The Bābur-nāma in English (Memoirs of Bābur)
begs who were to present themselves with their troops at whatever place
the Sulṯān gave rendezvous (_būljār_);[2427] `Abdu'l-ghaffār himself was
to remain with the army and was to make dutiful representation of
slackness or carelessness if shewn by any person soever; this done, we
should remove the offender from the circle of the approved
(_muwajjah-jīrgāsī_) and from his country or _pargana_. These orders
having been entrusted to `Abdu'l-ghaffār, words-of-mouth were made known
to him and he was given leave to go.
(_The last explicit date is a week back._)
(_ii. News of the loss of Bihār reaches Dhūlpūr._)
(_Jan. 9th_) On the eve of Sunday the 28th of the month (_Rabi` II._) we
crossed the Jūn (Jumna) at the 6th _garī_ of the 3rd watch (2.15 a.m.)
and started for the Lotus-garden of Dūlpūr. The 3rd watch was near[2428]
(Sunday mid-day) when we reached it. Places were assigned on the border
of the garden, where begs and the household might build or make
camping-grounds for themselves.
(_Jan. 13th_) On Thursday the 3rd of the first Jumāda, a place was fixed
in the s.e. of the garden for a Hot-bath; the ground was to be levelled;
I ordered a plinth(?) (_kursī_) erected on the levelled ground, and a
Bath to be arranged, in one room of which was to be a reservoir 10 X 10.
On this same day Khalīfa sent from Āgra dutiful letters of Qāẓī Jīā and
Bīr-sing Deo, saying it had been heard said that Iskandar's son Maḥmūd
(_Lūdī_) had taken Bihār (town). This news decided for getting the army
to horse.
(_Jan. 14th_) On Friday (_Jumāda I. 4th_), we rode out from the
Lotus-garden at the 6th _garī_ (8.15 a.m.); at the Evening Prayer we
reached Āgra. We met Muḥammad-i-zamān Mīrzā on the road who would have
gone to Dūlpūr, Chīn-tīmūr also who must have been coming into
Agra.[2429]
(_Jan. 15th_) On Saturday (_5th_) the counselling begs having been
summoned, it was settled to ride eastwards on Thursday the 10th of the
month (_Jan. 21st_).
(_jj. News of Badakhshān._)
On this same Saturday letters came from Kābul with news [Sidenote: Fol.
356b.] that Humāyūn, having mustered the army on that side (Tramontana),
and joined Sl. Wais to himself, had set out with 40,000 men for
Samarkand;[2430] on this Sl. Wais' younger brother Shāh-qūlī goes and
enters Ḥiṣār, Tarsūn Muḥammad leaves Tirmiẕ, takes Qabādīān and asks for
help; Humāyūn sends Tūlik Kūkūldāsh and Mīr Khẉurd[2431] with many of
his men and what Mughūls there were, then follows himself.[2432]
(_Here 4 days record is wanting._)
(_kk. Bābur starts for the East._)
(_Jan. 20th_) On Thursday the 10th of the first Jumāda, I set [Sidenote:
Fol. 357.] out for the East after the 3rd _garī_ (_cir._ 7.10 a.m.),
crossed Jūn by boat a little above Jalīsīr, and went to the
Gold-scattering-garden.[2433] It was ordered that the standard (_tūgh_),
drum, stable and all the army-folk should remain on the other side of
the water, opposite to the garden, and that persons coming for an
interview[2434] should cross by boat.
(_ll. Arrivals._)
(_Jan. 22nd_) On Saturday (_12th_) Ismā`īl Mītā, the Bengal envoy
brought the Bengalī's offering (Naṣrat Shāh's), and waited on me in
Hindūstān fashion, advancing to within an arrow's flight, making his
reverence, and retiring. They then put on him the due dress of honour
(_khi`lat_) which people call * * * *[2435], and brought him before me.
He knelt thrice in our fashion, advanced, handed Naṣrat Shāh's letter,
set before me the offering he had brought, and retired.
(_Jan. 24th_) On Monday (_14th_) the honoured Khwāja `Abdu'l-ḥaqq having
arrived, I crossed the water by boat, went to his tents and waited on
him.[2436]
(_Jan. 25th_) On Tuesday (_15th_) Ḥasan _Chalabī_ arrived and waited on
me.[2437]
(_mm. Incidents of the eastward march._)
On account of our aims (_chāpdūq_) for the army,[2438] some days were
spent in the Chār-bāgh.
(_Jan. 27th_) On Thursday the 17th of the month, that ground was left
after the 3rd _garī_ (7.10 a.m.), I going by boat. It was dismounted 7
_kurohs_ (14 m.) from Āgra, at the village of Anwār.[2439]
(_Jan. 30th_) On Sunday (_Jumāda I. 20th_), the Aūzbeg envoys were given
their leave. To Kūchūm Khān's envoy Amīn Mīrzā were presented a dagger
with belt, cloth of gold,[2440] and 70,000 _tankas_.[2441] Abū-sa`īd's
servant Mullā T̤aghāī and the servants of [Sidenote: Fol. 357b.]
Mihr-bān Khānim and her son Pūlād Sl. were made to put on dresses of
honour with gold-embroidered jackets, and were presented also with money
in accordance with their station.
(_Jan. 31st_?) Next morning[2442] (_Monday 21st_?) leave was given to
Khwāja `Abdu'l-ḥaqq for stay in Āgra and to Khwāja Yaḥyā's grandson
Khwāja Kalān for Samarkand, who had come by way of a mission from Aūzbeg
khāns and sulṯāns.[2443]
In congratulation on the birth of Humāyūn's son and Kāmrān's marriage,
Mullā Tabrīzī and Mīrzā Beg T̤aghāī[2444] were sent with gifts
(_sāchāq_) to each Mīrzā of 10,000 _shāhrukhīs_, a coat I had worn, and
a belt with clasps. Through Mullā Bihishtī were sent to Hind-āl an
inlaid dagger with belt, an inlaid ink-stand, a stool worked in
mother-o'pearl, a tunic and a girdle,[2445] together with the alphabet
of the Bāburī script and fragments (_qiṯa`lār_) written in that script.
To Humāyūn were sent the translation (_tarjuma_) and verses made in
Hindūstān.[2446] To Hind-āl and Khwāja Kalān also the translation and
verses were sent. They were sent too to Kāmrān, through Mīrzā Beg
T̤aghāī, together with head-lines (_sar-khaṯ_) in the Bāburī
script.[2447]
(_Feb. 1st_) On Tuesday, after writing letters to be taken by those
going to Kābul, the buildings in hand at Āgra and Dūlpūr [Sidenote: Fol.
358.] were recalled to mind, and entrusted to the charge of Mullā Qāsim,
Ustād Shāh Muḥammad the stone-cutter, Mīrak, Mīr Ghīāṣ, Mīr Sang-tarāsh
(stone-cutter) and Shāh Bābā the spadesman. Their leave was then given
them.
(_Feb. 2nd_) The first watch (6 a.m.) was near[2448] when we rode out
from Anwār (_Wednesday, Jumāda I. 23rd_); in the end,[2449] we
dismounted, at the Mid-day Prayer, in the village of Ābāpūr, one _kuroh_
(2 m.) from Chandawār.[2450]
(_Feb. 3rd_) On the eve of Thursday (_24th_)[2451] `Abdu'l-malūk the
armourer[2452] was joined with Ḥasan _Chalabī_ and sent as envoy to the
Shāh[2453]; and Chāpūq[2454] was joined with the Aūzbeg envoys and sent
to the Aūzbeg khāns and sulṯāns.
We moved from Ābāpūr while 4 _garīs_ of the night remained (4.30 a.m.).
After passing Chandawār at the top of the dawn, I got into a boat. I
landed in front of Rāprī and at the Bed-time Prayer got to the camp
which was at Fatḥpūr.[2455]
(_Feb. 4th and 5th_) Having stayed one day (_Friday_) at Fatḥpūr, we got
to horse on Saturday (_26th_) after making ablution (_waẓū_) at dawn. We
went through the Morning Prayer in assembly near Rāprī, Maulānā Muḥammad
of Fārāb being the leader (_imām_). At sun-rise I got into a boat below
the great crook[2456] of Rāprī.
Today I put together a line-marker (_misṯar_) of eleven lines[2457] in
order to write the mixed hands of the translation.[2458] Today the
words of the honoured man-of-God admonished my heart.[2459]
(_Feb. 6th_) Opposite Jākīn,[2460] one of the Rāprī _parganas_, we
[Sidenote: Fol. 358b.] had the boats drawn to the bank and just spent
the night in them. We had them moved on from that place before the dawn
(_Sunday 27th_), after having gone through the Morning Prayer. When I
was again on board, Pay-master Sl. Muḥammad came, bringing a servant of
Khwāja Kalān, Shamsu'd-dīn Muḥammad, from whose letters and information
particulars about the affairs of Kābul became known.[2461] Mahdī Khwāja
also came when I was in the boat.[2462] At the Mid-day Prayer I landed
in a garden opposite Etāwa, there bathed (_ghusl_) in the Jūn, and
fulfilled the duty of prayer. Moving nearer towards Etāwa, we sat down
in that same garden under trees on a height over-looking the river, and
there set the braves to amuse us.[2463] Food ordered by Mahdī Khwāja,
was set before us. At the Evening Prayer we crossed the river; at the
bed-time one we reached camp.
There was a two or three days' delay on that ground both to collect the
army, and to write letters in answer to those brought by Shamsu'd-dīn
Muḥammad.
(_nn. Letters various._)
(_Feb. 9th_) On Wednesday the last day (_30th_) of the 1st Jumāda, we
marched from Etāwa, and after doing 8 _kurohs_ (16m.), dismounted at
Mūrī-and-Adūsa.[2464]
Several remaining letters for Kābul were written on this same ground.
One to Humāyūn was to this purport:—If the work have not yet been done
satisfactorily, stop the raiders and thieves thyself; do not let them
embroil the peace now descending amongst the peoples.[2465] Again, there
was this:—I have made [Sidenote: Fol. 359.] Kābul a crown-domain, let no
son of mine covet it. Again:—that I had summoned Hind-āl.
Kāmrān, for his part, was written to about taking the best of care in
intercourse with the Shāh-zāda,[2466] about my bestowal on himself of
Multān, making Kābul a crown-domain, and the coming of my family and
train.[2467]
As my letter to Khwāja Kalān makes several particulars known, it is
copied in here without alteration:—[2468]
[COPY OF A LETTER TO KHWĀJA KALĀN.]
"After saying 'Salutation to Khwāja Kalān', the first matter is that
Shamsu'd-dīn Muḥammad has reached Etāwa, and that the particulars about
Kābul are known."
"Boundless and infinite is my desire to go to those parts.[2469] Matters
are coming to some sort of settlement in Hindūstān; there is hope,
through the Most High, that the work here will soon be arranged. This
work brought to order, God willing! my start will be made at once."
"How should a person forget the pleasant things of those countries,
especially one who has repented and vowed to sin no more? How should he
banish from his mind the permitted flavours of melons and grapes? Taking
this opportunity,[2470] a melon was brought to me; to cut and eat it
affected me strangely; I was all tears!"
"The unsettled state[2471] of Kābul had already been written of
[Sidenote: Fol. 359b.] to me. After thinking matters over, my choice
fell on this:—How should a country hold together and be strong (_marbūṯ
u maẓbūṯ_), if it have seven or eight Governors? Under this aspect of
the affair, I have summoned my elder sister (Khān-zāda) and my wives to
Hindūstān, have made Kābul and its neighbouring countries a
crown-domain, and have written in this sense to both Humāyūn and Kāmrān.
Let a capable person take those letters to the Mīrzās. As you may know
already, I had written earlier to them with the same purport. About the
safe-guarding and prosperity of the country, there will now be no
excuse, and not a word to say. Henceforth, if the town-wall[2472] be not
solid or subjects not thriving, if provisions be not in store or the
Treasury not full, it will all be laid on the back of the inefficiency
of the Pillar-of-the State."[2473]
"The things that must be done are specified below; for some of them
orders have gone already, one of these being, 'Let treasure accumulate.'
The things which must be done are these:—First, the repair of the fort;
again:—the provision of stores; again:—the daily allowance and
lodging[2474] of envoys going backwards and forwards[2475]; again:—let
money, taken legally from revenue,[2476] be spent for building the
Congregational Mosque; again:—the repairs of the Kārwan-sarā
(Caravan-sarai) and the Hot-baths; again:—the completion of the
unfinished building [Sidenote: Fol. 360.] made of burnt-brick which
Ūstād Ḥasan `Alī was constructing in the citadel. Let this work be
ordered after taking counsel with Ūstād Sl. Muḥammad; if a design exist,
drawn earlier by Ūstād Ḥasan `Alī, let Ūstād Sl. Muḥammad finish the