with your beard?" to which the Khwâjeh answered in two Persian verses, the sense of which is, that he who puffs at the lamp which God has lighted, singes his beard. But the felicity of this allusion did not avail him, and he was put to death. Sheibâni Khan following up the advantages which he had gained, took possession of Tâshkend, Shahrokhîa, and all the dominions of Sultan Mahmûd Khan, as well probably as of the territories of his younger brother Ilacheh Khan, so that his territories now extended along both sides of the Sirr or Jaxartes, and stretched southward to the banks of the Amu. He fixed the seat of his government at Samarkand, and gave his brother Mahmûd Sultan the charge of Bokhâra. Tâshkend, with the dominions of the two Khans, he gave to his paternal uncles, Gujenjeh Khan, and Sunjek Sultan, whose mother was the daughter of the celebrated Mirza Ulugh Beg Gurgân. The office of Darogha of Shahrokhîa, he bestowed on Amir Yâkub, who was one of the chief of his nobles. Baber flies to Asfera. A. D. 1503. Baber is said to have taken refuge after this disaster in Moghulistân, an incident to which he himself never refers. This at least is certain, that he was soon after fortunate enough to escape from the north side of the Sirr, and to gain the hill country of Sûkh and Hushiâr, villages which lie in the district of Asfera, among the mountains that separate Ferghâna from Hissâr and Karatigîn, where he wandered for nearly a year as a fugitive, often reduced to the greatest difficulties. Finding his partizans A. D.1503completely dispersed, however, and all hopes gone of recovering his hereditary kingdom, after consulting with his few remaining adherents, he resolved to try his fortune in Khorasan, which was at that time held by Sultan Hussain Mirza, a sovereign of great power and reputation, and beyond comparison the most distinguished prince then living of the family of Taimur. 4. to Khosrou Shah. When Baber bade adieu for the last time to his native country, which he appears to Baber leaves Ferghave regarded during all the future years of his life with the fondness which a man of hâna. warm attachments feels for the scenes of his early affections, he crossed the high range of hills to the south of Ferghâna, and came down west of Karatigîn on the country of Cheghâniân and Hissâr, territories at that time belonging to Khosrou Shah, to whom His conduct Baber always professes a deep-rooted hatred. The murder of Baiesanghar Mirza, and the blinding of Sultan Masaûd Mirza, both cousins of Baber, and the latter the full brother of one of his wives, were certainly sufficient to justify the terms of strong detestation in which that prince always speaks of him; but Ferishta seems to insinuate, that he hated the man whom he had injured; and that Baber, though treated by Khosrou Shah with great hospitality, stirred up a faction in his court, seduced the affections of his army, and by his intrigues, forced him to abandon his troops, his treasure, and his dominions. Whether or not Baber was aware that such charges had been made, or were likely to be brought against him, is uncertain; but the narrative in his Memoirs is certainly fitted to meet accusations of this nature; and he appears throughout to show uncommon solicitude to justify himself in regard to Khosrou Shah, whose general character for hospitality and generosity to others he acknowledges, while he pointedly accuses him of niggardliness, and want of common civility to himself, in the 1 See Tarîkhe Rozet-es-Sefâ, vol. VII. MS. 2 See Baber's Memoirs, near the beginning. Ulugh Beg of Kâbul dies, 126 SUPPLEMENT TO THE MEMOIRS OF BABER. two different instances in which he was obliged to pass through the country of that chieftain. That he intrigued with the army of Khosrou Shah, particularly with the Moghul troops, Baber boldly avows, but appears to regard his conduct in that respect as only an act of fair hostility towards an inveterate foe. Ulugh Beg Mirza, Baber's paternal uncle, the King of Kâbul and Ghazni, had died in the year A. H. 907, leaving his territories to his son Abdal Rizâk Mirza, who was A. D. 1501. still young. The whole power was usurped by one of his ministers, Shirim Ziker, who Confused state of that 1 soon rendered him odious to the chief men of the country. A conspiracy, headed by Muhammed Kâsim Beg and Yunis Ali, was formed against the minister, in consequence of which, the conspirators entering Kâbul with a formidable band of adherents, kingdom. put Ziker to death while sitting in state at a grand festival, which was held for celebrating the Id. The kingdom for some time was a prey to disorder and tumult. Muhammed Mokîm Beg, the son of Zûlnûn Arghûn and brother of Shah Beg, names A. H. 908. which often occur in the following pages, availing himself of this situation of things, marched without orders from the Germsîr, which he held for his father, and appeared suddenly before Kâbul, which opened its gates. Zûlnûn Beg, without professing to approve of the proceedings of Mokîm, sanctioned his retaining possession of his conA. H. 910. quest. Abdul Rizâk Mirza had retired among the hills, and was still making ineffectual efforts for the recovery of his capital, when Baber entered the territories of Khosrou Shah.3 A. D. 1502. 3. A. D. 1504. It is necessary then to recollect that, at this period, when Baber resumes the history of his own adventures, Sheibâni Khan had conquered Samarkand and Bokhâra, Ferghâna and Uratippa, Tâshkend and Shahrokhîa; Sultan Hussain Mirza governed Khorasân; Khosrou Shah still held Hissâr, Khutlân, Kundez, and Badakhshân; and Zûlnûn Beg, though he acknowledged Sultan Hussain Mirza, had the chief and almost independent power in Kandahâr and Zemîn-Dâwer, the country of the Hazâras and Nukderis, the Germsîr, and great part of Sistân, and the country south of Kandahâr. 1 The feast on the conclusion of Ramzan; probably either the 9th April 1502, or 30th March 1503. 2 The Germsîr, as afterwards mentioned by Baber, is the country east of the Pass of Badam-cheshmeh. 3 See Khafi Khan, Ferishta, &c. MEMOIRS OF BABER. EVENTS OF THE YEAR 910. out for IN the month of Moharrem,' I set out from the vicinity of Ferghâna, intending to Baber sets proceed to Khorasân, and halted at the summer-cots of Ilâk,2 one of the summer pas- Khorasan. turing districts belonging to the country of Hissâr. I here entered my twenty-third year, and began to apply the razor to my face. The followers who still adhered to my fortunes, great and small, exceeded two hundred, and fell short of three hundred. The greater part of them were on foot, with brogues on their feet, clubs in their hands, and long frocks over their shoulders. Such was our distress, that among us all we had only two tents. My own tent was pitched for my mother, and they erected for me at each stage a felt-tent of cross-poles," in which I used to take up my quarters. Although I was on my way for Khorasân, yet, in the present state of things, I was not quite without hopes of still effecting something here among the territories and servants of Khosrou Shah. Scarce a day passed in which somebody did not join me, bringing such reports regarding the country and wandering tribes as served to feed my expectation. At this very time, Mûlla Baba Beshâgheri, whom I had sent on a mission to Khosrou Shah, came back. From Khosrou Shah he brought me no message that could cheer my mind; but he brought me favourable accounts of the disposition of the Ils and Ulûses (the wandering Tûrki and Moghul tribes of the country). From Ilâk, in three or four journeys, I reached Khwâjeh-Emâd, a place in the territory of Hissâr. In this station, Mohib Ali Kûrchi waited on me as ambassador from Khosrou Shah. Twice did my course lie through the country of this Khosrou 1 Moharrem, 910, began on the 14th June 1504, the year when Ferdinand, the Catholic, drove the French out of Naples. 2 There is still a place called Ilâk to the north-west of Derbend, which may be in the district here alluded to. 3 Among the Tûrki tribes, the time of first applying the razor to the face is celebrated by a great entertainment. Baber's miserable circumstances did not admit of this. * Chapân. 5 The ilâchack is a sort of tent formed of flexible poles, covered with felt, and easily folded up. Joined by ghániáni Shah, so far-famed for his liberal conduct and generosity; and that humanity which he displayed to the meanest of men, he never showed to me. As I had expectations from the Ils and Ulûses of these districts, I halted a day at each stage. Shîrîm Taghai, than whom I had not with me a man of more eminence, from a dislike to the plan of going to Khorasan, began to think of leaving me. At the time when I had been defeated at Sir-e-pûl,' and was forced to retire, he had sent away the whole of his family, and had remained with me in the fort (of Samarkand) alone, and without any encumbrance to impede his going off. He was rather unmanly, and had several times played the same game. When I arrived at Kabâdiân, Bâki Cheghâniâni, the younger brother of Khosrou Shah, who held Cheghâniân,3 with the towns of Sefa and Termez, sent the Khatib* of Karshi, to express to me his wishes for my prosperity, and his desire to be permitted to join and accompany me as his prince; and, as I crossed the Amû, at the ferry of Ubâj,3 he himself came and paid his respects to me. At the desire of Bâki Cheghâniâni, I moved down towards Termez, when he brought his whole family and effects across the river and joined me, after which we proceeded towards Kehmerd and Bamiân (places at this time held by the son of Ahmed Kâsim, the sister's son of Khosrou Shah), intending to place our families in the fortress of Ajer, one of the towns of Kehmerd, and, after having put it in a posture of defence, to follow whatever plan seemed best to promise success. When we reached Aibek,7 Yâr Ali Belâl, who had formerly been in my service, and had conducted himself with bravery, but who had been separated from me during the commotions, and was now in the employment of Khosrou Shah, deserted with several young cavaliers, and came and joined me, bringing assurances from the Moghuls in Khosrou Shah's service that they were all attached to my interests. On reaching the valley of Zindân, Kamber Ali Beg, surnamed Silakh (or the skinner), fled and came to me. In three or four marches we Kehmerd, reached Kehmerd, having left our wives and families in the fortress of Ajer. Reaches Baki ad. vises him to send away Jehangir Mirza. While we remained in the fort of Ajer, the marriage of Jehangîr Mirza with the daughter of Sultan Mahmûd Mirza by Khanzâdeh Begum was consummated. They had been engaged during the lifetime of the Mirzas, their fathers. At this same period, Bâki Beg repeatedly, and with much earnestness, urged his sentiments, that to have two sovereigns in one country, and two generals in one army, 1 In the neighbourhood of Samarkand. 2 Kabâdian stands on the Amu, somewhat higher up than Termez. 3 Cheghânian, or Saghâniân, whence the whole country of Hissâr formerly took its name, lies north of Termez. The Khatib is the preacher by whom the Khutbeh, or prayers for the prince, are repeated in the mosque. 5 The Turki has Uyaj-Leyden, Umaj-Mr Metcalfe's copy, Aubaj—and my Persian copy, Uyakh; but the passage, Hist. de Timur Bec, tom. I. p. 186, fixes Übaj as the true reading. All these differences arise only from the diacritical points. Kehmerd, or Kohmerd, lies between Balkh and Kâbul, in the hill country. Ajer is about 12 miles west from Kehmerd. 7 This is Aibek, on the Khulum river. * The Dereh Zindân lies about seven miles to the south of Aibek, on the road to Sarbâgh. was an unfailing source of confusion and ruin, and inevitably productive of rebellion, mutiny, and finally of dissolution; as the poet says, (Persian.)-Ten dervîshes may repose on one cloak, But two sovereigns cannot be contained in the same climate. The man of God, when he eats half a loaf, Divides the other half among the poor and needy. If a king subdues a whole kingdom, nay a climate, That there was every reason to expect that, in a few days, all the chiefs and servants of Khosrou Shah would come in and make their submission to the King; that among them there were many seditious and turbulent men, such as the sons of Ayûb Beg and some others, who had always been the movers and exciters of discord and enmity among the Mirzas; that it was best, at the present moment, to send away Jehangîr Mirza for Khorasân on good and friendly terms, that he might not, by and by, occasion me regret and repentance. As it was not in my nature to treat my brothers or any of my relations with disrespect or harshness, however instant he was in his representations, I could not be prevailed on to assent to them. For although great heart- He refuses. burning and difference had formerly existed between Jehangîr Mirza and me, arising from our rivalry in authority, and from our both aiming at the possession of the sovereignty, yet, at this time, he had left his country to accompany me, he was my brother and my dependant, and, in addition to this, had not at this time done anything which could be the ground of dissatisfaction. Afterwards, however, these very exciters of sedition who had been pointed out, Yûsef Ayûb and Behlûl Ayûb, deserted from me, went over to Jehangir Mirza, and were so successful in their seditious schemes and machinations, that they alienated his mind from me, and carried him into Khorasân, exactly as Bâki Beg had predicted. letters. At this time there came strange long-winded letters from Sultan Hussain Mirza to Sultan HusBadîa-ez-Zemân, to me, to Khosrou Shah, and to Zûlnûn Beg. These letters are still sain Mirza's by me. The purport of them was as follows:-When the three brothers, Sultan Ahmed Mirza, Sultan Mahmûd Mirza, and Ulugh Beg Mirza, united their forces and advanced against me, I guarded the banks of the river Murghâb,2 and the Mirzas, after having come close up to me, were compelled to retreat, without effecting anything. Should the Uzbeks now advance, I will again defend the banks of the Murghâb. Badîa-ez-Zemân Mirza, after having put the fortresses of Balkh, Shaberghan, and Andekhûd,3 in a state of defence, and confided them to trusty officers, must himself proceed to Gurzewân, the Dereh-e-Zeng, and the rest of that hill-country.-He also wrote to me to this effect :-Do you defend Kehmerd, Ajer, and the tract of hillcountry in that neighbourhood. Khosrou Shah, after leaving trusty men in Hissâr, 1 From the Gulistan of Sadi. 2 The river Murghâb, rising in the hills of Hazâra, flows down by Merv. These were the three chief fortresses between the hills and the desert to the north of the Paropamisan mountains. ✦ Gurzewân and the valley of Zeng were the chief passes into the hill country between Balkh and Herât. |