The Bābur-nāma in English (Memoirs of Bābur)
through Naghr or through Farmūl. But when Bannū had been over-run,
persons knowing the country represented that the Plain was close by,
with its good roads and many people; so it was settled to over-run the
Plain and to return to Kābul afterwards by way of Farmūl.[899]
Marching next day, we dismounted at an `Īsa-khail village on that same
water (the Kūrām) but, as the villagers had gone into the Chaupāra hills
on hearing of us, we left it and dismounted on the skirt of Chaupāra.
Our foragers went from there into the hills, destroyed the `Īsa-khail
_sangur_ and came back with sheep, herds and cloth. That night the
`Īsa-khail made an attack on us but, as good watch was kept all through
these operations, they could do nothing. So cautious were we that at
night our right and left, centre and van were just in the way they had
dismounted, each according to its place in battle, each prepared for its
own post, with men on foot all round the camp, at an arrow's distance
from the tents. Every night the army was posted in this way and every
night three or four of my household [Sidenote: Fol. 149.] made the
rounds with torches, each in his turn. I for my part made the round once
each night. Those not at their posts had their noses slit and were led
round through the army. Jahāngīr Mīrzā was the right wing, with Bāqī
_Chaghānīānī_, Sherīm T̤aghāī, Sayyid Ḥusain Akbar, and other begs.
Mīrzā Khān was the left wing, with `Abdu'r-razzāq Mīrzā, Qāsīm Beg and
other begs. In the centre there were no great begs, all were
household-begs. Sayyid Qāsim Lord-of-the-gate, was the van, with Bābā
Aūghūlī, Allāh-bīrdī (var. Allāh-qulī Purān), and some other begs. The
army was in six divisions, each of which had its day and night on guard.
Marching from that hill-skirt, our faces set west, we dismounted on a
waterless plain (_qūl_) between Bannū and the Plain. The soldiers got
water here for themselves, their herds and so on, by digging down, from
one to one-and-a-half yards, into the dry water-course, when water came.
Not here only did this happen for all the rivers of Hindūstān have the
peculiarity that water is safe to be found by digging down from one to
one-and-a-half yards in their beds. It is a wonderful provision
of God that where, except for the great rivers, there are no
running-waters,[900] water should be so placed within reach in dry
water-courses.
We left that dry channel next morning. Some of our men, riding light,
reached villages of the Plain in the afternoon, raided a few, and
brought back flocks, cloth and horses bred for trade.[901] Pack-animals
and camels and also the braves we had outdistanced, kept coming into
camp all through that night till dawn and on till that morrow's noon.
During our stay there, the foragers [Sidenote: Fol. 149b.] brought in
from villages in the Plain, masses of sheep and cattle, and, from Afghān
traders met on the roads, white cloths, aromatic roots, sugars,
_tīpūchāqs_, and horses bred for trade. Hindī (var. Mindī) _Mughūl_
unhorsed Khwāja Khiẓr _Lūhānī_, a well-known and respected Afghān
merchant, cutting off and bringing in his head. Once when Sherīm T̤aghāī
went in the rear of the foragers, an Afghān faced him on the road and
struck off his index-finger.
(_i. Return made for Kābul._)
Two roads were heard of as leading from where we were to Ghaznī; one was
the Tunnel-rock (Sang-i-sūrākh) road, passing Birk (Barak) and going on
to Farmūl; the other was one along the Gūmāl, which also comes out at
Farmūl but without touching Birk (Barak).[902] As during our stay in the
Plain rain had fallen incessantly, the Gūmāl was so swollen that it
would have been difficult to cross at the ford we came to; moreover
persons well-acquainted with the roads, represented that going by the
Gūmāl road, this torrent must be crossed several times, that this was
always difficult when the waters were so high and that there was always
uncertainty on the Gūmāl road. Nothing was settled then as to which of
these two roads to take; I expected it to be settled next day when,
after the drum of departure had sounded, [Sidenote: Fol. 150.] we talked
it over as we went.[903] It was the `Īd-i-fitr (March 7th 1505 AD.);
while I was engaged in the ablutions due for the breaking of the fast,
Jahāngīr Mīrzā and the begs discussed the question of the roads.
Some-one said that if we were to turn the bill[904] of the Mehtar
Sulaimān range, this lying between the Plain and the Hill-country
(_desht u dūkī_),[905] we should get a level road though it might make
the difference of a few marches. For this they decided and moved off;
before my ablutions were finished the whole army had taken the road and
most of it was across the Gūmāl. Not a man of us had ever seen the road;
no-one knew whether it was long or short; we started off just on a
rumoured word!
The Prayer of the `Id was made on the bank of the Gūmāl. That year
New-year's Day[906] fell close to the `Id-i-fitr, there being only a few
days between; on their approximation I composed the following (Turkī)
ode:—
Glad is the Bairām-moon for him who sees both the face of the Moon and
the Moon-face of his friend;
Sad is the Bairām-moon for me, far away from thy face and from
thee.[907]
O Bābur! dream of your luck when your Feast is the meeting,
your New-year the face;
For better than that could not be with a hundred New-years
and Bairāms.
After crossing the Gūmāl torrent, we took our way along the skirt of the
hills, our faces set south. A mile or two further on, [Sidenote: Fol.
150b.] some death-devoted Afghāns shewed themselves on the lower edge of
the hill-slope. Loose rein, off we went for them; most of them fled but
some made foolish stand on rocky-piles[908] of the foot-hills. One took
post on a single rock seeming to have a precipice on the further side of
it, so that he had not even a way of escape. Sl. Qulī _Chūnāq_
(One-eared), all in his mail as he was, got up, slashed at, and took
him. This was one of Sl. Qulī's deeds done under my own eyes, which led
to his favour and promotion.[909] At another pile of rock, when
Qūtlūq-qadam exchanged blows with an Afghān, they grappled and came down
together, a straight fall of 10 to 12 yards; in the end Qūtlūq-qadam
cut off and brought in his man's head. Kūpūk Beg got hand-on-collar with
an Afghān at another hill; both rolled down to the bottom; that head
also was brought in. All Afghāns taken prisoner were set free.
Marching south through the Plain, and closely skirting Mehtar Sulaimān,
we came, with three nights' halt, to a small township, called Bīlah, on
the Sind-water and dependent on Multān.[910] The villagers crossed the
water, mostly taking to their boats, but some flung themselves in to
cross. Some were seen standing on an island in front of Bīlah. Most of
our men, man and horse in [Sidenote: Fol. 151.] mail, plunged in and
crossed to the island; some were carried down, one being Qul-i-arūk
(thin slave), one of my servants, another the head tent-pitcher, another
Jahāngīr Mīrzā's servant, Qāītmās _Turkmān_.[911] Cloth and things of
the baggage (_partaldīk nīma_) fell to our men. The villagers all
crossed by boat to the further side of the river; once there, some of
them, trusting to the broad water, began to make play with their swords.
Qul-i-bāyazīd, the taster, one of our men who had crossed to the island,
stripped himself and his horse and, right in front of them, plunged by
himself into the river. The water on that side of the island may have
been twice or thrice as wide as on ours. He swum his horse straight for
them till, an arrow's-flight away, he came to a shallow where his weight
must have been up-borne, the water being as high as the saddle-flap.
There he stayed for as long as milk takes to boil; no-one supported him
from behind; he had not a chance of support. He made a dash at them;
they shot a few arrows at him but, this not checking him, they took to
flight. To swim such a river as the Sind, alone, bare on a bare-backed
horse, no-one behind him, and to chase off a foe and occupy his ground,
was a mightily bold deed! He having driven the enemy off, other soldiers
went over who [Sidenote: Fol. 151b.] returned with cloth and droves of
various sorts. Qul-i-bāyazīd had already his place in my favour and
kindness on account of his good service, and of courage several times
shewn; from the cook's office I had raised him to the royal taster's;
this time, as will be told, I took up a position full of bounty, favour
and promotion,—in truth he was worthy of honour and advancement.
Two other marches were made down the Sind-water. Our men, by perpetually
gallopping off on raids, had knocked up their horses; usually what they
took, cattle mostly, was not worth the gallop; sometimes indeed in the
Plain there had been sheep, sometimes one sort of cloth or other, but,
the Plain left behind, nothing was had but cattle. A mere servant would
bring in 3 or 400 head during our marches along the Sind-water, but
every march many more would be left on the road than they brought in.
(_j. The westward march._)
Having made three more marches[912] close along the Sind, we left it
when we came opposite Pīr Kānū's tomb.[913] Going to the tomb, we there
dismounted. Some of our soldiers having injured [Sidenote: Fol. 152.]
several of those in attendance on it, I had them cut to pieces. It is a
tomb on the skirt of one of the Mehtar Sulaimān mountains and held in
much honour in Hindūstān.
Marching on from Pīr Kānū, we dismounted in the (Pawat) pass; next again
in the bed of a torrent in Dūkī.[914] After we left this camp there were
brought in as many as 20 to 30 followers of a retainer of Shāh Beg,
Fāẓil _Kūkūldāsh_, the dārogha of Sīwī. They had been sent to
reconnoitre us but, as at that time, we were not on bad terms with Shāh
Beg, we let them go, with horse and arms. After one night's halt, we
reached Chūtīālī, a village of Dūkī.
Although our men had constantly gallopped off to raid, both before we
reached the Sind-water and all along its bank, they had not left horses
behind, because there had been plenty of green food and corn. When,
however, we left the river and set our faces for Pīr Kānū, not even
green food was to be had; a little land under green crop might be found
every two or three marches, but of horse-corn, none. So, beyond the
camps mentioned, there began the leaving of horses behind. After passing
Chūtīālī, my own felt-tent[915] had to be left from want of
baggage-beasts. One night at that time, it rained so much, that water
stood knee-deep in my tent (_chādār_); I watched the night out till
dawn, uncomfortably sitting on a pile of blankets.
(_k. Bāqī Chaghānīānī's treachery._)
A few marches further on came Jahāngīr Mīrzā, saying, "I [Sidenote: Fol.
152b.] have a private word for you." When we were in private, he said,
"Bāqī _Chaghānīānī_ came and said to me, 'You make the Pādshāh cross the
water of Sind with 7, 8, 10 persons, then make yourself Pādshāh.'" Said
I, "What others are heard of as consulting with him?" Said he, "It was
but a moment ago Bāqī Beg spoke to me; I know no more." Said I, "Find
out who the others are; likely enough Sayyid Ḥusain Akbar and Sl. `Alī
the page are in it, as well as Khusrau Shāh's begs and braves." Here the
Mīrzā really behaved very well and like a blood-relation; what he now
did was the counterpart of what I had done in Kāhmard,[916] in this same
ill-fated mannikin's other scheme of treachery.[917]
On dismounting after the next march, I made Jahāngīr Mīrzā lead a body
of well-mounted men to raid the Aūghāns (Afghāns) of that neighbourhood.
Many men's horses were now left behind in each camping-ground, the day
coming when as many as 2 or 300 were left. Braves of the first rank went