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them.

escapes.

they were prepared. When we came to Syed Kâsim's Bridge, I sent Shîrim Taghâi, with the right wing, towards Mûlla Baba's Bridge. With the centre and left wing, I advanced by way of Bâba Lûli; at that time, where the Bagh-e-Kalîfeh now is, there was a small garden and house, which Ulugh Beg Mirza had made to serve as a Lenger.' Although its trees and wood were gone, yet its inclosure was still left. Khan Mirza He attacks had his quarters there. Hussain Mirza was in the Bagh-e-Behisht, which had been made by Ulugh Beg Mirza. We had got to the burying-ground near Mûlla Baba's garden, when they brought back to me, wounded and unhorsed, a party that had pushed on in advance. This party, which had preceded us and had entered Khan Mirza's house, was four in number, Syed Kâsim Ishik-agha, Kember Ali Beg, Shîr Kûli Kerâwel Moghul, and Sultan Ahmed Moghul, who was one of Shir Kûli Moghul's followers; these four persons, as soon as they came up, without halting, entered the palace where Mirza Khan lived. All was instantly in uproar and alarm. Khan Mirza mounted on horseback, galloped off, and escaped. Muhammed Hussain Kor- Khan Mirza begi's younger brother, also in the service of Khan Mirza, attacked Shîr Kûli Moghul, one of the four, sword in hand, and threw him down; but Shîr Kûli contrived to escape while his opponent was endeavouring to cut off his head. These four persons, still smarting from their sabre and arrow wounds, were brought to me as I have mentioned. The alley was narrow, and our horsemen crowded into it, so that a confusion and bustle ensued. Some of the enemy also collected, and though much crowded, made a stand. Our people could not get forward, and could not get back. I desired some men who were near me to dismount and push on. Dost Nâsir, Khwâjeh Muhammed Ali Kitâbdâr, Baba Shir-zâd, Shah Mahmûd, and a few others, having accordingly dismounted, advanced and assailed the enemy with their arrows. The enemy were shaken and took to flight. We waited a long time for the coming of our people from the fort, but they did not arrive in time for action. After the enemy were defeated, they began to drop in by ones and twos. Before we reached the Charbagh, in which Khan Mirza's quarters had been, Ahmed Yûsef and Syed Yûsef joined me from the fort, and we entered the garden that he had left. On finding that Khan Mirza had escaped, we instantly left it. Ahmed Yûsef was behind me, when, at the gate of the Charbagh, as I was coming out, Dost Sirpuli Piâdeh, a man to whom I had shown particular marks of favour in Kâbul, on account of his valour, and whom I had left in Baber in danger. the office of Kotwâl,3 advanced with a naked sword in his hand, and made at me. I had on my stuffed waistcoat, but had not put on my plate-mail. I had also omitted to put on my helmet. Although I called out to him, "Ho, Dost! Ho, Dost!" and spoke to him; and though Ahmed Yûsef also called out; whether it was that the cold and snow had affected him, or whether he was hurried away by a confusion of ideas arising from the bustle of fight, he did not know me, and, without stopping, let fall a

1 A Lenger is a house, in which Kalenders, or the religious devotees of the Muhammedans, live in, a sort of collegiate state. A Caravansera is generally connected with it, and is often the only part remaining of the establishment.

3 The Kotwâl is a Superintendant of Police.

2 Garden of Heaven.
The jibeh is a sort of waistcoat quilted with cotton. The gherbiche or plate-mail, are four plates of
iron or other metal, made to cover the back, front, and sides.

blow on my bare arm.
hair;

The

grace of God was conspicuous; it did not hurt a single

However the sword of man may strike,

It injures not a single vein, without the will of God.

I had repeated a prayer, by virtue of which it was that Almighty God averted my danger, and removed from me the risk to which I was exposed. It was as follows :— His prayer. (Arabic)-" O my God! Thou art my Creator; except Thee there is no God. On Thee do I repose my trust; Thou art the Lord of the mighty throne. What God wills comes to pass; and what He does not will, comes not come to pass; and there is no power nor strength but through the High and Exalted God; and, of a truth, in all things God is Almighty; and verily He comprehends all things by his knowledge, and has taken account of everything. O my Creator! as I sincerely trust in Thee, do Thou seize by the forelock all evil proceeding from within myself, and all evil coming from without, and all evil proceeding from every man who can be the occasion of evil, and all such evil as can proceed from any living thing, and remove them far from me; since, of a truth, thou art the Lord of the exalted throne !"

He attempts to seize

Hussain Mirza.

Proceeding thence, I went to the Bagh-e-Behisht, where Muhammed Hussain Mirza Muhammed resided; but he had fled, and had escaped and hid himself. In a breach in the wall of the Baghcheh (or Little Garden), in which Muhammed Hussain Mirza had resided, seven or eight archers kept their post. I galloped and spurred my horse at them ; they durst not stand, but ran off. I came up with one of them, and cut him down. He went spinning off in such a way, that I imagined his head had been severed from his body, and passed on. The person whom I had hit was Tulik Gokultâsh, the foster brother of Khan Mirza; I struck him on the arm. Just as I had reached the door of Muhammed Hussain Mirza's house, there was a Moghul sitting on the terrace, who had been in my service, and I recognised him. He fitted an arrow to his bow, and aimed at me. A cry rose on all sides, "That is the King!" he turned from his aim, discharged the arrow, and ran off. As the time for shooting was gone by, and as the Mirza and his officers had fled away or were prisoners, what purpose was to be answered by his shooting? While I was at this palace, Sultan Senjer Birlâs, whom I had distinguished by favours, and to whom I had given the Tumân of Nangenhâr, but who had nevertheless engaged in this rebellion, was taken, and dragged before me with a rope about his neck. Being in great agitation, he called out, "What fault have I done?" "Is there a greater crime than for a man of note like you to associate and conspire with insurgents and rebels?" As Shah Begum,' the mother of my maternal uncle the Khan, was his sister's daughter, I ordered them not to drag him in this shameful way along the ground, but spared his life, and did him no more harm.

Leaving this place, I directed Ahmed Kâsim Kûhber, who was one of the chiefs that had been in the fort, to pursue Khan Mirza with a body of troops. Close by the

1 Shah Begum was one of the wives of Yunis Khan, the maternal grandfather of Baber, and was the mother of Sultan Nigâr-Khanum, who was Khan Mirza's mother. It is to be observed, that Khanum and Khanim are used indiscriminately in all the copies.

visits the

Bagh-e-Behisht,1 Shah Begum and the Khanim2 dwelt, in palaces which they had themselves erected. On leaving the palace,. I went to visit Shah Begum and the Baber Khanim. The town's-people and the rabble of the place had taken to their clubs, and Begums. were making a riot. They were eager to lay hold of men in corners, to plunder property, and profit by the confusion. I therefore stationed parties in different places, to chastise and disperse them, and to drive them away. Shah Begum and Khanim were sitting together in the same house. I alighted where I had always done, and went up and saluted them with the same respect and form as I had been accustomed to use. Shah Begum and the Khanim were out of all measure alarmed, confounded, dismayed, and ashamed. They could neither stammer out an excuse, nor make the inquiries which politeness required. It was not my wish that they should feel uneasy; yet the faction which had been guilty of such excesses was composed of persons who, beyond all doubt, were not disposed to neglect the suggestions of the Begum and the Khanim. Khan Mirza was the grandson of Shah Begum, and night and day with the Begums. If he did not pursue their advice, it was in their power to have prevented his leaving them, and they could have kept him near them under their own eye. On several occasions, too, when, from adverse circumstances and ill fortune, I was separated from my country, my throne, my servants, and dependants, I had fled to them for refuge and shelter, and my mother had also gone to them, but we experienced no sort of kindness or support. Khan Mirza, my younger brother, and his mother, Sultan Nigâr-Khânum, at that time possessed valuable and populous countries, while I and my mother had not even a single village, nor a few fowls. My mother was a daughter of Yunis Khan, and I was his grandson. But whether I was or not, every one of that connexion who happened to come in my way was sure to benefit by it, and was treated as a relation or cousin. When Shah Begum came to live with me, I bestowed on her Pemghân, which is one of the most desirable places in Kâbul. Indeed, I never failed in my duty or service towards any of them. Sultan Saîd Khan, the Khan of Kashghâr,* came to me with five or six naked followers on foot; I received them like my own brothers, and gave him the Tumân of Mandrâur, one of the districts of Lemghân. When Shah Ismâel overthrew and slew Sheibâk Khan in Merv, and I passed over into Kundez, the men of Andejân began to turn their eyes towards me. Several of them displaced their Daroghas, while others held their towns on my account, and sent to give me notice of their proceedings. I dispatched Sultan Saîd Khan, with my Baberi servants and an additional reinforcement, to hold the government of my own native country of Andejân, and raised him to the rank of Khan; and, down to this moment, I have always continued to treat every man of that family, who places himself under my protection,

Garden of Paradise.

3

2 The Khanim, or princess, here mentioned, must be either Meher-nigar-Khanum, the eldest sister of Baber's mother, and one of the widows of Sultan Ahmed Mirza, or more probably her youngest sister of the full blood, Khub-nigâr-Khanum, the wife of Muhammed Hussain Mirza. Khan Mirza was the youngest son of their sister of the half blood, Sultan Nigàr-Khanim, the widow of Sultan Mahmûd Mirza.

3 Cousins are often familiarly called brothers in eastern countries. The meaning is, Khan Mirza, whom I regarded as my younger brother, &c.

He also was a near relation of Yunis Khan. He married a daughter of one of Baber's aunts.

Muham.

med Hus

sain Mirza

taken pri

soner.

Khan Mir7a also taken.

with as much kindness as my own paternal relations; as, for example, Chin Taimur Sultan, Isan Taimur Sultan, Tokhteh Bugha Sultan, and Baba Sultan, are at this instant with me, and I have received and treated them with more distinction and favour than my own paternal cousins. I have no intention, by what I have written, to reflect on any one; all that I have said is only the plain truth: and I have not mentioned it with the least design to praise myself; I have only spoken of things as they happened. In all that I have written, down to the present moment, I have in every word most scrupulously followed the truth. I have spoken of occurrences precisely as they really passed; I have consequently described every good or bad act, were it of my father or elder brother, just as it occurred, and have set forth the merit or demerit of every man, whether friend or stranger, with the most perfect impartiality. Let the reader therefore excuse me, and let not the hearer judge with too much severity.

Leaving their palace, I went to the Chehâr Bagh, which had been occupied by Khan Mirza. On reaching it I wrote letters to different parts of the country, as well as to the Aimâks and wandering tribes, announcing my victory. I then mounted my horse and entered the citadel.

Muhammed Hussain Mirza, after making his escape, had in his fright taken refuge in the Khanim's wardrobe, and hid himself among the carpets. Miram Diwâneh and some others were sent from the fort, to search the house and bring him out. On coming to the Khanim's palace-gate, they made use of rough, and not very polite language. They, however, discovered Muhammed Hussain Mirza hid among the carpets, and conveyed him into the citadel. I behaved to him with my wonted respect, rose on his coming in, and showed no symptoms of harshness in my manner. Muhammed Hussain Mirza had conducted himself in such a criminal and guilty way, and had been actively engaged in such mutinous and rebellious proceedings, that, had he been cut in pieces, or put to a painful death, he would only have met with his deserts. As we were in some degree of relationship to each other, he having sons and daughters by my mother's sister, Khub-nigâr-Khânum, I took that circumstance into consideration, and gave him his liberty, allowing him to set out for Khorasân. Yet this ungrateful, thankless man, this coward, who had been treated by me with such lenity, and whose life I had spared, entirely forgetful of this benefit, abused me and scandalized my conduct to Sheibâk Khan. It was but a short time, however, before Sheibâk Khan put him to death, and thus sufficiently avenged me :—

Deliver over him who injures you to Fate;

For Fate is a servant that will avenge your quarrel.

Ahmed Kâsim Kûhber, and the party who were sent in pursuit of Khan Mirza, overtook him among the hillocks of Kurghe-Yelâk. He was unable to flee, and had neither strength nor courage enough to fight. They took him prisoner, and brought him before me. I was sitting in the old Diwânkhâneh' (or Hall of Audience), in a

1 The Akbernâmeh says that the young prince was brought to Baber by the Khanim, his mother, and gives the address which she made him on the occasion. The account of this affair there given, is, in several respects, inconsistent with that of Baber. His mother does not appear to have been at Kâbul. She had married Uzbek Khan.

portico on its north-east side, when he was brought in. I said, "Come and embrace me." From the agitation in which he was, he fell twice before he could come up and make his obeisance. After we had saluted I seated him at my side, and spoke encouragingly to him. They brought in sherbet. I myself drank of it first, in order to reassure him, and then handed it to him. As I was still uncertain of the fidelity of a considerable part of the soldiers, the country people, the Moghuls, and Chaghatâi, who were yet unsettled, I sent Khan Mirza into custody at large in the house of his sisters,' with orders to him not to leave it; but, as the commotions and sedition of the Ils and Ulûses still continued, and as the Khan's stay in Kâbul did not seem advisable, I allowed him, in the course of a few days, to proceed to Khorasân.

After he had taken leave, I set out on a circuit through Bârân, Châstûbeh, and Baber visits Bârân, &c. the low grounds of Gulbehâr.2 In the spring, the country about Bârân, the plain of Châstûbeh, and the low country of Gulbehâr, is excessively pleasant. Its verdure is much superior to that of any place in Kâbul. It abounds with tulips of various species. I once desired the different kinds to be counted, and they brought me in thirtyfour sorts. I wrote some verses in praise of the district;

(Tûrki.) Its verdure and flowers render Kâbul, in spring, a heaven ;

But above all, the spring of Bârân, and of Gulbehâr, is enchanting.

In this same tour I finished the ghazel which begins thus :-`

(Turki.) My heart is like a rose-bud, spotted with blood;

Were there a hundred thousand springs, the rose-bud of my heart can never blow.

In truth, few places can be compared to these in the spring, either for beauty of prospect, or for the amusement of hawking, as has been more particularly noticed in the summary account I have given of Kâbul and Ghazni.

from Ba

This same year, the Amirs of Badakhshân, such as Muhammed Korchi, Mobârek Nâsir MirShah Zobîr, and Jehangîr, being offended with the conduct and proceedings of Nasir za expelled Mirza, and some of his favourites, rose in insurrection, united, and formed an army. dakhshân. After collecting their horse and foot in the plain which lies on the river Kokcheh,3 towards Yeftil and Râgh, they advanced by way of the broken hillock grounds near Khemchân. Nâsir Mirza, and those who were about him, being inexperienced young men, of no consideration or foresight, marched towards the hillocks to give the insurgents battle, and engaged them. The ground is a mixture of hill and plain. The enemy had a numerous infantry. Though several times charged by cavalry they stood fast, and in their turn attacked so spiritedly, that the Mirza's horse were unable to keep their ground, and fled. The Badakhshânians having routed Nâsir Mirza, pillaged and plundered all who were connected with or dependent on him. Nâsir Mirza, with his routed and plundered adherents, fled by way of Ishkemish and Narîn, to Kil

1 Several of his sisters seem to have been at this time at Kâbul.-See p. 30.

2 These places lie to the north of Kâbul, among the hills.

3 The river on which Faizâbâd stands; it joins the Amu from the south, rising in Kafferistan. It is one of the two chief branches of the Oxus.

These places lie south-east from Kundez.

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