been sent to invite me, I did not think it necessary to stand on the ceremony of waiting till these noblemen came personally to pay me their compliments. Having consulted with all my Amîrs and best-informed counsellors, it was arranged that we should march to their assistance with our army; and that, after forming a junction with the Arghûn Amîrs, we might consult together, and either march against Khorasân, or follow some other course that might appear more expedient. With these intentions, we set out for Kandahâr. At Ghazni I met Habîba Sultan Begum, whom, as has been mentioned, I called my Yenka, and who had brought her daughter Maasûmeh Sultan Begum, as had been settled between us at Heri. Khosrou Gokultâsh, Sultan Kûli Chinâk, and Gedai Belâl, had fled from Heri to Ebn Hussain Mirza, and had afterwards left him also, and gone to Abul Hassan Mirza. Finding it equally impossible to remain with him, they came for the purpose of joining me, and accompanied the ladies.

Kilât.

When we reached Kilât,' the merchants of Hindustân, who had come to Kilât to Passes traffic, had not time to escape, as our soldiers came upon them quite unexpectedly. The general opinion was, that, at a period of confusion like the present, it was fair to plunder all such as came from a foreign country. I would not acquiesce in this. I asked, "What offence have these merchants committed? If, for the love of God, we suffer these trifling things to escape, God will one day give us great and important benefits in return; as happened to us not very long ago, when we were on our expedition against the Ghiljis; the Mehmends, with their flocks, their whole effects, wives, and families, were within a single farsang of the army. Many urged us to fall upon them. From the same considerations that influence me now, I combated that proposal, and the very next morning Almighty God, from the property of the refractory Afghâns, the Ghiljis, bestowed on the army so much spoil as had never perhaps been taken in any other inroad." We encamped after passing Kilât, and merely levied something from each merchant by way of Peshkesh.

2

Khan Mir

za.

After passing Kilât, I was joined by Khan Mirza, whom I had suffered to retire into Is met by Khorasan after his revolt in Kâbul, and by Abdal Rizak Mirza, who had staid behind in Khorasan when I left it. They had just escaped from Kandahâr. The mother of the Pîr Muhammed Mirza, who was the grandson of Behâr Mirza, and the son of Jehangîr Mirza, accompanied these Mirzas, and waited on me.

and Mokim

Kandahår,

I now sent letters to Shah Beg and Mokîm, informing them that I had advanced Shah Beg thus far in compliance with their wishes; that, as a foreign enemy like the Uzbeks refuse to had occupied Khorasân, it was necessary, in conjunction with them, to concert such surrender measures as might seem most advisable and expedient for the general safety. Immediately upon this, they not only desisted from writing and sending to invite me, but even returned rude and uncivil answers. One instance of their rudeness was, that in the letter which they wrote me, they impressed the seal on the back of the letter, in the place in which one Amîr writes to another, nay, where an Amîr of some rank sets

1 This is Kilât-e-Ghilji on the Ternek, about a degree east from Kandahar.

2 Khan Mirza, it will be recollected, was the youngest son of Sultan Mahmud Mirza, one of Baber's uncles, and King of Hissar, afterwards of Samarkand; and Abdal Rizak Mirza was the son of another of them, Ulugh Beg Mirza, late king of Kâbul.

Baber arrives before Kandahår.

his seal in writing to an inferior Amîr. Had they not been guilty of such insolence, and returned such insulting answers, things never would have come to such an issue, as it has been said,—

(Persian.)—An altercation has sometimes gone so far as to overthrow an ancient family (dynasty).

The result of their passionate and insolent conduct was, that their family, and the accumulated wealth and honours of thirty or forty years, were given to the wind.

In Sheher-Sefa,2 one day, there was a false alarm in the camp: all the soldiers armed and mounted. I was busy bathing and purifying myself. The Amîrs were in great alarm. When ready I mounted; but, as the alarm was a false one, everything was soon quieted.

Proceeding thence by successive marches, we encamped at Gûzer.3 There too, in spite of all my attempts to come to an explanation, they paid no attention to my overtures, but persisted in their obstinacy and contumacy. My adherents, who knew every part of the country, advised me to advance by the rivulets which flow towards Kandahâr, on the side of Bâba Hassan Abdâl, and Khalishak, and to occupy a strong position on their course. I adopted the plan, and next morning having armed our troops, and arrayed them in right and left wings and centre, we marched in battle order for Khalishak. Shah Beg and Mokîm had erected a large awning on the projecting face of the hill of Kandahâr, somewhat below the place where I have built a palace, and lay there with their army. Mokîm's men pushed forward and advanced near us. Tûfân Arghûn, who had deserted and joined us near Sheher-Sefa, advanced alone towards the Arghûn line. One Ashik-alla, with seven or eight men, separating from the enemy, rode hard towards him. Tufân advanced singly, faced them, exchanged some sword-blows, dismounted Ashik-alla, cut off his head, and brought it to us as we were passing by Sang Lekhsheh.5 We hailed this exploit as a favourable omen. As the ground was broken by villages and trees, we did not reckon it a good place to select for the battle. We, therefore, passed over the skirts of the hills, and having chosen our ground by the stream of an auleng (or meadow), near Kandahâr, had halted, and were encamping, when Shîr Kuli, who had the advance, rode hastily up, informing me that the enemy were in full march towards us, drawn up in battle array. After passing Kilât, our people had suffered much from hunger and want. On coming to Khalishak, most of them had gone out in various directions, some up the country and others down, to collect bullocks, sheep, and other necessaries, and were now much

་

1 The Persians pay great attention, in their correspondence, not only to the style, but to the kind of paper on which a letter is written, the place of signature, the place of the seal, and the situation of the address. Chardin gives some curious information on this subject.

2 Sheher-Sefa lies about forty miles east of Kandahar.

3 The ford. This village probably stands at the passage over some river.

4 Baba Hassan Abdâl is probably the same as Bâba Wali, five or six miles north of Kandahâr; at least, the Saint who gives his name to Hassan Abdâl, east of Atok, is called indiscriminately Hassan Abdâl, and Bâba Wali Kandahari. Khalishak is on a little hill about three miles west of Baba Wali, beyond the Arghandâb.

There are two Lekhshehs, Little Lekhsheh, a mile west of modern Kandahår, and Great Lekhsheh, about a mile south-west of the old city of Kandahâr, and five or six from the modern one.

scattered. Without wasting time in attempting to gather in the stragglers, we mounted for action. My whole force might amount to about two thousand; but when we halted on our ground, from the numbers that had gone off in different directions on foraging parties, as has been mentioned, and who had not had time to rejoin us, before the battle, when the enemy appeared I had only about a thousand men with me. Though my men were few in number, yet I had been at great pains to train and exer- His order cise them in the best manner. Perhaps on no other occasion had I my troops in such of battle. perfect discipline. All my household dependents' who could be serviceable, were divided into bodies of tens and fifties, and I had appointed proper officers for each body, and had assigned to each its proper station on the right or left, so that they were all trained and perfectly informed of what they were to do; and had orders to be on the alert, and active, during the fight. The right and left wings, the right and left divisions, the right and left flanks, were to charge on horseback, and were drawn up and instructed to act of themselves, without the necessity of directions from the Tewâchis;3 and in general the whole troops knew their proper stations, and were trained to attack those to whom they were opposed. Although the terms Berânghâr, Ung-Kûl, Ungyân, and Ung, have all the same meaning, yet for the sake of distinctness, I gave the different words different senses. As the right and left are called Berânghâr and Jewânghâr1 (Meimeneh and Myesereh), and are not included in the centre, which they call Ghûl, the right and left do not belong to the Ghûl; in this instance, therefore, I called these separate bodies by the distinctive names of Berânghâr and Jewânghâr. Again, as the Ghûl or centre is a distinct body, I called its right and left by way of distinction, Ung-kûl and Sûl-kûl. The right and left of that part of the Centre where my immediate dependents were placed, I called Ungiân and Sûliân. The right and left of my own household troops, who were close at hand, I called Ung and Sûl. In the Berânghâr or right wing, were Mirza Khan, Shîrîm Taghâi, Yârek Taghâi, with his brother, Jelmeh Moghul, Ayûb Beg, Muhammed Beg, Ibrâhîm Beg, Ali Syed Moghul, with the Moghuls, Sultan Ali Chehreh, Khodâi Bakhsh, and his brothers. In the Jewânghår or left wing, were. Abdal Rizâk Mirza, Kâsim Beg, Tengri Berdi, Kembe, Ali Ahmed Elchi, Bugheh Ghûri Birlâs, Syed Hussain Akber, Mîr Shah Kochin Irâwel, Nâsir Mirza, Syed Kâsim the Ishik-agha (or Chamberlain), Mohib Ali Korchi, Papa Ughli, Alla Weiran Turkomân, Shîr Kûli Kerâwel Moghul, with his brothers, and Ali Muhammed: In the Ghûl or centre on my right hand, Kâsim Gokultâsh, Khosrou Gokultâsh, Sultan Muhammed Duldâi, Shah Mahmûd Perwanchi (the Secretary), Kûl Baiezîd Bekâwel (the Taster), Kemal Sherbetji (the Cup-bearer).

1 The Tabîneh Khaseh, are the troops that belong immediately to the prince, and who are not the retainers or dependents of any of the Begs or Chiefs.

2 Berânghâr and Jewânghâr ;-the other terms are explained below.

3 The Tewâchis were a sort of adjutants, who attended to the order of the troops, and carried orders from the general.

The meaning of these words, by some oversight, is reversed in Richardson's Dictionary (London, 1806), probably in consequence of the loose and rather awkward explanation given by Meninski, under Jewânghâr va Beranghar, nomina puto, says he, ficta aut Scythica.

5 The Irâwel and Kerâwel, as has been already remarked, were the men of the advanced guard or picquet.

Order of

Arghûns.

On my left, Khwâjeh Muhammed, Ali Dost, Nâsir Miram, Nâsir Bâba Shirzâd, Jân Kûli, Wali Khizânchi (the Treasurer), Kuttek Kadam Kerâwel, Maksûd, Suchi,1 and Bâba Sheikh; besides these, all my own immediate servants and adherents were in the centre; there was no Beg or man of high rank in it; for none of those whom I have mentioned had yet attained the rank of Beg. With the party which was ordered to be in advance, were Shîr Beg, Jânim Korbegi, Kepek Kuli, Bâba Abul-Hassan Korchi; of the Urûs Moghuls Ali Syed Derwîsh, Ali Syed Khûsh-Geldi, Chilmeh Dost Geldi, Jilmeh Yaghenchi, Damaji Mehdi; of the Turkomâns Mansûr and Rustam, with his brothers, and Shah Nazer Sewendûk.

The enemy were divided into two bodies. One of them was commanded by Shah battle of the Shujaa Arghûn, who is known by the name of Shah Beg, and shall hereafter be called Shah Beg; the other by his younger brother Mokîm. From the appearance of the Arghûns, they looked about six or seven thousand in number. There is no dispute that there were four or five thousand men in armour with them. He himself was opposed to my right wing and centre, while Mokîm was opposed to the left wing. Mokîm's division was much smaller than his elder brother's. He made a violent attack on my left wing, where Kâsim Beg was stationed with his division. During the fight, two or three messages came to me from Kâsim Beg, to ask succour; but as the enemy opposed to me were also in great force, I was unable to detach any men to his assistThe battle. ance. We advanced without loss of time towards the enemy. When within bowshot, they suddenly charged, put my advance into confusion, and forced them to fall back on the main-body, which, having ceased shooting, marched on to meet them; they on their part also gave over shooting, halted, and stood still a while. A person who was over against me, after calling out to his men, dismounted and deliberately aimed an arrow at me. I galloped up instantly to meet him; when I came near him, however, he did not venture to stand, but mounted his horse and returned back. This man who had so dismounted was Shah Beg himself. During the battle, Piri Beg Turkomân, with four or five of his brothers, taking their turbans in their hands, 2 left the enemy and came over to us. This Piri Beg was one of those Turkomâns who, when Shah Ismâel vanquished the Bayender Sultans, and conquered the kingdoms of Irâk, had accompanied Abdal Bâki Mirza, Murâd Beg Bayender, and the Turkomân Begs, in their flight. My right wing continued to advance towards the enemy. Its farther extremity made its way forward with difficulty, sinking in the soft ground close by the place where I have since made a garden. My left wing proceeded a good deal lower down than Bâba Hussan Abdal, by the larger river and its streams and channels. Mokîm, with his dependents and adherents, was opposed to my left wing, which was very inconsiderable in number, compared with the force under his command. Almighty God, however, directed everything to a happy issue. Three or four of the large streams which flow to Kandahâr and its villages were between the enemy and my left. My people had seized the fords and obstructed the passage of the enemy, and in spite of the fewness of their numbers, made a gallant fight, and stood firm against every attack. On the part of the Arghûns, Khilwâchi Terkhân engaged in a skir

1 Probably Butler.

2 This was equivalent to an offer of submission.

mish with Kember Ali and Tengeri Berdi in the water.

torious.

Kember Ali was wounded; Kâsim Beg was struck with an arrow in the forehead; Ghûri Birlâs was wounded above the eyebrows by an arrow, which came out by the upper part of his cheek. At Baber victhat very crisis I put the enemy to flight, and passed the streams towards the projecting face of the hill of Murghân. While we were passing the streams, a person mounted on a white charger appeared on the skirt of the hill, going backwards and forwards, apparently in dismay and irresolute, as if uncertain which way to take; at last he set off in a particular direction. It looked very like Shah Beg, and was probably himself. No sooner was the enemy routed than all our troops set out to pursue them and make prisoners. There might perhaps be eleven persons left with me. One of these was Abdalla Kitâbdâr (the Librarian). Mokîm was still standing his ground and fighting. Without regarding the smallness of my numbers, and relying on the providence of God, I beat the kettle-drum and marched towards the enemy.

(Turki.)—God is the giver of little and of much;

In his court none other has power.

(Arabic.)-Often, at the command of God, the smaller army has routed the greater.

1

On hearing the sound of my kettle-drum, and seeing my approach, their resolution failed, and they took to flight. God prospered us. Having put the enemy to flight, I advanced in the direction of Kandahar, and took up my quarters at the Châr-bâgh of Fûrekhzâd, of which not a vestige now remains. Shah Beg and Mokîm not being able to regain the fort of Kandahâr in their flight, the former went off for Shâl and Mastâng, and the latter for Zemîn-Dâwer, without leaving anybody in the castle able to hold it out. The brothers of Ahmed Ali Terkhân, Kûli Beg Arghun, and a number of others, with whose attachment and regard to me I was well acquainted, were in the fort. A verbal communication taking place, they asked the life of their brothers, Kandahår and out of favourable consideration towards them, I granted their request. They surrenders. opened the Mâshûr-gate of the fort. From a dread of the excesses which might be committed by our troops, the others were not opened. Shîrîm Beg and Yârek Beg were appointed to guard the gate that was thrown open. I myself entered with a few of my personal attendants, and ordered one or two marauders whom I met to be put to death by the Atkû and Tikeh. I first went to Mokîm's treasury; it was in the walled town. Abdal Rizâk Mirza had reached it before me and alighted. I gave Abdal Rizâk Mirza a present from the valuables in the treasury, placed Dost Nâsir Beg and Kûl Bâyezîd Bekâwul in charge of it, and appointed Muhammed Bakhshi as paymaster.3 Proceeding thence, I went to the citadel, where I placed Khwâjeh Muhammed Ali and Shah Mahmûd in charge of Shah Beg's treasury. I appointed Ta

1 Shâl and Mastâng lie upwards of two degrees south of Kandahar, on the borders of Belûchistân. Zemîn-Dâwer lies west of the Helmend, below the Hâzâra hills.

2 In this punishment the head of the criminal is fixed between two pieces of wood, and a very heavy. log or plank of several hundred weight, raised by placing a weight on one end of it. This weight being removed, the heavy end falls down and dashes out the criminal's brains.

3 Bakhshi.