Chapter VII: Section II: An Account of the History of the Lord Míýan Róshen

BÁYAZÍD.

Báyazid felt himself a prophet, and invited mankind to religious austerity; he caused them to say prayers, but indicated them no determined quarter to which they ought to turn, as the sacred text says:

“Wherever you turn, you turn towards God.”

He said, religious bathing in water is not necessary; for, as soon as the wind blows upon us, the body is purified; inasmuch as the four elements are equally pure. He said, whoever knows not himself and God, is not a man; and if he be hurtful, he may be accounted to have the nature of a wolf, tiger, serpent, or scorpion. The Arabian prophet has said:

“Kill a harmful creature before it causes harm.”

If such a person is well-behaved, and says prayers, he has the disposition of an ox, or sheep, and to kill him is lawful. On that account he ordered his self-conceited adversaries to be killed, as they were to be regarded as brute beasts; thus it is stated in the Koran:

“They are like brute beasts, nay worse.”

He said: whoever does not know himself, and has no notion of eternal life, and everlasting existence, is dead, and the property of a dead man, whose heirs are also as the dead, reverts to the living. On that account he ordered also the killing of the ignorant. When he found a Hindu knowing himself, he valued him higher than a Muselman. He and his sons practised for some time highway robbery. Of the wealth which he took from the Muselmans and others, he deposited the fifth part in a store-house, and when it was wanted, he distributed it among the most deserving people. He and his sons kept themselves all remote from adultery, lewdness, and unbecoming actions, as well as from despoiling the unitarians of their property, and refrained from using violence towards those who saw but one God.

He composed a great number of works in the Arabic, Persian, Hindi, and Afgháni,[29] languages. The _Makśúd al Múmenín_, “the desire of the right “believers,” is in Arabic. They say, that the All-just God conversed with him without the intervention of Jabril.[30] He composed also a book entitled _Kháir-al-bíán_, “the good news, or the gospel,” and this in four languages: the first in Arabic, the second in Persian, the third in Hindi, and the fourth in _Pashtú_, that is, the Afgháni language: the same purport is conveyed in the four languages. The address is from the All-just All-mighty God to the lord Báyezíd, and this they believe a work of divine inspiration. He is also the author of the _Hálnámeh_, in which he has given an account of himself.

The most astonishing circumstance therein is, that he was an illiterate man, and yet expounded the Koran, and uttered speeches full of truth, so that learned men were astonished at them.

It is said that Báyezid received the divine command for the destruction of those who know no God. Three times the all-just God had given him the order, and he put not his hand to the sword; but when it was repeated, unable to resist, he girt himself for the war against the infidels.

Báyezid was contemporary with the lord Mirzá Muhammed Hakim, the son of the lord Humáyún Pádshah. The author of this book has heard from Mirza sháh Muhammed, surnamed Ghazni Khán, the following account: “It was in the year of the Hejira 949 (A. D. 1542-3), that Miyàn Róshen gained strength and established his sect. My father, _Sháh Baighkán_ Arghún, surnamed Khán-Dourán, said, he saw Míyán Báyezíd before his rising in rebellion, when he was brought to the court of Mirzá Muhammed Hakím, and the learned were confounded in the dispute with him, wherefore they let him take his departure on equitable terms.”[31] In the beginning of the year of the Hejira 994 (A. D. 1585-6) the intelligence of the death of the lord Mirzá Muhammed Hakim reached from Kabul, the ear of the Lord, dwelling in the ninth heaven. The sepulchre of Báyezid is at Bhatakpùr, in the hilly country of the Afghans.

[29] Bayezid Ansari is said to have been the first author
who wrote in the _Pashtu_, or Afghan language.

[30] بی میانجی جبریل It is by mistake, it appears, that we
find in Doctor Leyden’s translation: “The All-just addressed
him _through_ “_Miyanji Jabrayil_:” and the note referring
to this passage is not applicable to it.

[31] Bayezid, after having obtained the adherence of several
tribes of the Afghans, established himself in _Hashtanagar_,
“eight townships,” in the middle of _Pokhtanga_, or
Afghanistan, perhaps the country of the ancient _Aspagani_,
mentioned by Pliny, and took his residence at _Kaleder_, in
the district of Omazei, where he founded a city. From
thence, under the title of _Pír roshán_, “master of light,”
he issued proclamations to increase the number of his
followers. Having become formidable to the government of the
Moghuls, _Mahsan khan ghazí_, a chief of great merit, by a
sudden irruption into Hashtanagar, seized the person of
Bayezid, and carried him to Kabul, where, although at first
subject to insult, he owed his release to the intercession
of some influential persons, favorably disposed towards him.
He then retired to the mountains of _Totee_, and further to
those of _Tirah_, perhaps the district of the ancient
_Thiræi_, mentioned by Arrian. Such was soon the new
increase of his forces, that he dared proclaim his project
to overthrow the power of the emperor Akbar. He descended
into the plains of _Ningarhar_, sacked and burnt the
country, but was overtaken by _Mahsan Khan_, and his army
routed; he himself escaped with great difficulty, and died
soon after, from the fatigues of his flight: he was buried
at Hashtanagar.――(See on the Rosheniah sect and its founder,
_Asiat. Res._, vol. XI. p. 387 et seq., by J. Leyden, M.D.)