The Bābur-nāma in English (Memoirs of Bābur)
on the level lands by the Kūkcha-water, and moved towards Yaftal and
Rāgh, to near Khamchān, by way of the lower hills. The Mīrzā and his
inexperienced begs, in their thoughtless and unobservant fashion, came
out to fight them just in those lower hills. The battle-field was uneven
ground; the Badakhshīs had a dense mass of men on foot who stood firm
under repeated charges by the Mīrzā's horse, and returned such attack
that the horsemen fled, unable to keep their ground. Having beaten the
Mīrzā, the Badakhshīs plundered his dependants and connexions.
Beaten and stripped bare, he and his close circle took the road through
Ishkīmīsh and Nārīn to Kīlā-gāhī, from there followed the Qīzīl-sū up,
got out on the Āb-dara road, crossed at Shibr-tū, and so came to Kābul,
he with 70 or 80 followers, worn-out, naked and famished.
That was a marvellous sign of the Divine might! Two or three years
earlier the Mīrzā had left the Kābul country like a [Sidenote: Fol.
203.] foe, driving tribes and hordes like sheep before him, reached
Badakhshān and made fast its forts and valley-strongholds. With what
fancy in his mind had he marched out?[1245] Now he was back, hanging the
head of shame for those earlier misdeeds, humbled and distraught about
that breach with me!
My face shewed him no sort of displeasure; I made kind enquiry about
himself, and brought him out of his confusion.
913 AH.-MAY 13TH 1507 TO MAY 2ND 1508 AD.[1246]
(_a. Raid on the Ghiljī Afghāns._)
We had ridden out of Kābul with the intention of over-running the
Ghiljī;[1247] when we dismounted at Sar-i-dih news was brought that a
mass of Mahmands (Afghāns) was lying in Masht and Sih-kāna one _yīghāch_
(_circa_ 5 m.) away from us.[1248] Our begs and braves agreed in saying,
"The Mahmands must be over-run", but I said, "Would it be right to turn
aside and raid our own peasants instead of doing what we set out to do?
It cannot be."
Riding at night from Sar-i-dih, we crossed the plain of Kattawāz in the
dark, a quite black night, one level stretch of land, no mountain or
rising-ground in sight, no known road or track, not a man able to lead
us! In the end I took the lead. I had been in those parts several times
before; drawing inferences from those times, I took the Pole-star on my
right shoulder-blade[1249] and, with some anxiety, moved on. God brought
it right! We went straight to the Qīāq-tū and the Aūlābā-tū torrent,
that is to say, straight for Khwāja Ismā`īl _Sirītī_ where the Ghiljīs
were lying, the road to which crosses the torrent named. Dismounting
near the torrent, we let ourselves and our horses sleep a little,
[Sidenote: Fol. 203b.] took breath, and bestirred ourselves at shoot of
dawn. The Sun was up before we got out of those low hills and
valley-bottoms to the plain on which the Ghiljī lay with a good
_yīghāch_[1250] of road between them and us; once out on the plain we
could see their blackness, either their own or from the smoke of their
fires.
Whether bitten by their own whim,[1251] or whether wanting to hurry, the
whole army streamed off at the gallop (_chāpqūn qūīdīlār_); off galloped
I after them and, by shooting an arrow now at a man, now at a horse,
checked them after a _kuroh_ or two (3 m.?). It is very difficult indeed
to check 5 or 6000 braves galloping loose-rein! God brought it right!
They were checked! When we had gone about one _shar`ī_ (2 m.) further,
always with the Afghān blackness in sight, the raid[1252] was allowed.
Masses of sheep fell to us, more than in any other raid.
After we had dismounted and made the spoils turn back,[1253] one body of
Afghāns after another came down into the plain, provoking a fight. Some
of the begs and of the household went against one body and killed every
man; Nāṣir Mīrzā did the same with another, and a pillar of Afghān heads
was set up. An arrow pierced the foot of that foot-soldier Dost the
Kotwāl who has been mentioned already;[1254] when we reached Kābul, he
died.
Marching from Khwāja Ismā`īl, we dismounted once more at Aūlābā-tū. Some
of the begs and of my own household were ordered to go forward and
carefully separate off the Fifth (_Khums_) of the enemy's spoils. By way
of favour, we did not [Sidenote: Fol. 204.] take the Fifth from Qāsim
Beg and some others.[1255] From what was written down,[1256] the Fifth
came out at 16,000, that is to say, this 16,000 was the fifth of 80,000
sheep; no question however but that with those lost and those not asked
for, a _lak_ (100,000) of sheep had been taken.
(_b. A hunting-circle._)
Next day when we had ridden from that camp, a hunting-circle was formed
on the plain of Kattawāz where deer (_kiyīk_)[1257] and wild-ass are
always plentiful and always fat. Masses went into the ring; masses were
killed. During the hunt I galloped after a wild-ass, on getting near
shot one arrow, shot another, but did not bring it down, it only running
more slowly for the two wounds. Spurring forwards and getting into
position[1258] quite close to it, I chopped at the nape of its neck
behind the ears, and cut through the wind-pipe; it stopped, turned over
and died. My sword cut well! The wild-ass was surprisingly fat. Its rib
may have been a little under one yard in length. Sherīm T̤aghāī and
other observers of _kiyīk_ in Mughūlistān said with surprise, "Even in
Mughūlistān we have seen few _kiyīk_ so fat!" I shot another wild-ass;
most of the wild-asses and deer brought down in that hunt were fat, but
not one of them was so fat as the one I first killed.
Turning back from that raid, we went to Kābul and there dismounted.
(_c. Shaibāq Khān moves against Khurāsān._)
Shaibāq Khān had got an army to horse at the end of last year, meaning
to go from Samarkand against Khurāsān, his [Sidenote: Fol. 204b.] march
out being somewhat hastened by the coming to him of a servant of that
vile traitor to his salt, Shāh Manṣūr the Paymaster, then in Andikhūd.
When the Khān was approaching Andikhūd, that vile wretch said, "I have
sent a man to the Aūzbeg," relied on this, adorned himself, stuck up an
aigrette on his head, and went out, bearing gift and tribute. On this
the leaderless[1259] Aūzbegs poured down on him from all sides, and
turned upside down (_tart-part_) the blockhead, his offering and his
people of all sorts.
(_d. Irresolution of the Khurāsān Mīrzās._)
Badī`u´z-zamān Mīrzā, Muz̤affar Mīrzā, Muḥ. Barandūq _Barlās_ and
Ẕū´n-nūn _Arghūn_ were all lying with their army in Bābā Khākī,[1260]
not decided to fight, not settled to make (Herī) fort fast, there they
sat, confounded, vague, uncertain what to do. Muḥammad Barandūq _Barlās_
was a knowledgeable man; he kept saying, "You let Muz̤affar Mīrzā and me
make the fort fast; let Badī`u´z-zamān Mīrzā and Ẕū´n-nūn Beg go into
the mountains near Herī and gather in Sl. `Alī _Arghūn_ from Sīstān and
Zamīn-dāwar, Shāh Beg and Muqīm from Qandahār with all their armies, and
let them collect also what there is of Nikdīrī and Hazāra force; this
done, let them make a swift and telling move. The enemy would find it
difficult to go into the mountains, and could not come against the
(Herī) fort because [Sidenote: Fol. 205.] he would be afraid of the army
outside." He said well, his plan was practical.
Brave though Ẕū´n-nūn _Arghūn_ was, he was mean, a lover-of-goods, far
from businesslike or judicious, rather shallow-pated, and a bit of a
fool. As has been mentioned,[1261] when that elder and that younger
brother became joint-rulers in Herī, he had chief authority in
Badī`u´z-zamān Mīrzā's presence. He was not willing now for Muḥ.
Barandūq Beg to remain inside Herī town; being the lover-of-goods he
was, he wanted to be there himself. But he could not make this seem one
and the same thing![1262] Is there a better sign of his shallow-pate and
craze than that he degraded himself and became contemptible by accepting
the lies and flattery of rogues and sycophants? Here are the
particulars[1263]:—While he was so dominant and trusted in Herī, certain
Shaikhs and Mullās went to him and said, "The Spheres are holding
commerce with us; you are styled _Hizabru´l-lāh_ (Lion of God); you will
overcome the Aūzbeg." Believing these words, he put his bathing-cloth
round his neck and gave thanks. It was through this he did not accept
Muḥammad Barandūq Beg's sensible counsel, did not strengthen the works
(_aīsh_) of the fort, get ready fighting equipment, set scout or
rearward to warn of the foe's approach, or plan out such method of array
that, should the foe appear, his men would fight with ready heart.
(_e. Shaibāq Khān takes Herī._)
Shaibāq Khān passed through Murgh-āb to near Sīr-kāī[1264] in [Sidenote:
Fol. 205b.] the month of Muḥarram (913 AH. May-June 1507 AD.). When the
Mīrzās heard of it, they were altogether upset, could not act, collect
troops, array those they had. Dreamers, they moved through a
dream![1265] Ẕū'n-nūn _Arghūn_, made glorious by that flattery, went out
to Qarā-rabāṯ, with 100 to 150 men, to face 40,000 to 50,000 Aūzbegs: a
mass of these coming up, hustled his off, took him, killed him and cut
off his head.[1266]
In Fort Ikhtiyāru'd-dīn, it is known as Ālā-qūrghān,[1267] were the
Mīrzās' mothers, elder and younger sisters, wives and treasure. The
Mīrzās reached the town at night, let their horses rest till midnight,
slept, and at dawn flung forth again. They could not think about
strengthening the fort; in the respite and crack of time there was, they
just ran away,[1268] leaving mother, sister, wife and little child to
Aūzbeg captivity.
What there was of Sl. Ḥusain Mīrzā's _ḥaram_, Pāyanda-sulṯān Begīm and
Khadīja Begīm at the head of it, was inside Ālā-qūrghān; there too were
the _ḥarams_ of Badī`u'z-zamān Mīrzā[1269] and Muz̤affar Mīrzā with
their little children, treasure, and households (_biyutāt_). What was
desirable for making the fort fast had not been done; even braves to
reinforce it had not arrived. `Āshiq-i-muḥammad _Arghūn_, the younger
brother of Mazīd Beg, had fled from the army on foot and gone into it;
[Sidenote: Fol. 206.] in it was also Amīr `Umar Beg's son `Alī Khān
(_Turkmān_); Shaikh `Abdu'l-lāh the taster was there; Mīrzā Beg
_Kāī-khusraūī_ was there; and Mīrak _Gūr_ (or _Kūr_) the Dīwān was
there.
When Shaibāq Khān arrived two or three days later; the Shaikhu'l-islām
and notables went out to him with the keys of the outer-fort. That same
`Āshiq-i-muḥammad held Ālā-qūrghān for 16 or 17 days; then a mine, run
from the horse-market outside, was fired and brought a tower down; the
garrison lost heart, could hold out no longer, so let the fort be taken.
(_f. Shaibāq Khān in Herī._)
Shaibāq Khān, after taking Herī,[1270] behaved badly not only to the
wives and children of its rulers but to every person soever. For the
sake of this five-days' fleeting world, he earned himself a bad name.
His first improper act and deed in Herī was that, for the sake of this
rotten world (_chirk dunyā_), he caused Khadīja Begīm various miseries,
through letting the vile wretch Pay-master Shāh Manṣūr get hold of her
to loot. Then he let `Abdu'l-wahhāb _Mughūl_ take to loot a person so
saintly and so revered as Shaikh Pūrān, and each one of Shaikh Pūrān's
children be taken by a separate person. He let the band of poets be
seized by Mullā Banā'ī, a matter about which this verse is well-known in
Khurāsān:—
Except `Abdu'l-lāh the stupid fool (_kīr-khar_),
Not a poet to-day sees the colour of gold;
From the poets' band Banā'ī would get gold,
All he will get is _kīr-khar_.[1271] [Sidenote: Fol. 206b.]
Directly he had possession of Herī, Shaibāq Khān married and took
Muz̤affar Mīrzā's wife, Khān-zāda Khānīm, without regard to the
running-out of the legal term.[1272] His own illiteracy not forbidding,