The Bābur-nāma in English (Memoirs of Bābur). Emperor of Hindustan Babur

A. Site and disappearance of old Akhsī. B. The birds Qīl-qūyīrūgh and Bāghrī-qarā. C. On the gosha-gīr. D. The Rescue-passage. E. Nagarahār and Nīng-nahār. F. The name Dara-i-nūr. G. On the names of two Dara-i-nūr wines. H. On the counter-mark Bih-būd of coins. I. The weeping-willows of f. 190b. J. Bābur’s excavated chamber at Qandahār. K. An Afghān Legend. L. Māhīm’s adoption of Hind-āl. M. On the term Bahrī-qut̤ās. N. Notes on a few birds. O. Notes by Humāyūn on some Hindūstān fruits. P. Remarks on Bābur’s Revenue List. Q. On the Rāmpūr Dīwān. R. Plans of Chandīrī and Gūālīār. S. The Bābur-nāma dating of 935 AH. T. On L:knū (Lakhnau) and L:knūr(Lakhnur i.e. Shahābād in Rāmpūr). U. The Inscriptions in Bābur’s Mosque at Ajodhya (Oude). V. Bābur’s Gardens in and near Kābul.

Indices:—I. Personal, II. Geographical, III. General, p. 717 et seq. Omissions, Corrigenda, Additional Notes.

PREFACE.

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O Spring of work! O Source of power to Be!

Each line, each thought I dedicate to Thee;

Each time I fail, the failure is my own,

But each success, a jewel in Thy Throne.

Jessie E. Cadell.

Introductory.

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This book is a translation of Babur Padshah’s Autobiography, made from the original Turki text. It was undertaken after a purely-Turki manuscript had become accessible in England, the Haidarabad Codex (1915) which, being in Babur’s ipsissima verba, left to him the control of his translator’s diction—a control that had been impracticable from the time when, under Akbar (1589), his book was translated into Persian. What has come down to us of pure text is, in its shrunken amount, what was translated in 1589. It is difficult, here and there, to interpret owing to its numerous and in some places extensive lacunæ, and presents more problems than one the solution of which has real importance because they have favoured suggestions of malfeasance by Babur.

My translation has been produced under considerable drawback, having been issued in four fasciculi, at long intervals, respectively in June 1912, May 1914, October 1917, and September 1921. I have put with it of supplementary matter what may be of service to those readers whom Babur’s personality attracts and to those who study Turki as a linguistic entertainment, but owing to delays in production am unable to include the desiderata of maps.

Chapter I.
BABUR’S EXEMPLARS IN THE ARTS OF PEACE.

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Babur’s civilian aptitudes, whether of the author and penman, the maker of gardens, the artist, craftsman or sportsman, were nourished in a fertile soil of family tradition and example. Little about his teaching and training is now with his mutilated book, little indeed of[Pg xxviii] any kind about his præ-accession years, not the date of his birth even, having escaped destruction.4 Happily Haidar Mirza (q.v.) possessed a more complete Codex than has come down to us through the Timurid libraries, and from it he translated many episodes of Baburiana that help to bridge gaps and are of special service here where the personalities of Bābur’s early environment are

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The Bābur-nāma in English (Memoirs of Bābur). Emperor of Hindustan Babur