(_Oct. 4th_) On Sunday the 19th of the month, we rode before dawn from
the Chār-bāgh, crossed the Kawārī-water and took our nooning
(_tūshlāndūk_). After the Mid-day Prayer we rode on, at sunset passed
the Chaṃbal-water, between the Evening and Bed-time Prayers entered
Dulpūr-fort, there, by lamp-light, visited a Hot-bath which Abū'l-fatḥ
had made, rode on, and dismounted at the dam-head where the new
Chār-bāgh is in making.
(_Oct. 5th_) Having stayed the night there, at dawn (_Monday 20th_) I
visited what places had been ordered made.[2300] The face (_yūz_) of the
roofed-tank, ordered cut in the solid rock, was not being got up quite
straight; more stone-cutters were sent for who were to make the
tank-bottom level, pour in water, and, by help of the water, to get the
sides to one height. They got the face up straight just before the Other
Prayer, were then ordered to fill the tank with water, by help of the
water made the sides [Sidenote: Fol. 344b.] match, then busied
themselves to smooth them. I ordered a water-chamber (_āb-khāna_) made
at a place where it would be cut in the solid rock; inside it was to be
a small tank also cut in the solid rock.
(_Here the record of 6 days is wanting._)[2301]
(_Oct. 12th_?) To-day, Monday (_27th_?), there was a _ma`jūn_ party.
(_Oct. 13th_) On Tuesday I was still in that same place. (_Oct. 14th_)
On the night of Wednesday,[2302] after opening the mouth and eating
something[2303] we rode for Sīkrī. Near the second watch (midnight), we
dismounted somewhere and slept; I myself could not sleep on account of
pain in my ear, whether caused by cold, as is likely, I do not know. At
the top of the dawn, we bestirred ourselves from that place, and in the
first watch dismounted at the garden now in making at Sīkrī. The
garden-wall and well-buildings were not getting on to my satisfaction;
the overseers therefore were threatened and punished. We rode on from
Sīkrī between the Other and Evening Prayers, passed through Marhākūr,
dismounted somewhere and slept.
(_Oct. 15th_) Riding on (_Thursday 30th_), we got into Āgra during the
first watch (6-9 a.m.). In the fort I saw the honoured Khadīja-sulṯān
Begīm who had stayed behind for several reasons when Fakhr-i-jahān Begīm
started for Kābul. Crossing Jūn (Jumna), I went to the Garden-of-eight
paradises.[2304]
(_m. Arrival of kinswomen._)
(_Oct. 17th_) On Saturday the 3rd of Ṣafar, between the Other and
Evening Prayers, I went to see three of the great-aunt begīms,[2305]
Gauhar-shād Begīm, Badī`u'l-jamāl Begīm, and Āq Begīm, with also, of
lesser begīms,[2306] Sl. Maṣ`ūd Mīrzā's daughter Khān-zāda Begīm, and
Sulṯān-bakht Begīm's daughter, and my _yīnkā chīcha's_ grand-daughter,
that is to say, Zaināb-sulṯān Begīm.[2307] They had come past Tūta and
dismounted at a small [Sidenote: Fol. 345.] standing-water (_qarā sū_)
on the edge of the suburbs. I came back direct by boat.
(_n. Despatch of an envoy to receive charge of Ranthaṃbhor._)
(_Oct. 19th_) On Monday the 5th of the month of Ṣafar, Hāmūsī son of
Dīwa, an old Hindū servant from Bhīra, was joined with Bikramājīt's
former[2308] and later envoys in order that pact and agreement for the
surrender of Ranthanbūr and for the conditions of Bikramājīt's service
might be made in their own (hindū) way and custom. Before our man
returned, he was to see, and learn, and make sure of matters; this done,
if that person (_i.e._ Bikramājīt) stood fast to his spoken word, I,
for my part, promised that, God bringing it aright, I would set him in
his father's place as Rānā of Chitūr.[2309]
(_Here the record of 3 days is wanting._)
(_o. A levy on stipendiaries._)
(_Oct. 22nd_) By this time the treasure of Iskandar and Ibrāhīm in Dihlī
and Āgra was at an end. Royal orders were given therefore, on Thursday
the 8th of Ṣafar, that each stipendiary (_wajhdār_) should drop into the
Dīwān, 30 in every 100 of his allowance, to be used for war-material and
appliances, for equipment, for powder, and for the pay of gunners and
matchlockmen.
(_p. Royal letters sent into Khurāsān._)
(_Oct. 24th_) On Saturday the 10th of the month, Pay-master Sl.
Muḥammad's foot-man Shāh Qāsim who once before had taken letters of
encouragement to kinsfolk in Khurāsān,[2310] was sent to Herī with other
letters to the purport that, through God's grace, our hearts were at
ease in Hindūstān about the rebels and [Sidenote: Fol. 345b.] pagans of
east and west; and that, God bringing it aright, we should use every
means and assuredly in the coming spring should touch the goal of our
desire.[2311] On the margin of a royal letter sent to Ahmad _Afshār_
(_Turk_) a summons to Farīdūn the _qabūz_-player was written with my own
hand.
(_Here the record of 11 days is wanting._)
In today's forenoon (_Tuesday 20th_?) I made a beginning of eating
quicksilver.[2312]
(_q. News from Kābul and Khurāsān._)[2313]
(_Nov. 4th_) On Wednesday the 21st of the month (_Ṣafar_) a Hindūstānī
foot-man (_pīāda_) brought dutiful letters (_`arẓ-dāshtlār_) from Kāmrān
and Khwāja Dost-i-khāwand. The Khwāja had reached Kābul on the 10th of
Ẕū'l-ḥijja[2314] and will have been anxious to go on[2315] to Humāyūn's
presence, but there comes to him a man from Kāmrān, saying, "Let the
honoured Khwāja come (to see me); let him deliver whatever royal orders
there may be; let him go on to Humāyūn when matters have been talked
over."[2316] Kāmrān will have gone into Kābul on the 17th of Ẕū'l-ḥijja
(_Sep. 2nd_), will have talked with the Khwāja and, on the 28th of the
same month, will have let him go on for Fort Victory (_Qila'-i-ẕafar_).
There was this excellent news in the dutiful letters received:—that
Shāh-zāda T̤ahmāsp, resolute to put down the Aūzbeg,[2317] had overcome
and killed Rīnīsh (var. Zīnīsh) _Aūzbeg_ in Dāmghān and made a general
massacre of his people; that 'Ubaid Khān, getting sure news about the
_Qīzīl-bāsh_ (Red-head) had risen from round Herī, gone to Merv, called
up to him there all the sulṯāns of Samarkand and those parts, and that
all the sulṯāns of Mā warā'u'n-nahr had gone to help him.[2318]
[Sidenote: Fol. 346.] This same foot-man brought the further news that
Humāyūn was said to have had a son by the daughter of Yādgār T̤aghāī,
and that Kāmrān was said to be marrying in Kābul, taking the daughter
of his mother's brother Sl. `Alī Mīrzā (_Begchīk_).[2319]
(_r. Honours for an artificer._)[2320]
On this same day Sayyid Daknī of Shīrāz the diviner (_ghaiba-gar_?) was
made to wear a dress of honour, given presents, and ordered to finish
the arched(?) well (_khwāralīq-chāh_) as he best knew how.
(_s. The Wālidiyyah-risāla (Parental-tract)._)
(_Nov. 6th_) On Friday the 23rd of the month[2321] such heat[2322]
appeared in my body that with difficulty I got through the
Congregational Prayer in the Mosque, and with much trouble through the
Mid-day Prayer, in the book-room, after due time, and little by little.
Thereafter[2323] having had fever, I trembled less on Sunday (_Nov.
28th_). During the night of Tuesday[2324] the 27th of the month Ṣafar,
it occurred to me to versify (_naẕm qīlmāq_)
the _Wālidiyyah-risāla_ of his Reverence Khwāja 'Ubaidu'l-lāh.[2325] I
laid it to heart that if I, going to the soul of his Reverence[2326] for
protection, were freed from this disease, it would be a sign that my
poem was accepted, just as the author of the _Qaṣīdatu'l-būrda_[2327]
was freed from the affliction of paralysis when his poem [Sidenote: Fol.
346b.] had been accepted. To this end I began to versify the tract,
using the metre[2328] of Maulānā 'Abdu´r-raḥīm _Jāmī's Subḥatu'l-abrār_
(Rosary of the Righteous). Thirteen couplets were made in that same
night. I tasked myself not to make fewer than 10 a day; in the end one
day had been omitted. While last year every time such illness had
happened, it had persisted at least a month or 40 days,[2329] this year,
by God's grace and his Reverence's favour, I was free, except for a
little depression (_afsurda_), on Thursday the 29th of the month (_Nov.
12th_). The end of versifying the contents of the tract was reached on
Saturday the 8th of the first Rabī' (_Nov. 20th_). One day 52 couplets
had been made.[2330]
(_t. Troops warned for service._)
(_Nov. 11th_) On Wednesday the 28th of the month royal orders were sent
on all sides for the armies, saying, "God bringing it about, at an
early opportunity my army will be got to horse. Let all come soon,
equipped for service."
(_Here the record of 9 days is wanting._)[2331]
(_u. Messengers from Humāyūn._)
(_Nov. 21st_) On Sunday the 9th of the first Rabī`, Beg Muḥammad
_ta`alluqchī_[2332] came, who had been sent last year (934 AH.) at the
end of Muḥarram to take a dress of honour and a horse to Humāyūn.[2333]
(_Nov. 22nd_) On Monday the 10th of the month there came from Humāyūn's
presence Wais _Lāgharī's_ (son) Beg-gīna (Little Beg) and Bīān Shaikh,
one of Humāyūn's servants who had come as the messenger of the good
tidings of the birth of Humāyūn's son whose name he gave as Al-amān.
Shaikh Abū'l-wajd found _Shăh sa`ādatmand_[2334] to be the date of his
birth. [Sidenote: Fol. 347.]
(_v. Rapid travel._)
Bīān Shaikh set out long after Beg-gīna. He parted from Humāyūn on
Friday the 9th of Ṣafar (_Oct. 23rd_) at a place below Kishm called
Dū-shaṃba (Monday); he came into Āgra on Monday the 10th of the first
Rabī` (_Nov. 23rd_). He came very quickly! Another time he actually came
from Qila`-i-ẕafar to Qandahār in 11 days.[2335]
(_w. News of T̤ahmāsp's victory over the Aūzbegs._)
Bīān Shaikh brought news about Shāh-zāda T̤ahmāsp's advancing
out of `Irāq and defeating the Aūzbeg.[2336] Here are his
particulars:—Shāh-zāda T̤ahmāsp, having come out of `Irāq with 40,000
men arrayed in Rūmī fashion of matchlock and cart,[2337] advances with
great speed, takes Basṯām, slaughters Rīnīsh (var. Zīnīsh) _Aūzbeg_ and
his men in Dāmghān, and from there passes right swiftly on.[2338] Kīpīk
Bī's son Qaṃbar-i-`alī Beg is beaten by one of the _Qīzīl-bāsh_
(Red-head)'s men, and with his few followers goes to `Ubaid Khān's
presence. `Ubaid Khān finds it undesirable to stay near Herī, hurriedly
sends off gallopers to all the sulṯāns of Balkh, Ḥiṣār, Samarkand, and
Tāshkend (Tāshkīnt) and goes himself to Merv. Sīūnjak Sl.'s younger son
Bārāq Sl. from Tāshkend, Kūchūm Khān, with (his sons) Abū-sa`īd Sl. and
Pūlad Sl., and Jānī Beg Sl. with his sons, from [Sidenote: Fol. 347b.]
Samarkand and Mīān-kāl, Mahdī Sl.'s and Ḥamza Sl.'s sons from Ḥiṣār,
Kītīn-qarā Sl. from Balkh, all these sulṯāns assemble right swiftly in
Merv. To them their informers (_tīl-chī_) take news that Shāh-zāda,
after saying, "`Ubaid Khān is seated near Herī with few men only," had
been advancing swiftly with his 40,000 men, but that when he heard of
this assembly (_i.e._ in Merv), he made a ditch in the meadow of
Rādagān[2339] and seated himself there.[2340] Here-upon the Aūzbegs,
with entire disregard of their opponents,[2341] left their counsels at
this:—"Let all of us sulṯāns and khāns seat ourselves in Mashhad;[2342]
let a few of us be told off with 20,000 men to go close to the
Qīzīl-bāsh camp[2343] and not let them put head out; let us order
magicians[2344] to work their magic directly Scorpio appears;[2345] by
this stratagem the enemy will be enfeebled, and we shall overcome." So
said, they march from Merv. Shāh-zāda gets out of Mashhad.[2346] He
confronts them near Jām-and-Khirgird.[2347] There defeat befalls the
Aūzbeg side.[2348] A mass of sulṯāns are overcome and slaughtered.
In one letter it (_khūd_) was written, "It is not known for certain
[Sidenote: Fol. 348.] that any sulṯān except Kūchūm Khān has escaped;
not a man who went with the army has come back up to now." The sulṯāns
who were in Ḥiṣār abandoned it. Ibrāhīm _Jānī's_ son Chalma, whose real
name is Ismā`īl, must be in the fort.[2349]
(_x. Letters written by Bābur._)
(_Nov. 27th and 28th_) This same Bīān Shaikh was sent quite quickly back
with letters. for Humāyūn and Kāmrān. These and other writings being
ready by Friday the 14th of the month (_Nov. 27th_) were entrusted to
him, his leave was given, and on Saturday the 15th he got well out of
Āgra.
COPY OF A LETTER TO HUMĀYŪN.[2350]
"The first matter, after saying, 'Salutation' to Humāyūn whom I am
longing to see, is this:—
"Exact particulars of the state of affairs on that side and on this[2351]
have been made known by the letters and dutiful representations brought
on Monday the 10th of the first Rabī` by Beg-gīna and Bīān Shaikh.
(_Turkī_) Thank God! a son is born to thee!
A son to thee, to me a heart-enslaver (_dil-bandī_).
"May the Most High ever allot to thee and to me tidings as joyful! So may
it be, O Lord of the two worlds!"
"Thou sayest thou hast called him Al-amān; God bless and prosper this!
Thou writest it so thyself (_i.e._ Al-amān), but hast over-looked that
common people mostly say _alāmā_ or _aīlāmān_.[2352] [Sidenote: Fol.
348b.] Besides that, this _Al_ is rare in names.[2353] May God bless and
prosper him in name and person; may He grant us to keep Al-amān (peace)
for many years and many decades of years![2354] May He now order our
affairs by His own mercy and favour; not in many decades comes such a
chance as this!"[2355]
"Again:—On Tuesday the 11th of the month (_Nov. 23rd_) came the false
rumour that the Balkhīs had invited and were fetching Qurbān[2356] into
Balkh."
"Again:—Kāmrān and the Kābul begs have orders to join thee; this done,
move on Ḥiṣār, Samarkand, Herī or to whatever side favours fortune.
Mayst thou, by God's grace, crush foes and take lands to the joy of
friends and the down-casting of adversaries! Thank God! now is your time
to risk life and slash swords.[2357] Neglect not the work chance has
brought; slothful life in retirement befits not sovereign rule:—
(_Persian_) He grips the world who hastens;
Empire yokes not with delay;
All else, confronting marriage, stops,
Save only sovereignty.[2358]
"If through God's grace, the Balkh and Ḥiṣār countries be won and held,
put men of thine in Ḥiṣār, Kāmrān's men in Balkh. Should Samarkand also
be won, there make thy seat. Ḥiṣār, [Sidenote: Fol. 349.] God willing, I
shall make a crown-domain. Should Kāmrān regard Balkh as small,
represent the matter to me; please God! I will make its defects good at
once out of those other countries."
"Again:—As thou knowest, the rule has always been that when thou hadst
six parts, Kāmrān had five; this having been constant, make no change."
"Again:—Live well with thy younger brother. Elders must bear the
burden![2359] I have the hope that thou, for thy part, wilt keep on good
terms with him; he, who has grown up an active and excellent youth,
should not fail, for his part, in loyal duty to thee."[2360]
"Again:—Words from thee are somewhat few; no person has [Sidenote: Fol.
349b.] come from thee for two or three years past; the man I sent to
thee (Beg Muḥammad _ta`alluqchī_) came back in something over a year; is
this not so?"
"Again:—As for the "retirement", "retirement", spoken of in thy
letters,—retirement is a fault for sovereignty; as the honoured (Sa`dī)
says:—[2361]
(_Persian_) If thy foot be fettered, choose to be resigned;
If thou ride alone, take thou thine own head.
"No bondage equals that of sovereignty; retirement matches not with
rule."
"Again:—Thou hast written me a letter, as I ordered thee to do; but why
not have read it over? If thou hadst thought of reading it, thou couldst
not have done it, and, unable thyself to read it, wouldst certainly have
made alteration in it. Though by taking trouble it can be read, it is
very puzzling, and who ever saw an enigma in prose?[2362] Thy spelling,
though not bad, is not quite correct; thou writest _iltafāt_ with _ṯā_
(_iltafāṯ_) and _qūlinj_ with _yā_ (_qīlinj_?).[2363] Although thy
letter can be read if every sort of pains be taken, yet it cannot be
quite understood because of that obscure wording of thine. Thy
remissness in letter-writing seems to be due to the thing which makes
thee obscure, that is to say, to elaboration. In future write without
elaboration; use plain, clear words. So will thy trouble and thy
reader's be less."
"Again:—Thou art now to go on a great business;[2364] take counsel with
prudent and experienced begs, and act as they say. If thou seek to
pleasure me, give up sitting alone and avoiding society. Summon thy
younger brother and the begs twice daily to thy presence, not leaving
their coming to choice; be the business what it may, take counsel and
settle every word and act in agreement with those well-wishers."
"Again:—Khwāja Kalān has long had with me the house-friend's intimacy;
have thou as much and even more with him. [Sidenote: Fol. 350.] If, God
willing, the work becomes less in those parts, so that thou wilt not
need Kāmrān, let him leave disciplined men in Balkh and come to my
presence."
"Again:—Seeing that there have been such victories, and such conquests,
since Kābul has been held, I take it to be well-omened; I have made it a
crown-domain; let no one of you covet it."
"Again:—Thou hast done well (_yakhshī qīlīb sīn_); thou hast won the
heart of Sl. Wais;[2365] get him to thy presence; act by his counsel,
for he knows business."
"Until there is a good muster of the army, do not move out."
"Bīān Shaikh is well-apprized of word-of-mouth matters, and will inform
thee of them. These things said, I salute thee and am longing to see
thee."—
The above was written on Thursday the 13th of the first Rabi` (_Nov.
26th_). To the same purport and with my own hand, I wrote also to Kāmrān
and Khwāja Kalān, and sent off the letters (by Bīān Shaikh).
(_Here the record fails from Rabī` 15th to 19th._)
(_y. Plans of campaign._)
(_Dec. 2nd_) On Wednesday the 19th of the month (_Rabī` I._) the mīrzās,
sulṯāns, Turk and Hind amīrs were summoned for counsel, and left the
matter at this:—That this year the army must move in some direction;
that `Askarī should go in advance towards the East, be joined by the
sulṯāns and amīrs from beyond Gang (Ganges), and march in whatever
direction favoured fortune. These particulars having been written down,
Ghīāṣu'd-dīn the [Sidenote: Fol. 350b.] armourer was given rendezvous
for 16 days,[2366] and sent galloping off, on Saturday the 22nd of the
month, to the amīrs of the East headed by Sl. Junaid _Barlās_. His
word-of-mouth message was, that `Askarī was being sent on before the
fighting apparatus, culverin, cart and matchlock, was ready; that it was
the royal order for the sulṯāns and amīrs of the far side of Gang to
muster in `Askarī's presence, and, after consultation with well-wishers
on that side, to move in whatever direction, God willing! might favour
fortune; that if there should be work needing me, please God! I would
get to horse as soon as the person gone with the (16 days) tryst
(_mī`ād_) had returned; that explicit representation should be made as
to whether the Bengali (Nas̤rat Shāh) were friendly and single-minded;
that, if nothing needed my presence in those parts, I should not make
stay, but should move elsewhere at once;[2367] and that after consulting
with well-wishers, they were to take `Askarī with them, and, God
willing! settle matters on that side.
(_Here the record of 5 days is wanting._)
(_z. `Askarī receives the insignia and rank of a royal commander._)
(_Dec. 12th_) On Saturday the 29th of the first Rabī`, `Askarī was made
to put on a jewelled dagger and belt, and a royal dress of honour, was
presented with flag, horse-tail standard, [Sidenote: Fol. 351.] drum, a
set (6-8) of _tīpūchāq_ (horses), 10 elephants, a string of camels, one
of mules, royal plenishing, and royal utensils. Moreover he was ordered
to take his seat at the head of a _Dīwān_. On his mullā and two
guardians were bestowed jackets having buttons[2368]; on his other
servants, three sets of nine coats.
(_aa. Bābur visits one of his officers._)
(_Dec. 13th_) On Sunday the last day of the month (_Rabī` I.
30th_)[2369] I went to Sl. Muḥammad _Bakhshī's_ house. After spreading a
carpet, he brought gifts. His offering in money and goods was more than
2 _laks_.[2370] When food and offering had been set out, we went into
another room where sitting, we ate _ma`jūn_. We came away at the 3rd
watch (midnight?), crossed the water, and went to the private house.
(_bb. The Āgra-Kābul road measured._)
(_Dec. 17th_) On Thursday the 4th of the latter Rabī`, it was settled
that Chīqmāq Beg with Shāhī _ṯamghāchī's_[2371] clerkship, should
measure the road between Āgra and Kābul. At every 9th _kuroh_ (_cir._
18m.), a tower was to be erected 12 _qārīs_ high[2372] and having a
_chār-dara_[2373] on the top; at every 18th _kuroh_ (_cir._ 36m.),[2374]
6 post-horses were to be kept fastened; and arrangement was to be made
for the payment of post-masters and grooms, and for horse-corn. The
order was, "If the place where the horses are fastened up,[2375] be near
a crown-domain, let those there provide for the matters mentioned; if
not, let the cost be charged on the beg in whose _pargana_ the
post-house may be." Chīqmāq Beg got out of Āgra with Shāhī on that same
day.
[Sidenote: Fol. 351b.] (_Author's note on the kuroh._) These
_kurohs_ were established in relation to the _mīl_, in the way
mentioned in the _Mubīn_:—[2376]
(_Turkī_) Four thousand paces (_qadam_) are one _mīl_;
Know that Hind people call this a _kuroh_;
The pace (_qadam_) they say is a _qārī_ and a half (36 in.);
Know that each _qārī_ (24 in.) is six hand-breadths
(_tūtām_)
That each _tūtām_ is four fingers (_aīlīk_),
Each _aīlīk_, six barley-corns. Know this
knowledge.[2377]
The measuring-cord (_ṯanāb_)[2378] was fixed at 40 _qārī_,
each being the one-and-a-half _qārī_ mentioned above, that is
to say, each is 9 hand-breadths.
(_cc. A feast._)
(_Dec. 18th_) On Saturday the 6th of the month (Rabī` II.) there was a
feast[2379] at which were present Qīzīl-bāsh (Red-head), and Aūzbeg, and
Hindū envoys.[2380] The Qīzīl-bāsh envoys sat under an awning placed
some 70-80 _qārīs_[2381] on my right, of the begs Yūnas-i-`alī being
ordered to sit with them. On my left the Aūzbeg envoys sat in the same
way, of the begs `Abdu'l-lāh being ordered to sit with them. I sat on
the north side of a newly-erected octagonal pavilion (_tālār_) covered
in with _khas_[2382]. Five or six _qārīs_ on my right sat Tūkhtā-būgha
Sl. and `Askarī, with Khwāja `Abdu'sh-shahīd and Khwāja Kalān,
descendants of his Reverence the Khwāja,[2383] and Khwāja Chishtī (var.
Ḥusainī), and Khalīfa, together with the _ḥāfiẕes_ and _mullās_
dependent on the Khwājas who had come from Samarkand. Five or six
_qārīs_ on my left sat Muḥammad-i-zamān M. and Tāng-ātmīsh Sl.[2384]
[Sidenote: Fol. 352.] and Sayyid Rafī`, Sayyid Rūmī, Shaikh Abū'l-fatḥ,
Shaikh Jamālī, Shaikh Shihābu'd-dīn _`Arab_ and Sayyid Daknī (var.Zaknī,
Ruknī). Before food all the sulṯāns, khāns, grandees, and amīrs brought
gifts[2385] of red, of white, of black,[2386] of cloth and various other
goods. They poured the red and white on a carpet I had ordered spread,
and side by side with the gold and silver piled plenishing, white cotton
piece-cloth and purses (_badra_) of money. While the gifts were being
brought and before food, fierce camels and fierce elephants[2387] were
set to fight on an island opposite,[2388] so too a few rams; thereafter
wrestlers grappled. After the chief of the food had been set out,
Khwāja `Abdu'sh-shahīd and Khwāja Kalān were made to put on surtouts
(_jabbah_) of fine muslin,[2389] spotted with gold-embroidery, and
suitable dresses of honour, and those headed by Mullā Farrūkh and
_Ḥāfiẕ_[2390] had jackets put on them. On Kūchūm Khān's envoy[2391] and
on Ḥasan _Chalabi's_ younger brother[2392] were bestowed silken
head-wear (_bāshlīq_) and gold-embroidered surtouts of fine muslin, with
suitable dresses of honour. Gold-embroidered jackets and silk coats were
presented to the envoys of Abū-sa`īd Sl. (_Aūzbeg_), of Mihr-bān Khānīm
and her son Pulād Sl., and of Shāh Ḥasan [Sidenote: Fol. 352b.]
(_Arghūn_). The two Khwājas and the two chief envoys, that is to say
Kūchūm Khān's retainer and Ḥasan _Chalabī's_ younger brother, were
presented with a silver stone's weight of gold and a gold stone's weight
of silver.
(_Author's note on the Turkī stone-weight._) The gold stone
(_tāsh_) is 500 _mis̤qāls_, that is to say, one Kābul _sīr_;
the silver stone is 250 _mis̤qāls_, that is to say, half a
Kābul _sīr_.[2393]
To Khwāja Mīr Sulṯān and his sons, to Ḥāfiẕ of Tāshkīnt, to Mullā
Farrūkh at the head of the Khwājas' servants, and also to other envoys,
silver and gold were given with a quiver.[2394] Yādgār-i-nāṣir[2395] was
presented with a dagger and belt. On Mīr Muḥammad the raftsman who was
deserving of reward for the excellent bridge he had made over the river
Gang (Ganges),[2396] a dagger was bestowed, so too on the matchlockmen
Champion [_pahlawān_] Ḥājī Muḥammad and Champion Buhlūl and on Walī the
cheeta-keeper (_pārschī_); one was given to Ustād `Alī's son also. Gold
and silver were presented to Sayyid Daud _Garmsīrī_. Jackets having
buttons,[2397] and silk dresses of honour were presented to the servants
of my daughter Ma`ṣūma[2398] and my son Hind-āl. Again:—presents of
jackets and silk dresses of honour, of gold and silver, of plenishing
and various goods were given to those from Andijān, and to those who had
come from Sūkh and Hushīār, the places whither we had gone landless and
homeless.[2399] Gifts of the same kind were given to the servants of
Qurbān and Shaikhī and the peasants of Kāhmard.[2400] [Sidenote: Fol.
353.]
After food had been sent out, Hindūstānī players were ordered to come
and show their tricks. Lūlīs came.[2401] Hindūstānī performers shew
several feats not shewn by (Tramontane) ones. One is this:—They arrange
seven rings, one on the forehead, two on the knees, two of the remaining
four on fingers, two on toes, and in an instant set them turning
rapidly. Another is this:—Imitating the port of the peacock, they place
one hand on the ground, raise up the other and both legs, and then in an
instant make rings on the uplifted hand and feet revolve rapidly.
Another is this:—In those (Tramontane) countries two people grip one
another and turn two somersaults, but Hindūstānī _lūlīs_, clinging
together, go turning over three or four times. Another is this:—a _lūlī_
sets the end of a 12 or 14 foot pole on his middle and holds it upright
while another climbs up it and does his [Sidenote: Fol. 353b.] tricks up
there. Another is this:—A small _lūlī_ gets upon a big one's head, and
stands there upright while the big one moves quickly from side to side
shewing his tricks, the little one shewing his on the big one's head,
quite upright and without tottering. Many dancing-girls came also and
danced.
A mass of red, white, and black was scattered (_sāchīldī_) on which
followed amazing noise and pushing. Between the Evening and Bed-time
Prayers I made five or six special people sit in my presence for over
one watch. At the second watch of the day (9 a.m., _Sunday, Rabi` II.
7th_) having sat in a boat, I went to the Eight-Paradises.
(_dd. `Askarī starts eastwards._)
(_Dec. 20th_) On Monday (_8th_) `Askarī who had got (his army) out (of
Āgra) for the expedition, came to the Hot-bath, took leave of me and
marched for the East.
(_ee. A visit to Dhūlpūr._)
(_Dec. 21st_) On Tuesday (_Rabī` II. 9th_) I went to see the buildings
for a reservoir and well at Dūlpūr.[2402] I rode from the (Āgra) garden
at one watch (_pahr_) and one _garī_ (9.22 a.m.), and I entered the
Dūlpūr garden when 5 _garīs_ of the 1st night-watch (_pās_)[2403] had
gone (7.40 p.m.).[2404]
(_Dec. 23rd_) On Thursday the 11th day of the month the stone-well
(_sangīn-chāh_), the 26 rock-spouts (_tāsh-tār-nau_) and rock-pillars
(_tāsh-sitūn_), and the water-courses (_ārīqlār_) cut on the solid slope
(_yak pāra qīā_) were all ready.[2405] At the 3rd watch (_pahr_) of this
same day preparation for drawing water from the well was made. On
account of a smell (_aīd_) in the water, it was ordered, for prudence'
sake, that they should turn the well-wheel without rest for 15
days-and-nights, and so draw off the water. Gifts were made to the
stone-cutters, and labourers, [Sidenote: Fol. 354.] and the whole body
of workmen in the way customary for master-workmen and wage-earners of
Āgra.
(_Dec. 24th_) We rode from Dūlpūr while one _garī_ of the 1st watch
(_pahr_) of Friday remained (_cir._ 8.40 a.m.), and we crossed the river
(Jumna) before the Sun had set.
(_Here the record of 3 days is wanting._)[2406]
(_ff. A Persian account of the battle of Jām._)
(_Dec. 28th_) On Tuesday the 16th of the month (_Rabī` II._) came one of
Dīv Sl.'s[2407] servants, a man who had been in the fight between the
Qīzīl-bāsh and Aūzbeg, and who thus described it:—The battle between the
Aūzbegs and Turkmāns[2408] took place on `Āshūr-day (_Muḥ. 10th_) near
Jām-and-Khirgird.[2409] They fought from the first dawn till the Mid-day
Prayer. The Aūzbegs were 300,000; the Turkmāns may have been (as is
said?) 40 to 50,000; he said that he himself estimated their dark mass
at 100,000; on the other hand, the Aūzbegs said they themselves were
100,000. The Qīzīl-bāsh leader (_ādam_) fought after arraying cart,
culverin and matchlockmen in the Rūmī fashion, and after protecting
himself.[2410] Shāh-zāda[2411] and Jūha Sl. stood behind the carts with
20,000 good braves. The rest of the begs were posted right and left
beyond the carts. [Sidenote: Fol. 354b.] These the Aūzbeg beat at once
on coming up, dismounted and overcame many, making all scurry off. He
then wheeled to the (Qīzīl-bāsh) rear and took loot in camel and
baggage. At length those behind the carts loosed the chains and came
out. Here also the fight was hard. Thrice they flung the Aūzbeg back; by
God's grace they beat him. Nine sulṯāns, with Kūchūm Khān, `Ubaid Khān
and Abū-sa`īd Sl. at their head, were captured; one, Abū-sa`īd Sl. is
said to be alive; the rest have gone to death.[2412] `Ubaid Khān's body
was found, but not his head. Of Aūzbegs 50,000, and of Turkmāns 20,000
were slain.[2413]
(_Here matter seems to have been lost._)[2414]
(_gg. Plan of campaign._)
(_Dec. 30th_) On this same day (Thursday _Rabī` II. 18th_) came
Ghīāṣu'd-dīn the armourer[2415] who had gone to Jūna-pūr (Jūnpūr) with
tryst of 16 days,[2416] but, as Sl. Junaid and the rest had led out
their army for Kharīd,[2417] he (Ghīāṣu'd-dīn) was not able to be back
at the time fixed.[2418] Sl. Junaid said, by word-of-mouth, "Thank God!
through His grace, no work worth the Pādshāh's attention has shewn
itself in these parts; if the honoured Mīrzā (`Askarī) come, and if the
sulṯāns, khāns and amīrs here-abouts be ordered to move in his steps,
there is hope that everything in these parts will be arranged with
ease." Though such was Sl. [Sidenote: Fol. 355.] Junaid's answer,yet, as
people were saying that Mullā Muḥammad Maẕhab, who had been sent as
envoy to Bengal after the Holy-battle with Sangā the Pagan,[2419] would
arrive today or tomorrow, his news also was awaited.
(_Dec. 31st_) On Friday the 19th of the month I had eaten ma`jūn and was
sitting with a special few in the private house, when Mullā Maẕhab who
had arrived late, that is to say, in the night of Saturday,[2420] came
and waited on me. By asking one particular after another, we got to know
that the attitude of the Bengalī[2421] was understood to be loyal and
single-minded.
(_Jan. 2nd_) On Sunday (_Rabī` II. 21st_), I summoned the Turk and Hind
amīrs to the private house, when counsel was taken and the following
matters were brought forward:—As the Bengalī (Naṣrat Shāh) has sent us
an envoy[2422] and is said to be loyal and single-minded, to go to
Bengal itself would be improper; if the move be not on Bengal, no other
place on that side has treasure helpful for the army; several places to
the west are both rich and near,
(_Turkī_) Abounding wealth, a pagan people, a short road;
Far though the East lie, this is near.
At length the matter found settlement at this:—As our westward road is
short, it will be all one if we delay a few days, so that our minds may
be at ease about the East. Again Ghīāṣu'd-dīn [Sidenote: Fol. 355b.] the
armourer was made to gallop off, with tryst of 20 days,[2423] to convey
written orders to the eastern amīrs for all the sulṯāns, khāns, and
amīrs who had assembled in `Askarī's presence, to move against those
rebels.[2424] The orders delivered, he was to return by the trysted day
with what ever news there might be.
(_hh. Balūchī incursions._)
In these days Muḥammadī Kūkūldāsh made dutiful representation that again
Balūchīs had come and overrun several places. Chīn-tīmūr Sl. was
appointed for the business; he was to gather to his presence the amīrs
from beyond Sihrind and Samāna and with them, equipped for 6 months, to
proceed against the Balūchīs; namely, such amīrs as `Ādil Sulṯān, Sl.
Muḥ. _Dūldāī_, Khusrau Kūkūldāsh, Muḥammad `Alī _Jang-jang_,
`Abdu'l-`azīz the Master-of-the-horse, Sayyid `Alī, Walī Qīzil, Qarācha,
Halāhil, `Āshiq the House-steward, Shaikh `Alī, Kitta (_Beg Kuhbur_),
Gujūr Khān, Ḥasan `Alī _Sīwādī_. These were to present themselves at the
Sulṯān's call and muster and not to transgress his word by road or in
halt.[2425] The messenger[2426] appointed to carry these orders was
`Abdu'l-ghaffār; he was to deliver them first to Chīn-tīmūr Sl.,
[Sidenote: Fol. 356.] then to go on and shew them to the afore-named
begs who were to present themselves with their troops at whatever place
the Sulṯān gave rendezvous (_būljār_);[2427] `Abdu'l-ghaffār himself was
to remain with the army and was to make dutiful representation of
slackness or carelessness if shewn by any person soever; this done, we
should remove the offender from the circle of the approved
(_muwajjah-jīrgāsī_) and from his country or _pargana_. These orders
having been entrusted to `Abdu'l-ghaffār, words-of-mouth were made known
to him and he was given leave to go.
(_The last explicit date is a week back._)
(_ii. News of the loss of Bihār reaches Dhūlpūr._)
(_Jan. 9th_) On the eve of Sunday the 28th of the month (_Rabi` II._) we
crossed the Jūn (Jumna) at the 6th _garī_ of the 3rd watch (2.15 a.m.)
and started for the Lotus-garden of Dūlpūr. The 3rd watch was near[2428]
(Sunday mid-day) when we reached it. Places were assigned on the border
of the garden, where begs and the household might build or make
camping-grounds for themselves.
(_Jan. 13th_) On Thursday the 3rd of the first Jumāda, a place was fixed
in the s.e. of the garden for a Hot-bath; the ground was to be levelled;
I ordered a plinth(?) (_kursī_) erected on the levelled ground, and a
Bath to be arranged, in one room of which was to be a reservoir 10 X 10.
On this same day Khalīfa sent from Āgra dutiful letters of Qāẓī Jīā and
Bīr-sing Deo, saying it had been heard said that Iskandar's son Maḥmūd
(_Lūdī_) had taken Bihār (town). This news decided for getting the army
to horse.
(_Jan. 14th_) On Friday (_Jumāda I. 4th_), we rode out from the
Lotus-garden at the 6th _garī_ (8.15 a.m.); at the Evening Prayer we
reached Āgra. We met Muḥammad-i-zamān Mīrzā on the road who would have
gone to Dūlpūr, Chīn-tīmūr also who must have been coming into
Agra.[2429]
(_Jan. 15th_) On Saturday (_5th_) the counselling begs having been
summoned, it was settled to ride eastwards on Thursday the 10th of the
month (_Jan. 21st_).
(_jj. News of Badakhshān._)
On this same Saturday letters came from Kābul with news [Sidenote: Fol.
356b.] that Humāyūn, having mustered the army on that side (Tramontana),
and joined Sl. Wais to himself, had set out with 40,000 men for
Samarkand;[2430] on this Sl. Wais' younger brother Shāh-qūlī goes and
enters Ḥiṣār, Tarsūn Muḥammad leaves Tirmiẕ, takes Qabādīān and asks for
help; Humāyūn sends Tūlik Kūkūldāsh and Mīr Khẉurd[2431] with many of
his men and what Mughūls there were, then follows himself.[2432]
(_Here 4 days record is wanting._)
(_kk. Bābur starts for the East._)
(_Jan. 20th_) On Thursday the 10th of the first Jumāda, I set [Sidenote:
Fol. 357.] out for the East after the 3rd _garī_ (_cir._ 7.10 a.m.),
crossed Jūn by boat a little above Jalīsīr, and went to the
Gold-scattering-garden.[2433] It was ordered that the standard (_tūgh_),
drum, stable and all the army-folk should remain on the other side of
the water, opposite to the garden, and that persons coming for an
interview[2434] should cross by boat.
(_ll. Arrivals._)
(_Jan. 22nd_) On Saturday (_12th_) Ismā`īl Mītā, the Bengal envoy
brought the Bengalī's offering (Naṣrat Shāh's), and waited on me in
Hindūstān fashion, advancing to within an arrow's flight, making his
reverence, and retiring. They then put on him the due dress of honour
(_khi`lat_) which people call * * * *[2435], and brought him before me.
He knelt thrice in our fashion, advanced, handed Naṣrat Shāh's letter,
set before me the offering he had brought, and retired.
(_Jan. 24th_) On Monday (_14th_) the honoured Khwāja `Abdu'l-ḥaqq having
arrived, I crossed the water by boat, went to his tents and waited on
him.[2436]
(_Jan. 25th_) On Tuesday (_15th_) Ḥasan _Chalabī_ arrived and waited on
me.[2437]
(_mm. Incidents of the eastward march._)
On account of our aims (_chāpdūq_) for the army,[2438] some days were
spent in the Chār-bāgh.
(_Jan. 27th_) On Thursday the 17th of the month, that ground was left
after the 3rd _garī_ (7.10 a.m.), I going by boat. It was dismounted 7
_kurohs_ (14 m.) from Āgra, at the village of Anwār.[2439]
(_Jan. 30th_) On Sunday (_Jumāda I. 20th_), the Aūzbeg envoys were given
their leave. To Kūchūm Khān's envoy Amīn Mīrzā were presented a dagger
with belt, cloth of gold,[2440] and 70,000 _tankas_.[2441] Abū-sa`īd's
servant Mullā T̤aghāī and the servants of [Sidenote: Fol. 357b.]
Mihr-bān Khānim and her son Pūlād Sl. were made to put on dresses of
honour with gold-embroidered jackets, and were presented also with money
in accordance with their station.
(_Jan. 31st_?) Next morning[2442] (_Monday 21st_?) leave was given to
Khwāja `Abdu'l-ḥaqq for stay in Āgra and to Khwāja Yaḥyā's grandson
Khwāja Kalān for Samarkand, who had come by way of a mission from Aūzbeg
khāns and sulṯāns.[2443]
In congratulation on the birth of Humāyūn's son and Kāmrān's marriage,
Mullā Tabrīzī and Mīrzā Beg T̤aghāī[2444] were sent with gifts
(_sāchāq_) to each Mīrzā of 10,000 _shāhrukhīs_, a coat I had worn, and
a belt with clasps. Through Mullā Bihishtī were sent to Hind-āl an
inlaid dagger with belt, an inlaid ink-stand, a stool worked in
mother-o'pearl, a tunic and a girdle,[2445] together with the alphabet
of the Bāburī script and fragments (_qiṯa`lār_) written in that script.
To Humāyūn were sent the translation (_tarjuma_) and verses made in
Hindūstān.[2446] To Hind-āl and Khwāja Kalān also the translation and
verses were sent. They were sent too to Kāmrān, through Mīrzā Beg
T̤aghāī, together with head-lines (_sar-khaṯ_) in the Bāburī
script.[2447]
(_Feb. 1st_) On Tuesday, after writing letters to be taken by those
going to Kābul, the buildings in hand at Āgra and Dūlpūr [Sidenote: Fol.
358.] were recalled to mind, and entrusted to the charge of Mullā Qāsim,
Ustād Shāh Muḥammad the stone-cutter, Mīrak, Mīr Ghīāṣ, Mīr Sang-tarāsh
(stone-cutter) and Shāh Bābā the spadesman. Their leave was then given
them.
(_Feb. 2nd_) The first watch (6 a.m.) was near[2448] when we rode out
from Anwār (_Wednesday, Jumāda I. 23rd_); in the end,[2449] we
dismounted, at the Mid-day Prayer, in the village of Ābāpūr, one _kuroh_
(2 m.) from Chandawār.[2450]
(_Feb. 3rd_) On the eve of Thursday (_24th_)[2451] `Abdu'l-malūk the
armourer[2452] was joined with Ḥasan _Chalabī_ and sent as envoy to the
Shāh[2453]; and Chāpūq[2454] was joined with the Aūzbeg envoys and sent
to the Aūzbeg khāns and sulṯāns.
We moved from Ābāpūr while 4 _garīs_ of the night remained (4.30 a.m.).
After passing Chandawār at the top of the dawn, I got into a boat. I
landed in front of Rāprī and at the Bed-time Prayer got to the camp
which was at Fatḥpūr.[2455]
(_Feb. 4th and 5th_) Having stayed one day (_Friday_) at Fatḥpūr, we got
to horse on Saturday (_26th_) after making ablution (_waẓū_) at dawn. We
went through the Morning Prayer in assembly near Rāprī, Maulānā Muḥammad
of Fārāb being the leader (_imām_). At sun-rise I got into a boat below
the great crook[2456] of Rāprī.
Today I put together a line-marker (_misṯar_) of eleven lines[2457] in
order to write the mixed hands of the translation.[2458] Today the
words of the honoured man-of-God admonished my heart.[2459]
(_Feb. 6th_) Opposite Jākīn,[2460] one of the Rāprī _parganas_, we
[Sidenote: Fol. 358b.] had the boats drawn to the bank and just spent
the night in them. We had them moved on from that place before the dawn
(_Sunday 27th_), after having gone through the Morning Prayer. When I
was again on board, Pay-master Sl. Muḥammad came, bringing a servant of
Khwāja Kalān, Shamsu'd-dīn Muḥammad, from whose letters and information
particulars about the affairs of Kābul became known.[2461] Mahdī Khwāja
also came when I was in the boat.[2462] At the Mid-day Prayer I landed
in a garden opposite Etāwa, there bathed (_ghusl_) in the Jūn, and
fulfilled the duty of prayer. Moving nearer towards Etāwa, we sat down
in that same garden under trees on a height over-looking the river, and
there set the braves to amuse us.[2463] Food ordered by Mahdī Khwāja,
was set before us. At the Evening Prayer we crossed the river; at the
bed-time one we reached camp.
There was a two or three days' delay on that ground both to collect the
army, and to write letters in answer to those brought by Shamsu'd-dīn
Muḥammad.
(_nn. Letters various._)
(_Feb. 9th_) On Wednesday the last day (_30th_) of the 1st Jumāda, we
marched from Etāwa, and after doing 8 _kurohs_ (16m.), dismounted at
Mūrī-and-Adūsa.[2464]
Several remaining letters for Kābul were written on this same ground.
One to Humāyūn was to this purport:—If the work have not yet been done
satisfactorily, stop the raiders and thieves thyself; do not let them
embroil the peace now descending amongst the peoples.[2465] Again, there
was this:—I have made [Sidenote: Fol. 359.] Kābul a crown-domain, let no
son of mine covet it. Again:—that I had summoned Hind-āl.
Kāmrān, for his part, was written to about taking the best of care in
intercourse with the Shāh-zāda,[2466] about my bestowal on himself of
Multān, making Kābul a crown-domain, and the coming of my family and
train.[2467]
As my letter to Khwāja Kalān makes several particulars known, it is
copied in here without alteration:—[2468]
[COPY OF A LETTER TO KHWĀJA KALĀN.]
"After saying 'Salutation to Khwāja Kalān', the first matter is that
Shamsu'd-dīn Muḥammad has reached Etāwa, and that the particulars about
Kābul are known."
"Boundless and infinite is my desire to go to those parts.[2469] Matters
are coming to some sort of settlement in Hindūstān; there is hope,
through the Most High, that the work here will soon be arranged. This
work brought to order, God willing! my start will be made at once."
"How should a person forget the pleasant things of those countries,
especially one who has repented and vowed to sin no more? How should he
banish from his mind the permitted flavours of melons and grapes? Taking
this opportunity,[2470] a melon was brought to me; to cut and eat it
affected me strangely; I was all tears!"
"The unsettled state[2471] of Kābul had already been written of
[Sidenote: Fol. 359b.] to me. After thinking matters over, my choice
fell on this:—How should a country hold together and be strong (_marbūṯ
u maẓbūṯ_), if it have seven or eight Governors? Under this aspect of
the affair, I have summoned my elder sister (Khān-zāda) and my wives to
Hindūstān, have made Kābul and its neighbouring countries a
crown-domain, and have written in this sense to both Humāyūn and Kāmrān.
Let a capable person take those letters to the Mīrzās. As you may know
already, I had written earlier to them with the same purport. About the
safe-guarding and prosperity of the country, there will now be no
excuse, and not a word to say. Henceforth, if the town-wall[2472] be not
solid or subjects not thriving, if provisions be not in store or the
Treasury not full, it will all be laid on the back of the inefficiency
of the Pillar-of-the State."[2473]
"The things that must be done are specified below; for some of them
orders have gone already, one of these being, 'Let treasure accumulate.'
The things which must be done are these:—First, the repair of the fort;
again:—the provision of stores; again:—the daily allowance and
lodging[2474] of envoys going backwards and forwards[2475]; again:—let
money, taken legally from revenue,[2476] be spent for building the
Congregational Mosque; again:—the repairs of the Kārwan-sarā
(Caravan-sarai) and the Hot-baths; again:—the completion of the
unfinished building [Sidenote: Fol. 360.] made of burnt-brick which
Ūstād Ḥasan `Alī was constructing in the citadel. Let this work be
ordered after taking counsel with Ūstād Sl. Muḥammad; if a design exist,
drawn earlier by Ūstād Ḥasan `Alī, let Ūstād Sl. Muḥammad finish the
building precisely according to it; if not, let him do so, after making
a gracious and harmonious design, and in such a way that its floor shall
be level with that of the Audience-hall; again:—the Khẉurd-Kābul dam
which is to hold up the But-khāk-water at its exit from the Khẉurd-Kābul
narrows; again:—the repair of the Ghaznī dam[2477]; again:—the
Avenue-garden in which water is short and for which a one-mill stream
must be diverted[2478]; again:—I had water brought from Tūtūm-dara to
rising ground south-west of Khwāja Basta, there made a reservoir and
planted young trees. The place got the name of Belvedere,[2479] because
it faces the ford and gives a first-rate view. The best of young trees
must be planted there, lawns arranged, and borders set with sweet-herbs
and with flowers of beautiful colour and scent; again:—Sayyid Qāsim has
been named to reinforce thee; again:—do not neglect the condition of
matchlockmen and of Ūstād Muḥammad Amīn the armourer[2480];
again:—directly this letter arrives, thou must get my elder sister
(Khān-zāda Begīm) and my wives right out of Kābul, and escort them to
Nīl-āb. However averse they may still be, they most certainly must start
within a week of the arrival of [Sidenote: Fol. 360b.] this letter. For
why? Both because the armies which have gone from Hindūstān to escort
them are suffering hardship in a cramped place (_tār yīrdā_), and also
because they[2481] are ruining the country."
"Again:—I made it clear in a letter written to `Abdu'l-lāh (_`asas_),
that there had been very great confusion in my mind (_dúghdugha_), to
counterbalance being in the oasis (_wādī_) of penitence. This quatrain
was somewhat dissuading (_mānī`_):—[2482]
Through renouncement of wine bewildered am I;
How to work know I not, so distracted am I;
While others repent and make vow to abstain,
I have vowed to abstain, and repentant am I.
"A witticism of Banāī's came back to my mind:—One day when he had been
joking in `Alī-sher Beg's presence, who must have been wearing a jacket
with buttons,[2483] `Alī-sher Beg said, 'Thou makest charming jokes; but
for the buttons, I would give thee the jacket; they are the hindrance
(_māni`_).' Said Banāī, 'What hindrance are buttons? It is button-holes
(_mādagī_) that hinder.'[2484] Let responsibility for this story lie on
the teller! hold me excused for it; for God's sake do not be offended by
it.[2485] Again:—that quatrain was made before last year, and in truth
the longing and craving for a wine-party has been infinite and endless
for two years past, so much so that sometimes the craving for wine
brought me to the verge of tears. Thank God! this year that trouble has
passed from my mind, perhaps by virtue of the [Sidenote: Fol. 361.]
blessing and sustainment of versifying the translation.[2486] Do thou
also renounce wine! If had with equal associates and boon-companions,
wine and company are pleasant things; but with whom canst thou now
associate? with whom drink wine? If thy boon-companions are Sher-i-aḥmad
and Ḥaidar-qulī, it should not be hard for thee to forswear wine. So
much said, I salute thee and long to see thee."[2487]
The above letter was written on Thursday the 1st of the latter Jumāda
(_Feb. 10th_). It affected me greatly to write concerning those
matters, with their mingling of counsel. The letters were entrusted to
Shamsu'd-dīn Muḥammad on Friday night,[2488] he was apprized of
word-of-mouth messages and given leave to go.
(_oo. Complaints from Balkh._)
(_Feb. 11th_) On Friday (_Jumāda II. 2nd_) we did 8 _kurohs_ (16m.) and
dismounted at Jumandnā.[2489] Today a servant of Kītīn-qarā Sl. arrived
whom the Sulṯān had sent to his retainer and envoy Kamālu'd-din
_Qīāq_,[2490] with things written concerning the behaviour of the begs
of the (Balkh) border, their intercourse with himself, and complaints of
theft and raid. Leave to go was given to _Qīāq_, and orders were issued
to the begs of the border to put an end to raiding and thieving, to
behave well and to maintain intercourse with Balkh. These orders were
entrusted to Kītīn-qarā Sl.'s servant and he was dismissed from this
ground.
A letter, accepting excuse for the belated arrival of Ḥasan
_Chalabī_,[2491] was sent to the Shāh today by one Shāh-qulī who had
[Sidenote: Fol. 361b.] come to me from Ḥasan _Chalabī_ and reported the
details of the battle (of Jām).[2492] Shāh-qulī was given his leave on
this same day, the 2nd of the month.
(_pp. Incidents of the eastward march resumed._)
(_Feb. 12th_) On Saturday (_3rd_) we did 8 _kurohs_ (16m.) and
dismounted in the Kakūra and Chachāwalī[2493] _parganas_ of Kālpī.
(_Feb. 13th_) On Sunday the 4th of the month, we did 9 _kurohs_ (18m.)
and dismounted in Dīrapūr[2494] a _pargana_ of Kālpī. Here I shaved my
head,[2495] which I had not done for the past two months, and bathed in
the Sīngar-water (Sengar).
(_Feb. 14th_) On Monday (_5th_) we did 14 _kurohs_ (28m.), and
dismounted in Chaparkada[2496] one of the _parganas_ of Kālpī.
(_Feb. 15th_) At the dawn of Tuesday (_6th_), a Hindūstānī servant of
Qarācha's arrived who had taken a command (_farmān_) from Māhīm to
Qarācha from which it was understood that she was on the road. She had
summoned escort from people in Lāhor, Bhīra and those parts in the
fashion I formerly wrote orders (_parwānas_) with my own hand. Her
command had been written in Kābul on the 7th of the 1st Jumāda (_Jan.
17th_).[2497]
(_Feb. 16th_) On Wednesday (_7th_) we did 7 _kurohs_ (14m.), and
dismounted in the Ādampūr _pargana_.[2498] Today I mounted before dawn,
took the road[2499] alone, reached the Jūn (Jumna), and went on along
its bank. When I came opposite to Ādampūr, I had awnings set up on an
island (_ārāl_) near the camp and seated there, ate _ma`jūn_.
Today we set Ṣādiq to wrestle with Kalāl who had come to [Sidenote: Fol.
362.] Āgra with a challenge.[2500] In Āgra he had asked respite for 20
days on the plea of fatigue from his journey; as now 40-50 days had
passed since the end of his respite, he was obliged to wrestle. Ṣādiq
did very well, throwing him easily. Ṣādiq was given 10,000 _tankas_, a
saddled horse, a head-to-foot, and a jacket with buttons; while Kalāl,
to save him from despair, was given 3000 _tankas_, spite of his fall.
The carts and mortar were ordered landed from the boats, and we spent 3
or 4 days on this same ground while the road was made ready, the ground
levelled and the landing effected.
(_Feb. 21st_) On Monday the 12th of the month (_Jumāda II._), we did 12
_kurohs_ (24 m.) and dismounted at Kūrarah.[2501] Today I travelled by
litter.
(_Feb. 22nd-25th_) After marching 12 _kurohs_ (24 m.) from Kūrarah
(_13th_), we dismounted in Kūrīa[2502] a _pargana_ of Karrah. From Kūrīa
we marched 8 _kurohs_ (16m.) and dismounted (_14th_) in
Fatḥpūr-Aswa.[2503] After 8 _kurohs_ (16m.) done from Fatḥpūr, we
dismounted (_15th_) at Sarāī Munda.[2504]... Today at the Bedtime Prayer
(_Friday 16th_, _after dark_), Sl. Jalālu'd-dīn (_Sharqī_)[2505] came
with his two young sons to wait on me.
(_Feb. 26th_) Next day, Saturday the 17th of the month, we did 8
_kurohs_ (16m.), and dismounted at Dugdugī a Karrah _pargana_ on the
bank of the Gang.[2506]
(_Feb. 27th_) On Sunday (_18th_) came to this ground Muḥammad Sl. M.,
Nī-khūb (or, Bī-khūb) Sl. and Tardīka (or, Tardī _yakka_, [Sidenote:
Fol. 362b.] champion).
(_Feb. 28th_) On Monday (_19th_) `Askarī also waited on me. They all
came from the other side of Gang (Ganges). `Askarī and his various
forces were ordered to march along the other bank of the river keeping
opposite the army on this side, and wherever our camp might be, to
dismount just opposite it.
(_qq. News of the Afghāns._)
While we were in these parts news came again and again that Sl. Maḥmūd
(_Lūdī_) had collected 10,000 Afghāns; that he had detached Shaikh
Bāyazīd and Bīban with a mass of men towards Sarwār [Gorakhpūr];
that he himself with Fatḥ Khān _Sarwānī_ was on his way along the
river for Chunār; that Sher Khān _Sūr_ whom I had favoured last year
with the gift of several _parganas_ and had left in charge of this
neighbourhood,[2507] had joined these Afghāns who thereupon had made him
and a few other amīrs cross the water; that Sl. Jalālu'd-dīn's man in
Benares had not been able to hold that place, had fled, and got away;
what he was understood to have said being, that he had left soldiers
(_sipahīlār_) in Benares-fort and gone along the river to fight Sl.
Maḥmūd.[2508]
(_rr. Incidents of the march resumed._)
(_March 1st_) Marching from Dugdugī (_Tuesday, Jumāda II. 20th_) the
army did 6 _kurohs_ (12m.) and dismounted at Kusār,[2509] 3 or 4
_kurohs_ from Karrah. I went by boat. We stayed here 3 or 4 [Sidenote:
Fol. 363.] days because of hospitality offered by Sl. Jalālu'd-dīn.
(_March 4th_) On Friday (_23rd_), I dismounted at Sl. Jalālu'd-dīn's
house inside Karrah-fort where, host-like, he served me a portion of
cooked meat and other viands.[2510] After the meal, he and his sons were
dressed in unlined coats (_yaktāī jāmah_) and short tunics
(_nīmcha_).[2511] At his request his elder son was given the style Sl.
Maḥmūd.[2512] On leaving Karrah, I rode about one _kuroh_ (2m.) and
dismounted on the bank of Gang.
Here letters were written and leave was given to Shahrak Beg who had
come from Māhīm to our first camp on Gang (_i.e._ Dugdugī). As Khwāja
Yaḥyā's grandson Khwāja Kalān had been asking for the records I was
writing,[2513] I sent him by Shahrak a copy I had had made.
(_March 5th_) On Saturday move was made at dawn (_24th_), I going by
boat direct, and after 4 _kurohs_ done (8m.), halt was made at
Koh.[2514] Our ground, being so near, was reached quite early. After
awhile, we seated ourselves inside[2515] a boat where we ate _ma`jūn_.
We invited the honoured Khwāja `Abdu'sh-shahīd[2516] who was said to be
in Nūr Beg's quarters (_awī_), invited also Mullā Maḥmūd (_Farābī_?),
bringing him from Mullā `Alī Khān's. After staying for some time on that
spot, we crossed the river, and on the other side, set wrestlers to
wrestle. In opposition to the rule of gripping the strongest first,
Dost-i-yāsīn-khair [Sidenote: Fol. 363b.] was told not to grapple with
Champion Ṣādiq, but with others; he did so very well with eight.
(_ss. News of the Afghān enemy._)
At the Afternoon Prayer, Sl. Muḥammad the Pay-master came by boat from
the other side of the river, bringing news that the army of Sl.
Iskandar's son Maḥmūd Khān whom rebels style Sl. Maḥmūd,[2517] had
broken up. The same news was brought in by a spy who had gone out at the
Mid-day Prayer from where we were; and a dutiful letter, agreeing with
what the spy had reported, came from Tāj Khān _Sārang-khānī_ between the
Afternoon and Evening Prayers. Sl. Muḥammad gave the following
particulars:—that the rebels on reaching Chunār seemed to have laid
siege to it and to have done a little fighting, but had risen in
disorderly fashion when they heard of our approach; that Afghāns who had
crossed the river for Benares, had turned back in like disorder; that
two of their boats had sunk in crossing and a body of their men been
drowned.
(_tt. Incidents of the eastward march resumed._)
(_March 6th_) After marching at Sunday's dawn (_25th_) and doing 6
_kurohs_ (12m.), Sīr-auliya,[2518] a _pargana_ of Pīāg*[2519] was
reached. I went direct by boat.
Aīsan-tīmūr Sl. and Tūkhta-būghā Sl. had dismounted half-way, and were
waiting to see me.[2520] I, for my part, invited them into the boat.
Tūkhta-būghā Sl. must have wrought magic, for a bitter wind rose and
rain began to fall. It became quite windy(?)[2521] on which account I
ate _ma`jūn_, although I had done so on the previous day. Having come to
the encamping-ground....[2522]
(_March 7th_?) Next day (_Monday 26th_?) we remained on the same ground.
(_March 8th_?) On Tuesday (_27th_?) we marched on.
Opposite the camp was what may be an island,[2523] large and verdant. I
went over by boat to visit it, returning to the boat during the 1st
watch (6-9 a.m.). While I rode carelessly along the ravine (_jar_) of
the river, my horse got to where it was fissured and had begun to give
way. I leapt off at once and flung myself on the bank; even the horse
did not go down; probably, however, if I had stayed on its back, it and
I would have gone down together.
On this same day, I swam the Gang-river (Ganges), counting every
stroke;[2524] I crossed with 33, then, without resting, swam back. I had
swum the other rivers, Gang had remained to do.[2525]
We reached the meeting of the waters of Gang and Jūn at the Evening
Prayer, had the boat drawn to the Pīāg side, and got to camp at 1 watch,
4 _garīs_ (10.30 p.m.).
(_March 9th_) On Wednesday (_Jumāda II. 28th_) from the 1st watch
onwards, the army began to cross the river Jūn; there were 420
boats.[2526]
(_March 11th_) On Friday, the 1st of the month of Rajab, I crossed the
river.
(_March 14th_) On Monday, the 4th of the month, the march for Bihār
began along the bank of Jūn. After 5 _kurohs_ (10m.) done, halt was made
at Lawāīn.[2527] I went by boat. The people of the army were crossing
the Jūn up to today. They were ordered to put the culverin-carts[2528]
which had been landed at Ādampūr, into boats again and to bring them on
by water from Pīāg.
On this ground we set wrestlers to wrestle. Dost-i-yāsīn-khair gripped
the boatman Champion of Lāhor; the contest was stubborn; it was with
great difficulty that Dost gave the throw. A head-to-foot was bestowed
on each.
(_March 15th and 16th_) People said that ahead of us was a swampy,
muddy, evil river called Tūs.[2529] In order to examine the ford*[2530]
and repair the road, we waited two days (_Tuesday Ramzān 5th and
Wednesday 6th_) on this ground. For the horses and camels a ford was
found higher up, but people said laden carts could not get through it
because of its uneven, stony bottom. [Sidenote: Fol. 364.] They were
just ordered to get them through.
(_March 17th_) On Thursday (_7th_) we marched on. I myself went by boat
down to where the Tūs meets the Gang (Ganges), there landed, thence rode
up the Tūs, and, at the Other Prayer, reached where the army had
encamped after crossing the ford. Today 6 _kurohs_ (12 m.) were done.
(_March 18th_) Next day (_Friday 8th_), we stayed on that ground.
(_March 19th_) On Saturday (_9th_), we marched 12 _kurohs_ and got to
the bank of Gang again at Nulibā.[2531]
(_March 20th_) Marching on (_Sunday 10th_), we did 6 _kurohs_ of road,
and dismounted at Kintit.[2532]
(_March 21st_) Marching on (_Monday 11th_), we dismounted at
Nānāpur.[2533] Tāj Khān _Sārang-khānī_ came from Chunār to this ground
with his two young sons, and waited on me.
In these days a dutiful letter came from Pay-master Sl. Muḥammad, saying
that my family and train were understood to be really on their way from
Kābul.[2534]
(_March 23rd_) On Wednesday (_13th_) we marched from that ground. I
visited the fort of Chunār, and dismounted about one _kuroh_ beyond it.
During the days we were marching from Pīāg, painful boils had come out
on my body. While we were on this ground, an Ottoman Turk (Rūmī) used a
remedy which had been recently discovered in Rūm. He boiled pepper in a
pipkin; I held the sores in the steam and, after steaming ceased, laved
them with the hot water. The treatment lasted 2 sidereal hours.
While we were on this ground, a person said he had seen tiger and
rhinoceros on an _ārāl_[2535] by the side of the camp.
(_March 24th_?) In the morning (_14th_?), we made the
hunting-circle[2536] [Sidenote: Fol. 364b.] on that _ārāl_, elephants
also being brought. Neither tiger nor rhino appeared; one wild buffalo
came out at the end of the line. A bitter wind rising and the whirling
dust being very troublesome, I went back to the boat and in it to the
camp which was 2 _kurohs_ (4m.) above Banāras.
(_uu. News of the Afghāns._)
(_March 25th_ (?) _and 26th_) Having heard there were many elephants in
the Chunār jungles, I had left (Thursday's) ground thinking to hunt
them, but Tāj Khān bringing the news (_Friday 15th_(?)) that Maḥmūd Khān
(_Lūdi_) was near the Son-water, I summoned the begs and took counsel as
to whether to fall upon him suddenly. In the end it was settled to march
on continuously, fast[2537] and far.
(_March 27th_) Marching on (_Sunday 17th_), we did 9 _kurohs_ (18m.),
and dismounted at the Bilwah-ferry.[2538]
(_March 28th_) On Monday night[2539] the 18th of the month, T̤āhir was
started for Āgra from this camp (Bilwah-ferry), taking money-drafts for
the customary gifts of allowance and lodging[2540] to those on their way
from Kābul.
Before dawn next morning (Monday) I went on by boat. When we came to
where the Gūī-water (Gūmtī) which is the water of Jūnpūr, meets the
Gang-water (Ganges), I went a little [Sidenote: Fol. 365.] way up it and
back. Narrower[2541] though it is, it has no ford; the army-folk crossed
it (last year) by boat, by raft, or by swimming their horses.
To look at our ground of a year ago,[2542] from which we had started for
Jūnpūr,[2543] I went to about a _kuroh_ lower than the mouth of the
Jūnpūr-water (Gūmtī). A favourable wind getting up behind, our larger
boat was tied to a smaller Bengalī one which, spreading its sail, made
very quick going. Two _garīs_ of day remained (5.15 p.m.) when we had
reached that ground (Sayyidpur?), we went on without waiting there, and
by the Bed-time Prayer had got to camp, which was a _kuroh_ above
Madan-Benāres,[2544] long before the boats following us. Mughūl Beg had
been ordered to measure all marches from Chunār on the direct road,
Luṯfī Beg to measure the river's bank whenever I went by boat. The
direct road today was said to be 11 _kurohs_ (22m.), the distance along
the river, 18 (36m.).
(_March 29th_) Next day (_Tuesday 19th_), we stayed on that ground.
(_March 30th_) On Wednesday (_20th_), we dismounted a _kuroh_ (2m.)
below Ghāzīpūr, I going by boat.
(_March 31st_) On Thursday (_21st_) Maḥmūd Khān _Nuḥānī_[2545] waited
on me on that ground. On this same day dutiful letters[2546] came
from Bihār Khān _Bihārī's_ son Jalāl Khān (_Nuḥānī_),[2547] from
Naṣīr Khān (_Nūḥānī_)'s son Farīd Khān,[2548] from Sher Khān _Sūr_,
from `Alāūl Khān _Sūr_ also, and from other Afghān amīrs. Today
[Sidenote: Fol. 365b.] came also a dutiful letter from `Abdu'l-`azīz
_Master-of-the-horse_, which had been written in Lāhor on the 20th of
the latter Jumāda (_Feb. 29th_), the very day on which Qarācha's
Hindūstānī servant whom we had started off from near Kālpī,[2549]
reached Lāhor. `Abdu'l-`azīz wrote that he had gone with the others
assigned to meet my family at Nīl-āb, had met them there on the 9th of
the latter Jumāda (_Feb. 18th_), had accompanied them to Chīn-āb
(Chan-āb), left them there, and come ahead to Lāhor where he was writing
his letter.
(_April 1st_) We moved on, I going by boat, on Friday (_Rajab 22nd_). I
landed opposite Chausā to look at the ground of a year ago[2550] where
the Sun had been eclipsed and a fast kept.[2551] After I got back to the
boat, Muḥammad-i-zamān Mīrzā, coming up behind by boat, overtook me; at
his suggestion _ma`jūn_ was eaten.
The army had dismounted on the bank of the Karmā-nā['s]ā-river, about
the water of which Hindūs are understood to be extremely scrupulous.
They do not cross it, but go past its mouth by boat along the Gang
(Ganges). They firmly believe that, if its water touch a person, the
merit of his works is destroyed; with this belief its name
accords.[2552] I went some way up it by [Sidenote: Fol. 366.] boat,
turned back, went over to the north bank of Gang, and tied up. There the
braves made a little fun, some wrestling. Muḥsin the cup-bearer
challenged, saying, "I will grapple with four or five." The first he
gripped, he threw; the second, who was Shādmān (Joyous), threw him, to
Muḥsin's shame and vexation. The (professional) wrestlers came also and
set to.
(_April 2nd_) Next morning, Saturday (_23rd_) we moved, close to the 1st
watch (6 a.m.), in order to get people off to look at the ford through
the Karmā-nā['s]ā-water. I rode up it for not less than a _kuroh_ (2
m.), but the ford being still far on,[2553] took boat and went to the
camp below Chausā.
Today I used the pepper remedy again; it must have been somewhat hotter
than before, for it blistered (_qāpārdī_) my body, giving me much pain.
(_April 3rd_) We waited a day for a road to be managed across a
smallish, swampy rivulet heard to be ahead.[2554]
(_April 4th_) On the eve of Monday (_25th_),[2555] letters were written
and sent off in answer to those brought by the Hindūstānī footman of
`Abdu'l-`azīz.
The boat I got into at Monday's dawn, had to be towed because of the
wind. On reaching the ground opposite Baksara (Buxar) [Sidenote: Fol.
366b.] where the army had been seated many days last year,[2556] we went
over to look at it. Between 40 and 50 landing-steps had been then made
on the bank; of them the upper two only were left, the river having
destroyed the rest. _Ma`jūn_ was eaten after return to the boat. We tied
up at an _ārāl_[2557] above the camp, set the champions to wrestle, and
went on at the Bed-time Prayer. A year ago (_yīl-tūr_), an excursion had
been made to look at the ground on which the camp now was, I passing
through Gang swimming (? _dastak bīla_),[2558] some coming mounted on
horses, some on camels. That day I had eaten opium.
(_vv. Incidents of the military operations._)
(_April 5th_) At Tuesday's dawn (_26th_), we sent out for news not under
200 effective braves led by Karīm-bīrdī and Ḥaidar the stirrup-holder's
son Muḥammad `Alī and Bābā Shaikh.
While we were on this ground, the Bengal envoy was commanded to set
forth these three articles:—[2559]
(_April 6th_) On Wednesday (_27th_) Yūnas-i-`alī who had been sent to
gather Muḥammad-i-zamān Mīrzā's objections to Bihār, brought back rather
a weak answer.
Dutiful letters from the (Farmūlī) Shaikh-zādas of Bihār gave news that
the enemy had abandoned the place and gone off.
(_April 7th_) On Thursday (_28th_) as many as 2000 men of the Turk and
Hind amīrs and quiver-wearers were joined to Muḥammad `Alī _Jang-jang's_
son Tardī-muḥammad, and he was [Sidenote: Fol. 367.] given leave to go,
taking letters of royal encouragement to people in Bihār. He was joined
also by Khwāja Murshid _`Irāqī_ who had been made Dīwān of Bihār.
(_April 8th_ (?)) Muḥammad-i-zamān M. who had consented to go to Bihār,
made representation of several matters through Shaikh Zain and
Yūnas-i-`alī. He asked for reinforcement; for this several braves were
inscribed and several others were made his own retainers.
(_April 9th_)[2560] On Saturday the 1st of the month of Sha`bān, we left
that ground where we had been for 3 or 4 days. I rode to visit Bhūjpūr
and Bihiya,[2561] thence went to camp.
Muḥammad `Alī and the others, who had been sent out for news, after
beating a body of pagans as they went along, reached the place where Sl.
Maḥmūd (_Lūdī_) had been with perhaps 2000 men. He had heard of our
reconnaissance, had broken up, killed two elephants of his, and marched
off. He seemed to have left braves and an elephant[2562] scout-fashion;
they made no stand when our men came up but took to flight. Ours
unhorsed a few of his, cut one head off, brought in a few good men
alive.
(_ww. Incidents of the eastward march resumed._)
(_April 10th_) We moved on next day (_Sunday 2nd_), I going by boat.
From our today's ground Muḥammad-i-zamān M. crossed (his army) over the
river (Son), leaving none behind. We spent 2 or 3 days on this ground in
order to put his work through and [Sidenote: Fol. 367b.] get him off.
(_April 13th_) On Wednesday the 4th[2563] of the month, Muḥammad-i-zamān
M. was presented with a royal head-to-foot, a sword and belt, a
_tīpūchāq_ horse and an umbrella.[2564] He also was made to kneel
(_yūkūndūrūldī_) for the Bihār country. Of the Bihār revenues one _krūr_
and 25 _laks_ were reserved for the Royal Treasury; its Dīwānī was
entrusted to Murshid _`Irāqī_.
(_April 14th_) I left that ground by boat on Thursday (_6th_). I had
already ordered the boats to wait, and on getting up with them, I had
them fastened together abreast in line.[2565] Though all were not
collected there, those there were greatly exceeded the breadth of the
river. They could not move on, however, so-arranged, because the water
was here shallow, there deep, here swift, there still. A crocodile
(_gharīāl_) shewing itself, a terrified fish leaped so high as to fall
into a boat; it was caught and brought to me.
When we were nearing our ground, we gave the boats names:—a [Sidenote:
Fol. 368.] large[2566] one, formerly the Bāburī,[2567] which had been
built in Āgra before the Holy-battle with Sangā, was named Asāīsh
(Repose).[2568] Another, which Arāīsh Khān had built and presented to me
this year before our army got to horse, one in which I had had a
platform set up on our way to this ground, was named Arāīsh (Ornament).
Another, a good-sized one presented to me by Jalālu'd-dīn _Sharqī_, was
named the Gunjāīsh (Capacious); in it I had ordered a second platform
set up, on the top of the one already in it. To a little skiff, having a
_chaukandī_,[2569] one used for every task (_har āīsh_) and duty, was
given the name Farmāīsh (Commissioned).
(_April 15th_) Next day, Friday (_7th_), no move was made.
Muḥammad-i-zamān M. who, his preparations for Bihār complete, had
dismounted one or two _kurohs_ from the camp, came today to take leave
of me.[2570]
(_xx. News of the army of Bengal._)
Two spies, returned from the Bengal army, said that Bengalīs[2571] under
Makhdūm-i-`ālam were posted in 24 places on the Gandak and there raising
defences; that they had hindered the Afghāns from carrying out their
intention to get their families across the river (Ganges?), and had
joined them to themselves.[2572] This news making fighting probable, we
detained Muḥammad-i-zamān Mīrzā, and sent Shāh Iskandar to Bihār with 3
or 400 men.
(_yy. Incidents of the eastward march resumed._)
[Sidenote: Fol. 368b.] (_April 16th_) On Saturday (_8th_) a person came
in from Dūdū and her son Jalāl Khān (son) of Bihār Khān[2573] whom the
Bengalī (Naṣrat Shāh) must have held as if eye-bewitched.[2574] After
letting me know they were coming,[2575] they had done some straight
fighting to get away from the Bengalīs, had crossed the river,[2576]
reached Bihār, and were said now to be on their way to me.
This command was given today for the Bengal envoy Ismā`īl
Mītā:—Concerning those three articles, about which letters have already
been written and despatched, let him write that an answer is long in
coming, and that if the honoured (Naṣrat Shāh) be loyal and of
single-mind towards us, it ought to come soon.
(_April 17th_) In the night of Sunday (_9th_)[2577] a man came in from
Tardī-muḥammad _Jang-jang_ to say that when, on Wednesday the 5th of the
month Sha`bān, his scouts reached Bihār from this side, the Shiqdār of
the place went off by a gate on the other side.
On Sunday morning we marched on and dismounted in the _pargana_ of Ārī
(Ārrah).[2578]
(_zz. News and negotiations._)
To this ground came the news that the Kharīd[2579] army, with 100-150
boats, was said to be on the far side of the Sarū near the meeting of
Sarū and Gang (Ghogrā and Ganges). As a sort of peace existed between us
and the Bengalī (Naṣrat Shāh _Afghān_), and as, for the sake of a
benediction, peace was our first endeavour whenever such work was toward
as we were now on, we kept to our rule, notwithstanding his unmannerly
conduct in setting himself on our road;[2580] we associated Mullā Maẕhab
with his envoy Ismā`īl Mītā, spoke once more about those three articles
[Sidenote: Fol. 369.] (_faṣl soz_), and decided to let the envoy go.
(_April 18th_) On Monday (_10th_) when the Bengal envoy came to wait on
me, he was let know that he had his leave, and what follows was
mentioned:[2581]—"We shall be going to this side and that side, in
pursuit of our foe, but no hurt or harm will be done to any dependency
of yours. As one of those three articles said,[2582] when you have told
the army of Kharīd to rise off our road and to go back to Kharīd, let a
few Turks be joined with it to reassure these Kharīd people and to
escort them to their own place.[2583] If they quit not the ferry-head,
if they cease not their unbecoming words, they must regard as their own
act any ill that befalls them, must count any misfortune they confront
as the fruit of their own words."
(_April 20th_) On Wednesday (_12th_) the usual dress of honour was put
on the Bengal envoy, gifts were bestowed on him and his leave to go was
given.
(_April 21st_) On Thursday (_13th_) Shaikh Jamālī was sent with royal
letters of encouragement to Dūdū and her son Jalāl Khān.
Today a servant of Māhīm's came, who will have parted from the
Wālī(?)[2584] on the other side of the Bāgh-i-ṣafā.
(_April 23rd_) On Saturday (_15th_) an envoy from `Irāq, Murād
_Qajar_[2585] the life-guardsman, was seen.
(_April 24th_) On Sunday (_16th_) Mullā Maẕhab received his usual
keepsakes (_yādgārlār_) and was given leave to go.
[Sidenote: Fol. 369b.] (_April 25th_) On Monday (_17th_) Khalīfa was
sent, with several begs, to see where the river (Ganges) could be
crossed.
(_April 27th_) On Wednesday, (_19th_) Khalīfa again was sent out, to
look at the ground between the two rivers (Ganges and Ghogrā).
On this same day I rode southward in the Ārī (Ārrah) _pargana_ to visit
the sheets of lotus[2586] near Ārī. During the excursion Shaikh Gūran
brought me fresh-set lotus-seeds, first-rate little things just like
pistachios. The flower, that is to say, the _nīlūfar_ (lotus),
Hindūstānīs call _kuwul-kikrī_ (lotus-pistachio), and its seed _dūdah_
(soot).
As people said, "The Son is near," we went to refresh ourselves on it.
Masses of trees could be seen down-stream; "Munīr is there," said they,
"where the tomb is of Shaikh Yaḥyā the father of Shaikh Sharafu'd-dīn
_Munīrī_."[2587] It being so close, I crossed the Son, went 2 or 3
_kurohs_ down it, traversed the Munīr orchards, made the circuit of the
tomb, returned to the Son-bank, made ablution, went through the Mid-day
Prayer before time, and made for camp. Some of our horses, being
fat,[2588] had fallen behind; some were worn out; a few people were left
to gather them together, water them, rest them, and bring them on
without pressure; but for this many would have been ruined.
When we turned back from Munīr, I ordered that some-one [Sidenote: Fol.
370.] should count a horse's steps between the Son-bank and the camp.
They amounted to 23,100, which is 46,200 paces, which is 11-1/2
_kurohs_ (23m.).[2589] It is about half a _kuroh_ from Munīr to the
Son; the return journey from Munīr to the camp was therefore 12 _kurohs_
(24m.). In addition to this were some 15-16 _kurohs_ done in visiting
this and that place; so that the whole excursion was one of some 30
_kurohs_ (60m.). Six _garīs_ of the 1st night-watch had passed [8.15
p.m.] when we reached the camp.
(_April 28th_) At the dawn of Thursday (_Sha`bān 19th_) Sl. Junaid
_Barlās_ came in with the Jūnpūr braves from Jūnpūr. I let him know my
blame and displeasure on account of his delay; I did not see him. Qāẓī
Jīā I sent for and saw.
(_aaa. Plan of the approaching battle with the Bengal army._)
On the same day the Turk and Hind amīrs were summoned for a consultation
about crossing Gang (Ganges), and matters found settlement at
this[2590]:—that Ūstād `Alī-qulī should collect mortar, _firingī_,[2591]
and culverin[2592] to the point of rising ground between the rivers Sarū
and Gang, and, having many matchlockmen with him, should incite to
battle from that place;[2593] that Muṣṯafa, he also having many
matchlockmen, should get his material and implements ready on the Bihār
side of Gang, a little below the meeting of the waters and opposite to
where on an island the Bengalīs had an elephant and a mass of boats tied
up, and that he should engage battle from this place;[2594] that
Muḥammad-i-zamān Mīrzā and the others inscribed for the work should take
post behind Muṣṯafa as his reserve; that both for Ūstād `Alī-qulī and
Muṣṯafa shelters (_muljār_) for the culverin-firers should be raised by
a mass of spadesmen and coolies (_kahār_) [Sidenote: Fol. 370b.] under
appointed overseers; that as soon as these shelters were ready, `Askarī
and the sulṯāns inscribed for the work should cross quickly at the
Haldī-passage[2595] and come down on the enemy; that meantime, as Sl.
Junaid and Qāẓī Jīā had given information about a crossing-place[2596] 8
_kurohs_ (16 m.) higher up,[2597] Zard-rūī(Pale-face?) should go with a
few raftsmen and some of the people of the Sulṯān, Maḥmūd Khān _Nūḥānī_
and Qāẓī Jīā to look at that crossing; and that, if crossing there were,
they should go over at once, because it was rumoured that the Bengalīs
were planning to post men at the Haldī-passage.
A dutiful letter from Maḥmūd Khān the Military-collector (_shiqdār_) of
Sikandarpūr now came, saying that he had collected as many as 50 boats
at the Haldī-passage and had given wages to the boatmen, but that these
were much alarmed at the rumoured approach of the Bengalīs.
(_April 30th_) As time pressed[2598] for crossing the Sarū, I did not
wait for the return of those who had gone to look at the passage, but
on Saturday (_21st_) summoned the begs for consultation and said, "As it
has been reported that there are (no?) crossing-places (fords?) along
the whole of the ground from Chatur-mūk in Sikandarpūr to Barāīch and
Aūd,[2599] let us, while seated here, assign the large force to cross at
the Haldī-passage by boat and from there [Sidenote: Fol. 371.] to come
down on the enemy; let Ūstād `Alī-qulī and Muṣṯafa engage battle with
gun (_top_), matchlock, culverin and _firingī_, and by this draw the
enemy out before `Askarī comes up.[2600] Let us after crossing the river
(Ganges) and assigning reinforcement to Ūstād `Alī-qulī, take our stand
ready for whatever comes; if `Askarī's troops get near, let us fling
attack from where we are, cross over and assault; let Muḥammad-i-zamān
Mīrzā and those appointed to act with him, engage battle from near
Muṣṯafa on the other side of Gang."
The matter having been left at this, the force for the north of the Gang
was formed into four divisions to start under `Askarī's command for the
Haldī-passage. One division was of `Askarī and his retainers; another
was Sl. Jalālu'd-dīn _Sharqī_; another was of the Aūzbeg sulṯāns
Qāsim-i-ḥusain Sulṯān, Bī-khūb Sulṯān and Tāng-aītmīsh Sulṯān, together
with Maḥmūd Khān _Nūḥānī_ of Ghāzīpūr, Bābā Qashqa's Kūkī, Tūlmīsh
_Aūzbeg_, Qurbān of Chīrkh, and the Daryā-khānīs led by Ḥasan Khān;
another was of Mūsā Sl. (_Farmūlī_) and Sl. Junaid with what-not of the
Jūnpūr army, some 20,000 men. Officers were appointed to oversee the
getting of the force to horse that very night, that is to say, the
[Sidenote: Fol. 371b.] night of Sunday.[2601]
(_May 1st_) The army began to cross Gang at the dawn of Sunday (_Sha`bān
22nd_); I went over by boat at the 1st watch (6a.m.). Zard-rūī and his
party came in at mid-day; the ford itself they had not found but they
brought news of boats and of having met on the road the army getting
near them.[2602]
(_May 3rd_) On Tuesday (_Sha`bān 24th_) we marched from where the river
had been crossed, went on for nearly one _kuroh_ (2 m.) and dismounted
on the fighting-ground at the confluence.[2603] I myself went to enjoy
Ūstād `Alī-qulī's firing of culverin and _firingī_; he hit two boats
today with _firingī_-stones, broke them and sank them. Muṣṯafa did the
same from his side. I had the large mortar[2604] taken to the
fighting-ground, left Mullā Ghulām to superintend the making of its
position, appointed a body of _vasāwals_[2605] and active braves to help
him, went to an island facing the camp and there ate _ma`jūn_.
Whilst still under the influence of the confection[2606] I had the boat
taken to near the tents and there slept. A strange thing happened in the
night, a noise and disturbance arising about the 3rd watch (midnight)
and the pages and others snatching up pieces of wood from the boat, and
shouting "Strike! strike!" [Sidenote: Fol. 372.] What was said to have
led to the disturbance was that a night-guard who was in the Farmāīsh
along-side the Asāīsh in which I was sleeping,[2607] opening his eyes
from slumber, sees a man with his hand on the Asāīsh as if meaning to
climb into her. They fall on him;[2608] he dives, comes up again, cuts
at the night-guard's head, wounding it a little, then runs off at once
towards the river.[2609] Once before, on the night we returned from
Munīr, one or two night-guards had chased several Hindūstānīs from near
the boats, and had brought in two swords and a dagger of theirs. The
Most High had me in His Keeping!
(_Persian_) Were the sword of the world to leap forth,
It would cut not a vein till God will.[2610]
(_May 4th_) At the dawn of Wednesday (_25th_), I went in the boat
Gunjāīsh to near the stone-firing ground (_tāsh-ātār-yīr_) and there
posted each soever to his work.
(_bbb. Details of the engagement._)
Aūghān-bīrdī _Mughūl_, leading not less than 1,000 men, had been sent to
get, in some way or other, across the river (Sarū) one, two, three
_kurohs_ (2, 4, 6m.) higher up. A mass of foot-soldiers, crossing from
opposite `Askarī's camp,[2611] landed from 20-30 boats on his road,
presumably thinking to show their superiority, but Aūghān-bīrdī and his
men charged them, put them to flight, took a few and cut their heads
off, shot many with arrows, and got possession of 7 or 8 boats. Today
also Bengalīs crossed in a few boats to Muḥammad-i-zamān Mīrzā's side,
there landed and [Sidenote: Fol. 372b.] provoked to fight. When attacked
they fled, and three boat-loads of them were drowned. One boat was
captured and brought to me. In this affair Bābā the Brave went forward
and exerted himself excellently.
Orders were given that in the darkness of night the boats Aūghān-bīrdī
had captured should be drawn[2612] up-stream, and that in them there
should cross Muḥammad Sl. Mīrzā, Yakka Khwāja, Yūnas-i-`alī,
Aūghān-bīrdī and those previously assigned to go with them.
Today came a man from `Askarī to say that he had crossed the
[Sarū]-water, leaving none behind, and that he would come down on the
enemy at next day's dawn, that is to say, on Thursday's. Here-upon those
already ordered to cross over were told to join `Askarī and to advance
upon the enemy with him.
At the Mid-day Prayer a person came from Ūstā, saying "The stone is
ready; what is the order?" The order was, "Fire this stone off; keep the
next till I come." Going at the Other Prayer in a very small Bengalī
skiff to where shelter (_muljār_) had been raised, I saw Ūstā fire off
one large stone and several small _firingī_ ones. Bengalīs have a
reputation for fire-working;[2613] we tested it now; they do not fire
counting to hit a particular spot, but fire at random.
At this same Other Prayer orders were given to draw a few boats
up-stream along the enemy's front. A few were got past without a "God
forbid!"[2614] from those who, all unprotected, drew [Sidenote: Fol.
373.] them up. Aīsān-tīmūr Sl. and Tūkhta-būghā Sl. were ordered to stay
at the place those boats reached, and to keep watch over them. I got
back to camp in the 1st night-watch of Thursday.[2615]
Near midnight came news from (Aūghān-bīrdī's) boats which were being
drawn up-stream, "The force appointed had gone somewhat ahead; we were
following, drawing the boats, when the Bengalīs got to know where we
were drawing them and attacked. A stone hit a boatman in the leg and
broke it, we could not pass on."
(_May 5th_) At dawn on Thursday (_Sha`bān 26th_) came the news from
those at the shelter, "All the boats have come from above.[2616] The
enemy's horse has ridden to meet our approaching army." On this, I got
our men mounted quickly and rode out to above those boats[2617] that had
been drawn up in the night. A galloper was sent off with an order for
Muḥammad Sl. M. and those appointed to cross with him, to do it at once
and join `Askarī. The order for Aīsān-tīmūr Sl. and Tūkhta-būghā Sl. who
were above these boats,[2618] was that they should busy themselves to
cross. Bābā Sl. was not at his post.[2619]
Aīsān-tīmūr Sl. at once crosses, in one boat with 30-40 of his retainers
who hold their horses by the mane at the boat-side. [Sidenote: Fol.
373b.] A second boat follows. The Bengalīs see them crossing and start
off a mass of foot-soldiers for them. To meet these go 7 or 8 of
Aīsān-tīmūr Sl.'s retainers, keeping together, shooting off arrows,
drawing those foot-soldiers towards the Sulṯān who meantime is getting
his men mounted; meantime also the second boat is moving (_rawān_). When
his 30-35 horsemen charge those foot-soldiers, they put them well to
flight. Aīsān-tīmūr did distinguished work, first in crossing before the
rest, swift, steady, and without a "God forbid!", secondly in his
excellent advance, with so few men, on such a mass of foot, and by
putting these to flight. Tūkhta-būghā Sl. also crossed. Then boats
followed one after another. Lāhorīs and Hindūstānīs began to cross from
their usual posts[2620] by swimming or on bundles of reeds.[2621] Seeing
how matters were going, the Bengalīs of the boats opposite the shelter
(Muṣṯafa's), set their faces for flight down-stream.
Darwīsh-i-muḥammad _Sārbān_, Dost Lord-of-the-gate, Nūr Beg and several
braves also went across the river. I made a man gallop off to the
Sulṯāns to say, "Gather well together those who [Sidenote: Fol. 374.]
cross, go close to the opposing army, take it in the flank, and get to
grips." Accordingly the Sulṯāns collected those who crossed, formed up
into 3 or 4 divisions, and started for the foe. As they draw near, the
enemy-commander, without breaking his array, flings his foot-soldiers to
the front and so comes on. Kūkī comes up with a troop from `Askarī's
force and gets to grips on his side; the Sulṯāns get to grips on theirs;
they get the upper hand, unhorse man after man, and make the enemy
scurry off. Kūkī's men bring down a Pagan of repute named Basant Rāō
and cut off his head; 10 or 15 of his people fall on Kūkī's, and are
instantly cut to pieces. Tūkhta-būghā Sl. gallops along the enemy's
front and gets his sword well in. Mughūl `Abdu'l-wahhāb and his younger
brother gets theirs in well too. Mughūl though he did not know how to
swim, had crossed the river holding to his horse's mane.
I sent for my own boats which were behind;[2622] the Farmāīsh coming up
first, I went over in it to visit the Bengalīs' encamping-grounds. I
then went into the Gunjāīsh. "Is there a crossing-place higher up?" I
asked. Mīr Muḥammad the raftsman represented that the Sarū was better to
cross higher up;[2623] accordingly the army-folk[2624] were ordered to
cross at the higher place he named.
While those led by Muḥammad Sl. Mīrzā were crossing the [Sidenote: Fol.
374b.] river,[2625] the boat in which Yakka Khwāja was, sank and he went
to God's mercy. His retainers and lands were bestowed on his younger
brother Qāsim Khwāja.
The Sulṯāns arrived while I was making ablution for the Mid-day Prayer;
I praised and thanked them and led them to expect guerdon and kindness.
`Askarī also came; this was the first affair he had seen; one
well-omened for him!
As the camp had not yet crossed the river, I took my rest in the boat
Gunjāīsh, near an island.
(_ccc. Various incidents of the days following the battle._)
(_May 6th_) During the day of Friday (_Sha`bān 27th_) we landed at a
village named Kūndīh[2626] in the Nirhun _pargana_ of Kharīd on the
north side of the Sarū.[2627]
(_May 8th_) On Sunday (_29th_) Kūkī was sent to Ḥājīpūr for news.
Shāh Muḥammad (son) of Ma`rūf to whom in last year's campaign (934 AH.)
I had shown great favour and had given the Sāran-country, had done well
on several occasions, twice fighting and overcoming his father
Ma`rūf.[2628] At the time when Sl. Maḥmūd _Lūdī_ perfidiously took
possession of Bihār and was opposed by Shaikh Bāyazīd and Bīban, Shāh
Muḥammad had no help for it, he had to join them; but even then, when
people were saying wild words about him, he had written dutifully to me.
When `Askarī crossed at the Haldī-passage, Shāh [Sidenote: Fol. 375.]
Muḥammad had come at once with a troop, seen him and with him gone
against the Bengalīs. He now came to this ground and waited on me.
During these days news came repeatedly that Bīban and Shaikh Bāyazīd
were meaning to cross the Sarū-river.
In these days of respite came the surprising news from Sanbal (Saṃbhal)
where `Alī-i-yūsuf had stayed in order to bring the place into some sort
of order, that he and a physician who was by way of being a friend of
his, had gone to God's mercy on one and the same day. `Abdu'l-lāh
(_kitābdār_) was ordered to go and maintain order in Sanbal.
(_May 13th_) On Friday the 5th of the month Ramẓān, `Abdu'l-lāh was
given leave for Sanbal.[2629]
(_ddd. News from the westward._)
In these same days came a dutiful letter from Chīn-tīmūr Sl. saying that
on account of the journey of the family from Kābul, several of the begs
who had been appointed to reinforce him, had not been able to join
him;[2630] also that he had gone out with Muḥammadī and other begs and
braves, not less than 100 _kurohs_ (200m.), attacked the Balūchīs and
given them a good beating.[2631] Orders were sent through `Abdu'l-lāh
(_kitābdār_) for the Sulṯān that he and Sl. Muḥammad _Dūldāī_,
Muḥammadī, and some of the begs and braves of that country-side should
assemble in Āgra and there remain ready to move to wherever an enemy
appeared.
(_eee. Settlement with the Nūḥānī Afghāns._)
(_May 16th_) On Monday the 8th of the month, Daryā Khān's [Sidenote:
Fol. 375b.] grandson Jalāl Khān to whom Shaikh Jamālī had gone, came in
with his chief amīrs and waited on me.[2632] Yaḥyā _Nūḥānī_ also came,
who had already sent his younger brother in sign of submission and had
received a royal letter accepting his service. Not to make vain the hope
with which some 7 or 8,000 _Nūḥānī_ Afghāns had come in to me, I
bestowed 50 _laks_ from Bīhār on Maḥmūd Khān _Nūḥānī_, after reserving
one _krūr_ for Government uses (_khalṣa_), and gave the remainder of the
Bihār revenues in trust for the above-mentioned Jalāl Khān who for his
part agreed to pay one _krūr_ of tribute. Mullā Ghulām _yasāwal_ was
sent to collect this tribute.[2633] Muḥammad-i-zamān Mīrzā received the
Jūnapūr-country.[2634]
(_fff. Peace made with Naṣrat Shāh._)
(_May 19th_) On the eve of Thursday (_11th_) that retainer of Khalīfa's,
Ghulām-i-`alī by name, who in company with a retainer of the Shāh-zāda
of Mungīr named Abū'l-fatḥ,[2635] had gone earlier than Ismā`īl Mītā, to
convey those three articles (_faṣl soz_), now returned, again in company
with Abū'l-fatḥ, bringing letters for Khalīfa written by the Shāh-zāda
and by Ḥusain Khān _Laskar_(?) _Wazīr_, who, in these letters, gave
assent to those three conditions, took upon themselves to act for Naṣrat
Shāh and interjected a word for peace. As the object of this campaign
was to put down the rebel Afghāns of whom some had taken their heads
and gone off, some had come in submissive and accepting my service, and
the remaining few were in the hands of the Bengalī [Sidenote: Fol. 376.]
(Naṣrat Shāh) who had taken them in charge, and as, moreover, the Rains
were near, we in our turn wrote and despatched words for peace on the
conditions mentioned.
(_ggg_. _Submissions and guerdon._)
(_May 21st_) On Saturday (_13th_) Ismā`īl _Jālwānī_, `Alāūl Khān
_Nūḥānī_, Auliya Khān _Ashrāqī_(?) and 5 and 6 amīrs came in and waited
on me.
Today guerdon was bestowed on Aīsān-tīmūr Sl. and Tūkhta-būghā Sl., of
swords and daggers with belts, cuirasses, dresses of honour, and
_tīpūchāq_ horses; also they were made to kneel, Aīsān-tīmūr Sl. for the
grant of 36 _laks_ from the Nārnūl _pargana_, Tūkhta-bughā Sl. for 30
_laks_ from that of Shamsābād.
(_hhh_. _Pursuit of Bāyazīd and Bīban._)
(_May 23rd_) On Monday the 15th of the month (_Ramẓān_), we marched from
our ground belonging to Kūndbah (or Kūndīh) on the Sarū-river, with easy
mind about Bihār and Bengal, and resolute to crush the traitors Bīban
and Shaikh Bāyazīd.
(_May 25th_) On Wednesday (_17th_) after making two night-halts by the
way, we dismounted at a passage across the Sarū, called
Chaupāra-Chaturmūk of Sikandarpūr.[2636] From today people were busy in
crossing the river.
As news began to come again and again that the traitors, after crossing
Sarū and Gogar,[2637] were going toward Luknū,[2638] the following
leaders were appointed to bar (their) crossing[2639]:—The Turk and Hind
amīrs Jalālu'd-dīn _Sharqī_, `Alī Khān _Farmūlī_; Tardīka (or, Tardī
_yakka_), Nizām Khān of Bīāna, together with Tūlmīsh _Aūzbeg_, Qurbān of
Chīrk and Daryā Khān (of Bhīra's [Sidenote: Fol. 376b.] son) Ḥasan Khān.
They were given leave to go on the night of Thursday.[2640]
(_iii. Damage done to the Bābur-nāma writings._)
That same night when 1 watch (_pās_), 5 _garīs_ had passed (_cir._ 10.55
p.m.) and the _tarāwīḥ_-prayers were over,[2641] such a storm burst, in
the inside of a moment, from the up-piled clouds of the Rainy-season,
and such a stiff gale rose, that few tents were left standing. I was in
the Audience-tent, about to write (_kitābat qīlā dūr aīdīm_); before I
could collect papers and sections,[2642] the tent came down, with its
porch, right on my head. The _tūnglūq_ went to pieces.[2643] God
preserved me! no harm befell me! Sections and book[2644] were drenched
under water and gathered together with much difficulty. We laid them in
the folds of a woollen throne-carpet,[2645] put this on the throne and
on it piled blankets. The storm quieted down in about 2 _garīs_ (45m.);
the bedding-tent was set up, a lamp lighted, and, after much trouble, a
fire kindled. We, without sleep, were busy till shoot of day drying
folios and sections.
(_jjj. Pursuit of Bīban and Bāyazīd resumed._)
(_May 26th_) I crossed the water on Thursday morning (_Ramān 18th_).
(_May 27th_) On Friday (_19th_) I rode out to visit Sikandarpūr and
Kharīd.[2646] Today came matters written by `Abdu`l-lāh (_kitābdār_) and
Bāqī about the taking of Luknūr.[2647]
(_May 28th_) On Saturday (_20th_) Kūkī was sent ahead, with a troop, to
join Bāqī.[2648]
(_May 29th_) That nothing falling to be done before my arrival might be
neglected, leave to join Bāqī was given on Sunday (_21st_) to Sl. Junaid
_Barlās_, Khalīfa's (son) Ḥasan, Mullā Apāq's [Sidenote: Fol. 377.]
retainers, and the elder and younger brethren of Mumin Ātāka.
Today at the Other Prayer a special dress of honour and a _tīpūchāq_
horse were bestowed on Shāh Muḥammad (son) of Ma`rūf _Farmūlī_, and
leave to go was given. As had been done last year (934 AH.), an
allowance from Sāran and Kūndla[2649] was bestowed on him for the
maintenance of quiver-wearers. Today too an allowance of 72 _laks_[2650]
from Sarwār and a _tīpūchāq_ horse were bestowed on Ismā`īl _Jalwānī_,
and his leave was given.
About the boats Gunjāīsh and Arāīsh it was settled with Bengalīs that
they should take them to Ghāzīpūr by way of Tīr-mūhānī.[2651] The boats
Asāīsh and Farmāīsh were ordered taken up the Sarū with the camp.
(_May 30th_) On Monday (_Ramẓān 22nd_) we marched from the
Chaupāra-Chaturmūk passage along the Sarū, with mind at ease about Bihār
and Sarwār,[2652] and after doing as much as 10 _kurohs_
[Sidenote: Fol. 377b.] (20m.) dismounted on the Sarū in a village
called Kilirah (?) dependent on Fatḥpūr.[2653]
(_kkk. A surmised survival of the record of 934. A.H._[2654])
*After spending several days pleasantly in that place where there are
gardens, running-waters, well-designed buildings, trees, particularly
mango-trees, and various birds of coloured plumage, I ordered the march
to be towards Ghāzīpūr.
Ismā`īl Khān _Jalwānī_ and `Alāūl Khān _Nūḥānī_ had it represented to me
that they would come to Āgra after seeing their native land (_watn_). On
this the command was, "I will give an order in a month."*[2655]
(_lll. The westward march resumed._)
(_May 31st_) Those who marched early (_Tuesday, Ramẓān 23rd_), having
lost their way, went to the great lake of Fatḥpūr (?).[2656] People were
sent galloping off to fetch back such as were near and Kīchīk Khwāja was
ordered to spend the night on the lakeshore and to bring the rest on
next morning to join the camp. We marched at dawn; I got into the Asāīsh
half-way and had it towed to our ground higher up.
(_mmm. Details of the capture of a fort by Bīban and Bāyazīd._)
On the way up, Khalīfa brought Shāh Muḥammad _dīwāna's_ son who had come
from Bāqī bringing this reliable news about Luknūr[2657]:—They (_i.e._
Bīban and Bāyazīd) hurled their assault on Saturday the 13th of the
month Ramẓān (_May 21st_) but could do nothing by fighting; while the
fighting was going on, a collection of wood-chips, hay, and thorns in
the fort took fire, so that inside the walls it became as hot as an oven
(_tanūrdīk tafsān_); the garrison could not move round the rampart; the
fort was lost. When the enemy heard, two or three days later, of our
return (westwards), he fled towards Dalmau.[2658]
Today after doing as much as 10 _kurohs_ (20m.), we dismounted beside a
village called Jalisir,[2659] on the Sarū-bank, in the Sagrī _pargāna_.
(_June 1st_) We stayed on the same ground through Wednesday (_24th_), in
order to rest our cattle.
(_nnn. Dispositions against Bīban and Bāyazīd._)
Some said they had heard that Bīban and Bāyazīd had crossed Gang, and
thought of withdrawing themselves to their kinsfolk [Sidenote: Fol.
378.]
(_nisbahsīlār_) by way of....[2660] Here-upon the begs were summoned
for a consultation and it was settled that Muḥammad-i-zamān Mīrzā and
Sl. Junaid _Barlās_ who in place of Jūnpūr had been given Chunār with
several _parganas_, Maḥmud Khān _Nūḥānī_, Qāẓī Jīā, and Tāj Khān
_Sarāng-khānī_ should block the enemy's road at Chunār.[2661]
(_June 2nd_) Marching early in the morning of Thursday (_25th_), we left
the Sarū-river, did 11 _kurohs_ (22 m.), crossed the Parsarū (Sarjū) and
dismounted on its bank.
Here the begs were summoned, discussion was had, and the leaders named
below were appointed to go detached from the army, in rapid pursuit of
Bīban and Bāyazīd towards Dalmūṯ (Dalmau):—Aīsān-tīmūr Sl., Muḥammad Sl.
M., Tūkhta-būghā Sl., Qāsim-i-ḥusain Sl., Bī-khūb (Nī-khūb) Sl.,
Muz̤affar-i-ḥusain Sl., Qāsim Khwāja, Ja`far Khwāja, Zahid Khwāja, Jānī
Beg, `Askarī's retainer Kīchīk Khwāja, and, of Hind amīrs, `Ālam Khān of
Kālpī, Malik-dād _Kararānī_, and Rāo (Rāwūī) _Sarwāni_.
(_ooo. The march continued._)
When I went at night to make ablution in the Parsarū, people were
catching a mass of fish that had gathered round a lamp on the surface of
the water. I like others took fish in my hands.[2662]
(_June 3rd_) On Friday (_26th_) we dismounted on a very slender stream,
the head-water of a branch of the Parsarū. In order not to be disturbed
by the comings and goings of the army-folk, [Sidenote: Fol. 378b.] I had
it dammed higher up and had a place, 10 by 10, made for ablution. The
night of the 27th[2663] was spent on this ground.
(_June 4th_) At the dawn of the same day (_Saturday 27th_) we left that
water, crossed the Tūs and dismounted on its bank.[2664]
(_June 5th_) On Sunday (_28th_) we dismounted on the bank of the same
water.
(_June 6th_) On Monday the 29th of the month (_Ramẓān_), our station was
on the bank of the same Tūs-water. Though tonight the sky was not quite
clear, a few people saw the Moon, and so testifying to the Qāẓī, fixed
the end of the month (_Ramẓān_).
(_June 7th_) On Tuesday (_Shawwāl 1st_) we made the Prayer of the
Festival, at dawn rode on, did 10 _kurohs_ (20 m.), and dismounted on
the bank of the Gūī (Gūmtī), a _kuroh_ (2 m.) from Māīng.[2665] The sin
of _ma`jūn_ was committed (_irtikāb qīlīldī_) near the Mid-day Prayer; I
had sent this little couplet of invitation to Shaikh Zain, Mullā Shihāb
and Khwānd-amīr:—
(_Turkī_) Shaikh and Mullā Shihāb and Khwānd-amir,
Come all three, or two, or one.
Darwīsh-i-muḥammad (_Sārbān_), Yūnas-i-`alī and `Abdu'l-lāh
(_`asas_)[2666] were also there. At the Other Prayer the wrestlers set
to.
(_June 8th_) On Wednesday (_2nd_) we stayed on the same ground. Near
breakfast-time _ma`jūn_ was eaten. Today Malik Sharq came in who had
been to get Tāj Khān out of Chunār.[2667] When the wrestlers set to
today, the Champion of Aūd who had come earlier, grappled with and threw
a Hindūstānī wrestler who had [Sidenote: Fol. 379.] come in the
interval.
Today Yaḥyā _Nuḥāni_ was granted an allowance of 15 _laks_ from
Parsarūr,[2668] made to put on a dress of honour, and given his leave.
(_June 9th_) Next day (_Thursday 3rd_) we did 11 _kurohs_ (22 m.),
crossed the Gūī-water (Gūmtī), and dismounted on its bank.
(_ppp. Concerning the pursuit of Bīban and Bāyazīd._)
News came in about the sulṯāns and begs of the advance that they had
reached Dalmūd (Dalmau), but were said not yet to have crossed the water
(Ganges). Angered by this (delay), I sent orders, "Cross the water at
once; follow the track of the rebels; cross Jūn (Jumna) also; join `Ālam
Khān to yourselves; be energetic and get to grips with the adversary."
(_qqq. The march continued._)
(_June 10th_) After leaving this water (_Gūmtī_, _Friday 4th_) we made
two night-halts and reached Dalmūd (Dalmau), where most of the army-folk
crossed Gang, there and then, by a ford. While the camp was being got
over, _ma`jūn_ was eaten on an island (_ārāl_) below the ford.
(_June 13th_) After crossing, we waited one day (_Monday 7th_) for all
the army-folk to get across. Today Bāqī _Tāshkīndī_ came in with the
army of Aūd (Ajodhya) and waited on me.
(_June 14th_) Leaving the Gang-water (Ganges, _Tuesday 8th_), we made
one night-halt, then dismounted (_June 15th-Shawwāl 9th_) beside Kūrarah
(Kūra Khāṣ) on the Arind-water. The distance from Dalmūd (Dalmau) to
Kūrarah came out at 22 _kurohs_ (44 m.).[2669]
(_June 16th_) On Thursday (_10th_) we marched early from that ground and
dismounted opposite the Ādampūr _pargana_.[2670]
To enable us to cross (Jūn) in pursuit of our adversaries, a few
[Sidenote: Fol. 379b.] raftsmen had been sent forward to collect at
Kālpī what boats were to be had; some boats arrived the night we
dismounted, moreover a ford was found through the Jūn-river.
As the encamping-place was full of dust, we settled ourselves on an
island and there stayed the several days we were on that ground.
(_rrr. Concerning Bīban and Bāyazīd._)
Not getting reliable news about the enemy, we sent Bāqī _shaghāwal_ with
a few braves of the interior[2671] to get information about him.
(_June 17th_) Next day (_Friday 11th_) at the Other Prayer, one of Bāqī
Beg's retainers came in. Bāqī had beaten scouts of Bīban and Bāyazīd,
killed one of their good men, Mubārak Khān _Jalwānī_, and some others,
sent in several heads, and one man alive.
(_June 18th_) At dawn (_Saturday 12th_) Paymaster Shāh Ḥusain came in,
told the story of the beating of the scouts, and gave various news.
Tonight, that is to say, the night of Sunday the 13th of the
month,[2672] the river Jūn came down in flood, so that by the dawn, the
whole of the island on which I was settled, was under water. I moved to
another an arrow's-flight down-stream, there had a tent set up and
settled down.
(_June 20th_) On Monday (_14th_) Jalāl _Tāshkīndī_ came from the begs
and sulṯāns of the advance. Shaikh Bāyazīd and Bīban, on hearing of
their expedition, had fled to the _pargana_ of Mahūba.[2673] [Sidenote:
Fol. 380.]
As the Rains had set in and as after 5 or 6 months of active service,
horses and cattle in the army were worn out, the sulṯāns and begs of the
expedition were ordered to remain where they were till they received
fresh supplies from Āgra and those parts. At the Other Prayer of the
same day, leave was given to Bāqī and the army of Aūd (Ajodhya). Also an
allowance of 30 _lāks_[2674] from Amrohā was assigned to Mūsa (son) of
Ma`rūf _Farmūlī_, who had waited on me at the time the returning army
was crossing the Sarū-water,[2675] a special head-to-foot and saddled
horse were bestowed on him, and he was given his leave.
(_sss. Bābur returns to Āgra._)
(_June 21st_) With an easy mind about these parts, we set out for Āgra,
raid-fashion,[2676] when 3 _pās_ 1 _garī_ of Tuesday night were
past.[2677] In the morning (_Tuesday 15th_) we did 16 _kurohs_ (32 m.),
near mid-day made our nooning in the _pargana_ of Balādar, one of the
dependencies of Kālpī, there gave our horses barley, at the Evening
Prayer rode on, did 13 _kurohs_ (26 m.) in the night, at the 3rd
night-watch (_mid-night_, _Shawwāl 15-16th_) dismounted at Bahādur Khān
_Sarwānī's_ tomb at Sūgandpūr, a _pargana_ of Kālpī, slept a little,
went through the Morning Prayer and hurried on. After doing 16 _kurohs_
(32 m.), we reached Etāwa at the fall of day, where Mahdī Khwāja came
out to meet us.[2678] Riding [Sidenote: Fol. 380b.] on after the 1st
night-watch (9 p.m.), we slept a little on the way, did 16 _kurohs_ (32
m.), took our nooning at Fatḥpūr of Rāprī, rode on soon after the
Mid-day Prayer (_Thursday Shawwāl 17th_), did 17 _kurohs_ (34 m.), and
in the 2nd night-watch[2679] dismounted in the Garden-of-eight-paradises
at Āgra.
(_June 24th_) At the dawn of Friday (_18th_) Pay-master Sl. Muḥammad
came with several more to wait on me. Towards the Mid-day Prayer, having
crossed Jūn, I waited on Khwāja `Abdu'l-ḥaqq, went into the Fort and saw
the begīms my paternal-aunts.
(_ttt. Indian-grown fruits._)
A Balkhī melon-grower had been set to raise melons; he now brought a few
first-rate small ones; on one or two bush-vines (_būta-tāk_) I had had
planted in the Garden-of-eight-paradises very good grapes had grown;
Shaikh Gūran sent me a basket of grapes which too were not bad. To have
grapes and melons grown in this way in Hindūstān filled my measure of
content.
(_uuu. Arrival of Māhīm Begīm._)
(_June 26th_) Māhīm arrived while yet two watches of Sunday night
(_Shawwāl 20th_)[2680] remained. By a singular agreement of things they
had left Kābul on the very day, the 10th of the 1st Jumāda (_Jan. 21st
1529_) on which I rode out to the army.[2681]
(_Here the record of 11 days is wanting._)
(_July 7th_) On Thursday the 1st of Ẕū'l-qa`da the offerings made by
Humāyūn and Māhīm were set out while I sat in the large Hall of
Audience.
Today also wages were given to 150 porters (_kahār_) and they were
started off under a servant of Faghfūr _Dīwān_ to fetch melons, grapes,
and other fruits from Kabul. [Sidenote: Fol. 381.]
(_vvv. Concerning Saṃbhal._)
(_July 9th_) On Saturday the 3rd of the month, Hindū Beg who had come as
escort from Kābul and must have been sent to Saṃbhal on account of the
death of `Alī-i-yūsuf, came and waited on me.[2682] Khalīfa's (son)
Ḥusāmu'd-dīn came also today from Alwār and waited on me.
(_July 10th_) On Sunday morning (_4th_) came `Abdu'l-lāh (_kitābdār_),
who from Tīr-mūhānī[2683] had been sent to Saṃbhal on account of the
death of `Alī-i-yūsuf.
(_Here the record of 7 days is wanting._)
(_www. Sedition in Lāhor._)
People from Kābul were saying that Shaikh Sharaf of Qarā-bāgh, either
incited by `Abdu'l-`azīz or out of liking for him, had written an
attestation which attributed to me oppression I had not done, and
outrage that had not happened; that he had extorted the signatures of
the Prayer-leaders (_imāmlār_) of Lāhor to this accusation, and had sent
copies of it to the various towns; that `Abdu'l-`azīz himself had failed
to give ear to several royal orders, had spoken unseemly words, and done
acts which ought to have been left undone. On account of these matters
Qaṃbar-i-`alī _Arghūn_ was started off on Sunday the 11th of the month
(_Ẕū'l-qa`da_), to arrest Shaikh Sharaf, the Lāhor _imāms_ with their
associates, and `Abdu'l-`azīz, and to bring them all to Court.
(_xxx. Varia._)
(_July 22nd_) On Thursday the 15th of the month Chīn-tīmūr Sl. came in
from Tijāra and waited on me. Today Champion [Sidenote: Fol. 381b.]
Ṣādiq and the great champion-wrestler of Aūd wrestled. Ṣādiq gave a
half-throw[2684]; he was much vexed.
(_July 28th_) On Monday the 19th of the month (_Ẕū'l-qa`da_) the
Qīzīl-bāsh envoy Murād the life-guardsman was made to put on an inlaid
dagger with belt, and a befitting dress of honour, was presented with 2
_laks_ of _tankas_ and given leave to go.
(_Here the record of 15 days is wanting._)
(_yyy. Sedition in Gūālīār._)
(_August 11th_) Sayyid Mashhadī who had come from Gūālīār in these days,
represented that Raḥīm-dād was stirring up sedition.[2685] On account of
this, Khalīfa's servant Shāh Muḥammad the seal-bearer was sent to convey
to Raḥīm-dād matters written with commingling of good counsel. He went;
and in a few days came back bringing Raḥīm-dād's son, but, though the
son came, Raḥīm-dād himself had no thought of coming. On Wednesday the
5th of _Ẕū'l-ḥijja_, Nūr Beg was sent to Gūālīār to allay Raḥīm-dād's
fears, came back in a few days, and laid requests from Raḥīm-dād before
us. Orders in accordance with those requests had been written and were
on the point of despatch when one of Raḥīm-dād's servants arriving,
represented that he had come to effect the escape of the son and that
Raḥīm-dād himself had no thought of coming in. I was for riding out at
once to Gūālīār, but Khalīfa set it forth to me, "Let me write one more
letter commingled with good counsel; he may even yet come peacefully."
On this mission Khusrau's (son?) Shihābu'd-dīn was despatched.
(_August 12th_) On Thursday the 6th of the month mentioned
(_Ẕū'l-ḥijja_) Mahdī Khwāja came in from Etāwa.[2686] [Sidenote: Fol.
382.]
(_August 16th_) On the Festival-day[2687] (_Monday 10th_) Hindū Beg was
presented with a special head-to-foot, an inlaid dagger with belt; also
a _pargana_ worth 7 _laks_[2688] was bestowed on Ḥasan-i-`alī,
well-known among the Turkmāns[2689] for a Chaghatāī.[2690]
936 AH.-SEP. 5TH 1529 TO AUGUST 25TH 1530 AD.
(_a. Raḥīm-dād's affairs._)
(_Sep. 7th_) On Wednesday the 3rd of Muḥarram, Shaikh Muḥammad
_Ghaus̤_[2691] came in from Gūālīār with Khusrau's (son) Shihābu'd-dīn
to plead for Raḥīm-dād. As Shaikh Muḥammad _Ghaūṣ_ was a pious and
excellent person, Raḥīm-dād's faults were forgiven for his sake. Shaikh
Gūran and Nūr Beg were sent off for Gūālīār, so that the place having
been made over to their charge....[2692]
TRANSLATOR'S NOTE ON 936 TO 937 AH.-1529 TO 1530 AD.
It is difficult to find material for filling the _lacuna_ of some 15
months, which occurs in Bābur's diary after the broken passage of
Muḥarram 3rd 936 AH. (Sept. 7th 1529 AD.) and down to the date of his
death on Jumāda 1. 6th 937 AH. (Dec. 26th 153O AD.). The known original
sources are few, their historical matter scant, their contents mainly
biographical. Gleanings may yet be made, however, in unexpected places,
such gleanings as are provided by Aḥmad-i-yādgār's interpolation of
Tīmūrid history amongst his lives of Afghān Sulṯāns.
The earliest original source which helps to fill the gap of 936 AH. is
Ḥaidar Mīrzā's _Tārīkh-i-rashīdī_, finished as to its Second Part which
contains Bābur's biography, in 948 AH. (1541 AD.), 12 years therefore
after the year of the gap 936 AH. It gives valuable information about
the affairs of Badakhshān, based on its author's personal experience at
30 years of age, and was Abū'l-faẓl's authority for the _Akbar-nāma_.
The next in date of the original sources is Gul-badan Begīm's
_Humāyūn-nāma_, a chronicle of family affairs, which she wrote in
obedience to her nephew Akbar's command, given in about 995 AH. (1587
AD.), some 57 years after her Father's death, that whatever any person
knew of his father (Humāyūn) and grandfather (Bābur) should be written
down for Abū'l-faẓl's use. It embodies family memories and traditions,
and presumably gives the recollections of several ladies of the royal
circle.[2693]
The _Akbar-nāma_ derives much of its narrative for 936-937 AH. from
Ḥaidar Mīrzā and Gul-badan Begīm, but its accounts of Bābur's
self-surrender and of his dying address to his chiefs presuppose the
help of information from a contemporary witness. It is noticeable that
the _Akbar-nāma_ records no public events as occurring in Hindūstān
during 936-937 AH., nothing of the sequel of rebellion by
Raḥīm-dād[2694] and `Abdu'l-`azīz, nothing of the untiring Bīban and
Bāyazīd. That something could have been told is shown by what
Aḥmad-i-yādgār has preserved (_vide post_); but 50 years had passed
since Bābur's death and, manifestly, interest in filling the _lacunæ_ in
his diary was then less keen than it is over 300 years later. What in
the _Akbar-nāma_ concerns Bābur is likely to have been written somewhat
early in the _cir._ 15 years of its author's labours on it,[2695] but,
even so, the elder women of the royal circle had had rest after the
miseries Humāyūn had wrought, the forgiveness of family affection would
veil his past, and certainly has provided Abū'l-faẓl with an
over-mellowed estimate of him, one ill-assorting with what is justified
by his Bābur-nāma record.
The contribution made towards filling the gap of 936-937 AH. in the body
of Niẕāmu-'d-dīn Aḥmad's _T̤abaqāt-i-akbarī_ is limited to a curious and
doubtfully acceptable anecdote about a plan for the supersession of
Humāyūn as Pādshāh, and about the part played by Khwāja Muqīm _Harāwī_
in its abandonment. A further contribution is made, however, in Book VII
which contains the history of the Muḥammadan Kings of Kashmīr, namely,
that Bābur despatched an expedition into that country. As no such
expedition is recorded or referred to in surviving Bābur-nāma writings,
it is likely to have been sent in 936 AH. during Bābur's tour to and
from Lāhor. If it were made with the aim of extending Tīmūrid authority
in the Himālayan borderlands, a hint of similar policy elsewhere may be
given by the ceremonious visit of the Rāja of Kahlūr to Bābur,
mentioned by Aḥmad-i-yādgār (_vide post_).[2696] The T̤.-i-A. was
written within the term of Abū'l-faẓl's work on the _Akbar-nāma_, being
begun later, and ended about 9 years earlier, in 1002 AH.-1593 AD. It
appears to have been Abū'-l-faẓl's authority for his account of the
campaign carried on in Kashmīr by Bābur's chiefs (_Āyīn-i-akbarī_ vol.
ii, part i, Jarrett's trs. p. 389).
An important contribution, seeming to be authentic, is found
interpolated in Aḥmad-i-yādgār's _Tārīkh-i-salāṯīn-i-afāghana_, one
which outlines a journey made by Bābur to Lāhor in 936 AH. and gives
circumstantial details of a punitive expedition sent by him from Sihrind
at the complaint of the Qāẓī of Samāna against a certain Mundāhir
Rājpūt. The whole contribution dovetails into matters found elsewhere.
Its precision of detail bespeaks a closely-contemporary written
source.[2697] As its fullest passage concerns the Samāna Qāẓī's affair,
its basis of record may have been found in Samāna. Some considerations
about the date of Aḥmad-i-yādgār's own book and what Niamatu'l-lāh says
of Haibat Khān of Samāna, his own generous helper in the
_Tārīkhi-Khan-i-jahān Lūdī_, point towards Haibat Khān as providing the
details of the Qāẓī's wrongs and avenging. The indication is
strengthened by the circumstance that what precedes and what follows the
account of the punitive expedition is outlined only.[2698]
Aḥmad-i-yādgār interpolates an account of Humāyūn also, which is a frank
plagiarism from the _T̤abaqāt-i-akbarī_. He tells too a story purporting
to explain why Bābur "selected" Humāyūn to succeed him, one parallel
with Niẕāmu'd-dīn Aḥmad's about what led Khalīfa to abandon his plan of
setting the Mīrzā aside. Its sole value lies in its testimony to a
belief, held by its first narrator whoever he was, that choice was
exercised in the matter by Bābur. Reasons for thinking Niẕāmu'd-dīn's
story, as it stands, highly improbable, will be found later in this
note.
Muḥammad Qāsim Hindū Shāh _Firishta's Tārīkh-i-firishta_ contains an
interesting account of Bābur but contributes towards filling the gap in
the events of 936-937 AH. little that is not in the earlier sources. In
M. Jules Mohl's opinion it was under revision as late as 1623 AD.
(1032-3 AH.).
(_a. Humāyūn and Badakhshān._)
An occurrence which had important results, was the arrival of Humāyūn in
Āgra, unsummoned by his Father, from the outpost station of Badakhshān.
It will have occurred early in 936 AH. (autumn 1529 AD.), because he was
in Kābul in the first ten days of the last month of 935 AH. (_vide
post_). Curiously enough his half-sister Gul-badan does not mention his
coming, whether through avoidance of the topic or from inadvertence; the
omission may be due however to the loss of a folio from the only known
MS. of her book (that now owned by the British Museum), and this is the
more likely that Abū'l-faẓl writes, at some length, about the arrival
and its motive, what the Begīm might have provided, this especially by
his attribution of filial affection as Humāyūn's reason for coming to
Āgra.
Ḥaidar Mīrzā is the authority for the Akbar-nāma account of Humāyūn's
departure from Qila`-i-ẕafar and its political and military sequel. He
explains the departure by saying that when Bābur had subdued Hindūstān,
his sons Humāyūn and Kāmrān were grown-up; and that wishing to have one
of them at hand in case of his own death, he summoned Humāyūn, leaving
Kāmrān in Qandahār. No doubt these were the contemporary impressions
conveyed to Ḥaidar, and strengthened by the accomplished fact before he
wrote some 12 years later; nevertheless there are two clear indications
that there was no royal order for Humāyūn to leave Qila`-i-ẕafar, _viz._
that no-one had been appointed to relieve him even when he reached Āgra,
and that Abū'l-faẓl mentions no summons but attributes the Mīrzā's
departure from his post to an overwhelming desire to see his Father.
What appears probable is that Māhīm wrote to her son urging his coming
to Āgra, and that this was represented as Bābur's wish. However little
weight may be due to the rumour, preserved in anecdotes recorded long
after 935 AH., that any-one, Bābur or Khalīfa, inclined against
Humāyūn's succession, that rumour she would set herself to falsify by
reconciliation.[2699]
When the Mīrzā's intention to leave Qila`-i-ẕafar became known there,
the chiefs represented that they should not be able to withstand the
Aūzbeg on their frontier without him (his troops implied).[2700] With
this he agreed, said that still he must go, and that he would send a
Mīrzā in his place as soon as possible. He then rode, in one day, to
Kābul, an item of rapid travel preserved by Abū'l-faẓl.
Humāyūn's departure caused such anxiety in Qila`-i-ẕafar that some (if
not all) of the Badakhshī chiefs hurried off an invitation to Sa`īd Khān
_Chaghatāī_, the then ruler in Kāshghar in whose service Ḥaidar Mīrzā
was, to come at once and occupy the fort. They said that Faqīr-i-`alī
who had been left in charge, was not strong enough to cope with the
Aūzbeg, begged Sa`īd to come, and strengthened their petition by
reminding him of his hereditary right to Badakhshān, derived from Shāh
Begīm _Badakhshī_. Their urgency convincing the Khān that risk
threatened the country, he started from Kāshghar in Muḥarram 936 AH.
(Sept-Oct. 1529 AD.). On reaching Sārīgh-chūpān which by the annexation
of Abā-bakr Mīrzā _Dūghlāt_ was now his own most western territory[2701]
but which formerly was one of the upper districts of Badakhshān, he
waited while Ḥaidar went on towards Qila`-i-ẕafar only to learn on his
road, that Hind-āl (_æt._ 10) had been sent from Kābul by Humāyūn and
had entered the fort 12 days before.
The Kāshgharīs were thus placed in the difficulty that the fort was
occupied by Bābur's representative, and that the snows would prevent
their return home across the mountains till winter was past.
Winter-quarters were needed and asked for by Ḥaidar, certain districts
being specified in which to await the re-opening of the Pāmīr routes. He
failed in his request, "They did not trust us," he writes, "indeed
suspected us of deceit." His own account of Sa`īd's earlier invasion of
Badakhshān (925 AH.-1519 AD.) during Khān Mīrzā's rule, serves to
explain Badakhshī distrust of Kāshgharīs. Failing in his negotiations,
he scoured and pillaged the country round the fort, and when a few days
later the Khān arrived, his men took what Ḥaidar's had left.
Sa`īd Khān is recorded to have besieged the fort for three months, but
nothing serious seems to have been attempted since no mention of
fighting is made, none of assault or sally, and towards the end of the
winter he was waited on by those who had invited his presence, with
apology for not having admitted him into the fort, which they said they
would have done but for the arrival of Hind-āl Mīrzā. To this the Khān
replied that for him to oppose Bābur Pādshāh was impossible; he reminded
the chiefs that he was there by request, that it would be as hurtful for
the Pādshāh as for himself to have the Aūzbeg in Badakhshān and,
finally, he gave it as his opinion that, as matters stood, every man
should go home. His view of the general duty may include that of
Badakhshī auxiliaries such as Sulṯān Wais of Kūl-āb who had reinforced
the garrison. So saying, he himself set out for Kāshghar, and at the
beginning of Spring reached Yārkand.
_b. Humāyūn's further action._
Humāyūn will have reached Kābul before Ẕū'l-ḥijja 10th 935 AH. (Aug.
26th 1529 AD.) because it is on record that he met Kāmrān on the Kābul
'Īd-gāh, and both will have been there to keep the `Īdu'l-kabīr, the
Great Festival of Gifts, which is held on that day. Kāmrān had come from
Qandahār, whether to keep the Feast, or because he had heard of
Humāyūn's intended movement from Badakhshān, or because changes were
foreseen and he coveted Kābul, as the _Bābur-nāma_ and later records
allow to be inferred. He asked Humāyūn, says Abū'l-faẓl, why he was
there and was told of his brother's impending journey to Āgra under
overwhelming desire to see their Father.[2702] Presumably the two Mīrzās
discussed the position in which Badakhshān had been left; in the end
Hind-āl was sent to Qila'-i-ẕafar, notwithstanding that he was under
orders for Hindūstān.
Humāyūn may have stayed some weeks in Kābul, how many those familiar
with the seasons and the routes between Yārkand and Qila`-i-ẕafar,
might be able to surmise if the date of Hind-āl's start northward for
which Humāyūn is likely to have waited, were found by dovetailing the
Muḥarram of Sa`īd's start, the approximate length of his journey to
Sārīgh-chūpān, and Ḥaidar's reception of news that Hind-āl had been 12
days in the fort.
Humāyūn's arrival in Āgra is said by Abū'l-faẓl to have been cheering to
the royal family in their sadness for the death of Alwar (end of 935
AH.) and to have given pleasure to his Father. But the time is all too
near the date of Bābur's letter (f.348) to Humāyūn, that of a
dissatisfied parent, to allow the supposition that his desertion of his
post would fail to displease.
That it was a desertion and not an act of obedience seems clear from the
circumstance that the post had yet to be filled. Khalīfa is said to have
been asked to take it and to have refused;[2703] Humāyūn to have been
sounded as to return and to have expressed unwillingness. Bābur then did
what was an honourable sequel to his acceptance in 926 AH. of the charge
of the fatherless child Sulaimān, by sending him, now about 16, to take
charge where his father Khān Mīrzā had ruled, and by still keeping him
under his own protection.
Sulaimān's start from Āgra will not have been delayed, and (accepting
Aḥmad-i-yādgār's record,) Bābur himself will have gone as far as Lāhor
either with him or shortly after him, an expedition supporting Sulaimān,
and menacing Sa`īd in his winter leaguer round Qila`-i-ẕafar. Meantime
Humāyūn was ordered to his fief of Saṃbhal.
After Sulaimān's appointment Bābur wrote to Sa`īd a letter of which
Ḥaidar gives the gist:—It expresses surprise at Sa`īd's doings in
Badakhshān, says that Hind-āl has been recalled and Sulaimān sent, that
if Sa`īd regard hereditary right, he will leave "Sulaimān Shāh
Mīrzā"[2704] in possession, who is as a son to them both,[2705] that
this would be well, that otherwise he (Bābur) will make over
responsibility to the heir (Sulaimān);[2706] and, "The rest you
know."[2707]
_c. Bābur visits Lāhor._
If Aḥmad-i-yādgār's account of a journey made by Bābur to Lāhor and the
Panj-āb be accepted, the _lacuna_ of 936 AH. is appropriately filled. He
places the expedition in the 3rd year of Bābur's rule in Hindūstān,
which, counting from the first reading of the _khuṯba_ for Bābur in
Dihlī (f. 286), began on Rajab 15th 935 AH. (March 26th 1529 AD.). But
as Bābur's diary-record for 935 AH. is complete down to end of the year,
(minor _lacunæ_ excepted), the time of his leaving Āgra for Lāhor is
relegated to 936 AH. He must have left early in the year, (1) to allow
time, before the occurrence of the known events preceding his own death,
for the long expedition Aḥmad-i-yādgār calls one of a year, and (2)
because an early start after Humāyūn's arrival and Sulaimān's departure
would suit the position of affairs and the dates mentioned or implied by
Ḥaidar's and by Aḥmad-i-yādgār's narratives.
Two reasons of policy are discernible, in the known events of the time,
to recommend a journey in force towards the North-west; first, the
sedition of `Abdu'l-`azīz in Lāhor (f. 381), and secondly, the invasion
of Badakhshān by Sa`īd Khān with its resulting need of supporting
Sulaimān by a menace of armed intervention.[2708]
In Sihrind the Rāja of Kahlūr, a place which may be one of the Simla
hill-states, waited on Bābur, made offering of 7 falcons and 3
_mans_[2709] of gold, and was confirmed in his fief.[2710]
In Lāhor Kāmrān is said to have received his Father, in a garden of his
own creation, and to have introduced the local chiefs as though he were
the Governor of Lāhor some writers describe him as then being. The best
sources, however, leave him still posted in Qandahār. He had been
appointed to Multān (f. 359) when `Askarī was summoned to Āgra (f. 339),
but whether he actually went there is not assured; some months later
(Ẕū'l-ḥijja 10th 935 AH.) he is described by Abū'l-faẓl as coming to
Kābul from Qandahār. He took both Multān[2711] and Lāhor by force from
his (half-)brother Humāyūn in 935 AH. (1531 AD.) the year after their
Father's death. That he should wait upon his Father in Lāhor would be
natural, Hind-āl did so, coming from Kābul. Hind-āl will have come to
Lāhor after making over charge of Qila`-i-ẕafar to Sulaimān, and he went
back at the end of the cold season, going perhaps just before his Father
started from Lāhor on his return journey, the gifts he received before
leaving being 2 elephants, 4 horses, belts and jewelled daggers.[2712]
Bābur is said to have left Lāhor on Rajab 4th (936 AH.)-(March 4th, 1530
AD.). From Aḥmad-i-yādgār's outline of Bābur's doings in Lāhor, he, or
his original, must be taken as ill-informed or indifferent about them.
His interest becomes greater when he writes of Samāna.
_d. Punishment of the Mundāhirs._
When Bābur, on his return journey, reached Sihrind, he received a
complaint from the Qāẓī of Samāna against one Mohan _Mundāhir_ (or
_Mundhār_)[2713] _Rājpūt_ who had attacked his estates, burning and
plundering, and killed his son. Here-upon `Alī-qulī of Hamadān[2714] was
sent with 3000 horse to avenge the Qāzī's wrongs, and reached Mohan's
village, in the Kaithal _pargana_, early in the morning when the cold
was such that the archers "could not pull their bows."[2715] A marriage
had been celebrated over-night; the villagers, issuing from warm houses,
shot such flights of arrows that the royal troops could make no stand;
many were killed and nothing was effected; they retired into the jungle,
lit fires, warmed themselves(?), renewed the attack and were again
repulsed. On hearing of their failure, Bābur sent off, perhaps again
from Sihrind, Tarsam Bahādur and Naurang Beg with 6000 horse and many
elephants. This force reached the village at night and when marriage
festivities were in progress. Towards morning it was formed into three
divisions,[2716] one of which was ordered to go to the west of the
village and show itself. This having been done, the villagers advanced
towards it, in the pride of their recent success. The royal troops, as
ordered beforehand, turned their backs and fled, the Mundāhirs pursuing
them some two miles. Meantime Tarsam Bahādur had attacked and fired the
village, killing many of its inhabitants. The pursuers on the west saw
the flames of their burning homes, ran back and were intercepted on
their way. About 1000 men, women and children were made prisoner; there
was also great slaughter, and a pillar of heads was raised. Mohan was
captured and later on was buried to the waist and shot to death with
arrows.[2717] News of the affair was sent to the Pādshāh.[2718]
As after being in Sihrind, Bābur is said to have spent two months
hunting near Dihlī, it may be that he followed up the punitive
expedition sent into the Kaithal _pargana_ of the Karnāl District, by
hunting in Nardak, a favourite ground of the Tīmūrids, which lies in
that district.
Thus the gap of 936 AH. with also perhaps a month of 937 AH. is filled
by the "year's" travel west of Dihlī. The record is a mere outline and
in it are periods of months without mention of where Bābur was or what
affairs of government were brought before him. At some time, on his
return journey presumably, he will have despatched to Kashmīr the
expedition referred to in the opening section of this appendix.
Something further may yet be gleaned from local chronicles, from
unwritten tradition, or from the witness of place-names commemorating
his visit.
_e. Bābur's self-surrender to save Humāyūn._
The few months, perhaps 4 to 5, between Bābur's return to Āgra from his
expedition towards the North-west, and the time of his death are filled
by Gul-badan and Abū'l-faẓl with matters concerning family interests
only.
The first such matter these authors mention is an illness of Humāyūn
during which Bābur devoted his own life to save his son's.[2719] Of this
the particulars are, briefly:—That Humāyūn, while still in Saṃbhal, had
had a violent attack of fever; that he was brought by water to Āgra, his
mother meeting him in Muttra; and that when the disease baffled medical
skill, Bābur resolved to practise the rite believed then and now in the
East to be valid, of intercession and devotion of a suppliant's most
valued possession in exchange for a sick man's life. Rejecting counsel
to offer the Koh-i-nūr for pious uses, he resolved to supplicate for the
acceptance of his life. He made intercession through a saint his
daughter names, and moved thrice round Humāyūn's bed, praying, in
effect, "O God! if a life may be exchanged for a life, I, who am Bābur,
give my life and my being for Humāyūn." During the rite fever surged
over him, and, convinced that his prayer and offering had prevailed, he
cried out, "I have borne it away! I have borne it away!"[2720] Gul-badan
says that he himself fell ill on that very day, while Humāyūn poured
water on his head, came out and gave audience; and that they carried her
Father within on account of his illness, where he kept his bed for 2 or
3 months.
There can be no doubt as to Bābur's faith in the rite he had practised,
or as to his belief that his offering of life was accepted; moreover
actual facts would sustain his faith and belief. Onlookers also must
have believed his prayer and offering to have prevailed, since Humāyūn
went back to Saṃbhal,[2721] while Bābur fell ill at once and died in a
few weeks.[2722]
_f. A plan to set Bābur's sons aside from the succession._
Reading the _Akbar-nāma_ alone, there would seem to be no question about
whether Bābur ever intended to give Hindūstān, at any rate, to Humāyūn,
but, by piecing together various contributory matters, an opposite
opinion is reached, _viz._ that not Khalīfa only whom Abū'l-faẓl names
perhaps on Niẕāmu'd-dīn Aḥmad's warrant, but Bābur also, with some
considerable number of chiefs, wished another ruler for Hindūstān. The
starting-point of this opinion is a story in the _T̤abaqāt-i-akbarī_
and, with less detail, in the _Akbar-nāma_, of which the gist is that
Khalīfa planned to supersede Humāyūn and his three brothers in their
Father's succession.[2723]
[Illustration: BĀBUR IN PRAYER, DEVOTING HIMSELF FOR HIS SON.
_To face p. 702._]
The story, in brief, is as follows:—At the time of Bābur's death
Niẕāmu'd-dīn Aḥmad's father Khwāja Muḥammad Muqīm _Harāwī_ was in the
service of the Office of Works.[2724] Amīr Niẕāmu'd-dīn `Alī Khalīfa,
the Chief of the Administration, had dread and suspicion about Humāyūn
and did not favour his succession as Pādshāh. Nor did he favour that of
Bābur's other sons. He promised "Bābur Pādshāh's son-in-law (_dāmād_)"
Mahdī Khwāja who was a generous young man, very friendly to himself,
that he would make him Pādshāh. This promise becoming known, others made
their _salām_ to the Khwāja who put on airs and accepted the position.
One day when Khalīfa, accompanied by Muqīm, went to see Mahdī Khwāja in
his tent, no-one else being present, Bābur, in the pangs of his disease,
sent for him[2725] when he had been seated a few minutes only. When
Khalīfa had gone out, Mahdī Khwāja remained standing in such a way that
Muqīm could not follow but, the Khwāja unaware, waited respectfully
behind him. The Khwāja, who was noted for the wildness of youth, said,
stroking his beard, "Please God! first, I will flay thee!" turned round
and saw Muqīm, took him by the ear, repeated a proverb of menace, "The
red tongue gives the green head to the wind," and let him go. Muqīm
hurried to Khalīfa, repeated the Khwāja's threat against him, and
remonstrated about the plan to set all Bābur's sons aside in favour of a
stranger-house.[2726] Here-upon Khalīfa sent for Humāyūn,[2727] and
despatched an officer with orders to the Khwāja to retire to his house,
who found him about to dine and hurried him off without ceremony.
Khalīfa also issued a proclamation forbidding intercourse with him,
excluded him from Court, and when Bābur died, supported Humāyūn.
As Niẕāmu'd-dīn Aḥmad was not born till 20 years after Bābur died, the
story will have been old before he could appreciate it, and it was some
60 years old when it found way into the _T̤abaqāt-i-akbarī_ and, with
less detail, into the _Akbar-nāma_.
Taken as it stands, it is incredible, because it represents Khalīfa, and
him alone, planning to subject the four sons of Bābur to the suzerainty
of Mahdī Khwāja who was not a Tīmūrid, who, so far as well-known sources
show, was not of a ruling dynasty or personally illustrious,[2728] and
who had been associated, so lately as the autumn of 1529 AD., with his
nephew Raḥīm-dād in seditious action which had so angered Bābur that,
whatever the punishment actually ordered, rumour had it both men were to
die.[2729] In two particulars the only Mahdī Khwāja then of Bābur's
following, does not suit the story; he was not a young man in 1530
AD.,[2730] and was not a _dāmād_ of Bābur, if that word be taken in its
usual sense of son-in-law, but he was a _yazna_, husband of a Pādshāh's
sister, in his case, of Khān-zāda Begīm.[2731] Some writers style him
Sayyid Mahdī Khwāja, a double title which may indicate descent on both
sides from religious houses; one is suggested to be that of Tirmiẕ by
the circumstance that in his and Khān-zāda Begīm's mausoleum was buried
a Tirmiẕ sayyid of later date, Shāh Abū'l-ma`ālī. But though he were of
Tirmiẕ, it is doubtful if that religious house would be described by the
word _khānwāda_ which so frequently denotes a ruling dynasty.
His name may have found its way into Niẕāmu'd-dīn Aḥmad's story as a
gloss mistakenly amplifying the word _dāmād_, taken in its less usual
sense of brother-in-law. To Bābur's contemporaries the expression "Bābur
Pādshāh's _dāmād_" (son-in-law) would be explicit, because for some 11
years before he lay on his death-bed, he had one son-in-law only, _viz._
Muḥammad-i-zamān Mīrzā _Bāī-qarā_,[2732] the husband of Ma`ṣūma Sulṯān
Begīm. If that Mīrzā's name were where Mahdī Khwāja's is entered, the
story of an exclusion of Bābur's sons from rule might have a core of
truth.
It is incredible however that Khālīfa, with or without Bābur's
concurrence, made the plan attributed to him of placing any man not a
Tīmūrid in the position of Pādshāh over all Bābur's territory. I suggest
that the plan concerned Hindūstān only and was one considered in
connection with Bābur's intended return to Kābul, when he must have left
that difficult country, hardly yet a possession, in charge of some man
giving promise of power to hold it. Such a man Humāyūn was not. My
suggestion rests on the following considerations:—
(1) Bābur's outlook was not that of those in Āgra in 1587 AD. who gave
Abū'l-faẓl his Bāburiana material, because at that date Dihlī had become
the pivot of Tīmūrid power, so that not to hold Hindūstān would imply
not to be Pādshāh. Bābur's outlook on his smaller Hindūstān was
different; his position in it was precarious, Kābul, not Dihlī, was his
chosen centre, and from Kābul his eyes looked northwards as well as to
the East. If he had lost the Hindūstān which was approximately the
modern United Provinces, he might still have held what lay west of it to
the Indus, as well as Qandahār.
(2) For several years before his death he had wished to return to Kābul.
Ample evidence of this wish is given by his diary, his letters, and some
poems in his second _Dīwān_ (that found in the Rāmpūr MS.). As he told
his sons more than once, he kept Kābul for himself.[2733] If, instead
of dying in Āgra, he had returned to Kābul, had pushed his way on from
Badakhshān, whether as far as Samarkand or less, had given Humāyūn a
seat in those parts,—action foreshadowed by the records—a reasonable
interpretation of the story that Humāyūn and his brothers were not to
govern Hindūstān, is that he had considered with Khalīfa the
apportionment of his territories according to the example of his
ancestors Chīngīz Khān, Tīmūr and Abū-sa`īd; that by his plan of
apportionment Humāyūn was not to have Hindūstān but something
Tramontane; Kāmrān had already Qandahār; Sulaimān, if Humāyūn had moved
beyond the out-post of Badakhshān, would have replaced him there; and
Hindūstān would have gone to "Bābur Pādshāh's _dāmād_".
(3) Muḥammad-i-zamān had much to recommend him for
Hindūstān:—Tīmūrid-born, grandson and heir of Sl. Ḥusain Mīrzā, husband
of Ma`ṣūma who was a Tīmūrid by double descent,[2734] protected by Bābur
after the Bāī-qarā _débacle_ in Herāt, a landless man leading such other
exiles as Muḥammad Sulṯān Mīrzā,[2735] `Ādil Sulṯān, and Qāsim-i-ḥusain
Sulṯān, half-Tīmūrids all, who with their Khurāsānī following, had been
Bābur's guests in Kābul, had pressed on its poor resources, and thus had
helped in 932 AH. (1525 AD.) to drive him across the Indus. This
Bāī-qarā group needed a location; Muḥammad-i-zamān's future had to be
cared for and with his, Ma`ṣūma's.
(4) It is significant of intention to give Muḥammad-i-zamān ruling
status that in April 1529 AD. (Sha`bān 935 AH.) Bābur bestowed on him
royal insignia, including the umbrella-symbol of sovereignty.[2736] This
was done after the Mīrzā had raised objections, unspecified now in the
_Bābur-nāma_ against Bihār; they were overcome, the insignia were given
and, though for military reasons he was withheld from taking up that
appointment, the recognition of his royal rank had been made. His next
appointment was to Jūnpūr, the capital of the fallen Sharqī dynasty. No
other chief is mentioned by Bābur as receiving the insignia of royalty.