Another son was Muhammed Hussain Mirza. He and Shah Ismāel* were once imprisoned in the same place in Irāk, at which time he became one of Shah Ismāel’s disciples, and from that period was a rank heretic.* Although his father, his elder brother, and his younger brothers were all orthodox Sunnis, he continued a blind and confirmed rāfizi (heretic) till his death in Asterābād. His character stood high as a brave and courageous warrior; but I never heard any of his exploits that deserve to be recorded. He had a genius for poetry; the following is his:
| (Persian)— | In the pursuit of what game dost thou range thus dust-defiled? From the ardours of whose warm heart art thou thus bathed in perspiration? |
Another was Ferīdūn Hussain Mirza. He was a powerful archer, and an excellent marksman. They say that his gūrdehieh (or double-stringed* bow) required forty mans* weight to make the ears meet.* He was himself a man of bravery, but not fortunate in battle. He was beaten wherever he engaged. At Rabāt-e-dodez, Ferīdūn Hussain Mirza, and his younger brother Ibn Hussain Mirza, engaged Taimūr Sultan and Ubeid Sultan, and were defeated. On that occasion, Ferīdūn Hussain Mirza distinguished himself by his strenuous exertions. At Damghān, Ferīdūn Hussain Mirza and Muhammed Zemān Mirza* fell into the hands of Sheibāni Khan. He killed neither of them, but set them at liberty. Afterwards, when Shah Muhammed Diwāneh fortified Kalāt* for a siege, he repaired thither; and when the Uzbeks took Kalāt, was made prisoner, and put to death. These three last-mentioned princes were all by Mingeli-bī Aghācheh, an Uzbek concubine of the Mirza’s.
HaiderAnother was Haider, whose mother was Payandeh Sultan Begum, the daughter of Sultan Abūsaīd Mirza. In his father’s lifetime he for some time enjoyed the government of Meshhad and Balkh. At the siege of Hissār, Sultan Hussain Mirza betrothed this son to the daughter of Sultan Mahmūd Mirza by Khanzādeh Begum, concluded a peace, and raised the siege of Hissār. By her he had one daughter, called Shād Begum, who lived to grow up. She latterly came to Kābul, and was given to Ādil Sultan. Haider Mirza also departed this life before his father.
MuhammedAnother was Muhammed Maasūm Mirza, to whom Kandahār was given by his father, Sultan Hussain Mirza. On that occasion a daughter of Ulugh Beg Mirza was betrothed to this son. After she was brought to Heri he made a grand festival, and erected a magnificent pavilion* for the occasion. Though he bestowed Kandahār on this prince, yet everything that was done, be it black or be it white, was done by Shah Beg Arghūn;* the Mirza had neither power nor influence in the matter; for which reason he would not continue at Kandahār, but returned to Khorasān, where he died in his father’s lifetime.
FarrukhAnother was Farrukh Hussain Mirza, who did not reach any great age, and did not survive his younger brother Ibrahīm Hussain Mirza.
IbrahīmAnother was Ibrahīm Hussain Mirza, whose talents were thought respectable. He was eternally drinking the wine of Heri to excess, and died of hard drinking in his father’s lifetime.
Ibn Hus-Another was Ibn Hussain Mirza, who, with Muhammed Kāsim Mirza, will be mentioned in the sequel. The mother of these five Mirzas was Pāpa Aghācheh, who was a concubine.
His eldest daughter was Sultānim Begum, who had no brother or sister of the full blood. Her mother, Jūli Begum, was the daughter of one of the Begs of the Azāks. Sultānim Begum was very eloquent and ingenious,* but her remarks in conversation were frequently rude and ill-timed.* Her elder brother* gave her in marriage to Sultan Weis Mirza, the son of Miāngi Baikara Mirza, by whom she had one son and one daughter. This daughter was given to Īsān Kuli Sultan, the younger brother of Dilbars* Sultan, one of the Shābān Sultans. Sultan Muhammed Mirza, on whom I have conferred the government of Kanauj,* is the son of this marriage. Sultānim Begum set out along with her grandson for Hindustān, but expired at Nilāb on the journey. Her attendants returned back with her remains, while her grandson continued his route and joined me.
Again, by Payandeh Sultan Begum, Sultan Hussain
Ak Begum.
Mirza had four daughters. The eldest of them was Ak
Begum, who was married to Muhammed Kāsim Arlat, the
grandson of Begah Begum, Bābur Mirza’s*
younger sister.
By him she had one daughter named Karagūz Begum (the
black-eyed princess), who was married to Nāsir Mirza.
Kīchek
Begum.
The second of the daughters was Kīchek Begum. Sultan
Masaūd Mirza was extremely attached to her, but whatever
efforts he made, Payandeh Sultan Begum, having an aversion
to him, would not consent to the match. She was afterwards
married to Mulla Khwājeh, who was of the family of Syed
Begah Be-
gum, and
Agha Be-
gum.
Āta. The third sister, Begah Begum, and the fourth,
Agha Begum, were given to Bābur Mirza,*
and Sultan
Murād Mirza, the sons of his younger sister Rabīah Sultan
Begum.
By Mangeli-bī Aghācheh he had two daughters; the
elder was given to Syed Abdallah Mirza, who was descended
of the Syeds of Andekhūd, and the grandson, by
a daughter, of Baikara Mirza. She had one son named Syed
Barkeh. When I took Samarkand, he came and entered
my service. He afterwards went to Urganj,*
and aspired
to the sovereignty. The Kizelbashes*
slew him in Asterābād.
Fātimeh
Sultan.
The name of the other daughter was Fātimeh Sultan.
She was married to Yādgār Muhammed Mirza, who was
of the line of Taimūr Beg.
By Pāpa Aghācheh he had three daughters. The eldest
Sultan
Nizhād
Begum.
was Sultan Nizhād Begum. Sultan Hussain Mirza gave her
in marriage to Sikander Mirza, the younger son of his
Begum
Sultan.
elder brother. The second daughter was Begum Sultan,
who was bestowed on Sultan Masaūd Mirza, after the loss
of his eyesight. By him she had one son and one daughter.
The daughter was taken charge of, and brought up by
Apāk Begum, one of Sultan Hussain Mirza’s ladies. She
came to Kābul from Heri, and Apāk married her to Syed
Mirza.*
After the Uzbeks had put to death Masaūd
Sultan, Begum Sultan set out with her son, for Mekka. I
have received information that she and her son are now in
Mekka. The third daughter was married to one of the Syeds
of Andekhūd, well known under the name of Syed Mirza.
He had one other daughter, called Aisha Sultan, by a concubine. Her mother was Zobeideh Aghācheh, the grand-daughter of Hussain Sheikh Taimūr, of the race of the Shābān Sultans.* This daughter was given in marriage to Kāsim Sultan. By him she had one son, Kāsim Hussain, who came to Hindustān, entered into my service, and was in the holy war against Rāna Sanka. I gave him the government of Budāūn.* After Kāsim Sultan, she married Burān Sultan, one of his relations, by whom she had another son named Abdallah Sultan, who is at present in my service, and although young, acquits himself very respectably.
His wivesThe first wife whom he married was Begah Sultan Begum, the daughter of Sanjer Mirza of Merv. By her he had Badīa-ez-zemān Mirza. She was extremely cross-tempered, and fretted Sultan Hussain Mirza beyond endurance, till the Mirza, driven to extremities by her insufferable humour, divorced her. What could he do? The Mirza was in the right;
(Persian)— A bad wife in a good man’s house,
Even in this world, makes a hell on earth.*