spite of Baber's efforts to prevent it, probably produced its natural consequences. Such an execution inevitably generates alienation and hatred ; and unless supported by an overwhelming force, so as to keep alive feelings of terror, is sure to be fatal by the detestation it produces. The contempt and hatred excited against the invaders spread in all directions, and finally extended to the king and all his measures. Baber, in the Baber in despair reend, seeing all hope of recovering Hissâr and Samarkand totally vanished, once more fro recrossed the Hindûkûsh mountains, attended by a few faithful followers, who still Kâbul. adhered to his fortunes, and again arrived in the city of Kâbul. From this time he seems to have abandoned all views1 on the country of Mâweralnaher; and he was "led by divine inspiration," says the courtly Abulfazl, writing in the reign of his grandson, "to turn his mind to the conquest of Hindustân.” turns to Kandahår. But his arms were previously employed for several years in attempting a conquest Baber's atnearer to his capital. When Sheibâni Khan was obliged to raise the siege of the cita- tempts on del of Kandahar, to return to the rescue of his family in Nirehtu, Nâsir Mirza, Baber's A. H. 913, youngest brother, who defended the place, had been reduced to great difficulties. The A. D. 1507. departure of Sheibâni Khan did not much improve his situation; for Shah Beg and.. Mokîm remained in the neighbourhood, and, in a short time, so much straitened the young prince, who, from the first, was but ill prepared for a siege, that he soon found it necessary to abandon the citadel of Kandahâr, and return to the court of his brother. Baber bestowed on him the government of Ghazni, an incident mentioned among the events of the year 913. The year in which Baber came back from Kundez to Kâbul, I have not discovered; but his return was probably in the course of 921. Of the A. D. 1515. transactions of the three following years, our accounts are very imperfect. There is reason to believe that they were chiefly spent in an annual invasion of the territory of Kandahar, the forts of which were defended by Shah Beg, though he did not venture to oppose the invaders in the field.... The fragment of Baber's Memoirs which follows, describes his first invasion of India, and also what Khafi Khan and Ferishta regard as the second. It includes a period of only one year and a month. The Memoirs here assume the form of a journal. 1 His hopes were revived for a moment near the close of his life. MEMOIRS OF BABER, A. D. 1519. Baber marches to attack Ba jour. EVENTS OF THE YEAR 925.1 On Monday, the first day of the month of Moharrem, there was a violent earthJanuary 3. quake in the lower part of the valley, or Jûlga of Chandûl,3 which lasted nearly half an astronomical hour. Next morning I marched from this stage, for the purpose of attacking the fort of Bajour. Having encamped near it, I sent a trusty man of the Dilazâk Afghâns to Bajour, to require the Sultan of Bajour and his people to submit, and deliver up the fort. That stupid and ill-fated set refused to do as they were advised, and sent back an absurd answer. I therefore ordered the army to prepare their besieging implements, scaling-ladders, and engines for attacking fortresses. For this purpose we halted one day in our camp. January 6. On Thursday, the 4th of Moharrem, I ordered the troops to put on their armour, to prepare their weapons, and to mount in readiness for action. The left wing I ordered to proceed higher up than the fort of Bajour, to cross the river at the ford, and to take their ground to the north of the fort; I ordered the centre not to cross the river, but to station themselves in the broken and high grounds to the north-west. The right wing was directed to halt to the west of the lower gate. When Dost Beg and the Begs of the left wing were halting, after crossing the river, a hundred or a hundred and fifty foot sallied from the fort, and assailed them by discharges of arrows. The Begs, on their side, received the attack, and returned the discharge, chased back the enemy to the fort, and drove them under the ramparts. Mûlla Abdalmalek of Khost madly pushed on his horse, and rode close up to the foot of the wall. If the scaling-ladders and Tura had been ready, and the day not so nearly spent, we should have taken the castle at that very time. Mulla Tûrk Ali, and a servant of Tengri Berdi, having each engaged in single combat with an enemy, took their antagonists, cut off their heads, and brought them back. Both of them were ordered to 1 Dr Leyden's translation here begins again. 2 The whole of the year 925 of the Hejira is included in A.D. 1519. 3 This valley is now called Jondôl, or Jandôl. It is about a day's journey from Bajour, to the north or north-east. The name of Chandûl, however, is still known. The Tura, as has already been observed, were probably broad testudos, under cover of which the besiegers advanced to the storm. receive honorary presents. As the people of Bajour had never seen any matchlocks, they at first were not in the least apprehensive of them, so that when they heard the report of the matchlocks, they stood opposite to them, mocking and making many unseemly and improper gestures. That same day, Ustâd Ali Kuli brought down five men with his matchlock, and Wali Khazin also killed two. The rest of the matchlockmen likewise showed great courage, and behaved finely. Quitting their shields, their mail, and their cowheads,' they plied their shot so well, that before evening, seven, eight, or ten Bajouris were brought down by them; after which, the men of the fort were so alarmed, that, for fear of the matchlocks, not one of them would venture to show his head. As it was now evening, orders were given that the troops should be drawn off for the present, but should prepare the proper implements and engines, for assaulting the fortress in the morning twilight. On Friday, the 5th day of Moharrem, at the first dawn of light, orders were given January 7. to sound the kettle-drum for action. The troops all moved forward according to the stations assigned them, and invested the place. The left wing and centre having brought at once an entire Tura from their trenches, applied the scaling-ladders, and began to mount. Khalifeh, Shah Hassan Arghun, and Ahmed Yûsef, with their followers, were ordered from the left of the centre, to reinforce the left wing. Dost Beg's men reached the foot of a tower on the north-east of the fort, and began undermining and destroying the walls. Ustâd Ali Kuli was also there, and that day too he managed his matchlock to good purpose; the Feringy piece was twice discharged. Wali Khazin also brought down a man with his matchlock. On the left of the centre, Malek Kutub Ali having mounted the walls by a scaling-ladder, was for some time engaged hand to hand with the enemy. At the lines of the main body, Muhammed Ali Jengjeng, and his younger brother Nouroz, mounted by a scaling-ladder, and fought bravely with spear and sword. Bâba Yesâwel, mounting by another scaling-ladder, busied himself in demolishing with an axe the parapet of the fort. Many of our people bravely climbed up, kept plying the enemy with their arrows, and would not suffer them to raise their heads above the works; some others of our people, in spite of all the exertions and annoyance of the enemy, and not minding their bows and arrows, employed themselves in breaking through the walls, and demolishing the defences.. It was The fort luncheon-time3 when the tower to the north-east, which Dost Beg's men were under- breached mining, was breached; immediately on which the assailants drove the enemy before them, and entered the tower. The men of the main body, at the same time, also mounted by their scaling-ladders, and entered the fort. By the favour and kindness of God, in the course of two or three hours, we took this strong castle. All ranks displayed 1 The cowheads were probably a kind of awning, covered with cow-hides, to admit of the matchlockmen loading in safety. 2 Much has been written concerning the early use of gunpowder in the East. There is, however, no well-authenticated fact to prove the existence of anything like artillery there, till it was introduced from Europe. Baber here, and in other places, calls his larger ordnance Feringi, a proof that they were then regarded as owing their origin to Europe. The Turks, in consequence of their constant intercourse with the nations of the West, have always excelled all the other Orientals in the use of artillery; and, when heavy cannon were first used in India, Europeans or Turks were engaged to serve them. 3 Chasht. and taken. A. D. 1519. the greatest courage and energy, and justified their right to the character and fame of valour. As the men of Bajour were rebels, rebels to the followers of Islâm, and as, beside their rebellion and hostility, they followed the customs and usages of the infidels, while even the name of Islâm was extirpated from among them, they were all put to the sword, and their wives and families made prisoners. Perhaps upwards of three thousand men were killed. As the eastern side of the fortress was not attacked, a small number made their escape by that quarter. After taking the fortress, I went round and surveyed it, and found an immense number of dead bodies lying about on the terraced roofs, within the houses, and in the streets, insomuch, that persons coming and going to and fro, were obliged to tread on and pass over them. On my return from surveying the place, I took my seat in the palace of the Sultans, and bestowed the country of Bajour on Khwâjeh Kilân,' and having given him a number of my best men to support him, returned to the camp about evening prayers. January 8, Bâba Kâra. Next morning I pursued my march, and halted in the vale of Bajour, at the founMarches to tain of Bâba Kâra. At the intercession of Khwâjeh Kilân, I pardoned a few prisoners who were still left, and suffered them to depart with their wives and families. Several of the sultans and arch-rebels, who had fallen into our hands, were put to death. I sent the heads of the sultans, with some other heads, to Kâbul, along with the dispatches announcing this victory. Letters conveying accounts of the victory were also sent, together with some heads, to Badakhshân, Kundez, and Balkh. Shah Mansûr Yusefzai, who had come on a mission from the Yusefzais, was present at this victory and massacre. Having invested him with a dress of honour, and written threatening letters to the Yusefzais, I gave him leave to depart. January 11. January 12. The expedition against Bajour being thus terminated to my entire satisfaction, on Tuesday, the 9th of Mobarrem, I moved on, and halted a kos farther down, in the same vale of Bajour, where I gave orders for the erection of a pillar of sculls on a rising ground. 3 On Wednesday, the 10th of Moharrem, I mounted and rode to the castle of Bajour, where we had a drinking party 3 in Khwâjeh Kilân's house. The Kafers in the neighbourhood of Bajour, had brought down wine in a number of skins. The wines and fruits of Bajour are wholly from that part of Kaferistân which lies about Bajour. I staid there all night, and next morning surveyed the towers and rampart of the fort; after which I mounted and rode back to the camp. January 13. The morning after, I marched on, and encamped on the banks of the river of January 14. Khwâjeh Khizer. Marching thence, I halted on the banks of the river Chandûl. 1 Khwâjeh Kilân, was the son of Moulana Muhammed Sader, who was one of the chief men of Omer. sheikh Mirza's court. He had six brothers, all of whom spent their lives in Baber's service, to whom they were distantly related, if we may believe Abulfazl. 2 The valley of Bâba Kâra is seven kos north of the town of Bajour, on the road to Jondôl. 3 Baber has now got over his scruples about drinking wine, and seems henceforward to have indulged in it to excess, till near the end of his life. ✦ There does not appear to be any river between Bajour and Jondôl, except that of Bâba Kâra, which may also, perhaps, have been called Khwâjeh Khizer. Mr Elphinstone informs me, that he has laid down the river of Bajour wrong in his map; and that it joins the river of Penjkôra a march or two above the junction of that river with the river of Swât (or Siwâd); while the Jondôl river joins the river of Bajour a march from the town of Bajour. Orders were here issued that all such persons as had been named for the defence of the fort of Bajour should, without exception, repair to that place. On Sunday, the 14th of Moharrem, having given Khwâjeh Kilân a tûgh1 (or banner), January 16. I sent him back to the fort of Bajour. A day or two after his departure, I composed 2 the following lines, which I wrote and sent him : Such was not the agreement and promise between my friend and me,- What can be done against the freaks of Fortune, Which tears by force friend from friend at last! On Wednesday, the 17th of Moharrem, Sultan Alâudin Siwâdi arrived as an envoy January 19. on the part of Sultan Weis Siwâdi,3 and waited on me to offer his submission. On Thursday, the 18th of Moharrem, I hunted on a hill that lies between Bajour January 20. and the Chandûl. The bison and gewizen of this hill are black, except the tail, which is of a different colour. Below this, the bullocks and deer of Hindustân are wholly darkcoloured. The same day we caught a sarik bird; its body was black, as were its eyes: This day, too, Burkut took a deer. As there was a scarcity of grain in the army, we went to the valley of Kehraj, where we seized a quantity of corn, and then proceeded towards Siwâd, on an expedition against the Yusefzai Afghans. On Friday, we marched, and encamped between the Penjkora and the junction of January 21. the Chandûl and Bajour rivers." Shah Mansûr Yusefzai had brought some very pleasant but highly inebriating Kimâl. I cut a Kimâl into three parts, and eat one part myself, giving another to Gedai Taghai, and the third to Abdulla Kitâbdâr. It affected me strangely, and with such a degree of intoxication, that, when the Begs met in council about evening prayers, I was unable to make my appearance; which is the more surprising, as now I may eat a whole Kimâl of that kind, without being in the slightest degree affected, though, on that occasion, less than the half of one produced inebriety. Marching thence, we halted near the mouth of the valley of Kehraj and of Pesh- Levies a gram," before Penjkora. While we staid here, it snowed in these places. It rarely does contribution on Kehraj. snow there, and the inhabitants were surprised at the circumstance. By the advice of Sultan Weis Siwâdi, I demanded a contribution of four thousand kharwârs of rice 9 1 The tugh is a banner of the kitas or mountain-cow's tail, which belongs only to noblemen of the first class. 2 The turn of these verses is on the word Bajour, so that the last line signifies either Bajour has separated friend from friend, or friend is separated from friend by force. 3 Sultan Weis or Oweis was King of Swât (or Siwâd). His possessions extended from the river of Swât to Baramula, at the entrance of Kashmir. He was expelled by the Yusefzais. 4 ✦ Or rather perhaps the mountain-bull. 5 Burkut is probably the name of a favourite hawk. Burkut signifies a hawk. "It has already been remarked, that the Jondôl and Bajour rivers join before they fall into the Penjkora. 7 A sort of intoxicating confection. * Peshgrâm lies north of Mahyar, which is in Mr Elphinstone's map. Kehraj I have not found, but it may be part of the same valley. 9 A hundred man is a kharwar, at four asar the man.-Leyden. That is, four seers, or the weight of four rupees of copper change to a man, or nearly seven pounds weight, which makes the kharwar about seven hundred pounds weight. If the man be 74 lb. the kharwar will be 725 lb. |