The second time that I came, Badīa-ez-zemān Mirza was not so respectful as he had been the first time. I therefore sent for Muhammed Berendūk Beg, and Zūlnūn Beg, and told them to let the Mirza know, that, though but young, yet I was of high extraction—that I had twice by force gained my paternal kingdom, Samarkand, and seated myself on its throne—and that when a prince had done what I had, in the service of our family, by opposing the foreign invader from whom all these wars and troubles arose, to show me any want of respect was certainly not quite commendable. After this message was delivered to him, as he was sensible of his error, he altered his conduct, and showed me every mark of regard and estimation, with great good will.
Entertain-On another occasion, when I went to Badīa-ez-zemān Mirza’s after noon-tide prayers, there was a drinking party. At that time I drank no wine. The entertainment was wonderfully elegant. On their trays there was every sort of delicacy. There were kabābs of fowl, and of goose, and indeed dishes of every kind. Badiā-ez-zemān’s entertainments were highly celebrated; and certainly this party was free, easy, and unconstrained. During the time I remained on the banks of the Murghāb, I twice or thrice was present at the Mirza’s drinking parties; when it was known that I drank no wine, they did not trouble me by pressing. I likewise once went to an entertainment of Muzaffer Mirza’s. Hassan Ali Jalāir, and Mīr Bader, who were in his service, were of the party. When the wine began to take effect, Mīr Bader began to dance, and he danced excessively well. The dance was one of his own invention.
The Mirzas had wasted three or four months in marching
from Heri, in uniting their troops, and assembling their
strength, before they reached the Murghāb. Sultan
Kulenjāk, meanwhile, being reduced to great distress,
surrendered the fort of Balkh to the Uzbeks, who, having
Balkh sur-
renders.
heard of the coalition against them, after taking Balkh,
returned towards Samarkand. The Mirzas, although very
Character
of the
Mirzas.
accomplished at the social board, or in the arrangements
for a party of pleasure, and although they had a pleasing
talent for conversation and society, yet possessed no
knowledge whatever of the conduct of a campaign, or
of warlike operations, and were perfect strangers to the
arrangements for a battle, and the dangers and spirit of
a soldier’s life. While we remained on the Murghāb, news
came that Hak Nazīr Chāpa, with four or five hundred
men, had advanced, and was plundering the territory of
Chichiktū.*
All the Mirzas met, but with all their exertions
they could not contrive to detach a light party to cut up
the plunderers. The road between Murghāb and Chichiktū
is ten farsangs. I asked permission to manage the matter;
but being afraid of their own reputation, they would not
suffer me to move. When Sheibāni Khan retreated, the
year was at the close. It was therefore agreed that the
Mirzas should each winter in some suitable place, and,
before the beginning of the warm season, assemble again
They urge
Bābur to
winter in
Khorasān.
in order to meet the enemy. They strongly urged me also
to winter in the territory of Khorasān. But as Kābul and
Ghazni were places much exposed to external violence and
internal confusion, and as bodies of Turks, Moghuls,
Aimāks, Wandering Tribes,*
Afghans, Hazāras, Īls, and
Ulūses, were scattered over their territory in different
directions; and as the nearest road between Khorasān
and Kābul, which is that by the hills, is a month’s journey,
even if it should not happen to be rendered impassable by
snow, or any other obstacle, while the low road is forty
or fifty days’ march; and as, besides all this, my newly-acquired
dominions were still far from being in a settled
state, it did not seem very prudent or advisable for me to
winter so far off, for the purpose of serving or obliging
anybody. I therefore excused myself to the Mirzas. On
this they renewed their solicitations still more earnestly
than before. At last, Badīa-ez-zemān Mirza and Abul
Muhsin Mirza, with Muzaffer Mirza, came on horseback to
my quarters, and urgently besought me to stay out the
winter with them. I could not say No, in the face of the
Mirzas, and consented to remain. One reason that influenced
me was, that so many kings had come to urge
my stay; a second, that, in the whole habitable world,
there was not such another city as Heri; and during the
reign of Sultan Hussain Mirza, its beauty and elegance had
been increased tenfold, nay, twentyfold, by his patronage
and munificence; so that I had a very strong desire to
visit it. I was therefore prevailed upon to stay. Abul
Muhsin Mirza went to his government of Merv. Ibn
Hussain Mirza also set out for Tūn and Kāen; while
Badīa-ez-zemān Mirza and Muzaffer Mirza returned to
Heri. Two or three days after, I set out for the same city
Bābur
visits
Herāt.
Visits his
aunts.
by way of Chihil-dukhterān and Tāsh-Rabāt.*
The whole
of the Begums, Payandeh Sultan Begum, my father’s
sister, Khadījeh Begum, Apāk Begum, and the other
daughters of Sultan Abūsaīd Mirza, my paternal aunts,
were at this time met in the college of Sultan Hussain Mirza.
When I went to see them, they were all in the Mirza’s
mausoleum. I first saluted Payandeh Sultan Begum,*
and embraced her; I next saluted and embraced Apāk
Begum; I then went and saluted Khadījeh Begum, and
embraced her. I sat some time, while the readers were
reading the Koran,*
and then rose and went to the Southern
College, where Khadījeh Begum dwelt. They spread
a repast for me. After the repast, I went to Payandeh
Sultan Begum’s house, where I spent the night. They at
first pitched upon the New Garden for my residence, and
accordingly I next morning went and took up my quarters
in it, and stayed there one night; after which, as I did
not like the place, they gave me Ali Sher Beg’s house,
where I stayed till I left Heri. Every two or three days
I went to the Bāgh-e-jehān-ārā,*
in order to perform the
kornish*
to Badīa-ez-zemān Mirza
A few days after, I had an invitation from Muzaffer
Mirza, who lived in the White Garden. Khadījeh Begum,
after the dinner was removed, carried Muzaffer Mirza and
myself to a palace which Bābur Mirza had built, called
Tarebkhāna.*
Parties of
pleasure.
In the Tarebkhāna there was a drinking
party. The Tarebkhāna stands in the midst of a garden.
It is a small building of two stories, but a very delightful
little edifice. They have bestowed most pains on the upper
story. In the four corners of it are four apartments; and
between them, and enclosed by them, is one great hall.
Within the four apartments are four shahneshīns, or royal
balconies.*
Every part of this hall is covered with paintings.
Though Bābur Mirza*
built this palace, the paintings were
executed by orders of Sultan Abūsaīd Mirza, and represent
his battles and wars. In the north end of the northern
balcony, two carpets*
were placed facing each other. On
one of them Muzaffer Mirza and I sat, on the other sat
Sultan Masaūd Mirza and Jehāngīr Mirza. As we were
guests at Muzaffer Mirza’s house, Muzaffer Mirza placed
me above himself, and having filled up a glass of welcome,
the cupbearers in waiting began to supply all who were of
the party with pure wine, which they quaffed as if it had
been the water of life. The party waxed warm, and the
Bābur’s
wish to
drink wine.
spirit mounted up to their heads. They took a fancy to
make me drink too, and bring me into the same circle with
themselves. Although, till that time, I had never been
guilty of drinking wine,*
and from never having fallen
into the practice, was ignorant of the sensations it produced,
yet I had a strong lurking inclination to wander in
this desert,**
and my heart was much disposed to pass
the stream. In my boyhood I had no wish for it, and did
not know its pleasures or pains. When my father at any
time asked me to drink wine, I excused myself, and
abstained. After my father’s death, by the guardian care
of Khwājeh Kazi, I remained pure and undefiled. I abstained
even from forbidden foods; how then was I likely
to indulge in wine? Afterwards when, from the force of
youthful imagination and constitutional impulse, I got
a desire for wine, I had nobody about my person to invite
me to gratify my wishes; nay, there was not one who
even suspected my secret longing for it. Though I had
the appetite, therefore, it was difficult for me, unsolicited
as I was, to indulge such unlawful desires.*
It now came
into my head, that as they urged me so much, and as,
besides, I had come into a refined city like Heri, in which
every means of heightening pleasure and gaiety was
possessed in perfection; in which all the incentives and
apparatus of enjoyment were combined with an invitation
to indulgence, if I did not seize the present moment,
I never could expect such another. I therefore resolved
to drink wine. But it struck me, that as Badīa-ez-zemān
Mirza was the eldest brother, and as I had declined receiving
it from his hand, and in his house, he might now
take offence.*
I therefore mentioned this difficulty which
had occurred to me. My excuse was approved of, and
I was not pressed any more, at this party, to drink. It
was settled, however, that the next time we met at Badīa-ez-zemān
Mirza’s, I should drink when pressed by the two
Mirzas. At this party, among the musicians, was Hāfiz
Hāji; Jalāl-ed-dīn Mahmūd, the flute-player, was also
there, and the younger brother of Ghulām Shādi, Shādi
Bacheh, who played on the harp.*
Hāfiz Hāji sung well.
The people of Heri sing in a low, delicate, and equable
style.*
There was a singer of Jehāngīr Mirza’s present,
by name Mīr Jān, a native of Samarkand, who always
sang in a loud, harsh voice, and out of tune. Jehāngīr
Mirza, who was far gone, proposed that he should sing.
He sang accordingly, but in a dreadfully loud, rough,
disagreeable tone. The people of Khorasān value themselves
on their politeness; many, however, turned away
their ears, others knit their brows,*
but, out of respect to
the Mirza, nobody ventured to stop him. After the time
of evening prayers, we went from the Tarebkhāna to the
new Winter-palace, which Muzaffer Mirza had built. By
the time we reached it, Yūsef Ali Gokultāsh, being extremely
drunk, rose and danced. He was a musical man, and
danced well. After reaching this palace, the party got
very merry and friendly. Muzaffer Mirza gave me a sword
and belt, a corslet,*
and a whitish Tipchāk horse. In this
palace Jānak sang a Tūrki song. Muzaffer Mirza had two
slaves, called Kittermāh and Kūchekmāh. During the
party, and while the company was hot with wine, they
performed some indecent, scurvy tricks. The party was
kept up late, and did not separate till an untimely hour.
I remained that night in the palace where I was.