The Bābur-nāma in English (Memoirs of Bābur)
a mercy. To render full thanks is beyond men's power; the mightiest are
helpless to discharge their obligations. Above all, adequate thanks
cannot be rendered for a benefit than which none is greater in the world
and nothing is more blessed, in the world to come, to wit, victory over
most powerful infidels and dominion over wealthiest heretics, "_these
are the unbelievers_, _the wicked_."[2041] In the eyes of the judicious,
no blessing can be greater than this. Thanks be to God! that this great
blessing and mighty boon, which from the cradle until now has been the
real object of this right-thinking mind (Bābur's), has now manifested
itself by the graciousness of the King of the worlds; the Opener who
dispenses his treasures without awaiting solicitation, hath opened them
with a master-key before our victorious Nawāb (Bābur),[2042] so that the
names of our[2043] conquering heroes have been emblazoned in the records
of glorious _ghāzīs_. By the help of our victorious soldiers the
[Sidenote: Fol. 317.] standards of Islām have been raised to the highest
pinnacles. The account of this auspicious fortune is as follows:—
(_b. Rānā Sangā and his forces._)
When the flashing-swords of our Islām-guarded soldiers had illuminated
the land of Hindūstān with rays of victory and conquest, as has been
recorded in former letters-of-victory,[2044] the Divine favour caused
our standards to be upreared in the territories of Dihlī, Āgra, Jūn-pūr,
Kharīd,[2045] Bihār, _etc._, when many chiefs, both pagans and
Muḥammadans submitted to our generals and shewed sincere obedience to
our fortunate Nawāb. But Rānā Sangā the pagan who in earlier times
breathed submissive to the Nawāb,[2046] now _was puffed up with pride
and became of the number of unbelievers_.[2047] Satan-like he threw back
his head and collected an army of accursed heretics, thus gathering a
rabble-rout of whom some wore the accursed torque (_ṯauq_), the
_zīnār_,[2048] on the neck, some had in the skirt the calamitous thorn
of apostacy.[2049] Previous to the rising in Hindūstān of the Sun of
dominion and the emergence there of the light of the Shāhanshāh's
Khalīfate [_i.e._ Bābur's] the authority of that execrated pagan
(Sangā)—_at the Judgment Day he shall have no friend_,[2050] was such
that not one of all the exalted sovereigns of this wide realm, such as
the Sulṯān of Dihlī, the [Sidenote: Fol. 317b.] Sulṯān of Gujrāt and the
Sulṯān of Mandū, could cope with this evil-dispositioned one, without
the help of other pagans; one and all they cajoled him and temporized
with him; and he had this authority although the rājas and rāīs of high
degree, who obeyed him in this battle, and the governors and commanders
who were amongst his followers in this conflict, had not obeyed him in
any earlier fight or, out of regard to their own dignity, been friendly
with him. Infidel standards dominated some 200 towns in the territories
of Islām; in them mosques and shrines fell into ruin; from them the
wives and children of the Faithful were carried away captive. So greatly
had his forces grown that, according to the Hindū calculation by which
one _lak_ of revenue should yield 100 horsemen, and one _krūr_ of
revenue, 10,000 horsemen, the territories subject to the Pagan (Sangā)
yielding 10 _krūrs_, should yield him 100,000 horse. Many noted pagans
who hitherto had not helped him in battle, now swelled his ranks out of
hostility to the people of Islām. Ten powerful chiefs, each the leader
of a pagan host, uprose in rebellion, as smoke rises, and linked
themselves, as though [Sidenote: Fol. 318.] enchained, to that perverse
one (Sangā); and this infidel decade who, unlike the blessed ten,[2051]
uplifted misery-freighted standards which _denounce unto them
excruciating punishment_,[2052] had many dependants, and troops, and
wide-extended lands. As, for instance, Ṣalāḥu'd-dīn[2053] had territory
yielding 30,000 horse, Rāwal Ūdai Sīngh of Bāgar had 12,000, Medinī Rāī
had 12,000, Ḥasan Khān of Mīwāt had 12,000, Bār-mal of Īdr had 4,000,
Narpat Hāra had 7,000, Satrvī of Kach (Cutch) had 6,000, Dharm-deo had
4,000, Bīr-sing-deo had 4,000, and Maḥmūd Khān, son of Sl. Sikandar, to
whom, though he possessed neither district nor _pargana_, 10,000 horse
had gathered in hope of his attaining supremacy. Thus, according to the
calculation of Hind, 201,000 was the total of those sundered from
salvation. In brief, that haughty pagan, inwardly blind, and hardened of
heart, having joined with other pagans, dark-fated and doomed to
perdition, advanced to contend with the followers of Islām and to
destroy the foundations of the law of the Prince of Men (Muḥammad), on
whom be God's blessing! The protagonists of the royal forces fell, like
divine destiny, on that one-eyed Dajjāl[2054] who, to understanding men,
shewed the truth of the saying, _When Fate arrives, the eye becomes
blind_, and, setting before their eyes the scripture which saith,
_Whosoever striveth to promote the true religion, striveth for the good
of his own soul_,[2055] [Sidenote: Fol. 318b.] they acted on the precept
to which obedience is due, _Fight against infidels and hypocrites_.
(_c. Military movements._)
(_March 17th, 1527_) On Saturday the 13th day of the second Jumāda of
the date 933, a day blessed by the words, _God hath blessed your
Saturday_, the army of Islām was encamped near the village of Kānwa, a
dependency of Bīāna, hard by a hill which was 2 _kurohs_ (4 m.) from the
enemies of the Faith. When those accursed infidel foes of Muḥammad's
religion heard the reverberation of the armies of Islām, they arrayed
their ill-starred forces and moved forward with one heart, relying on
their mountain-like, demon-shaped elephants, as had relied the Lords of
the Elephant[2056] who went to overthrow the sanctuary (_ka`ba_) of
Islām.
"Having these elephants, the wretched Hindus
Became proud, like the Lords of the Elephant;
Yet were they odious and vile as is the evening of death,
Blacker[2057] than night, outnumbering the stars,
All such as fire is[2058] but their heads upraised
In hate, as rises its smoke in the azure sky,
Ant-like they come from right and from left,
Thousands and thousands of horse and foot."
They advanced towards the victorious encampment, intending [Sidenote:
Fol. 319.] to give battle. The holy warriors of Islām, trees in the
garden of valour, moved forward in ranks straight as serried pines and,
like pines uplift their crests to heaven, uplifting their helmet-crests
which shone even as shine the hearts of those _that strive in the way of
the Lord_; their array was like Alexander's iron-wall,[2059] and, as is
the way of the Prophet's Law, straight and firm and strong, _as though
they were a well-compacted building_;[2060] and they became fortunate
and successful in accordance with the saying, _They are directed by
their Lord, and they shall prosper_.[2061]
In that array no rent was frayed by timid souls;
Firm was it as the Shāhanshāh's resolve, strong as the Faith;
Their standards brushed against the sky;
_Verily we have granted thee certain victory_.[2062]
Obeying the cautions of prudence, we imitated the _ghāzīs_ of Rūm[2063]
by posting matchlockmen (_tufanchīān_) and cannoneers (_ra`d-andāzān_)
along the line of carts which were chained to one another in front of
us; in fact, Islām's army was so arrayed and so steadfast that primal
Intelligence[2064] and the firmament (_`aql-i-pīr u charkh-i-as̤īr_)
applauded the marshalling thereof. To effect this arrangement and
organization, Niẕāmu'd-dīn `Alī Khalīfa, the pillar of the Imperial
fortune, exerted himself strenuously; his efforts were in accord with
Destiny, and were approved by his sovereign's luminous judgment.
(_d. Commanders of the centre._)
His Majesty's post was in the centre. In the right-hand of the centre
were stationed the illustrious and most upright [Sidenote: Fol. 319b.]
brother, the beloved friend of Destiny, the favoured of Him whose aid is
entreated (_i.e._ God), Chīn-tīmūr Sulṯān,[2065]—the illustrious son,
accepted in the sight of the revered Allāh, Sulaimān Shāh,[2066]—the
reservoir of sanctity, the way-shower, Khwāja Kamālu'd-dīn
(Perfect-in-the Faith) Dost-i-khāwand,—the trusted of the sulṯānate, the
abider near the sublime threshold, the close companion, the cream of
associates, Kamālu'd-dīn Yūnas-i-`alī,—the pillar of royal retainers,
the perfect in friendship, Jalālu'd-dīn (Glory-of-the-Faith) Shāh Manṣūr
_Barlās_,—the pillar of royal retainers, most excellent of servants,
Niẕāmu'd-dīn (Upholder-of-the-Faith) Darwīsh-i-muḥammad _Sārbān_,—the
pillars of royal retainers, the sincere in fidelity, Shihābu'd-dīn
(Meteor-of-the-Faith) `Abdu'l-lāh the librarian and Nīẕāmu'd-dīn Dost
Lord-of-the-Gate.
In the left-hand of the centre took each his post, the reservoir of
sovereignty, ally of the Khalīfate, object of royal favour, Sulṯān
`Alā'u'd-dīn `Ālam Khān son of Sl. Bahlūl _Lūdī_,—the intimate of
illustrious Majesty, the high priest (_dastūr_) of _ṣadrs_ amongst men,
the refuge of all people, the pillar of Islām, Shaikh Zain of
Khawāf,[2067]—the pillar of the nobility, Kamālu'd-dīn Muḥibb-i-`alī,
son of the intimate counsellor named above (_i.e._ Khalīfa),—the pillar
of royal retainers, Niẕāmu'd-dīn Tardī Beg brother of Qūj (son of)
Aḥmad, whom God hath taken into His mercy,—Shīrafgan [Sidenote: Fol.
320.] son of the above-named Qūj Beg deceased,—the pillar of great ones,
the mighty khān, Ārāīsh Khān,[2068]—the wazīr, greatest of wazīrs
amongst men, Khwāja Kamālu'd-dīn Ḥusain,—and a number of other
attendants at Court (_dīwanīān_).
(_e. Commanders of the right wing._)
In the right wing was the exalted son, honourable and fortunate, the
befriended of Destiny, the Star of the Sign of sovereignty and success,
Sun of the sphere of the Khalīfate, lauded of slave and free, Muḥammad
Humāyūn Bahādur. On that exalted prince's right hand there were, one
whose rank approximates to royalty and who is distinguished by the
favour of the royal giver of gifts, Qāsim-i-ḥusain Sulṯān,—the pillar of
the nobility Niẕāmu'd-dīn Aḥmad-ī-yūsuf _Aūghlāqchī_,[2069]—the trusted
of royalty, most excellent of servants, Jalālu'd-dīn Hindū Beg
_qūchīn_,[2070]—the trusted of royalty, perfect in loyalty, Jalālu'd-dīn
Khusrau Kūkūldāsh,—the trusted of royalty, Qawām (var. Qiyām) Beg
_Aūrdū-shāh_,—the pillar of royal retainers, of perfect sincerity, Walī
_Qarā-qūzī_ the treasurer,[2071]—the pillar of royal retainers,
Niẕāmu'd-dīn Pīr-qulī of Sīstān,—the pillar of wazīrs, Khwāja
Kamālu'd-dīn _pahlawān_ (champion) of Badakhshān,—the pillar of royal
retainers, `Abdu'l-sḥakūr,—the pillar of the nobility, most excellent of
servants, the envoy from `Irāq Sulaimān Āqā,—and Ḥusain Āqā the envoy
from Sīstān. On [Sidenote: Fol. 320b.] the victory-crowned left of the
fortunate son already named there were, the sayyid of lofty birth, of
the family of Murtiẓā (`Alī), Mīr Hama (or Hāma),—the pillar of royal
retainers, the perfect in sincerity, Shamsu'd-dīn Muḥammadī Kūkūldāsh
and Niẕāmu'd-dīn Khwājagī Asad _jān-dār_.[2072] In the right wing there
were, of the amīrs of Hind,—the pillar of the State, the Khān-of-Khāns,
Dilāwar Khān,[2073]—the pillar of the nobility, Malik Dād
_Kararānī_,—and the pillar of the nobility, the Shaikh-of-shaikhs,
Shaikh Gūran, each standing in his appointed place.
(_f. Commanders of the left wing._)
In the left wing of the armies of Islām there extended their ranks,—the
lord of lofty lineage, the refuge of those in authority, the ornament of
the family of _T̤a Ha_ and _Ya Sin_,[2074] the model for the descendants
of the prince of ambassadors (Muḥammad), Sayyid Mahdī Khwāja,—the
exalted and fortunate brother, the well-regarded of his Majesty,