A. D. 1519. for the use of the army from the inhabitants of Kehraj, and sent Sultan Weis himself for the purpose of collecting it. These rude mountaineers and peasants, on whom such a contribution had never before been imposed, were unable to discharge it, and were reduced to great distress.

Plunders
Penjkora.

On Tuesday, the 23d of Moharrem, I sent the army, under the command of Hindu January 25. Beg, in order to plunder in Penjkora. Penjkora lies a little above the middle of the slope of the hill. On account of the steepness of the ascent, it is necessary, for nearly laying hold of the ground. Before they reached Penjkora, the They brought back some of their sheep, mares, bullocks, and

a kos, to climb up,
inhabitants had fled.

grain.

January 26. Next morning, I dispatched the army, under Kuch Beg, on a plundering party; and January 27. on Thursday, the 25th of Moharrem, in order to secure a supply of grain, the army moved, and encamped in the midst of the valley of Kehraj, in the district of Mandish. This year several children were born to me younger than Humâiun; but none of them lived. Hindâl was not yet born. While we remained here, I received a letter from Maham, in which she said, "Whether the expected child be a son or daughter, I shall take my chance; I will regard the child as mine, and educate it as my own.” January 28. On the 26th, in this same camp, I gave up Hindâl to Maham, and, writing an answer to her letter, sent it to Kâbul by Yusef Ali Rikâbdâr. Hindâl was not yet born. At this same encampment, in the district of Mandish, in the heart of the valley, on a rising ground, I erected a large Sufeb, or terrace of stone, of such extent, that it could con-tain my large set of tents,' with the smaller set usually sent in advance. The stones of this work were wholly brought by my officers and the soldiers.

Malek Shah Mansûr, the son of Malek Suleman Shah, had come from the Yusefzai Afghans, with professions of submission and of attachment to my interests. In order to conciliate the Yusefzais, I had asked his daughter in marriage. At this encampment we learned that the daughter3 of Shah Mansûr was coming with the tribute of

1 Khâneh-sefîd.

2 Pîshkhâneh. Baber means that the terrace could hold the state-tent, and also one of the sets of tents which is sent in advance each stage in travelling.

3 The Afghân histories make the chief, to whose daughter Baber was married, Malek Ahmed, nephew of Malek Sulemân. Malek Sulemân had been treacherously murdered at a banquet by Ulugh Beg Mirza. It may be worth while to give the history of this marriage, as related by the Afghans. It will at least serve to show at how early a period history is corrupted by tradition.

They tell us, that after Ulugh Beg Mirza, the king of Kâbul, had expelled the Yusefzais from their old abodes, he died of an ulcer in the thigh, and Baber got possession of the conquered country. The Yusefzais also submitted to him, and sent Malek Ahmed, and some other Maleks, with presents to Baber. Ahmed went from Sana through Swât to Bajour, and so to Laghmân, whence he proceeded to Kabul. The King received him well, but was offended at heart, having received complaints from the Dilazâks, who were his favourite subjects, and who had bribed his ministers to procure the death of Ahmed. The Gagianis, who had been enemies of Malek Ahmed, but were now reconciled to him, gave him notice of the King's evil intentions. He sent away the other Maleks, and staid himself. The King took his bow to shoot him. Malek Ahmed bared his breast, that the King's arrow might not be impeded. Baber was so pleased that he forgave him.

Next year, Baber sent for Ahmed, who sent his brother in his stead. The King was civil; but Ahmed, from comparing circumstances, surmised that he would attack them the year following. He retired, therefore, with his tribe, to the Mahoreh hills, which they strengthened, shutting up all the passes.

The King accordingly set out for Swât. On his way he besieged a Gebri fort, which was held by Malek Haider Ali Gebri. Having taken it, he moved on to Manglôr.

the Yusefzais. We had a drinking party about evening prayers. I invited Sultan Alâudîn1 to the party, made him sit down, and gave him one of my own dresses as a dress of honour.

On Sunday the 28th, we marched from the valley of Kehraj, and encamped. Taûs- January 30. khan Yusefzai, the younger brother of Shah Mansûr, brought his niece, who has been mentioned, to this encampment. As the people of Bisûd2 are connected with those of Bajour, I sent Yusef Ali Bekâwel from this station to collect them, and remove them to Bajour. I sent orders to the troops that had been left in Kâbul to join me without delay.

On Friday, the 3d of the month of Sefer, we encamped at the junction of the Ba- February 4. jour and Penjkôra rivers.

On Sunday the 5th, I went from this station to Bajour, and had a drinking party February 6. at Khwâjeh Kilân's house.

8.

On Tuesday the 7th, I sent for the Begs and the Dilazâk Afghans, and held a coun- Expedition cil, in which it was agreed, that, as it was the close of the year, only a day or two of against the Afghans. Aquarius remaining, and as all the grain had been carried off from the level country, February & should we enter Sewâd now, the army would suffer greatly from want of provisions; that it was therefore better to proceed by way of Ambahir and Pani-mali, and crossing the river of Sewâd above Hashnaghar,3 to advance our troops with all possible expedition opposite to the Sanger (or hill-fort) of Mâmura, belonging to the Yusefzais, and to make an incursion upon the Afghans inhabiting the open country and plain, who are composed of the Yusefzais and Muhammedzais, to beat up their quarters, and plunder them; and that, by coming next year earlier, while the grain was on the ground, we should find effectual means of reducing them. Having come to this determination, next morning, being Wednesday, I bestowed horses and dresses of honour February 9. on Sultan Weis and Sultan Alâudîn, and dismissed them with every assurance of protection and assistance; and then, continuing our march, we halted opposite to Bajour. I left the daughter of Shah Mansûr in the fort of Bajour, till the return of the army. Next morning, proceeding in our course, and passing Khwâjeh Khizzer, we halted. February Khwâjeh Kilân here took leave of me on his return. The heavy baggage were sent on towards Lemghân, by way of Kûner. Next morning we again marched, and I gave February the heavy baggage and camels to the charge of Khwâjeh Mîr Mirân, and sent him on by the road of Jor-ghâtu, Derwâzeh, and the pass of Karakobeh; while I myself, with a light-armed and unencumbered force of cavalry, proceeded on our expedition. Having surmounted the pass of Ambahir, and likewise another pass, we reached Pani

Baber, after searching in vain by his spies for a pass into the Mahoreh hills, went himself in the disguise of a Kalender, and was present at one of their feasts. The daughter of Malek Ahmed, observing the stranger, sent him some provisions. Baber, captivated with her appearance and manners, fell in love with her, and, on his return back, sent to ask her in marriage. Ahmed consented, and, accompanied by all his Maleks, waited on the King. The lady, whose name was Bibi Macharikeh, so charmed Baber by her grace and conversation, that he remitted the revenue of her tribe, and returned to Kâbul. The Yusefzais, we are told, then rose into great power; and Baber raised to a very distinguished rank her brother, Mîr Jemâl, who accompanied him and her into Hindustan. The brother and sister both died in Akber's time. 2 Behsut.-Leyden.

1 The Yusefzai ambassador.

3 Hashnaghar stands not far above the junction of the Sewâd river with the river of Kâbul.

10.

11.

12.

A. D. 1519. mali before afternoon prayers. I sent forward Aughan Berdi with a small party, in order to get information. As there was but a short interval between us and the AfFebruary ghans, we did not march early. It was about luncheon-time when Aughan Berdi returned, having taken an Afghan, and cut off his head, which he lost on his way back; but he did not succeed in procuring any satisfactory intelligence. It was mid-day when we marched, and we halted a little before afternoon prayers, after crossing the river of Sewâd. About bed-time prayers we again mounted, and proFebruary ceeding with speed, about sunrise, when the sun was a spear-length high, Rustom Turkomân, who had been sent forward on the look-out, rejoined us with information that the Afghans, having had notice of our approach, were in confusion on all hands, and that a body of them was retiring by the hill-road.

13.

February

14.

Instantly on receiving this intelligence, we increased our speed, and sent on a skirmishing party before us, which overtook and killed several Afghans, whose heads they cut off, and brought back to the main body, along with a number of prisoners, bullocks, and sheep. The Dilazak Afghans also cut off and brought in several heads. Returning from thence, we halted in the neighbourhood of Katlang,' where I sent guides in search of Khwâjeh Mîr Mirân, who had been sent on with the baggage, with instructions to bring him to join me in Makâm.

February gage.

15.

Next morning we marched, and passing by way of Katlang, halted in the midst of Makám. One of Shah Mansur's people here joined us, and I despatched Khosrou Gokultash and Ahmedi Perwânchi with a body of troops to meet and protect the baggage. On Tuesday the 14th, just as we halted in Makâm, the baggage joined us. In the course of the last thirty or forty years, one Shahbâz Kalendar, an impious unbe. liever, had perverted the faith of numbers of the Yusefzais and Dilazâks. At the abrupt termination of the hill of Makâm, there is a small hillock that overlooks all the plain country. It is extremely beautiful, commanding a prospect as far as the eye can reach, and is conspicuous from the lower grounds. Upon it stood the tomb of Shahbaz Kalendar. I visited it, and surveyed the whole place. It struck me as improper that so charming and delightful a spot should be occupied by the tomb of an unbeliever. I therefore gave orders that the tomb should be pulled down, and levelled with the ground. As the situation was fine, both for climate and beauty, I took a maajûn, and continued there for some time.

3

When we left Bajour, we did it with the intention of attacking Behreh1 before we returned to Kâbul. We were always full of the idea of invading Hindustân. This was prevented by various circumstances. For three or four months that the army had been detained in Bajour, it had got no plunder of value. As Behreh is on the borders of Hindustân, and was near at hand, I conceived that, if I were now to push on without baggage, the soldiers might light upon some booty. Moving on under these impressions, and plundering the Afghans in our progress, when I reached Makâm, several

1 Katlang is forty miles north of Akôra, inclining to the east. 2 Makâm appears to lie in Bûnîr. 3 These maajûns, generally composed of bhang, are taken to produce what is regarded as an agreeable intoxication.

Or Bhira, appears to be the country on the Behat or Hydaspes, near the town of that name, but chiefly on the right bank of the river.

of my principal adherents advised me, that if we were to enter Hindustân, we should do it on a proper footing, and with an adequate force; that a great part of our army had been left behind at Kâbul; that a body of our best troops had been left at Bajour; that a number, too, in consequence of the weakness of their horses, had returned to Lamghân; that the horses even of those who still continued with us, were so wretched, that they were unfit for a single day's hard service. Though the advice was perfectly judicious, we made the inroad in spite of all these objections.

16.

Early next morning we marched towards the passage over the Sind. I despatched February Mir Muhammed Jalehbân in advance, with his brothers and some troops to escort them, for the purpose of examining the banks of the river, both above and below. After sending on the army towards the river, I myself set off for Sawâti, which they likewise call Karak-Khaneh, to hunt the rhinoceros. We started many rhinoceroses,1 but, as the country abounded in brush-wood, we could not get at them. A she rhinoceros that had whelps, came out and fled along the plain; many arrows were shot at her, but as the wooded ground was near at hand she gained cover. We set fire to the brush-wood, but the rhinoceros was not to be found. We got sight of another, that, having been scorched in the fire, was lamed and unable to run. We killed it, and every one cut off a bit of it as a trophy of the chase. Leaving Sawâti, after a wide and fatiguing circuit, we reached the camp about bed-time prayers. The party that had been sent to survey the passage over the river did so, and returned.

4

Next morning, being Thursday the 17th, we crossed the ford with our horses, Baber camels, and baggage; the camp bazar and the infantry were floated across on rafts. crosses the Sind, FeThe same day the inhabitants of Nilâb3 waited on me, bringing an armed horse and bruary 17. three hundred shahrokhis, as a Peshkesh. As soon as we had got all our people across, that same day at noon-day prayers, we proceeded on our march, which we continued for one watch of the night, and halted at the river of Kecheh-kot. Marching thence February before day, we crossed the river of Kecheh-kot, and the same evening surmounted the Pass of Sengdâki,5 and halted. Syed Kâsim Ishek-Agha, who brought up the rear guard, took a few Gujers who followed the camp, cut off some of their heads and brought them in.

18.

Marching at the dawn from Singdâki, and crossing the river Souhân about noon- February day prayers, we encamped. Our stragglers continued to come in till midnight. It 19. was an uncommonly long and severe march, and as it was made when our horses were lean and weak, it was peculiarly hard on them, so that many horses were worn out, and fell down by the way. Seven kos from Behreh7 to the north, there is a hill. This hill, in the Zefer-nâmeh and some other books, is called the hill of Jûd. At first I

1 It is worthy of notice, that the rhinoceros is now no longer to be found to the west of the Indus.
2 Baber appears to have crossed a little above Attok.
* Something less than £15 sterling.

3 Nilâb lies fifteen miles below Attok on the Sind.

5 The river of Kecheh-kot is the Harrû, or river of Gharshîn. By his ascending a pass so speedily after leaving the river, and by his reaching the Swân so soon, it appears that Baber turned sharp to the south after crossing the Harrû.

6 Or Swân, which lies between the Sind and Behat.

Perhaps the Bhîra south of the Swân.

8 The Zefer-nâmeh, or Book of Victory, is the history of Taimur Beg, or Tamerlane, written in a very elegant style, by Sherifeddin Ali Yezdi. It has been well translated by Petis de la Croix.

was ignorant of the origin of its name, but afterwards discovered, that in this hill there were two races of men descended of the same father. One tribe is called Jûd, the other Jenjûheh. From old times, they have been the rulers and lords of the inhabitants of this hill, and of the Ils and Uluses which are between Nilâb and Behreh; but their power is exerted in a friendly and brotherly way. They cannot take from them whatever they please. They take as their share a portion that has been fixed from very remote times. The one never takes, and the others never give, a single grain more or less. Their agreement is as follows:-They give a Shahrokhi1 for each head of cattle; seven Shahrokhis are paid by each master of a family, and they serve in their armies. The Jûd are divided into various branches or families, as well as the Jenjûheh. This hill, which lies within seven kos of Behreh, branching off from the hill-country of Kashmir, which belongs to the same range as Hindû-kûsh, takes a south-westerly direction, and terminates below Dînkôt, on the river Sind.3 On the one half of this hill are the Jûd, and on the other the Jenjûheh. This hill got the name of Jûd from a supposed resemblance to the celebrated hill of Jûd. The chief man among them gets the name of Rai. His younger brothers and sons are called Malek. These Jenjûheh were the maternal uncles of Lenger Khan. The name of the Hâkim of the Ils and Uluses in the neighbourhood of the river Suhân was Malek-Hest. His original name was Ased, but as the people of Hindustân often drop the vowels, calling, for instance, Khabar, Khabr, and Ased, Asd, this word, going on from one corruption to another, ended in becoming Hest.

2

Immediately on reaching our ground I sent Lenger Khan in order to bring in Malek-hest. He galloped off, and by impressing him with a persuasion of my generosity and favourable intentions in his behalf, returned, accompanied by him, about bed-time prayers. Malek-hest brought a caparisoned horse with him by way of Peshkesh, and made his submission. He was about the twenty-second or twenty-third year of his age.5

6

Many flocks of sheep, and herds of brood-mares, were feeding on all sides of the camp. As I always had the conquest of Hindustân at heart, and as the countries of Behreh, Khushâb, Chanâb, and Chaniût, among which I now was, had long been in the possession of the Turks, I regarded them as my own domains, and was resolved to acquire the possession of them either by war or peace. It was, therefore, right and

1 The Shahrokhi may be taken at a shilling or elevenpence sterling.

2 Dînkôt from this seems to have lain near Karabâgh.

3 Baber's account of this hill is not very exact. It comes from the Kashmîr hills, and, near Khanpûr, passes to the east and south of Hassan Abdal, and joins the Kohat or Kheiber range, which crosses the Indus at Nilâb. It is evident that he supposes all the rough and mountainous country between the Kheiber and Salt Ranges, to be one hill, and to be continued up to Kashmîr.

* Jûd or Ararat, in Armenia, on which the ark was supposed to have rested.

5 Here Dr Leyden's version finally closes.

6 Behreh at present lies near Pindi Daden Khan, to the south-east of the Jelam or Hydaspes; but the district in Baber's time extended on both sides of the river, and the capital was to the north. Khushâb lies lower down the river. Chenâb probably stretched over to the river of that name, the ancient Acesines. No Chaniût can be found: perhaps it is Battiût, south-east of Attok, by a slight mistake in writing. Behreh at this time belonged to Ali Khan, the son of Doulet Khan, Hâkim of Lahore, under the kings of Delhi.