The Bābur-nāma in English (Memoirs of Bābur)
[2023] _Let us praise the Long-suffering One who loveth the penitent and
who loveth the cleansers of themselves; and let thanks be rendered to
the Gracious One who absolveth His debtors, and forgiveth those who seek
forgiveness. Blessings be upon Muḥammad the Crown of Creatures, on the
Holy family, on the pure Companions_, and on the mirrors of the glorious
congregation, to wit, the Masters of Wisdom who are treasure-houses of
the pearls of purity and who bear the impress of the sparkling jewels of
this purport:—that the nature of man is prone to evil, and that the
abandonment of sinful appetites is only feasible by Divine aid
[Sidenote: Fol. 313.] and the help that cometh from on high. "_Every
soul is prone unto evil_,"[2024] (and again) "_This is the bounty of
God_; _He will give the same unto whom He pleaseth_; _and God is endued
with great bounty_."[2025]
Our motive for these remarks and for repeating these statements is that,
by reason of human frailty, of the customs of kings and of the great,
all of us, from the Shāh to the sipāhī, in the heyday of our youth, have
transgressed and done what we ought not to have done. After some days of
sorrow and repentance, we abandoned evil practices one by one, and the
gates of retrogression became closed. But the renunciation of wine, the
greatest and most indispensable of renunciations, remained under a veil
in the chamber of deeds _pledged to appear in due season_, and did not
show its countenance until the glorious hour when we had put on the garb
of the holy warrior and had encamped with the army of Islām over against
the infidels in order to slay them. On this occasion I received a secret
inspiration and heard an infallible voice say "_Is not the time yet come
unto those who believe, that their hearts should humbly submit to the
admonition of God, and that truth which hath been revealed?_"[2026]
Thereupon we set ourselves to extirpate the things of wickedness, and we
earnestly knocked at the gates of repentance. The Guide of Help assisted
us, according to the saying "_Whoever knocks and re-knocks, to him it
will be opened_", and an order was given that with the Holy War there
should [Sidenote: Fol. 313b.] begin the still greater war which has to
be waged against sensuality. In short, we declared with sincerity that
_we would subjugate our passions_, and I engraved on the tablet of my
heart "_I turn unto Thee with repentance, and I am the first of true
believers_".[2027] And I made public the resolution to abstain from
wine, which had been hidden in the treasury of my breast. The victorious
servants, in accordance with the illustrious order, dashed upon the
earth of contempt and destruction the flagons and the cups, and the
other utensils in gold and silver, which in their number and their
brilliance were like the stars of the firmament. They dashed them in
pieces, as, God willing! soon will be dashed the gods of the
idolaters,—and they distributed the fragments among the poor and needy.
By the blessing of this acceptable repentance, many of the courtiers, by
virtue of the saying that _men follow the religion of their kings_,
embraced abstinence at the same assemblage, and entirely renounced the
use of wine, and up till now crowds of our subjects hourly attain this
auspicious happiness. I hope that in accordance with the saying "_He who
incites to good deeds has the same reward as he who does them_" the
benefit of this action will react on the royal fortune and increase it
day by day by victories.
After carrying out this design an universal decree was issued that in
the imperial dominions—May God protect them from [Sidenote: Fol. 314.]
every danger and calamity—no-one shall partake of strong drink, or
engage in its manufacture, nor sell it, nor buy it or possess it, nor
convey it or fetch it. "_Beware of touching it._" "_Perchance this will
give you prosperity._"[2028]
In thanks for these great victories,[2029] and as a thank-offering for
God's acceptance of repentance and sorrow, the ocean of the royal
munificence became commoved, and those waves of kindness, which are the
cause of the civilization of the world and of the glory of the sons of
Adam, were displayed,—and throughout all the territories the tax
(_tamghā_) on Musalmāns was abolished,—though its yield was more than
the dreams of avarice, and though it had been established and maintained
by former rulers,—for it is a practice outside of the edicts of the
Prince of Apostles (Muḥammad). So a decree was passed that in no city,
town, road, ferry, pass, or port, should the tax be levied or exacted.
No alteration whatsoever of this order is to be permitted. "_Whoever
after hearing it makes any change therein, the sin of such change will
be upon him._"[2030]
The proper course (_sabīl_) for all who shelter under the shade of the
royal benevolence, whether they be Turk, Tājik, `Arab, Hindī, or Fārsī
(Persian), peasants or soldiers, of every nation or tribe of the sons
of Adam, is to strengthen themselves by the tenets of religion, and to
be full of hope and prayer for the dynasty which is linked with
eternity, and to adhere to these ordinances, and not in any way to
transgress them. It behoves all to act according to this _farmān_; they
are to accept it as authentic when it comes attested by the Sign-Manual.
Written by order of the Exalted one,—May his excellence endure for ever!
on the 24th of Jumāda I. 933 (February 26th 1527).
(_t. Alarm in Bābur's camp._)
[Sidenote: Fol. 314b.] In these days, as has been mentioned, (our
people) great and small, had been made very anxious and timid by past
occurrences. No manly word or brave counsel was heard from any one
soever. What bold speech was there from the wazīrs who are to speak out
(_dīgūchī_), or from the amīrs who will devour the land
(_wilāyat-yīghūchī_)?[2031] None had advice to give, none a bold plan of
his own to expound. Khalīfa (however) did well in this campaign,
neglecting nothing of control and supervision, painstaking and
diligence.
At length after I had made enquiry concerning people's want of heart and
had seen their slackness for myself, a plan occurred to me; I summoned
all the begs and braves and said to them, "Begs and braves!
(_Persian_) Who comes into the world will die;
What lasts and lives will be God.
(_Turkī_) He who hath entered the assembly of life,
Drinketh at last of the cup of death.
He who hath come to the inn of life,
Passeth at last from Earth's house of woe.
"Better than life with a bad name, is death with a good one.
(_Persian_) Well is it with me, if I die with good name!
A good name must I have, since the body is death's.[2032]
"God the Most High has allotted to us such happiness and has created for
us such good-fortune that we die as martyrs, we kill as avengers of His
cause. Therefore must each of you take oath [Sidenote: Fol. 315.] upon
His Holy Word that he will not think of turning his face from this foe,
or withdraw from this deadly encounter so long as life is not rent from
his body." All those present, beg and retainer, great and small, took
the Holy Book joyfully into their hands and made vow and compact to this
purport. The plan was perfect; it worked admirably for those near and
afar, for seërs and hearers, for friend and foe.
(_u. Bābur's perilous position._)
In those same days trouble and disturbance arose on every side:—Ḥusain
Khān _Nuḥānī_ went and took Rāprī; Quṯb Khān's man took Chandwār[2033];
a mannikin called Rustam Khān who had collected quiver-wearers from
Between-the-two-waters (Ganges and Jamna), took Kūl (Koel) and made
Kīchīk 'Alī prisoner; Khwāja Zāhid abandoned Saṃbal and went off; Sl.
Muḥammad _Dūldāī_ came from Qanūj to me; the Gūālīār pagans laid siege
to that fort; 'Ālam Khān when sent to reinforce it, did not go to
Gūālīār but to his own district. Every day bad news came from every
side. Desertion of many Hindūstānīs set in; Haibat Khān
_Karg-andāz_[2034] deserted and went to Saṃbal; Ḥasan Khān of Bārī
deserted and joined the Pagan. We gave attention to none of them but
went straight on with our own affair.
(_v. Bābur advances to fight._)
The apparatus and appliances, the carts and wheeled tripods being ready,
we arrayed in right, left and centre, and marched forward on New Year's
Day,[2035] Tuesday, the 9th of the second [Sidenote: Fol. 315b.] Jumāda
(March 13th), having the carts[2036] and wheeled tripods moving in
front of us, with Ustād `Alī-qulī and all the matchlock-men ranged
behind them in order that these men, being on foot, should not be left
behind the array but should advance with it.
When the various divisions, right, left and centre, had gone each to its
place, I galloped from one to another to give encouragement to begs,
braves, and _sipāhīs_. After each man had had assigned to him his post
and usual work with his company, we advanced, marshalled on the plan
determined, for as much as one _kuroh_ (2 m.)[2037] and then dismounted.
The Pagan's men, for their part, were on the alert; they came from their
side, one company after another.
The camp was laid out and strongly protected by ditch and carts. As we
did not intend to fight that day, we sent a few unmailed braves ahead,
who were to get to grips with the enemy and thus take an omen. They made
a few pagans prisoner, cut off and brought in their heads. Malik Qāsim
also cut off and brought in a few heads; he did well. By these successes
the hearts of our men became very strong.
When we marched on next day, I had it in my mind to fight, but Khalīfa
and other well-wishers represented that the camping-ground previously
decided on was near and that it would favour our fortunes if we had a
ditch and defences made there and went there direct. Khalīfa accordingly
rode off to get [Sidenote: Fol. 316.] the ditch dug; he settled its
position with the spades-men, appointed overseers of the work and
returned to us. (_w. The battle of Kānwa._)[2038]
On Saturday the 13th of the second Jumāda (March 17th, 1527 AD.) we had
the carts dragged in front of us (as before), made a _kuroh_ (2 m.) of
road, arrayed in right, left and centre, and dismounted on the ground
selected.
A few tents had been set up; a few were in setting up when news of the
appearance of the enemy was brought. Mounting instantly, I ordered every
man to his post and that our array should be protected with the
carts.[2039]
*As the following Letter-of-victory (_Fatḥ-nāma_) which is what Shaikh
Zain had indited, makes known particulars about the army of Islām, the
great host of the pagans with the position of their arrayed ranks, and
the encounters had between them and the army of Islām, it is inserted
here without addition or deduction.[2040]
SHAIKH ZAIN'S LETTER-OF-VICTORY.
(_a. Introduction._)
_Praise be to God the Faithful Promiser, the Helper of His servants, the
Supporter of His armies, the Scatterer of hostile hosts, the One alone
without whom there is nothing._ [Sidenote: Fol. 316b.]
_O Thou the Exalter of the pillars of Islām, Helper of thy faithful
minister, Overthrower of the pedestals of idols, Overcomer of rebellious
foes, Exterminator to the uttermost of the followers of darkness!_
_Lauds be to God the Lord of the worlds, and may the blessing of God be
upon the best of His creatures Muḥammad, Lord of ghāzīs and champions of
the Faith, and upon his companions, the pointers of the way, until the
Day of judgment._
The successive gifts of the Almighty are the cause of frequent praises
and thanksgivings, and the number of these praises and thanksgivings is,
in its turn, the cause of the constant succession of God's mercies. For
every mercy a thanksgiving is due, and every thanksgiving is followed by