The Bābur-nāma in English (Memoirs of Bābur). Emperor of Hindustan Babur
his letters, imitating that of Maulānā ‘Abdu’r-raḥmān Jāmī and aiming at gathering together every letter on any topic he had ever written to any person. He wrote also the Mīzānu’l-aūzān (Measure of measures) on prosody; it is very worthless; he has made mistake in it about the metres of four out of twenty-four quatrains, while about other measures he has made mistake such as any-one who has given attention to prosody, will understand. He put a Persian dīwān together also, Fānī (transitory) being his pen-name for Persian verse.1071 Some couplets in it are not bad but for the most part it is flat and poor. In music also he composed good things (nīma), some excellent airs and preludes (nakhsh u peshrau). No such patron and protector of men of parts and accomplishments is known, nor has one such been heard of as ever appearing. It was through his instruction and support that Master (Ustād) Qul-i-muḥammad the lutanist, Shaikhī the flautist, and Ḥusain the lutanist, famous performers all, rose to eminence and renown. It was through his effort and supervision that Master Bih-zād and Shāh Muz̤affar became so distinguished in painting. Few are heard of as having helped to lay the good foundation for future excellence he helped to lay. He had neither son nor daughter, wife or family; he let the world pass by, alone and unencumbered. At first he was Keeper of the Seal; in middle-life he became a beg and for a time was Commandant in Astarābād; later on he forsook soldiering. He took nothing from the Mīrzā, on the contrary, he each year Fol. 171b.offered considerable gifts. When the Mīrzā was returning from the Astarābād campaign, ‘Alī-sher Beg went out to give him meeting; they saw one another but before ‘Alī-sher Beg should have risen to leave, his condition became such that he could not rise. He was lifted up and carried away; the doctors could not tell what was wrong; he went to God’s mercy next day,1072 one of his own couplets suiting his case:—
I was felled by a stroke out of their ken and mine;
What, in such evils, can doctors avail?
Aḥmad the son of Tawakkal Barlās was another;1073 for a time he held Qandahār.
Walī Beg was another; he was of Ḥājī Saifu’d-dīn Beg’s line,1074 and had been one of the Mīrzā’s father’s (Manṣūr’s) great begs.1075 Short life was granted to him after the Mīrzā took the throne (973 AH.); he died directly afterwards. He was orthodox and made the Prayers, was rough (turk) and sincere.
Ḥusain of Shaikh Tīmūr was another; he had been favoured and raised to the rank of beg1076 by Bābur Mīrzā.
Nuyān Beg was another. He was a Sayyid of Tīrmīẕ on his father’s side; on his mother’s he was related both to Sl. Abū-sa‘īd Mīrzā and to Sl. Ḥusain Mīrzā.1077 Sl. Abū-sa‘īd Mīrzā had favoured him; he was the beg honoured in Sl. Aḥmad Mīrzā’s presence and he met with very great favour when he went to Sl. Ḥusain Mīrzā’s. He was a bragging, easy-going, wine-bibbing, jolly person. Through being in his father’s service,1078 Ḥasan of Ya‘qūb used to be called also Nuyān’s Ḥasan.
Jahāngīr Barlās was another.1079 For a time he shared the Kābul command with Muḥammad Barandūq Barlās, later onFol. 172. went to Sl. Ḥusain Mīrzā’s presence and received very great favour. His movements and poses (ḥarakāt u sakanāt) were graceful and charming; he was also a man of pleasant temper. As he knew the rules of hunting and hawking, in those matters the Mīrzā gave him chief charge. He was a favourite of Badī‘u’z-zamān Mīrzā and, bearing that Mīrzā’s friendliness in mind, used to praise him.
Mīrzā Aḥmad of ‘Alī Farsī Barlās was another. Though he wrote no verse, he knew what was poetry. He was a gay-hearted, elegant person, one by himself.
‘Abdu’l-khalīq Beg was another. Fīrūz Shāh, Shāhrukh Mīrzā’s greatly favoured beg, was his grandfather;1080 hence people called him Fīrūz Shāh’s ‘Abdu’l-khalīq. He held Khwārizm for a time.
Ibrāhīm Dūldāī was another. He had good knowledge of revenue matters and the conduct of public business; his work was that of a second Muḥ. Barandūq.
Ẕū’n-nūn Arghūn was another.1081 He was a brave man, using his sword well in Sl. Abū-sa‘īd Mīrzā’s presence and later on getting his hand into the work whatever the fight. As to his courage there was no question at all, but he was a bit of a fool. After he left our (Mīrān-shāhī) Mīrzās to go to Sl. Ḥusain Mīrzā, the Mīrzā gave him Ghūr and the Nikdīrīs. He did Fol. 172b.excellent work in those parts with 70 to 80 men, with so few beating masses and masses of Hazāras and Nikdīrīs; he had not his match for keeping those tribes in order. After a while Zamīn-dāwar was given to him. His son Shāh-i-shujā‘ Arghūn used to move about with him and even in childhood used to chop away with his sword. The Mīrzā favoured Shāh-i-shujā‘ and, somewhat against Ẕū’n-nūn Beg’s wishes, joined him with his father in the government of Qandahār. Later on this father and son made dissension between that father and that son,1082 and stirred up much commotion. After I had overcome Khusrau Shāh and parted his retainers from him, and after I had taken Kābul from Ẕū’n-nūn Arghūn’s son Muqīm, Ẕū’n-nūn Beg and Khusrau Shāh both went, in their helplessness, to see Sl. Ḥusain Mīrzā. Ẕū’n-nūn Arghūn grew greater after the Mīrzā’s death when they gave him the districts of the Herī Koh-dāman, such as Aūba (Ubeh) and Chachcharān.1083 He was made Lord of Badī‘u’z-zamān Mīrzā’s Gate1084 and Muḥammad Barandūq Barlās Lord of Muz̤affar-i-ḥusain Mīrzā’s, when the two Mīrzās became joint-rulers in Herī. Brave though he was, he was a little crazed and shallow-pated; if he had not been so, would he have accepted flattery as he did? would he have made himself so contemptible? Here are the details of the matter:—While he was so dominant and so trusted in Herī, a few shaikhs and mullās went to him and said, “The Spheres are holding commerce with us; you are to be styled Hizabru’l-lāh (Lion of God); you will overcome the Aūzbeg.” Fully accepting this flattery, he put his fūt̤a (bathing-cloth) round his neck1085 and gave thanks. Then, after Shaibāq Khān, coming against the Mīrzās, had beaten them oneFol. 173. by one near Bādghīs, Ẕū’n-nūn Arghūn met him face to face near Qarā-rabāt̤ and, relying on that promise, stood up against him with 100 to 150 men. A mass of Aūzbegs came up, overcame them and hustled them off; he himself was taken and put to death.1086 He was orthodox and no neglecter of the Prayers, indeed made the extra ones. He was mad for chess; he played it according to his own fancy and, if others play with one hand, he played with both.1087 Avarice and stinginess ruled in his character.
Darwīsh-i-‘alī Beg was another,1088 the younger full-brother of ‘Alī-sher Beg. He had the Balkh Command for a time and there did good beg-like things, but he was a muddle-head and somewhat wanting in merit. He was dismissed from the Balkh Command because his muddle-headedness had hampered the Mīrzā in his first campaign against Qūndūz and Ḥiṣār. He came to my presence when I went to Qūndūz in 916 AH. (1510 AD.), brutalized and stupefied, far from capable begship and out-side peaceful home-life. Such favour as he had had, he appears to have had for ‘Alī-sher Beg’s sake.
Mughūl Beg was another. He was Governor of Herī for a time, later on was given Astarābād, and from there fled to Ya‘qūb Beg in ‘Irāq. He was of amorous disposition1089 and an incessant dicer.
Sayyid Badr (Full-moon) was another, a very strong man, Fol. 173b.graceful in his movements and singularly well-mannered. He danced wonderfully well, doing one dance quite unique and seeming to be his own invention.1090 His whole service was with the Mīrzā whose comrade he was in wine and social pleasure.
Islīm Barlās was another, a plain (turk) person who understood hawking well and did some things to perfection. Drawing a bow of 30 to 40 bātmāns strength,1091 he would make his shaft pass right through the target (takhta). In the gallop from the head of the qabaq-maidān,1092 he would loosen his bow, string it again, and then hit the gourd (qabaq). He would tie his string-grip (zih-gīr) to the one end of a string from 1 to 1–½ yards long, fasten the other end to a tree, let his shaft fly, and shoot through the string-grip while it revolved.1093