Chapter XXI: Section II: Kābul666 (4)

Sayyid Ḥasan _Aūghlāqchī_ was another, a son of Sayyid _Aūghlāqchī_ and a younger brother of Sayyid Yūsuf Beg.[1105] He was the father of a capable and accomplished son, named Mīrzā Farrukh. He had come to my presence before I took Samarkand [Sidenote: Fol. 175b.] in 917 AH. (1511 AD.). Though he had written little verse, he wrote fairly; he understood the astrolabe and astronomy well, was excellent company, his talk good too, but he was rather a bad drinker (_bad shrāb_). He died in the fight at Ghaj-dawān.[1106]

Tīngrī-bīrdī the storekeeper (_sāmānchī_) was another; he was a plain (_turk_), bold, sword-slashing brave. As has been said, he charged out of the Gate of Balkh on Khusrau Shāh's great retainer Naẕar Bahādur and overcame him (903 AH.).

There were a few Turkmān braves also who were received with great favour when they came to the Mīrzā's presence. One of the first to come was `Alī Khān _Bāyandar_.[1107] Asad Beg and Taham-tan (Strong-bodied) Beg were others, an elder and younger brother these; Badī`u'z-zamān Mīrzā took Taham-tan Beg's daughter and by her had Muḥammad-i-zamān Mīrzā. Mīr `Umar Beg was another; later on he was in Badī`u'z-zamān Mīrzā's service; he was a brave, plain, excellent person. His son, Abū'l-fatḥ by name, came from `Irāq to my presence, a very soft, unsteady and feeble person; such a son from such a father!

Of those who came into Khurāsān after Shāh Ismā`īl took `Irāq and Aẕarbāījān (_circa_ 906 AH.-1500 AD.), one was `Abdu'l-bāqī Mīrzā of Tīmūr Beg's line. He was a Mīrān-shāhī[1108] whose ancestors will have gone long before into those parts, put thought [Sidenote: Fol. 176.] of sovereignty out of their heads, served those ruling there, and from them have received favour. That Tīmūr `Us̤mān who was the great, trusted beg of Ya`qūb Beg (_White-sheep Turkmān_) and who had once even thought of sending against Khurāsān the mass of men he had gathered to himself, must have been this `Abdu'l-bāqī Mīrzā's paternal-uncle. Sl. Ḥusain Mīrzā took `Abdu'l-bāqī Mīrzā at once into favour, making him a son-in-law by giving him Sulṯānīm Begīm, the mother of Muḥammad Sl. Mīrzā.[1109] Another late-comer was Murād Beg _Bāyandarī_.

(_h. His Chief Justices_ (_ṣadūr_).)

One was Mīr Sar-i-barahna (Bare-head)[1110]; he was from a village in Andijān and appears to have made claim to be a sayyid (_mutasayyid_). He was a very agreeable companion, pleasant of temper and speech. His were the judgment and rulings that carried weight amongst men of letters and poets of Khurāsān. He wasted his time by composing, in imitation of the story of Amīr Ḥamza,[1111] a work which is one long, far-fetched lie, opposed to sense and nature.

Kamālu'd-dīn Ḥusain _Gāzur-gāhī_[1112] was another. Though not a Ṣūfī, he was mystical.[1113] Such mystics as he will have gathered in `Alī-sher Beg's presence and there have gone into their raptures and ecstacies. Kamālu'd-dīn will have been better-born than most of them; his promotion will have been due to his good birth, since he had no other merit to speak of.[1114] A production of his exists, under the name _Majālisu'l-`ushshāq_ (Assemblies of lovers), the authorship of which he ascribes (in its preface) to Sl. Ḥusain Mīrzā.[1115] It is mostly a lie and a tasteless lie. He has written such irreverent things in it that some [Sidenote: Fol. 176b.] of them cast doubt upon his orthodoxy; for example, he represents the Prophets,—Peace be on them,—and Saints as subject to earthly passion, and gives to each a minion and a mistress. Another and singularly absurd thing is that, although in his preface he says, "This is Sl. Ḥusain Mīrzā's own written word and literary composition," he, never-the-less, enters, in the body of the book, "All by the sub-signed author", at the head of odes and verses well-known to be his own. It was his flattery gave Ẕū'n-nūn _Arghūn_ the title Lion of God.

(_i. His wazīrs._)

One was Majdu'd-dīn Muḥammad, son of Khwāja Pīr Aḥmad of Khwāf, the one man (_yak-qalam_) of Shāhrukh Mīrzā's Finance-office.[1116] In Sl. Ḥusain Mīrzā's Finance-office there was not at first proper order or method; waste and extravagance resulted; the peasant did not prosper, and the soldier was not satisfied. Once while Majdu'd-dīn Muḥammad was still _parwānchī_[1117] and styled Mīrak (Little Mīr), it became a matter of importance to the Mīrzā to have some money; when he asked the Finance-officials for it, they said none had been collected and that there was none. Majdu'd-dīn Muḥammad must have heard this and have smiled, for the Mīrzā asked him why he smiled; privacy was made and he told Mīrzā what was in his mind. Said he, "If the honoured Mīrzā will pledge himself to strengthen [Sidenote: Fol. 177.] my hands by not opposing my orders, it shall so be before long that the country shall prosper, the peasant be content, the soldier well-off, and the Treasury full." The Mīrzā for his part gave the pledge desired, put Majdu'd-dīn Muḥammad in authority throughout Khurāsān, and entrusted all public business to him. He in his turn by using all possible diligence and effort, before long had made soldier and peasant grateful and content, filled the Treasury to abundance, and made the districts habitable and cultivated. He did all this however in face of opposition from the begs and men high in place, all being led by `Alī-sher Beg, all out of temper with what Majdu'd-dīn Muḥammad had effected. By their effort and evil suggestion he was arrested and dismissed.[1118] In succession to him Niẕāmu'l-mulk of Khwāf was made Dīwān but in a short time they got him arrested also, and him they got put to death.[1119] They then brought Khwāja Afẓal out of `Irāq and made him Dīwān; he had just been made a beg when I came to Kābul (910 AH.), and he also impressed the Seal in Dīwān.

Khwāja `Atā[1120] was another; although, unlike those already mentioned, he was not in high office or Finance-minister (_dīwān_), nothing was settled without his concurrence the whole Khura-sānāt over. He was a pious, praying, upright (_mutadaiyin_) person; he must have been diligent in business also.

(_j. Others of the Court._)

Those enumerated were Sl. Ḥusain Mīrzā's retainers and followers.[1121] His was a wonderful Age; in it Khurāsān, and [Sidenote: Fol. 177b.] Herī above all, was full of learned and matchless men. Whatever the work a man took up, he aimed and aspired at bringing that work to perfection. One such man was Maulānā `Abdu'r-raḥmān _Jāmī_, who was unrivalled in his day for esoteric and exoteric knowledge. Famous indeed are his poems! The Mullā's dignity it is out of my power to describe; it has occurred to me merely to mention his honoured name and one atom of his excellence, as a benediction and good omen for this part of my humble book.

Shaikhu'l-islām Saifu'd-dīn Aḥmad was another. He was of the line of that Mullā Sa`du'd-dīn (Mas`ūd) _Taftazānī_[1122] whose descendants from his time downwards have given the Shaikhu'l-islām to Khurāsān. He was a very learned man, admirably versed in the Arabian sciences[1123] and the Traditions, most God-fearing and orthodox. Himself a Shafi`ī,[1124] he was tolerant of all the sects. People say he never once in 70 years omitted the Congregational Prayer. He was martyred when Shāh Ismā`īl took Herī (916 AH.); there now remains no man of his honoured line.[1125]

Maulānā Shaikh Ḥusain was another; he is mentioned here, although his first appearance and his promotion were under Sl. Abū-sa`īd Mīrzā, because he was living still under Sl. Ḥusain [Sidenote: Fol. 178.] Mīrzā. Being well-versed in the sciences of philosophy, logic and rhetoric, he was able to find much meaning in a few words and to bring it out opportunely in conversation. Being very intimate and influential with Sl. Abū-sa`īd Mīrzā, he took part in all momentous affairs of the Mīrzā's dominions; there was no better _muḥtasib_[1126]; this will have been why he was so much trusted. Because he had been an intimate of that Mīrzā, the incomparable man was treated with insult in Sl. Ḥusain Mīrzā's time.

Mullā-zāda Mullā `Us̤mān was another. He was a native of Chīrkh, in the Luhūgur _tūmān_ of the _tūmān_ of Kābul[1127] and was called the Born Mullā (_Mullā-zāda_) because in Aūlūgh Beg Mīrzā's time he used to give lessons when 14 years old. He went to Herī on his way from Samarkand to make the circuit of the _ka`ba_, was there stopped, and made to remain by Sl. Ḥusain Mīrzā. He was very learned, the most so of his time. People say he was nearing the rank of Ijtihād[1128] but he did not reach it. It is said of him that he once asked, "How should a person forget a thing heard?" A strong memory he must have had!

Mīr Jamālu'd-dīn the Traditionalist[1129] was another. He had no equal in Khurāsān for knowledge of the Muḥammadan Traditions. He was advanced in years and is still alive (934 to 937 AH.).

Mīr Murtāẓ was another. He was well-versed in the sciences [Sidenote: Fol. 178b.] of philosophy and metaphysics; he was called _murtāẓ_ (ascetic) because he fasted a great deal. He was madly fond of chess, so much so that if he had met two players, he would hold one by the skirt while he played his game out with the other, as much as to say, "Don't go!"

Mīr Mas`ūd of Sherwān was another.[1130]

Mīr `Abdu'l-ghafūr of Lār was another. Disciple and pupil both of Maulānā `Abdu'r-raḥmān _Jāmī_, he had read aloud most of the Mullā's poems (_mas̤nawī_) in his presence, and wrote a plain exposition of the _Nafaḥāt_.[1131] He had good acquaintance with the exoteric sciences, and in the esoteric ones also was very successful. He was a curiously casual and unceremonious person; no person styled Mullā by any-one soever was debarred from submitting a (Qorān) chapter to him for exposition; moreover whatever the place in which he heard there was a darwīsh, he had no rest till he had reached that darwīsh's presence. He was ill when I was in Khurāsān (912 AH.); I went to enquire for him where he lay in the Mullā's College,[1132] after I had made the circuit of the Mullā's tomb. He died a few days later, of that same illness.

Mīr `Atā'u'l-lāh of Mashhad was another.[1133] He knew the Arabian sciences well and also wrote a Persian treatise on rhyme. That treatise is well-done but it has the defect that he brings into it, as his examples, couplets of his own and, assuming them [Sidenote: Fol. 179.] to be correct, prefixes to each, "As must be observed in the following couplet by your slave" (_banda_). Several rivals of his find deserved comment in this treatise. He wrote another on the curiosities of verse, entitled _Badāi`u's-sanāi_; a very well-written treatise. He may have swerved from the Faith.

Qāẓī Ikhtiyār was another. He was an excellent Qāẓī and wrote a treatise in Persian on Jurisprudence, an admirable treatise; he also, in order to give elucidation (_iqtibās_), made a collection of homonymous verses from the Qorān. He came with Muḥammad-i-yūsuf to see me at the time I met the Mīrzās on the Murgh-āb (912 AH.). Talk turning on the Bāburī script,[1134] he asked me about it, letter by letter; I wrote it out, letter by letter; he went through it, letter by letter, and having learned its plan, wrote something in it there and then.

Mīr Muḥammad-i-yūsuf was another; he was a pupil of the Shaikhu'l-islām[1135] and afterwards was advanced to his place. In some assemblies he, in others, Qāẓī Ikhtiyār took the higher place. Towards the end of his life he was so infatuated with soldiering and military command, that except of those two tasks, what could be learned from his conversation? what known from his pen? Though he failed in both, those two ambitions ended by giving to the winds his goods and his life, his house and his home. He may have been a Shī`a.

(_k. The Poets._)

[Sidenote: Fol. 179b.] The all-surpassing head of the poet-band was Maulānā `Abdu'r-raḥmān _Jāmī_. Others were Shaikhīm Suhailī and Ḥasan of `Alī _Jalāīr_[1136] whose names have been mentioned already as in the circle of the Mīrzā's begs and household.

Āṣafī was another,[1137] he taking Āṣafī for his pen-name because he was a wazīr's son. His verse does not want for grace or sentiment, but has no merit through passion and ecstacy. He himself made the claim, "I have never packed up (_būlmādī_) my odes to make the oasis (_wādī_) of a collection."[1138] This was affectation, his younger brothers and his intimates having collected his odes. He wrote little else but odes. He waited on me when I went into Khurāsān (912 AH.).

Banā'i was another; he was a native of Herī and took such a pen-name (Banā'i) on account of his father Ustād Muḥammad _Sabz-banā_.[1139] His odes have grace and ecstacy. One poem (_mas̤nawī_) of his on the topic of fruits, is in the _mutaqārib_ measure;[1140] it is random and not worked up. Another short poem is in the _khafīf_ measure, so also is a longer one finished towards the end of his life. He will have known nothing of music in his young days and `Alī-sher Beg seems to have taunted him about it, so one winter when the Mīrzā, taking `Alī-sher Beg with him, went to winter in Merv, Banā'i stayed behind in Herī and so applied himself to study music that before the heats he had composed several works. These he played and sang, airs with variations, when the Mīrzā came back to Herī in the heats. [Sidenote: Fol. 180.] All amazed, `Alī-sher Beg praised him. His musical compositions are perfect; one was an air known as _Nuh-rang_ (Nine modulations), and having both the theme (_tūkānash_) and the variation (_yīla_) on the note called _rāst_(?). Banā'i was `Alī-sher Beg's rival; it will have been on this account he was so much ill-treated. When at last he could bear it no longer, he went into Aẕarbāījān and `Irāq to the presence of Ya'qūb Beg; he did not remain however in those parts after Ya`qūb Beg's death (896 AH.-1491 AD.) but went back to Herī, just the same with his jokes and retorts. Here is one of them:—`Alī-sher at a chess-party in stretching his leg touched Banā'i on the hinder-parts and said jestingly, "It is the sad nuisance of Herī that a man can't stretch his leg without its touching a poet's backside." "Nor draw it up again," retorted Banā'i.[1141] In the end the upshot of his jesting was that he had to leave Herī again; he went then to Samarkand.[1142] A great many good new things used to be made for `Alī-sher Beg, so whenever any-one produced a novelty, he called it `Alī-sher's in order to give it credit and vogue.[1143] Some things were called after him in compliment _e.g._ because when he had ear-ache, he wrapped his head up in one of the blue triangular kerchiefs women tie over their heads in winter, that kerchief was called `Alī-sher's comforter. Then again, Banā'i when he had decided to leave Herī, ordered a quite new kind of pad for his ass and [Sidenote: Fol. 180b.] dubbed it `Alī-sher's.

Maulānā Saifī of Bukhārā was another;[1144] he was a Mullā complete[1145] who in proof of his mullā-ship used to give a list of the books he had read. He put two _dīwāns_ together, one being for the use of tradesmen (_ḥarfa-kar_), and he also wrote many fables. That he wrote no _mas̤nawī_ is shewn by the following quatrain:—

Though the _mas̤nawī_ be the orthodox verse,
_I_ know the ode has Divine command;
Five couplets that charm the heart
_I_ know to outmatch the Two Quintets.[1146]

A Persian prosody he wrote is at once brief and prolix, brief in the sense of omitting things that should be included, and prolix in the sense that plain and simple matters are detailed down to the diacritical points, down even to their Arabic points.[1147] He is said to have been a great drinker, a bad drinker, and a mightily strong-fisted man.

`Abdu'l-lāh the _mas̤nawī_-writer was another.[1148] He was from Jām and was the Mullā's sister's son. Hātifī was his pen-name. He wrote poems (_mas̤nawī_) in emulation of the Two Quintets,[1149] and called them _Haft-manẕar_ (Seven-faces) in imitation of the _Haft-paikar_ (Seven-faces). In emulation of the _Sikandar-nāma_ he composed the _Tīmūr-nāma_. His most renowned _mas̤nawī_ is _Laila and Majnūn_, but its reputation is greater than its charm.

Mīr Ḥusain the Enigmatist[1150] was another. He seems to have had no equal in making riddles, to have given his whole time to it, and to have been a curiously humble, disconsolate (_nā-murād_) [Sidenote: Fol. 181.] and harmless (_bī-bad_) person.

Mīr Muḥammad _Badakhshī_ of Ishkīmīsh was another. As Ishkīmīsh is not in Badakhshān, it is odd he should have made it his pen-name. His verse does not rank with that of the poets previously mentioned,[1151] and though he wrote a treatise on riddles, his riddles are not first-rate. He was a very pleasant companion; he waited on me in Samarkand (917 AH.).

Yūsuf the wonderful (_badī_)[1152] was another. He was from the Farghāna country; his odes are said not to be bad.

Āhī was another, a good ode-writer, latterly in Ibn-i-ḥusain Mīrzā's service, and _ṣāḥib-i-dīwān_.[1153]

Muḥammad _Ṣāliḥ_ was another.[1154] His odes are tasty but better-flavoured than correct. There is Turkī verse of his also, not badly written. He went to Shaibāq Khān later on and found complete favour. He wrote a Turkī poem (_mas̤nawī_), named from Shaibāq Khān, in the _raml masaddas majnūn_ measure, that is to say the metre of the _Subḥat_.[1155] It is feeble and flat; Muḥammad _Ṣāliḥ_'s reader soon ceases to believe in him.[1156] Here is one of his good couplets:—

A fat man (Taṃbal) has gained the land of Farghāna,
Making Farghāna the house of the fat-man (Taṃbal-khāna).

Farghāna is known also as Taṃbal-khāna.[1157] I do not know whether the above couplet is found in the _mas̤nawī_ mentioned.

Muḥammad _Ṣāliḥ_ was a very wicked, tyrannical and heartless person.[1158]

Maulānā Shāh Ḥusain _Kāmī_[1159] was another. There are not-bad verses of his; he wrote odes, and also seems to have put a _dīwān_ together.

Hilālī (New-moon) was another; he is still alive.[1160] Correct and graceful though his odes are, they make little impression. There is a _dīwān_ of his;[1161] and there is also the poem (_mas̤nawī_) in the [Sidenote: Fol. 181b.] _khafīf_ measure, entitled _Shāh and Darwīsh_ of which, fair though many couplets are, the basis and purport are hollow and bad. Ancient poets when writing of love and the lover, have represented the lover as a man and the beloved as a woman; but Hilālī has made the lover a darwīsh, the beloved a king, with the result that the couplets containing the king's acts and words, set him forth as shameless and abominable. It is an extreme effrontery in Hilālī that for a poem's sake he should describe a young man and that young man a king, as resembling the shameless and immoral.[1162] It is heard-said that Hilālī had a very retentive memory, and that he had by heart 30 or 40,000 couplets, and the greater part of the Two Quintets,—all most useful for the minutiae of prosody and the art of verse.

Ahlī[1163] was another; he was of the common people (_`āmī_), wrote verse not bad, even produced a _dīwān_.

(_l. Artists._)

Of fine pen-men there were many; the one standing-out in _nakhsh ta`līq_ was Sl. `Alī of Mashhad[1164] who copied many books for the Mīrzā and for `Alī-sher Beg, writing daily 30 couplets for the first, 20 for the second.

Of the painters, one was Bih-zād.[1165] His work was very dainty but he did not draw beardless faces well; he used greatly to lengthen the double chin (_ghab-ghab_); bearded faces he drew admirably.

Shāh Muz̤affar was another; he painted dainty portraits, [Sidenote: Fol. 182.] representing the hair very daintily.[1166] Short life was granted him; he left the world when on his upward way to fame.

Of musicians, as has been said, no-one played the dulcimer so well as Khwāja `Abdu'l-lāh _Marwārīd_.

Qul-i-muḥammad the lutanist (_`aūdī_) was another; he also played the guitar (_ghichak_) beautifully and added three strings to it. For many and good preludes (_peshrau_) he had not his equal amongst composers or performers, but this is only true of his preludes.

Shaikhī the flautist (_nāyī_) was another; it is said he played also the lute and the guitar, and that he had played the flute from his 12th or 13th year. He once produced a wonderful air on the flute, at one of Badī`u'z-zamān Mīrzā's assemblies; Qul-i-muḥammad could not reproduce it on the guitar, so declared this a worthless instrument; Shaikhī _Nāyī_ at once took the guitar from Qul-i-muḥammad's hands and played the air on it, well and in perfect tune. They say he was so expert in music that having once heard an air, he was able to say, "This or that is the tune of so-and-so's or so-and-so's flute."[1167] He composed few works; one or two airs are heard of.

Shāh Qulī the guitar-player was another; he was of `Irāq, came into Khurāsān, practised playing, and succeeded. He composed many airs, preludes and works (_nakhsh, peshrau u aīshlār_).

Ḥusain the lutanist was another; he composed and played with taste; he would twist the strings of his lute into one and play on that. His fault was affectation about playing. He [Sidenote: Fol. 182b.] made a fuss once when Shaibāq Khān ordered him to play, and not only played badly but on a worthless instrument he had brought in place of his own. The Khān saw through him at once and ordered him to be well beaten on the neck, there and then. This was the one good action Shaibāq Khān did in the world; it was well-done truly! a worse chastisement is the due of such affected mannikins!

Ghulām-i-shādī (Slave of Festivity), the son of Shādī the reciter, was another of the musicians. Though he performed, he did it less well than those of the circle just described. There are excellent themes (_ṣūt_) and beautiful airs (_nakhsh_) of his; no-one in his day composed such airs and themes. In the end Shaibāq Khān sent him to the Qāzān Khān, Muḥammad Amīn; no further news has been heard of him.

Mīr Azū was another composer, not a performer; he produced few works but those few were in good taste.

Banā'i was also a musical composer; there are excellent airs and themes of his.

An unrivalled man was the wrestler Muḥammad Bū-sa`īd; he was foremost amongst the wrestlers, wrote verse too, composed themes and airs, one excellent air of his being in _chār-gāh_ (four-time),—and he was pleasant company. It is extraordinary that such accomplishments as his should be combined with wrestling.[1168]

HISTORICAL NARRATIVE RESUMED.

(_a. Burial of Sl. Ḥusain Mīrzā._)

At the time Sl. Ḥusain Mīrzā took his departure from the world, there were present of the Mīrzās only Badī'u'z-zamān Mīrzā and Muz̤affar-i-ḥusain Mīrzā. The latter had been his father's favourite son; his leading beg was Muḥammad Barandūq _Barlās_; his mother Khadīja Begīm had been the Mīrzā's most influential wife; and to him the Mīrzā's people had gathered. [Sidenote: Fol. 183.] For these reasons Badī`u'z-zamān Mīrzā had anxieties and thought of not coming,[1169] but Muz̤affar-i-ḥusain Mīrzā and Muḥammad Barandūq Beg themselves rode out, dispelled his fears and brought him in.

Sl. Ḥusain Mīrzā was carried into Herī and there buried in his own College with royal rites and ceremonies.

(_b. A dual succession._)

At this crisis Ẕū'n-nūn Beg was also present. He, Muḥ. Barandūq Beg, the late Mīrzā's begs and those of the two (young) Mīrzās having assembled, decided to make the two Mīrzās joint-rulers in Herī. Ẕū'n-nūn Beg was to have control in Badī`u'z-zamān Mīrzā's Gate, Muḥ. Barandūq Beg, in Muz̤affar-i-ḥusain Mīrzā's. Shaikh `Alī T̤aghāī was to be _dārogha_ in Herī for the first, Yūsuf-i-`alī for the second. Theirs was a strange plan! Partnership in rule is a thing unheard of; against it stand Shaikh Sa'dī's words in the Gulistān:—"Ten darwishes sleep under a blanket (_gilīm_); two kings find no room in a clime" (_aqlīm_).[1170]

912 AH.-MAY 24TH 1506 TO MAY 13TH 1507 AD.[1171]

(_a. Bābur starts to join Sl. Ḥusain Mīrzā._)

In the month of Muḥarram we set out by way of Ghūr-bund [Sidenote: Fol. 183b.] and Shibr-tū to oppose the Aūzbeg.

As Jahāngīr Mīrzā had gone out of the country in some sort of displeasure, we said, "There might come much mischief and trouble if he drew the clans (_aīmāq_) to himself;" and "What trouble might come of it!" and, "First let's get the clans in hand!" So said, we hurried forward, riding light and leaving the baggage (_aūrūq_) at Ushtur-shahr in charge of Walī the treasurer and Daulat-qadam of the scouts. That day we reached Fort [Z.]aḥāq; from there we crossed the pass of the Little-dome (Guṃbazak-kūtal), trampled through Sāīghān, went over the Dandān-shikan pass and dismounted in the meadow of Kāhmard. From Kāhmard we sent Sayyid Afẓal the Seer-of-dreams (_Khwāb-bīn_) and Sl. Muḥammad _Dūldāī_ to Sl. Ḥusain Mīrzā with a letter giving the particulars of our start from Kābul.[1172]

Jahāngīr Mīrzā must have lagged on the road, for when he got opposite Bāmīān and went with 20 or 30 persons to visit it, he saw near it the tents of our people left with the baggage. Thinking we were there, he and his party hurried back to their camp and, without an eye to anything, without regard for their own people marching in the rear, made off for Yaka-aūlāng.[1173]

(_b. Action of Shaibāq Khān._)

When Shaibāq Khān had laid siege to Balkh, in which was Sl. Qul-i-nachāq,[1174] he sent two or three sulṯāns with 3 or 4000 men to overrun Badakhshān. At the time Mubārak Shāh and Zubair had again joined Nāṣir Mīrzā, spite of former resentments and bickerings, and they all were lying at Shakdān, below Kishm [Sidenote: Fol. 184.] and east of the Kishm-water. Moving through the night, one body of Aūzbegs crossed that water at the top of the morning and advanced on the Mīrzā; he at once drew off to rising-ground, mustered his force, sounded trumpets, met and overcame them. Behind the Aūzbegs was the Kishm-water in flood, many were drowned in it, a mass of them died by arrow and sword, more were made prisoner. Another body of Aūzbegs, sent against Mubārak Shāh and Zubair where they lay, higher up the water and nearer Kishm, made them retire to the rising-ground. Of this the Mīrzā heard; when he had beaten off his own assailants, he moved against theirs. So did the Kohistān begs, gathered with horse and foot, still higher up the river. Unable to make stand against this attack, the Aūzbegs fled, but of this body also a mass died by sword, arrow, and water. In all some 1000 to 1500 may have died. This was Nāṣir Mīrzā's one good success; a man of his brought us news about it while we were in the dale of Kāhmard.

(_c. Bābur moves on into Khurāsān._)

While we were in Kāhmard, our army fetched corn from Ghūrī and Dahāna. There too we had letters from Sayyid [Sidenote: Fol. 184b.] Afẓal and Sl. Muḥammad _Dūldāī_ whom we had sent into Khurāsān; their news was of Sl. Ḥusain Mīrzā's death.

This news notwithstanding, we set forward for Khurāsān; though there were other grounds for doing this, what decided us was anxious thought for the reputation of this (Tīmūrid) dynasty. We went up the trough (_aīchī_) of the Ājar-valley, on over Tūp and Mandaghān, crossed the Balkh-water and came out on Ṣāf-hill. Hearing there that Aūzbegs were overrunning Sān and Chār-yak,[1175] we sent a force under Qāsim Beg against them; he got up with them, beat them well, cut many heads off, and returned.

We lay a few days in the meadow of Ṣāf-hill, waiting for news of Jahāngīr Mīrzā and the clans (_aīmāq_) to whom persons had been sent. We hunted once, those hills being very full of wild sheep and goats (_kiyīk_). All the clans came in and waited on me within a few days; it was to me they came; they had not gone to Jahāngīr Mīrzā though he had sent men often enough to them, once sending even `Imādu'd-dīn Mas`ūd. He himself was forced to come at last; he saw me at the foot of the valley when I came down off Ṣāf-hill. Being anxious about Khurāsān, we neither paid him attention nor took thought for the clans, but went right on through Gurzwān, Almār, Qaiṣār, Chīchīk-tū, and Fakhru'd-dīn's-death (_aūlūm_) into the Bām-valley, [Sidenote: Fol. 185.] one of the dependencies of Bādghīs.

The world being full of divisions,[1176] things were being taken from country and people with the long arm; we ourselves began to take something, by laying an impost on the Turks and clans of those parts, in two or three months taking perhaps 300 _tūmāns_ of _kipkī_.[1177]

(_d. Coalition of the Khurāsān Mīrzās._)

A few days before our arrival (in Bām-valley?) some of the Khurāsān light troops and of Ẕū'n-nūn Beg's men had well beaten Aūzbeg raiders in Pand-dih (Panj-dih?) and Marūchāq, killing a mass of men.[1178]

Badī`u'z-zamān Mīrzā and Muz̤affar-i-ḥusain Mīrzā with Muḥammad Barandūq _Barlās_, Ẕū'n-nūn _Arghūn_ and his son Shāh Beg resolved to move on Shaibāq Khān, then besieging Sl. Qul-i-nachāq (?) in Balkh. Accordingly they summoned all Sl. Ḥusain Mīrzā's sons, and got out of Herī to effect their purpose. At Chihil-dukhtarān Abū'l-muḥsin M. joined them from Marv; Ibn-i-ḥusain M. followed, coming up from Tūn and Qāīn. Kūpuk (Kīpik) M. was in Mashhad; often though they sent to him, he behaved unmanly, spoke senseless words, and did not come. Between him and Muz̤affar Mīrzā, there was jealousy; when Muz̤affar M. was made (joint-)ruler, he said, "How should _I_ go to _his_ presence?" Through this disgusting jealousy he did not come now, even at this crisis when all his brethren, older and younger, were assembling in concord, resolute against such a foe [Sidenote: Fol. 185b.] as Shaibāq Khān. Kūpuk M. laid his own absence to rivalry, but everybody else laid it to his cowardice. One word! In this world acts such as his outlive the man; if a man have any share of intelligence, why try to be ill-spoken of after death? if he be ambitious, why not try so to act that, he gone, men will praise him? In the honourable mention of their names, wise men find a second life!

Envoys from the Mīrzās came to me also, Mūh. Barandūq _Barlās_ himself following them. As for me, what was to hinder my going? It was for that very purpose I had travelled one or two hundred _yīghāch_ (500-600 miles)! I at once started with Muḥ. Barandūq Beg for Murgh-āb[1179] where the Mīrzās were lying.

(_e. Bābur meets the Mīrzās._)

The meeting with the Mīrzās was on Monday the 8th of the latter Jumāda (Oct. 26th 1506 AH.). Abū'l-muḥsin Mīrzā came out a mile to meet me; we approached one another; on my side, I dismounted, on his side, he; we advanced, saw one another and remounted. Near the camp Muz̤affar Mīrzā and Ibn-i-ḥusain Mīrzā met us; they, being younger than Abū'l-muḥsin Mīrzā ought to have come out further than he to meet me.[1180] Their dilatoriness may not have been due to pride, but to heaviness [Sidenote: Fol. 186.] after wine; their negligence may have been no slight on me, but due to their own social pleasures. On this Muz̤affar Mīrzā laid stress;[1181] we two saw one another without dismounting, so did Ibn-i-ḥusain Mīrzā and I. We rode on together and, in an amazing crowd and press, dismounted at Badī`u'z-zamān Mīrzā's Gate. Such was the throng that some were lifted off the ground for three or four steps together, while others, wishing for some reason to get out, were carried, willy-nilly, four or five steps the other way.

We reached Badī`u'z-zamān Mīrzā's Audience-tent. It had been agreed that I, on entering, should bend the knee (_yūkūnghāī_) once, that the Mīrzā should rise and advance to the edge of the estrade,[1182] and that we should see one another there. I went in, bent the knee once, and was going right forward; the Mīrzā rose rather languidly and advanced rather slowly; Qāsim Beg, as he was my well-wisher and held my reputation as his own, gave my girdle a tug; I understood, moved more slowly, and so the meeting was on the appointed spot.

Four divans (_tūshuk_) had been placed in the tent. Always in the Mīrzā's tents one side was like a gate-way[1183] and at the edge of this gate-way he always sat. A divan was set there now [Sidenote: Fol. 186b.] on which he and Muz̤affar Mīrzā sat together. Abū'l-muḥsin, Mīrzā and I sat on another, set in the right-hand place of honour (_tūr_). On another, to Badī`u'z-zamān Mīrzā's left, sat Ibn-i-ḥusain Mīrzā with Qāsim Sl. _Aūzbeg_, a son-in-law of the late Mīrzā and father of Qāsim-i-ḥusain Sulṯān. To my right and below my divan was one on which sat Jahāngīr Mīrzā and `Abdu'r-razzāq Mīrzā. To the left of Qāsim Sl. and Ibn-i-ḥusain Mīrzā, but a good deal lower, were Muḥ. Barandūq Beg, Ẕū'n-nūn Beg and Qāsim Beg.

Although this was not a social gathering, cooked viands were brought in, drinkables[1184] were set with the food, and near them gold and silver cups. Our forefathers through a long space of time, had respected the Chīngīz-tūrā (ordinance), doing nothing opposed to it, whether in assembly or Court, in sittings-down or risings-up. Though it has not Divine authority so that a man obeys it of necessity, still good rules of conduct must be obeyed by whom-soever they are left; just in the same way that, if a forefather have done ill, his ill must be changed for good.

After the meal I rode from the Mīrzā's camp some 2 miles to [Sidenote: Fol. 187.] our own dismounting-place.

(_f. Bābur claims due respect._)

At my second visit Badī`u'z-zamān Mīrzā shewed me less respect than at my first. I therefore had it said to Muḥ. Barandūq Beg and to Ẕū'n-nūn Beg that, small though my age was (_aet._ 24), my place of honour was large; that I had seated myself twice on the throne of our forefathers in Samarkand by blow straight-dealt; and that to be laggard in shewing me respect was unreasonable, since it was for this (Tīmūrid) dynasty's sake I had thus fought and striven with that alien foe. This said, and as it was reasonable, they admitted their mistake at once and shewed the respect claimed.

(_g. Bābur's temperance._)

There was a wine-party (_chāghīr-majlisī_) once when I went after the Mid-day Prayer to Badī`u'z-zamān Mīrzā's presence. At that time I drank no wine. The party was altogether elegant; every sort of relish to wine (_gazak_) was set out on the napery, with brochettes of fowl and goose, and all sorts of viands. The Mīrzā's entertainments were much renowned; truly was this one free from the pang of thirst (_bī ghall_), reposeful and tranquil. I was at two or three of his wine-parties while we were on the bank of the Murgh-āb; once it was known I did not drink, no pressure to do so was put on me.

I went to one wine-party of Muz̤affar Mīrzā's. Ḥusain of `Alī _Jalāīr_ and Mīr Badr were both there, they being in his service. When Mīr Badr had had enough (_kaifīyat_), he danced, [Sidenote: Fol. 187b.] and danced well what seemed to be his own invention.

(_h. Comments on the Mīrzās._)

Three months it took the Mīrzās to get out of Herī, agree amongst themselves, collect troops, and reach Murgh-āb. Meantime Sl. Qul-i-nachāq (?), reduced to extremity, had surrendered Balkh to the Aūzbeg but that Aūzbeg, hearing of our alliance against him, had hurried back to Samarkand. The Mīrzās were good enough as company and in social matters, in conversation and parties, but they were strangers to war, strategy, equipment, bold fight and encounter.

(_i. Winter plans._)

While we were on the Murgh-āb, news came that Ḥaq-naẕīr _Chapā_ (var. Ḥiān) was over-running the neighbourhood of Chīchīk-tū with 4 or 500 men. All the Mīrzās there present, do what they would, could not manage to send a light troop against those raiders! It is 10 _yīghāch_ (50-55 m.) from Murgh-āb to Chīchīk-tū. I asked the work; they, with a thought for their own reputation, would not give it to me.

The year being almost at an end when Shaibāq Khān retired, the Mīrzās decided to winter where it was convenient and to reassemble next summer in order to repel their foe.

They pressed me to winter in Khurāsān, but this not one of my well-wishers saw it good for me to do because, while Kābul and Ghaznī were full of a turbulent and ill-conducted medley of [Sidenote: Fol. 188.] people and hordes, Turks, Mughūls, clans and nomads (_aīmāq u aḥsham_), Afghāns and Hazāra, the roads between us and that not yet desirably subjected country of Kābul were, one, the mountain-road, a month's journey even without delay through snow or other cause,—the other, the low-country road, a journey of 40 or 50 days.

Consequently we excused ourselves to the Mīrzās, but they would accept no excuse and, for all our pleas, only urged the more. In the end Badī`u'z-zamān Mīrzā, Abū'l-muḥsin Mīrzā and Muz̤affar Mīrzā themselves rode to my tent and urged me to stay the winter. It was impossible to refuse men of such ruling position, come in person to press us to stay on. Besides this, the whole habitable world has not such a town as Herī had become under Sl. Ḥusain Mīrzā, whose orders and efforts had increased its splendour and beauty as ten to one, rather, as twenty to one. As I greatly wished to stay, I consented to do so.

Abū'l-muḥsin M. went to Marv, his own district; Ibn-i-ḥusain M. went to his, Tūn and Qāīn; Badī`u'z-zamān M. and Muz̤affar M. set off for Herī; I followed them a few days later, taking the road by Chihil-dukhtarān and Tāsh-rabāṯ.[1185]

(_j. Bābur visits the Begīms in Herī._)

All the Begīms, _i.e._ my paternal-aunt Pāyanda-sulṯān Begīm, Khadīja Begīm, Apāq Begīm, and my other paternal-aunt Begīms, daughters of Sl. Abū-sa`īd Mīrzā,[1186] were gathered together, at the time I went to see them, in Sl. Ḥusain Mīrzā's College at his [Sidenote: Fol. 188b.] Mausoleum. Having bent the knee with (_yūkūnūb bīla_) Pāyanda-sulṯān Begīm first of all, I had an interview with her; next, not bending the knee,[1187] I had an interview with Apāq Begīm; next, having bent the knee with Khadīja Begīm, I had an interview with her. After sitting there for some time during recitation of the Qorān,[1188] we went to the South College where Khadīja Begīm's tents had been set up and where food was placed before us. After partaking of this, we went to Pāyanda-sulṯān Begīm's tents and there spent the night.

The New-year's Garden was given us first for a camping-ground; there our camp was arranged; and there I spent the night of the day following my visit to the Begīms, but as I did not find it a convenient place, `Alī-sher Beg's residence was assigned to me, where I was as long as I stayed in Herī, every few days shewing myself in Badī`u'z-zamān Mīrzā's presence in the World-adorning Garden.

(_k. The Mīrzās entertain Bābur in Herī._)

A few days after Muz̤affar Mīrzā had settled down in the White-garden, he invited me to his quarters; Khadīja Begīm was also there, and with me went Jahāngīr Mīrzā. When we had eaten a meal in the Begīm's presence,[1189] Muz̤affar Mīrzā took me to where there was a wine-party, in the T̤arab-khāna (Joy-house) built by Bābur Mīrzā, a sweet little abode, a smallish, two-storeyed house in the middle of a smallish garden. Great pains have been taken with its upper storey; this has a retreat (_ḥujra_) in each of its four corners, the space between each two retreats being like a _shāh-nīshīn_[1190]; in between these retreats and [Sidenote: Fol. 189.] _shāh-nīshīns_ is one large room on all sides of which are pictures which, although Bābur Mīrzā built the house, were commanded by Abū-sa`īd Mīrzā and depict his own wars and encounters.

Two divans had been set in the north _shāh-nīshīn_, facing each other, and with their sides turned to the north. On one Muz̤affar Mīrzā and I sat, on the other Sl. Mas`ūd Mīrzā[1191] and Jahāngīr Mīrzā. We being guests, Muz̤affar Mīrzā gave me place above himself. The social cups were filled, the cup-bearers ordered to carry them to the guests; the guests drank down the mere wine as if it were water-of-life; when it mounted to their heads, the party waxed warm.

They thought to make me also drink and to draw me into their own circle. Though up till then I had not committed the sin of wine-drinking[1192] and known the cheering sensation of comfortable drunkenness, I was inclined to drink wine and my heart was drawn to cross that stream (_wāda_). I had had no inclination for wine in my childhood; I knew nothing of its cheer and pleasure. If, as sometimes, my father pressed wine on me, I excused myself; I did not commit the sin. After he [Sidenote: Fol. 189b.] died, Khwāja Qāẓī's right guidance kept me guiltless; as at that time I abstained from forbidden viands, what room was there for the sin of wine? Later on when, with the young man's lusts and at the prompting of sensual passion, desire for wine arose, there was no-one to press it on me, no-one indeed aware of my leaning towards it; so that, inclined for it though my heart was, it was difficult of myself to do such a thing, one thitherto undone. It crossed my mind now, when the Mīrzās were so pressing and when too we were in a town so refined as Herī, "Where should I drink if not here? here where all the chattels and utensils of luxury and comfort are gathered and in use." So saying to myself, I resolved to drink wine; I determined to cross that stream; but it occurred to me that as I had not taken wine in Badī`u'z-zamān Mīrzā's house or from his hand, who was to me as an elder brother, things might find way into his mind if I took wine in his younger brother's house and from his hand. Having so said to myself, I mentioned my doubt and difficulty. Said they, "Both the excuse and the obstacle are reasonable," pressed me no more to drink then but settled that when I was in company with both Mīrzās, I should drink under the insistance of both.

Amongst the musicians present at this party were Ḥāfiẓ Ḥājī, [Sidenote: Fol. 190.] Jalālu'd-dīn Maḥmūd the flautist, and Ghulām _shādī_'s younger brother, Ghulām _bacha_ the Jews'-harpist. Ḥāfiẓ Ḥājī sang well, as Herī people sing, quietly, delicately, and in tune. With Jahāngīr Mīrzā was a Samarkandī singer Mīr Jān whose singing was always loud, harsh and out-of-tune. The Mīrzā, having had enough, ordered him to sing; he did so, loudly, harshly and without taste. Khurāsānīs have quite refined manners; if, under this singing, one did stop his ears, the face of another put question, not one could stop the singer, out of consideration for the Mīrzā.

After the Evening Prayer we left the T̤arab-khāna for a new house in Muz̤affar Mīrzā's winter-quarters. There Yūsuf-i-`alī danced in the drunken time, and being, as he was, a master in music, danced well. The party waxed very warm there. Muz̤affar Mīrzā gave me a sword-belt, a lambskin surtout, and a grey _tīpūchāq_ (horse). Jānak recited in Turkī. Two slaves of the Mīrzā's, known as Big-moon and Little-moon, did offensive, drunken tricks in the drunken time. The party was warm till night when those assembled scattered, I, however, staying the night in that house.

Qāsim Beg getting to hear that I had been pressed to drink wine, sent some-one to Ẕū'n-nūn Beg with advice for him and for Muz̤affar Mīrzā, given in very plain words; the result was [Sidenote: Fol. 190b.] that the Mīrzās entirely ceased to press wine upon me.

Badī`u'z-zamān Mīrzā, hearing that Muz̤affar M. had entertained me, asked me to a party arranged in the Maqauwī-khāna of the World-adorning Garden. He asked also some of my close circle[1193] and some of our braves. Those about me could never drink (openly) on my own account; if they ever did drink, they did it perhaps once in 40 days, with doorstrap fast and under a hundred fears. Such as these were now invited; here too they drank with a hundred precautions, sometimes calling off my attention, sometimes making a screen of their hands, notwithstanding that I had given them permission to follow common custom, because this party was given by one standing to me as a father or elder brother. People brought in weeping-willows....[1194]

At this party they set a roast goose before me but as I was no carver or disjointer of birds, I left it alone. "Do you not like it?" inquired the Mīrzā. Said I, "I am a poor carver." On this he at once disjointed the bird and set it again before [Sidenote: Fol. 191.] me. In such matters he had no match. At the end of the party he gave me an enamelled waist-dagger, a _chār-qāb_,[1195] and a _tīpūchāq_.

(_l. Bābur sees the sights of Herī._)

Every day of the time I was in Herī I rode out to see a new sight; my guide in these excursions was Yūsuf-i-`alī Kūkūldāsh; wherever we dismounted, he set food before me. Except Sl. Ḥusain Mīrzā's Almshouse, not one famous spot, maybe, was left unseen in those 40 days.

I saw the Gāzur-gāh,[1196] `Alī-sher's Bāghcha (Little-garden), the Paper-mortars,[1197] Takht-astāna (Royal-residence), Pul-i-gāh, Kahad-stān,[1198] Naẕar-gāh-garden, Ni`matābād (Pleasure-place), Gāzur-gāh Avenue, Sl. Aḥmad Mīrzā's Ḥaẕirat,[1199] Takht-i-safar,[1200] Takht-i-nawā'ī, Takht-i-barkar, Takht-i-Ḥājī Beg, Takht-i-Bahā'u'd-dīn `Umar, Takht-i-Shaikh Zainu'd-dīn, Maulānā `Abdu'r-raḥmān _Jāmī_'s honoured shrine and tomb,[1201] Namāz-gāh-i-mukhtār,[1202] the Fish-pond,[1203] Sāq-i-sulaimān,[1204] Bulūrī (Crystal) which originally may have been Abū'l-walīd,[1205] Imām Fakhr,[1206] Avenue-garden, Mīrzā's Colleges and tomb, Guhār-shād Begīm's College, tomb,[1207] and Congregational Mosque, the Ravens'-garden, New-garden, Zubaida-garden,[1208] Sl. Abū-sa`īd Mīrzā's White-house [Sidenote: Fol. 191b.] outside the `Iraq-gate, Pūrān,[1209] the Archer's-seat, Chargh (hawk)-meadow, Amīr Wāḥid,[1210] Mālān-bridge,[1211] Khwāja-tāq,[1212] White-garden, T̤arab-khāna, Bāgh-i-jahān-ārā, Kūshk,[1213] Maqauwī-khāna, Lily-house, Twelve-towers, the great tank to the north of Jahān-ārā and the four dwellings on its four sides, the five Fort-gates, _viz._ the Malik, `Irāq, Fīrūzābād, Khūsh[1214] and Qībchāq Gates, Chārsū, Shaikhu'l-islām's College, Maliks' Congregational Mosque, Town-garden, Badī`u'z-zamān Mīrzā's College on the bank of the Anjīl-canal, `Alī-sher Beg's dwellings where we resided and which people call Unsīya (Ease), his tomb and mosque which they call Qudsīya (Holy), his College and Almshouse which they call Khalāṣīya and Akhlāṣīya (Freedom and Sincerity), his Hot-bath and Hospital which they call Ṣafā'īya and Shafā'īya. All these I visited in that space of time.

(_m. Bābur engages Ma`ṣūma-sulṯān in marriage._)

It must have been before those throneless times[1215] that Ḥabība-sulṯān Begīm, the mother of Sl. Aḥmad Mīrzā's youngest daughter Ma`ṣūma-sulṯān Begīm, brought her daughter into Herī. One day when I was visiting my Ākā, Ma`ṣūma-sulṯān Begīm came there with her mother and at once felt arise in her a great inclination towards me. Private messengers having been sent, my Ākā and my Yīnkā, as I used to call Pāyanda-sulṯān Begīm [Sidenote: Fol. 192.] and Habība-sulṯān Begīm, settled between them that the latter should bring her daughter after me to Kābul.[1216]

(_n. Bābur leaves Khurāsān._)

Very pressingly had Muḥ Barandūq Beg and Ẕū'n-nūn _Arghūn_ said, "Winter here!" but they had given me no winter-quarters nor had they made any winter-arrangements for me. Winter came on; snow fell on the mountains between us and Kābul; anxiety grew about Kābul; no winter-quarters were offered, no arrangements made! As we could not speak out, of necessity we left Herī!

On the pretext of finding winter-quarters, we got out of the town on the 7th day of the month of Sha`bān (Dec. 24th 1506 AD.), and went to near Bādghīs. Such were our slowness and our tarryings that the Ramẓān-moon was seen a few marches only beyond the Langar of Mir Ghiyāṣ.[1217] Of our braves who were absent on various affairs, some joined us, some followed us into Kābul 20 days or a month later, some stayed in Herī and took service with the Mīrzās. One of these last was Sayyidīm `Alī the gate-ward, who became Badī`u'z-zamān Mīrzā's retainer. To no servant of Khusrau Shāh had I shewn so much favour as to him; he had been given Ghaznī when Jahāngīr Mīrzā abandoned it, and in it when he came away with the army, had left his younger brother Dost-i-anjū (?) Shaikh. There were in truth [Sidenote: Fol. 192b.] no better men amongst Khusrau Shāh's retainers than this man Sayyidīm `Alī the gate-ward and Muḥibb-i-`alī the armourer. Sayyidīm was of excellent nature and manners, a bold swordsman, a singularly competent and methodical man. His house was never without company and assembly; he was greatly generous, had wit and charm, a variety of talk and story, and was a sweet-natured, good-humoured, ingenious, fun-loving person. His fault was that he practised vice and pederasty. He may have swerved from the Faith; may also have been a hypocrite in his dealings; some of what seemed double-dealing people attributed to his jokes, but, still, there must have been a something![1218] When Badī`u'z-zamān Mīrzā had let Shaibāq Khān take Herī and had gone to Shāh Beg (_Arghūn_), he had Sayyidīm `Alī thrown into the Harmand because of his double-dealing words spoken between the Mīrzā and Shāh Beg. Muḥibb-i-`alī's story will come into the narrative of events hereafter to be written.

(_o. A perilous mountain-journey._)

From the Langar of Mīr Ghiyās̤ we had ourselves guided past the border-villages of Gharjistān to Chach-charān.[1219] From the almshouse to Gharjistān was an unbroken sheet of snow; it was deeper further on; near Chach-charān itself it was above the horses' knees. Chach-charān depended on Ẕū'n-nūn _Arghūn_; his retainer Mīr Jān-aīrdī was in it now; from him we took, on payment, the whole of Ẕū'n-nūn Beg's store of provisions. A march or two further on, the snow was very deep, being above [Sidenote: Fol. 193.] the stirrup, indeed in many places the horses' feet did not touch the ground.

We had consulted at the Langar of Mīr Ghiyās̤ which road to take for return to Kābul; most of us agreed in saying, "It is winter, the mountain-road is difficult and dangerous; the Qandahār road, though a little longer, is safe and easy." Qāsim Beg said, "That road is long; you will go by this one." As he made much dispute, we took the mountain-road.

Our guide was a Pashāī named Pīr Sulṯān (Old sultan?). Whether it was through old age, whether from want of heart, whether because of the deep snow, he lost the road and could not guide us. As we were on this route under the insistance of Qāsim Beg, he and his sons, for his name's sake, dismounted, trampled the snow down, found the road again and took the lead. One day the snow was so deep and the way so uncertain that we could not go on; there being no help for it, back we turned, dismounted where there was fuel, picked out 60 or 70 good men and sent them down the valley in our tracks to fetch any one soever of the Hazāra, wintering in the valley-bottom, who might shew us the road. That place could not be left till our men returned three or four days later. They brought no [Sidenote: Fol. 193b.] guide; once more we sent Sulṯān _Pashāī_ ahead and, putting our trust in God, again took the road by which we had come back from where it was lost. Much misery and hardship were endured in those few days, more than at any time of my life. In that stress I composed the following opening couplet:—

Is there one cruel turn of Fortune's wheel unseen of me?
Is there a pang, a grief my wounded heart has missed?

We went on for nearly a week, trampling down the snow and not getting forward more than two or three miles a day. I was one of the snow-stampers, with 10 or 15 of my household, Qāsim Beg, his sons Tīngrī-bīrdī and Qaṃbar-i-`alī and two or three of their retainers. These mentioned used to go forward for 7 or 8 yards, stamping the snow down and at each step sinking to the waist or the breast. After a few steps the leading man would stand still, exhausted by the labour, and another would go forward. By the time 10, 15, 20, men on foot had stamped the snow down, it became so that a horse might be led over it. A horse would be led, would sink to the stirrups, could do no more than 10 or 12 steps, and would be drawn aside to let another go on. After we, 10, 15, 20, men had stamped down the snow and had led horses forward in this fashion, very serviceable [Sidenote: Fol. 194.] braves and men of renowned name would enter the beaten track, hanging their heads. It was not a time to urge or compel! the man with will and hardihood for such tasks does them by his own request! Stamping the snow down in this way, we got out of that afflicting place (_ānjūkān yīr_) in three or four days to a cave known as the Khawāl-i-qūtī (Blessed-cave), below the Zirrīn-pass.