After the sack of Kohat, it had been resolved that, after plundering the Afghans about BangashandBannu, we should return back to Kābul by way of Naghz or Fermūl. After ravaging Bannu, however, persons perfectly acquainted with the whole routes represented to me that Dasht was near at hand; that the inhabitants were wealthy and the roads good; and it was finally determined that, instead of returning by Fermūl, we should plunder the Dasht, and return back by that road.**
Arrives inOn the morrow, we marched thence, and halted on the banks of the same river, at a village of the Īsakhail.* The Īsakhail having had notice of our approach, had betaken themselves to the Choupāreh mountains.* I next marched from the village of the Īsakhail, and encamped on the skirts of the Choupāreh mountains, while the skirmishers, ascending the mountain, stormed a sanger of the Īsakhail, and brought back sheep, cattle, and cloths, in great quantity. The same night, the Īsakhail Afghans attempted a surprise; but as I had been particularly cautious, they did not succeed. The whole army had been drawn up in battle array, with right and left wing, centre and van, at their stations, armed and ready to maintain their posts; and there were foot-soldiers on the watch all round the camp, at the distance of rather more than a bowshot from the tents. In this manner the army passed the night. Every night I drew out the army in the same manner; and every night three or four of my most trusty chiefs* in turn went the rounds about the camp with torches. I myself also took one round. Such persons as had not repaired to their posts had their noses slit, and were led about the camp in that state. On the right wing was Jehāngīr Mirza, with Bāki Cheghāniāni, Shīrīm Taghāi, Syed Hussain Akber, and several other Begs; on the left wing were Mirza Khan, Abdal Razāk Mirza, Kāsim Beg, and some other Begs; in the centre there were none of the superior Begs, all of them were Begs of my own household; in the van were Syed Kāsim, the chamberlain, Baba Ughūl Allah-berdi, and several other Begs. The whole army was divided into six bodies, each of which, in its turn, was appointed to keep watch for one whole day and night.
Mode ofLeaving the skirt of this mountain I marched towards the west,* and halted between Dasht and Bannu,* at a tank in which there was no water.* The soldiers here digging in the dry bed of a river, procured water for themselves, their flocks, mares, and cattle. By digging a gaz or a gaz and half into the dry channel, water was found; and it is not in this river alone that this occurs, but in all the beds of rivers in Hindustān, water is with certainty found by digging down a gaz or a gaz and a half. It is a wonderful provision of Providence, that though in Hindustān there is no permanently running water except in the large rivers, yet that water should be found so near the surface in all the dry channels of the rivulets.
ReachesMarching from this dry river in the morning, the light cavalry moving forward without anything to encumber them, about afternoon prayers reached the villages of Dasht.* The skirmishers immediately proceeded to ravage several of the villages, and brought off much spoil in raiment, flocks of sheep, and horses bred for sale. All this night, till morning, and all next day till night,* the beasts of burden, flocks of sheep, camels, and foot-soldiers of the army, which had been left behind on the road, continued to drop in. During the day that we remained here, the pillaging parties went out, and brought in numbers of sheep and oxen from the villages of Dasht. Having also fallen in with some Afghan merchants, they took a great quantity of white cloth, aromatic drugs, sugar, both candied and in powder, the stout species of horses called Tipchāk, and other horses which they had for sale. Mendi Moghul dismounted Khwājeh Khizer Lohāni,* who was one of the most noted and eminent of the Afghan merchants, cut off his head, and brought it to the camp. Shīrīm Taghāi had gone out in the rear of the pillagers. He met an Afghan on foot, who struck him a blow with his sword that cut off his fore-finger.
On the next morning we marched forward, and halted at
Reaches
the Gumal.
no great distance, among the villages of Dasht. Our next
march was to the banks of the river Gumal. From Dasht
there are two roads that lead to the west. One of them is
the road of Sang-e-surākh, which reaches Fermūl by way of
Būrek.*
The other is along the banks of the Gumal which also
conducts to Fermūl, but without passing Būrek. The road
along the Gumal is generally preferred. During the few days
that I had been in the Dasht, it had rained incessantly; and
the Gumal had in consequence swelled so much, that it was
with great difficulty that we found a ford by which we could
pass. Persons who knew the road informed me that it
would be necessary by the Gumal road to cross the river
several times; which would be attended with extreme
difficulty if the flooding should continue as high as it then
was. Some hesitation still remained respecting the propriety
of taking this route; nor were our opinions quite
settled next morning when the drum beat for the march.
It was my intention to have conversed over the matter as
we mounted our horses,*
and to have followed the route that
March 7
1505.
should then appear best. It was the Īd e fitr,*
and I was
engaged in performing the ceremonial ablutions required on
account of that festival, while Jehāngīr Mirza and the Begs
were conversing on the subject. Some of them suggested
that the mountain on the west of the Dasht, which they call
the Mehter Suleimāni mountain,*
lies between Dasht and
Dūki; that if we could turn the extremity*
of the mountain
we should come to a road that was level, although it might
make a difference of a march or two. This plan meeting
with their approbation, they directed the march of the
army towards the edge of the mountain.*
Before I had completed
my ablutions, the army was in full march for the skirts
of the mountains, and many had even passed the river
Gumal. As none of us had ever been this road, we were
perfectly ignorant of its length or shortness. It had been
adopted on mere idle surmise. The stated prayers of the
Īd were recited on the banks of the Gumal. In this year the
Nouroz*
fell remarkably near the Īd e fitr, there being only
a few days between them. On the subject of this approximation
I composed the following ghazel:
MarchThey are blest who see the new moon and the face of their beloved at the same time:
But I, far from the countenance of my beloved and her eyebrow, experience only sorrow.
O Bābur, deem thou the face of thy love the best of new moons, and an interview the best of Īds!
For a better day than that thou canst not find, were there a hundred festivals of Nouroz, and a hundred Bairāms.
Leaving the banks of the Gumal, we directed our course towards the south, and marched along the skirts of the mountain. We had advanced a kos or two, when a body of death-devoted Afghans presented themselves on an eminence close upon the mountain. We instantly proceeded to charge them at full gallop; the greater part of them fled away; the rest foolishly attempted to make a stand on some small hills, which were on the skirts of the heights. One Afghan took his stand on a detached hillock, apparently because all its other sides* being steep and a direct precipice, he had no road by which to escape. Sultan Ali Chanāk rode up,* gained the summit, engaged and took him. This feat, which he performed in my presence, was the occasion of his future favour and advancement. In another declivity of the hill, Kūtluk Kadem engaged an Afghan in combat, and while they grappled, both of them fell tumbling from a height of ten or twelve gaz; at last, however, Kūtluk cut off his head, and brought it in. Kupek Beg grappled with another Afghan on a steep knoll, when both the combatants came rolling from the top midway down; but he also brought away the Afghan’s head. A great many of these Afghans fell into my hands on this occasion, but I released them all.
Reaches