 AH.-DEC. 1ST 1521 TO NOV. 20TH 1522 AD.
_a. Bābur visits Badakhshān._
Either early in this year or late in the previous one, Bābur and Māhīm
went to visit Humāyūn in his government, probably to Faizābād, and
stayed with him what Gul-badan calls a few days.