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ghâi Shah to be paymaster. I sent Miram Nâsir and Maksûd Suchi to the house of Mîr Jan, who was Zûlnûn Beg's Dîwân (or chief minister of revenue); Nâsir Mirza had the squeezing of him. Sheikh Abusaîd Terkhân was given to Mirza Khan to be laid under contribution. ** ***1 was given to Abdal Rizâk Mirza to try what he could extort from him. Such a quantity of silver was never seen before in these countries; indeed no one was known ever to have seen so much money. That night we staid in the citadel. Sambal, a slave of Shah Beg's, was taken and brought in. Although at that time he was only in the private confidence of Shah Beg, and did not hold any conspicuous rank, I gave him in custody to one of my people, who not guarding him properly, Sambol effected his escape. Next morning I went to the GarKandahår den of Ferukhzâd, where the army lay. I gave the kingdom of Kandahar to Nâsir given to Mirza. After the treasure was secured, when they had loaded it on the beasts of burden, and were carrying it from the treasury that was within the citadel, Nâsir Mirza took away a string of (seven) mulés laden with silver; I did not ask them back again, but made him a present of them.

Nasir
Mirza.

Extent of the spoil.

Marching thence, we halted in the Auleng (or meadow) of Kosh-Khâneh.2 I sent forward the army, while I myself took a circuit, and arrived rather late at the camp. It was no longer the same camp, and I did not know it again. There were Tipchâk horses, strings of long-haired male and female camels, and mules laden with silk-cloth and fine linen; long-haired female camels bearing portmanteaus, tents, and awnings of velvet and purpet; in every house, chests, containing hundreds of mans3 of the property and effects of the two brothers, were carefully arranged and packed as in a treasury. In every storehouse were trunks upon trunks, and bales upon bales of cloth, and other effects, heaped on each other; cloak-bags on cloak-bags, and pots upon pots, filled with silver money. In every man's dwelling and tent there was a superfluity of spoil. There were likewise many sheep; but they were little valued. To Kâsim Beg I gave up the garrison that was in Kilât, who were servants of Mokîm, and commanded by Kûch Arghûn and Taj-ed-dîn Mahmûd, together with all their property and effects. Kâsim Beg, who was a man of judgment and foresight, strongly urged me not to prolong my stay in the territory of Kandahar, and it was his urgency that made me commence my march back. Kandahâr, as has been said, I bestowed on Nâsir Mirza ; and, on his taking leave of me, I set out for Kâbul. While we staid in the Kandahâr territory, we had not time to divide the treasure. On reaching Kara Bagh, we found leisure to make the division. It being difficult to count the money, we used scales to weigh and divide it. The Begs, officers, servants, and household, carried off on their animals whole kherwars and bags of silver money, with which they loaded them as with forage; and we reached Kâbul with much wealth and plunder, and great reputation.

1 The name does not appear in any of the MSS. Perhaps Baber, when writing, had forgotten it.

2 There is a Ghuch Khâneh a mile and a half south of Kandahar, inclining west. It is probably a corruption of the name here mentioned.

3 The Tabrîz man is nearly seven English pounds.

4 The Kherwar is nearly seven hundred pounds weight, being a hundred Tabriz mans.

On my arrival at this period, I married Maasûmeh Sultan Begum, the daughter of Baber marSultan Ahmed Mirza, whom I had invited from Khorasan.

ries Maa. sûmeh.

Six or seven days afterwards, I learned by Nâsir Mirza's servants, that Sheibâk Khan Sheibak had arrived, and was blockading Kandahâr. It has already been mentioned, that Mo- Khan besieges Kankîm had fled towards Zemîn-Dâwer. He went thence, and waited on Sheibâk Khan. dahar. Shah Beg had also sent persons one after another, to invite him to their assistance ; and Sheibâk Khan had in consequence advanced from Heri by the hill-country, in hopes of taking me by surprise in Kandahâr, and had posted on the whole way by forced marches for that purpose. It was a foresight of the possibility of this very occurrence, that had induced Kâsim Beg, who was a man of judgment, to urge with so much earnestness my departure from Kandahâr;

(Persian.) What the young man sees in a mirror,
The sage can discern in a baked brick.

On his arrival he besieged Nâsir Mirza in Kandahâr.

alarmed.

to march.

When this intelligence reached me, I sent for my Begs, and held a council. It was Baber is observed, that foreign bands and old enemies, as were the Uzbeks and Sheibâk Khan, had occupied the countries so long under the dominion of the family of Taimur Beg; that of the Tûrks and Jaghatâi, who were still left on various sides, and in different quarters, some from attachment, and others from dread, had joined the Uzbeks; that I was left alone in Kâbul; that the enemy was very powerful, and I very weak; that I had neither the means of making peace, nor ability to maintain the war with them; that, in these difficult circumstances, it was necessary for us to think of some place in which we might be secure, and, as matters stood, the more remote from so powerful Hesitates which way an enemy the better; that it was advisable to make an attempt either on the side of Badakhshân, or of Hindustân, one of which two places must be pitched upon as the object of our expedition. Kâsim Beg and Shîrîm Beg, with their adherents, were for our proceeding against Badakhshân. At that time, the chief persons who still held up their heads in Badakhshân in any force, were Mobârek Shah and Zobeir. Jehangîr Turkomân and Muhammed Korchi, who had driven Nâsir Mirza out of that country, had never been reduced to submission by the Uzbeks, and were likewise in some force. I and a number of my chief Amirs and firmest adherents, on the other hand, having preferred the plan of attacking Hindustân, I set out in that direction, and advanced by way of Lemghân. After the conquest of Kandahâr, I had bestowed Kilât, and the country of Ternek,' on Abdal Rizâk Mirza, who had accordingly been left in Kilât. When the Uzbeks came and besieged Kandahâr, Abdal Rizâk Mirza, not finding himself in a situation to maintain Kilât, abandoned it, and rejoined me. He arrived just when I was setting out from Kâbul, and I left him in that place.

As there was no king, and none of royal blood in Badakhshân, Khan Mirza, at the Khan Mirza instigation of Shah Begum,2 or in consequence of an understanding with her, showed a Badakh

1 The country of Ternek lies on the river of that name, which runs from Makar towards Kandahar. 2 Shah Begum was the daughter of Shah Sultan Muhammed, king of Badakhshan, and the widow of Yunis Khan, Baber's maternal grandfather. She was the mother of Sultan Nigar Khanum, whose son Khan Mirza was, by Sultan Mahmud Mirza of Hissâr. Shah Begum was therefore the young prince's grandmother, and he probably relied for success on the interest of her family in Badakhshân.

sets out for

shân.

Baber marches against

tribes.

desire to try his fortunes in that quarter. I accordingly gave him leave. Shah Begum accompanied Khan Mirza ; my mother's sister, Mehr Nigâr-Khânum,' also took a fancy to go into Badakhshân. It would have been better, and more becoming, for her to have remained with me. I was her nearest relation. But however much I dissuaded her, she continued obstinate, and also set out for Badakhshân.

In the month of the first Jemâdi, we marched from Kâbul against Hindustân. We proceeded on our route by way of Little-Kâbul; on reaching Sûrkh Rebat we passed Hindustan. Kurûk-Sâi, by the hill pass. The Afghans who inhabit between Kâbul and Lemghân Sept. 1507. are robbers and plunderers, even in peaceable times. They fervently pray to God for such times of confusion as now prevailed, but rarely do they get them. When they understood that I had abandoned Kâbul and was marching for Hindustân, their former Is opposed insolence was increased tenfold. Even the best among them were then bent on misby Afghan chief; and things came to such lengths, that, on the morning when we marched from Jagdâlik, the Afghâns, through whose country we were to march, such as the Khizerkhail, the Shimû-khail, the Khirilji, and the Khugiâni, formed the plan of obstructing our march through the Kotal or hill-pass of Jagdâlik, and drew up on the hill which lies to the north, beating their drums, brandishing their swords, and raising terrific shouts. As soon as we had mounted, I ordered the troops to ascend the hill and attack the enemy, each in the direction nearest to him. Our troops accordingly advanced, and making their way through different valleys, and by every approach that they could discover, got near them, upon which the Afghâns, after standing an instant, took to flight without even shooting an arrow. After driving off the Afghans, we reached the top of the ascent. One Afghân who was fleeing down the hill below me, on one side, I wounded in the arm with an arrow. He and a few others were taken and brought in. Some of them were impaled by way of example.

We halted in the Tumân of Nangenhår, before the fort of Adînapûr. Till our arrival here, we had not availed ourselves of our foresight, nor fixed upon any places for our stations. We had neither arranged a plan for our march, nor appointed ground for halting. We now separated the army into four divisions, who were to move about, some up the country, and others down, till we received farther intelligence. It was Plundering the end of Autumn. In the plains, in most places, they had housed the rice. Some expedition to Alisheng. persons who were thoroughly acquainted with every part of the country informed us, that up the river of the Tumân of Alisheng, the Kâfers sow great quantities of rice, and that probably the troops might there be able to lay in their winter's corn. Leaving the dale of Nangenhar, therefore, and pushing speedily forward, we passed Sâigal, and advanced up to the valley of Bîraîn. The troops seized a great quantity of rice. The rice fields were at the bottom of the hills. The inhabitants in general fled and escaped, but a few Kâfirs were killed. They had posted some men in a breastwork on a commanding eminence in the valley of Birain. When the Kafirs fled, this party descended rapidly from the hill, and began to annoy us with arrows. Having wounded Purân, the son-in-law of Kâsim Beg, they were on the point of coming up with him, and of making him prisoner, when the rest of his party made a push, put

1 She was the eldest sister of Baber's mother, and widow of Sultan Ahmed Mirza of Samarkand.

the enemy to flight, and extricated and rescued him. We staid one night in the Kâfirs' rice-fields, where we took a great quantity of grain, and then returned back to the

camp.

At this same time, Mokîm's daughter, Mâh-chuchak, who is now the wife of Shah Hassan, was married to Kâsim Gokultâsh, in the territory of the Tumân of Mendrâur. As we did not find it expedient to proceed in our expedition against Hindustân, I sent back Mûlla Bâba Beshagheri with a few troops towards Kâbul. Marching from Mendrâur, I proceeded by Ater and Shiweh, and continued for some days in that neighbourhood; from Ater I went on by Kuner and Nûrgil,' and examined the country. From Kuner I came in a Jaleh (or raft), to the camp. Before this time, I had not sailed in a Jaleh, but I found that sort of conveyance very pleasant; and from this time forward I frequently made use of it.

tires from

abandoned

At this time Mûlla Mîrak Ferketi arrived from Nâsir Mirza. He brought the de- Sheibâk tailed news of Sheibâk Khan's having taken the walled town of Kandahar, and of his Khan reretiring without having taken the citadel: he also brought information, that after Kandahår, Sheibak Khan's retreat, Nâsir Mirza had abandoned Kandahâr on several accounts, and which is retired to Ghazni. A few days after my departure, Sheibâk Khan had unexpectedly by Nasir appeared before Kandahar, and, as our people were not in sufficient strength to main- Mirza. tain the walled town, they abandoned it. The enemy ran mines in various directions about the citadel, and made several assaults. Nâsir Mirza was wounded by an arrow in the neck, and the citadel was on the point of being taken. In this extremity, Muhammed Amîn, Khwâjeh Dost Khâwend, and Muhammed Ali Piâdeh, the cup-bearer, giving up all for lost, let themselves down over the walls, and escaped from the fort. At the very moment when the place must inevitably have fallen, Sheibâk Khan made some proposals for an accommodation, and hastily raised the siege. The reason of his retreat was, that, when he came against Kandahår, he had sent his Haram to Nirehtû. Some persons having revolted in Nirehtû, had taken the fort. This induced him hurriedly to patch up a sort of peace and retire.

turns to

A few days afterwards, though it was the middle of winter, I arrived in Kâbul by Baber reway of Badij. Above Badij I directed the date of the passage to be engraved on a Kabul. stone.3 Hâfez Mirak wrote the inscription. Ustâd Shah Muhammed performed the stone-cutter's part. From haste it is not well cut.

I bestowed Ghazni on Nâsir Mirza; to Abdal Rizâk Mirza I gave the Tumân of Nangenhâr, Mendrâur, the valley of Nûr, Kuner, and Nûrgil.

Till this time the family of Taimur Beg, even although on the throne, had never Assumes assumed any other title than that of Mirza. At this period, I ordered that they should the title of style me Pâdshâh.*

1 These places, it will be recollected, lie on the Cheghânserâi river.

9 A strong fort to the east of Herât.

3 Abul-Fazl, in the short account of Baber's reign prefixed to the Akbernameh, says, that this inscription was still to be seen in his time.

4 The title of Pâdshah corresponds with that of emperor. It is often used, however, merely to signify king. It is to be observed, that Baber applies it to himself before this time, and indeed in the very opening of his Memoirs, "I became Badshah of Ferghâna." He probably did not use that style in his Chancery.

Pâdshah.

Birth of
Hûmâiûn.

In the end of this year, on Tuesday the fourth day of the month of Zilkadeh,1 when the sun was in Aquarius, Hûmâiûn was born. Moulâna Meshedi, the poet, discovered the date of his birth in the words Sultan Hûmâiûn Khan. One of the minor poets of Kâbul, found it in Shah-e-Firoz-Kadr.2 A few days after I gave him the name of Hûmâiûn. After Hûmâiûn's birth, I went for five or six days to the Châr-bâgh, and celebrated the festival of his nativity. Those who were Begs, and those who were not, great and small, brought their offerings. Bags of silver money were heaped up. I never before saw so much white money in one place. It was a very splendid feast.

Desertion of several officers.

Revolt of

the Hissa

ris and

Moghuls.

5

EVENTS OF THE YEAR 914.3

In the spring I surprised and plundered a body of Mehmend Afghâns, in the neighbourhood of Maaber. A few days after we had returned from the expedition, and resumed our quarters, Kûch Beg, Fakîr Ali Karîmdâd, and Bâba Chehreh, formed a plan for deserting from me. On discovering their intentions, I dispatched a party, who seized them below Isterghach,1 and brought them back. During the life-time of Jehangîr Mirza, too, they had frequently indulged in most improper conduct. I ordered that they should all be delivered over to punishment in the market-place. They had been carried to the Gate, and the ropes were putting round their necks, for the purpose of hanging them, when Kâsim Beg sent Khalifeh to me, earnestly to entreat forgiveness for their offences. To gratify the Beg, I gave up the capital part of their punishment, and ordered them to be cast into prison.

The Hissaris and Kûndezis, and the Moghuls of superior rank, who had been in Khosrou Shah's service, among whom were Chilmeh Ali, Syed Shekmeh, Shîr Kuli, Ikû Sâlim, and others, who had been promoted and patronised by him; certain of the Jaghatâi, such as Sultan Ali Chehreh, Khodâi Bakhsh, with their dependents; some of the Sewendûk Turkomâns, Shah Nazer, with his adherents, amounting in all to two or three thousand good soldiers, at this very time, having consulted and conspired together, had come to a resolution to revolt. Those whom I have mentioned lay near Khwâjeh Rîwâj, stretching from the valley of Sûng-Kurghân to the valley of Châlâk.” Abdal Rizâk Mirza having come from Nangenhâr, took up his quarters in Deh-Afghân. Mohib Ali Korchi had once or twice communicated to Khalîfeh and Mûlla Bâba some

1 March 6, 1508.

2 The king victorious in might.

3 The year of the Hejira 914 commenced on the 2d of May 1508.

4 North of Kâbul.

5 This is the first notice taken of Jehangir's death. He seems to have died soon after the expedition into Khorasan, Khâfi Khan says of a dysentery, va azâre-mûi; or, according to Ferishta, of hard drinking.

6 These places lie close by Kâbul. Khwâjeh Rawâsk is in Bûtkhâh, two or three miles south of Kabul.

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