Chapter XV: Section I: Farghāna (4)

[Sidenote: Fol. 62b.] These news were altogether upsetting to Aūzūn Ḥasan; he at once started off his most favoured retainers and most serviceable braves to help his men in the citadel of Akhsī. His force reached the brow of the river at dawn. Our Commanders and the (Tāshkīnt) Mughūls had heard of its approach and had made some of their men strip their horses and cross the river (to the Andijān side). Aūzūn Ḥasan's men, in their haste, did not draw the ferry-boat up-stream;[449] they consequently went right away from the landing-place, could not cross for the fort and went down stream.[450] Here-upon, our men and the (Tāshkīnt) Mughūls began to ride bare-back into the water from both banks. Those in the boat could make no fight at all. Qārlūghāch (var. Qārbūghāch) _Bakhshī_ (Pay-master) called one of Mughūl Beg's sons to him, took him by the hand, chopped at him and killed him. Of what use was it? The affair was past that! His act was the cause why most of those in the boat went to their death. Instantly our men seized them all (_arīq_) and killed all (but a few).[451] Of Aūzūn Ḥasan's confidants escaped Qārlūghāch _Bakhshī_ and Khalīl _Dīwān_ and Qāẓī _Ghulām_, the last getting off by pretending to be a slave (_ghulām_); and of his trusted braves, Sayyid `Alī, now in trust in my own service,[452] and Ḥaidar-i-qulī and Qilka _Kāshgharī_ escaped. Of his 70 or 80 men, no more than this [Sidenote: Fol. 63.] same poor five or six got free.

On hearing of this affair, Aūzūn Ḥasan and Taṃbal, not being able to remain near Marghīnān, marched in haste and disorder for Andijān. There they had left Nāṣir Beg, the husband of Aūzūn Ḥasan's sister. He, if not Aūzūn Ḥasan's second, what question is there he was his third?[453] He was an experienced man, brave too; when he heard particulars, he knew their ground was lost, made Andijān fast and sent a man to me. They broke up in disaccord when they found the fort made fast against them; Aūzūn Ḥasan drew off to his wife in Akhsī, Taṃbal to his district of Aūsh. A few of Jahāngīr Mīrzā's household and braves fled with him from Aūzūn Ḥasan and joined Taṃbal before he had reached Aūsh.

(_c. Bābur recovers Andijān._)

Directly we heard that Andijān had been made fast against them, I rode out, at sun-rise, from Marghīnān and by mid-day was in Andijān.[454] There I saw Nāṣir Beg and his two sons, that is to say, Dost Beg and Mīrīm Beg, questioned them and uplifted their heads with hope of favour and kindness. In this way, by God's grace, my father's country, lost to me for two years, was regained and re-possessed, in the month Ẕū'l-qa`da of [Sidenote: Fol. 63b.] the date 904 (June 1498).[455]

Sl. Aḥmad Taṃbal, after being joined by Jahāngīr Mīrzā, drew away for Aūsh. On his entering the town, the red rabble (_qīzīl ayāq_) there, as in Akhsī, black-bludgeoned (_qarā tīyāq qīlīb_) and drubbed his men out, blow upon blow, then kept the fort for me and sent me a man. Jahāngīr and Taṃbal went off confounded, with a few followers only, and entered Aūzkīnt Fort.

Of Aūzūn Ḥasan news came that after failing to get into Andijān, he had gone to Akhsī and, it was understood, had entered the citadel. He had been head and chief in the rebellion; we therefore, on getting this news, without more than four or five days' delay in Andijān, set out for Akhsī. On our arrival, there was nothing for him to do but ask for peace and terms, and surrender the fort.

We stayed in Akhsī[456] a few days in order to settle its affairs and those of Kāsān and that country-side. We gave the Mughūls who had come in to help us, leave for return (to Tāshkīnt), then went back to Andijān, taking with us Aūzūn Ḥasan and his family and dependants. In Akhsī was left, for a time, Qāsim-i-`ajab (Wonderful Qāsim), formerly one of the household circle, now arrived at beg's rank.

(_d. Renewed rebellion of the Mughūls._)

As terms had been made, Aūzūn Ḥasan, without hurt to life [Sidenote: Fol. 64.] or goods, was allowed to go by the Qarā-tīgīn road for Ḥiṣār. A few of his retainers went with him, the rest parted from him and stayed behind. These were the men who in the throneless times had captured and plundered various Musalmān dependants of my own and of the Khwāja. In agreement with several begs, their affair was left at this;—'This very band have been the captors and plunderers of our faithful Musalmān dependants;[457] what loyalty have they shown to their own (Mughūl) begs that they should be loyal to us? If we had them seized and stripped bare, where would be the wrong? and this especially because they might be going about, before our very eyes, riding our horses, wearing our coats, eating our sheep. Who could put up with that? If, out of humanity, they are not imprisoned and not plundered, they certainly ought to take it as a favour if they get off with the order to give back to our companions of the hard guerilla times, whatever goods of theirs are known to be here.'

In truth this seemed reasonable; our men were ordered to take what they knew to be theirs. Reasonable and just though the order was, (I now) understand that it was a little hasty. [Sidenote: Fol. 64b.] With a worry like Jahāngīr seated at my side, there was no sense in frightening people in this way. In conquest and government, though many things may have an outside appearance of reason and justice, yet 100,000 reflections are right and necessary as to the bearings of each one of them. From this single incautious order of ours,[458] what troubles! what rebellions arose! In the end this same ill-considered order was the cause of our second exile from Andijān. Now, through it, the Mughūls gave way to anxiety and fear, marched through Rabāṯik-aūrchīnī, that is, Aīkī-sū-ārāsī, for Aūzkīnt and sent a man to Taṃbal.

In my mother's service were 1500 to 2000 Mughūls from the horde; as many more had come from Ḥiṣār with Ḥamza Sl. and Mahdī Sl. and Muḥammad _Dūghlāt Ḥiṣārī_.[459] Mischief and devastation must always be expected from the Mughūl horde. Up to now[460] they have rebelled five times against me. It must not be understood that they rebelled through not getting on with me; they have done the same thing with their own Khāns, again and again. Sl. Qulī _Chūnāq_[461] brought me the news. His late father, Khudāī-bīrdī _Būqāq_[462] I had favoured amongst the Mughūls; he was himself with the (rebel) Mughūls [Sidenote: Fol. 65.] and he did well in thus leaving the horde and his own family to bring me the news. Well as he did then however, he, as will be told,[463] did a thing so shameful later on that it would hide a hundred such good deeds as this, if he had done them. His later action was the clear product of his Mughūl nature. When this news came, the begs, gathered for counsel, represented to me, 'This is a trifling matter; what need for the pādshāh to ride out? Let Qāsim Beg go with the begs and men assembled here.' So it was settled; they took it lightly; to do so must have been an error of judgment. Qāsim Beg led his force out that same day; Taṃbal meantime must have joined the Mughūls. Our men crossed the Aīlāīsh river[464] early next morning by the Yāsī-kījīt (Broad-crossing) and at once came face to face with the rebels. Well did they chop at one another (_chāpqūlāshūrlār_)! Qāsim Beg himself came face to face with Muḥammad _Arghūn_ and did not desist from chopping at him in order to cut off his head.[465] Most of our braves exchanged [Sidenote: Fol. 65b.] good blows but in the end were beaten. Qāsim Beg, `Alī-dost T̤aghāī, Ibrāhīm _Sārū_, Wais _Lāgharī_, Sayyidī Qarā and three or four more of our begs and household got away but most of the rest fell into the hands of the rebels. Amongst them were `Alī-darwesh Beg and Mīrīm _Lāgharī_ and (Sherīm?) T̤aghāī Beg's (son) Tūqā[466] and `Alī-dost's son, Muḥammad-dost and Mīr Shāh _Qūchīn_ and Mīrīm Dīwān.

Two braves chopped very well at one another; on our side, Samad, Ibrāhīm _Sārū's_ younger brother, and on their side, Shāh-suwār, one of the Ḥiṣārī Mughūls. Shāh-suwār struck so that his sword drove through Samad's helm and seated itself well in his head; Samad, spite of his wound, struck so that his sword cut off Shāh-suwār's head a piece of bone as large as the palm of a hand. Shāh-suwār must have worn no helm; they trepanned his head and it healed; there was no one to trepan Samad's and in a few days, he departed simply through the wound.[467]

Amazingly unseasonable was this defeat, coming as it did just in the respite from guerilla fighting and just when we had regained the country. One of our great props, Qaṃbar-`alī _Mughūl_ (the Skinner) had gone to his district when Andijān [Sidenote: Fol. 66.] was occupied and therefore was not with us.

(_e. Taṃbal attempts to take Andijān._)

Having effected so much, Taṃbal, bringing Jahāngīr Mīrzā with him, came to the east of Andijān and dismounted 2 miles off, in the meadow lying in front of the Hill of Pleasure (`Aīsh).[468]

Once or twice he advanced in battle-array, past Chihil-dukhterān[469] to the town side of the hill but, as our braves went out arrayed to fight, beyond the gardens and suburbs, he could not advance further and returned to the other side of the hill. On his first coming to those parts, he killed two of the begs he had captured, Mīrīm _Lāgharī_ and Tūqā Beg. For nearly a month he lay round-about without effecting anything; after that he retired, his face set for Aūsh. Aūsh had been given to Ibrāhīm _Sārū_ and his man in it now made it fast.

905 AH. AUG. 8TH. 1499 TO JULY 28TH. 1500 AD.[470]

(_a. Bābur's campaign against Aḥmad Taṃbal Mughūl._)

Commissaries were sent gallopping off at once, some to call up the horse and foot of the district-armies, others to urge return on Qaṃbar-`alī and whoever else was away in his own district, while energetic people were told off to get together mantelets (_tūra_), shovels, axes and the what-not of war-material and stores for the men already with us.

As soon as the horse and foot, called up from the various districts to join the army, and the soldiers and retainers who had been scattered to this and that side on their own affairs, were gathered together, I went out, on Muḥarram 18th. (August 25th.), putting my trust in God, to Ḥāfiẓ Beg's Four-gardens [Sidenote: Fol. 66b.] and there stayed a few days in order to complete our equipment. This done, we formed up in array of right and left, centre and van, horse and foot, and started direct for Aūsh against our foe.

On approaching Aūsh, news was had that Taṃbal, unable to make stand in that neighbourhood, had drawn off to the north, to the Rabāṯ-i-sarhang sub-district, it was understood. That night we dismounted in Lāt-kīnt. Next day as we were passing through Aūsh, news came that Taṃbal was understood to have gone to Andijān. We, for our part, marched on as for Aūzkīnt, detaching raiders ahead to over-run those parts.[471] Our opponents went to Andijān and at night got into the ditch but being discovered by the garrison when they set their ladders up against the ramparts, could effect no more and retired. Our raiders retired also after over-running round about Aūzkīnt without getting into their hands anything worth their trouble.

Taṃbal had stationed his younger brother, Khalīl, with 200 or 300 men, in Māḏū,[472] one of the forts of Aūsh, renowned in that centre (_ārā_) for its strength. We turned back (on the [Sidenote: Fol. 67.] Aūzkīnt road) to assault it. It is exceedingly strong. Its northern face stands very high above the bed of a torrent; arrows shot from the bed might perhaps reach the ramparts. On this side is the water-thief,[473] made like a lane, with ramparts on both sides carried from the fort to the water. Towards the rising ground, on the other sides of the fort, there is a ditch. The torrent being so near, those occupying the fort had carried stones in from it as large as those for large mortars.[474] From no fort of its class we have ever attacked, have stones been thrown so large as those taken into Māḏū. They dropped such a large one on `Abdu'l-qāsim _Kohbur_, Kitta (Little) Beg's elder brother,[475] when he went up under the ramparts, that he spun head over heels and came rolling and rolling, without once getting to his feet, from that great height down to the foot of the glacis (_khāk-rez_). He did not trouble himself about it at all but just got on his horse and rode off. Again, a stone flung from the double water-way, hit Yār-`alī _Balāl_ so hard on the head that in the end it had to be trepanned.[476] Many of our men perished by their stones. The assault began at dawn; the water-thief [Sidenote: Fol. 67b.] had been taken before breakfast-time;[477] fighting went on till evening; next morning, as they could not hold out after losing the water-thief, they asked for terms and came out. We took 60 or 70 or 80 men of Khalīl's command and sent them to Andijān for safe-keeping; as some of our begs and household were prisoners in their hands, the Māḏū affair fell out very well.[478]

From there we went to Unjū-tūpa, one of the villages of Aūsh, and there dismounted. When Taṃbal retired from Andijān and went into the Rabāṯ-i-sarhang sub-district, he dismounted in a village called Āb-i-khān. Between him and me may have been one _yīghāch_ (5 m.?). At such a time as this, Qaṃbar-`alī (the Skinner) on account of some sickness, went into Aūsh.

It was lain in Unjū-tūpa a month or forty days without a battle, but day after day our foragers and theirs got to grips. All through the time our camp was mightily well watched at night; a ditch was dug; where no ditch was, branches were set close together;[479] we also made our soldiers go out in their mail [Sidenote: Fol. 68.] along the ditch. Spite of such watchfulness, a night-alarm was given every two or three days, and the cry to arms went up. One day when Sayyidī Beg T̤aghāī had gone out with the foragers, the enemy came up suddenly in greater strength and took him prisoner right out of the middle of the fight.

(_b. Bāī-sunghar Mīrzā murdered by Khusrau Shāh._)

Khusrau Shāh, having planned to lead an army against Balkh, in this same year invited Bāī-sunghar Mīrzā to go with him, brought him[480] to Qūndūz and rode out with him for Balkh. But when they reached the Aubāj ferry, that ungrateful infidel, Khusrau Shāh, in his aspiration to sovereignty,—and to what sort of sovereignty, pray, could such a no-body attain? a person of no merit, no birth, no lineage, no judgment, no magnanimity, no justice, no legal-mindedness,—laid hands on Bāī-sunghar Mīrzā with his begs, and bowstrung the Mīrzā. It was upon the 10th. of the month of Muḥarram (August 17th.) that he martyred that scion of sovereignty, so accomplished, so sweet-natured and so adorned by birth and lineage. He killed also a few of the Mīrzā's begs and household.

(_c. Bāī-sunghar Mīrzā's birth and descent._)

He was born in 882 (1477 AD.), in the Ḥiṣār district. He was Sl. Maḥmūd Mīrzā's second son, younger than Sl. Mas`ud M. and older than Sl. `Alī M. and Sl. Ḥusain M. and Sl. Wais M. known as Khān Mīrzā. His mother was Pasha Begīm. [Sidenote: Fol. 68b.]

(_d. His appearance and characteristics._)

He had large eyes, a fleshy face[481] and Turkmān features, was of middle height and altogether an elegant young man (_aet._ 22).

(_e. His qualities and manners._)

He was just, humane, pleasant-natured and a most accomplished scion of sovereignty. His tutor, Sayyid Maḥmūd,[482] presumably was a Shī`a; through this he himself became infected by that heresy. People said that latterly, in Samarkand, he reverted from that evil belief to the pure Faith. He was much addicted to wine but on his non-drinking days, used to go through the Prayers.[483] He was moderate in gifts and liberality. He wrote the _naskh-ta`līq_ character very well; in painting also his hand was not bad. He made `Ādilī his pen-name and composed good verses but not sufficient to form a _dīwān_. Here is the opening couplet (_maṯla`_) of one of them[484];—

Like a wavering shadow I fall here and there;
If not propped by a wall, I drop flat on the ground.

In such repute are his odes held in Samarkand, that they are to be found in most houses.

(_f. His battles._)

He fought two ranged battles. One, fought when he was first seated on the throne (900 AH.-1495 AD.), was with Sl. Maḥmūd Khān[485] who, incited and stirred up by Sl. Junaid _Barlās_ and others to desire Samarkand, drew an army out, [Sidenote: Fol. 69.] crossed the Āq-kutal and went to Rabāṯ-i-soghd and Kān-bāī. Bāī-sunghar Mīrzā went out from Samarkand, fought him near Kān-bāī, beat him and beheaded 3 or 4000 Mughūls. In this fight died Ḥaidar _Kūkūldāsh_, the Khān's looser and binder (_ḥall u`aqdī_). His second battle was fought near Bukhārā with Sl. `Alī Mīrzā (901 AH.-1496 AD.); in this he was beaten.[486]

(_g. His countries._)

His father, Sl. Maḥmūd Mīrzā, gave him Bukhārā; when Sl. Maḥmūd M. died, his begs assembled and in agreement made Bāī-sunghar M. ruler in Samarkand. For a time, Bukhārā was included with Samarkand in his jurisdiction but it went out of his hands after the Tarkhān rebellion (901 AH.-1496 AD.). When he left Samarkand to go to Khusrau Shāh and I got possession of it (903 AH.-1497 AD.), Khusrau Shāh took Ḥiṣār and gave it to him.

(_h. Other details concerning him._)

He left no child. He took a daughter of his paternal uncle, Sl. Khalīl Mīrzā, when he went to Khusrau Shāh; he had no other wife or concubine.

He never ruled with authority so independent that any beg was heard of as promoted by him to be his confidant; his begs [Sidenote: Fol. 69b.] were just those of his father and his paternal uncle (Aḥmad).

(_i. Resumed account of Bābur's campaign against Taṃbal._)

After Bāī-sunghar Mīrzā's death, Sl. Aḥmad _Qarāwal_,[487] the father of Qūch (Qūj) Beg, sent us word (of his intention) and came to us from Ḥiṣār through the Qarā-tīgīn country, together with his brethren, elder and younger, and their families and dependants. From Aūsh too came Qaṃbar-`alī, risen from his sickness. Arriving, as it did, at such a moment, we took the providential help of Sl. Aḥmad and his party for a happy omen. Next day we formed up at dawn and moved direct upon our foe. He made no stand at Āb-i-khān but marched from his ground, leaving many tents and blankets and things of the baggage for our men. We dismounted in his camp.

That evening Taṃbal, having Jahāngīr with him, turned our left and went to a village called Khūbān (var. Khūnān), some 3 _yīghāch_ from us (15 m.?) and between us and Andijān. Next day we moved out against him, formed up with right and left, centre and van, our horses in their mail, our men in theirs, and with foot-soldiers, bearing mantelets, flung to the front. Our right was `Alī-dost and his dependants, our left Ibrāhīm _Sārū_, Wais _Lāgharī_, Sayyidī Qarā, Muḥammad-`alī _Mubashir_, and Khwāja-i-kalān's elder brother, Kīchīk Beg, with several of [Sidenote: Fol. 70.] the household. In the left were inscribed[488] also Sl. Aḥmad _Qarāwal_ and Qūch Beg with their brethren. With me in the centre was Qāsim Beg _Qūchīn_; in the van were Qaṃbar-`alī (the Skinner) and some of the household. When we reached Sāqā, a village two miles east of Khūbān, the enemy came out of Khūbān, arrayed to fight. We, for our part, moved on the faster. At the time of engaging, our foot-soldiers, provided how laboriously with the mantelets! were quite in the rear! By God's grace, there was no need of them; our left had got hands in with their right before they came up. Kīchīk Beg chopped away very well; next to him ranked Muḥammad `Alī _Mubashir_. Not being able to bring equal zeal to oppose us, the enemy took to flight. The fighting did not reach the front of our van or right. Our men brought in many of their braves; we ordered the heads of all to be struck off. Favouring caution and good generalship, our begs, Qāsim Beg and, especially, `Alī-dost did not think it advisable to send far in pursuit; for [Sidenote: Fol. 70b.] this reason, many of their men did not fall into our hands. We dismounted right in Khūbān village. This was my first ranged battle; the Most High God, of His own favour and mercy, made it a day of victory and triumph. We accepted the omen.

On the next following day, my father's mother, my grandmother, Shāh Sulṯān Begīm[489] arrived from Andijān, thinking to beg off Jahāngīr Mīrzā if he had been taken.

(_j. Bābur goes into winter-quarters in Between-the-two-rivers._)

As it was now almost winter and no grain or fruits[490] remained in the open country, it was not thought desirable to move against (Taṃbal in) Aūzkīnt but return was made to Andijān. A few days later, it was settled after consultation, that for us to winter in the town would in no way hurt or hamper the enemy, rather that he would wax the stronger by it through raids and guerilla fighting; moreover on our own account, it was necessary that we should winter where our men would not become enfeebled through want of grain and where we could straiten the enemy by some sort of blockade. For these desirable [Sidenote: Fol. 71.] ends we marched out of Andijān, meaning to winter near Armiyān and Nūsh-āb in the Rabāṯik-aūrchīnī, known also as Between-the-two-rivers. On arriving in the two villages above-mentioned, we prepared winter-quarters.

The hunting-grounds are good in that neighbourhood; in the jungle near the Aīlāīsh river is much _būghū-marāl_[491] and pig; the small scattered clumps of jungle are thick with hare and pheasant; and on the near rising-ground, are many foxes[492] of fine colour and swifter than those of any other place. While we were in those quarters, I used to ride hunting every two or three days; we would beat through the great jungle and hunt _būghū-marāl_, or we would wander about, making a circle round scattered clumps and flying our hawks at the pheasants. The pheasants are unlimited[493] there; pheasant-meat was abundant as long as we were in those quarters.

While we were there, Khudāī-bīrdī _Tūghchī_, then newly-favoured with beg's rank, fell on some of Taṃbal's raiders and brought in a few heads. Our braves went out also from Aūsh and Andijān and raided untiringly on the enemy, driving in his herds of horses and much enfeebling him. If the whole winter had been passed in those quarters, the more probable thing is [Sidenote: Fol. 71b.] that he would have broken up simply without a fight.

(_k. Qaṃbar-`alī again asks leave._)

It was at such a time, just when our foe was growing weak and helpless, that Qaṃbar-`alī asked leave to go to his district. The more he was dissuaded by reminder of the probabilities of the position, the more stupidity he shewed. An amazingly fickle and veering manikin he was! It had to be! Leave for his district was given him. That district had been Khujand formerly but when Andijān was taken this last time, Asfara and Kand-i-badām were given him in addition. Amongst our begs, he was the one with large districts and many followers; no-one's land or following equalled his. We had been 40 or 50 days in those winter-quarters. At his recommendation, leave was given also to some of the clans in the army. We, for our part, went into Andijān.

(_l. Sl. Maḥmūd Khān sends Mughūls to help Taṃbal._)

Both while we were in our winter-quarters and later on in Andijān, Taṃbal's people came and went unceasingly between him and The Khān in Tāshkīnt. His paternal uncle of the full-blood, Aḥmad Beg, was guardian of The Khān's son, Sl. Muḥammad Sl. and high in favour; his elder brother of the full-blood, Beg Tīlba (Fool), was The Khān's Lord of the Gate. After all the comings and goings, these two brought The Khān to the point of reinforcing Taṃbal. Beg Tīlba, leaving his wife and domestics and family in Tāshkīnt, came on ahead of the [Sidenote: Fol. 72.] reinforcement and joined his younger brother, Taṃbal,—Beg Tīlba! who from his birth up had been in Mughūlistān, had grown up amongst Mughūls, had never entered a cultivated country or served the rulers of one, but from first to last had served The Khāns!

Just then a wonderful (_`ajab_) thing happened;[494] Qāsim-i-`ajab (wonderful Qāsim) when he had been left for a time in Akhsī, went out one day after a few marauders, crossed the Khujand-water by Bachrātā, met in with a few of Taṃbal's men and was made prisoner.

When Taṃbal heard that our army was disbanded and was assured of The Khān's help by the arrival of his brother, Beg Tīlba, who had talked with The Khān, he rode from Aūzkīnt into Between-the-two-rivers. Meantime safe news had come to us from Kāsān that The Khān had appointed his son, Sl. Muḥ. Khānika, commonly known as Sulṯānīm,[495] and Aḥmad Beg, with 5 or 6000 men, to help Taṃbal, that they had crossed by the Archa-kīnt road[496] and were laying siege to Kāsān. Hereupon we, without delay, without a glance at our absent men, just with those there were, in the hard cold of winter, put our [Sidenote: Fol. 72b.] trust in God and rode off by the Band-i-sālār road to oppose them. That night we stopped no-where; on we went through the darkness till, at dawn, we dismounted in Akhsī.[497] So mightily bitter was the cold that night that it bit the hands and feet of several men and swelled up the ears of many, each ear like an apple. We made no stay in Akhsī but leaving there Yārak T̤aghāī, temporarily also, in Qāsim-i-`ajab's place, passed on for Kāsān. Two miles from Kāsān news came that on hearing of our approach, Aḥmad Beg and Sulṯānīm had hurried off in disorder.

(_m. Bābur and Taṃbal again opposed._)

Taṃbal must have had news of our getting to horse for he had hurried to help his elder brother.[498] Somewhere between the two Prayers of the day,[499] his blackness[500] became visible towards Nū-kīnt. Astonished and perplexed by his elder brother's light departure and by our quick arrival, he stopped short. Said we, 'It is God has brought them in this fashion! here they have come with their horses' necks at full stretch;[501] if we join hands[502] and go out, and if God bring it right, not a man of them will get off.' But Wais _Lāgharī_ and some others said, 'It is late in the day; even if we do not go out today, where can they go tomorrow? Wherever it is, we will meet [Sidenote: Fol. 73.] them at dawn.' So they said, not thinking it well to make the joint effort there and then; so too the enemy, come so opportunely, broke up and got away without any hurt whatever. The (Turkī) proverb is, 'Who does not snatch at a chance, will worry himself about it till old age.'

_(Persian) couplet._ Work must be snatched at betimes,
Vain is the slacker's mistimed work.

Seizing the advantage of a respite till the morrow, the enemy slipped away in the night, and without dismounting on the road, went into Fort Archīān. When a morrow's move against a foe was made, we found no foe; after him we went and, not thinking it well to lay close siege to Archīān, dismounted two miles off (one _shar`ī_) in Ghazna-namangān.[503] We were in camp there for 30 or 40 days, Taṃbal being in Fort Archīān. Every now and then a very few would go from our side and come from theirs, fling themselves on one another midway and return. They made one night-attack, rained arrows in on us and retired. As the camp was encircled by a ditch or by branches close-set, and as watch was kept, they could effect no more.

(_n. Qaṃbar-`alī, the Skinner, again gives trouble._)

Two or three times while we lay in that camp, Qaṃbar-`alī, [Sidenote: Fol. 73b.] in ill-temper, was for going to his district; once he even had got to horse and started in a fume, but we sent several begs after him who, with much trouble, got him to turn back.

(_o. Further action against Taṃbal and an accommodation made._)

Meantime Sayyid Yūsuf of Macham had sent a man to Taṃbal and was looking towards him. He was the head-man of one of the two foot-hills of Andijān, Macham and Awīghūr. Latterly he had become known in my Gate, having outgrown the head-man and put on the beg, though no-one ever had made him a beg. He was a singularly hypocritical manikin, of no standing whatever. From our last taking of Andijān (June 1499) till then (Feb. 1500), he had revolted two or three times from Taṃbal and come to me, and two or three times had revolted from me and gone to Taṃbal. This was his last change of side. With him were many from the (Mughūl) horde and tribesmen and clansmen. 'Don't let him join Taṃbal,' we said and rode in between them. We got to Bīshkhārān with one night's halt. Taṃbal's men must have come earlier and entered the fort. A party of our begs, `Alī-darwesh Beg and Qūch Beg, with his brothers, went close up to the Gate of [Sidenote: Fol. 74.] Bīshkhārān and exchanged good blows with the enemy. Qūch Beg and his brothers did very well there, their hands getting in for most of the work. We dismounted on a height some two miles from Bīshkhārān; Taṃbal, having Jahāngīr with him, dismounted with the fort behind him.

Three or four days later, begs unfriendly to us, that is to say, `Alī-dost and Qaṃbar-`alī, the Skinner, with their followers and dependants, began to interpose with talk of peace. I and my well-wishers had no knowledge of a peace and we all[504] were utterly averse from the project. Those two manikins however were our two great begs; if we gave no ear to their words and if we did not make peace, other things from them were probable! It had to be! Peace was made in this fashion;—the districts on the Akhsī side of the Khujand-water were to depend on Jahāngīr, those on the Andijān side, on me; Aūzkīnt was to be left in my jurisdiction after they had removed their families from it; when the districts were settled and I and Jahāngīr had made our agreement, we (_bīz_) should march together against Samarkand; and when I was in possession of Samarkand, Andijān was to be given to Jahāngīr. So the affair was settled. [Sidenote: Fol. 74b.] Next day,—it was one of the last of Rajab, (end of Feb. 1500) Jahāngīr Mīrzā and Taṃbal came and did me obeisance; the terms and conditions were ratified as stated above; leave for Akhsī was given to Jahāngīr and I betook myself to Andijān.

On our arrival, Khalīl-of-Taṃbal and our whole band of prisoners were released; robes of honour were put on them and leave to go was given. They, in their turn, set free our begs and household, _viz._ the commanders[505] (Sherīm?) T̤aghāī Beg, Muḥammad-dost, Mīr Shāh _Qūchīn_, Sayyidī Qarā Beg, Qāsim-i-`ajab, Mīr Wais, Mīrīm _Dīwān_, and those under them.

(_p. The self-aggrandizement of `Alī-dost T̤aghāī._)

After our return to Andijān, `Alī-dost's manners and behaviour changed entirely. He began to live ill with my companions of the guerilla days and times of hardship. First, he dismissed Khalīfa; next seized and plundered Ibrāhīm _Sārū_ and Wais _Lāgharī_, and for no fault or cause deprived them of their districts and dismissed them. He entangled himself with Qāsim Beg and _he_ was made to go; he openly declared, 'Khalīfa and Ibrāhīm are in sympathy about Khwāja-i-qāẓī; they will avenge him on me.'[506] His son, Muḥammad-dost set himself up on a regal footing, starting receptions and a public table and a [Sidenote: Fol. 75.] Court and workshops, after the fashion of sulṯāns. Like father, like son, they set themselves up in this improper way because they had Taṃbal at their backs. No authority to restrain their unreasonable misdeeds was left to me; for why? Whatever their hearts desired, that they did because such a foe of mine as Taṃbal was their backer. The position was singularly delicate; not a word was said but many humiliations were endured from that father and that son alike.

(_q. Bābur's first marriage._)

`Āyisha-sulṯān Begīm whom my father and hers, _i.e._ my uncle, Sl. Aḥmad Mīrzā had betrothed to me, came (this year) to Khujand[507] and I took her in the month of Sha`bān. Though I was not ill-disposed towards her, yet, this being my first marriage, out of modesty and bashfulness, I used to see her once in 10, 15 or 20 days. Later on when even my first inclination did not last, my bashfulness increased. Then my mother Khānīm used to send me, once a month or every 40 [Sidenote: Fol. 75b.] days, with driving and driving, dunnings and worryings.

(_r. A personal episode and some verses by Bābur._)

In those leisurely days I discovered in myself a strange inclination, nay! as the verse says, 'I maddened and afflicted myself' for a boy in the camp-bazar, his very name, Bāburī, fitting in. Up till then I had had no inclination for any-one, indeed of love and desire, either by hear-say or experience, I had not heard, I had not talked. At that time I composed Persian couplets, one or two at a time; this is one of the them:—

May none be as I, humbled and wretched and love-sick;
No beloved as thou art to me, cruel and careless.

From time to time Bāburī used to come to my presence but out of modesty and bashfulness, I could never look straight at him; how then could I make conversation (_ikhtilāṯ_) and recital (_hikāyat_)? In my joy and agitation I could not thank him (for coming); how was it possible for me to reproach him with going away? What power had I to command the duty of service to myself?[508] One day, during that time of desire and passion when I was going with companions along a lane and suddenly met him face to face, I got into such a state of confusion that I almost went right off. To look straight at him [Sidenote: Fol. 76.] or to put words together was impossible. With a hundred torments and shames, I went on. A (Persian) couplet of Muḥammad Ṣāliḥ's[509] came into my mind:—

I am abashed with shame when I see my friend;
My companions look at me, I look the other way.

That couplet suited the case wonderfully well. In that frothing-up of desire and passion, and under that stress of youthful folly, I used to wander, bare-head, bare-foot, through street and lane, orchard and vineyard. I shewed civility neither to friend nor stranger, took no care for myself or others.

(_Turkī_) Out of myself desire rushed me, unknowing
That this is so with the lover of a fairy-face.

Sometimes like the madmen, I used to wander alone over hill and plain; sometimes I betook myself to gardens and the suburbs, lane by lane. My wandering was not of my choice, not I decided whether to go or stay.

(_Turkī_) Nor power to go was mine, nor power to stay;
I was just what you made me, o thief of my heart.

(_s. Sl. `Alī Mīrzā's quarrels with the Tarkhāns._)

In this same year, Sl. `Alī Mīrzā fell out with Muḥammad Mazīd Tarkhān for the following reasons;—The Tarkhāns had risen to over-much predominance and honour; Bāqī had taken the whole revenue of the Bukhārā Government and gave not a [Sidenote: Fol. 76b.] half-penny (_dāng_)[510] to any-one else; Muḥammad Mazīd, for his part, had control in Samarkand and took all its districts for his sons and dependants; a small sum only excepted, fixed by them, not a farthing (_fils_) from the town reached the Mīrzā by any channel. Sl. `Alī Mīrzā was a grown man; how was he to tolerate such conduct as theirs? He and some of his household formed a design against Muḥ. Mazīd Tarkhān; the latter came to know of it and left the town with all his following and with whatever begs and other persons were in sympathy with him,[511] such as Sl. Ḥusain _Arghūn_, Pīr Aḥmad, Aūzūn Ḥasan's younger brother, Khwāja Ḥusain, Qarā _Barlās_, Ṣāliḥ Muḥammad[512] and some other begs and braves.

At the time The Khān had joined to Khān Mīrzā a number of Mughūl begs with Muḥ. Ḥusain _Dūghlāt_ and Aḥmad Beg, and had appointed them to act against Samarkand.[513] Khān Mīrzā's guardians were Ḥāfiẓ Beg _Dūldāī_ and his son, T̤āhir Beg; because of relationship to them, (Muḥ. Sīghal's) grandson, Ḥasan and Hindū Beg fled with several braves from Sl. `Alī [Sidenote: Fol. 77.] Mīrzā's presence to Khān Mīrzā's.

Muḥammad Mazīd Tarkhān invited Khān Mīrzā and the Mughūl army, moved to near Shavdār, there saw the Mīrzā and met the begs of the Mughūls. No small useful friendlinesses however, came out of the meeting between his begs and the Mughūls; the latter indeed seem to have thought of making him a prisoner. Of this he and his begs coming to know, separated themselves from the Mughūl army. As without him the Mughūls could make no stand, they retired. Here-upon, Sl. `Alī Mīrzā hurried light out of Samarkand with a few men and caught them up where they had dismounted in Yār-yīlāq. They could not even fight but were routed and put to flight. This deed, done in his last days, was Sl. `Alī Mīrzā's one good little affair.

Muḥ. Mazīd Tarkhān and his people, despairing both of the Mughūls and of these Mīrzās, sent Mīr Mughūl, son of `Abdu'l-wahhāb _Shaghāwal_[514] to invite me (to Samarkand). Mīr Mughūl had already been in my service; he had risked his life in good accord with Khwāja-i-qāẓī during the siege of Andijān (903 AH.-1498 AD.).

This business hurt us also[515] and, as it was for that purpose we had made peace (with Jahāngīr), we resolved to move on Samarkand. We sent Mīr Mughūl off at once to give rendezvous[516] [Sidenote: Fol. 77b.] to Jahāngīr Mīrzā and prepared to get to horse. We rode out in the month of Ẕū'l-qa`da (June) and with two halts on the way, came to Qabā and there dismounted.[517] At the mid-afternoon Prayer of that day, news came that Taṃbal's brother, Khalīl had taken Aūsh by surprise.

The particulars are as follows;—As has been mentioned, Khalīl and those under him were set free when peace was made. Taṃbal then sent Khalīl to fetch away their wives and families from Aūzkīnt. He had gone and he went into the fort on this pretext. He kept saying untruthfully, 'We will go out today,' or 'We will go out tomorrow,' but he did not go. When we got to horse, he seized the chance of the emptiness of Aūsh to go by night and surprise it. For several reasons it was of no advantage for us to stay and entangle ourselves with him; we went straight on therefore. One reason was that as, for the purpose of making ready military equipment, all my men of name had scattered, heads of houses to their homes, we had no news of them because we had relied on the peace and were by this off our guard against the treachery and falsity of the other party. Another reason was that for some time, as has been [Sidenote: Fol. 78.] said, the misconduct of our great begs, `Alī-dost and Qaṃbar-`alī had been such that no confidence in them was left. A further reason was that the Samarkand begs, under Muḥ. Mazīd Tarkhān had sent Mīr Mughūl to invite us and, so long as a capital such as Samarkand stood there, what would incline a man to waste his days for a place like Andijān?

From Qabā we moved on to Marghīnān (20 m.). Marghīnān had been given to Qūch Beg's father, Sl. Aḥmad _Qarāwal_, and he was then in it. As he, owing to various ties and attachments, could not attach himself to me,[518] he stayed behind while his son, Qūch Beg and one or two of his brethren, older and younger, went with me.

Taking the road for Asfara, we dismounted in one of its villages, called Mahan. That night there came and joined us in Mahan, by splendid chance, just as if to a rendezvous, Qāsim Beg _Qūchīn_ with his company, `Alī-dost with his, and Sayyid Qāsim with a large body of braves. We rode from Mahan by the Khasbān (var. Yasān) plain, crossed the Chūpān (Shepherd)-bridge and so to Aūrā-tīpā.[519]

(_t. Qaṃbar-`alī punishes himself._)

Trusting to Taṃbal, Qaṃbar-`alī went from his own district (Khujand) to Akhsī in order to discuss army-matters with him. [Sidenote: Fol. 78b.] Such an event happening,[520] Taṃbal laid hands on Qaṃbar-`alī, marched against his district and carried him along. Here the (Turkī) proverb fits, 'Distrust your friend! he'll stuff your hide with straw.' While Qaṃbar-`alī was being made to go to Khujand, he escaped on foot and after a hundred difficulties reached Aūrā-tīpā.

News came to us there that Shaibānī Khān had beaten Bāqī Tarkhān in Dabūsī and was moving on Bukhārā. We went on from Aūrā-tīpā, by way of Burka-yīlāq, to Sangzār[521] which the sub-governor surrendered. There we placed Qaṃbar-`alī, as, after effecting his own capture and betrayal, he had come to us. We then passed on.

(_u. Affairs of Samarkand and the end of `Alī-dost._)

On our arrival in Khān-yūrtī, the Samarkand begs under Muḥ. Mazīd Tarkhān came and did me obeisance. Conference was held with them as to details for taking the town; they said, 'Khwāja Yaḥya also is wishing for the _pādshāh_;[522] with his consent the town may be had easily without fighting or disturbance.' The Khwāja did not say decidedly to our messengers that he had resolved to admit us to the town but at the same time, he said nothing likely to lead us to despair.

Leaving Khān-yūrtī, we moved to the bank of the Dar-i-gham (canal) and from there sent our librarian, Khwāja Muḥammad [Sidenote: Fol. 79.] `Alī to Khwāja Yaḥya. He brought word back, 'Let them come; we will give them the town.' Accordingly we rode from the Dar-i-gham straight for the town, at night-fall, but our plan came to nothing because Sl. Muḥammad _Dūldāī's_ father, Sl. Maḥmūd had fled from our camp and given such information to (Sl. `Alī's party) as put them on their guard. Back we went to the Dar-i-gham bank.

While I had been in Yār-yīlāq, one of my favoured begs, Ibrāhīm _Sārū_ who had been plundered and driven off by `Alī-dost,[523] came and did me obeisance, together with Muḥ. Yūsuf, the elder son of Sayyid Yūsuf (_Aūghlāqchī_). Coming in by ones and twos, old family servants and begs and some of the household gathered back to me there. All were enemies of `Alī-dost; some he had driven away; others he had plundered; others again he had imprisoned. He became afraid. For why? Because with Taṃbal's backing, he had harassed and persecuted me and my well-wishers. As for me, my very nature sorted ill with the manikin's! From shame and fear, he could stay no longer with us; he asked leave; I took it as a personal favour; I gave it. On this leave, he and his son, Muḥammad-dost went to Taṃbal's presence. They became his intimates, [Sidenote: Fol. 79b.] and from father and son alike, much evil and sedition issued. `Alī-dost died a few years later from ulceration of the hand. Muḥammad-dost went amongst the Aūzbegs; that was not altogether bad but, after some treachery to his salt, he fled from them and went into the Andijān foot-hills.[524] There he stirred up much revolt and trouble. In the end he fell into the hands of Aūzbeg people and they blinded him. The meaning of 'The salt took his eyes,' is clear in his case.[525]

After giving this pair their leave, we sent Ghūrī _Barlās_ toward Bukhārā for news. He brought word that Shaibānī Khān had taken Bukhārā and was on his way to Samarkand. Here-upon, seeing no advantage in staying in that neighbourhood, we set out for Kesh where, moreover, were the families of most of the Samarkand begs.

When we had been a few weeks there, news came that Sl. `Alī Mīrzā had given Samarkand to Shaibānī Khān. The particulars are these;—The Mīrzā's mother, Zuhra Begī Āghā (_Aūzbeg_), in her ignorance and folly, had secretly written to [Sidenote: Fol. 80.] Shaibānī Khān that if he would take her (to wife) her son should give him Samarkand and that when Shaibānī had taken (her son's) father's country, he should give her son a country.[526] Sayyid Yūsuf _Arghūn_ must have known of this plan, indeed will have been the traitor inventing it.

906 AH.—JULY 28TH. 1500 TO JULY 17TH. 1501 AD.[527]

(_a. Samarkand in the hands of the Aūzbegs._)

When, acting on that woman's promise, Shaibānī Khān went to Samarkand, he dismounted in the Garden of the Plain. About mid-day Sl. `Alī Mīrzā went out to him through the Four-roads Gate, without a word to any of his begs or unmailed braves, without taking counsel with any-one soever and accompanied only by a few men of little consideration from his own close circle. The Khān, for his part, did not receive him very favourably; when they had seen one another, he seated him on his less honourable hand.[528] Khwāja Yaḥya, on hearing of the Mīrzā's departure, became very anxious but as he could find no remedy,[529] went out also. The Khān looked at him without rising and said a few words in which blame had part, but when the Khwāja rose to leave, showed him the respect of rising.

As soon as Khwāja `Alī[530] Bāy's[531] son, Jān-`alī heard in Rabāṯ-i-khwāja of the Mīrzā's going to Shaibānī Khān, he also went. As for that calamitous woman who, in her folly, gave her son's [Sidenote: Fol. 80b.] house and possessions to the winds in order to get herself a husband, Shaibānī Khān cared not one atom for her, indeed did not regard her as the equal of a mistress or a concubine.[532]

Confounded by his own act, Sl. `Alī Mīrzā's repentance was extreme. Some of his close circle, after hearing particulars, planned for him to escape with them but to this he would not agree; his hour had come; he was not to be freed. He had dismounted in Tīmūr Sulṯān's quarters; three or four days later they killed him in Plough-meadow.[533] For a matter of this five-days' mortal life, he died with a bad name; having entered into a woman's affairs, he withdrew himself from the circle of men of good repute. Of such people's doings no more should be written; of acts so shameful, no more should be heard.

The Mīrzā having been killed, Shaibānī Khān sent Jān-`alī after his Mīrzā. He had apprehensions also about Khwāja Yaḥya and therefore dismissed him, with his two sons, Khwāja Muḥ. Zakarīya and Khwāja Bāqī, towards Khurāsān.[534] A few Aūzbegs followed them and near Khwāja Kārdzan martyred both the Khwāja and his two young sons. Though Shaibānī's [Sidenote: Fol. 81.] words were, 'Not through me the Khwāja's affair! Qaṃbar Bī and Kūpuk Bī did it,' this is worse than that! There is a proverb,[535] 'His excuse is worse than his fault,' for if begs, out of their own heads, start such deeds, unknown to their Khāns or Pādshāhs, what becomes of the authority of khānship and sovereignty?

(_b. Bābur leaves Kesh and crosses the Mūra pass._)

Since the Aūzbegs were in possession of Samarkand, we left Kesh and went in the direction of Ḥiṣār. With us started off Muḥ. Mazīd Tārkhān and the Samarkand begs under his command, together with their wives and families and people, but when we dismounted in the Chultū meadow of Chaghānīān, they parted from us, went to Khusrau Shāh and became his retainers.

Cut off from our own abiding-town and country,[536] not knowing where (else) to go or where to stay, we were obliged to traverse the very heart of Khusrau Shāh's districts, spite of what measure of misery he had inflicted on the men of our dynasty!

One of our plans had been to go to my younger Khān dādā, _i.e._ Alacha Khān, by way of Qarā-tīgīn and the Alāī,[537] but this was not managed. Next we were for going up the valley of the Kām torrent and over the Sara-tāq pass (_dābān_). When we were near Nūnḍāk, a servant of Khusrau Shāh brought me one set of nine horses[538] and one of nine pieces of cloth. When we dismounted at the mouth of the Kām valley, Sher-`alī. [Sidenote: Fol. 81b.] the page, deserted to Khusrau Shāh's brother, Walī and, next day, Qūch Beg parted from us and went to Ḥiṣār.[539]

We entered the valley and made our way up it. On its steep and narrow roads and at its sharp and precipitous saddles[540] many horses and camels were left. Before we reached the Sara-tāq pass we had (in 25 m.) to make three or four night-halts. A pass! and what a pass! Never was such a steep and narrow pass seen; never were traversed such ravines and precipices. Those dangerous narrows and sudden falls, those perilous heights and knife-edge saddles, we got through with much difficulty and suffering, with countless hardships and miseries. Amongst the Fān mountains is a large lake (Iskandar); it is 2 miles in circumference, a beautiful lake and not devoid of marvels.[541]

News came that Ibrāhīm Tarkhān had strengthened Fort Shīrāz and was seated in it; also that Qaṃbar-`alī (the Skinner) and Abū'l-qāsim _Kohbur_, the latter not being able to stay in Khwāja Dīdār with the Aūzbegs in Samarkand,—had both come into Yār-yīlāq, strengthened its lower forts and occupied them.

Leaving Fān on our right, we moved on for Keshtūd. The head-man of Fān had a reputation for hospitality, generosity, [Sidenote: Fol. 82.] serviceableness and kindness. He had given tribute of 70 or 80 horses to Sl. Mas`ūd Mīrzā at the time the Mīrzā, when Sl. Ḥusain Mīrzā made attack on Ḥiṣār, went through Fān on his way to his younger brother, Bāī-sunghar Mīrzā in Samarkand. He did like service to others. To me he sent one second-rate horse; moreover he did not wait on me himself. So it was! Those renowned for liberality became misers when they had to do with me, and the politeness of the polite was forgotten. Khusrau Shāh was celebrated for liberality and kindness; what service he did Badī`u'z-zamān Mīrzā has been mentioned; to Bāqī Tarkhān and other begs he shewed great generosity also. Twice I happened to pass through his country;[542] not to speak of courtesy shewn to my peers, what he shewed to my lowest servants he did not shew to me, indeed he shewed less regard for us than for them.

(_Turkī_) Who, o my heart! has seen goodness from worldlings?
Look not for goodness from him who has none.

Under the impression that the Aūzbegs were in Keshtūd, we made an excursion to it, after passing Fān. Of itself it seemed [Sidenote: Fol. 82b.] to have gone to ruin; no-one seemed to be occupying it. We went on to the bank of the Kohik-water (Zar-afshān) and there dismounted. From that place we sent a few begs under Qāsim _Qūchīn_ to surprise Rabāṯ-i-khwāja; that done, we crossed the river by a bridge from opposite Yārī, went through Yārī and over the Shunqār-khāna (Falcons'-home) range into Yār-yīlāq. Our begs went to Rabāṯ-i-khwāja and had set up ladders when the men within came to know about them and forced them to retire. As they could not take the fort, they rejoined us.

(_c. Bābur renews attack on Samarkand._)

Qaṃbar-`alī (the Skinner) was (still) holding Sangzār; he came and saw us; Abū'l-qāsim _Kohbur_ and Ibrāhīm Tarkhān showed loyalty and attachment by sending efficient men for our service. We went into Asfīdik (var. Asfīndik), one of the Yār-yīlāq villages. At that time Shaibāq Khān lay near Khwāja Dīdār with 3 or 4000 Aūzbegs and as many more soldiers gathered in locally. He had given the Government of Samarkand to Jān-wafā, and Jān-wafā was then in the fort with 500 or 600 men. Ḥamza Sl. and Mahdī Sl. were lying near the fort, in the Quail-reserve. Our men, good and bad were 240. [Sidenote: Fol. 83.]

Having discussed the position with all my begs and unmailed braves, we left it at this;—that as Shaibānī Khān had taken possession of Samarkand so recently, the Samarkandīs would not be attached to him nor he to them; that if we made an effort at once, we might do the thing; that if we set ladders up and took the fort by surprise, the Samarkandīs would be for us; how should they not be? even if they gave us no help, they would not fight us for the Aūzbegs; and that Samarkand once in our hands, whatever was God's will, would happen.