The Bābur-nāma in English (Memoirs of Bābur)
When set free from these momentous duties, we got an army to horse for
Qandahār under the strong insistance of Bāqī _Chaghānīānī_. At the
start I went to Qūsh-nādir (var. nāwar) where on dismounting I got
fever. It was a strange sort of illness for whenever with much trouble I
had been awakened, my eyes closed again in sleep. In four or five days I
got quite well.
(_c. An earthquake._)
At that time there was a great earthquake[946] such that most of the
ramparts of forts and the walls of gardens fell down; houses were
levelled to the ground in towns and villages and many persons lay dead
beneath them. Every house fell in Paghmān-village, [Sidenote: Fol.
157b.] and 70 to 80 strong heads-of-houses lay dead under their walls.
Between Pagh-mān and Beg-tūt[947] a piece of ground, a good
stone-throw[948] wide may-be, slid down as far as an arrow's-flight;
where it had slid springs appeared. On the road between Istarghach and
Maidān the ground was so broken up for 6 to 8 _yīghāch_ (36-48 m.) that
in some places it rose as high as an elephant, in others sank as deep;
here and there people were sucked in. When the Earth quaked, dust rose
from the tops of the mountains. Nūru'l-lāh the _ṯambourchī_[949] had
been playing before me; he had two instruments with him and at the
moment of the quake had both in his hands; so out of his own control was
he that the two knocked against each other. Jahāngīr Mīrzā was in the
porch of an upper-room at a house built by Aūlūgh Beg Mīrzā in Tīpa;
when the Earth quaked, he let himself down and was not hurt, but the
roof fell on some-one with him in that upper-room, presumably one of his
own circle; that this person was not hurt in the least must have been
solely through God's mercy. In Tīpa most of the houses were levelled to
the ground. The Earth quaked 33 times on the first day, and for a month
afterwards used to quake two or three times in the 24 hours. The begs
and soldiers having been ordered to repair the breaches made in the
towers and ramparts [Sidenote: Fol. 158.] of the fort (Kābul),
everything was made good again in 20 days or a month by their industry
and energy.
(_d. Campaign against Qalāt-i-ghilzāī._)
Owing to my illness and to the earthquake, our plan of going to Qandahār
had fallen somewhat into the background. The illness left behind and the
fort repaired, it was taken up again. We were undecided at the time we
dismounted below Shniz[950] whether to go to Qandahār, or to over-run
the hills and plains. Jahāngīr Mīrzā and the begs having assembled,
counsel was taken and the matter found settlement in a move on Qalāt. On
this move Jahāngīr Mīrzā and Bāqī _Chaghānīānī_ insisted strongly.
At Tāzī[951] there was word that Sher-i-`alī the page with Kīchīk Bāqī
_Diwāna_ and others had thoughts of desertion; all were arrested;
Sher-i-`alī was put to death because he had given clear signs of
disloyalty and misdoing both while in my service and not in mine, in
this country and in that country.[952] The others were let go with loss
of horse and arms.
On arriving at Qalāt we attacked at once and from all sides, without our
mail and without siege-appliances. As has been mentioned in this
History, Kīchīk Khwāja, the elder brother of Khwāja Kalān, was a most
daring brave; he had used his sword [Sidenote: Fol. 158b.] in my
presence several times; he now clambered up the south-west tower of
Qalāt, was pricked in the eye with a spear when almost up, and died of
the wound two or three days after the place was taken. Here that Kīchīk
Bāqī _Dīwāna_ who had been arrested when about to desert with
Sher-i-`alī the page, expiated his baseness by being killed with a stone
when he went under the ramparts. One or two other men died also.
Fighting of this sort went on till the Afternoon Prayer when, just as
our men were worn-out with the struggle and labour, those in the fort
asked for peace and made surrender. Qalāt had been given by Ẕū'n-nūn
_Arghūn_ to Muqīm, and in it now were Muqīm's retainers, Farrukh
_Arghūn_ and Qarā _Bīlūt_ (Afghān). When they came out with their swords
and quivers hanging round their necks, we forgave their offences.[953]
It was not my wish to reduce this high family[954] to great straits; for
why? Because if we did so when such a foe as the Aūzbeg was at our side,
what would be said by those of far and near, who saw and heard?
As the move on Qalāt had been made under the insistance of Jahāngīr
Mīrzā and Bāqī _Chaghānīānī_, it was now made over to the Mīrzā's
charge. He would not accept it; Bāqī also could give no good answer in
the matter. So, after such a storming and assaulting of Qalāt, its
capture was useless.
We went back to Kābul after over-running the Afghāns of Sawā-sang and
Ālā-tāgh on the south of Qalāt. [Sidenote: Fol. 159.]
The night we dismounted at Kābul I went into the fort; my tent and
stable being in the Chār-bāgh, a Khirilchī thief going into the garden,
fetched out and took away a bay horse of mine with its accoutrements,
and my _khachar_.[955]
(_e. Death of Bāqī Chaghānīānī._)
From the time Bāqī _Chaghānīanī_ joined me on the Amū-bank, no man of
mine had had more trust and authority.[956] If a word were said, if an
act were done, that word was his word, that act, his act. Spite of this,
he had not done me fitting service, nor had he shewn me due civility.
Quite the contrary! he had done things bad and unmannerly. Mean he was,
miserly and malicious, ill-tongued, envious and cross-natured. So
miserly was he that although when he left Tīrmīẕ, with his family and
possessions, he may have owned 30 to 40,000 sheep, and although those
masses of sheep used to pass in front of us at every camping-ground, he
did not give a single one to our bare braves, tortured as they were by
the pangs of hunger; at last in Kāh-mard, he gave 50!
Spite of acknowledging me for his chief (_pādshāh_), he had nagarets
beaten at his own Gate. He was sincere to none, had regard for none.
What revenue there is from Kābul (town) comes from the _ṯamghā_[957];
the whole of this he had, together [Sidenote: Fol. 159b.] with the
_dārogha_-ship in Kābul and Panjhīr, the Gadai (var. Kidī) Hazāra, and
_kūshlūk_[958] and control of the Gate.[959] With all this favour and
finding, he was not in the least content; quite the reverse! What medley
of mischief he planned has been told; we had taken not the smallest
notice of any of it, nor had we cast it in his face. He was always
asking for leave, affecting scruple at making the request. We used to
acknowledge the scruple and excuse ourselves from giving the leave. This
would put him down for a few days; then he would ask again. He went too
far with his affected scruple and his takings of leave! Sick were we too
of his conduct and his character. We gave the leave; he repented asking
for it and began to agitate against it, but all in vain! He got written
down and sent to me, "His Highness made compact not to call me to
account till nine[960] misdeeds had issued from me." I answered with a
reminder of eleven successive faults and sent this to him through Mullā
Bābā of Pashāghar. He submitted and was allowed to go towards Hindūstān,
taking his family and possessions. A few of his retainers escorted him
through Khaibar and returned; he joined Bāqī _Gāgīānī's_ caravan and
crossed at Nīl-āb.
Daryā Khān's son, Yār-i-ḥusain was then in Kacha-kot,[961] having drawn
into his service, on the warrant of the _farmān_ taken from me in Kohāt,
a few Afghāns of the Dilazāk (var. Dilah-zāk) and Yūsuf-zāī and also a
few Jats and Gujūrs.[962] With these he beat the roads, taking toll with
might and main. Hearing about Bāqī, he blocked the road, made the whole
party [Sidenote: Fol. 160.] prisoner, killed Bāqī and took his wife.
We ourselves had let Bāqī go without injuring him, but his own misdeeds
rose up against him; his own acts defeated him.
Leave thou to Fate the man who does thee wrong;
For Fate is an avenging servitor.
(_f. Attack on the Turkmān Hazāras._)
That winter we just sat in the Chār-bāgh till snow had fallen once or
twice.
The Turkmān Hazāras, since we came into Kābul, had done a variety of
insolent things and had robbed on the roads. We thought therefore of
over-running them, went into the town to Aūlūgh Beg Mīrzā's house at the
Būstān-sarāī, and thence rode out in the month of Sha`bān (Feb. 1506
AD.).
We raided a few Hazāras at Janglīk, at the mouth of the Dara-i-khūsh
(Happy-valley).[963] Some were in a cave near the valley-mouth, hiding
perhaps. Shaikh Darwīsh Kūkūldāsh went incautiously right (_auq_) up to
the cave-mouth, was shot (_aūqlāb_) in the nipple by a Hazāra inside and
died there and then (_aūq_).[964]
(_Author's note on Shaikh Darwīsh._) He had been with me in
the guerilla-times, was Master-armourer (_qūr-begī_), drew a
strong bow and shot a good shaft.
As most of the Turkmān Hazāras seemed to be wintering inside the
Dara-i-khūsh, we marched against them.
The valley is shut in,[965] by a mile-long gully stretching inwards from
its mouth. The road engirdles the mountain, having [Sidenote: Fol.
160b.] a straight fall of some 50 to 60 yards below it and above it a
precipice. Horsemen go along it in single-file. We passed the gully and
went on through the day till between the Two Prayers (3 p.m.) without
meeting a single person. Having spent the night somewhere, we found a
fat camel[966] belonging to the Hazāras, had it killed, made part of its
flesh into _kabābs_[967] and cooked part in a ewer (_aftāb_). Such good
camel-flesh had never been tasted; some could not tell it from mutton.
Next day we marched on for the Hazāra winter-camp. At the first watch (9
a.m.) a man came from ahead, saying that the Hazāras had blocked a ford
in front with branches, checked our men and were fighting. That winter
the snow lay very deep; to move was difficult except on the road. The
swampy meadows (_tuk-āb_) along the stream were all frozen; the stream
could only be crossed from the road because of snow and ice. The Hazāras
had cut many branches, put them at the exit from the water and were
fighting in the valley-bottom with horse and foot or raining [Sidenote:
Fol. 161.] arrows down from either side.
Muḥammad `Alī _Mubashshir_[968] Beg, one of our most daring braves,
newly promoted to the rank of beg and well worthy of favour, went along
the branch-blocked road without his mail, was shot in the belly and
instantly surrendered his life. As we had gone forward in haste, most of
us were not in mail. Shaft after shaft flew by and fell; with each one
Yūsuf's Aḥmad said anxiously, "Bare[969] like this you go into it! I
have seen two arrows go close to your head!" Said I, "Don't fear! Many
as good arrows as these have flown past my head!" So much said, Qāsim
Beg, his men in full accoutrement,[970] found a ford on our right and
crossed. Before their charge the Hazāras could make no stand; they fled,
swiftly pursued and unhorsed one after the other by those just up with
them.
In guerdon for this feat Bangash was given to Qāsim Beg. Ḥātim the
armourer having been not bad in the affair, was promoted to Shaikh
Darwīsh's office of _qūr-begī_. Bābā Qulī's Kīpik (_sic_) also went well
forward in it, so we entrusted Muḥ. `Alī _Mubashshir's_ office to him.
Sl. Qulī _Chūnāq_ (one-eared) started in pursuit of the Hazāras but
there was no getting out of the hollow because of the snow. [Sidenote:
Fol. 161b.] For my own part I just went with these braves.
Near the Hazāra winter-camp we found many sheep and herds of horses. I
myself collected as many as 4 to 500 sheep and from 20 to 25 horses.
Sl. Qulī _Chūnāq_ and two or three of my personal servants were with me.
I have ridden in a raid twice[971]; this was the first time; the other