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THE BABUR-NAMA IN ENGLISH
(MEMOIRS OF BABUR).
3^\%

The Babur-nama in English

(Memoirs of Babur)

Translated from the original Turki Text

OF

ZahiruM-din Muhammad Babur Padshah Ghazi

BY

ANNETTE SUSANNAH BEVERIDGE

Issued —
Four Fasciculi: Farghana 1912 Kabul
in —
— —
1914 Hindustan 1917 Preface, Indices, etc.
1921.

|1 3 3 5
Vol. II

SOLD BY
LUZAC & CO,. 46, Great Russell Street, London.
1922
 THE MEMOIRS OF BABUR
SECTION III. HINDUSTAN

932 AH.— OCT. 18th 1525 to OCT. 8th 1526 AD.^

{a. Fifth expedition into Hiiidustdn^
{Nov. 17th) On Friday the ist of the month of Safar at the Haidara-

date 932, the Sun being in the Sign of the Archer, we set out ^^Jj 251^,
for Hindustan, crossed the small rise of Yak-langa, and dis-
mounted in the meadow to the west of the water of Dih-i-ya*qiib.^
*Abdu'l-maluk the armourer came into thiscamp he had gone ;

seven or eight months earlier as my

envoy to Sultan Sa'Id Khan
(in Kashghar), and now brought one of the Khan's men, styled
YangI Beg (new beg) Kukuldash who conveyed letters, and

' Elph. MS. f. 205/5; W.-i-B. I.O. 215 f. 199/5 omits the year's events on the
ground that Shaikh Zain has translated them; I.O. 217 f. 174; Mems. p. 290
Kehr's Codex p. 1084.
A considerable amount of reliable textual material for revising the Hindustan
section of the English translation of the Bdbur-ndvia is wanting through loss of pages
from the Elphinstone Codex ; in one instance no less than an equivalent of 36 folios
of the Haidarabad Codex are missing (f. 356 et seg.), but to set against this loss there
is the valuable pe)- contra that Kehr's manuscript throughout the section becomes of
substantial value, losing its Persified character and approximating closely to the true
text of the Elphinstone and Haidarabad Codices. Collateral help in revision is given
by the works specified {itt loco p. 428) as serving to. fill the gap existing in Babur's
narrative previous to 932 ah. and this notably by those described by Elliot and
Dowson. Of these last, special help in supplementary details is given for 932 AH, and
part of 933 AH. by Shaikh Zain S^KhawdJVi?, Tabaqat-i-bahtiri, which is a highly
rhetorical paraphrase of Babur's narrative, requiring familiarity with ornate Persian
to understand. For all my references to it, I am indebted to my husband. It may
be mentioned as an interesting circumstance that the B. M. possesses in Or. 1999 a copy
of this work which was transcribed in 998 AH. by one of Khwand-amir's grandsons
and, judging from its date, presumably for Abu'l-fazl's use in the Akbar-nama.
Like part of the Kabul section, the Hindustan one is in diary-form, but it is still
more heavily surcharged with matter entered at a date later than the diarj'. It departs
from the style of the preceding diary by an occasional lapse into courtly phrase and
by exchange of some Turk! words for Arabic and Persian ones, doubtless found
current in Hind, e.g.fauj, dira, ?nanzi/, khail-khdna.
^ This is the Logar affluent of the Baran-water (Kabul-river). Masson describes
this haltingplace (iii, 174).

31
 446 HINDUSTAN
small presents, and verbal messages ^ from the Khanlms and the
Khan.2
{Nov. i8th to 2ist) After staying two days in that camp for
the convenience of the army,3 we marched on, halted one night,^
and next dismounted at Badam-chashma. There we ate a con-
fection {ina'jun).
{Nov. 22nd) On Wednesday
(Safar 6th), when we had dis-
mounted younger brethren of Nur Beg he
at Barlk-ab, the —
himself remaining in Hindustan —
brought gold ashi^afts and
tankas 5 to the value of 20,000 shdhrukhis, sent from the Labor
revenues by Khwaja Husain. The greater part of these moneys
was despatched by Mulla Ahmad, one of the chief men of Balkh,
for the benefit of Balkh.^
{Nov. 24tk) On Friday the 8th of the month (Safar), after
Foi. 252. dismounting at Gandamak, I had a violent discharge 7 by ;

God's mercy, it passed off easily.

^ muhaqqar saughdt u blldk or ttldk. A small verbal point arises about bildk (or
tllak). Bildk is said by Quatremere to mean a gift (N. et E. xiv, 119 n.) but here
muhaqqar satighdt expresses gift. Another meaning can be assigned to blldk here,
[one had also by tildk^ viz. that of word-of-mouth news or communication, sometimes
supplementing written communication, possibly secret instructions, possibly small
domestic details. In blldk, a gift, the root may be bll, the act of knowing, in tlldk
it is til, the act of speaking [whence //"/, the tongue, and til tutmdk, to get news].

In the sentence noted, either word would suit for a verbal communication. Returning
to blldk as a gift, it may express the nuance of English token, the maker-known of
friendship, affection and so-on. This differentiates blldk from saughdt, used in its
frequent sense of ceremonial and diplomatic presents of value and importance.
^ With Sa'ld at this time were two Khanlms Sultan-nigar and Daulat-sultan who

were Babur's maternal -aunts. Erskine suggested Khub-nigar, but she had died in
907 AH. (f. 96).
3 Humayun'snon-arrival would be the main cause of delay. Apparently he should
have joined before the Kabul force left that town.
The halt would be at But-khak, the last station before the Adinapur road takes
to the hills.
5 Discussing the value of coins mentioned by Babur, Erskine says in his History of
India (vol. i, Appendix E. ) which was published in 1854 ad. that he had come to
think his estimates of the value of the coins was set too low in the Memoirs (published
in 1826 AD.). This sum of 20,000 shdhrukhls he put at £\'XiO. Cf. E. Thomas'
Pathan Kings of Dihli and Resources of the Mughal Empire.
^ One of Masson's interesting details seems to fit the next stage of Babur's march

(iii, 179). It is that after leaving But-khak, the road passes what in the thirties of
the 19th Century, was locally known as Babur Padshah's Stone-heap (cairn) and
believed piled in obedience to Babur's order that each man in his army should drop
a stone on it in passing. No time for raising such a monument could be fitter than
that of the fifth expedition into Hindustan when a climax of opportunity allowed
hope of success.
7 rezdndallk. This Erskine translates, both here and on ff. 253, 254, by defluxion,
but de Courteille by rhume de cerveau. Shaikh Zain supports de Courteille by
writing, not rezdndallk^ but nuzla, catarrh. De Courteille, in illustration of his
_ 932 AH.— OCT. 18th 1525 to OCT. 8th 1526 AD. 447

{Nov. 2^th) On Saturday we dismounted in the Bagh-i-wafa.

We delayed there a few days, waiting for Humayun and the

army from that side.^ More than once in this history the bounds
and extent, charm and deHght of that garden have been described ;

it ismost beautifully placed who sees it with the buyer's eye

;

will know the sort of place it is. During the short time we
were there, most people drank on drinking-days ^ and took
their morning on non-drinking days there were
; parties for
ma'jun.
I wrote harsh letters to Humayun, lecturing him severely
because of his long delay beyond the time fixed for him to
join me.3
{Dec. 3rd) On Sunday the 17th of Safar, after the morning
had been taken, Humayun arrived. I spoke very severely to
him at once. Khwaja Kalan coming up
also arrived to-day,
from Ghazni. We marched evening of that
in the same Sunday,
and dismounted in a new garden between Sultanpur and Khwaja
Rustam.
Marching on Wednesday (Safar 20th), we got on
{Dec. 6th)
a raft, we went reached Qush-gumbaz,4 there
and, drinking as
landed and joined the camp.

reading of the word, quotes Burnes' account of an affection common in the Panj-ab
and there called nuzla, which is a running at the nostrils, that wastes the brain and
stamina of the body and ends fatally (Travels in Bukhara ed. 1839, ii, 41).
' Tramontana, north of Plindu-kush.
^ Shaikh Zain says that the drinking days were Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday and

Wednesday.
The Elph. Codex(f. 208^) contains the following note of Humayun's about his
3

delay; has been expunged from the text but is still fairly legible
it " The time :
—
fixed was after 'Ashura (loth Muharram, a voluntary fast) although we arrived after
;

the next-following loth {''dsht'tr, i.e. of Safar), the delay had been necessary. The
purpose of the letters (Babur's) was to get information (in reply) it was repre-
;

sented that the equipment of the army of Badakhshan caused delay. If this slave
(Humajmn), trusting to his [father's] kindness, caused further delay, he has been
sorry."
Babur's march from the Bagh-i-wafa was delayed about a month ; Humayun started
late from Badakhshan his force may have needed some stay in Kabul for completion
;

of equipment his personal share of blame for which he counted on his father's
;

forgiveness, is likely to have been connected with his mother's presence in Kabul.
Humayun's note is quoted in Turk! by one MS. of the Persian text (B.M. W.-i-B.
16,623 f. 128) ; and from certain indications in Muhammad Shtrdzfs lithograph
(P- ^63), appears to be in his archetype the Udaipur Codex ; but it is not with all
MSS. of the Persian text e.g. not with I.O. 217 and 218. A portion of it is in Kehr's
MS. (p. 1086).
* Bird's-dome [f. I45(5, n.] or The pair {qUsh) of domes.
 448 HINDUSTAN
{^Dec. J til) Starting off the camp at dawn, we ourselves went on
a raft, and there ate confection {rna'jun). Our encamping-ground
was always Qlrlq-ariq, but not a sign or trace of the camp could
Fol. 2^2b. be seen when we got opposite it, nor any appearance of our

horses. Thought "

Garm-chashma (Hot-spring) is close by
I, ;

they may have dismounted there." So saying, we went on from

Qlrlq-arlq. By the time we reached Garm-chashma, the very
day was late ^ we did not stop there, but going on in its
;

lateness {kichtsi)^ had the raft tied up somewhere, and slept

awhile.
{^Dec. 8th) At day-break we landed at Yada-blr where, as the
day wore on, the army-folks began to come in. The camp must
have been at Qlrlq-arlq, but out of our sight.
There were several verse-makers on the raft, such as Shaikh
Abu'1-wajd,^ Shaikh Zain, Mulla 'All-jan, Tardi Beg Khdksdr
and others. In this company was quoted the following couplet
of Muhammad Salih : —
(Persian) With thee, arch coquette, for a sweetheart, what can man do ?
With another than thou where thou art, what can man do ?

Said I, "
Compose on these lines " 4 whereupon those given to
;

versifying, did so. As jokes were always being made at the

expense of Mulla *AlI-jan, this couplet came off-hand into my
head :

(Persian) With one all bewildered as thou, what can man do?
, what can man do ? s

' gfin khud kick bulub aldl a little joke perhaps at the lateness both of the day
;

and the army.

* Shaikh Zain's maternal -uncle.

3 Shaikh Zain's useful detail that this man's pen-name was Sharaf distinguishes

him from Muhammad Salih the author of the Shaibanl-nama.

• gosha, angle ((/". gosha-i-kdr, limits of work). Parodies were to be made, having
the same metre, rhyme, and refrain as the model couplet.
5 I am unable to attach sense to Babur's second line what is wanted is an illustra-
;

tion of two incompatible things. Babur's reflections [^itifra\ condemned his verse.
Shaikh Zain describes the whole episode of the verse-making on the raft, and goes
on with, "He (Babur) excised this choice couplet from the pages of his Acts
( Waqi''dt) with the knife of censure, and scratched it out from the tablets of his noble

heart with the finger-nails of repentance. I shall now give an account of this spiritual
matter" {i.e. the repentance), "by presenting the recantations of his Solomon-like
Majesty in his very own words, which are weightier than any from the lips of
Aesop." Shaikh Zain next quotes the Turk! passage here translated in b. Mention
of the Mubln.
 932 AH.— OCT. 18th 1525 TO OCT. 8th 1526 AD. 449

{b. Mention of the Mubin}^ »

From time whatever came into my head,
to time before it,^

of good or bad, grave or jest, used to be strung into verse and

written down, however empty and harsh the verse might be, but
while I was composing the Mubin, this thought pierced through
my dull wits and made way into my troubled heart, " A pity it Fol. 253.

will the tongue which has treasure of utterances so lofty as

be if

these are, waste itself again on low words sad will it be if again ;

vile imaginings find way into the mind that has made exposition
of these sublime realities." 3
I had refrained
Since that time
from satirical was repentant {ta'zb) but these
and jesting verse ; I ;

matters were totally out of mind and remembrance when I made

that couplet (on Mulla 'Ali-jan).^ A few days later in Bigram
when I had fever and discharge, followed by cough, and I began
to spit blood each time I coughed, I knew whence my reproof
came I knew what act of mine had brought this affliction on me.
;

" Whoever shall violate his oath, will violate it to the hurt
of his own soul but whoever shall perform that which he hath
;

covenanted with God, to that man surely will He give great

reward " {Qordn cap. 48 v. 10).
( Tiirki) What is it I do with ah my tongue ?
thee, !

My entrails bleed as areckoning for thee.

Good once as thy words were, has followed this verse
s

Jesting, empty, ^ obscene, has followed a lie.

If thou say, "Burn will I not " by keeping this vow
!

Thou turnest thy rein from this field of strife. ^

The Mubin {q.v. Index) is mentioned again and quoted on f. 351 In both (5.

laces its name escaped the notice of Erskine and de Courteille, who here took it for
min, I, and on f. 351(5 omitted it, matters of which the obvious cause is that both
translators were less familiar with the poem than it is now easy to be. There is
amplest textual warrant for reading Muhin in both the places indicated above ; its
reinstatement gives to the English and French translations what they have needed,
namely, the clinch of a definite stimulus and date of repentance, which was the
influence of the Mubin in 928 ah. {152 1-2 ad.). The whole passage about the
peccant verse and its fruit of contrition should be read with others that express the same
regret for broken law and may all have been added to the diary at the same time,
probably in 935 ah. (1529 ad. ). They will be found grouped in the Index s.n. Babur,
- muiidln hurun, by which I understand, as the grammatical construction will

warrant, before tvriting the Alubin. To read the words as referring to the peccant
verse, is to take the clinch off the whole passage.
3 i.e. of the Qordn on which the Miibln is based.

Dropping down-stream, with wine and good company, he entirely forgot his good
'*

resolutions.
This appears to refer to the good thoughts embodied in the Mtibin.
5

This appears to contrast with the "sublime realities" of the Qordn.

*

In view of the interest of the passage, and because this verse is not in the Rampur
">

Diwdn, as are many contained in the Hindustan section, the TurkI original is
 450 HINDUSTAN
" O Lord ! we have dealt unjustly with our own souls ; if

Thou and be not merciful unto us, we shall surely

forgive us not,
be of those that perish" ^ {Qordn cap. 7 v. 22).
Taking anew the place of the penitent pleading for pardon,
I gave my mind rest^ from such empty thinking and such
unlawful occupation. I broke my pen. Made by that Court,
such reproof of sinful slaves is for their felicity happy are the ;

highest and the slave when such reproof brings warning and its
profitable fruit.

{c. Narrative resumed.)

{Dec. 8th continued) Marching on that evening, we dismounted
at 'Ali-masjid. The ground here being very confined, I always
Fol. 2533. used to dismount on a rise overlooking the camp in the valley-
bottom.3 The camp-fires made a wonderful illumination there
at night ; was because of this that there had always
assuredly it

been drinking there, and was so now.

{Dec. gth and lotJt) To-day I rode out before dawn I preferred ;

a confection {indjiin)^ and also kept this day a fast. We

dismounted near Blgram (Peshawar) and next morning, the ;

camp remaining on that same ground, rode to Karg-awi.5 We

crossed the Siyah-ab in front of Blgram, and formed our hunting-
circle looking down-stream. After a little, a person brought
quoted. My translation differs from those of Mr. Erskine and M. de Courteille ; all
three are tentative of a somewhat difficult verse.
Ni qila tnin slnitig bila al til ?
Jihattng din mining alchlm qdn dur.
Nlcha yakhshl dlsdng bu hazl alia shi''r
Blrl- si falias h fi blrl ydlghan dilr.
Gar dlsang kulmd mln, bujazm blla
JaldtHngnl bii ''arsa din ydn dur.
' The Qoran puts these sayings into the mouths of Adam and Eve.
= Hai. MS. llndiirub', Ilminsky, p. 327, ydndfirub \ W.-i-B. I.O. 217, f. 175,
sard sdkhta.
3 Of 'Ali-masjid the Second Afghdn War (official account) has a picture which
might be taken from Kabur's camp.
* Shaikh Zain's list of the drinking-days (f, 252 note) explains why sometimes

Babur says he preferred ma''jun. In the instances I have noticed, he does this
on a drinking-day the preference will be therefore for a confection over wine.
;

December 9th was a Saturday and drinking-day; on it he mentions the preference;

Tuesday Nov. 21st was a drinking day, and he states that he ate ma'Jun.
5 presumably the ^ar^-MJ«d: of f. 222b, rhinoceros-home in both places. A similar
—
name applies to a tract in the Rawalpindi District, Babur-khana, Tiger-home, which
is linked to the tradition of Buddha's self-sacrifice to appease the hunger of seven

tiger-cubs. [In this Babur-khana is the town Kacha-kot from which Babur always
names the river Haru.]
 932 AH.— OCT. 18th 1525 TO OCT. 8th 1526 AD. 451

word that there was a rhino in a bit of jungle near Bigram, and
that people had been stationed near-about it. We betook our-
selves, loose rein, to the place, formed a ring round the jungle,
made a noise, and brought the rhino out, when it took its way
across the plain. Humayun and those come with him from that
side (Tramontana), who had never seen one before, were much
entertained. It was pursued for two miles many arrows were ;

shot at it it was brought down without having made a good

;

set at man or horse. Two others were killed. I had often

wondered how a rhino and an elephant would behave if brought
face to face this time one came out right in front of some
;

elephants the mahauts were bringing along it did not face them ; Fol. 254.

when the mahauts drove them towards it, but got off in another
direction.

{d. Preparations for ferrying the Indus}')

On
the day we were in Bigram, several of the begs and
household were appointed, with pay-masters and dlwans, six or
seven being put in command, to take charge of the boats at the
Nll-ab crossing, to make a list of all who were with the army,
name by name, and to count them up.
That evening I had fever and discharge^ which led on to
cough and every time I coughed, I spat blood. Anxiety was
great but, by God's mercy, it passed off in two or three days.
{^Dec. nth) It rained when we left Bigram we dismounted ;

on the Kabul-water.

{e. News from Ldhor.)

that Daulat Khan 3 and (Apaq) GhazI Khan,
News came
having collected an army of from 20 to 30,000, had taken
Kilanur, and intended to move on Labor. At once Mumin-i-'ah
the commissary was sent galloping off to say, " We are advancing
march by march ;
^ do not fight till we arrive."

^ This is the first time on an outward march that Babur has crossed the Indus by
boat hitherto he has used the ford above Attock, once however specifying that men
;

on foot were put over on rafts.

= f. 253.
3 Inmy Translator's Note (p. 428), attention was drawn to the circumstance that
Babur always writes Daulat Khan Yusttf-khail, and not Daulat Khan Ludt. In doing
this, he uses the family- or clan-name instead of the tribal one, LudT.
''
i.e. day by day.
 452 HINDUSTAN
{Dec. 14th) With two night-halts on the way, we reached the
water of Sind (Indus), and there dismounted on Thursday the
28th (of Safar).

(yi Ferrying the Indus?)

{Dec. i6th) On Saturday the ist of the first Rabf, we crossed
the Sind-water, crossed the water of Kacha-kot (Haru), and
dismounted on the bank of the river/ The begs, pay-masters
and dlwans who had been put in charge of the boats, reported
that the number of those come with the army, great and small,
good and bad, retainer and non-retainer, was written down as
12,000.

{g. The eastward march?)

The had been somewhat scant in the plains, but
rainfall

Fol. 254/^. seemed to have been good in the cultivated lands along the
hill-skirts ; for these reasons we took the road for Slalkot along
the skirt-hills. Opposite Hat! Kakar's country ^ we came upon
a torrent 3 the waters of which were standing in pools. Those
pools were all frozen over. The ice was not very thick, as thick
as the hand may-be. Such ice is unusual in Hindustan not ;

a sign or trace of any was seen in the years we were {aiduk) in

the country.'^
We had mademarches from the Sind-water after the
five ;

sixth {Dec. I. 7th) we

22nd — Rabl'
dismounted on a torrent
in the camping-ground {yurt) of the BuglalsS below Balnath
Jogi's hill which connects with the Hill of Jud.

' darya, which Babur's precise use of words e.g. of darya^ rud, and su, allows to
apply here to the Indus only.
' Presumably this was near Parhala, which stands, where the Suhan river quits the

hills, at the eastern entrance of a wild and rocky gorge a mile in length. It will have
been up this gorge that Babur approached Parhala in 925 ah. (Rawalpindi Gazetteer
p. II).
3 i.e. here, bed of a mountain-stream.
* The Elphinstone Codex here preserves the following note, the authorship of
which is by the scribe's remark that it is copied from the handwriting of
attested
Humayun Padshah : —
As my honoured father writes, we did not know until we
occupied Hindustan (932 ah,), but afterwards did know, that ice does form here and
there if there come a colder year. This was markedly so in the year I conquered
Gujrat (942 AH. -1535 AD.) when it was so cold for two or three days between
Bhulpur and Gualiar that the waters were frozen over a hand's thickness.
5 This is a Kakar (Gakkhar) clan, known also as Baragowah, of which the location

in Jahangir Padshah's time was from Rohtas to Hatya, i.e. about where Babur
encamped (Memoirs of Jahangir, Rogers and Beveridge, p. 97; E. and D. vi, 309 ;

Provincial Gazetteers of Rawalpindi and Jihlam, p. 64 and p. 97 respectively).

w
i
932 AH.— OCT. 18th 1525 TO OCT. 8th 1526 AD.

{Dec. 2jrd) In order to let people get provisions,

the next day in that camp. 'Araq was drunk on that day.
Mulla Muh. Parghari told many stories never had he been so ;
we stayed
453

talkative. Mulla Shams himself was very riotous once he ;

began, he did not finish till night.

The and servants, good and bad, who had gone out
slaves
went further than this ^ and heedlessly scattered
after provisions,
over jungle and plain, hill and broken ground. Owing to this,
a i&yN were overcome Klchklna tilnqitdr died there.
;

Marching on, we crossed the Bihat-water at a ford

{Dec. 24th)
below jTlam (Jihlam) and there dismounted. Wall Qizil {Ruins)
came there to see me. He was the Slalkot reserve, and held
the parganas of Bimrukl and Akriada. Thinking about Slalkot, Fol. 255.

I took towards him the position of censure and reproach. He

excused himself, saying " I had come to my parga7ia before
Khusrau Kukuldash left Slalkot he did not even send me ;

word." After listening to his excuse, I said, ''

Since thou hast
paid no attention to Slalkot, why didst thou not join the begs
in Labor } " He was convicted, but as work was at hand, I did
not trouble about his fault.

{h. Scouts sent with orders to Ldhor.)

{Dec. 2^th) Sayyid Tufan and Sayyid Lachln were sent

galloping off, each with a pair-horse,^ to say in Labor, " Do
not join battle meet us at Slalkot or Parsrur " (mod. Pasrur).
;

It was in everyone's mouth that GhazI Khan had collected 30

to 40,000 men, that Daulat Khan, old as he was, had girt two
swords to his waist, and that they were resolved to fight.

Thought I, " The proverb says that ten friends are better than
nine do you not make a mistake
; when the Labor begs have :

"
joined you, fight there and then !

{Dec. 26th mid 2ytJi) After starting off the two men to the
begs, we moved forward, halted one night, and next dismounted
on the bank of the Chln-ab (Chan-ab).

' andln auiub, a reference perhaps to going out beyond the corn-lands, perhaps to
attempt for more than provisions.
' qiish-at, a led horse to ride in change.
 454 HINDUSTAN
As Buhlulpur was khalsa,^ we left the road to visit it. Its
above a deep ravine, on the bank of the Chin-ab.
fort is situated
It pleased us much. We thought of bringing Slalkot to it.
Please God the chance coming, it shall be done straightway
!

Fol. 255^. From Buhlulpur we went to camp by boat.

(/. Jats and Guji'irs.^)

{Dec. 2gtk) On Friday the 14th of the first Rabi' we dis-

mounted one go into Hindustan the Jats and
at Slalkot. If
Gujurs always pour down in countless hordes from hill and plain
for loot in bullock and buffalo. These ill-omened peoples are
just senseless oppressors Formerly their doings did not concern
!

us much because the country was an enemy's, but they began

the same senseless work after we had taken it. When we
reached Slalkot, they fell in tumult on poor and needy folks who
were coming out of the town to our camp, and stripped them
bare. I had the silly thieves sought for, and ordered two or

three of them cut to pieces.

From Nur Beg's brother Shaham also was made to
Slalkot
gallop off to the begs in Labor to say, " Make sure where the
enemy is ; find out from some well-informed person where he
may be met, and send us word."
A trader, coming into this camp, represented that 'Alam Khan
had let SI. Ibrahim defeat him.

* According to Shaikh Zain it was in this year that Babur made Buhh'ilpur a royal
domain (B.M. Add. 26,202 f. 16), but this does not agree with Babur's explanation
that he visited the place because it was khalsa. Its name suggests that it had belonged
to Buhlul Ludl ; Babur may have taken it in 930 ah. when he captured Sialkot. It
never received the population of Slalkot, as Babur had planned it should do because
pond-water was drunk in the latter town and was a source of disease. The words in
which Babur describes its situation are those he uses of Akhsi (f. 4^) not improbably ;

a resemblance inclined his liking towards Buhlulpur. (It may be noted that this
Buhlidpur is mentioned in the Ayln-i-akbarl and marked on large maps, but is not
found in the G. of I. 1907.)
= Both names are thus spelled in the Bahtir-ndma. In view of the inclination of
TurkI to long vowels, Babur's short one in Jat may be worth consideration since
modern usage of Jat and Jat varies. Mr. Crooke writes the full vowel, and mentions
that Jats are Hindus, Sikhs, and Muhammadans ( Tribes and Castes of the North-
western Provinces and Oude, iii, 38). On this point and on the orthography of the
name, Erskine's note (Memoirs p. 294) is as follows: "The Jets or Jats are the
Muhammadan peasantry of the Panj-ab, the bank of the Indus, Slwlstan etc. and
must not be confounded with the Jats, a powerful Hindu tribe to the west of the
Jamna, about Agra etc. and which occupies a subordinate position in the country of
the Rajputs."
 932 AH.— OCT. 18th 1525 TO OCT. 8th 1526 AD. 455

(y. ^Alam Khan's action and failure}^

Here are the particulars :
— 'Alam Khan, after taking leave of
me Kabul, 931 AH.), went off in that heat by double marches,
(in
regardless of those with him.^ As at the time I gave him leave
to go, all the Auzbeg khans and sultans had laid siege to Balkh, Foi. 256.

I rode for Balkh as soon as I had given him his leave. On his
reaching Labor, he insisted to the begs, " You reinforce me; the
Padshah said so march along with me let us get (Apaq)
; ;

GhazI Khan to join us let us move on Dihll and Agra." Said

;

they, " Trusting to what, will you join GhazI Khan ? Moreover
the royal orders to us were, If at any time GhazI Khan has
'

sent his younger brother Hajl Khan with his son to Court, join
him or do so, if he has sent them, by way of pledge, to Labor
;

if he has done neither, do not join him.' You yourself only

yesterday fought him and let him beat you Trusting to what, !

will you join him now? Besides all this, it is not for your
advantage to join him " Having said what-not of this sort,
!

they refused 'Alam Khan. He did not fall in with their views,
but sent his son Sher Khan to speak with Daulat Khan and
with GhazI Khan, and afterwards all saw one another.
'Alam Khan took with him Dilawar Khan, who had come
into Labor two or three months earlier after his escape from
prison ; he took also Mahmud Khan (son of) Khan-i-jahan,3 to

' The following section contains a later addition to the diary summarizing the
action of 'Alam Khan before and after Babur heard of the defeat from the trader he
mentions. It refutes an opinion found here and there in European writings that
Babur used and threw over 'Alam Khan. It and Babur's further narrative shew that
'Alam Khan had little valid backing in Hindustan, that he contributed nothing to
Babur's success, and that no abstention by Babur from attack on Ibrahim would have
set 'Alam Khan on the throne of Dihli. It and other records, Babur's and those of
Afghan chroniclers, allow it to be said that if 'Alam Khan had been strong enough to
accomplish his share of the compact that he should take and should rule Dihli, Babur
would have kept to his share, namely, would have_ maintained supremacy in the
Panj-ab. He advanced against Ibrahim only when 'Alam Khan had totally failed in
arms and in securing adherence.
^ This objurgation on over-rapid marching looks like the echo of complaint made

to Babur by men of his own whom he had given to 'Alam Khan in Kabul.
3 Mahmud himself may have inherited his father's title Khan-i-jahan but a little

further on he is specifically mentioned as the son of Khan-i-jahan, presumably because

his father had been a more notable man than he was. Of his tribe it may be noted
that the Ilaidarabad MS. uniformly writes Nuhani and not Luhani as is usual in
European writings, and that it does so even when, as on f. I49<5, the word is applied
to a trader. Concerning the tribe, family, or caste vide G. of I. s.n. Lohanas and
Crooke I.e. s.Ji. Pathan, para. 21.
 456 HINDUSTAN
whom 2, pargana in the Lahor district had been given. They
seem to have left matters at this : — Daulat Khan with Ghazi
Khan was to take all the begs posted in Hindustan to himself,
indeed he was to take everything on that side ^ while 'Alam
;

Fol. 256^. Khan was to take Dilawar Khan and Hajl Khan and, reinforced
by them, was and Agra. Isma'il Jilwdni and
to capture Dihll
other amirs came and saw *Alam Khan all then betook ;

themselves, march by march, straight for Dihll. Near Indrl

came also Sulaiman Shaikh-zada.^ Their total touched 30 to
40,000 men.
They laid siege to Dihll but could neither take it by assault
nor do hurt to the garrison.3 When
Ibrahim heard of their
SI.

assembly, he got an army to horse against them when they ;

heard of his approach, they rose from before the place and
moved to meet him. They had left matters at this " If we :
—
attack by day-light, the Afghans will not desert (to us), for the
sake of their reputations with one another but if we attack at ;

night when one man cannot see another, each man will obey
his own orders." Twice over they started at fall of day from
a distance of 12 miles (6 kurohs), and, unable to bring matters
on horseback
to a point, neither advanced nor retired, but just sat
for two or three watches. On a third occasion they delivered
an attack when one watch of night remained their purpose —
seeming to be the burning of tents and huts They went they ! ;

set fire from every end they made a disturbance. Jalal Khan
;

Jig-hat 4 came with other amirs and saw 'Alam Khan.

SI. Ibrahim did not bestir himself till shoot of dawn from

where he was with a few of his own family 5 within his own
enclosure {sardcha). Meantime *Alam Khan's people were busy
Fol. 257. with plunder and booty. Seeing the smallness of their number,
SI. Ibrahim's people moved out against them in rather small

' i.e. west of Dihli territory, the Panj-ab.

= Hewas of the Farmul family of which Babur says (f. I39<^) that it was in high
favour in Hindustan under the Afghans and of which the author of the Wdgi^dt-i-
miishtdgi ^aya that it held half the lands of Dihll mjdgir (E. and D. iv, 547).
3 Presumably he could not cut off supplies.
* The only word similar to this that I have found is one
*'
Jaghat " said to mean
serpent and to be the name of a Hindu sub-caste of Nats (Crooke, iv, 72 & 73). The
word here might be a nick-name. Babur writes it as two words.
5 khasa-kkail, presumably members of the Sahu-khail (family) of the Ludi tribe of

the Afghan race.

 932 AH.— OCT. 18th 1525 TO OCT. 8th 1526 AD. 457

force with one elephant. *Alam Khan's party, not able to make
stand against the elephant, ran away. He in his flight crossed
over into the Mlan-dO-ab and crossed back again when he
reached the Panlpat neighbourhood. In Indrl he contrived on
some pretext to get 4 laks from Mian Sulaiman.^ He was
deserted by Isma'll Jilwdni, by Biban ^ and by his own oldest

son Jalal, who all withdrew into the Mlan-du-ab and he had ;

been deserted just before the fighting, by part of his troops,

namely, by Darya Khan Khan, by Khan-i-
(^Nuhdni)'s son Saif
jahan {Nilhdmys son Mahmud Khan, and by Shaikh Jamal
Farmuli. When he was passing through Sihrind with Dilawar
Khan, he heard of our advance and of our capture of Milwat
(Malot).3 —
On this Dilawar Khan who always had been my
well-wisher and on my account had dragged out three or four
—
months in prison, left 'Alam Khan and the rest and went to
his family in Sultanpur. He waited on me three or four days
after we took Milwat. *Alam Khan and Hajl Khan crossed
the Shatlut (i"2V)-water and went into Ginguta,"^ one of the strong-
holds in the range that lies between the valley and the plain.5
There our Afghan and Hazara^ troops besieged them, and had Fol. 257^.

almost taken that strong fort when night came on. Those
inside were thinking of escape but could not get out because of
the press of horses in the Gate. There must have been elephants
also when these were urged forward, they trod down and killed
;

many horses. 'Alam Khan, unable to escape mounted, got out

on foot in the darkness. After a lak of difficulties, he joined
GhazI Khan, who had not gone into Milwat but had fled into the
* Erskine suggested that this man was
a rich banker, but he might well be the
Farmul! Sh^kh-zada of f. 256(5, in view of the exchange Afghan historians make of
the Farmul! title Shaikh for Mian {Tarlkh-i-sher-shdhi, E. & D. iv, 347 and
Tdrikh-i-daudl ib. 457).
^ This Biban, or Biban, as Babur always calls him without title, is Malik Biban

Jilwdni. He was associated with Shaikh Bayazid Farmuli or, as Afghan writers
style him, Mian Bayazid Fartmdi. (Another of his name was Mian Biban, son of
Mian Ata Sahii-khail (E. & D. iv, 347).)
3 This name occurs so frequently in and about the Panj-ab as to suggest that it

means a fort ( Ar. viahi'^at ?). This one in the Siwaliks was founded by Tatar Khan
Yicsuf-khail [Li'idt) in the time of Buhlul Ludi (E. and D. iv, 415).
"^
In the Beth Jalandhar dtt-ab.
' i.e. on the Siwaliks, here locally known as Katar Dhar.
^ Presumably they were from
the Hazara district east of the Indus. The Tabaqdt-
t-akhari mentions that this detachment was acting under Khalifa apart from Babur
and marching through the skirt-hills (lith. ed. p. 182).
 458 HINDUSTAN
hills. Not being received with even a little friendliness by
GhazI Khan needs must he came and waited on me at the
; !

foot of the dale ^ near Pehliir.

{k. Diary resumed^

A person came to Slalkot from the Labor begs to say they
would arrive early next morning to wait on me.
{^Dec. joth) Marching early next day (Rabi' I. 15th), we
dismounted at Parsrur. There Muh. *AlI Jang-jang, Khwaja
Husain and several braves waited on me. As the enemy's camp
seemed to be on the Labor side of the Ravi, we sent men out
under Bujka for news. Near the third watch of the night they
brought word that the enemy, on hearing of us, had fled, no man
looking to another.
{^Dec. 31st) Getting early to horse and leaving baggage and
train in the charge of Shah Mir Husain and Jan Beg, we
bestirred ourselves. We reached Kalanur in the afternoon, and
there dismounted. Muhammad
Mirza and 'Adil Sl.^ came
SI.
Foi. 258. to wait on me some of the begs.
there, together with
(^Jan. ist 1526 AD.) We marched early from Kalanur. On
the road people gave us almost certain news of GhazI Khan and
other fugitives. Accordingly we sent, flying after those fliers,
thecommanders Muhammadi, Ahmadl,Qutliiq-qadam, Treasurer
Wall and most of those begs who, in Kabul, had recently bent
the knee for their begship. So far it was settled That it : —
would be good indeed if they could overtake and capture the
fugitives and that, if they were not able to do this, they were
;

to keep careful watch round Milwat (Malot), so as to prevent

those inside from getting out and away. GhazI Khan was the
object of this watch.

(/. Capture of Mzlwat.)

{Jan. 2nd and jrd) After starting those begs ahead, we
crossed the Blah-water (Beas) opposite Kanwahin 3 and dis-
mounted. From there we marched to the foot of the valley of
Fort Milwat, making two night-halts on the way. The begs who
' diin,f. 260 and note.

= These were both refugees from Harat.

3 Sarkar of Batala, in the Bar! du-ab (A.-i-A. Jarrett, p. no).
 932 AH.— OCT. 18th 1525 TO OCT. 8th 1526 AD. 459

had arrived before us, and also those of Hindustan were ordered
to dismount in such a way as to besiege the place closely.
A grandson of Daulat Khan, son of his eldest son 'All Khan,
Isma'Il Khan by name, came out of Milwat to see me he took ;

back promise mingled with threat, kindness with menace.

i^Jan. Sth) On Friday (Rabf I. 21st) I moved camp forward
to within a mile of the fort, went myself to examine the place,
posted right, left and centre, then returned to camp.
Daulat Khan sent to represent to me that GhazI Khan had Fol. 258^.

fled into the hills, and that, if his own faults were pardoned, he
would take service with me and surrender Milwat. Khwaja
Mir-i-mlran was sent to chase fear from his heart and to escort
him out he came, and with him his son *Ali Khan. I had
;

ordered that the two swords he had girt to his waist to fight
me with, should be hung from his neck. Was such a rustic
blockhead possible With things as they were, he still made
!

pretensions When he was brought a little forward, I ordered

!

the swords to be removed from his neck. At the time of our

seeing one another' he hesitated to kneel I ordered them to
;

pull his leg and make him do so. I had him seated quite in

front, and ordered a person well acquainted with Hindustani to

interpret my words to him, one after another. Said I, " Thus

speak : —
I called thee Father. I shewed thee more honour and

respect than thou couldst have asked. Thee and thy sons
I saved from door-to-door life amongst the Baluchls.^ Thy
family and thy haram I freed from Ibrahim's prison-house.3
Three krors I gave thee on Tatar Khan's lands.-^ What ill
sayest thou I have done thee, that thus thou shouldst hang a
sword on thy either side,5 lead an army out, fall on lands of
ours,^ and stir strife and trouble ? " Dumbfounded, the old man

kilrushur waqt (Index s.7i. kiirush).

'

Babur's phrasing suggests beggary.

-

3 This might refer to the time when Ibrahim's commander Bihar (Bahadur) Khan

Nuhanl \.oo\i Labor (Translator's Note in loco p. 441).

They were his father's. Erskine estimated the 3 krors at ;i{^75,ooo.
'^

s shiqq,
what hangs on either side, perhaps a satirical reference to the ass' burden.
^ As illustrating Babur's claim to rule as a Timurid in Hindustan, it may be noted

that in 814 ah. (141 1 ad.), Khizr Khan who is allowed by the date to have been
a Sayyid ruler in Dihll, sent an embassy to Shahrukh Mirza the then Timurid ruler
of Samarkand to acknowledge his suzerainty (Maila^ti' s-sa^dain, Quatremere, N. et
Ex. xiv, 196).
 46o HINDUSTAN
Fol. 259. stuttered a few words, but he gave no answer, nor indeed could
answer be given to words so silencing. He was ordered to
remain with Khwaja Mir-i-mlran.
{Ja7t. 6tJi) On Saturday the 22nd of the first Rabi', I went
myself to safeguard the exit of the families and harains ^ from
the dismounting on a rise opposite the Gate. To me there
fort,

came Khan and made offering of a few ashrafis. People

'All
began to bring out the families just before the Other Prayer.
Though Ghazi Khan was reported to have got away, there were
who said they had seen him in the fort. For this reason several
of the household and braves^ were posted at the Gate, in order
to prevent his escape by a ruse, for to get away was his full
intention.3 Moreover if jewels and other valuables were being
taken away by stealth, they were to be confiscated. I spent

that night in a tent pitched on the rise in front of the Gate.

{Jan. yth) Early next morning, Muhammad!, Ahmadi, SI.
Junaid, 'Abdu'l-'azlz, Muhammad 'All Jang-jang and Qutluq-
qadam were ordered to enter the fort and take possession of all
Fol. 259^. effects. As there was much disturbance at the Gate, I shot off
a few arrows by way of chastisement. Humayun's story-teller
{qissa-klnvdti) was struck by the arrow of his destiny and at
once surrendered his life.
{Jan. yth and 8th) After spending two nights'^ on the rise,
I inspected the fort. I went into GhazT Khan's book-room ;5

some of the precious things found in it, I gave to Humayun,

some sent to Kamran (in Qandahar). There were many books
of learned contents,^ but not so many valuable ones as had at
first appeared. I passed that night in the fort next morning ;

I went back to camp.

{Jan. ^th) It had been in our minds that GhazI Khan was in
the fort, but he, a man devoid of nice sense of honour, had

' Firishta says that Babur mounted for the purpose of preserving the honour of the
Afghans and by so doing enabled the families in the fort to get out of it safely (lith.
ed. p. 204).
^ chuhra ; they will have been of the Corps of braves {ylglt ; Appendix H.
section c. ).

3 ktm kullt gharz aul aldl

Pers. trs. ka gharz-i-kulli-i-au bud.
',

* Persice, the eves of Sunday and Monday ; Anglice, Saturday and Sunday nights.
s Ghaz! Khan was learned and a poet (Firishta ii, 42).
^ mullaydna khiid, perhaps books of learned topic but not in choice copies.
 932 AH.— OCT. ISxH 1525 TO OCT. 8th 1526 AD. 461

escaped to the hills, abandoning father, brethren and sisters in

Milwat.
See that man
without honour who never
The good luck shall behold
face of ;

Bodily ease he chose for himself,

In hardship he left wife and child {Gidistan cap. i, story 17).

camp on Wednesday, we moved

{Jan. lotJt) Leaving that
towards the which GhazI Khan had fled. When we
hills to

dismounted in the valley-bottom two miles from the camp in

the mouth of Milwat,^ Dilawar Khan came and waited on me.
Daulat Khan, 'All Khan and Ismail Khan, with other chiefs,
were given into Kitta Beg's charge who was to convey them to
the Bhira fort of Milwat (Malot),^ and there keep guard over Fol. Jx>.

them. In agreement with Dilawar Khan, blood-ransom was

fixed for some who had been made over each to one man some ;

gave security, some were kept prisoner. Daulat Khan died

when Kitta Beg reached Sultanpur with the prisoners.3
Milwat was given into the charge of Muh. A\\ Jang-jang who,'

pledging his own life for it, left his elder brother Arghun and
a party of braves in it. A body of from 200 to 250 Afghans
were told off to reinforce him.
Khwaja Kalan had loaded several camels with Ghaznl wines.
A party was held in his quarters overlooking the fort and the
whole camp, some drinking 'araq, some wine. It was a varied

party.

{in. Jaswdn-valley.)
Marching on, we crossed a low hill of the grazing-grounds
{arghd-ddl-liq) of Milwat and went into the dun, as Hindustanis

^
257.
f. It stands in 31° 50' N. and 76° E. (G. of I.).
="
This is on the Salt-range, in 32° 42' N. and 72° 50' E. {Ayln-i-akbarl \x?,. Jarrett,
ij 325 Provincial Gazetteer, Jihlam District).
;

3 He died therefore in the town he himself built. Kitta Beg probably escorted
the Afghan families from Milwat also ; Dilawar Khan's own seems to have been there
already (f. 257),
The Babiir-ndtna makes no mention of Daulat Khan's relations with Nanak,
the founder of the Sikh religion, nor does it mention Nanak himself. tradition A
exists that Nanak, when on his travels, made exposition of his doctrines to an
attentive Babur and that he was partly instrumental in bringing Babur against the
Afghans. He was 12 years older than Babur and survived him nine. (Cf. Dabistan
lith. ed. p. 270 ; and, for Jahanglr Padshah's notice of Daulat Khan, Tiizuk-i-
jahangirl, Rogers and Beveridge, p. 87).

32
 462 HINDUSTAN
are understood to call a dale ^julgci)} In this dale is a running-
water^ of Hindustan along its sides are many villages and it
; ;

is said to be the pargana of the Jaswal, that is to say, of

Dilawar Khan's maternal uncles. It lies there shut-in, with

meadows along its torrent, rice cultivated here and there, a three
or four mill-stream flowing in its trough, its width from two to
Fol. 26o(^. four miles, six even in places, villages on the skirts of its hills

hillocks they are rather —where there are no villages, peacocks,

monkeys, and many fowls which, except that they are mostly of
one colour, are exactly like house-fowls.
As no reliable news was had of Ghazi Khan, we arranged for
Tardlka to go with Blrlm Deo Malinhds and capture him
wherever he might be found.
In the hills of this dale stand thoroughly strong forts one on ;

the north-east, named Kutila, has sides 70 to 80 yards {qdrt)

of straight fall, the side where the great gate is being perhaps
7 or 8 yards.3 The width of the place where the draw-bridge
is made, may be 10 to 12 yards. Across this they have made
a bridge of two by which horses and herds are taken
tall trees^
over. This was one of the local forts GhazI Khan had
strengthened ; his man
have been in it now. Our raiders
will

{chdpqunchi) assaulted and had almost taken it when night

it

came on. The garrison abandoned this difficult place and went
off. Near this dale is also the stronghold of Ginguta it is girt ;

' I translate dun by dale because, as its equivalent, Babur uses jtilga by which he
describes a more pastoral valley than one he calls a dara.
^ bir aqar-su. Babur's earlier uses of this term \g.v. index] connect it with the
swift flow of water in irrigation channels ; this may be so here but also the term may
make distinction between the rapid mountain-stream and the slow movement of rivers
across plains.
3 There are two readings of this sentence ; Erskine's implies that the neck of land
connecting the fort-rock with its adjacent hill measures 7-8 qari (yards) from side to
side ; de Courteille's that where the great gate was, the perpendicular fall surrounding
the fort shallowed to 7-8 yards. The Turk! might be read, I think, to mean which-
ever alternative was the fact. Erskine's reading best bears out Babur's account of
the strength of the fort, since it allows of a cleft between the hill and the fort some

140-160 feet deep, as against the 21-24 of de Courteille's. Erskine may have been in
possession of information [in 1826] by which he guided his translation (p. 300), "At
its chief gate, for the space of 7 or 8 gez {qart), there is a place that admits of a draw-
bridge being thrown across ; it may be 10 or \2gez wide." If de Courteille's reading
be correct in taking 7-8 qarl only to be the depth of the cleft, that cleft may be
artificial.
^ yighdch, which also means wood.
F
m
i:)2 AH.— OCT, 18th 1525 to OCT. 8th 1526 AD.

round by precipices as Kutila is, but is not so strong as Kutila.

As has been mentioned 'Alam Khan went into it.^

(n. Bdbur advances against Ibrahim?)

463

Fol. 261.

After despatching the light troop against GhazI Khan, I put

my foot in the stirrup of resolution, set my hand on the rein of
God, and moved forward against Sultan Ibrahim, son of
trust in
Sultan Sikandar, son of BuhlulLudi Afghan, in possession of
whose throne at that time were the Dihll capital and the
dominions of Hindustan, whose standing-army was called a lak
(100,000), whose elephants and whose begs' elephants were
about 1000.
At the end of our first stage, I bestowed Dibalpur on BaqI
shaghdwal^ and sent him to help Balkh^ sent also gifts, taken
;

in the success of Milwat, for (my) younger children and various

train in Kabul.
When we had made one or two marches down the (Jaswan)
dun. Shah 'Imad arrived from Araish Khan and Mulla
^/^fr^^-i"

Muhammad Mazhab,^ bringing letters that conveyed their good

wishes for the complete success of our campaign and indicated
their effort and endeavour towards this. In response, we sent,
by a foot-man, royal letters expressing our favour. We then
marched on.
' f. 257.

^ chief scribe (f. 13 n. to 'Abdu'l-wahhab). Shaw's Vocabulary explains the word

as meaning also a " high official of Central Asian sovereigns, who is supreme over all
qazis and viullds.
3 Babur's persistent interest in Balkh attracts attention, especially at this time so

shortly before he does not include it as part of his own territories (f. 270).
Since I wrote of Balkh s.a. 923 ah. (15 17 AD.), I have obtained the following
particulars about it in that year ; they are summarized from the Hablbu^ s-siyar (lith.
ed. 371).
iii, In 923 ah. Khwand-amir was in retirement at Pasht in Ghurjistan where
also was Muhammad-i-zaman Mirza. The two went in company to Balkh where the
Mirza besieged Babur's man Ibrahim chapuk (Slash-face), and treacherously murdered
one Aurdu-shah, an envoy sent out to parley with him. Information of what was
happening was sent to Babur in Kabul. Babur reached Balkh when it had been
besieged a month. His presence caused the Mirza to retire and led him to go into
the Dara-i-gaz (Tamarind-valley). Babur, placing in Balkh Faqir-i-'all, one of those
just come up with him, followed the Mirza but turned back at Aq-gumbaz (White-
dome) which lies between Chach-charan in the Heri-rud valley and the Ghurjistan
border, going no further because the Ghurjistanls favoured the Mirza. Babur went
back to Kabul by the Firuz-koh, Yaka-aulang (cf. f. 195) and Ghur ; the Mirza was
followed up by others, captured and conveyed to Kabul.
Both were amirs of Hind. I understand the cognomen Mazhab to imply that
its bearer occupied himself with the Muhammadan Faith in its exposition by divines
of Islam {Hughes' Dictionary of Islam).
 464 • HINDUSTAN
(0.
^
Alain Khan takes refuge with Bdbu7\)
The light troop we had sent out from Milwat (Malot), took
Hurur, Kahlur and all the hill-forts of the neighbourhood
places to which because of their strength, no-one seemed to have
gone for a long time — and came back to me after plundering
a little. Came also 'Alam Khan, on foot, ruined, stripped bare.

We sent some of the begs to give him honourable meeting,

sent horses too, and he waited {inaldzamat qildi) in that
Fol. 261^. neighbourhood.^
Raiders of ours went into the hills and valleys round-about,
but after a few nights' absence, came back without anything to
count. Shah Mir Husain, Jan Beg and a few of the braves
asked leave and went off for a raid.

{p. Incidents of the march for Pdm-pat.)

While we letters had come
were in the (Jaswan) dun, dutiful
more than once from Isma'Il fihvdni and Biban we replied to ;

them from this place by royal letters such as their hearts

desired.After we got out of the dale to Rupar, it rained very
much and became so cold that a mass of starved and naked
Hindustanis died.
When we had left Rupar and were dismounted at Karal,^
opposite Sihrind, a Hindustani coming said, " I am SI. Ibrahim's
envoy," and though he had no letter or credentials, asked for an
envoy from us. We responded at once by sending one or two
SawadI night-guards {tunqitdr).'^ These humble persons Ibrahim
put in prison ; they made their escape and came back to us on
the very day we beat him.
After having halted one night on the way, we dismounted on
the bank of the torrent^ of Banur and Sanur. Great rivers

These incidents are included in the summary of *Alam Khan's affairs in section /
*

(f. 255^). It will be observed that Babur's wording implies the " waiting" by one
of lower rank on a superior.
^ Elph. MS. Karnal, obviously a clerical error.

3 Shaikh Sulaiman Effendi (Kunos) describes a ttmqitar as the guardian in war of

a prince's tent ; a night-guard ; and as one who repeats a prayer aloud while a prince
is mounting.
4 rud, which, inappropriate for the lower course of the Ghaggar, may be due to

Babur's visit to its upper course described immediately below. As has been noted,
however, he uses the word riid to describe the empty bed of a mountain-stream as
well as the swift water sometimes filling that bed. The account, here-following, of
his visit to the upper course of the Ghaggar is somewhat difficult to translate.
Fapart,
call
932 AH.— OCT. 18th 1525 to OCT. 8th 1526 AD.

one running water there is in Hindustan, is this^ they

the water of Kakar (Ghaggar).
it Chitr also is on its bank.
We rode up it for an excursion. The rising-place {ziJt) of the
;
465

water of this torrent {rud) is 3 or 4 ku7'ohs {6-Z m.) above Chitr.

Going up the (Kakar) torrent, we came to where a 4 or 5 mill-
stream issues from a broad (side-)valley {dara), up which there Fol. 262.

are very pleasant places, healthy and convenient. I ordered

a Char-bagh to be made at the mouth of the broad valley of

this (tributary) water, which falls into the (Kakar-) torrent after
flowing for one or two kurohs through level ground. From its
infall to the springs of the Kakar the distance may be
3 to 4 kurohs (6-8 m.). When it comes down in flood during the
rains and joins the Kakar, they go together to Samana and
Sanam.^
In this camp we heard that SI. Ibrahim had been on our side
of Dihll and had moved on from that station, also that Hamid
Khan khdsa-khail,^ the military-collector {shiqddr) of Hisar-
iflruza, had left that place with its army and with the army of its
neighbourhood, and had advanced 10 or 15 kurohs (20-30 m.).
Kitta Beg was sent for news to Ibrahim's camp, and Mumin
Ataka to the Hisar-firuza camp.

( q. Humdyun moves against Hainid Khan?)

Marching from Ambala, we dismounted by the
{Feb. 2^th)
side of a lake. There Mumin Ataka and Kitta Beg rejoined
us, both on the same day, Sunday the 13th of the first Jumada.

We appointed Humayun to act against HamId Khan, and

joined the whole of the right (wing) to him, that is to say,
Khwaja Kalan, SI. Muhammad Dillddt, Treasurer Wall, and
also some of the begs whose posts were in Hindustan, namely,
Khusrau, Hindu Beg, 'Abdu'l-'azlz and Muhammad 'Ah Jang-
jang, with also, from the household and braves of the centre.
Shah Mansur Barlds, Kitta Beg and Muhibb-i 'all. Foi. 262.5.

'
Hindustdnda darydldrdln bdshqa, blr agdr-su kivi bar {dur, is added by the
Elph. MS.), bu dur. Perhaps the meaning is that the one (chief?) irrigation stream,
apart from great rivers, is the Ghaggar. The bed of the Ghaggar is undefined and
the water is consumed for irrigation (G. of I. xx, 33 ;Index s.n. agdr-su).
^ in Patiala. Maps show what may be Baburs strong millstream joining the
Ghaggar.
3 Presumably he was of Ibrahim's own family, the Sahu-khail. His defeat was
opportune because he was on his way to join the main army.
 466 HINDUSTAN
Biban waited on me in this camp. These Afghans remain
very rustic and tactless ! This person asked to
sit although

Dilawar Khan, his superior in following and in rank, did not sit,
and although the sons of 'Alam Khan, who are of royal birth,
did not sit. Little ear was lent to his unreason !

At dawn on Monday the 14th Humayun moved

{Feb. 26th)
out against Hamld Khan. After advancing for some distance,
he sent between 100 and 150 braves scouting ahead, who went
close up to the enemy and at once got to grips. But when
after a few encounters, the dark mass of HumayQn's troops
shewed in the rear, the enemy ran right away. Humayun's men
unhorsed from 100 to 200, struck the heads off one half and
brought the other half
in, together with 7 or 8 elephants.

{March 2nd) On Friday the i8th of the month. Beg Mirak

Mughal brought news of Humayun's victory to the camp. He
(Humayun ?) was there and then given a special head-to-foot
and a special horse from the royal stable, besides promise of
guerdon {jiildu).
{March ^th) On Monday the 25th of the month, Humayun
arrived to wait on me, bringing with him as many as 100
prisoners and 7 or ^ elephants. Ustad 'All-qull and the
Fol. 263. matchlockmen were ordered to shoot all the prisoners, by way
of example. This had been Humayun's first affair, his first
experience of battle it was an excellent omen
; !

Our men who had gone in pursuit of the fugitives, took

Hisar-flruza at once on arrival, plundered it, and returned to us.
It was given in guerdon to Humayun, with all its dependencies

and appurtenances, with it also a kror of money.

We marched from that camp to Shahabad. After we had
despatched a news-gatherer {til-tutdr kisht) to SI. Ibrahim's
camp, we stayed a few days on that ground. Rahmat the
foot-man was sent with the letters of victory to Kabul.

(;'. News of Ibrahim.)

{March ijth) On Monday the 28th of the first Jumada,' we
being in that same camp, the Sun entered the Sign of the Ram.

^ At this place the Elphinstone Codex has preserved, interpolated in its text, a note
of Humayun's on his first use of the razor. Part of itis written as by Babur :
r
m News had
hai come
932 AH.— OCT. 18th 1525 to OCT. 8th 152G AD.

again and again from Ibrahim's camp,

coming, marching two miles
each camp two days," or
"

days ". We for our part

or " four miles
" three
", " stopping in
" He
467

is

advanced from Shahabad and after halting on two nights,

reached the bank of the Jun-river (Jumna) and encamped
opposite Sarsawa. From that ground Khw^aja Kalan's servant
Haidar-qull was sent to get news (/f/ tfitd).
Having crossed the Jun-river at a ford, I visited Sarsawa.
That day also we ate mdjiin. Sarsawa^ has a source {chasJmia)
from which a smallish stream issues, not a bad place Tardi !

Beg kJidksdr praising it, I said, " Let it be thine !

" so just Fol. 263*.

because he praised Sarsawa was given to him

it, !

I had a platform fixed in a boat and used to go for

excursions on the river, sometimes too made the marches down
it. Two bank had been made when, of those
marches along its

sent to gather news, Haidar-qull broughtword that Ibrahim had

sent Daud Khan {Ludi) and Hatim Khan {Lildi) across the
river into the Mlan-du-ab (Tween-waters) with 5 or 6000 men,
and that these lay encamped some 6 or 7 miles from his own.

{s. A successful encounter.)

{April 1st) On Sunday the 18th of the second Jumada,

we sent, to ride light against this force, Chln-tlmur Sultan,^

"Today in this same camp the razor or scissors was appHed to Humayun's face."
Part signed by Humayun
is :
—
" As the honoured dead, earlier in these Acts {wdgi^dt)
mentions the first application of the razor to his own face (f. 120), so in imitation of
him I mention this. I was then at the age of 18 now I am at the age of 48, I who
;

am the sub-signed Muhaminad Humayun." A

scribe's note attests that this is
" copied from the hand- writing of that honoured one ". As Humayun's 48th (lunar)
birthday occurred a month before he left Kabul, to attempt the re-conquest of
Hindustan, in November 1554 AD. (in the last month of 961 AH.), he was still 48
(lunar) years old on the day he re-entered Dihll on July 23rd 1555 ad. (Ramzan 1st
962 AH.), so that this " shaving passage " will have been entered within those dates.
That he should study his Father's book at that time is natural his grandson Jahanglr
;

did the same when going to Kabul ; so doubtless would do its author's more remote
descendants, the sons of Shah-jahan who reconquered Transoxiana.
(Concerning the " shaving passage " vide the notes on the Elphinstone Codex in
JRAS. 1900 p. 443, 451 1902 p. 653 1905 p. 754; and 1907 p. 131-)
; ;

' This ancient town of the Saharanpur district is associated with a saint revered by
Hindiis and Muhammadans. Cf. W. Crooke's Popular Religion of Northern India
P" 133- Ifs chashvia may be inferred (from Babur's uses of the word q.v. Index) as
a water-head, a pool, a gathering place of springs.
^ He was the eighth son of Babur's maternal-uncle SI. Ahmad Khan Chaghatdl -a-nA

had fled to Babur, other brothers following him, from the service of their eldest
brother Mansur, Khaqan of the Mughuls {Tarlkh-i-rashldl Xx?,. p. 161).
 468 HINDUSTAN
Mahdl Khwaja, Muhammad SI. Mirza, *Adil Sultan, and the
whole of the left, namely, SI. Junaid, Shah Mir Husain, Qutluq-
qadam, and with them also sent *Abdu'l-lah and Kitta Beg (of
the centre). They crossed from our side of the water at the
Mid-day Prayer, and between the Afternoon and the Evening
Prayers bestirred themselves from the other bank. Biban
having crossed the water on pretext of this movement, ran away.
{April 2nd) At day-break they came upon the etiemy ^ he ;

made as if coming out in a sort of array, but our men closed

with his at once, overcame them, hustled them off, pursued and
unhorsed them till they were opposite Ibrahim's own camp.
Hatim Khan was one of those unhorsed, who was Daud Khan
{Ltidtys elder brother and one of his commanders. Our men
brought him in when they waited on me. They brought also
Fol. 264. 60-70 prisoners and 6 or 7 elephants. Most of the prisoners,
by way of warning, were made to reach their death-doom.

(/. Preparations for battle.)

While we were marching on in array of right, left and centre,

the army was numbered ^ it did not count up to what had
;

been estimated.
At our next camp it was ordered that every man in the army
should collect carts, each one according to his circumstances.
Seven hundred carts {ardba) were brought 3 in. The order given

/arz-wagit, when there is light enough to distinguish one object from another.
'

^ dim kuruldi (Index s.n. dim). Here the L. & E. Memoirs inserts an explanatory
passage in Persian about the dim. It will have been in one of the IVagi^dt-i-bdburi
A/SS. Erskine used ; it is in Muh. ShirazVs lithograph copy of the Udaipur Codex
(p- J 73)- It is not in the TurkI text or in all the MSS. of the Persian translation.
Manifestly, it was entered at a time when Babur's term dim kuruldi requires explana-
tion in Hindustan. The writer of it himself does not make details clear he says only,
;

"It is manifest that people declare (the number) after counting the mounted army in
the way agreed upon amongst them, with a whip or a bow held in the hand." This
explanation suggests that in the march-past the troops were measured off as so many
bow- or whip-lengths (Index s.n. dim).
3 These ardba may have been the baggage-carts of the army and also carts procured

on the spot. Erskine omits ^Memoii-s p. 304) the words which show how many carts
were collected and from whom. Doubtless it would be through not having these
circumstances in his mind that he took the ardba for gun-carriages. His incomplete
translation, again, led Stanley Lane-Poole to write an interesting note in his Bdbur
(p. 161) to support Erskine against de Courteille (with whose rendering mine agrees)
by quoting the circumstance that Humayun had 700 guns at Qanauj in 1540 ad. It
must be said in opposition to his support of Erskine's " gun-carriages " that there is
no textual or circumstantial warrant for supposing Babur to have had guns, even if
r
§ to
in
chains,
Ustad
Ottoman
932AH.-OCT. 18th

'Ali-qull
^
was that these
1525 TO OCT. 8th 1526

carts should be joined together

raw hide instead of
fashion, but using ropes of
and that between every two carts 5 or 6 mantelets should
AD. 469

be fixed, behind which the matchlockmen were to stand to fire.

To allow of collecting all appliances, we delayed 5 or 6 days in
that camp. When everything was ready, all the begs with such
braves as had had experience in military affairs were summoned
to a General Council where opinion found decision at this :

Pani-pat^ is there with its crowded houses and suburbs. It

would be on one side of us our other sides must be protected
;

by carts and mantelets behind which our foot and matchlockmen

would stand. With so much settled we marched forward, halted
one night on the way, and reached Panl-pat on Thursday the
last day (29th) of the second Jumada (April 12th).

(u. The opposed forces?)

On our right was the town of Pani-pat with its suburbs in ;

front of us were the carts and mantelets we had prepared on ;

our left and elsewhere were ditch and branch. At distances of Fol. 264^.

an arrow's flights sally-places were left for from 100 to 200

horsemen.
Some in the army were very anxious and of fear. Nothing full

recommends anxiety and fear. For why ? Because what God

has fixed in eternity cannot be changed. But though this is so,
it was no reproach to be afraid and anxious. For why ? Because
those thus anxious and afraid were there with a two or three
months' journey between them and their homes our affair was ;

made in parts, in such number as to demand 700 gun-carriages for their transport.
What guns Babur had at Panl-pat have been brought from his Kabul base ; if he
will
had acquired any, say from Labor, he would hardly omit to mention such an important
reinforcement of his armament if he had brought many guns on carts from Kabul, he
;

must have met with transit-difiiculties harassing enough to chronicle, while he was
making that long journey from Kabul to Pani-pat, over passes, through skirt-hills and
many fords. The elephants he had in Bigram may have been his transport for what
guns he had he does not mention his number at Pani-pat ; he makes his victory a
;

bow-man's success ; he can be read as indicating that he had two guns only.
' These Ottoman (text, Kutnl, Roman) defences Ustad 'Ali-quli may have seen at
the battle of Chaldiran fought some 40 leagues from Tabriz between SI. SalTm Riimi
and Shah Isma'il Safawl on Rajab 1st 920 ah. (Aug. 22nd 1514 ad. ). Of this battle
Khwand-amir gives a long account, dwelling on the effective use made in it of chained
carts and palisades {Habibii's-siyar iii, part 4, p. 78 ; Akbar-ndma trs. i, 241).
Is this the village of the Pani Afghans ?
="

3 Index s. n. arrow.
 470 HINDUSTAN
with a foreign tribe and people ; none knew their tongue, nor
did they know ours :

A wandering band, with mind awander ;

In the grip of a tribe, a tribe unfamiliar. ^

People estimated the army opposing us at 100,000 men ;

Ibrahim's elephants and those of his amirs were said to be about

1000. hands was the treasure of two forbears.^ In
In his
Hindustan, when work such as this has to be done, it is
customary to pay out money to hired retainers who are known
as b:d-hindi? If it had occurred to Ibrahim to do this, he might
have had another lak or two of troops. God brought it right
Ibrahim could neither content his braves, nor share out his
treasure. How should he content his braves when he was ruled
by avarice and had a craving insatiable to pile coin on coin ?
He was an unproved brave 4 he provided nothing for his ;

Fol. 265. military operations, he perfected nothing, nor stand, nor move,
nor fight.

In the interval at Panl-pat during which the army was

preparing defence on our every side with cart, ditch and branch,
Darwish-i-muhammad Sdrbdn had once "With such
said to me,
precautions taken, how is it possible for him to come ? " Said
I,
" Are you likening him to the Auzbeg khans and sultans ?
^ rareshan jamH II jam''i pareshan ;
Giriftdr qaiiml ti qatiinl ''aja'ib.
These two lines do not translate easily without the context of their original place of
occurrence. I have not found their source.
= i.e. of his father and grandfather, Sikandar and Buhlul,

3 As to the form of this word the authoritative MSS. of the TurkI text agree and

with them also numerous good ones of the Persian translation. I have made careful
examination of the word because it is replaced or explained here and there in MSS.
by s:hb:ndi, the origin of which is said to be obscure. The sense of b:d-hindl and
oi s:hh:ndl is the same, i.e. irregular levy. The word as Babur wrote it must have
been understood by earlier Indian scribes of both the TurkI and Persian texts of the
Bdbur-ndma. Some light on its correctness may be thought given by Hobson Jobson
(Crooke's ed. p. 136) s.n. Byde or Bede Horse, where the word Byde is said to be an
equivalent of pinddri, liltl, and gdzzdg, raider, plunderer, so that Babur's word
b:d-hindl may mean gdzzdg of Hind. Wherever I have referred to the word in many
MSS. it is pointed to read b:d, and not p:d, thus affording no warrant for under-
standing /<a^, foot, foot-man, infantry, and also negativing the spelling bid, i.e. with
a long vowel as in Byde.
It may be noted here that Muh. Shlrdzl (p. 174) substituted s:hb:ndi for Babur's
word and that this led our friend the late William Irvine to attribute mistake to
de Courteille who follows the Turki text {Army of the MughUls p. 66 and Mimoires
ii, 163).
bl tajarba ytgft aldt of which the sqnse may be that Babur ranked Ibrahim, as
'^

a soldier, with a brave who has not yet proved himself deserving of the rank of beg.
It cannot mean that he was a youth {ylglt) without experience of battle.
 932AH.-OCT. 18th 1525 TO OCT. 8th 1526 AD. 471

In what of movement under arms or of planned operations is

he to be compared with them ? " God brought it right ! Things

fell out just as I said !

{Author'' s note on the Ailzbeg chiefs.) When I reached Hisar in the year
I left Samarkand (918 AH.-1512 AD.), andAuzbeg khans and sultans
all the
gathered and came against us, we brought
the families and the goods of the
Mughuls and soldiers into the Hisar suburbs and fortified these by closing the
lanes. As those khans and sultans were experienced in equipment, in planned
operations, and in resolute resistance, they saw from our fortification of Hisar
that we were determined on life or death within it, saw they could not count
on taking it by assault and, therefore, retired at once from near Nundak of
Chaghanian.

{y. Preliminary encounters?)

During the 7 or 8 days we lay in Panl-pat, our men used to
go, a few together, close up camp, rain arrows down
to Ibrahim's
on his massed troops, cut off and bring in heads. Still he made Fol. 2653.

no move nor did his troops sally out. At length, we acted on

;

the advice of several Hindustani well-wishers and sent out 4 or

5000 men to deliver a night-attack on his camp, the leaders of
itbeing Mahdl Khwaja, Muhammad SI. Mirza, 'Adil Sultan,
Khusrau, Shah Mir Husain, SI. Junaid Barlds, 'Abdu'l-'azlz the
Master of the Horse, Muh. 'All Jafig-Jang, Qutluq-qadam,
Treasurer Wall, Khahfa's Muhibb-i-'all, Pay-master Muhammad,
Jan Beg and Qara-quzl. It being dark, they were not able to
act together well, and, having scattered, could effect nothing on
arrival. They stayed near Ibrahim's camp till dawn, when the
nagarets sounded and troops of his came out in array with
elephants. Though our men did not do their work, they got
off safe and sound ; not a man of them was killed, though they
were in touch with such a mass of foes. One arrow pierced
Muh. 'All Jang-jang's leg though the wound was not mortal,
;

he was good-for-nothing on the day of battle.

On hearing of this affair, I sent off Humayun and his troops
to go 2 or 3 miles to meet them, and followed him myself with
the rest of the army in battle-array. The party of the night-
attack joined him and came back with him. The enemy making
no further advance, we returned to camp and dismounted. That
night a false alarm fell on the camp for some 20 minutes (one
;

gari) there were uproar and call-to-arms the disturbance died ;

down after a time. Fol. 266.

472 HINDUSTAN
(w. Battle of Pdni-pat})
On Friday the 8th of Rajab,^ news came, when
{April 20th)
it wasenough to distinguish one thing from another {farz-
light
waqti) that the enemy was advancing in fighting-array. We
at once put on mail,3 armed and mounted.^ Our right was
Humayun, Khwaja Kalan, Sultan Muhammad Dulddi, Hindu
Beg, Treasurer Wall and Pir-qull Sistdni\ our left was
Muhammad SI. Mirza, Mahdl Khwaja, *Adil Sultan, Shah Mir
Husain, SI. Junaid Barlds, Qutluq-qadam, Jan Beg, Pay-master
Muhammad, and Shah Husain (of) YaragI Mughid Ghdnchi{})^
The right hand of the centre ^ was Chln-tlmur Sultan, Sulaiman
Mirza,7 MuhammadI Kukuldash, Shah Mansur Barlds, Yunas-i-
Darwish-i-muhammad Sdrbdn and 'Abdu'1-lah the librarian.
*alT,

The left of the centre was Khalifa, Khwaja Mir-i-miran,

Secretary Ahmadi, Tardi Beg (brother) of Quj Beg, Khalifa's
Muhibb-i-*all and Mirza Beg Tarkhan. The advance was
Khusrau Kukuldash and Muh. *Ah Jang-jang. 'Abdu'l-'azlz
' Well-known are the three decisive historical battles fought near the town of
Pani-pat, viz. those of Babur and Ibrahim in 1526, of Akbar and Himu in 1556, and
of Ahmad Abddll with the Mahratta Confederacy in 1761. The following lesser
particulars about the battle-field are not so frequently mentioned {i) that the scene
:

of Babur's victory was long held to be haunted, Badayuni himself, passing it at dawn
some 62 years later, heard with dismay the din of conflict and the shouts of the com-
l)atants ; (//) that Babur built a (perhaps commemorative) mosque one mile to the
n.e. of the town ; (///) that one of the unaccomplished desires of Sher Shah Sfa; the
conqueror of Babur's son Humayun, was to raise two monuments on the battle-field
of Pani-pat, one to Ibrahim, the other to those Chaghatai sultans whose martyrdom
he himself had brought about ; {iv) that in 1910 ad. the British Government placed
a monument to mark the scene of Shah AbdalVs victory of 1 761 ad. This monument
would appear, from Sayyid Ghulam-i-'ali's Nigar-navia-i-hhid, to stand close to the
scene of Babur's victory also, since the Mahrattas were entrenched as he was outside
the town of Pani-pat. (Cf. E. & D. viii, 401.)
This important date is omitted from the L. & E. Memoirs.
="

3 This wording will cover armour of

man and horse.
< atlandfik, Pers. trs. suwar shudtm.
Some later oriental writers locate Babur's
e at two or more miles from the town of Pani-pat,
l)att
and Babur's word afldnduk
might imply that his cavalry rode forth and arrayed outside his defences, but his
narrative allows of his delivering attack, through
the wide sally-ports, after arraving
behind the carts and mantelets which checked his adversary's
swift advance. The
Mahrattas, who may have occupied the same ground
as Babur, fortified themselves
*^^" ^^ '^"^' *-^ ^^'''"g powerful artillery against them. Ahmad Shah
"IzL^-S'"^^]-''
^bdali s defence against them was an ordinary ditch
and abbatiis, [Babur's ditch and
branch,] mostly oi dhiU- trees {Buteafrondosa),
a local product Babur also is likely to
have used.
5 The preceding three words seem
to distinguish this Shah Husain from several
others of his name and n^ay imply that he
was the son of Ydra^i Mtighiil
^ Ghdnchi
(Index and I.O. 217 f. 184/^ 1. 7). "^^

^ For Babur's terms vide f.

209^5.
7 This is Mirza Khan's son, i.e. Wais Miran-shahV s.
 932 AH.— OCT. 18th 1525 to OCT. 8th 1526 AD. 473

t the Master of the Horse was posted as the reserve. For the
turning-party {tnlghuma) at the point of the right wing,^ we
fixed on Red Wah and MaHk Qasim (brother) of Baba Qashqa,
with their Mughuls ; for the turning-party at the point of the
left wing, we arrayed Qara-quzi, Abu'l-muhammad the lance-
player, Shaikh Jamal Bdi^m's Shaikh 'All, Mahndi(?) and
Tingrl-blrdi Bashaghi {}) MugJnil\ these two parties, directly
the enemy got near, were to turn his rear, one from the right,
the other from the left. Fol. 2663.

When the dark mass of the enemy first came in sight, he

seemed to incline towards our right ; 'Abdu'l-'azlz, who was the
right-reserve, was sent therefore to reinforce the right. From
the time that SI. Ibrahim's blackness first appeared, he moved
swiftly, straight for us, without a check, until he saw the dark
mass of our men, when his pulled up and, observing our formation
and array ,^ made as if asking, " To stand or not ? To advance
or not ?
" They could not stand ; nor could they make their
former swift advance.
Our orders were for the turning-parties to wheel from right
and left to the enemy's rear, to discharge arrows and to engage
in the fight ; and for the right and left (wings) to advance and
join battle with him. The turning-parties wheeled round and
began to rain arrows down. Mahdl Khwaja was the first of the
left to engage he was faced by a troop having an elephant with
;

it his men's flights of arrows forced it to retire.

; To reinforce
the left I sent Secretary Ahmad! and also Quj Beg's Tardi Beg
and Khahfa's Muhibb-i-'ali. On the right also there was some
stubborn fighting. Orders were given forMuhammadi Kukuldash,
Shah Mansur Barlds, and 'Abdu'1-lah to engage
Yunas-i-*all
those facing them in front of the centre. From that same
position Ustad 'All-qull made good discharge oi firingi ^\vo\.s ;3

' A dispute for this right-hand post of honour is recorded on f. \QOb, as also in
accounts of CuUoden.
^ tartlb tc yasal, which may include, as Erskine took it to do, the carts and
mantelets ; of these however, Ibrahim can hardly have failed to hear before he rode
out of camp.
3 f. '2.\']h and note ; Irvine's Army of the Indian Mugkuls "p. 133. Here Erskine
notes {Alems. p. 306) " The size of these artillery at this time is very uncertain. The
•word firingi is now (1826 ad.) used in the Deccan for a swivel. At the present day,
zarb-zan in common usage is a small species of swivel. Both words in Babur's time
 474 HINDUSTAN

Mustafa the commissary for his part made excellent discharge

Foi. 267. of zarb'San shots from the left hand of the centre. Our right,

left, centre and turning-parties having surrounded the enemy,

rained arrows down on him and fought ungrudgingly. He

made one or two small charges on our right and left but under
our men's arrows, fell back on his own centre. His right and
left hands {qui) were massed in such a crowd that they could
neither move forward against us nor force a way for flight.

When the incitement to battle had come, the Sun was spear-
high ;mid-day fighting had been in full force noon passed,
till ;

the foe was crushed in defeat, our friends rejoicing and gay.
By God's mercy and kindness, this difficult affair was made easy
for us In one half-day, that armed mass was laid upon the
!

earth. Five or six thousand men were killed in one place close
to Ibrahim. Our estimate of the other dead, lying all over the
field, was 1 5 to 1 6,000, but it came to be known, later in Agra
from the statements of Hindustanis, that 40 or 50,000 may have
died in that battle.^
The foe defeated, pursuit and unhorsing of fugitives began.
Our men brought in amirs of all ranks and the chiefs they
captured mahauts made offering of herd after herd of elephants.
;

Ibrahim was thought to have fled ; therefore, while pursuing

Kol. 267*^. the enemy, we told off Qismatal Mirza, Baba chuhra and Bujka
of the khasa-tdbln ^ to lead swift pursuit to Agra and try to
take him. We passed through his camp, looked into his own
enclosure {sardcha) and quarters, and dismounted on the bank
of .standing-water {qard-su).

appear to have Iwen used for field-cannon." _ (For an account of guns, intermediate
in date Iwtween Babur and Erskine, see the Ayln-i-akbari. Cf. f. 264 n. on the carts
{arCiha). )

• Although the authority of the Tarikh-i-salatln-i-afaghdna is not weighty its

reproduction of Afghan opinion is worth consideration. It says that astrologers fore-
told Ibrahim's defeat that his men, though greatly outnumbering Babur's, were
;

out-of-heart through his ill-treatment of them, and his amirs in displeasure against
him, but that never-the-less, the conflict at Pani-pat was more desperate than had
ever Iwen seen. It states that Ibrahim fell where his tomb now is {i.e. in circa
ic»2 AM.-1594 AD.) that Babur went to the spot and, prompted by his tender
;

heart, lifted up the head of his dead adversary, and said, "Honour to your courage !",
ordered brocade and sweetmeats made ready, enjoined Dilawar Khan and Khalifa to
bathe the corpse and to bury it where it lay (E. & D. v, 2). Naturally, part of the
reverence shewn to the dead would be the burial together of head and trunk.
="
f. 209A and App, H. section c. Baba chuhra would be one of the corps of braves.
 932 AEL— OCT. 18th 152.3 TO OCT. 8th 1526 AD. 475

It was the Afternoon Prayer when Khahfa's younger brother-

^ who had found Ibrahim's body
in-law Tahir TibrI in a heap of
dead, brought in his head.

(x. Detachments sent to occupy Dihli and Agra?)

On same day we appointed Humayun Mirza ^ to
that very
ride fast and Hght to Agra with Khwaja Kalan, Muhammadi,
Shah Man.sur Barlds, Yunas-i-'ah, 'Abdu'1-lah and Treasurer
Wah, to get the place into their hands and to mount guard over
the treasure. We fixed on Mahdi Khwaja, with Muhammad
SI. Mirza, 'Adil Sultan, SI. Junaid Barlds and Qutliiq-qadam to

leave their baggage, make sudden incursion on Dihll, and keep

watch on the treasuries.3
{April 2ist) We marched on next day and when we had gone
2 miles, dismounted, for the sake of the horses, on the bank of
the Jun (Jumna).
{April 24th) On Tuesday (Rajab 12th), after we had halted
on two nights and had made the circuit of Shaikh Nizamu'd-din
Auliyd's tomb-^ we dismounted on the bank of the Jun over
against DihlT.5 That same night, being Wednesday-eve, we made
an excursion into the fort of Dihll and there spent the night
{April 2^ th) Next day (Wednesday Rajab 13th) I made the
circuit of Khwaja Qutbu'd-dln's ^ tomb and visited the tombs
and residences of SI. Ghiyasu'd-din Balban 7 and SI. 'Alau'u'd-dln

' He was a brother of Muhibb-i- 'all's mother.

- To give Humayun the title Mirza may be a scribe's lapse, but might also be
a nuance of Babur's, made to shew, with other minutiae, that Humayun was in chief
command. The other minute matters are that instead of Humayun's name being the
first of a simple series of commanders' names with the enclitic accusative appended
to the last one (here Wall), as is usual, Humayun's name has its own enclitic ni ;
and, again, the phrase is ^ Humayfm tvith''' such and such begs, a turn of expression
differentiating him from the rest. The same unusual variations occur again, just below,
perhaps with the same intention of shewing chief command, there of Mahdl Khwaja.
3 A
small matter of wording attracts attention in the preceding two sentences.
Babur, who does not always avoid verbal repetition, here constructs two sentences
which, except for the place-names Dihll and Agra, convey information of precisely
the same action in entirely different words.
* d. 1325 AD. The places Babur visited near Dihll are described in the Reports
of the Indian Archaeological Survey, in Sayyid Ahmad's Asar Sanddldy^. 74-85, in
Keene's Hand-book to Dihll and Murray's Hand-book to Bengal etc. The last two
quote much from the writings of Cunningham and Fergusson.
5 and on the same side of the river.
^ d. 1235 AD. He was a native of Aiish [Ush] in Farghana.
7 d. 1286 AD. He was a Slave ruler of Dihll.
 476 HINDUSTAN
Fol. 268. Khilji,^ his Minar, and the Hauz-shamsl, Hauz-i-khas and the
tombs and gardens of SI. Buhlul and SI. Sikandar {Ludi).
Having done this, we dismounted at the camp, went on a boat,
and there 'ai'aq was drunk.
We
bestowed the Military Collectorate {shiqddrlighi) of Dihll
on Red Wall, made Dost Dlwan in the Dihll district, sealed the
treasuries, and made them over to their charge.
{April 26th) On Thursday we dismounted on the bank of the
Jun, over against Tughluqabad.^

(j'. The khutba read for Bdbur in Dihli.)

{April 2'jtJi) On
Friday (Rajab 15th) while we remained on
the same ground, Maulana Mahmud and Shaikh Zain went with
a few others into Dihll for the Congregational Prayer, read the
khutba in my name, distributed a portion of money to the poor
and needy,3 and returned to camp.
{April 28tli) Leaving that ground on Saturday (Rajab i6th),
we advanced march by march for Agra. I made an excursion
to Tughluqabad and rejoined the camp.
{May ph) On Friday (Rajab 22nd), we dismounted at the
mansion {manzil) of Sulaiman Farmulim a suburb of Agra, but
as the place was far from the fort, moved on the following day
to Jalal Y^\v2i\-i Jig:hafs house.
On Humayun's arrival at Agra, ahead of us, the garrison had
made excuses and false pretexts (about surrender). He and his
noticing the want of discipline there was, said, " The long hand
may be laid on the Treasury " and so sat down to watch the
!

roads out of Agra till we should come.

' *Alau'u'd-din Muh. Shah Khiljl Turk d. 13 16 ad. It is curious that Babur
should specify visiting his Minar (mindri, Pers. trs. I.O. 217 f. l85<6, mmdr-i-au) and
not mention the Qutb Minar. Possibly he confused the two. The 'Ala! Minar
remains unfinished the Qutb is judged by Cunningham to have been founded by
;

Qutbu'd-din Albak Turk, circa 1200 ad. and to have been completed by SI. Shamsu'd-
din Altamsh (AUtimish ?) Turk, circa 1220 ad. Of the two tanks Babur visited, the
Royal-tank (ffciuz-i-khdz) was made by 'Alau'u'd-dln in 1 293 ad.
" The familiar Turk! word Tughluq
would reinforce much else met with in Dihli
to strengthen Babur's opinion that, as a Turk, he had a right to rule there. Many,
if not all, of the Slave dynasty were Turks these were followed by the Khilj! Turks,
;

these again by the Tughluqs. Moreover the Panj-ab he had himself taken, and lands
on both sides of the Indus further south had been ruled by Ghaznawid Turks. His
latest conquests were "where the Turk had ruled" (f. 22bb) long, wide, and with
interludes only of non-Turk! sway.
3 Perhaps this charity was the Khavis (Fifth) due from
a victor.
w
^^r
P (z.
932 AH.— OCT.

The great diamond?)

18th 1525 TO OCT. 8th 1526 AD.

In Sultan Ibrahim's defeat the Raja of Guallar Bikramajit the

477

Hindu had gone to hell.^ Fol. 268^.

{^Author's note on Bikramajit.) The ancestors of Bikramajit had ruled in

Gualiar for more than a hundred years. ^ Sikandar {Ludt) had sat down in
Agra for several years in order to take the fort ; later on, in Ibrahim's time,
'Azim Humayiin Sarwani^hzA completely invested it for some while ; following
this, it was taken on terms under which Shamsabad was given in exchange
for it.-*

Bikramajit's children and family were in Agra at the time of

Ibrahim's defeat. When Humayiin reached Agra, they must
have been planning to flee, men (to watch
but his postings of
the roads) and guard was kept over them.
prevented this
Humayiin himself did not let them go {bdrghdlt qmmds). They
made him a voluntary offering of a mass of jewels and valuables
amongst which was the famous diamond which *Alau'u'd-dln
must have brought.5 Its reputation is that every appraiser has
estimated its value at two and a half days' food for the whole
world. Apparently it weighs 8 tnisqals^ Humayun offered it
to me when I arrived at Agra I just gave it him back.
;

{aa.Ibrahim's mother and entourage.)

Amongst men of mark who were in the fort, there were Malik

I Dad Kardm, Mill! Surduk and Firuz Khan Miwdti. They,

being convicted of false dealing, were ordered out for capital
punishment. Several persons interceded for Malik Dad Kardni
and four or five days passed in comings and goings before the
' Bikramajit was a Tunur Rajput. Babur's unhesitating statement of the Hindu's
destination at death may be called a fruit of conviction, rather than of what modern
opinion calls intolerance.
2 120 years (Cunningham's Report
of the Archaeological Survey ii, 330 et seq.).
3 The Tdi'lkh-i-sher-shahi tells a good deal about the man who bore this title, and

also about others who found themselves now in difficulty between Ibrahim's tyranny
and Babur's advance (E. & D. iv, 301).
Gualiar was taken from Bikramajit in 15 18 ad.
"*

s i.e. from the

Deccan of which 'Alau'u'd-din is said to have been the first Mu-
^ammadan invader. An account of this diamond, identified as the Koh-i-nur, is given
in Hobson Jobson but its full history is not told by Yule or by Streeter's Great
Diamonds of the World, neither mentioning the presentation of the diamond by
Humayun to Tahmasp of which Abu'1-fazl writes, dwelling on its overplus of payment
for all that Humayun in exile received from his Persian host {Akbar-ndma trs. i,
349
and note; Astatic Quarterly Review, April 1899 H. Beveridge's art. Bdbur' s diamond
was it the Koh-i-nfir?).
^320 ratis (Erskine). The rati is 2. 171 Troy grains, or in picturesque primitive
equivalents, is 8 grains of rice, or 64 mustard seeds, or 512 poppy-seeds,
weights which Akbar fixed in cat's-eye stones.
uncertain —
33
 478 HINDUSTAN
matter was arranged. We then shewed to them (all?) kindness
and favour in agreement with the petition made for them, and
we restored them all their goods. ^ A pm-gana worth 7 laks ^
was bestowed on Ibrahim's mother parganas were given also
;

to these begs of his.3 She was sent out of the fort with her old
servants and given encamping-ground {yilrt) two miles below
Fol. 269. Agra.
{May lotli) I entered Agra at the Afternoon Prayer of
Thursday (Rajab 28th) and dismounted at the mansion {manzit)
of SI. Ibrahim.

EXPEDITIONS OF TRAMONTANE MUHAMMADANS

INTO HIND.
{a. Bdbur's Jive attempts on Hindustan.)

From the date 910 at which the country of Kabul was con-
quered, down to now (932 AH.) (my) desire for Hindustan had
been constant, but owing sometimes to the feeble counsels of
begs, sometimes to the non-accompaniment of elder and younger
brethren,'^ a move on Hindustan had not been practicable and its
territorieshad remained unsubdued. At length no such obstacles
were left no beg, great or small {beg begat) of lower birth,5 could
;

speak an opposing word. In 925 ah. ( i 5 19 AD.) we led an army

out and, after taking Bajaur by storm in 2-3^^^/(44-66 minutes),
and making a general massacre of its people, went on into Bhira.
Bhira we neither over-ran nor plundered we imposed a ransom ;

on its people, taking from them in money and goods to the value
' Babur's plurals allow the supposition that the three men's lives were spared.
Malik Dad served him thenceforth.
Erskine estimated these as dams and worth about ;^i 750, but this may be an
"

underestimate {H. of I. i, App. E.).

3 " These begs of his " (or hers) may be the three
written of above.
These will include cousins and his half-brothers Jahanglr and Nasir as opposing
before he took action in 925 ah. (1519 ad. ). The time between 910 ah. and 925 ah.
at which he would most desire Hindustan is after 920 ah. in which year he returned
defeated from Transoxiana.
5 kichik karim, which here seems to make
contrast between the ruling birth of
members of his own family and the lower birth of even great begs still with him.
Where the phrase occurs on f. 295, Erskine renders it by "down to the dregs", and
de CourteiUe (u, 235) by "aSf ioutes les hotiches'' but neither translation appears to
me to suit Babur's uses of the term, inasmuch as both seem to go too low (cf. f. 270^).
 932 AH.— OCT. 18th 1525 to OCT. 8th 1526 AD. 479

of 4 laks of shdhrukhis and having shared this out to the army

and auxiliaries, returned to Kabul. From then till now we
army
laboriously held tight ^ to Hindustan, five times leading an
into The fifth time, God the Most High, by his own mercy
it.^

and favour, made such a foe as SI. Ibrahim the vanquished and
loser, such a realm as Hindustan our conquest and possession.

{b. Three invaders from Trainontana.)

From the time of the revered Prophet down till now 3 three
men from that side 4 have conquered and ruled Hindustan. SI.
Mahmud Ghdzl^ was the first, who and whose descendants sat
long on the seat of government in Hindustan. SI. Shihabu'd-din FoL 269^.

of Ghur was the second,^ whose slaves and dependants royally

shepherded 7 this realm for many years. I am the third.
But my task was not like the task of those other rulers. For
why ? Because SI. Mahmud, when he conquered Hindustan, had
the throne of Khurasan subject to his rule, vassal and obedient to
him were the sultans of Khwarizm and the Mdirc\\Qs{Ddru' l-ntarz),
and under his hand was the ruler of Samarkand. Though his
army may not have numbered 2 laks, what question is there that
it ^ was one. Then again, rajas were his opponents all Hindu- ;

stan was not under one supreme head {pddshdh), but each raja
ruled independently in his own country. SI. Shihabu'd-din again,
—though he himself had no rule inKhurasan, his elder brother
Ghiyasu'd-din had it. The Tabaqdt-i-ndsiri^ brings it forward

^ aiiirushub, Pers. trs. chaspida, stuck to.

^ The expedition is fixed by the preceding passage as in 925 ah. which was
first
indeed the first time a passage of the Indus is recorded. Three others are found
recorded, those of 926, 930 and 932 AH. Perhaps the fifth was not led by Babur in
person, and may be that of his troops accompanying Alam Khan in 93 1 AH.
' But
he may count into the set of five, the one made in 910 ah. which he himself meant
to cross the Indus. Various opinions are found expressed by European writers as to
the dates of the five.
3 Muhammad died 632 ad. (il AH.).

Tramontana, n. of Hindu-kush. For particulars about the dynasties mentioned

by Babur see Stanley Lane- Poole's Muhammadan Dynasties.
s Mahmud
of Ghazni, a Turk by race, d. 1030 ad. (421 AH.).
* known as Muh. Ghiiri, d. 1206 ad. (602 ah.).

7 suruhturldr, lit. drove them like sheep (cf. f.

154^).
^ khud, itself, not Babur's only Hibernianism.

^ "This is an excellent history of the Musalman world down to the time of SI. Nasir

of Dihll A.D. 1252. It was written by Abu 'Umar Minhaj al Jurjanl. See Stewart's
catalogue of Tipoo's Library, p. 7 " (Erskine). It has been translated by Raverty.
 48o HINDUSTAN
that he once led into Hindustan an army of 120,000 men and
horse in mail.^ His opponents also were rals and rajas one ;

man did not hold all Hindustan.

That time we came to Bhira, we had at most some 1500 to
2000 men. We had made no previous move on Hindustan with
an army equal to that which came the fifth time, when we beat
SI. Ibrahim and conquered the realm of Hindustan, the total
written down for which, taking one retainer with another, and
Fol. 270. with traders and servants, was 12,000. Dependent on me were
the countries of Badakhshan, Qunduz, Kabul and Qandahar, but
no reckonable profit came from them, rather it was necessary to
reinforce them fully because several lie close to an enemy. Then
again, all Mawara'u'n-nahr was in the power of the Auzbeg khans
and sultans, an ancient foe whose armies counted up to 100,000.
Moreover Hindustan, from Bhira to Bihar, was in the power of
the Afghans and in it SI. Ibrahim was supreme. In proportion
to his territory his army ought to have been 5 laks, but at that
time the Eastern amirs were in hostility to him. His army was
estimated at 100,000 and people said his elephants and those of
his amirs were 1000.
Under such conditions, in this strength, and having in my rear
100,000 old enemies such as are the Auzbegs, we put trust in God
and faced the ruler of such a dense army and of domains so wide.
As our trust was in Him, the most high God did not make our
labour and hardships vain, but defeated that powerful foe and
conquered that broad realm. Not as due to strength and effort
of our own do we look upon this good fortune, but as had solely
through God's pleasure and kindness. We know that this
happiness was not the fruit of our own ambition and resolve, but
that it was purely from His mercy and favour.

DESCRIPTION OF HINDUSTAN.
{a. Hindustan^
The country of Hindustanis extensive, full of men, and full
Fol. ^^ob. of produce. Onthe east, south, and even on the west, it ends at
its great enclosing ocean {muhit daryd-st-gha). On the north
' bargustwan-iuar ; Erskine, cataphract horse.
 932 AH.— OCT. 18th 1525 to OCT. 8th 1526 AD. 481

it has mountains which connect with those of Hindu-kush,

Kafiristan and Kashmir. North-west of it He Kabul, Ghaznl
and Qandahar. Dihh is held {airhnisJt) to be the capital of the
whole of Hindustan. From the death of Shihabu'd-din Ghuri
(d. 602 AH. —
1206 AD.) to the latter part of the reign of SI. Firiiz
—
Shah {Tughluq Turk d. 790 AH. 1388 AD.), the greater part of
Hindustan must have been under the rule of the sultans of Dihll.

{b. Rulers contemporary with Bdbur's conquest.)

At the date of my conquest of Hindustan it was governed by

five Musalman rulers {pddshdhy and two Pagans {kdjir). These
were the respected and independent rulers, but there were also,
in the hills and jungles, many rals and rajas, held in little esteem
{kichik karini).
were the Afghans who had possession of Dihll, the
First, there

capital, and held the country from Bhira to Bihar. Junpur, before
their time, had been in possession of SI. Husain 5/^^r^f (Eastern)^
whose dynasty Hindustanis call PurabI (Eastern). His ancestors
will have been cup-bearers in the presence of SI. Firuz Shah
and those (Tughluq) sultans they became supreme in Junpur
;

after his death.3 At that time Dihli was in the hands of

SI. 'Alau'u'd-dln ('Alam Khan) of the Sayyid dynasty to whose

ancestor Timur Beg had given it when, after having captured it,
he went away.^ SI. Buhlul Ludi and his son (Sikandar) got
possession of the capital Junpur and the capital Dihll, and
brought both under one government (881 ah. 147^ AD.). —
Secondly, there was SI. Muhammad Muzaffer in Gujrat he ;

departed from the world a few days before the defeat of

SI. Ibrahim. He was skilled in the Law, a ruler {pddshdh) seeking Fol. 271.

after knowledge, and a constant copyist of the Holy Book. His

dynasty people call Tank.5 His ancestors also will have been
^ The numerous instances of the word pddshdh in this part of the Bdbur-ndma
imply no such distinction as attaches to the title Emperor by which it is frequently
translated (Index s.n. pddshdh).
d. 1500 AD. (905 AH.).
=*

3 d. 1388 AD. (790 AH.).

* The ancestor mentioned appears to be Nasrat Shah, a grandson of Firuz Shah

Tughluq (S. L. -Poole p. 300 and Beale, 298).

s His family
belonged to the Rajput sept of Tank, and had become Muhammadan
in the person of Sadharan the first ruler of Gujrat (Crooke's Tribes and Castes;
Mirdt-i-sikandari, Bayley p. 67 and n. ).
 482 HINDUSTAN
wine-servers to SI. Firuz Shah and those (Tughluq) sultans ;
they
became possessed of Gujrat after his death.
Thirdly, there were the Bahmanis of the Dakkan (Deccan, i.e.

South), but at the present time no independent authority is left

them their great begs have laid hands on the whole country,
;

and must be asked for whatever is needed.^

Fourthly, there was SI. Mahmud
in the country of Malwa,

which people Mandau.^ His dynasty they call Khillj

call also

{Turk). Rana Sanga had defeated SI. Mahmud and taken

possession of most of his country. This dynasty also has
become feeble. SI. Mahmud's ancestors also must have been
cherished by SI. Firuz Shah ; they became possessed of the
Malwa country after his death.3
Fifthly, there was Nasrat Shah 4 in the country of Bengal.
His father (Husain Shah), a sayyid styled 'Alau'u'd-dln, had
ruled in Bengal and Nasrat Shah attained to rule by inheritance.
A surprising custom in Bengal is that hereditary succession is
rare. The royal office is permanent and there are permanent
offices of amirs, wazTrs and mansab-dars (officials). It is the

office that Bengalis regard with respect. Attached to each

office is a body of obedient, subordinate retainers and servants.
If the royal heart demand that a person should be dismissed
Fol. 271/5. and another be appointed to sit in whole body of
his place, the
subordinates attached to that office become the (new) office-
holder's. There is indeed this peculiarity of the royal office
itself thatany person who kills the ruler {pddshdk) and seats
himself on the throne, becomes ruler himself; amirs, wazirs,
soldiers and peasants submit to him at once, obey him, and
recognize him for the rightful ruler his predecessor in office had
been.-^ Bengalis say, " We are faithful to the throne ; we loyally

'
S. L. -Poole p. 316-7.
' Mandau (Mandu) was the capital of Malwa.
3 Stanley Lane-Poole shews (p. 311) a dynasty of three Ghuris interposed between
the death of Firuz Shah in 790 AH. and the accession in 839 AH. of the first Khilji
ruler of Gujrat Mahmud Shah.
* He reigned from 1518 to 1532 ad.
(925 to 939 ah. S.L.-P. p. 308) and had to
wife a daughter of Ibrahim Ludi {Riyazu! s-saldtln). His dynasty was known as the
Husain-shahi, after his father.
s " Strange as this custom may seem, a similar one prevailed down to a very late
period in Malabar. There was a jubilee every 12 years in the Samorin's country, and
any-one who succeeded in forcing his way through the Samorin's guards and slew
 932 AH.— OCT. 18th 1525 to OCT. 8th 1526 AD. 483

obey whoever occupies it." As for instance, before the reignof

Nasrat Shah's father 'Alau'u'd-dln, an Abyssinian {Habshz,
named Muzaffar Shah) had killed his sovereign (Mahmud
Shah Ilyds), mounted the throne and ruled for some time.
*Alau'u'd-din killed that Abyssinian, seated himself on the throne
and became ruler. When
he died, his son (Nasrat) became
ruler by inheritance. Another Bengali custom is to regard it
as a disgraceful fault in a new ruler if he expend and consume
the treasure of his predecessors. On coming to rule he must
gather treasure of his own. To amass treasure Bengalis regard
as a glorious distinction. Another custom in Bengal is that
from ancient times pai'ganas have been assigned to meet the
charges of the treasury, stables, and all royal expenditure and
to defray these charges no impost is laid on other lands.
These five, mentioned above, were the great Musalman rulers,
honoured in Hindustan, many-legioned, and broad-landed. Of
the Pagans the greater both in territory and army, is the Raja
of Bljanagar.^ Fol. 272.

The second is Rana Sanga who in these latter days had

grown great by his own valour and sword. His original country
was Chitur in the downfall from power of the Mandau sultans,
;

he became possessed of many of their dependencies such as

Rantanbur, SarangpOr, Bhllsan and ChandlrT. Chandlrl I stormed
in 934 AH. (1 528 A.D.)^ and, by God's pleasure, took it in a few
hours in it was Rana Sanga's great and trusted man Midnl
;

him, reigned in his stead. '

A jubilee is proclaimed throughout his dominions at the
end of 12 years, and a tent is pitched for him in a spacious plain, and a great feast
is celebrated for 10 or 12 days with mirth and jollity, guns firing night and day, so,

at the end of the feast, any four of the guests that have a mind to gain a throne by
a desperate action in fighting their way through 30 or 40,000 of his guards, and kill
the Samorin in his tent, he that kills him, succeeds him in his empire.' See Hamilton's
New Account of the East Indies vol. i. p. 309. The attempt was made in 1695, ^^"d
again a very few years ago, but without success" (Erskine p. 311).
—
The custom Babur writes of it is one dealt with at length in Frazer's Golden
—
Bough would appear from Blochmann's Geography and History of Bengal (JASB
1873 P- 286) to have been practised by the Habsh! rulers of Bengal of whom he
quotes Faria y Souza as saying, " They observe no rule of inheritance from father to
son, but even slaves sometimes obtain it by killing their master, and whoever holds
it three days, they look upon as established by divine providence. Thus it fell out
that in 40 years space they had 13 kings successively,"
' No doubt this represents Vijayanagar in the Deccan.
^ This date places the composition of the Description
of Hindustan in agreement
with Shaikh Zain's statement that it was in writing in 935 AH.
 484 HINDUSTAN
Rao we made;
general massacre of the Pagans in it and, as will
be narrated, converted what for many years had been a mansion
of hostility, into a mansion of Islam.
There are very many rals and rajas on all sides and quarters
of Hindiistan, some obedient to Islam, some, because of their
remoteness or because their places are fastnesses, not subject to
Musalman rule.

{c. Of Hindustan.)
Hindustan is of the first climate, the second climate, and
the third climate ; of the fourth climate it has none. It is

a wonderful country. Compared with our countries it is a

different world ; its mountains, rivers, jungles and deserts, its

towns, its cultivated lands, its animals and plants, its peoples
and their tongues, its rains, and its winds, are all different. In
some respects the hot-country {garm-sit) that depends on Kabul,
is like Hindustan, but in others, it is different. Once the water
of Sind is crossed, everything Hindustan way {tariq)
is in the

Fol. 272^. land, water, tree, rock, people and horde, opinion and custom.

{d. Of the northern mountains?)

After crossing the Sind-river (eastwards), there are countries,
in the northern mountains mentioned above, appertaining to
Kashmir and once included in it, although most of them, as for
example, PaklT and Shahmang (?), do not now obey it. Beyond
Kashmir there are countless peoples and hordes, parganas and
cultivated lands, in the mountains. As far as Bengal, as far
indeed as the shore of the great ocean, the peoples are without
break. About this procession of men no-one has been able
to give authentic information in reply to our enquiries and
investigations. So far people have been saying that they call
these hill-men Kas} It has struck me that as a Hindustani
pronounces shin as sin {i.e. sh as s), and as Kashmir is the one
respectable town in these mountains, no other indeed being
heard of, Hindustanis might pronounce it Kasmlr.^' These
' Are they the Khas of Nepal and Sikkim ? (G. of I.).
» Here Erskine notes that the Persian (trs.) adds, " mlr signifying a
hill, and kas
being the name of the natives of the hill-country." This may not support the name
kas as correct but may be merely an explanation of Babur's meaning. It is not in
I.O. 217 f. 189 or in Muh. ShirazV% hthographed WaqVat-i-baburi ^. 190.
 932 AH.— OCT. 18th 1525 TO OCT. 8th 1526 AD. 485

people trade in musk-bags, b:hri-qutds,^ saffron, lead and

copper.
Hindis call these mountains Sawalak-parbat. In the Hindi
tongue sawdi-lak means one lak and a quarter, that is, 125,000,
?ind parbat means a hill, which makes 125,000 hills.^ The snow
on these mountains never lessens it is seen ; white from many
districts of Hind, as, for example, Lahor, Sihrind and Sambal.
The range, which in Kabul is known as HindO-kush, comes from
Kabul eastwards into Hindustan, with slight inclination to the
south. The Hindustanat^ are to the south of it. Tibet lies to
the north of it and of that unknown horde called Kas. Fol. 273.

{e. Of rivers.)
Many rivers rise in these mountains and flow through Hindu-
stan. Six rise north of Sihrind, namely Sind, Bahat (Jilam),
Chan-ab [_stc\ Rawl, Blah, and Sutluj 4 all meet near Multan,
;

flow westwards under the name of Sind, pass through the Tatta
country and fall into the *Uman(-sea).
Besides these six there are others, such as Jun (Jumna), Gang
(Ganges), Rahap (RaptI?),GumtI,Gagar (Ghaggar),Siru,Gandak,
and many more all unite with the Gang-darya, flow east under
;

its name, pass through the Bengal country, and are poured into

the great ocean. They all rise in the Sawalak-parbat.

Many rivers rise in the Hindustan hills, as, for instance,
Charnbal, Banas, Bitwl, and Siin (Son). There is no snow what-
ever on these mountains. Their waters also join the Gang-darya.

(/ Of the Ardvain.)
Another Hindiistan range runs north and south. It begins in
the Dihll country at a small rocky hill on which is Firuz Shah's

residence, called Jahan-nama,5 and, going on from there, appears

near Dihll in detached, very low, scattered here and there, rocky

Either yak or the tassels of the yak.

^
See Appendix M.
' My husband
tells me that Babur's authority for this interpretation of Sawalak
may be the Zafar-ndma (Bib. Ind. ed. ii, 149).
3 i.e. the countries of Hindustan.
* so pointed, carefully, in the Hai. MS. Mr. Erskine notes of these rivers that
they are the Indus, Hydaspes, Ascesines, Hydraotes, Hesudrus and Hyphasis.
s Ayin-i-akbari,
Jarrett 279.
 486 HINDUSTAN
Fol. 273<5. little hills/ Beyond Mlwat, it enters the Biana country. The
hills of Slkrl, Barl and Dulpur are also part of this same including
(/«/i) range. The hills of Guallar —they write it Gallur —although
they do not connect with it, are off-sets of this range ; so are the
hills of Rantanbur, Chitur, Chandlrl, and Mandau. They are cut
off from it in some places by 7 to 8 kurohs (14 to 16 m.). These
hills are very low, rough, rocky and jungly. No snow whatever
falls on them. They are the makers, in Hindustan, of several
rivers.

(^. Irrigation?)

The greater part of the Hindustan country is situated on level

land. Many though its towns and cultivated lands are, it nowhere
has running waters.^ Rivers and, in some places, standing- waters
are its "running-waters" {aqdr-sTildr^. Even where, as for some
towns, it is practicable to convey water by digging channels {ariq)^
this is not done. For not doing it there may be several reasons,
one being that water is not at all a necessity in cultivating crops
and orchards. Autumn crops grow by the downpour of the rains
themselves ; and strange it is grow even when
that spring crops
no rain falls. To young trees waterby means of
is made to flow
buckets or a wheel. They are given water constantly during two
or three years after which they need no more. Some vegetables
;

are watered constantly.

In Labor, Dibalpur and those parts, people water by means
of a wheel. They make two circles of ropes long enough to
suit the depth of the well, fix strips of wood between them, and
on these fasten pitchers. The ropes with the wood and attached
Fol. 274. pitchers are put over the well-wheel. At one end of the wheel-
axle a second wheel is fixed, and close {qdsh) to it another on
an upright axle. This last wheel the bullock turns its teeth ;

catch in the teeth of the second, and thus the wheel with the
pitchers is turned. A
trough is set where the water empties from
the pitchers and from this the water is conveyed everywhere.

» pdrcha parcha, kichlkrak klchlkrdk, anda mundd, tdshltq taqghina. The

Gazetteer of India (1907 i, i) puts into scientific words, what Babur here describes,
the ruin of a great former range.
» Here aqar-suldr might safely be replaced
by " irrigation channels" (Index s.n.).
r
W Ai
932

In Agra,
water with a bucket
AH.— OCT.

;
18th 1525 TO OCT. 8th 1526 AD.

Chandwar, Blana and those parts, again, people

this is a laborious
well-edge they set up a fork of wood, having a roller adjusted
and filthy way. At the
487

between the forks, tie a rope to a large bucket, put the rope
over the roller, other end to the bullock. One person
and tie its

must drive the bullock, another empty the bucket. Every time
the bullock turns after having drawn the bucket out of the well,
that rope lies on the bullock-track, in pollution of urine and
dung, before it descends again into the well. To some crops
needing water, men and women carry it by repeated efforts in
pitchers.^

(k. Other particulars about Hindustan?)

The towns and country
of Hindustan are greatly wanting in
charm. towns and lands are all of one sort there are no
Its ;

walls to the orchards {bdghdt), and most places are on the dead
level plain. Under the monsoon-rains the banks of some of its
rivers and torrents are worn into deep channels, difficult and Fol. 2T\b.

troublesome to pass through anywhere. In many parts of the

plains thorny jungle grows, behind the good defence of which
the people of the pargana become stubbornly rebellious and pay
no taxes.
Except for the rivers and here and there standing-waters,
there is little "running- water". So much so is this that towns
and countries subsist on the water of wells or on such as collects
in tanks during the rains.
In Hindiistan hamlets and villages, towns indeed, are
depopulated and set up in a moment ! If the people of a large
town, one inhabited for years even, flee from it, they do it in
such a way that not a sign or trace of them remains in a day or
a day and a half ^ On the other hand, if they fix their eyes on
' The verb here is tashmaq ; it also expresses to carry like ants (f. 220), presumably
from each person's carrying a pitcher or a stone at a time, and repeatedly.
^ "This" notes Erskine
(p. 315) "is the wulsa or walsa, so well described by
Colonel Wilks in his Historical Sketches vol. i. p. 309, note On the approach of '

an hostile army, the unfortunate inhabitants of India bury under ground their most
cumbrous effects, and each individual, man, woman, and child above six years of age
(the infant children being carried by their mothers), with a load of grain proportioned
to their strength, issue from their beloved homes, and take the direction of a country
(if such can be found,) exempt from the miseries of war sometimes of a strong
;

fortress, but more generally of the most unfrequented hills and woods, where they
prolong a miserable existence until the departure of the enemy, and if this should be
 488 HINDUSTAN
a place in which to settle, they need not dig water-courses or
construct dams because their crops are all rain-grown,^ and as
the population of Hindustan is unlimited, it swarms in. They
make a tank or dig a well ; they need not build houses or set
up walls — >^//^w-grass {Andropogon muricatum) abounds, wood
is unlimited, huts are made, and straightway there is a village
or a town !

{i. Fauna of Hindustan : Mammals^ —

The elephant, which Hindustanis call hdt{h)i, is one of the
wild animals peculiar to Hindustan. It inhabits the (western ?)

borders of the KalpI country, and becomes more numerous in

its wild state the further east one goes (in Kalp! ?). From this
tract it is that captured elephants are brought Karrah and ; in
Fol. 275. Manikpur elephant-catching is the work of 30 or 40 villages.^
People answer {jawdb birurldr) for them direct to the exchequer.3
The elephant is an immense animal and very sagacious. If
people speak to it, it understands ; if they command anything
from it, it does it. Its value is according to its size ; it is sold
by measure {qdrildb) ; the larger it is, the higher its price. People
protracted beyond the time for which they have provided food, a large portion
necessarily dies of hunger. ' See the note itself. The Historical Sketches should be
read by every-one who desires to have an accurate idea of the South of India. It is
to be regretted that we do not possess the history of any other part of India, written
with the same knowledge or research."
" The word wulsa or walsa is Dravidian. Telugu has valasa, ' emigration, flight,
or removing from home for fear of a hostile army. Kanarese has valas^, dlase^ and
'

dlisH, * flight, a removing from home for fear of a hostile army.' Tamil has valasei,
'flying for fear, removing hastily.' The word is an interesting one. I feel pretty
sure it is not Aryan, but Dravidian ; and yet it stands alone in Dravidian, with
nothing that I can find in the way of a root or affinities to explain its etymology.
Possibly it may be a borrowed word in Dravidian. Malayalam has no corresponding
word. Can it have been borrowed from Kolarian or other primitive Indian speech ? "
(Letter to H. Beveridge from Mr. F. E. Pargiter, 8th August, 1914.)
Wulsa seems to be a derivative from Sanscrit ulvash, and to answer to Persian
wairani and Turk! buziighlughl.
' lalml, which in Afghani (Pushtu) signifies grown without irrigation.
' "The improvement of Hindustan since The
Babur's time must be prodigious.
wild elephant is now confined to the forests under Hemala, and to the Ghats of
Malabar. A wild elephant near Karrah, Manikpur, or Kalpi, is a thing, at the
present day (1826 ad.), totally unknown. May not their familiar existence in these
countries down to Babur's days, be considered rather hostile to the accounts given of
the superabundant population of Hindustan in remote times ?" (Erskine).
3 diwan. I.O. 217 f. igoii, dar diwanfil jawab niigulnd', Mems. p. 316. They
account to the government for the elephants they take Mints, ii, 188, Les habitants
;

payent rimpdt avec h produit de leur ckasse. Though de Courteille's reading probably
states the fact, Erskine's includes de C. 's and more, inasmuch as it covers all captures
and these might reach to a surplusage over the imposts.
 932 AH.— OCT. 18th 1525 TO OCT. 8th 1526 AD. 489

rumour that
t it is heard of in some islands as 10 qdri^ high, but
in this tract it ^ is not seen above 4 or 5. It eats and drinks

entirely with its trunk ; if it lose the trunk, it cannot live. It

has two great teeth (tusks) in its upper jaw, one on each side of
its trunk ; by setting these against walls and trees, it brings
them down ; with these it fights and does whatever hard tasks
fall to it. People call these ivory ('4/, v^.r.ghdj) ; they are highly
valued by Hindustanis. The elephant has no hair.3 It is much
relied on by Hindustanis, accompanying every troop of their
armies. It has some useful qualities it crosses great rivers :
—
with ease, carrying a mass of baggage, and three or four have
gone dragging without trouble the cart of the mortar {qazdn) it
takes four or five hundred men to haul.4 But its stomach is
large one elephant eats the corn {bughiiz) of two strings {qitdr)
;

of camels.5
The rhinoceros is another. This also is a large animal, equal Fol. 275^.

in bulk to perhaps three buffaloes. The opinion current in those

countries (Tramontana) that it can lift an elephant on its horn,

I seems mistaken. It has a single horn on its nose, more than

nine inches {qdrish) long one of two qdrlsh is not seen.^ Out ;

of one large horn were made a drinking-vessel 7 and a dice-box,

leaving over [the thickness of] 3 or 4 hands.^ The rhinoceros'

Pers. trs. gaz^ii^ inches.

' // est bon de rappeler que le mot turk qari, que la
version persane rend par gaz, dhigne proprrement Vespace compris entre le haul de
Vipaule jusqt^au bout des doigts (de Courteille, ii, 189 note). The qari like one of
its equivalents, the ell (Zenker), is a variable measure ; it seems to approach more
nearlj^ to a yard than to a gaz of 24 inches. See Memoirs of Jahdngir (R. & B.
pp. 18, 141 and notes) for the heights of elephants, and for discussion of some
measures.
= khad, itself
3 i.e.
; as Erskine notes, its skin is scattered with small hairs.
pelt Details such
as this one stir the question, for whom was Babur writing ? Not for Hindustan where
what he writes is patent ; hardly for Kabul ; perhaps for Transoxania.
Shaikh Zain's wording shows this reference to be to a special piece of artillery,
perhaps that of i. 302.
s A string of camels contains from five to seven, or, in poetry, even more
(Vullers, ii, 728, sermone poetico series decern camelorum). The item of food
compared is corn only {bUghiiz) and takes no account therefore of the elephant's
green food.
^ The Ency. Br. states that the horn seldom exceeds a foot in length ; there is one
in the B. M. measuring 18 inches.
7 db-khwura kishti, water-drinker's boat, in which name kishti may be used with
reference to shape as boat is in sauce-boat. Erskine notes that rhinoceros-horn is
supposed to sweat on approach of poison.
^ aillk, Pers. trs. angushty finger, each seemingly representing about one inch,

a hand's thickness, a finger's breadth.

 490 HINDUSTAN
hide is very thick ; an arrow shot from a stiff bow, drawn with
full strength right up to the arm-pit, if it pierce at all, might
penetrate 4 inches {allik, hands). From the sides {qdsh) of its

foreand hind legs,^ folds hang which from a distance look like
housings thrown over it. It resembles the horse more than it

does any other animal.^ As the horse has a small stomach

(appetite ?), so has the rhinoceros ; as in the horse a piece of
bone (pastern ?) grows in place of small bones (T. dshuq, Fr.
osselets (Zenker), knuckles), so one grows in the rhinoceros ; as
in the horse's hand {ailik, Pers. dast) there is kumiik (or gilmuk,
a tibia, or marrow), so there
is in the rhinoceros.3 It is more

ferocious than the elephant and cannot be made obedient and

submissive. There are masses of it in the Parashawar and
Hashnagar jungles, so too between the Sind-river and the jungles
of the Bhira country. Masses there are also on the banks of
Fol. 276. the Saru-river in HindQstan. Some were killed in the Parashawar
and Hashnagar jungles in our moves on Hindustan. It strikes
powerfully with its horn men and horses enough have been ;

horned in those hunts.4 In one of them the horse of a chuhra

(brave) named Maqsud was tossed a spear's-length, for which
reason the man was nick-named the rhino's aim (jnaqsHd-i-karg).
The wild-buffalo 5 is another. It is much larger than the
(domestic) buffalo and its horns do not turn back in the same
way.^ It is a mightily destructive and ferocious animal.
The nila-gdU (blue-bull) 7 is another. It may stand as high
as a horse but is somewhat lighter in build. The male is bluish-
gray, hence, seemingly, people call it nila-gdH. It has two
rather small horns. On its throat is a tuft of hair, nine inches
long ;
(in this) it resembles the yak.^ Its hoof is cleft {atri)

' lit. hand {qui) and leg {but).

"^
The anatomical by which Babur supports this statement are difficult to
details
translate, but hisgrouping of the two animals is in agreement with the modern
classification of them
as two of the three Ungulata vera, the third being the tapir
(Fauna of British India :— Mammals, Blanford 467 and, illustration, 468).
3 De Courteille (ii, 190) reads kumiik, osseuse Erskine VGSids giimuk, marrow.
;
* Index s.n. rhinoceros.
5 Bos bubalus.
^ "so as to grow into the flesh" (Erskine, p. 317),
7 sic in text. It may be noted that the name nil-gdt, common in general European
writings, is that of the cow ; nil-gdu, that of the bull (Blanford).
8 b:h\ri qutas ; see Appendix M.
 932 AH.— OCT. 18th 1525 to OCT. 8th 1526 AD. 491

like the hoof of cattle. The doe is of the colour of the bughu-
mardl^ ; she, for her part, has no horns and is plumper than
the male.
The hog-deer {kotah-pdichd) is another.^ It may
be of the
size of the white deer {aq kiyik^. It has short hence its
legs,

name, little-legged. Its horns are like a bughu's but smaller ;

like the bilghu it casts them every year. Being rather a poor
runner, it does not leave the jungle.
Another is a deer ikiyik) after the fashion of the male deer
{airkdki hunci) o{ the j'lrdn.^ Its back is black, its belly white, its

horns longer than the hunds, but more crooked. A Hindustani Foi. 2763.

calls it word which may have been originally kdld

kalahara,^ a
-haran, black-buck, and which has been softened in pronunciation
to kalahara. The doe is light-coloured. By means of this
kalahara people catch deer they fasten a noose (Jialqa) on its
;

horns, hang a stone as large as a ball 5 on one of its feet, so as

to keep it from getting far away after it has brought about the
capture of a deer, and set it opposite wild deer when these
are seen. As these {kalahara) deer are singularly combative,
advance to fight is made at once. The two deer strike with
their horns and push one another backwards and forwards,
during which the wild one's horns become entangled in the net
that is fast to the tame one's. If the wild one would run away,
the tame one does not go it is impeded also by the stone on
;

its foot. People take many deer in this way after capture they ;

tame them and use them in their turn to take others ^ they ;

also set them to fight at home the deer fight very well.
;

There is a smaller deer {kiyik) on the Hindustan hill-skirts,

as large may-be as the one year's lamb of the arqdrghalcha
{Ovis poll).
' The doe is brown (Blanford, p. 5 18). The word bugku (stag) is used alone
just below and seems likely to represent the bull of the Asiatic wapiti (f. 4 n. on
bughii-mardl. )
^ Axis porcinus (Jerdon, Cervus porcinus).
3 Saiga tartarica (Shaw). Turki hiina is used, like English deer, for male, female,
and both. Here it seems defined by airkdki to mean stag or buck.
* Antelope cervicapra, black-buck, so called from the dark hue of its back (Yule's

H.J. s.7t. Black-buck).

s tHyiiq, underlined in
the Elph. MS. by kura, cannon-ball ; Erskine, foot-ball,
de Courteille, pierre plus grosse que la cheville {tiiydq).
^ This mode of catching antelopes is described in the Ayin-i-akbari, and is noted

by Erskine as common in his day.

 492 HINDUSTAN
The gini-zovf ^ is another, a very small one, perhaps as large
as the quchqdr (ram) of those countries (Tramontana). Its flesh

is very tender and savoury.

The monkey {matmun) is another a Hindustani calls it —
bandar. Of this too there are many kinds, one being what people
Fol. 277. take to those countries. The jugglers {liili) teach them tricks.
This kind is in the mountains of Nur-dara, in the skirt-hills of
Safid-koh neighbouring on Khaibar, and from there downwards
all through Hindustan. It is not found higher up. Its hair is

yellow, its face white, its tail not very long. —Another kind, not
found in Bajaur, Sawad and those parts, is much larger than the
one taken to those countries (Tramontana). Its tail is very
long, its hair whitish, its face quite black. It is in the mountains
and jungles of Hindustan.^ — Yet another kind is distinguished
{bald dur), quite black in hair, face and limbs.3
The nawal {niil) ^ is another. It may be somewhat smaller
than the kish. It climbs trees. Some call it the mush-i-khurma
(palm-rat). It is thought lucky.
A mouse (T. sichqdn) people call galdhri (squirrel) is another.
It is just always in trees, running up and down with amazing
alertness and speed.5

H. gaina. It is 3 feet high (Yule's H.J. s.n. Gynee). Cf. A. A. Blochmann,

*

p. 149. The ram with which it is compared may be that of Ovis amnion (Vign^'s
Kashmir etc. ii, 278).
' Here the Pers. trs. adds —
They call this kind of monkey langur (baboon, I. O.
:

217 f. 192).
3 Here the Pers. trs, adds what Erskine mistakenly attributes to Babur People : —
bring it from several islands. —
They bring yet another kind from several islands,
yellowish -grey in colour like a piistin tin (leather coat of ? ; Erskine, skin of the
fig. iin). Its head is broader and its body much larger than those of other monkeys.
It is very fierce and destructive. It is singular quod penis ejus semper sit erectus, et
nunquam non ad coitum idoneus [Erskine].
This name is explained on the margin of the Elph. MS. as ^^ rdsu, which is the
weasel of Tartary" (Erskine). Rasti is an Indian name for the s(\mrtQ\ Sciurus
indicus. The kish, with which Babur's nUl is compared, is explained by de C. as
helette^ weasel, and by Steingass as a fur-bearing animal ; the fur-bearing weasel is
{Mustelidae) putorius ermina, the ermine- weasel (Blanford, p. 165), which thus
seems to be Bahnx's kish. The alternative name Babur gives for his ««/, i.e. miish-
i-khHrma, IS, in India, that oi Sciurus paltnarum, the palm-squirrel (G. of I. i, 227)
this then, it seems that Babur's niil is. (Erskine took niil here to be the mongoose
(Herpestes mungiis) (p. 318) and Blanford, perhaps partly on Erskine's warrant,
;

gives mUsh-i-khurma as a name of the lesser mungiis of Bengal. I gather that the
name nawal is not exclusively confined even now to the mungiis.
)
s If this
t)e a tree-mouse and not a squirrel, it may be Vandeleuria oleracea (G. of
1. 1, 228).
 932 AH.— OCT. 18th 1525 TO OCT. 8th 1526 AD. 493

(y. Fauna of Hindustan : —Btrds.y

The peacock (Ar. tails) is one. It is a beautifully coloured and
splendid animal. Its form {anddvi) is not equal to its colouring
and beauty. Its body may be as large as the crane's {tHrna)
but it IS not so tall. On the head of both cock and hen are 20
to 30 feathers rising some 2 or 3 inches high. The hen has
neither colour nor beauty. The head of the cock has an
iridescent collar {tauq sUsani) its neck is of a beautiful blue
; ; FoI. 277^.

below the neck, its back is painted in yellow, parrot-green, blue

and violet colours. The flowers^ on its back are much the
smaller below the back as far as the tail-tips are [larger] flowers
;

painted in the same colours. The tail of some peacocks grows

to the length of a man's extended arms.3 It has a small tail

under its flowered feathers, like the tail of other birds this ;

ordinary tail and its primaries ^ are red. It is in Bajaur and

Sawad and below them it is not in Kunur [Kuniir] and the

;

Lamghanat or any place above them. Its flight is feebler than

the pheasant's {qirghdwal) it cannot do more than make one
;

or two short flights.5 On account of its feeble flight, it frequents

the hills or jungles, which is curious, since jackals abound in the
jungles it frequents. What damage might these jackals not do
to birds that trail from jungle to jungle, tails as long as a man's
stretch {quldck) ! Hindustanis call the peacock mor. Its flesh
is lawful food, according to the doctrine of Imam Abu Hanlfa
it is like that of the partridge and not unsavoury, but is eaten
with instinctive aversion, in the way camel-flesh is.

The parrot (H. tilti) is another. This also is in Bajaur

and countries lower down. It comes into Ningnahar and the

' The notes to this section are restricted to what serves to identify the birds Babur
mentions, though temptation is great to add something to this from the mass of
interesting circumstance scattered in the many writings of observers and lovers of
birds. I have thought it useful to indicate to what language a bird's name belongs.
^ Persian, gtil English, eyes.
;

3 gulach (Zenker, p. 720) Pers. trs. (217 f. i<)2b) yak qad-i-adm ; de Courteille,
;

brasse (fathom). These three are expressions of the measure from finger-tip to
finger-tip of a man's extended arms, which should be his height, a fathom (6 feet).
* qanat, of which here "primaries" appears to be the correct rendering, since

Jerdon says (ii, 506) of the bird that its "wings are striated black and white,
primaries and tail deep chestnut ".
s The
qirghdwal^ which is of the pheasant species, when pursued, will take several
flights immediately after each other, though none long peacocks, it seems, soon get
;

tired and take to running (Erskine).

34
 494 HINDUSTAN
Lamghanat in the heats when mulberries ripen ; it is not there
at other times. It is of many, many kinds. One sort is that
which people carry into those (Tramontane) countries. They
Fol. 278. —
make it speak words. Another sort is smaller this also they ;

make speak words. They call it the jungle-parrot. It is

numerous in Bajaur, Sawad and that neighbourhood, so much
so that 5 or 6oco fly in one flock {khait). Between it and the
one first-named the difference is in bulk in colouring they are ;

just —
one and the same. Another sort is still smaller than the
jungle-parrot. Its head is quite red, the top of its wings {i.e. the
primaries) is red also ; the tip of its tail for two hands'-thickness
is lustrous.^ The head some parrots of this kind is iridescent
of
{susam). It does not become a talker. People call it the
Kashmir parrot. — Another
sort is rather smaller than the jungle-
parrot ; its beak round its neck is a wide black collar
is black ; ;

its primaries are red. It is an excellent learner of words. We —

used to think that whatever a parrot or a shdrak {mma) might say
of words people had taught it, it could not speak of any matter
out of its own head. At this juncture ^ one of my immediate
servants Abu'l-qasim Jaldir^ reported a singular thing to me.
A parrot of this sort whose cage must have been covered up,
said, " Uncover my face ; I am stifling." And another time
when palkl bearers sat down to take breath, this parrot,
presumably on hearing wayfarers pass by, said, " Men are going
past, are you not going on ? " Let credit rest with the narrator,3
but never-the-less, so long as a person has not heard with his
own ears, he may not believe Another kind is of a beautiful
!
—
Fol. 278^. full red it has other colours also, but, as nothing is distinctly
;

remembered about them, no description is made. It is a very

beautiful bird, both in colour and form. People are understood
to make this also speak words.4 Its defect is a most unpleasant,
sharp voice, like the drawing of broken china on a copper plate.5

' Ar. barraq, as on f. 278^ last line where the Elph. MS. has barraq, marked
with the tashdid.
' This was, presumably, just
when Babur was writing the passage.
3 This sentence is in Arabic.

* A Persian note, partially expunged

from the text of the Elph. MS. is to the
effect that
4 or 5 other kinds of parrot are heard of which the revered author did
not see.
s Erskine suggests that
this may be the loory {Loriculus vernalis, Indian loriquet).
 932 AH.— OCT. 18th 1525 to OCT. 8th 1526 AD. 495

The (P.) shdrak ^ is another. It is numerous in the Lamghanat

and abounds lower down, all over Hindustan. Like the parrot,
it is of many kinds. —The kind that is numerous in the Lam-
ghanat has a black head ; its primaries {qdndt) are spotted, its

body rather and thicker^ than that of the (T.) chughur-

larger
chUq.^ People teach it to speak words. Another kind they —
call p'.nddzvali^ they bring it from Bengal
; it is black all ;

over and of much greater bulk than the shdrak (here, house-
mlnd). Its bill and foot are yellow and on each ear are
yellow wattles which hang down and have a bad appearance.5
It learns to speak well and clearly. —
Another kind of shdrak
is slenderer than the last and is red round the eyes. It

does not learn to speak. People call it the v^oodi-shdrak^

Again, at the time when (934 AH.) I had made a bridge over
Gang (Ganges), crossed it, and put my adversaries to flight,
a kind of shdrak was seen, in the neighbourhood of Laknau
and Aud (Oude), for the first time, which had a white breast,
piebald head, and black back. This kind does not learn to
speak.7

^
The birds Babur classes under the name shdrak seem to include what Gates and
Blanford (whom I follow as they give the results of earlier workers) class under
Sturnus, Eulabes and Calorftis, starling, grackle and mina, and tree-stare {Fauna
of British India, Gates, vols, i and ii, Blanford, vols, iii and iv).
^ Turk!, qabd ; Ilminsky, p. 361, tang {tund}).

3 E. D. Ross's Polyglot List of Birds, p. 314, Chighlr-chlq, Northern swallow ;

Elph. MS. f. 230^ interlined >7 (Steingass lark). The description of the bird allows
it to be Sturnus humii, the Himalayan starling (Gates, i, 520).
4 Elph. and Hai. MSS. (Sans, and Bengali) p:ndiii ; two good MSS. of the
Pers. trs, (I.G. 217 and 218) p:nddwali Ilminsky (p. 361) mind-, Erskine
;

{Mems. p. ^ig) pinddwelr, but without his customary translation of an Indian name.
The three forms shewn above can all mean "having protuberance or lump" {pinda)
and refer to the bird's wattle. But the word of the presumably well-informed
scribes of I.G. 217 and 218 can refer to the bird's sagacity in speech and he pandd-
wali, possessed of wisdom. With the same spelling, the word can translate into
the epithet religiosa, given to the wattled t?nnd by Linnaeus. This epithet
Mr. Leonard Wray informs me has been explained to him as due to the frequenting
of temples by the birds ; and that in Malaya they are found living in cotes near
—
Chinese temples. An alternative name (one also connecting with religiosa) allowed
by the form of the word is blndd-wall. H. bindd is a mark on the forehead, made
as a preparative to devotion by Hindus, or in Sans, and Bengali, is the spot of paint
made on an elephant's trunk; the meaning would thus be "having a mark".
Cf. Jerdon and Gates s. n. Eulabes religiosa.
s Eulabes intermedia,
the Indian grackle or hill-mina. Here the Pers. trs. adds
that people call it mina.
^ Calornis chalybeius, the glossy starling or tree-stare, which never descends to the

ground.
7 Sturnopastor contra, the pied mina.
 496 HINDUSTAN
The luja^ is another. This bird they call (Ar.) bu-qalamun
(chameleon) because, between head and tail, it has five or six
changing colours, resplendent ibarrdq) like a pigeon's throat.
Fol. 279. It is about as large as the kabg-i-dari'^ and seems to be the

kabg-i-dari of Hindustan. As the kabg-i-dari moves {yiirur)

on the heads {kulah) of mountains, so does this. It is in the
Nijr-au mountains of the countries of Kabul, and in the
mountains lower down but it is not found higher up. People
tell this wonderful thing about it :
—When the birds, at the
onset of winter, descend to the hill-skirts, if they come over
a vineyard, they can fly no further and are taken. God knows
the truth ! The flesh of this bird is very savoury.
The partridge {durrdj) 3 is another. This is not peculiar to
Hindustan but is also in the Garm-si?^ countries'^ ; as however
some kinds are only in Hindustan, particulars of them are given
here. The durrdj {^Frmtcolinus vulgaris) may be of the same
bulk as the kiklik 5 ; the cock's back is the colour of the hen-
pheasant {qtrghdwal-ning mdda-si) ; its throat and breast are
black, with quite white spots.^ A red line comes down on both
sides of both eyes.7 It is named from its cry ^ which is some-
thing Shir ddrani shakrak^ It pronounces shir short
like
ddram shakrak it says distinctly. Astarabad partridges are said
to cry Bdt mini tiitildr (Quick ! they have caught me). The
partridge of Arabia and those parts is understood to cry, Bi'l

' Part of the following passage about the luja (var. lukha, liicha) is verbatim with
part of that on f. 135 both were written about 934-5 AH. as is shewn by Shaikh
;

Zain (Index s.n.) and by inference from references in the text (Index j.w. B.N. date
of composition). See Appendix N.
^ Lit. mountain-partridge. There is ground for understanding that one of the
birds known in the region as monals is meant. See Appendix N.
3 Sans, chakora Ar. durrdj P. kabg ; T. klkllk.
; ;

* Here, probably, southern Afghanistan.

5 Caccabis chukur (Scully, Shaw's Vocabulary) or C. pallescens (Hume,

quoted
under No. 126 E. D. Ross' Polyglot List).
^ " In some parts of the country {i.e. India
before 1841 ad.), tippets used to be
made of the beautiful black, white-spotted feathers of the lower plumage (of the
durrdj), and were in much request, but they are rarely procurable now " {Bengal
Sporting Magazine for 1841, quoted by Jerdon, ii, 561).
f A broad collar
of red passes round the whole neck (Jerdon, ii, 558).
* Ar. durrdj means one who
repeats what he hears, a tell-tale.
9 Various translations have been made of this passage, "
I have milk and sugar"
(Erskine), ''J"ai du lait, un pen de sucre" (de Courteille), but with short sh:r, it
might be read m
more than one way ignoring milk and sugar. See Jerdon, ii, 558
and Hobson Jobson s.n. Black-partridge.
r 932AH.-OCT. 18th 1525 TO

tadawni al ni'ani (with sugar pleasure endures)

shakar ti
hen-bird has the colour of the young pheasant.
are found below Nijr-au. —
The
These birds
Another kind is called kanjdl. Its
OCT. 8th 1526 AD.

!
497

bulk may be that of the one already described. Its voice is

very like that of the kiklik but much shriller. There is little Fol. 279(J.

difference in colour between the cock and hen. It is found in

Parashawar, Hashnagar and countries lower down, but not
higher up.
T\\& p{Ji)iil-p(iikdr^ is another. Its size may be that of the
kabg-i-dari ; its shape is that of the house-cock, its colour that
of the hen. From forehead {tilmdgh) to throat it is of a beautiful
colour, quite red. It is in the Hindustan mountains.
The wild-fowl {sahrdi-tdugJi)^ is another. It flies like a
pheasant, and is not of all colours as house-fowl are. It is in
the mountains of Bajaur and lower down, but not higher up.
The chilsi {or jllsi)'^ is another. In bulk it equals th^. p{h)ul-
paikdr but the latter has the finer colouring. It is in the
mountains of Bajaur.
The shdm ^ is another. It is about as large as a house-fowl
its colour is unique {ghair mukarrar).^ It also is in the mountains
of Bajaur.
The quail (P. budand) is another. It is not peculiar to Hindiistan
but four or five kinds are so. —
One is that which goes to our
countries (Tramontana), larger and more spreading than the
(Hindustan) quail.^ — Another kind 7 is smaller than the one first

named. Its primaries and tail are reddish. It flies in flocks

like the chir {Phasianus Wallichii). — Another kind is smaller
than that which goes to our countries and is darker on throat

^ Flower-faced, Trapogon melanocepkala, the horned (sing) -monal. It is described

by Jahangir {Memoirs, R. and B., ii, 220) under the names [H. and Y .'\ phiil-paikar
and Kashmiri, sonlit.
^ Gallus sonneratii, the grey jungle-fowl.
3 Perhaps Bambusicola fytchii, the western bambu- partridge. For chll see E. D.
Ross, I.e. No. 127.
^ Jahangir {I.e.) describes, under the Kashmiri name put, what may be this bird.

It seems to be Gallus ferrugineus, the red jungle-fowl (Blanford, iv, 75).

s Jahangir
helps to identify the bird by mentioning its elongated tail-feathers,
seasonal only.
^ The migrant quail will be Coturnix communis, the grey quail, 8 inches long ;
what it is compared with seems likely to be the bush-quail, which is non-migrant and
shorter.
' Perhaps Perdieula argunda, the rock bush-quail, which flies in small coveys.
 498 HINDUSTAN
Foi. 280. and breast.^ — Another kind goes in small numbers to Kabul
it is very small, perhaps a little larger than the yellow wag-tail
{qdrcha) ^ ; they call it qurdtu in Kabul.
The Indian bustard (P. kharchdt)^ is another. It is about as
large a.sthe(T.)tu£^Mdq (Otis tarda, the great bustard), and seems
to be the tughddq of Hindustan.^ Its flesh is delicious ; of some
birds the leg is good, of others, the wing ; of the bustard all the
meat is delicious and excellent.
The florican (P. charz) 5 is another. It is rather less than the
tfighdiri ijioubara) ^ ; the cock's back is like the tughdh'Vs, and
its breast is black. The hen is of one colour.
The Hindustan sand-grouse (T. bdghri-qard) 7 is another. It is

smaller and slenderer than the bdghri-qard \_Pterocles arenarms]

of those countries (Tramontana). Also its cry is sharper.
Of the and the banks of rivers, one
birds that frequent water
is the ding^ an animal of great bulk, each wing measuring

a qiildch (fathom). It has no plumage {tilqi) on head or neck ;

a thing like a bag hangs from its neck its back is black its ; ;

breast is white. It goes sometimes to Kabul one year people ;

brought one they had caught. It became very tame if meat ;

' Perhaps Coturnix corovia?tdeltca, the black-breasted or rain quail, 7 inches long.
* Perhaps Motacilla ciireola, a yellow wag-tail which summers in Central Asia
(Oates, ii, 298). If so, its Kabul name may refer to its flashing colour. Cf. E. D.
Ross, I.e. No. 301 ; de Courteille's Dictionary which gives gdrcka, wag- tail, and
Zenker's which fixes the colour.
3 Eupodotis edwardsii ; Turki, tUghdar or tughdlri.
* Erskine noting (Mems. p. 321), that the bustard is common in the Dakkan where
it is bigger than a turkey, says it is called tnghdar and suggests that this is a corruption

of tUghdaq. The uses of both words are shewn by Babur, here, and in the next
following, account of the charz. Cf. G. of I. i, 260 and E. D. Ross I.e. Nos. 36, 40.
s Sy^heotis bengalensis
and S. aurita, which are both smaller than Otis houbara
{tiighdiri). In Hindustan S. aurita is known as likh which name is the nearest
approach I have found to Babur's [//<;a] Itikha.
^ Jerdon mentions (ii,
615) that this bird is common in Afghanistan and there
called dugdnor {tughdar, tiighdiri).
' Cf. Appendix B, since I wrote which,
further information has made it fairly safe
to say that the Hindustan baghrl-qara is Pterocles extistus, the common sand-
grouse and that the one of f. 49<5 is Pterocles arenarius, the larger or black-bellied
sand -grouse. P. exusius is said by Yule (H.
J. s.n. Rock -pigeon) to have been
miscalled rock-pigeon by Anglo-Indians, perhaps because its flight resembles the
pigeon's. This accounts for Erskine's rendering (p. 321) bdghri-qard here by rock-
pigeon.
* Leptoptilus dtibius, Hind, hargild.
Hindustanis call \t pir-i-ding (Erskine) and
peda dhauk (Blanford), both names referring, perhaps, to its pouch. It is the
adjutant of Anglo-India. Cf. f. 235.
 932 AH.— OCT. 18th 1525 to OCT. 8th 1526 AD. 499

were thrown to it, it never failed to catch it in its bill. Once it

swallowed a six-nailed shoe, another time a whole fowl, wings Fol. 280*.

and feathers, all right down.

The sdras {^Grus antigone) is another. Turks in Hindustan
call it tiwa-turnd (camel-crane). It may be smaller than the
dmg but its neck is rather longer. Its head is quite red.^ People

keep this bird at their houses ; it becomes very tame.

The mdnek'^ is another. In stature it approaches the sdras^
but its bulk is less. It resembles the lag-lag {Czconia alba, the
white stork) but is much larger ; its bill is larger and is black.
Its head is iridescent, its neck white, its wings partly-coloured ;

the tips and border-feathers and under parts of the wings are
white, their middle black.
Another stork {lag- lag) has a white neck and all other parts
black. It goes to those countries (Tramontana). It is rather
smaller than the lag-lag {Czconia alba). A Hindustani calls it
yak-rang (one colour ?).
Another stork in colour and shape is exactly like the storks
that go to those countries. Its bill is blacker and its bulk much
less than the lag-lag's {Ciconia alba).'^

Another bird resembles the grey heron {auqdr) and the lag-
lag but its bill is longer than the heron's and its body smaller
;

than the white stork's {lag-lag).

Another is the large buzak'^ (black ibis). In bulk it may
equal the buzzard (Turk!, sdr). The back of its wings is white.
It has a loud cry.
The white buzak 5 is another. Its head and bill are black.

only when young (Blanford, ii, 188).

*

Elph. MS. 7tiank:sa or 7nankld

^ Hai. MS. m:nk.
; Haughton's Bengali
Dictionary gives two forms of the name mdnek-jur and vidnak-yoi. It is Dissura
episcopus, the white-necked stork (Blanford iv, 370, who gives ?nanik-jor amongst its
Indian names). Jerdon classes it (ii, 737) as Ciconia leucocephala. It is the beef-
steak bird of Anglo-India.
3 Ciconia nigra (Blanford, iv, 369).

Under the Hindustani form, biiza, of Persian biizak the birds Babur mentions as
''

buzak can be identified. The large one is htocotis papillostis, bUza, kdla baza, black
curlew, king-curlew. The bird it equals in size is a buzzard, Turk! sdr (not Persian
sdr, starling). The king-curlew has a large white patch on the inner lesser and
marginal coverts of its wings (Blanford, iv, 3(23). This agrees with Babur's statement
about the wings of the large buzak. Its length is 27 inches, while the starling's is
9j inches.
s Ibis melanocephala, the white ibis, Pers. safed buzak, Bengali sabut bUza. It is
30 inches long.
 500 HINDUSTAN

Foi. 281. It is much one that goes to those countries,^ but

larger than the
smaller than the Hindustan buzak^
T\\& gharm-pdi ^ (spotted-billed duck) is another. It is larger
than the siina bi'irchln^ (mallard). The drake and duck are of
one colour. It is in Hashnagar at all seasons, sometimes it goes
into the Lamghanat. Its flesh is very savoury.
The shdh-murgh {Sarddzornis melanonotus, comb duck or nukta)
is another. It may be a little smaller than a goose. It has a
swelling on its bill ; back is black its flesh is excellent eating.
its ;

The zumniaj is another. It is about as large as the burgut

{Aquila chrysaetus, the golden eagle).

The Hindustan is another {Corvus comix,
(T.) dld-qdrgha of
the pied crow). slenderer and smaller than the dld-
This is

qdrgha of those countries (Tramontana). Its neck is partly

white.
Another Hindustan bird resembles the crow (T. qdrcha,
C. splendens) and the magpie (Ar. 'aqqd). In the Lamghanat
people call it the jungle-bird (P. murgh-i-jangat).^ Its head

and breast are black its wings and tail reddish its eye quite
; ;

red. Having a feeble flight, it does not come out of the jungle,
whence its name.
The great bat {? shapard)^
. is another. People call it (Hindi)
chumgddur. about as large as the owl (T. ydpdldq, Otus
It is

brachyotus\ and has a head like a puppy's. When it is thinking

of lodging for the night on a tree, it takes hold of a branch, turns
head-downwards, and so remains. It has much singularity.
The magpie (Ar. 'aqqd) is another. People call it (H. ?) niatd
{Dendrocitta rufa, the Indian tree-pie). It may be somewhat

* Perhaps, Plegadis falcinellus, the glossy ibis, which in most parts of India is
a winter visitor. Its length is 25 inches.
» Erskine suggests that this is Platalea leucorodta,
the chamach-buza, spoon-bill.
It is 33 inches long.
3 Anas poecilorhyncha. The Hai. MS. writes gharm-pai, and this is the Indian
name given by Blanford (iv, 437).
* Anas boschas. Dr. Ross notes (No. 147), from the Sangldkh, that suna is the
drake, burchln, the duck and that it is common in China to call a certain variety of
bird by the combined sex-names. Something like this is shewn by the uses of biighd
and moral q.v. Index,
s Centropus
rufipennis, the common coucal (Yule's H.J. s.n. Crow-pheasant);
H. makokha, Cuculus castaneus (Buchanan, quoted by Forbes).
« Pteropus edwardstt, the flying-fox.
The inclusion of the bat here amongst birds,
may be a clerical accident, since on f. 136 a flying-fox is not written of as a bird.
 932 AH.— OCT. 18th 1525 TO OCT. 8th 1526 AD. 501

less than the ^aqqa {Pica rusticd), which moreover is pied black
and white, while the matd is pied brown and black.
Another is a small bird, perhaps of the size oiXh^i^^sdnduldch? Fol. 2%\b.

It is of a beautiful red with a little black on its wings.

The karcha 3 is another ; it is after the fashion of a swallow
(T. qdrlughdch), but much larger and quite black.
The kuil"^ {Eudynamys orientalis, the koel) is another. It may
be as large as the crow (P. zdg) but is much slenderer. It has
a kind of song and is understood to be the bulbul of Hindustan.
Its honour with Hindustanis is as great as is the bulbul's. It

always stays in closely-wooded gardens.

Another bird is after the fashion of the (Ar.) shiqarrdk {Cissa
chinensis, the green-magpie). It clings to trees, is perhaps as
large as the green-magpie, and is parrot-green {Gecinus striolatus,
the little green-woodpecker ?).

{k. Fauna of Hindu stdn : —Aquatic animals^

One is the water-tiger (P. shir-dbi, Crocodilus palustris).^ This
is in the standing-waters. It is like a lizard (T. gilds). ^ People
say it carries off men and even buffaloes.

' Babur here uses what is both the Kabul and Andijan name for the magpie,
Ar. ^agga (Gates, i, 31 and Scully's Voc. ), instead of T. sdghizghdn or P. dam-sicha
(tail-wagger).
^ The Pers. trs. writes sdnduldch mamuld, fnamuld being Arabic for wag-tail.
De Courteille's Dictionary describes the sdnduldch as small and having a long tail,
the cock-bird green, the hen, yellow. The wag-tail suiting this in colouring is
Motacilla borealis (Gates, ii, 294 syn. Biidytes viridis, the green wag-tail) ; this, as
;

a migrant, serves to compare with the Indian " little bird", which seems likely to be
a red-start.
3 This word may represent Scully's kirich and be the Turki name for a swift,

perhaps Cypselus ajffinis.

^ This name is taken from its cry during the breeding season (Yule's H.J.

s.n. Koel).
5Babur's distinction between the three crocodiles he mentions seems to be that
of names he heard, shir-dbi, siydh-sdr, and gharidl.
^ In this passage my husband finds the explanation of two somewhat vague

statements of later date, one made by Abu'1-fazl (A. A. Blochmann, p. 65) that
Akbar called the kllds (cherry) the shdh-dlu (king-plum), the other by Jahanglr that
this change was made because kilds means lizard {/ahdngir's Memoirs, R. & B. i, 116).
What Akbar did is shewn by Babur it was to reject the Persian name kllds, cherry,
;

because it closely resembled Turki gilds, lizard. There is a lizard Stellio Lehmanni
of Transoxiana with which Babur may well have compared the crocodile's appearance
(Schuyler's Ttirkistdn, i, 383). Akbar in Hindustan may have had Varanus salvator
(6 ft. long) in mind, if indeed he had not the great lizard, al lagarto, the alligator
itself in his thought. The name kilds evidently was banished only from the Court
circle, since it is still current in Kashmir (Blochmann I.e. p. 616) and Speede ;

(p. 201) gives keeras, cherry, as used in India.

 502 HINDUSTAN
The (P.) siydh-sdr (black-head) is another. This also is like
a lizard. It is in all rivers of Hindustan. One that was taken
and brought in was about 4-5 qdrl {cir. 13 feet) long and as
thick perhaps as a sheep. It is said to grow still larger. Its

snout is over half a yard long. It has rows of small teeth in its
upper and lower jaws. It comes out of the water and sinks into
the mud {bdtd).
The (Sans.) g\^k'\arml {Gavialus gangeticus) is another.^ It is

said to grow large ; many army saw it in the Saru (Gogra)

in the
river. It is said to take people while we were on that river's
;

banks (934-935 A.H.), it took one or two slave-women {dddiik),

and it took three or four camp-followers between Ghazlpur and
Banaras. In that neighbourhood I saw one but from a distance
only and not quite clearly.
The water-hog (P. khuk-dbt, Platanista gangetica, the porpoise)
is another. This also Hindustan rivers. It comes up
is in all
suddenly out of the water head appears and disappears it
; its ;

Fol. 282. dives again and stays below, shewing its tail. Its snout is as
long as the siydh-sdr' s and it has the same rows of small teeth.
Its head and the rest of its body are fish-like. When at play in
the water, it looks like a water-carrier's bag {inashak). Water-
hogs, playing in the Saru, leap right out of the water like fish, ;

they never leave it.

Again there is the kalah (or galaJi)-'^s\v \bdligJi\?' Two bones

' This name as now [In the
used, is that of the purely fish-eating crocodile.
Turk! text Babur's account of the gharlal {o\\o^% that of the porpoise ; but it is grouped
here with those of the two other crocodiles.]
As the Hai. MS. and also I.O. 216 f. 137 (Pers. trs.) write kalah [^alah)-^%\
="

this may be a large cray-fish. One called by a name approximating to galah-^^ is

found in Malayan waters, viz. the ^a/a-4-prawn {hudang) (cf. Bengali gula-chingri,
gu/a-pra.vfn, Haughton). Ga/ak and gii/a may express lament made when the fish is
caught (Haughton pp. 931, 933, 952) ; or \i kalah be read, this may express scolding.
Two good MSS. of the Wdqi''dt-i-baburl (Pers. trs.) write kaka and their word ;

cannot but have weight. Erskine reproduces kaka but offers no explanation of it,
a failure betokening difficulty in his obtaining one. My husband suggests that kaka
may represent a stuttering sound, doing so on the analogy of VuUers' explanation of
the word, —
Vir ridiculus et facetus qui simul balbtttiat and also he inclines to take
;

the fish to be a crab ^kakra). Possibly kaka is a popular or vulgar name for a cray-
fish or a crab. Whether the sound is lament, scolding, or stuttering the fisherman
knows Shaikh Zain enlarges Babur's notice of this fish he says the bones are
!
;

prolonged {bar awarda) from the ears, that these it agitates at time of capture, making
a noise like the word kaka by which it is known, that it is two wajab{,i'^ in.) long, its
and that it is very active, leaping a gaz {cir. a yard) out of the
flesh surprisingly tasty,
water when the fisherman's net is set to take it. For information about the Malayan
fish, I am indebted to Mr. Cecil Wray.
 932 AH.— OCT. 18th 1525 to OCT. 8th 1526 AD. 503

each about 3 inches {ailik) long, come out in a line with its ears ;

these it shakes when taken, producing an extraordinary noise,

whence, seemingly, people have called it kalah [or galaJt\.
The flesh of Hindustan fishes is very savoury they have no ;

odour {aid) or tiresomeness.^ They are surprisingly active. On

one occasion when people coming, had flung a net across a stream,
leaving its two edges half a yard above the water, most fish passed
by leaping a yard above it. In many rivers are little fish which
fling themselves a yard or more out of the water if there be harsh Foi. 282/5.

noise or sound of feet.

The frogs of Hindustan, though otherwise like those others

(Tramontane), run 6 or 7 yards on the face of the water.^

(/. Vegetable products of Hindustan : Fruits?)

The mango (P. anbah) is one of the fruits peculiar to Hindustan.

Hindustanis pronounce the b name as though no vowel
in its
followed it {i.e. Sans, anb) 3 this being awkward to utter, some
;

people call the fruit [P.] naghzak^ as Khwaja Khusrau does :

Naghzak-i ma [var. khwasK\ naghz-kun-i bilstdn,

Naghztarin niewa [var. na^}nat\-i- Hindustan.^

Mangoes when good, are very good, but, many as are eaten, it^N
They
are first-rate. are usually plucked unripe and ripened in
the house. Unripe, they make excellent condiments {qdtzq), are
good also preserved in syrup.^ Taking it altogether, the mango
is the best fruit of Hindustan. Some so praise it as to give it

preference over all fruits except the musk-melon (T. qdwtin), but

' T. giyunlighr, presumably referring to spines or difficult bones ; T. gtn, however,

means a scabbard [Shaw].
^ One of the common frogs is a small one which, when alarmed, jumps along the

surface of the water (G. of I. i, 273).

3 Anb and anbah (pronounced a?nb and ambah) are now less commonly used names

than am. It is an interesting comment on Babur's words that Abii'l-fazl spells anb,
letter by letter, and says that the b is quiescent {Ayln 28 ; for the origin of the word
mango, vide Yule's H.J. s.n.).
A
corresponding diminutive would be fairling.
'•

5 The
variants, entered in parenthesis, are found in the Bib. Ind. ed. of the
Ayin-i-akbarl p. 75 and in a (bazar) copy of the QuraniH s-sd''dain in my husband's
possession. As Amir Khusrau was a poet of Hindustan, either khwash {khwesh) [our
own] or nid [our] would suit his meaning. The couplet is, literally :

Our fairling, \i.e. mango] beauty-maker of the garden,

Fairest fruit of Hindustan.
^ Daulat Khan Yusuf-khail Ludi in 929 ah. sent Babur a gift of mangoes preserved
in honey {in loco p. 440).
 504 HINDUSTAN
such praise outmatches it. It resembles the kdrdl peach. ^ It

ripens in the rains. It is eaten in two ways : one is to squeeze

it to a pulp, make a hole in it, and suck out the juice, —the other,
to peeland eat it like the y^^r^i" peach. Its tree grows very large=^

and has a leaf somewhat resembling the peach-tree's. The

trunk is ill-looking and ill-shaped, but in Bengal and Gujrat is
heard of as growing handsome {khiib).'^
The plantain (Sans, keld, Musa sapientum) is another.^ An
Fol. 283. 'Arab calls it mauzJ> Its tree is not very tall, indeed is not to
be called a something between a grass and a tree.
tree, since it is

Its leaf is a little likeamdn-qard^ but grows about

that of the
2 yards {qdri) long and nearly one broad. Out of the middle of
its leaves rises, heart-like, a bud which resembles a sheep's heart.

As each leaf (petal) of this bud expands, there grows at its base
a row of 6 or 7 flowers which become the plantains. These
flowersbecome visible with the lengthening of the heart-like
shoot and the opening of the petals of the bud. The tree is

understood to flower once only.7 The fruit has two pleasant

qualities, one that it peels easily, the other that it has neither stone
nor fibre.^ It is rather longer and thinner than the egg-plant
(P.bddanjdn ; Solanuni melongend). It is not very sweet the ;

Bengal plantain {i.e. chini-champd) is, however, said to be very

* I have learned nothing more definite about the word kardl than that it is the

name of a superior kind of peach (GhiyasuU-lughat).

^ The preceding sentence is out of place in the Turkl text it may therefore be ;

a marginal note, perhaps not made by Babur.

3 This sentence suggests that Babur, writing in Agra or Fathpur did not there see

fine mango-trees.
* See Yule's H.J. on the plantain, the banana of the West.
5 This word is a descendant of Sanscrit mocha, and parent of musa the botanical
name of the fruit (Yule).
Shaikh Effendi (Kunos), Zenker and de Courteille say of this only that it is the
^

name of a tree. Shaw gives a name that approaches it, arman, a grass, a weed ;
Scully explains this as Artemisia vulgaris, wormwood, but Roxburgh gives no
Artemisia having a leaf resembling the plantain's. Scully has ardmaddn, unexplained,
which, like aman-qard, may refer to comfort in shade. Babur's comparison will be
with something known in Transoxiana. Maize has general resemblance with the
plantain. So too have the names of the plants, since mocha and mauz stand for the
plantain and (Hindi) mukd'i for maize. These incidental resemblances bear, however
lightly, on the question considered in the Ency. Br. (art. maize) whether maize was
early in Asia or not some writers hold that it was ; if Babur's amdn-qard were
;

maize, maize will have been familiar in Transoxiana in his day.

7 Abu'1-fazl mentions that the plantain-tree
bears no second crop unless cut down
to the stump.
* Babur was fortunate not to have met with a seed -bearing plantain.
 932 AH.— OCT. 18th 1525 TO OCT. 8th 1526 AD. 505

sweet. The plantain is a very good-looking tree, its broad,

broad, leaves of beautiful green having an excellent appearance.
The anbli (H. imlt^ Tamarindus indica, the tamarind) is

another. By this name {anblt) people call the khunnd-i-hind

(Indian date-tree).^ It has finely-cut leaves (leaflets), precisely,

like those of the (T.) bfdd, except that they are not so finely-cut.^
It is a very good-looking tree, giving dense shade. It grows wild
in masses too.
The (Beng.) mahuwd {Bassia latifolid) is another.3 People
call it also (V .) gul-chikdn (or chigdn, distilling-flower). This also
is a very large tree. Most of the wood in the houses of Hindu- Fol. 283*.

stanis is from it. Spirit i^araq) is distilled from its flowers,^ not
only so, but they are dried and eaten like raisins, and from them
thus dried, spirit is also extracted. The dried flowers taste just
like kishinish ;
5 they have an ill-flavour. The flowers are not bad
in their natural state ^ ; they are eatable. The mahuwd grows
wild also. Its fruit is tasteless, has rather a large seed with a
thin husk, and from this seed, again,7 oil is extracted.
The mimusops (Sans, khzi'm, Mimiisops kauki) is another. Its
tree, though not very large, is not small. The fruit is yellow and
' The ripe "dates" are called P. tamar-i Hind, whence our tamarind, and
Tamaritidus Indica.
^ Sophora alopecuroides, a leguminous plant (Scully).

3 Abu'1-fazl g\\Q?> galatmdd as the name of the "fruit" \jnewd\, Forbes, as that —
of the fallen flower. Cf. Brandis p. 426 and Yule's H.J. s.n. Mohwa.
Babur seems to say that spirit is extracted from both the fresh and the dried
'*

flowers. The fresh ones are favourite food with deer and jackals they have a sweet ;

spirituous taste. Erskine notes that the spirit made from them was well-known in
Bombay by the name of Moura, or of Parsi-brandy, and that the farm of ft was
a considerable article of revenue (p. 325 n. ). Roxburgh describes it as strong and
intoxicating (p. 411).
5 This is the name of a green, stoneless grape which when dried, results in a raisin

resembling the sultanas of Europe (Jakdngir' s Memoirs and Yule's H.J. s.n. Griffiths' ;

Journal of Travel pp. 359, 388).

^ Aul, lit. the aul of the flower. The Persian translation renders aid by bii which
may allow both words to be understood in their (root) sense o{ being, i.e. natural
state. De Courteille translates by quand la fieur est fraiche (ii, 210) Erskine took ;

bu, to mean smell {Memoirs p. 325), but the aul it translates, does not seem to have
this meaning. For reading aiil as " the natural state ", there is circumstantial
support in the flower's being eaten raw (Roxburgh). The annotator of the Elphin-
stone MS. [whose defacement of that Codex has been often mentioned], has added
points and (ashdid to the aiil-t {i.e. its aiil), so as to produce awwali (first, f. 235).
Against this there are the obvious objections that the Persian translation does not
reproduce, and that its btl does not render awwali ; also that aiil-t is a noun with its
enclitic genitive j;/a {i).

7 This word seems to be meant to draw attention to the various merits of the
mahuwd tree.
 5o6 HINDUSTAN
thinner than the red jujube (T. chlkdd, Elceagnus angustifolid)
It has just the grape's flavour, but a rather bad after-taste it ;

is not bad, however, and is eatable. The husk of its stone

is thin.
The {^2Xis^ jdman {Eugenia jamboland) ^ is another. Its leaf,

except for being thicker and greener, is quite like the willow's
(T. tdC). The want for beauty. Its fruit is like
tree does not
a black grape, and not very good.
is sourish,
The (H.) kamrak (Beng. kamrunga, Averrhoa carambold) is
another. Its fruit is five-sided, about as large as the ^ain-dlil^

and some 3 inches long. It ripens to yellow ;

gathered unripe,
it is very bitter ;
gathered ripe, its bitterness has become sub-
acid, not bad, not wanting in pleasantness.^

The jack-fruit (H. kadhil, B. kanthal, Artocarpus integrifolia)

is another.4 This is a fruit of singular form and flavour ; it looks
Fol. 284. like a sheep's stomach stuffed and made into a haggis {gtpci) ;
^

^
and it is sickeningly-sweet. Inside it are filbert-like stones
which, on the whole, resemble dates, but are round, not long,
and have softer substance these are eaten. The jack-fruit is
;

very adhesive for this reason people are said to oil mouth and
;

hands before eating of it. It is heard of also as growing, not

only on the branches of its tree, but on trunk and root too.7 One
would say that the tree was all hung round with haggises.^
The monkey -jack (H. badhal, B. bwhul, Artocarpus lacoocha)
is another. The fruit may be of the size of a quince (van apple).
' Erskine notes that this is not to be confounded with E. jdmbu, the rose-apple
{Memoirs p. 325 n.). Cf. Yule's H.J. s.n. Jattibu.
" var. ghat-dlu, ghab-dlu, ghain-dlii, shafi-dlu. Scully enters ''ain-dlii (true-plum?)
unexplained. The kamrak fruit is 3 in. long (Brandis) and of the size of a lemon
(FMrminger) dimensions which make Babur's 4 alllk (hand's-thickness) a slight excess
;

only, and which thus allow alllk^ with its Persion translation, anguskt, to be approxi-
mately an inch.
3 Speede, giving the fruit its Sanscrit name kamarunga, says it is acid, rather

pleasant, something like an insipid apple ; also that its pretty pink blossoms grow on
the trunk and main branches (i, 2ii).
* Cf. Yule's H.J. s.n. jack-fruit. In a Calcutta nurseryman's catalogue of 19 14 AD.
three kinds of jack -tree are offered for sale, viz. "Crispy or Khaja, Soft or Neo,
Rose-scented " (Seth, Feronia Nursery).
5 The gipa is a sheep's stomach stuffed with rice, minced meat, and spices, and

boiled as a pudding. The resemblance of the jack, as il hangs on the tree, to the
haggis, is wonderfully complete (Erskine).
^ These when roasted have the taste of chestnuts.

1 Firminger (p. 186) describes an ingenious method of training.

^ For a note of Humayim's on the jack-fruit see Appendix O.

m
^P
f Its smell
empty^ thing
932

is
AH.— OCT.

not bad.^
; when
18th 1525 TO OCT. 8th 1526 AD.

Unripe it is

not so bad.
It ripens soft, can
ripe, it is
a singularly tasteless and
507

be pulled to pieces and eaten anywhere, tastes very much like

a rotten quince, and has an excellent little austere flavour.
The lote-fruit (Sans, l^er, Zizyphus jujubci) is another. Its
Persian name is understood to be kandr.^ It is of several kinds :

of one the fruit is larger than the plum {alilchd) 4 ; another is

shaped like the Husaini grape. Most of them are not very good
we saw one in Bandir (Guallar) that was really good. The lote-
tree sheds its leaves under the Signs Saur and Jauzd (Bull and
Twins), burgeons under Saratdn and Asad(Cra.h and Lion) which
are the true rainy-season, —then becoming fresh and green, and
it ripens its fruit under Da/u and Naut (Bucket z.e. Aquarius, and
Fish).
The (Sans.) karaundd {Carzssa carandas,the corinda)is another.
It bushes after the fashion of the (T.) cMka of our
grows in
country,^ but the cMka grows on mountains, the karaundd on the Fol. 284^^.

plains. In flavour it is like the rhubarb itself,^ but is sweeter and

less juicy.
The (Sans.) pdniydld {Flacourtia cataphractd) 7 is another. It

is larger than the plum {alucha) and like the red-apple unripe.^
It is a little austere and is good. The tree is taller than the
pomegranate's ; its leaf is like that of the almond-tree but
smaller.

' ald-t-yamdn ainias. It is somewhat curious that Babur makes no comment on

the odour of the jack itself.
^ biish, English bosh (Shaw). The Persian translation inserts no more about this
fruit.
Steingass applies this name to the plantain.
3

Erskine notes that " this is the buUace-plum, small, not more than twice as large
*

as the sloeand not so high-flavoured ; it is generally yellow, sometimes red." Like

Babur, Brandis enumerates several varieties and mentions the seasonal changes of the
tree (p. 170).
5 This will be Kabul, probably, because Transoxiana is written of by Babur
usually, not invariably, as "that country", and because he mentions the chikda
if
{i.e. chtka}), under its Persian name sinjid, in his Description of Kabul (f. I29<5).
* P. viar matijan, which I take to refer to the riwajldr of Kabul. (Cf. f. I2gl>,
where, however, (note 5) are corrigenda of Masson's rawash for rtwdj, and his third
to second volume. ) Kehr's Codex contains an extra passage about the karaHn da,
viz. that from it is made a tasty fritter-like dish, resembling a rhubarb-fritter
(Ilminsky, p. 369).
People call it {?.) pdlasa also (Elph. MS. f. 236, marginal note).
">

Perhaps the red-apple of Kabul, where two sorts are common, both rosy, one
^

very much so, but much inferior to the other {Griffith' s Journal of Travel p. 388).
 5o8 HINDUSTAN
i:\\Q{\l.)gular{Ficusgloinerata,t\iG clustered fig) ^ is another.

The fruit grows out of the tree-trunk, resembles the fig (P. anjtr\
but is singularly tasteless.
The (Sans.) amid {Phyllanthus emblica, the myrobalan-tree) is

another. This also is a five-sided fruit.^ It looks like the un-

blown cotton-pod. It is an astringent and ill-flavoured thing,
but confiture made of it is not bad. It is a wholesome fruit. Its

tree is of excellent form and has very minute leaves.

The (H.) chirunji {Buchanama iatifolia)^ is another. This
treehad been understood to grow in the hills, but I knew later
about it, because there were three or four clumps of it in our
gardens. It is much like the mahuwd. Its kernel is not bad,
a thing between the walnut and the almond, not bad ! rather
smaller than the pistachio and round ;
people put it in custards

{y.pdludd) and sweetmeats (Ar. halwd).

The date-palm (P. khurmd, Phoenix dactyliferd) is another.
This is not peculiar to Hindustan, but is here described because
it is not in those countries (Tramontana). It grows in Lamghan
also.4 Its grow from just one place at its
branches {i.e. leaves)
top its leaves {i.e. leaflets) grow on both sides of the branches
;

(midribs) from neck {bUm) to tip its trunk is rough and ill- ;

Foi. 285. coloured its fruit is like a bunch of grapes, but much larger.
;

People say that the date-palm amongst vegetables resembles an

animal in two respects one is that, as, if an animal's head be
:

cut off, its life is taken, so it is with the date-palm, if its head is

cut off, it dries off ; the other is that, as the offspring of animals
is not produced without the male, so too with the date-palm, it

gives no good fruit unless a branch of the male-tree be brought

into touch with the female-tree. The truth of this last matter
is not known (to me). The above-mentioned head of the date-
palm is called its cheese. The tree so grows that where its leaves
come out is cheese-white, the leaves becoming green as they
lengthen. This white part, the so-called cheese, is tolerable
eating, not bad, much like the walnut. People make a wound in

' Its downy fruit grows in bundles from the trunk and large branches (Roxburgh).
" The reference by "also" {ham) will be to the kamrak (f. 2^lb), but both
Roxburgh and Brandis say the amla is six striated.
3 The Sanscrit and Bengali name for the chirunji-tree \s, plyala (Roxburgh p. 363).
* Cf. f. 2503.
 932 AH.— OCT. 18th 1525 TO OCT. 8th 1526 AD. 509

the cheese, and into this wound insert a leaf(let), in such a way
that all from the wound runs down it.^ The tip
liquid flowing
of the leaflet is set over the mouth of a pot suspended to the tree
in such a way that it collects whatever liquor is yielded by the
wound. This liquor is rather pleasant if drunk at once; if drunk
after two or three days, people say it is quite exhilarating
{kaifiyat). Once when I had gone to visit Barl,^ and made an Fol. 2%^h.

excursion to the villages on the bank of the Chambal-river, we

met in with people collecting this date-liquor in the valley-bottom.
A good deal was drunk no hilarity was felt much must be
; ;

drunk, seemingly, to produce a little cheer.

The coco-nut palm (P. ndrgil, Cocos nucifera) is another. An
'Arab gives Arabic form 3 and says ndrjil
it ; Hindustan people
say ndltr, seemingly by popular error.4 Its fruit is the Hindi-
nut from which black spoons {qard qdshuq) are made and the
larger ones of which serve for guitar-bodies. The coco-palm has
general resemblance to the date-palm, but has more, and more
glistening leaves. Like the walnut, the coco-nut has a green
outer husk but its husk is of fibre on fibre. All ropes for ships
;

and boats and also cord for sewing boat-seams are heard of as
made from these husks. The nut, when stripped of its husk, near
one end shews a triangle of hollows, two of which are solid, the
third a nothing {bush), easily pierced. Before the kernel forms,
there is fluid inside ;
people pierce the soft hollow and drink
this ; it tastes like date-palm cheese in solution, and is not bad.
The (Sans.) tar {Borassus flabelliformis, the Palmyra-palm) is

another. Its branches {i.e. leaves) also are quite at its top. Just as Fol. 286.

with the date-palm, people hang a pot on it, take its juice and
drink it. They call this liquor tdri ;
5 it is said to be more ex-
hilarating than date liquor. For about a yard along its branches

^ The leaflet is rigid enough to serve as a runlet, but soon wears out ; for this
reason, the usual practice is to use one of split bamboo.
^ This is a famous hunting-ground between Biana and Dhulpur, Rajpiitana, visited

in 933 AH. (f. 330(J). Babur's great-great-grandson Shah-jahan built a hunting-lodge

there (G. of I.).
3 Hai. MS. mu^a?-rab, but the Elph. MS. maghrib, [occidentalizing]. The Hai.
MS. when writing of the orange {infra) also has maghrib. A
distinction of locality
may be drawn by maghrib.
* Babur's " Hindustan people" {atl) are those neither Turks nor Afghans.
5 This name, with its usual form tddi (toddy), is used for the fermented sap of the

date, coco, and mhdr palms also (cf. Yale's H.J. s.tt. toddy).

35
 5IO HINDUSTAN
{i.e. leaf-stems) ' there are no leaves ; above this, at the tip of
the branch (stem), 30 or 40 open out like the spread palm of the
hand, all from one place. These leaves approach a yard in length.
People often write Hindi characters on them after the fashion of
account rolls {daftar yiisunluq).
The orange and orange-like
(Ar. ndranj. Citrus aurantiuni)
fruits are others of Hindustan.^ Oranges grow well in the
Lamghanat, Bajaur and Sawad. The Lamghanat one is smallish,
has a navel,3 is very agreeable, fragile and juicy. It is not at all
like the orange of Khurasan and those parts, being so fragile
that many spoil before reaching Kabul from the Lamghanat
which may be \'i^-\\ yighdch (65-70 miles), while the Astarabad
orange, by reason of its thick skin and scant juice, carries with
Fol. 286^. less damage from there to Samarkand, some 2^0-2^0 ytghdch.'^

The Bajaur orange is about as large as a quince, very juicy and

more acid than other oranges. Khwaja Kalan once said to me,
" We counted the oranges gathered from a single tree of this sort

in Bajaur and it mounted up to 7,000." It had been always in

my mind that the word ndranj was an Arabic form 5 it would ;

seem to be really so, since every-one in Bajaur and Sawad says

(P.) ndrang.^

* Babur writes of the long leaf-stalk as a branch {shdkk) ; he also seems to have
taken each spike of the fan-leaf to represent a separate leaf. [For two omissions
from my trs. see Appendix O.]
" Most of the fruits Babur describes as orange-like are named in the following

classified list, taken from Watts' Economic Products of India :

—
" Citrus aurantium,
narangi, sangtara, amrit-phal ; C. decumana, ptimelo, shaddock, forbidden-fruit,
sada-phal ; C. medica proper, iurunj, limu ; C. medica limonum, jambhira,
karna-nebii." Under C. aurantium Brandis enters both the sweet and the Seville
oranges (ndrangi) this Babur appears to do also.
;

3 kindlklik, explained in the Elph. Codex by ndfwar{i. 238). This detail is omitted
by the Persian translation. Firminger's description (p. 221) of Aurangabad oranges
suggests that they also are navel -oranges. At the present time one of the best
oranges had in England is the navel one of California.
*. '^?^'^"^ addition is made to earlier notes on the variability of the yighach, a
variability depending on time taken to cover the ground, by the following passage
from Henderson and \{\xm€% Lahor to Yari'and {p. 120), which shews that even in
the last century the farsang (the P. word used in the Persian translation of the
Babur-nama for T. ylghdch) was computed by time. "All the way from Kargallik
(Qarghallq) to Yarkand, there were tall wooden mile-posts along the roads, at intervals
of about 5 miles, or rather one hour's journey, apart. On a board at the top of each
post, or/arj<z«^ as it is called, the distances were very legibly written in Turki."
s tna'rib, Elph.
MS. viagharrib ; (cf. f. 285^^ note).
* i.e. narang (Sans, ndrangd) has been
changed to ndranj in the 'Arab mouth.
What is probably one of Humayun's notes preserved by the Elph. Codex (f. 238),
appears to say— it is mutilated— that ndrang has been corrupted into ndranj.
r 932 AH.— OCT.

The lime (B. /i";;/?/, C. acidci) is another.

18th 1525 to OCT. 8th 1526 AD.

It is very plentiful,

about the size of a hen's ^%%, and of the same shape. If a person
poisoned drink the water in which its fibres have been boiled,
51

danger is averted.^
The citron (P. turunj^ C. medico) is another of the fruits

resembling the orange. Bajauris and Sawadis call it bdlang and

hence give the name bdlang-marabbd to its marmalade {marabbd)
confiture. In Hindustan people There call the turunj bajauri.'^

are two kinds oi turunj :and nauseating,

one is sweet, flavourless
of no use for eating but with peel that may be good for mar-
malade it has the same sickening sweetness as the Lamghanat
;

turunj the other, that of Hindustan and Bajaur, is acid, quite

\

deliciously acid, and makes excellent sherbet, well-flavoured, and

wholesome drinking. Its size may be that of the Khusrawi melon
it has a thick skin, wrinkled and uneven, with one end thinner and

beaked. It is of a deeper yellow than the orange (ndranj). Its

tree has no trunk, is rather low, grows in bushes, and has a larger Fol. 287.

leaf than the orange.

The sangtdra 4 is another fruit resembling the orange indranj).

^ —
The Elph. Codex has a note mutilated in early binding which is attested by —
its from Humayun's hand-writing, and is to the effect that once on
scribe as copied
his way from the Hot-bath, he saw people who had taken poison and restored them
by giving lime-juice.
Erskine here notes that the same antidotal quality is ascribed to the citron by
Virgil :—
Media tardumque saporem
fert tristes succos.
Felicis mali,quo non praesentius ullum,
Pocula si quando saevae infecere novercae,
Miscueruntque herbas et non innoxia verba,
Auxilium venit, ac membris agit atra venena.
Georgics H. v. 126.
Vide Heyne's note i, 438.
^ P. turunj, wrinkled, puckered
; Sans, vljapiira and H. bijaurd {Aytn 28), seed-
filled.
Babur may have confused this with H. bijaurd so too appears to have done the
3 ;

writer (Humayun?) of a [now mutilated] note in the Elph. Codex (f. 238), which
seems to say that the fruit or its name went from Bajaur to Hindustan. Is the
country of Bajaur so-named from its indigenous orange {vtjdpiira, whence bijaurd) ?
The name occurs also north of Kangra.
* Of this name variants are numerous, santra, santhara, sa?)itara, etc. Watts
classes it as a C. aurantium Erskine makes it the common sweet orange
; Firminger, ;

quoting Ross (p. 221) writes that, as grown in the Nagpur gardens it is one of the finest
Indian oranges, with rind thin, smooth and close. The Emperor Muhammad Shah
is said to have altered its name to rang-tdra because of its fine colour {rang) (Forbes).

Speede (ii, 109) gives both names. As to the meaning and origin of the name santara
ox santra, so suggestive of Cintra, the Portuguese home of a similar orange, it maybe
said that it looks like a hill-name used in N. E. India, for there is a village in the
512 HINDUSTAN
It is like the citron {turunj) in colour and form, but has both
ends of its skin level ;
^ also it is not rough and is somewhat the
smaller fruit. Its tree is large, as large as the apricot {auruq\
with a leaf like the orange's. It is a deliciously acid fruit, making
a very pleasant and wholesome sherbet. Like the lime it is a
powerful stomachic, but not weakening like the orange {ndranj).
The large lime which they call (H.) gal-gal"^ in Hindustan is
another fruit resembling the orange. It has the shape of a goose's
^%%> but unlike that ^^'g^ does not taper to the ends. Its skin is

smooth like the sangtdrds it is remarkably juicy. ;

The {\\.)jdnbtri lime^ is another orange-like fruit. It is orange-

shaped and, though yellow, not orange-yellow. It smells like the
citron {turunf) ; it too is deliciously acid.
The (Sans.) sadd-fal {phal) 4 is another orange-like fruit. This
is pear-shaped, colours like the quince, ripens sweet, but not to
the sickly-sweetness of the orange {ndranj).
The amrd-fal (sic. Hai. MS. — Sans, arnrit-phal)^ is another
orange-like fruit.

The lemon (H. karnd, C. limofium) is another fruit resembling

the orange (ndranj) ; it may be as large as the gal-gal and is also
acid.
The (Sans.) amal-bid^ is another fruit resembling the orange.
Bhutan Hills, (Western Duars) known from its orange groves as Santra-barl, Abode
of the orange. To this (mentioned already as my husband's suggestion in Mr. Crooke's
ed. of Yule's H.J. ) support is given by the item "Suntura, famous Nipal variety ",
entered in Seth's Nursery-list of 19 14 (Feronia Nurseries, Calcutta). Light on the
question of origin could be thrown, no doubt, by those acquainted with the dialects
of the hill-tract concerned.
This refers, presumably, to the absence of the beak characteristic of all citrons.
'

' melter, from the Sans, root gal, which

provides the names of several lemons by
reason of their solvent quality, specified by Babur [infra) of the amal-bld, Erskine
notes that in his day the gal-gal was known as kilmek (galmak ?).
3 Sans, jambira, H. jamblr, classed by Abu'1-fazl as one of the somewhat sour

fruits and by Watts as Citrus medica limonum.

Watts, C. decumana, the shaddock or pumelo Firminger (p. 223) has C. decumana
;

pyriformis suiting Babur's " pear-shaped ". What Babur compared it with will be
the Transoxanian pear and quince {P. atnrud 2.x\fS. biht) and not the Indian guava and
Bengal quince (/'. a»/r«</and H. bael).
5 The Turki text writes amrd. Watts classes the amrit-phal as a C. aurantium.
This supports Erskine's suggestion that it is the mandarin-orange. Humayun
describes it in a note which is written pell-mell in the text of the Elph. Codex and
contains also descriptions of the kdviila and santara oranges ; it can be seen translated
in Appendix O.
* So spelled in the Turk! text and also in
two good MSS. of the Pers. trs. I.O.
217 and 218, but by Abu'1-fazl amal-blt. Both P. bid and P. bit mean willow and
cane (ratan), so that amal-bid (bit) can mean acid-willow and acid-cane. But as
 932 AH.— OCT. 18th 1525 TO OCT. 8th 1526 AD. 513

After three years (in Hindustan), it was first seen to-day.^ They
say a needle melts away if put inside it,^ either from its acidity Foi. 287*5.

or some other property. It is as acid, perhaps, as the citron and

lemon {tiirunj and limu).'^

{in. Vegetable products of Hindustan : —Flowers^

In Hindustan there is great variety of flowers. One is the (D.)
jdsiin (^Hibiscus rosa which some Hindustanis call
sinensis)^
{\Av[\^\) gazhal.'^ *It is not a grass {giydh) its tree (is in stems;

like the bush of the red-rose it) is rather taller than the bush
;

of the red -rose. 5* The flower of the /(^.fz/^ is fuller in colour than
that of the pomegranate, and may be of the size of the red-rose,
but, the red-rose, when
bud has grown, opens simply, whereas,
its

when th^jasun-hud opens, a stem on which other petals grow,

is seen like a heart amongst its expanded petals. Though the
two are parts of the one flower, yet the outcome of the lengthening
and thinning of that stem-like heart of the first-opened petals
gives the semblance of two flowers.^ It is not a common matter.
The beautifully coloured flowers look very well on the tree, but

Babur is writing of a fruit like an orange, the cane that bears an acid fruit, Calamus
rotang, can be left aside in favour of Citrus medica acidissima. Of this fruit the
solvent property Babur mentions, as well as the commonly-known service in cleansing
metal, link it, by these uses, with the willow and suggest a ground for understanding,
as Erskine did, that ama/-did meant acid-willow ; for willow-wood is used to rub rust
off metal.
' This statement shows that Babur was writing the Description of Hindustan in
935 AH. (1528-9 AD.), which is the date given for it by Shaikh Zain.
^ This story of the needle is believed in India of all the citron kind, which are hence

called sui-gal (needle-melter) in the Dakhin (Erskine). Cf. Forbes, p. 489 s.n.
sai-gal.
3 Erskine here quotes information from Abu'1-fazl {Ayln 28) about Akbar's
encouragement of the cultivation of fruits.
* Hindustani (Urdu) garhal. Many varieties of Hibiscus (syn. Althea) grow in
India ; some thrive in Surrey gardens ; the jdsiin by name and colour can be taken
as what is known in Malayan, Tamil, etc., as the shoe-flower, from its use in darkening
leather (Yule's H.J. ).
5 I surmise that what I have placed between asterisks here belongs to the next-

following plant, the oleander. For though the branches of Xhejasitn grow vertically,
the bush is a dense mass upon one stout trunk, or stout short stem. The words placed
in parenthesis above are not with the Haidarabad but are with the Elphinstone Codex.
There would seem to have been a scribe's skip from one " rose " to the other. As
has been shewn repeatedly, this part of the Babur-nama has been much annotated ; in
the Elph. Codex, where only most of the notes are preserved, some are entered by
the scribe pell-mell into Babur's text. The present instance may be a case of a
marginal note, added to the text in a wrong place.
* The peduncle supporting the plume of medial petals is clearly seen only when the

flower opens first. The plumed Hibiscus is found in florists' catalogues described as
" double ".
 514 HINDUSTAN
they do not last long they fade in just one day.
; The jdsun
blossoms very well through the four months of the rains it seems ;

indeed to flower all through the year with this profusion, how-;

ever, it gives no perfume.

The (H.) kanir {Nerium odoruni, the oleander) ^ is another. It

grows both red and white. Like the peach-flower, it is five

petalled. It is like the peach-bloom (in colour?), but opens 14

or 15 flowers from one place, so that seen from a distance, they
look like one great flower. The oleander-bush is taller than the
rose-bush. The red oleander has a sort of scent, faint and agree-
able. it also blooms well and profusely in the
(Like \\\^jdsun^
Fol. 288. rains, and ithad through most of the year.
also is

The (H.) {kiura) {Pandamis odoratissimus, the screw-pine) is

another.^ It has a very agreeable perfume.3 Musk has the defect
of being dry ; this may be called moist musk — a very agreeable
perfume. The tree's singular appearance notwithstanding, it has
flowers perhaps ij to 2 qdrlsh (13 J to 18 inches) long. It has

long leaves having the character of the reed (P.) gharau 4 and
having spines. Of these leaves, while pressed together bud-like,
the outer ones are the greener and more spiny ; the inner ones
are softand white. In amongst these inner leaves grow things
like what belongs to the middle of a flower, and from these
things comes the excellent perfume. When the tree first comes
up not yet shewing any trynk, it is like the bush {butd) of the
male-reed,S but with wider and more spiny leaves. What serves
it for a trunk is very shapeless, its roots remaining shewn.

' This Anglo-Indians call also rose-bay. A

Persian name appears to be zahr-giyah,
poison -grass, which makes it the more probable that the doubtful passage in the
previous description of the jasun belongs to the rod-like oleander, known as the
poison-grass. The oleander is common in river-beds over much country known to
Babur, outside India.
' Roxburgh gives a full and interesting
account of this tree.
3 Here the Elph. Codex, only, has the (seeming) note, "An 'Arab calls it kazl'"

(or kawl). This fills out Steingass' part-explanation of kawi, " the blossom of the
fragrant palm-tree, armdt" (p. loi'o), and of armdt,, "a kind of date-tree with
a fragrant blossom " (p. 39), by making armat and kawi seem to be the Fandajtus
and its flower.
Calamus scriptorius (VuUers ii, 607. H.B.). Abu'I-fazl compares the leaves to
jawdri, the great millet (Forbes) ; Blochmann (A. A. p. 83) translates jawdrl by
maize {Juwdrd, Forbes).
s T. airkak-qumnsh,
a name Scully enters unexplained. Under qiimush (reed) he
enters Arundo viadagascarensis ; Babur's comparison will be with some Transoxanian
Arundo or Calamus, presumably.
 932 AH.— OCT. 18th 1525 TO OCT. 8th 1526 AD. 515

The {V.) ydsman (jasmine) is another ; the white they call (B.)
champ a} It is larger and more strongly scented than our
ydsinan-'^ow&r.

{n. Seasons of the year?)

Again: — whereas there are four seasons in those countries,^

there are three in Hindustan, namely, four months are summer
four are the rains ; four are winter. The beginning of their
months is from the welcome of the crescent-moons.3 Every
three years they add a month to the year if one had been added ;

to the rainy season, the next is added, three years later, to the
winter months, the next, in the same way, to the hot months.
This is their mode of intercalation.^ {Chait, Baisdkh, Jeth and Fol. z^U.
Asdrh) are the hot months, corresponding with the Fish, (Ram,
Bull and Twins Sdwan, Bhddoh, Ki'i,dr and Kdtik) are the
;

rainy months, corresponding with the Crab, (Lion, Virgin and

Balance Aghan, Piis, Mdgh and Phdlgim) are the cold months,
;

corresponding with the Scorpion, (Archer, Capricorn, and Bucket

or Aquarius).
The people of Hind, having thus divided the year into three
seasons of four months each, divide each of those seasons by
taking from each, the two months of the force of the heat, rain,5
and cold. Of the hot months the last two, i.e. Jeth and Asdrh
are the force of the heat ; of the rainy months, the first two, i.e.

Sdwan and Bhddoh are the force of the rains of the cold season, ;

the middle two, i.e. PUs and Mdgh are the force of the cold. By
this classification there are six seasons in Hindustan.

' Champa seems to have been Babur's word (Elph. and Hai. MSS. ), but is the
(B.) name for Michelia champaka ; the Pers. translation corrects it by (B. ) chaTnbeli,
{yasmatiy jasmine).
^ Here, " outside India" will be meant, where Hindu rules do not prevail.

3 Hind aildri-iting ibtidd-sl hilal alldr-ning istiqbal-diti diir. The use here of
istiqbdl, welcome, attracts attention ; does it allude to the universal welcome of lighter
nights? or is it reminiscent of Muhammadan welcome to the Moon's crescent in
Shawwal ?
4 For an exact statement of the intercalary months vide Cunningham's Indian Eras,
p. 91. In my next sentence (supra) the parenthesis-marks indicate blanks left on the
page of the Hai. MS. as though waiting for information. These and other similar
blanks make for the opinion that the Hai. Codex is a direct copy of Babur's draft
manuscript.
5 The sextuple division {ritu ) of the year is referred to on f. 284, where the Signs
Crab and Lion are called the season of the true Rains.
 5i6 HINDUSTAN
(o. Days of the week.)
To the days also they have given names :
— ^ {Samchar is

Saturday ; Rabl-bdr is Sunday ; Som-wdr is Monday Mangal- ;

wdr is Tuesday Budh-bdr is : Wednesday Brihaspat-bdr is

;

Thursday Shukr-bdr is Friday).

;

{j>. Divisions of time.)

As in is known by the (Turk!) term kicha-
our countries what
giindiiz (a day-and-night,nycthemeron) is divided into 24 parts,
each called an hour (Ar. sd'at), and the hour is divided into 60
parts, each called a minute (Ar. daqiqd), so that a day-and-night

Fol. 289. {Author's note on the daqtqa. ) The daqlqa is about as long as six repetitions
of the Fdtiha with the Bismillah, so that a day-and-night is as long as 8640
repetitions of the Fdtiha with the Bismilldh.

consists of 1440 minutes, —so the people of Hind divide the night-
and-day into 60 parts, each called a (S.) ^hari,^ They also
divide the night into four and the day into four, calling each part
a (S.) pahr (watch) which in Persian is a pds. A watch and
watchman {pds u pdsbdn) had been heard about (by us) in those
countries (Transoxania), but without these particulars. Agreeing
with the division into watches, a body of gliaridlis 3 is chosen
and appointed in all considerable towns of Hindustan. They
cast a broad brass (plate-) thing,4 perhaps as large as a tray
{tabaq) and about two hands'-thickness this they call a ^haridl ;

and hang up in a high place {bir buland yir-dd). Also they have
a vessel perforated at the bottom like an hour-cup 5 and filling

' Babur appears not to have entered either the Hind! or the Persian names of the
week :— the Hai. MS. has a blank space the Elph. MS. had the Persian names
;

only, and Hindi ones have been written in above these Kehr has the Persian ones ;

only ; Ilminsky has added the Hindi ones. (The spelling of the Hindi names, in my
translation, is copied from Forbes' Dictionary.
= The Ilai. MS. writes garl and garldl. The word now stands for the hour of
60 minutes.
3 i.e. gong-men. The name is applied also to an alligator Lacertus gangeticus
(Forbes).
* There is some confusion in the text here, the Hai. MS. reading birinj-dln iishi(})
nima quitibtiirlar-\hG Elph. MS. (f. 2403) hiring-dln blr ydssl nima qutubturldr.
The Persian translation, being based on the text of the Elphinstone Codex reads az
biring yak chiz pahni rekhta and. The word tlshi of the Hai. MS. may represent
tasht plate or yassi^ broad ; against the latter however there is the sentence that follows
and gives the size.
s Here again the wording of the Hai. MS. is not clear the sense however is ;

obvious. Concerning the clepsydra vide A. A. Jarrett, ii, 15 and notes; Smith's
Dictionary of Antiquities ; Yule's H.J. s.n. Ghurry.
F
in
932

and wait till it fills.

AH.— OCT. 18th 1525 to OCT. 8th 1526 AD.

one ^hari {i.e. 24 minutes). Th^g'karidlis put this into water

For example, they will put the perforated
cup into water at day-birth when it fills the first time, they strike
;
517

Fol. 289^.

the gong once with their mallets when a second time, twice, and ;

so on till the end of the watch. They announce the end of a

watch by several rapid blows of their mallets. After these they
pause then strike once more, if the first day-watch has ended,
;

twice if the second, three times if the third, and four times if the
fourth. when the night-watches
After the fourth day-watch,
begin, these are gone through in the same way. It used to be

the rule to beat the sign of a watch only when the watch ended
so that sleepers chancing to wake in the night and hear the sound
of a third or fourth g'hari, would not know whether it was of the
second or third night-watch. I therefore ordered that at night
or on a cloudy day the sign of the watch should be struck after
that of the ^'//^r/, for example, that after striking the third g'hari
of the first night-watch, the g'karidlis were to pause and then
strike the sign of the watch, in order to make it known that this
third ^'^^rf was of the first night-watch, —and that after striking
four g' harts of the third night-watch, they should pause and then
strike the sign of the third watch, in order to make it known that
this fourth g'hari was of the third night-watch. It did very well ;

anyone happening to wake in the night and hear the gong, would
know what ^harl of what watch of night it was.
Again, they divide the g'hari into 60 parts, each part being
called dipal\^ by this each night-and-day will consist of ^,^00 pals. Fol. 290.

{Author's note on the pal. ) They say the length of a pal is the shutting and
opening of the eyelids 60 times, which in a night-and-day would be 216,000
shuttings and openings of the eyes. Experiment shews that a pal is about
equal to 8 repetitions of the Qul-huwa-alldh ^ and Bismillah ; this would be
28,000 repetitions in a night-and-day.

{q. Measures^
The people of Hind have also well-arranged measures : —
8 ratis = i mdsha 4 masha — i tank =32 rails 5 ^ndsha =
; ;

I misqdl= 40 rails 1 2 mdsha = i ill la = g6 rails

; 4 ilila = ser. ; 1 i

The table is
' : —
60 bipals = i pal', 60 pals = I g'hari (24m.) ; 60 g'hari or
2> pahr — one din-rat (nycthemeron).

^ Qoran, cap. CXII, which is a declaration of God's unity.

3 The (S. ) rati =
8 rice-grains (Eng. 8 barley-corns) ; the (S.) mdsha is a kidney-
bean ; the (P. ) tank is about 2 oz. ; the (Ar. ) niisqdl is equal to 40 ratis ; the (S. ) tfild
is about 145 oz. ; the (S. ) ser\% of various values (Wilson's Glossary ^vA Yule's H.J.).
 5i8 HINDUSTAN
This is everywhere fixed :
—40 ser — i mdnbdn ; 1 2 mdnbdn =
I mdm\ ICXD mdni they call a mindsa}
Pearls and jewels they weigh by the tdnk.

(r. Modes of reckoning?)

The people of Hind have also an excellent mode of reckoning :

100,000 they call a lak\ 100 laks^ d, krur ',

lOO kriirs, an arb
100 arbsy I karb; lOO karbs, i ni/ ; 100 mis, \ padani ; \oo padams,
I sdttg. The fixing of such high reckonings as these is proof of
the great amount of wealth in Hindustan.

{s. Hindu inhabitants of Hindiistdn.)

Most of the inhabitants of Hindustan are pagans they call ;

a pagan a Hindu. Most Hindus believe in the transmigration

of souls. All artisans, wage-earners, and officials are Hindus. In
our countries dwellers in the wilds {i.e. nomads) get tribal names;
Fol. 290^. here the settled people of the cultivated lands and villages get
tribal names.^ Again —
every artisan there is follows the trade
:

that has come down to him from forefather to forefather.

(/. Defects of Hindiistdn.)

Hindustan is a country of ^qw charms. Its people have no

good looks of social intercourse, paying and receiving visits there
;

is none of genius and capacity none

; of manners none in ; ;

handicraft and work there is no form or symmetry, method or

quality there are no good horses, no good dogs, no grapes, musk-
;

melons or first-rate fruits, no ice or cold water, no good bread or

cooked food in the bdzdrs, no Hot-baths, no Colleges, no candles,
torches or candlesticks.
In place of candle and torch they have a great dirty
gang they
lamp-men {diwatt), who in the left hand hold a smallish
call

wooden tripod to one corner of which a thing like the top of

There being 40 Bengal sers to the man, Babur's word fnanbdn seems to be another
'

name for the man or maund. I have not found manban or mindsa. At first sight
manbdn might be taken, in the Hai. MS. for (T.) batman, a weight of 13 or 15 lbs.,
but this does not suit. Cf. f. 167 note to bat?nan and f. iTSb (where, however, in the
note f. 157 requires correction to f. 167). For Babur's table of measures the Pers.
trs. has 40 sets = I man-, 12 mans = I mdtii 100 fndni they call mindsa (217,
;

f. 20\b, 1. 8).
" Presumably these are caste-names.
 932 AH.— OCT. 18th 1525 TO OCT. 8th 1526 AD. 519

H ^K o n'
a candlestick is fixed, having a wick in it about as thick as the
thumb. In the right hand they hold a gourd, through a narrow-
slit made in which, oil is let trickle in a thin thread when the
wick needs it. Great people keep a hundred or two of these
lamp-men. This is the Hindustan substitute for lamps and
candlesticks ! If their rulers and begs have work at night needing
candles, these dirty lamp-men bring these lamps, go close up and Fol. 291.

there stand. /•

Except their large rivers and their standing-waters which flow

in ravines or hollows (there are no waters). There are no
running-waters in their gardens or residences i^imdratlar)}
These residences have no charm, air {Jiawa), regularity or
symmetry.
Peasants and people of low standing go about naked. They
tie on a thing called lutigntd^ a decency-clout which hangs two

spans below the navel. From the tie of this pendant decency-
clout, another clout is passed between the thighs and made fast
behind. Women also tie on a cloth {lung), one-half of which goes
round the waist, the other is thrown over the head.

(«. Advantages of Hindustan^

Pleasant things of Hindustan are that it is a large country and
has masses of gold and silver. Its air in the Rains is very fine.

Sometimes it rains 10, 15 or 20 times a day ; torrents pour down

all at once and rivers flow where no water had been. While it
rains and through the Rains, the air is remarkably fine, not to be
surpassed for healthiness and charm. The fault is that the air
becomes very soft and damp. A bow of those (Transoxanian)
countries after going through the Rains in Hindiistan, may not
be drawn even it is ruined
; not only the bow, everything is
; Fol. 291*.

affected, armour, book, cloth, and utensils all ; a house even does

' The words in parenthesis appear to be omitted from the text to add them brings
;

Babur's remark into agreement with others on what he several times makes note of,
viz. the absence not only of irrigation-channels but of those which convey " running-
waters " to houses and gardens. Such he writes of in Farghana ; such are a well-
known charm e.g. in Madeira, where the swift current of clear water flowing through
the streets, turns into private precincts by side-runlets.
' The Hai. MS. writes lungutd-dlk, like a lunguta, which better agrees with Babur's

usual phrasing. Ltingxs Persian for a cloth passed between the loins, is an equivalent
of S. dhoti. Babur's use of it {infra) for the woman's (P.) chaddar or (S. ) sai'i does
not suit the Dictionary definition of its meaning.
 520 HINDUSTAN
not last long. Not only in the Rains but also in the cold and
the hot seasons, the airs are excellent ; at these times, however,
the north-west wind constantly gets up laden with dust and earth.
It up in great strength every year in the heats, under the
gets
Bull and Twins when the Rains are near so strong and carrying
;

so much dust and earth that there is no seeing one another.

People call this wind Darkener of the Sky (H. dndht). The
weather is hot under the Bull and Twins, but not intolerably
so, not so hot as in Balkh and Qandahar and not for half

so long.
Another good thing in Hindustan is that it has unnumbered
and endless workmen of every kind. There is a fixed caste {jam'i)
for every sort of work and for every thing, which has done that
work or that thing from father to son till now. Mulla Sharaf,
writing in the Zafar-ndma about the building of Timur Beg's
Stone Mosque, lays stress on the fact that on it 200 stone-cutters
worked, from AzarbaTjan, Fars, Hindustan and other countries.
But 680 men worked daily on my buildings in Agra and of Agra
stone-cutters only while 149 1 stone-cutters worked daily on my
;

buildings in Agra, Slkrl, Blana, Dulpur, Guallar and Kull. In

Fol. 292. the same way there are numberless artisans and workmen of
every sort in Hindiistan.

{v. Revenues of Hindustan.)

The revenue of the countries now held by me (935 AH.-
1528 AD.) from Bhira to Bihar is 52 krurs,^ as will be known in
detail from the following summary.^ Eight or nine krurs of this

' When Erskine

published the Memoirs in 1826 ad. he estimated this sum at
i\ millions Sterling, but when he published his History
of India in 1854, he had made
further research into the problem of Indian money values, and judged then that Babur's
revenue was ;[C4,2i2,cx)0.
= Erskine here notes that
the promised details had not been preserved, but in
^^^ ^"""^ *^^"^ ^" ^ "paraphrase of part of Babur", manifestly in
ck '^iu°" -^t
Shaikh Zain's work. He entered and discussed them and some matters of money-
values m Appendices D. and E. of his History of India, vol. I. Ilminsky found
them m Kehr's Codex (C. ii, 230). The scribe o"f the Elph. MS. has entered the
revenues of three sarkars only, with his usual quotation marks indicating something
extraneous or doubtful. The Hai. MS. has them in contents precisely as I have
entered them above, but with a scattered mode of setting
down. They are in Persian,
presumably as they were rendered to Babur by some Indian official. This official
statement will have been with Babur's own papers it will have been copied by
;
bhaikh Zain into his own paraphrase. It differs slightly in Erskine's and again, in
de Courteille s versions. I regret that I am incompetent to throw any light upon the
 932 AH.— OCT. 18th 1525 TO OCT. Sth 1526 AD. 521

are from parganas of rais and rajas who, as obedient from of

old, receive allowance and maintenance.

Revenues of Hindustan from what has so far come under the

VICTORIOUS standards

Sarkars. Krurs. Laks. Tankas.

Sihrind .........
Trans-sutluj

Hisar-flruza
:— Bhira, Lahur, Sialkut, Dibalpur, etc. 3
I

I
33
29
30
15,989
31,985
75,174
The capital Dihll and Mlan-du-ab .
3 69 50,254
Mlwat, not included in Sikandar's time . I 69 81,000
Blana I 44 14,930 Fol. 292^.
Agra 29 76,919
Mlan-wilayat (Midlands) 2 91 19
Guallar
KalpI and Sehonda (Seondha)
Qanauj
.... 2
4
2^
28
36
57,450
55,950
63,358
Sambhal I 38 44,000
Laknur and Baksar I 39 82,433
Khairabad
Aud (Oude) and Bahraj (Baraich)
Junpur
.... .
I

4
12
17
65,000
1,369
88,333
Fol. 293.

Karra and Manikpur 63 27,282

Bihar 4 5 60,000
Sarwar I 55 17,506^
Saran I 10 18,373
Champaran . I 90 86,060
Kandla 43 30,300
Tirhut from Raja Rup-naraln's tribute, silver 2 55,000
black (i.e. copper) 27 50,000
Rantanbhur from Bull, Chatsu, and Malarna. 20 00,000
Nagur
Raja Bikramajit in Rantanbhur ....
KalanjarT
Raja Bir-sang-deo
Raja Bikam-deo
(or. Sang only) ....
Raja Bikam-chand

^ So far as particulars and details about the land and people

of the country of Hindustan have become definitely known, they
have been narrated and described ; whatever matters worthy of
record may come to view hereafter, I shall write down.

question of its values and that I must leave some uncertain names to those more
expert than myself. Cf. Erskine's Appendices /. c. and Thomas' Revenue resources
of the Mughal Empire. For a few comments see App. P.
' Here the Turkl text resumes in the Hai. MS.
 522 HINDUSTAN

HISTORICAL NARRATIVE RESUMED.

{a. Distribution of treasure in Agra^-

{May 1 2th) On Saturday the 29th ^ of Rajab the examination

and distribution of the treasure were begun. To Humayun
were given 70 laks from the Treasury, and, over and above this,
a treasure house was bestowed on him just as it was, without
ascertaining and writing down its contents. To some begs
10 laks were given, 8, 7, or 6 to others.3 Suitable money-gifts
were bestowed from the Treasury on the whole army, to every
tribe there was, Afghan, Hazara, 'Arab, Blluch etc. to each
according to its position. Every trader and student, indeed every
man who had come with the army, took ample portion and share
of bounteous gift and largess. To those not with the army went
a mass of treasure in gift and largess, as for instance, 17 laks to
Kamran, 15 laks to Muhammad-i-zaman Mirza, while to 'Askarl,
Hindal and indeed to the whole various train of relations and
younger children ^ went masses of red and white (gold and silver),
of plenishing, jewels and slaves.5 Many gifts went to the begs
and soldiery on that side (Tramontana). Valuable gifts {saughdt)
Fol. 294. were sent for the various relations in Samarkand, Khurasan,
Kashghar and 'Iraq. To holy men belonging to Samarkand
and Khurasan went offerings vowed to God {nuzUr) so too to ;

' Elph. MS. f. 243/5 ; W. i. B. I.O. 215 has not the events of this year (as to which
omission vide note at the beginning of 932 ah. f. 2^15) and 217 f. 203; Mems.
P- 334 ; Ilminsky's imprint p. 380 ; M^ms. ii, 232.
- This should be 30th if
Saturday was the day of the week (Gladwin, Cunningham
and Kabur's narrative of f. 269). Saturday appears likely to be right ; Babur entered
Agra on Thursday 28th ; Friday would be used for the Congregational Prayer and
preliminaries inevitable before the distribution of the treasure. The last day of
Babur's narrative 932 AH. is Thursday Rajab 28th ; he would not be likely to mistake
between Friday, the day of his first Congregational prayer in Agra, and Saturday. It
must be kept in mind that the Description of Hindustan is an interpolation here, and
that it was written in 935 ah., three years later than the incidents here recorded.
The date Rajab 29th may not be Babur's own entry ; or if it be, may have been
made after the interpolation of the dividing mass of the Description and made
wrongly.
3 Erskine estimated these sums as "probably
^^56,700 to Humayiin and the
;

smaller ones as ;^8, roo, ;^6,48o, ;^5,67o and 2^4,86o respectively; very large sums
for the age '' {History of India, i. 440 n. and App. E.)
* These will be his daughters. Gul-badan gives precise details of the gifts to the
family circle {Humayiin-ndtna f. 10).
s Some of these slaves
were Si. Ibrahim's dancing-girls (Gul-badan, ib. ).
 932 AH.— OCT. 18th 1525 to DCT. 8th 1526 AD. 523

Makka and Madlna. We gave one shdhrukhi for every soul

country of Kabul and the valley-side
in the ^ of Varsak, man and
woman, bond and free, of age or non-age.^

{b. Disaffection to Bdbur?)

On our first coming to Agra, there was remarkable dislike and

hostility between its people and mine, the peasantry and soldiers
running away in fear of our men. Delhi and Agra excepted,
not a fortified town but strengthened its defences and neither

was in obedience nor submitted. Oasim Sambhall was in

Sambhal Nizam Khan was in Blana in Miwat was Hasan
; ;

Khan MlwatI himself, impious mannikin who was the sole !

leader of the trouble and mischief.3 Muhammad Zaitun was in

Dulpur Tatar Khan Sdrang-khdm'^ was in Gualiar; Husain
;

Khan Nuhdni was in RaprI Qutb Khan was in Itawa (Etawa)

;

*Alam Khan {KdlpI) was in KalpT. Qanauj and the other side
of Gang (Ganges) was all held by Afghans in independent
hostility ,5 such as Nasir Khan Nuhdni, Ma'ruf FannUli and a
crowd of other amirs. These had been in rebellion for three or
four years before Ibrahim's death and when I defeated him,
were holding Qanauj and the whole country beyond it. At
the present time they were lying two or three marches on our
side of Qanauj and had made Bihar Khan the son of Darya Khan
Nu/idni their pddshdh, under the style Sultan Muhammad. Fol. 294^^.

Marghub the slave was in Mahawin ( J/«//r^ ?) he remained there, ;

thus close, for some time but came no nearer.

^ Ax. sada. Perhaps it was a station of a hundred men. Varsak is in Badakhshan,

on the water flowing to Taliqan from the Khwaja Muhammad range. Erskine read
(P- 335) /'^^^ Varsak as sadur rashk, incentive to emulation de C. (ii, 233) translates
;

sada conjecturally by circonscription. Shaikh Zain has Varsak and to the recipients
of the gifts adds the "Khwastis, people noted for their piety" (A.N. trs. H.B.
i, 248 n. ). The gift to Varsak may well have been made in gratitude for hospitality
received by Babur in the time of adversity after his loss of Samarkand and before his
return to Kabul in 920 ah.
= circa lod. or lid. Babur left himself stripped so bare by his far-flung largess
that he was nick-named Qalandar (Firishta).
3 Badayuni says of him (Bib. Ind. ed. i, 340) that he was kafir kalima-gu, a pagan

making the Muhammadan Confession of Faith, and that he had heard of him, in
Akbar's time from Bairam Khan-i-khanan, as kingly in appearance and poetic in
temperament. He was killed fighting for Rana Sanga at Kanwaha.
* This is his family name.
5 i.e. not acting with Hasan Mlwati.
 524 HINDUSTAN

(r. Discontent in Bdbur's army)

was the hot-season when we came to Agra. All the
It

inhabitants {khaldtq) had run away in terror. Neither grain for

ourselves nor corn for our horses was to be had. The villages,
out of hostility and hatred to us had taken to thieving and
highway-robbery there was no moving on the roads. There
;

had been no chance since the treasure was distributed to send

men in strength into the parganas and elsewhere. Moreover
the year was a very hot one ; violent pestilential winds struck
people down in heaps together ; masses began to die off.

On these accounts the greater part of the begs and best braves
became unwilling to stay in Hindustan, indeed set their faces for
leaving no reproach to old and experienced begs if they
it. It is

speak of such matters even if they do so, this man (Babur) has
;

enough sense and reason to get at what is honest or what is

mutinous in their representations, to distinguish between loss
and gain. But as this man had seen his task whole, for himself,
when he what taste was there in their reiterating
resolved on it,

that things should be done differently? What recommends

the expression of distasteful opinions by men of little standing
Fol. 295. {kichik kartin) ? Here is a curious thing This last time of : —
our riding out from Kabul, a few men of little standing had just
been made begs what I looked for from them was that if I
;

went through fire and water and came out again, they would
have gone in with me unhesitatingly, and with me have come
out, that wherever I went, there at my side would they be, not —
that they would speak against my fixed purpose, not that they
would turn back from any task or great affair on which, all
counselling, all consenting, we had resolved, so long as that
counsel was not abandoned. Badly as these new begs behaved,
Secretary Ahmadi and Treasurer Wall behaved still worse.
Khwaja Kalan had done well in the march out from Kabul, in
Ibrahim's defeat and until Agra was occupied he had spoken ;

bold words and_shewn ambitious views. But a few days after

the capture of Agra, all his views changed, the one zealous for—
departure at any price was Khwaja Kalan.'
' Gul-badan says that the Khwaja several times asked leave on the ground that
his constitution was not fitted for the climate of Hindustan ; that His Majesty was
not at all, at all, willing for him to go, but gave way at length to his importunity.
 932 AH.— OCT. 18th 1525 to OCT. 8th 1526 AD. 525

(flf. Bdbur calls a council^

When I knew of amongst (my) people, I
this unsteadiness
summoned all the begs and took counsel.
Said I, ''There is no
supremacy and grip on the world without means and resources;
without lands and retainers sovereignty and commdind{p adskdkltq
u amzrlzq) are impossible. By the labours of several years, by
encountering hardship, by long travel, by flinging myself and
the army into battle, and by deadly slaughter, we, through God's Fol. 2953.

grace, beat these masses of enemies in order that we might take

their broad lands. And now what force compels us, what
necessity has arisen that we should, without cause, abandon

I countries taken at such risk of

Kabul, the sport of harsh poverty
life ?

?
Was it

Henceforth,
for us to
let
remain
no
in
well-
wisher of mine speak of such things ! But let not those turn
back from going who, weak in strong persistence, have set their
faces to depart !
" By these words, which recalled just and
reasonable views to their minds, I made them, willy-nilly, quit
their fears.

{e.Khwdja Kaldn decides to leave Hindilstdn.)

As Khwaja Kalan had no heart to stay in Hindustan, matters
were settled in this way :
—
As he had many retainers, he was to
convoy the gifts, and, as there were few men in Kabul and
Ghaznl, was to keep these places guarded and victualled.
Ibestowed on him Ghaznl, Girdiz and the Sultan Mas'udi Hazara,
gave also the Hindustan pargana of G'huram,^ worth 3 or
4 laks. It was settled for Khwaja Mir-i-mlran also to go to
Kabul the gifts were put into his immediate charge, under the
;

custody of Mulla Hasan the banker {sarrdf) and Tuka^ Hindu.

Loathing Hindustan, Khwaja Kalan, when on his way, had
the following couplet inscribed on the wall of his residence Fol. 296.

{'imdrati) in Dihll :

If safe and sound I cross the Sind,

Blacken my face ere I wish for Hind !

It was ill-mannered in him to compose and write up this partly-

jesting verse while I still stayed in Hind. If his departure

in Patiala, about 25 miles s.w. of Ambala.

^

Shaikh Zain, Gul-badan and Erskine write Nau-kar. It was now that Khwaja
'

Kalan conveyed money for the repair of the great dam at Ghaznl (f. 139).

36
 526 HINDUSTAN
caused me one vexation, such a jest doubled it/ I composed
the following off-hand verse, wrote it down and sent it tohim :

Give a hundred thanks, Babur, that the generous Pardoner

Has given thee Sind and Hind and many a kingdom.
If thou {i.e. the Khwaja) have not the strength for their heats.
If thou say, " Let me see the cold side (j'uz)," Ghaznl is there.'

(/. Accretions to Babur's force.)

At this juncture, Mulla Apaq was sent into Kiil with royal
letters of favour for the soldiers and quiver-wearers {tarkash-
band) of that neighbourhood. Shaikh Guran (G'huran)3 came
{Author's note on Mulla Apdq.) Formerly he had been in a very low
position indeed, but two or three years before this time, had gathered his
elder and younger brethren into a compact body and had brought them in
(to me), together with the Aiiruq-zai and other Afghans of the banks of the
Sind.

trustfully and loyally to do obeisance, bringing with him from

2 to 3,000 soldiers and quiver-wearers from Between-two-
waters {Midn-dii-db).
Yunas-i-*ah when on
his way from Dihh to Agra 4 had lost
his way and got separated from Humayijn he then met
a little ;

in with 'All Khan Farmuli's sons and train,s had a small affair
with them, took them prisoners and brought them in. Taking
advantage of this, one of the sons thus captured was sent to his
Fol. 2963. father in company with Daulat-qadam Turk's son Mirza Mughul
who conveyed royal letters of favour to *Ali Khan. At this
time of break-up, *Ali Khan had gone to Mlwat he came to ;

* The friends did not meet again

that their friendship weathered this storm is
;

shewn by Babur's letter off. 359. The Abushqa says the couplet was inscribed on
a marble tablet near the Hauz-i-khas at the time the Khwaja was in Dihli after
bidding Babur farewell in Agra.
^ This quatrain is in the Rampiir Dlwdn {q.v. index). The Abushqa quotes the
following as Khwaja Kalan's reply, but without mentioning where the original was
found. Cf. de Courteille, Diet. s.n. taskarl. An English version is given in my
husband's article Some verses by the Emperor Babur (A.Q. R. January, 191 1).

You shew your

gaiety and your wit.
In each word there lie acres of charm.
Were not all things of Hind upside-down.
How
could you in the heat be so pleasant on cold ?
It is an old remark of travellers that everything in India is the opposite of what one
sees elsewhere. Timur is said to have remarked it and to have told his soldiers not
to be afraid of the elephants of India, "For," said he, "their trunks are empty
sleeves, and they carry their tails in front ; in Hindustan everything is reversed
(H. Beveridge ibid.). Cf. App. Q.
3 BadayunI i, 337 speaks of him as unrivalled in music.
4 f. 2673.
5 aiirfiq, which here no doubt represents the women of the family.
 932 AH.— OCT. 18th 1525 to OCT. 8th 1526 AD. 527

me when Mirza Mughul returned, was promoted, and given

valid (?) parganas'^ worth 25 laks.

{g. Action against the rebels of the East.)

Ibrahim had appointed several amirs under Mustafa
SI.

Farmiili and FiruzKhan Sdrang-khdni, to act against the rebel

amirs of the East {Piirab). Mustafa had fought them and
thoroughly drubbed them, giving them more than one good
beating. He dying before Ibrahim's defeat, his younger brother
—
Shaikh Bayazld Ibrahim being occupied with a momentous
—
matter ^ had led and watched over his elder brother's men. He
now came to serve me, together with Firuz Khan, Mahmud Khan
Nuhdnl and QazI Jia. I shewed them greater kindness and
favour than was their claimgiving to Firuz Khan i kriir, 46 laks
;

and 5000 tankas from Junpur, to Shaikh Bayazld i krur, 48 laks

and 50,000 tankas from Aud (Oude), to Mahmild Khan 90 laks
and 35,000 tankas from Ghazlpur, and to QazI JIa 20 laks."^

{Ji. Gifts made to various officers.)

was a few days after the 'Id of Shawwal 4 that a large

It

party was held in the pillared-porch of the domed building

standing in the middle of SI. Ibrahim's private apartments. At
this party there were bestowed on Humayun a chdr-qab,^ a
sword-belt,^ a tlpuchdq horse with saddle mounted
on in gold ;

Chln-tlmur Sultan, Mahdl Khwaja and MirzaMuhammad SI.

chdr-qabs, sword-belts and dagger-belts and to the begs and

;
Fol. 297.

braves, to each according to his rank, were given sword-belts,

dagger-belts, and dresses of honour, in all to the number
specified below :

^''ain pargatialar.
^Babur's advance, presumably.
3 The full amounts here given are not in all MSS., some scribes contenting them-

selves with the largest item of each gift {Memoirs p. 337).

* The 'Id of Shawwal, it will be remembered, is celebrated at the conclusion of

the Ramzan fast, on seeing the first new moon of Shawwal. In A.H, 932 it must
have fallen about July nth 1526 (Erskine).
5 A square shawl, or napkin, of cloth of gold, bestowed as a mark of rank and

distinction {Memoirs p. 338 n. ) U7te tunique enrichie de broderies {M^moires, ii, 240 n. ).
;

^ kamar-shamshir. This Steingass explains as sword-belt, Erskine by "sword

with a belt ". The summary following shews that many weapons were given and
not belts alone. There is a good deal of variation in the MSS. The Hai. MS.
has not a complete list. The most all the lists show is that gifts were many.
 528 HINDUSTAN
2 items (rfl'j-) of tlpiichaq horses with saddles.
l6 items [qabza) of poinards, set with jewels, etc,
8 items {qabza) of purpet over-garments.
2 items {tob) of jewelled sword-belts.
— items {qabza) of broad daggers {jamd'har) set with jewels.
2$ items of jewelled hangers {khanjar).
— items of gold-hilted Hindi knives {/card).
5 1 pieces of purpet.

On the day of this party it rained amazingly, rain falling

thirteen times. As outside places had been assigned to a good
many people, they were drowned out {gharaq).

{i. Of various forts and postings.)

Samana had been given to MuhammadI Kiikul-
(in Patlala)

dash and it for him to make swift descent on

had been arranged
Sarnbal (Sarnbhal), but Sarnbal was now bestowed on Humayun,
in addition to his guerdon of Hisar-flruza, and in his service
was Hindu Beg. To suit this, therefore, Hindu Beg was sent
to make the incursion in Muhammadi's place, and with him
Kitta Beg, Baba Qashqds (brother) Malik Qasim and his elder
and younger brethren, Mulla Apaq and Shaikh Guran (G'huran)
with the quiver- wearers from Between- two- waters {Midn-du-
Fol. 297(5. db). Three or four times a person had come from Qasim
Sambali^ saying, The renegade Biban is besieging Sarnbal and
*'

has brought it to extremity ; come quickly." Biban, with the

array and the preparation ihaydi) with which he had deserted
us,^ had gone skirting the hills and gathering up Afghan and
Hindustani deserters, until, finding Sarnbal at this juncture ill-

garrisoned, he laid siege to it. Hindu Beg and Kitta Beg and
the rest of those appointed to make the incursion, got to the
Ahar-passage and from there sent ahead Baba Qashqds Malik
"^

Qasim with his elder and younger brethren, while they them-
selves were getting over the water. Malik Qasim crossed,
advanced swiftly with from lOO to 150 men his own and his —
brethren's —
and reached Sarnbal by the Mid-day Prayer. Biban
for his part came out of his camp in array. Malik Qasim and
his troop moved rapidly forward, got the fort in their rear, and
came to grips. Biban could make no stand he fled. Malik ;

Qasim cut off the heads of part of his force, took many horses,
» f.263*.
» over the Ganges, a little above Aniip-shahr in the Buland-shahr district.
 932 AH.-OCT. 18th 1525 TO OCT. 8th 1526 AD. 529

a few elephants and a mass of booty. Next day when the

other begs arrived, Qasim Sambali came out and saw them, but
not liking to surrender the fort, made them false pretences.
One day Shaikh Giiran (G'huran) and Hindii Beg having talked
the matter over with them, got Qasim Sambali out to the
presence of the begs, and took men of ours into the fort. They
brought Qasim's wife and dependents safely out, and sent
Qasim (to Court).^
Qalandar the foot-man was sent to Nizam Khan in Blana
with royal letters of promise and threat with these was sent Fol. 298.

off-hand (Persian) verse —

;

also the following little :

Strive not with the Turk, o Mir of Biana !

His skill and his courage are obvious.

If thou come not soon, nor give ear to counsel,
What need to detail [bayan) what is obvious ?

Blana being one of the famous forts of Hindustan, the senseless

mannikin, relying on its strength, demanded what not even its
strength could enforce. Not giving him a good answer, we
ordered siege apparatus to be looked to.

Baba Quli Beg was sent with royal letters of promise and
threat to Muhammad Zaitiin (in Dulpur) ; Muhammad Zaitun
also made false excuses.
While we were still in Kabul, Rana Sanga had sent an envoy
good wishes and to propose this plan
to testify to his "If the :

honoured Padshah will come to near Dihll from that side,

I from this will move on Agra." But I beat Ibrahim, I took
Dihll and Agra, and up to now that Pagan has given no sign
soever of moving. After a while he went and laid siege to
Kandar3 a fort in which was Makan's son, Hasan by name.
This Hasan-of-Makan had sent a person to me several times,
but had not shewn himself We had not been able to detach Fol. 2983.

reinforcement for him because, as the forts round-about Atawa —

—
(Etawa), Dulpur, and Blana had not yet surrendered, and
the Eastern Afghans were seated with their army in obstinate
rebellion two or three marches on the Agra side of Qanuj, my
mind was not quite free from the whirl and strain of things
A seeming omission in the text is made good in my translation by Shaikh 2^in's
help, who says Qasim was sent to Court.
This quatrain is in the Rampur Dtwdn. It appears to pun on Biana and bl(y)an.
3 Kandar is in Rajputana ; Abu'1-fazl writes Kuhan-dar, old habitation.
 530 HINDUSTAN
close at hand. Makan's Hasan therefore, becoming helpless,
had surrendered Kandar two or three months ago.
Husain Khan {Nuhdni) became afraid in RaprI, and he
abandoning it, it was given to Muhammad 'AH Jang-jang.
To Qutb Khan in Etawa royal letters of promise and threat
had been sent several times, but as he neither came and saw me,
nor abandoned Etawa and got away, it was given to Mahdl
Khwaja and he was sent against it with a strong reinforcement
of begs and household troops under the command of Muhammad
SI. Mirza, SI. Muhammad Diilddi, Muhammad 'All Jang-jang

and 'Abdu'l-'azTz the Master of the Horse. Qanuj was given to

SI. Muhammad Dulddi\ he was also (as mentioned) appointed

against Etawa so too were Firuz Khan, Mahmud Khan,

;

Shaikh Bayazld and QazI Jia, highly favoured commanders to

whom Eastern parganas had been given.
Fol. 299. Muhammad Zaitun, who was seated in Dulpur, deceived us
and did not come. We gave Dulpur to SI. Junaid Barlds and
reinforced him by appointing 'Adil Sultan, Muhammad!
Kukuldash, Shah Mansur Barlds, Qutluq-qadam, Treasurer
Wall, Jan Beg, 'Abdu'1-lah, Pir-qull, and Shah Hasan Ydragi
(or Bdragi), who were to attack Diilpur, take it, make it over to
SI. Junaid Barlds and advance on Blana.

(y. Plan of operations adopted?)

These armies appointed, we summoned the Turk amirs ' and

the Hindustan amirs, and tossed the following matters in
amongst them :
—
The various rebel amirs of the East, that is to
say, those under Nasir Khan Nuhdni and Ma'ruf Farnmli, have
crossed Gang (Ganges) with 40 to 50,000 men, taken Qanuj,
and now lie some three miles on our side of the river. The
Pagan Rana Sanga has captured Kandar and is in a hostile and
mischievous attitude. The end of the Rains is near. It seems
expedient to move either against the rebels or the Pagan, since
the task of the forts near-by is easy when the great foes are ;

got rid of, what road will remain open for the rest? Rana
Sanga is thought not to be the equal of the rebels,

' This is the first time Babur's begs are called amirs in his book ; it may be by
a scribe's slip.
 932 AH.— OCT. 18th 1525 TO OCT. 8th 1526 AD. 531

To this all replied unanimously, " Rana Sanga is the most

distant, and it is not known that he will come nearer the ;

enemy who is closest at hand must first be got rid of. We are
for riding against the rebels." Humayun then represented, Fol. 299<5.
" What need is there for the Padshah to ride out ? This service
Iwill do." This came as a pleasure to every-one the Turk and ;

Hind amirs gladly accepted his views he was appointed for the ;

East. A Kabul! of Ahmad-i-qasim's was sent galloping off to

tell the armies that had been despatched against Dulpur to join
Humayiin at Chandwar ^ also those sent against Etawa under
;

Mahdl Khwaja and Muhammad SI. M. were ordered to join him.

{August 2 1 St) Humayun set out on Thursday the 13th of
Zu'l-qa*da, dismounted at a little village called Jillslr (Jalesar)
some 3 kurohs from Agra, there stayed one night, then moved
forward march by march.

{k. Khwaja Kaldft's departure.)

{August 28th) On Thursday the 20th of this same month,
Khwaja Kalan started for Kabul.

(/. Of gardens and pleasaunces.)

One of the great defects of Hindiastan being its lack of
running-waters,^ it kept coming to my mind that waters should
be made
to flow by means of wheels erected wherever I might
settledown, also that grounds should be laid out in an orderly
and symmetrical way. With this object in view, we crossed the
Jun-water to look at garden-grounds a few days after entering
Agra. Those grounds were so bad and unattractive that we
traversed them with a hundred disgusts and repulsions. So
ugly and displeasing were they, that the idea of making a Fol. 300.

Char-bagh in them passed from my mind, but needs must as !

there was no other land near Agra, that same ground was taken
in hand a few days later.
The beginning was made with the large well from which water
comes for the Hot-bath, and also with the piece of ground where
Chandwar is on the Jumna, between Agra and Etawah.
'

—
Here dqdr-suldr will stand for the waters which flow sometimes in marble
^

—
channels to nourish plants and charm the eye, such for example as beautify the
Taj-mahal pleasaunce.
 532 HINDUSTAN
the tamarind-trees and the octagonal tank now are. After that
came the large tank with its enclosure ; after that the tank and
tdldr ^ in front of the outer (?) residence ^ ; after that the private-
house {khilwat-khdnd) with its garden and various dwellings ;

after that the Hot-bath. Then in that charmless and disorderly

Hind, plots of gardens were seen laid out with order and
symmetry, with suitable borders and parterres in every corner,
and in every border rose and narcissus in perfect arrangement.

{m. Construction of a ckambered-well.)

Three things oppressed us in Hindustan, its heat, its violent

winds, its dust. Against all three the Bath is a protection, for
in it, what is known of dust and wind ? and in the heats it is so
chilly that one is almost cold. The bath-room in which the
heated tank is, is altogether of stone, the whole, except for the
izdra (dado?) of white stone, being, pavement and roofing, of
red Blana stone.
Khalifa also and Shaikh Zain, Yunas-i-*all and whoever got
Fol. 300*. land on that other bank of the river laid out regular and orderly
gardens with tanks, made running- waters also by setting up
wheels like those in Dipalpur and Labor. The people of Hind
who had never seen grounds planned so symmetrically and thus
laid out, called the side of the Jun where (our) residences were,
Kabul.
an empty space inside the fort, which was between
In
Ibrahim's residence and the ramparts, I ordered a large
chambered-well {jvairi) to be made, measuring 10 by lo,"^ a large

* Index s. n. The idldr is raised on pillars and open in front ; it serves often for an
Audience-hall (Erskine).
= task Hmarat, which may refer to the extra-mural location of the house, or

contrast it with the inner kkilwai-khdna, the women's quarters, of the next sentence.
The point is noted as one concerning the use of the word task (Index s.n. ). I have
found no instance in which it is certain that Babur uses task, a stone or rock, as an
adjective. On f. 301 he writes tashdln Hmarat, house-of-stone, which the Persian
text renders by 'imdrat-i-sangin. Wherever task can be translated as meaning
outer, this accords with Babur's usual diction.
bdghcha (Index s.n.). That Babur was the admitted pioneer of orderly gardens
3

in India is shewn by the 30th Ayin, On Perfumes :—" After the foot-prints of
Firdaus-makani (Babur) had added to the glory of Hindustan, embellishment by
avenues and landscape-gardening was seen, while heart- expanding buildings and the
sound of falling-waters widened the eyes of beholders."
* Perhaps gaz^ each somewhat less than 36 inches.
 932 AH.— OCT. 18th 1525 TO OCT. 8th 1526 AD. 533

well with a flight of steps, which in Hindustan is called a wain}

This well was begun before the Char-bagh ^ they were busy ;

digging it in the true Rains i^ain bishkdl, Sawan and Bhadon)

it fell in several times and buried the hired workmen it was ;

finished after the Holy Battle with Rana Sanga, as is stated in

the inscription on the stone that bears the chronogram of its

completion. complete wain, having a three-storeyed

It is a
house in it. The lowest storey consists of three rooms, each of
which opens on the descending steps, at intervals of three steps
from one another. When the water is at its lowest, it is one
step below the bottom chamber ; when it rises in the Rains, it

sometimes goes into the top storey. In the middle storey an

inner chamber has been excavated which connects with the
domed building in which the bullock turns the well-wheel. The Fol. 301.

top storey is a single room, reached from two sides by 5 or 6

steps which lead down to it from the enclosure overlooked from
the well-head. Facing the right-hand way down, is the stone
inscribed with the date of completion. At the side of this well
is another the bottom of which may be at half the depth of the
first, and into which water comes from that first one when the
bullock turns the wheel in the domed building afore-mentioned.
This second well also is fitted with a wheel, by means of which
water is carried along the ramparts to the high-garden. A stone
building {tdshdin Hindrai) stands at the mouth of the
and well
there is an outer (?) mosque 3 outside {tdshqdri) the enclosure in
which the well is. The mosque is not well done it is in the ;

Hindustani fashion.
{n. Humdyun's campaign.)
At the time Humayun got to horse, the rebel amirs under
Na.slr Khan Nuhdni and Ma'ruf Farmuli were assembled at
Jajmau.4 Arrived within 20 to 30 miles of them, he sent out
' The more
familiar Indian name is baoli. Such wells attracted Peter Mundy's
attention Yule gives an account of their names and plan (Mundy's Travels in Asia,
;

Hakluyt Society, ed. R. C. Temple, and Yule's Hobsott Jobson s.n. Bowly). Babur's
account of his great wain is not easy to translate his interpreters vary from one
;

another ; probably no one of them has felt assured of translating correctly.

^ i.e. the one across the river.

3 task masjid this, unless some adjectival affix {e.g. din) has been omitted by the
;

scribe, I incline to read as meaning extra, supplementary, or outer, not as "mosque-

of-stone ".
* or Jajmawa, the old name for the sub-district of Kanhpur (Cawnpur).
 534 HINDUSTAN
Mumin Ataka for news it became a raid for loot Mumin
; ;

Ataka was not able to bring even the least useful information.
The rebels heard about him however, made no stay but fled and
got away. After Mumin Ataka, Qusm-nal (?) was sent for news,
with Baba Chuhra ^ and Bujka they brought it of the breaking-
;

up and flight of the rebels. Humayun advancing, took Jajmau

Fol. 3013. and passed on. Near Dilmau ^ Fath Khan Sarwdni came and
saw him, and was sent to me with Mahdi Khwaja and Muhammad
SI. Mirza.

{p. News of the Auzbegs^

This year *Ubaidu'l-lah Khan {Ailzbeg) led an army out of
Bukhara against Marv. In the citadel of Marv were perhaps
10 to 15 peasants whom he overcame and killed then having ;

taken the revenues of Marv in 40 or 50 days,3 he went on to

Sarakhs. In Sarakhs were some 30 to 40 Red-heads {Qizil-bdsh)
who did not surrender, but shut the Gate ; the peasantry however
scattered them and opened the Gate to the Auzbeg who entering,
killed the Red-heads. Sarakhs taken, he went against Tus and
Mashhad. The inhabitants of Mashhad being helpless, let him
in. Tus he besieged for 8 months, took possession of on terms,
did not keep those terms, but killed every man of name and
made their women captive.

(/. Affairs of Gujrdt.)

In this year Bahadur Khan, —he who now rules in Gujrat in
the place of his father SI. Muzaffar Gujrdti —having gone to
SI. Ibrahim after quarrel with his father, had been received
without honour. He had sent dutiful letters to me while I was
near Pani-pat had replied by royal letters of favour and
; I

kindness summoning him

to me. He had thought of coming,
but changing his mind, drew off from Ibrahim's army towards
Gujrat. Meantime his father SI. Muzaffar had died (Friday
—
Jumada II. 2nd AH. March i6th 1526 AD.) his elder brother ;

Sikandar Shah who was SI. Muzaffar's eldest son, had become
' i.e. of the Corps of Braves.
» Dilmau is on the left bank of the Ganges, s.e. from Bareilly (Erskine).
3 Marv-ning bundl-nl baghlab, which Erskine renders by " Having settled the
revenue of Merv", and de Courteille by, " Aprh avoir occupi Merv." Were the
year's revenues compressed into a 40 to 50 days collection ?
 932 AH.— OCT. 18th 1525 TO OCT. 8th 1526 AD. 53:

iler in their father's place and, owing to his evil disposition, Fol. 302.

had been strangled by his slave 'Imadu'1-mulk, acting with

others (Sha'ban 14th — May 25th). Bahadur Khan, while he
was on his road for Gujrat, was invited and escorted to sit in
his father's place under the style Bahadur Shah (Ramzan 26th
July 6th). He for his part did well he retaliated by death on
;

*Imadu'l-mulk for his treachery to his salt, and killed some

others of his father's begs.^People point at him as a dread-
naught {bl bdk) youth and a shedder of m.uch blood.
^ i.e. those who had part in his brother's murder. Cf. Nizamu'd-din Ahmad's
Tabaqdt-i-akbari and the Alirat-i-sikandari (trs. History of Gujrat E. C. Bayley).
 933 AH.— OCT. 8th 1526 to SEP. 27th 1527 AD.^

{a. Announcement of the birth of a son.)

In Muharram Beg Wais brought the news of Faruq's birth ;

though a foot-man had brought it already, he came this month

for the gift to the messenger of good tidings.^ The birth must
have been on Friday eve, Shawwal 23rd (932 AH.- August 2nd
1526 AD.) the name given was Faruq.
;

{b. Casting of a mortar.)

{October 22nd- Muharram 15th) Ustad *Ah-quh had been

ordered to cast a large mortar for use against Blana and other
forts which had not yet submitted. When all the furnaces and
materials were ready, he sent a person to me and, on Monday
the 1 5th of the month, we went to see the mortar cast. Round
the mortar-mould he had had eight furnaces made in which
Fol. zo2b. were the molten materials. From below each furnace a channel
went direct to the mould. When he opened the furnace-holes
on our arrival, the molten metal poured like water through all

these channels into the mould. After awhile and before the
mould was full, the flow stopped from one furnace after another.
Ustad *AlI-qulI must have made some miscalculation either as
to the furnaces or the materials. In his great distress, he was
for throwing himself into the mould of molten metal, but we
comforted him, put a robe of honour on him, and so brought
him out of his shame. The mould was left a day or two to
cool when it was opened, Ustad *AlI-quli with great delight
;

sent to say, " The stone-chamber {tdsh-awi) is without defect

to cast the powder-compartment {ddrU-khdnd) is easy." He got
» Elph. MS. f. 252 ; W.-i-B. I.O. 215 f. 199^5 and 217 f. 208^ Mems. p. 343-
;

» jfwwrAf (Zenker). Faruq was Mahlm's son ; he died in ^34 A.H. before his
father had seen him.
 933 AH.— OCT. 8th 1526 to SEP. 27th 1527 AD. 537

"tE'e stone-chamber out and told off a body of men to accoutre ^

it, while he busied himself with casting the powder-compartment.

(c. Varia.)
Mahdl Khwaja arrived bringing Fath Khan Sarwdni from
Humayun's presence, they having parted from him in Dilmau.
I looked with favour on Fath Khan, gave him \.\\^ parganas WvbX

had been his father 'Azam-humayun's, and other lands also, one
pargana given being worth a krilr and 60 laks?-
In Hindustan they give permanent titles \inuqarrarl khitdbldr\
to highly -favoured one such being *Azam-humayun
amirs,
(August Might), one Khan-i-jahan (Khan-of-the-world), another Fol. 303.

Khan-i-khanan (Khan-of-khans). Fath Khan's father's title

was 'Azam-humayun but I set this aside because on account of
Humayun it was not seemly for any person to bear it, and
I gave Fath Khan Sarwdni the title of Khan-i-jahan.

(^November 14th) On Wednesday the 8th of Safar 3 awnings

were set up (in the Char-bagh) at the edge of the large tank
beyond the tamarind-trees, and an entertainment was prepared
there. We invited Fath Khan Sarwdni to a wine-party, gave
him wine, bestowed on him a turban and head-to-foot of my
own wearing, uplifted his head with kindness and favour 4 and
allowed him to go to his own districts. It was arranged for his

son Mahmud to remain always in waiting.

{d. Various military matters^

(^November joth) On Wednesday the 24th of Muharram 5

Muhammad *AlI (son of Mihtar) Haidar the stirrup-holder was

' salah. from the " tdsh-awi" (Pers. trs. khana-i-sang) of this mortar
It is clear
{qdzan) that stones wereits missiles. Erskine notes that from Babur's account cannon
would seem sometimes to have been made in parts and clamped together, and that
they were frequently formed of iron bars strongly compacted into a circular shape.
The accoutrement (salah) presumably was the addition of fittings.
About ;i^40,ooo sterling (Erskine).
=

3 The MSS. write Safar but it seems probable that Muharram should be
substituted for this ; one ground for not accepting Safar being that it breaks the
consecutive order of dates, another that Safar allows what seems a long time for the
journey from near Dilmau to Agra. All MSS. I have seen give the 8th as the day
of the month but Erskine has 20th. In this part of Babur's writings dates are
sparse ; it is a narrative and not a diary.
This phrase, foreign to Babur's diction, smacks of a Court-Persian milieu.
*

Here the Elph. MS. has Safar Muharram (f. 253), as has also I.O. 215 f. 200b,
5

but seems unsafe to take this as an al Safardnl extension of Muharram because

it

Muh. -Safar 24th was not a Wednesday. As in the passage noted just above, it
seems likely that Muharram is right.
 538 HINDUSTAN
sent (to Humayun) with this injunction, "As thanks be to —
God ! — the rebelshave fled, do you, as soon as this messenger
arrives, appoint a few suitable begs to Junpur, and come quickly
to us yourself, for Rana Sanga the Pagan is conveniently close ;

"
let us think first of him !

army had gone to the East, we appointed,

After (Humayun's)
to make a plundering excursion into the Blana neighbourhood,
TardI Beg (brother) of Quj Beg with his elder brother Sher-afgan,
Muhammad Khalll the master-gelder {akhta-begt) with his
brethren and the gelders {akhtachildr)^ Rustam Turkman with
his brethren, and also, of the HindQstanl people, Daud Sarwdnl.
Fol. 3033. If they, by promise and persuasion, could make the Blana
garrison look towards us, they were to do so if not, they were ;

to weaken the enemy by raid and plunder.

In the fort of Tahangar^ was *Alam Khan the elder brother
of that same Nizam Khan of Blana. People of his had come
again and again to set forth his obedience and well-wishing he ;

now took it on himself to say, " If the Padshah appoint an army,

it will be my part by promise and persuasion to bring in the

quiver-weavers of Blana and to effect the capture of that fort."

This being so, the following orders were given to the braves of
Tardi Beg's expedition, " As Alam Khan, a local man, has taken
'

it on himself to serve and submit in this manner, act you with

him and in the way he approves in this matter of Blana."
Swordsmen though some Hindustanis may be, most of them are
ignorant and unskilled in military move and stand {yiirilsh u
turusJi), in soldierly counsel and procedure. When our expedition

joined 'Alam Khan, he paid no attention to what any-one else

said, did not consider whether his action was good or bad, but
went close up to Blana, taking our men with him. Our expedi-
tion numbered from 250 to 300 Turks with somewhat over 2000
Hindustanis and local people, while Nizam Khan of Blana's
Afghans and sipdhls 3 were an army of over 4000 horse and of
Fol. 304. foot-men themselves again, more than 10,000. Nizam Khan
' Cf. f. lib note to Qambar-i-'al!. The title Akhta-begi is to be found translated
by "Master of the Horse", but this would not suit both uses of akhta in the
above sentence. Cf. Shaw's Vocabulary.
= i.e. Tahangarh in Karauli,
Rajputana.
3 Perhaps sipahl represents Hindustani foot-soldiers.
 933 AH.— OCT. 8th 1526 TO SEP. 27th 1527 AD. 539

looked his opponents over, sallied suddenly out and, his massed
horse charging down, put our expeditionary force to flight. His
men unhorsed his elder brother 'Alam Khan, took 5 or 6 others
prisoner and contrived to capture part of the baggage. As we
had already made encouraging promises to Nizam Khan, we now,
spite of this last impropriety, pardoned all earlier and this later
fault, and sent him royal letters. As he heard of Rana Sanga's
rapid advance, he had no resource but to call on Sayyid Rafi' ^
for mediation, surrender the fort to our men, and come in with
Sayyid Rafi', when he was exalted to the felicity of an interview.^
I bestowed on him a pargana in Mian-du-ab worth 20 laks.'^
Dost, Lord-of-the-gate was sent for a time to Biana, but a few
days later it was bestowed on MadhI Khwaja with a fixed
allowance of 70 laks,'^ and he was given leave to go there.
Tatar Khan Sdrang-khdnl^ who was in Gualiar, had been
sending constantly to assure us of his obedience and good-
wishes. After the pagan took Kandar and was close to Blana,
Dharmankat, one of the Gualiar rajas, and another pagan styled
Khan-i-jahan, went into the Gualiar neighbourhood and, coveting
the fort, began to stir trouble and tumult. Tatar Khan, thus
placed in difficulty, was for surrendering Gualiar (to us). Most
of our begs, household and best braves being away with
(Humayun's) army or on various raids, we joined to Rahlm-dad Fol. 304^.

a few Bhira men and Lahorls with HastachI 5 tunqitdr and his
brethren. We assigned pa7'ganas in Gualiar itself to all those
mentioned above. Mulla Apaq and Shaikh Guran (G'huran)
went also with them, they to return after Rahlm-dad was estab-
lished in Gualiar. By the time they were near Gualiar however,
Tatar Khan's views had changed, and he did not invite them
into the fort. Meantime Shaikh Muhammad Ghaus (Helper),
a darwish-like man, not only very learned but with a large
following of students and disciples, sent from inside the fort to
say to Rahlm-dad, " Get yourselves into the fort somehow, for
' Rafl'u-d-din Safawi, a native of Ij near the Persian Gulf, teacher of Abu'l-fazl's
father and buried near Agra {Ayin-t-akbari).
^ This phrase, again, departs from Babur's simplicity of statement.
3 About ^5,000 (Erskine).
* About ;^ 1 7, 500 (Erskine).
5 Hai. MS. and 215 f. 20\b, HastI Elph. MS. f. 254, and Ilminsky,
; p. 394,
Aimishchi Memoirs, p. 346, Imshiji, so too Mimoires, ii, 257.
;
 540 HINDUSTAN

the views of this person (Tatar Khan) have changed, and he

has evil in his mind."Hearing this, Rahim-dad sent to say to
Tatar Khan, There is danger from the Pagan to those outside
*'

let me bring a few men into the fort and let the rest stay

outside." Under insistence, Tatar Khan agreed to this, and

Rahlm-dad went in with rather few men. Said he, " Let our
people stay near this Gate," posted them near the Hatl-pul
(Elephant-gate) and through that Gate during that same night
brought in the whole of his troop. Next day, Tatar Khan,
reduced to helplessness, willy-nilly, made over the fort, and set
out to come and wait on me in Agra. A subsistence allowance
of 20 laks was assigned to him on '^\2sv^^.n pargana}
Fol. 305. Muhammad him by
Zaitiin also took the only course open to
surrendering Dulpur and coming to wait on me. pargana A
worth a few laks was bestowed on him. DOlpur was made
a royal domain {khdlsa) with Abu'1-fath Turkman'^ as its
military-collector {shiqddr).
In the Hisar-flruza neighbourhood Hamid Khan Sdrang-
khdnt with a body of his own Afghans and of the PanI Afghans
he had collected — from 3 to 4,000 in all —was in a hostile and
troublesome attitude. On Wednesday the 1 5th Safar (Nov. 2 st)
1

we appointed against him Chln-tlmur SI. {Chaghatdt) with the

commanders Secretary Ahmadl, Abii'1-fath Turkmdn, Malik
Dad Karardni^ and Mujahid Khan of Multan. These going,
fell suddenly on him from a distance, beat his Afghans well,
killed a mass of them and sent in many heads.

{e. Embassy from Persia^

KhwajagI Asad who had been sent
In the last days of Safar,
to Shah-zadaTahmasp^ in 'Iraq, returned with a Turkman
named Sulaiman who amongst other gifts brought two Circassian
girls {qizldr).

' About ;^5000 (Erskine). Bianwan lies in the stibah of Agra.

' Cf. 175 for Babur's estimate of his service.
f.

3 Cf. f. 268^ for Babur's clemency to him.

* Firishta (Briggs ii, 53) mentions that Asad had gone to Tahmasp from Kabul to

congratulate him on his accession. Shah Isma'il had died in 930 ah. (1524 ad.) ;
the title Shah-zada is a misnomer therefore in 933 ah. —
one possibly prompted by
Xahmasp's youth.
 933 AH.— OCT. 8th 1526 TO SEP. 27th 1527 AD. 541

if. Attempt to poison Bdbur.)

{Dec. 2 1st) On Friday the i6th of the first Rabf a strange
event occurred which was detailed in a letter written to Kabul.
That letter is inserted here just as it was written, without
addition or taking-away, and is as follows :
—
" The details of the momentous event of Friday the i6th of
the first Rabi' in the date 933 [Dec. 21st 1526 AD.] are as
follows: — The ill-omened old woman ^ Ibrahim's mother heard Fol, 305^.

that I ate things from the hands of Hindustanis —the thing

being that three or four months earlier, as I had not seen
Hindustani dishes, I had ordered Ibrahim's cooks to be brought
and out of 50 or 60 had kept four. Of this she heard, sent to
—
Atawa (Etawa) for Ahmad the chdshnigir in Hindustan they
call —and, having got him,3 gave
a taster {bakdwat) a chdshnigir
a of poison, wrapped
tiila a square of paper, — as has been
in
mentioned a rather more than misqdls —
tiila is the hand 2 ^ into
of a slave-woman who was to give it to him. That poison
Ahmad gave to the Hindustani cooks in our kitchen, promising
them ioMX parganas if they would get it somehow into the food.
Following the first slave-woman that ill-omened old woman sent
a second to see did or did not give the poison she had
if the first

received to Well was it that Ahmad put the poison

Ahmad.
not into the cooking-pot but on a dish He did not put it into !

the pot because I had strictly ordered the tasters to compel any
Hindustanis who were present while food was cooking in the
pots, to taste that food.5 Our graceless tasters were neglectful
when the food {ash) was being dished up. Thin slices of bread
were put on a porcelain dish on these less than half of the ;

paper packet of poison was sprinkled, and over this buttered

^ The letter is likely

to have been written to Mahim and to have been brought
back to India by her in 935 AH. (f. Z%ob). Some MSS. of the Pers. trs. reproduce
it in Turki and follow this by a Persian version ; others omit the Turk!.
^ Turki, bud. Hindi bawd means sister or paternal-aunt but this would not suit
from Babur's mouth, the more clearly not that his epithet for the offender is bad-bakht.
Gul-badan (H.N. f. 19) calls her " ill-omened demon ".
3 She may have been still in the place assigned to her near Agra when Babur

occupied it (f. 269).

'' f. Erskine notes that the tula is about equal in weight to the silver riipi.
290.
5 It appears from the kitchen-arrangements detailed by Abu'1-fazl, that before food

was dished up, it was tasted from the pot by a cook and a subordinate taster, and next
by the Head-taster.

n
 542 HINDUSTAN
Fol. 306. fritters were laid. It would have been bad if the poison had

been strewn on the fritters or thrown into the pot. In his

confusion, the man threw the larger half into the fire-place."
"On when the cooked
Friday, late after the Afternoon Prayer,
meats were good deal of a dish of hare and also
set out, I ate a
much fried carrot, took a few mouthfuls of the poisoned Hindu-
stan! food without noticing any unpleasant flavour, took also
a mouthful or two of dried-meat {<qdq). Then I felt sick. As
some dried meat eaten on the previous day had had an un-
pleasant taste, I thought my nausea due to the dried-meat.
Again and again my heart rose after retching two or three ;

times I was near vomiting on the table-cloth. At last I saw it

would not do, got up, went retching every moment of the way
to the water-closet {ab-khdna) and on reaching it vomited much.
Never had I vomited after food, used not to do so indeed while
drinking. I became suspicious I had the cooks put in ward ;

and ordered some of the vomit given to a dog and the dog to
be watched. It was somewhat out-of-sorts near the first watch
of the next day its belly was swollen and however much people
;

threw stones at it and turned it over, it did not get up. In that
state it remained till mid-day it then got up it did not die.
; ;

Fol. lotb. One or two of the braves who also had eaten of that dish, vomited
a good deal next day one was in a very bad state.
; In the end
all escaped. {Persian) *An evil arrived but happily passed on!'
God gave me new-birth am coming
from that other world
! I ;

I amborn today of my mother I was sick I live through ; ; ;

God, I know today the worth of life " ^ !

" I ordered Pay-master SI. Muhammad to watch the cook ;

when he was taken for torture {qin), he related the above

particulars one after another."
"Monday being Court-day, I
ordered the grandees and notables,
amirs and wazirs to be present and that those two men and two
women should be brought and questioned. They there related
the particulars of the affair. That taster I had cut in pieces,
that cook skinned alive ; one of those women I had thrown

' The
Turk"! sentences which here follow the well-known Persian proverb, Rasida
hud balal wall ba khair guzasht, are entered as verse in some MSS.
; they may be
a prose quotation.
 933 AH.— OCT. 8th 1526 TO SEP. 27th 1527 AD. 543

under an elephant, the other shot with a match-lock. The old

woman {biia) I had kept under guard she will meet her doom, ;

the captive of her own act."

^

" On Saturday I drank a bowl of milk, on Sunday 'araq in

which stamped-clay was dissolved.^ On Monday I drank milk

in which were dissolved stamped-clay and the best theriac,3 a
strong purge. As on the first day, Saturday, something very
dark like parched bile was voided."
Thanks be to God
**
no harm has been done.
! Till now

I had not known so well how sweet a thing life can seem As !

the line has it, 'He who has been near to death knows the worth
of life.' Spite of myself, I am all upset whenever the dreadful Fol. 307.

occurrence comes back to my mind. It must have been God's

favour gave me life anew; with what words can I thank him?"
"Although the terror of the occurrence was too great for
words, I have written all that happened, with detail and circum-
stance, because I said to myself, Don't let their hearts be kept
'

in anxiety Thanks be to God there may be other days yet

!
' !

I to see All has passed off well and for good

!

anxiety in your minds."

have no fear or ;

"This was written on Tuesday the 20th of the first Rabl',

I being then in the Char-bagh."
When we were free from the anxiety of these occurrences, the
above letter was written and sent to Kabul.

{g. Dealings with Ibrahim' s family?)

As this great crime had raised its head through that ill-omened
old woman {bud-i-bad-bakhi), she was given over to Yunas-i-*all
and KhwajagI Asad who after taking her money and goods,
slaves and slave-women {dddiik), made her over for careful watch
to 'Abdu'r-rahlm shaghdwal.^ Her grandson, Ibrahim's son had
been cared for with much respect and delicacy, but as the
attempt on my life had been made, clearly, by that family, it

' She, after being put under contribution by two of Babur's officers (f. 307*5) was
started off for Kabul, but, perhaps dreading her reception there, threw herself into
the Indus in crossing and was drowned. (Cf. A.N. trs. H. Beveridge Errata and
addenda p. xi for the authorities.
- gtl makhtum,
Lemnian earth, terra sigillata, each piece of which was impressed,
when taken from the quarry, with a guarantee-stamp (Cf. Ency. Br. s.n. Lemnos).
3 tiridq-i-fdruq, an antidote.
^ Index s.n.
 544 HINDUSTAN
did not seem advisable to keep him in Agra he was joined ;

therefore to Mulla Sarsan —who

had come from Kamran on
—
important business and was started off with the Mulla to
Kamran on Thursday Rabi' I. 29th (Jan. 3rd 1527 AD.).'
{h. Humdyun' s campaign?)
Fol. 307^. Humayun, acting against the Eastern rebels
took Juna-pur =^

{sic),went swiftly against Nasir Khan {NUhdm) in Ghazl-pur

and found that he had gone across the Gang-river, presumably
on news* of Humayun's approach. From Ghazl-pur Humayun
went against Kharld 3 but the Afghans of the place had crossed
the Saru-water (Gogra) presumably on the news* of his coming.
Kharld was plundered and the army turned back.
Humayun, in accordance with my arrangements, left Shah
Mir Husain and Junaid with a body of effective braves in
SI.

Juna-pur, posted QazI Jia with them, and placed Shaikh Bayazld
[Farmi7li'\ in Aude (Oude). These important matters settled,
he crossed Gang from near Karrah-Manikpur and took the
KalpI road. When he came opposite KalpI, in which was Jalal
Khan Jik-hafs (son) 'Alam Khan who had sent me dutiful
letters but had not waited on me himself, he sent some-one to
chase fear from *Alam Khan's heart and so brought him along
(to Agra).
Humayun arrived and waited on me in the Garden of Eight-
paradises 4 on Sunday the 3rd of the 2nd RabI* (Jan. 6th
1527 AD.). On the same day Khwaja Dost-i-khawand arrived
from Kabul.
{i. Rand Sangd's approach^ 5
Meantime Mahdl Khwaja's people began to come in, treading
on one another's heels and saying, " The Rana's advance is
* Kamran was in Qandahar (Index s.n.). Erskine observes here that Babur's
omission to give the name of Ibrahim's son, is noteworthy the son may however
;

have been a child and his name not known to or recalled by Babur when writing some
years later.
" f. 2994.
3 The Aytn-i-akbari locates this in the sarkdr of Jun-pur, a location suiting the
context. The second Persian translation ('Abdu'r-rahim's) has here a scribe's skip
from one "news" to another (both asterisked in my text) ; hence Erskine has an
omission.
This is the Char-bagh off. 300, known later as the Ram (Aram)-bagh (Garden-
of-rest).
5 Presumably he was coming up from Marwar.
 933 AH.— OCT. 8th 1526 to SEP. 27th 1527 AD. 545

certain. Hasan Khan Miwdti is heard of also as Hkely to join

him. They must be thought about above all else. It would
favour our fortune, if a troop came ahead of the army to
reinforce Blana." Fol. 308.

Deciding to get to horse, we sent on, to ride light to Blana,

the commanders Muhammad SI. Mirza, Yunas-i-'all, Shah
Mansiar Barlds, Kitta Beg, QismatI ^ and Bujka.
In the fight with Ibrahim, Hasan Khan MiwdtVs son Nahar
Khan had fallen into our hands we had kept him as an hostage
;

and, ostensibly on his account, his father had been making

comings-and-goings with us, constantly asking for him. It now
occurred to several people that Hasan Khan were conciliated
if

by sending him his son, he would thereby be the more favourably

disposed and his waiting on me might be the better brought
about. Accordingly Nahar Khan was dressed in a robe of
honour promises were made to him for his father, and he was
;

given leave to go. That hypocritical mannikin [Hasan Khan]

must have waited just till his son had leave from me to go, for
on hearing of this and while his son as yet had not joined him,
he came out of Alur (Alwar) and at once joined Rana Sanga in
Toda(bhIm, Agra District). It must have been ill-judged to
let his son go just then.

Meantime much rain was falling parties were frequent even

;
;

Humayun was present at them and, abhorrent though it was to

him, sinned ^ every few days.

(y. Tramontane affairs?)

One of the strange events in these days of respite 3 was this :

When Humayun was coming from Fort Victory (Qila'-i-zafar)

to Hindustan army, (Muh. 932 AH. - Oct. 1525 AD.)
join the Fol. 308*^.

Mulla Baba of Pashaghar {Chaghatdt) and his younger brother

Baba Shaikh deserted on the way, and went to Kltln-qara SI.
{Auzbeg), into whose hands Balkh had fallen through the

^ This name MS. in most cases writes Qismati, but on f. zd^b,

varies ; the Hai.
Qismatal ; 220 has Q:s:mna! De Courteille writes Qismi.
the Elph. MS. on f. ;

artkab qildi, perhaps drank wine, perhaps ate opium-confections to the use of
^

which he became addicted later on (Gulbadan's Humayun-nama f. 30/5 and 73*5).

^ fursatldr, i.e. between the occupation of Agra and the campaign against Rana

Sanga.
 546 HINDUSTAN
enfeeblement of its garrison/ This hollow mannikin and his
younger brother having taken the labours of this side (Cis-
Balkh?) on their own necks, come into the neighbourhood of
Albak, Khurram and Sar-bagh.^
—
Shah Sikandar his footing in Ghurl lost through the surrender
—
of Balkh is about to make over that fort to the Auzbeg, when
Mulla Baba and Baba Shaikh, coming with a few Aiizbegs, take
possession of it. Mir Hamah, as his fort is close by, has no
help for it he is for submitting to the Auzbeg, but a few days
;

later Mulla Baba and Baba Shaikh come with a few Auzbegs to
Mir Hamah's fort, purposing to make the Mir and his troop
march out and to take them towards Balkh. Mir Hamah
makes Baba Shaikh dismount inside the fort, and gives the rest
felt huts iautdq) here and there. He slashes at Baba Shaikh,
puts him and some others in bonds, and sends a man galloping
off to Tingrl-blrdI {Quchin, in Qiinduz). Tingrl-blrdi sends off
Yar-i-*ah and *Abdu'l-latlf with a few effective braves, but before
they reach Mir Hamah's fort, Mulla Baba has arrived there with

his Auzbegshe had thought of a hand-to-hand fight {aurush-

;

murush), but he can do nothing. Mir Hamah and his men joined
Tlngrl-blrdl's and came to Qunduz. Baba Shaikh's wound must
have been severe they cut his head off and Mir Hamah brought
;

Fol. 309. it (to Agra) in these same days of respite. I uplifted his head

with favour and kindness, distinguishing him amongst his fellows

and equals. When Baqi shaghdwal went [to Balkh] 3 I promised
him a ser of gold for the
head of each of the ill-conditioned old
couple one ser of gold was now given to Mir Hamah for Baba
;

Shaikh's head, over and above the favours referred to above.*

{k. Action ofpart of the Bidna reinforcement^

QismatI who had ridden light for Blana, brought back several
heads he had cut off; when he and Bujka had gone with a few

' Apparently the siege Babur broke up in 931 ah. had been renewed by the
Auzbegs (f. 255^5 and Trs. Note s.a. 931 ah. section c).
' These places are on the Khulm-river The
between Khulm and Kahmard.
present tense of this and the following sentences is Babur's.
3 f. 261.
* Erskine here notes that if the «r Babur mentions be one of 14 tiilas, the value is
about ;(^27 ; if of 24 tulas, about ;^45.
 933 AH.— OCT. 8th 1526 to SEP. 27th 1527 AD. 547

had beaten two of the Pagan's scouting-

raves to get news, they
Dra
partiesand had made 70 to 80 prisoners. QismatI brought news
that Hasan Khan Miwdtl really had joined Rana Sanga.

(/. Trial- test of the laj'ge mortar off. 302.)

{Feb. loth) On Sunday the 8th of the month (Jumada I.),

I went to see Ustad *AlI-qulI discharge stones from that large

mortar of his in casting which the stone-chamber was without
defect and which he had completed afterwards by casting the
powder-compartment. It was discharged at the Afternoon

Prayer; the throw of the stone was 1600 paces. A gift was
made to the Master of a sword-belt, robe of honour, and
tipuchdq (horse).

(w. Bdbur leaves Agra against Rdjtd Sangd.)

{Feb. nth) On Monday the 9th of the first Jumada, we got
out of the suburbs of Agra, on our journey {safar) for the Holy
War, and dismounted in the open country, where we remained
three or four days to collect our army and be its rallying-point.^
As little confidence was placed in Hindustan! people, the Hindu-
stan amirs were inscribed for expeditions to this or to that
side :
—
'Alam Khan ( Tahangari) was sent hastily to Gualiar to Fol. 3093.

reinforce Rahlm-dad Makan, Qasim Beg Sanbalt {Sambhalz)^

;

Hamid with his elder and younger brethren and Muhammad

Zaitun were inscribed to go swiftly to Sanbal.

(«. Defeat of the advance-force.)

Into this same camp came the news that owing to Rana
Sanga's swift advance with all his army,^ our scouts were able
neither to get into the fort (Blana) themselves nor to send news
into it. The Blana garrison made a rather incautious sally too
far out ; the enemy fell on them in some force and put them to
T. chapduq.
^
Cf. the two Persian translations 215 f. 20<^b and 217 f. 215 ; also
Ilminsky, p. 401.
^ bulghan chlrlki. The Rana's forces are thus stated by Tod {Rdjastdn ; Annals
of Marwar Cap. ix)
—
" Eighty thousand horse, 7 Rajas of the highest rank,
:

9 Raos, and 104 chieftains bearing the titles of Rawul and Rawut, with 500 war-
elephants, followed him into the field." Babur's army, all told, was 12,000 when he
crossed the Indus from Kabul ; it will have had accretions from his own officers in
the Panj-ab and some also from other quarters, and will have had losses at Panipat
his reliable kernel of fighting-strength cannot but have been numerically insignificant,
compared with the Rajput host. Tod says that almost all the princes of Rajastan
followed the Rana at Kanwa.
 548 HINDUSTAN
rout.^ There Sangur Khan Janjuha became a martyr. Kitta
Beg had galloped into the pell-mell without his cuirass he got ;

one pagan afoot {ydydgldtib) and was overcoming him, when

the pagan snatched a sword from one of Kitta Beg's own
servants and slashed the Beg across the shoulder. Kitta Beg
suffered great pain he could not come into the Holy-battle
;

with Rana Sanga, was long in recovering and always remained

blemished.
Whether because they were themselves afraid, or whether to
frighten others is not known but QismatI, Shah Mansur Barlds

and all from Blana praised and lauded the fierceness and valour
of the pagan army.
Qasim Master-of-the-horse was
sent from the starting-ground
{safar qilghdn yurt) with his spadesmen, to dig many wells
where the army was next to dismount in the Madha-kur pargana.
{Feb. 1 6th) Marching out of Agra on Saturday the 14th of
the first Jumada, dismount was made where the wells had been
Fol. 310. dug. We marched on next day. It crossed my mind that the
well-watered ground for a large camp was at Slkrl.^ It being
possible that the Pagan was encamped there and in possession
of the water, we arrayed precisely, in right, left and centre. As
QismatI and Darwish-i-muhammad Sdrbdn in their comings and
goings had seen and got to know all sides of Blana, they were
sent ahead to look for camping-ground on the bank of the Slkrl-
lake {kilt). When we reached the (Madhakur) camp, persons
were sent galloping off to tell Mahdl Khwaja and the Blana
garrison to join me without delay. Humayun's servant Beg
Mirak Mughul was sent out with a few braves to get news of
the Pagan. They started that night, and next morning brought
word that he was heard of as having arrived and dismounted at
a place one kuroh (2 miles) on our side iailkdrdk) of Basawar.3
On this same day Mahdl Khwaja and Muhammad SI. Mirza
rejoined us with the troops that had ridden light to Blana.

' durbatur. This is the first use of the word in the Babur-ndma ; the defacer of
the Elph. Codex has altered it to auratur.
' Shaikh Zain records [Abu'1-fazl also, perhaps quoting from him] that Babur, by

varying diacritical points, changed the name Sikri to Shukr! in sign of gratitude for his
victory over the Rana. The place became the Fathpur-slkri of Akbar.
3 Erskine locates this as 10 to 12 miles n.w. of Biana.
 933 AH.— OCT. 8th 1526 TO SEP. 27th 1527 AD. 549

{0. Discomfiture of a reconnoitring party?)

The begs were appointed in turns for scouting-duty. When
it was he went out of Slkrl, looking neither
'Abdu'l-'azTz's turn,
before nor behind, right out along the road to Kanwa which
is 5 kuroh (10 m.) away. The Rana must have been marching
forward he heard of our men's moving out in their reinless
;

(^jaldU-siz) way, and made 4 or S,ooo of his own fall suddenly on

them. With 'Abdu'l-'azTz and Mulla Apaq may have been 1000
to 1500 men; they took no stock of their opponents but just Fol. 3103.

got to grips they were hurried off at once, many of them being
;

made prisoner.
On news of this, we despatched Khalifa's Muhibb-i-*all with
Khalifa's retainers. Mulla Husain and some others aUbruq-
sUbrUq ^* were sent to support them,^ and Muhammad 'AXiJang-
jang also. Presumably
was before the arrival of this first,
it

Muhibb-i-'all's, reinforcementthat the Pagan had hurried off

*Abdu'l-'azIz and his men, taken his standard, martyred Mulla
Ni'mat, Mulla Daud and the younger brother of Mulla Apaq,
with several more. Directly the reinforcement arrived the
pagans overcame Tahir-tibrI, the maternal uncle of Khalifa's
Muhibb-i-*all, who had not got up with the hurrying reinforce-
ment [?].3 Meantime Muhibb-i-'all even had been thrown down,
^ This phrase has not occurred in the B. N. before
;
presumably it expresses what
has not yet been expressed this Erskine's rendering, " each according to the speed
;

of his horse," does also. The first Persian translation, which in this portion is by
Muhammad-qull Mughiil Hisdri, translates by az dambal yak dlgar ( I. O. 2 1 5, f. 205<5)
the second, 'Abdu'r-rahim's, merely reproduces the phrase ; De Courteille (ii, 272)
appears to render it by (amirs) que je ne nomme pas. If my reading of Tahir-tibrl's
failure be correct {infra), Erskine's translation suits the context.
^ The passage cut off by my asterisks has this outside interest that it forms the intro-

duction to the so-called " Fragments ", that isj to certain Turk! matter not included
in the standard Bdkur-tidma, but preserved with the Kehr- Ilminsky -de Courteille
text. As is well-known in Baburiana, opinion has varied as to the genesis of this
matter ; there is now no doubt that it is a translation into Turk! from the {Persian)
Akbar-navia, prefaced by the above-asterisked passage of the Bdbur-ftama and
continuous (with slight omissions) from Bib. Ind. ed. i, 106 to 120 (trs. H. Beveridge
i, 260 to 282). It covers the time from before the battle of Kanwa to the end of
Abu'l-fazl's description of Babur's death, attainments and Court it has been made
;

to seem Babur's own, down to his death-bed, by changing the third person of A.F.'s
narrative into the autobiographical first person. (Cf. Ilminsky, p. 403 1. 4 and
p. 494 Mimoires ii, 272 and 443 to 464 JRAS. 1908, p. 76.)
; ;

A minute point in the history of the B. N. manuscripts may be placed on record

here ; viz. that the variants from the true Bdbur-ndma text which occur in the Kehr -
Ilminsky one, occur also in the corrupt Turk! text of I. O. No. 214 (JRAS 19CO, P- 455)-
3 chdpdr kiimak yttmds, perhaps implying that the speed of his horses was not

equal to that of Muhibb-i-'all's. Translators vary as to the meaning of the phrase.

 550 HINDUSTAN
but Baltu getting in from the rear, brought him out. The enemy
pursued for over a kuroh (2 m.), stopped however at the sight of
the black mass of Muh. *Ah Jang-jan^s troops.
Foot upon foot news came that the foe had come near and
nearer. We put on our armour and our horses' mail, took our
arms and, ordering the carts to be dragged after us, rode out at
the gallop. We advanced one kuroh. The foe must have
turned aside.

(/. Bdbur fo7'tifies his camp?)

For the sake of water, we dismounted with a large lake {kut)
on one side of us. Our front was defended by carts chained
together*, the space between each two, across which the chains
stretched, being 7 or 8 qdri {circa yards). Mustafa Rimii had
Foi 311. had the carts made in the RumI way, excellent carts, very strong
and suitable.^ As Ustad *AlT-qulI was jealous of him, Mustafa
was posted to the right, in front of Humayun. Where the carts
did not reach to, Khurasan! and Hindustani spadesmen and
miners were made to dig a ditch.
Owing to the Pagan's rapid advance, to the fighting-work in
Blana and to the praise and laud of the pagans made by Shah
Mansur, Qismatl and the rest from Blana, people in the army
shewed sign of want of heart. On the top of all this came the
defeat of 'Abdu'l-'azlz. In order to hearten our men, and give
a look of strength to the army, the camp was defended and shut
in where there were no carts, by stretching ropes of raw hide on
wooden tripods, set 7 or 8 qdri apart. Time had drawn out to
20 or 25 days before these appliances and materials were fully
ready.^

{<q. A reinforcement from Kabul?)

Just at this time there arrived from
Kabul Qasim-i-husain
SI. {Aiizbeg Shaibdn) who is SI. Husain
the son of a daughter of
M. {Bdi-qard), and with him Ahmad-i-yusuf {AUghidqchi),
Qawwam-i-aurdu Shah and also several single friends of mine,
' Erskine and de Courteille both give Mustafa the commendation the TurkI and
Persian texts give to the carts.
" According to Tod's Rdjastdn, negotiations
v^^ent on during the interval, having
for their object the fixing of a frontier between the Rana and Babur. They were
conducted by a "traitor" Salah'd-din Tiiar the chief of Raisin, who moreover is
said to have deserted to Babur during the battle.
r
counting up in
933 AH.— OCT. 8th

all to 500 men.

1526 TO SEP. 27th 1527

Muhammad
of ill-augury, came with them too, so did Baba Dost the water-
AD.

Sharif, the astrologer

551

bearer {silcht) who, having gone to Kabul for wine, had there Fol. 311*.

loaded three strings of camels with acceptable Ghaznl wines.

At a time such as this, when, as has been mentioned, the army
was anxious and afraid by reason of past occurrences and vicissi-
tudes, wild words and opinions, this Muhammad Sharif, the
ill-augurer, though he had not a helpful word to say to me, kept
insisting to all he met, " Mars is in the west in these days ^ ;

who comes into the fight from this (east) side will be defeated."
Timid people who questioned the ill-augurer, became the more
shattered in heart. We gave no ear to his wild words, made no
change in our operations, but got ready in earnest for the fight.
{Feb. 2^tJi) On Sunday the 22nd (of Jumada I.) Shaikh
Jamal was sent to collect all available quiver-wearers from
between the two waters (Ganges and Jumna) and from Dihll, so
that with this force he might over-run and plunder the Mlwat
villages, leaving nothing undone which could awaken the enemy's
anxiety for that side. Mulla Tark-i-'all, then on his way from
Kabul, was ordered to join Shaikh Jamal and to neglect nothing
of ruin and plunder in Mlwat orders to the same purport were
;

given also to Maghfur the Dlwan. They went they over-ran ;

and raided a few villages in lonely corners ijbujqdq) they took ;

some prisoners; but their passage through did not arouse much
anxiety !

{r. Bdbur renounces wine.)

On Monday the 23rd of the first Jumada (Feb. 25th), when Fol. 312.

I went out riding, I reflected, as I rode, that the wish to cease

from sin had been always in my mind, and that my forbidden
acts had set lasting stain upon my heart. Said I, " Oh my !

!
soul
{Persian) " How long wilt thou draw savour from sin ?
Repentance is not without savour, taste it !
" ^

' Cf. f. 89 obedience to astrological warning.

for Babur's disastrous
^ For the reading of this second line, given by the good MSS. viz. Tauba ham bi

tnaza nisi, bachash, Ilminsky (p. 405) has Tauba ham bi maza, mast bakhis, which
de Courteille [H, 276] renders by, " O ivrogtte insensi ! que ne goUtes-tu aussi h la
penitence?" The Persian couplet seems likely to be a quotation and may yet be
found elsewhere. It is not in the Rampur Diwan which contains the Turki verses
following it (E. D, Ross p. 21).
 552 HINDUSTAN
( Turkf) Through years how many has sin defiled thee ?
How much of peace has transgression given thee ?
How much hast thou been thy passions' slave ?
How much of thy life flung away ?

With the Ghazi's resolve since now thou hast marched,

Thou hast looked thine own death in the face
Who resolves to hold stubbornly fast to the death,
Thou knowest what change he attains,

That far he removes him from all things forbidden,

That from all his offences he cleanses himself.
With my own gain before me, I vowed to obey,
In this my transgression,^ the drinking of wine.^

The flagons and cups of silver and gold, the vessels of feasting,
I had them all brought
I had them all broken up 3 then and there.
Thus eased I my heart by renouncement of wine.

The fragments of the gold and silver vessels were shared out
to deserving persons and to darwishes. The first to agree in
renouncing wine was 'Asas;4 he had already agreed also about
leaving his beard untrimmed.^ That night and next day some
Fol. 312^. 300 begs and persons of the household, soldiers and not soldiers,
renounced wine. What wine we had with us was poured on the
ground what Baba Dost had brought was ordered salted to
;

make vinegar. At the place where the wine was poured upon
the ground, a well was ordered to be dug, built up with stone
and having an almshouse beside it. It was already finished in
Muharram 935 (ah. — Sep. 1528 AD.) at the time I went to
SikrI from Dulpiir on my way back from visiting Guallar.

kichmakllk, to pass over (to exceed ?), to ford or go through a river, whence to
'

transgress. The same metaphor of crossing a stream occurs, in connection with

drinking, on f. 189/^,
^ This line shews that Babur's renouncement
was of wine only ; he continued to
eat confections {maytin).
3 Cf. f. 186^. Babur would announce his renunciation in Dlwan ; there too the
forbidden vessels of precious metals would be broken. His few words leave it to his
readers to picture the memorable scene.
This night-guard {*asas) cannot be the one concerning whom Gul-badan records
*
that hewas the victim of a little joke made at his expense by Babur (H. N. Index s.n. ).
He seems likely to be the Hajl Muh. 'asas whom Abu'1-fazl mentions in connection
with Kamran in 933 ah, (1547 ad.). He may be the 'asas who took charge of
Babur's tomb at Agra (cf. Gul-badan's H. N. s.n. Muh. 'All 'asas taghdi, and
Akbar-ttdma trs. i, 502).
5 saqall qirqmdqta u quimaqta. Erskine here notes that "a vow to leave the
beard untrimmed was made sometimes by persons who set out against the infidels.
They did not trim the beard till they returned victorious. Some vows of similar
nature may be found in Scripture ", e.g. II Samuel, cap. 19 v. 24.
 933 AH.— OCT. 8th 1526 to SEP. 27th 1527 AD. 553

Remission of a due.)
had vowed already that, if I gained the victory over Sanga
I

the pagan, I would remit the tamg/td^ to all Musalmans. Of

this vow DarwTsh-i-muhammad Sdrbdn and Shaikh Zain
reminded me at the time I renounced wine. Said I, " You do
well to remind me."
*The tamghd was remitted to all Musalmans of the dominions
I held.^ I sent for the clerks (jnunshildr), and ordered them to

write for their news-letters {akhbar) the farmdn concerning the

two important acts that had been done. Shaikh Zain wrote
the farmdn with his own elegance {inshdsi bild) and his fine
letter (Jnshd) was sent to all my dominions. It is as
follows : —
FARMAN ANNOUNCING BABUR'S RENUNCIATION
OF WINE.4
5 Let us praise the Long-suffering One who loveth the penitent
and who loveth the cleansers of themselves ; and let thanks be
rendered to theGracious One who absolveth His debtors, and
forgiveth those who seek forgiveness. Blessings be upon Muhammad
the Crown of Creatures, on the Holy family, on the pure Com-
panions, 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 Fol. 313-

* Index s,n. The iamghd was not really abolished until Jahangir's time — if then
(H. Beveridge). See Thomas' Revenue Resources of the Mughal Empire.
^ There is this to notice here : —
Babur's narrative has made the remission of the
tamghd contingent on his success, but the farman which announced that remission is
dated some three weeks before his victory over Rana Sanga (Jumada II, 13th
March 16th). Manifestly Babur's remission was absolute and made at the date given
by Shaikh Zain as that of the/arman. The farf?tdn seems to have been despatched
as soon as it was ready, but may have been inserted in Babur's narrative at a later
date, together with the preceding paragraph which I have asterisked.
3 " There is a lacuna in the TurkI copy " {i.e. the Elphinstone Codex) "from this
place to the beginning of the year 935. Till then I therefore follow only
Mr. Metcalfe's and my own Persian copies" (Erskine).
* I am indebted to my husband for this revised version of the farmdn. He is
indebted to M. de Courteille for help generally, and specially for the references to the
Qoran {g.v. infra).
5 The
passages in italics are Arabic in the original, and where traced to the Qoran,
are in Sale's words.
 554 HINDUSTAN
and the help that cometh from on high. '' Every soul is prone
unto evil^'^ (and again) ''This is the bounty of God; He will give
the same unto whom He pleaseth ; and God is endued with great
^
bounty''
Our motive remarks and
for these for repeating these state-
ments is that, by reason of human frailty, of the customs of
kings and of the great, from the Shah to the sipahT, in
all of us,
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 and most indispensable of renunciations,
greatest
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 Islam over against the
infidels in order to slay them. On this occasion I received
a secret inspiration and heard an infallible voice say "/$• not the
time yet come unto those who believe^ that their heaj-ts should
humbly submit to the admonition of God, and that tt'uth which
hath been revealed ? Thereupon we set ourselves to extirpate
" 3

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
fol. 313*5. 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
" / turn unto Thee with repentance, and I am the first of true
believers ".4 And I made public the resolution to abstain from
wine, which had been hidden in the treasury of my breast. The
victorious accordance with the illustrious order,
servants, in
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 !

' Qordn, Surah XII, v. 53. = Surah LVII, v. 21.

3 Siirah LVII, v. 15. * - Surah VII, v. 140.
 933 AH.— OCT, 8th 1526 to SEP. 27th 1527 AD. 555

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 Foi. 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 yoti prosperity."
In thanks for these great victories,^ 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 kind-
ness, civilization of the world and of
which are the cause of the
the glory of the sons of Adam, were displayed, and through- —
out all the territories the tax {tamghd) on Musalmans 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 (Muhammad). 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!' 3

The proper course {sabit) for all who shelter under the shade of
the royal benevolence, whether they be Turk, Tajik, 'Arab, Hindi,
or FarsI (Persian), peasants or soldiers, of every nation or tribe

Surah II, V. 1 85,

'

These may be self-conquests as has been understood by Erskine (p. 356) and
^

de Courteille (ii. 281) but as the Divine " acceptance " would seem to Babur vouched
for by his military success, "victories" may stand for his success at Kanvv^a.
3 Surah II, 177 where, in Sale's translation, the change referred to is the special

one of altering a legacy.

 556 HINDUSTAN
of the sons of Adam, is to strengthen themselves by the tenets
of rehgion, and to be full of hope and prayer for the dynasty
v/hich 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 farmdn ; 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 Jumada I. 933 (February 26th
!

1527).

(/. Alarm in Bdbur's camp?)

Fol. 3143. In these days, as has been mentioned, (our people) great
and had been made very anxious and timid by past
small,
occurrences. No manly word or brave counsel was heard from
any one soever. What bold speech was there from the wazirs
who are to speak out {dlgucht), or from the amirs who will
devour the land {wildyat-ytghuchi) ? ^ None had advice to give,
none a bold plan of his own to expound. Khahfa (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.

( Turki) 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.

' The words dlguchi and yiguchi are translated in the second Waqi^at-i-baburl by
sukhan-gul and \_wllayat\-khwar. This ignores in them the future element supplied
by their component gu which would allow them to apply to conditions dependent
on Babur's success. The Hai. MS. and Ilminsky read tigiichi, supporter- or helper-
to-be, in place of \)AQylguchl, eater-to-be I have inferred from the khwar of the Pers.
translation hence de Courteille writes ''''amirs auxquels incombait V obligation de
;

raffermir le gouvernement". But Erskine, using the Pers. text alone, and thus
having khwar before him, translates by, "amirs who enjoyed the wealth of kingdoms."
The two TurkI words make a depreciatory "jingle", but the first one, digiichi, may
imply serious reference to the duty, declared by Muhammad to be incumbent upon
a waz'ir, of reminding his sovereign " when he forgetteth his duty". Both may be
taken as alluding to dignities to be attained by success in the encounter from which
wazirs and amirs were shrinking.
^»^ 933 AH.— OCT. 8th 1526 TO SEP. 27th 1527 AD. 557

" Better than life with a bad name, is death with a good one.
(Persian) Well is it with me, if Idie with good name !

A good name must I have, since the body is death's.

" 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 Foi. 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 seers and hearers, for friend and foe.

{u. Bdbur's perilous position?}

In those same days trouble and disturbance arose on every
side : — Husain Khan iV^^/zi^fwent and took RaprI; Qutb Khan's
man took Chandwar ^ a mannikin called Rustam Khan who
;

had collected quiver -wearers from Between - the - two - waters

(Ganges and Jamna), took Kul (Koel) and made Kichik *Ali
prisoner Khwaja Zahid abandoned Sarnbal and went off
;

SI. Muhammad Dulddi came from Qanuj to me the Guallar ;

pagans laid siege to that fort 'Alam Khan when sent to

;

reinforce it, did not go to Guallar but to his own district. Every
day bad news came from every side. Desertion of many
Hindustanis set in Haibat Khan Karg-andds^ deserted and
;

went to Sambal Hasan Khan of Barl deserted and joined the

;

Pagan. We gave