CHAPTER XVII.
HIS MAJESTY GĪTĪ-SITĀNĪ FIRDŪS-MAKĀNĪ AHĪRU-D-DĪN MUḤAMMAD
BĀBAR PĀDSHĀH GHĀZĪ.*

King of the four quarters,* and of the seven heavens; celestial sovereign; diadem of the sublime throne; great of genius and great-ness-conferring; fortune-increaser; of excellent horoscope; heaven in comprehensiveness; earth in stability; lion-hearted; clime-capturer; lofty in splendour; of active brain; searcher after knowledge; rank-breaking lion rampant; exalter of dominion; ocean-hearted; of illustrious origin; a saintly sovereign; enthroned in the kingdom of reality and spirituality, ahīru-d-dīn Muḥammad Bābar Pādshāh Ghāzī. His pearl-like nature was a station for the marks of great­ness and sublimity; freedom and detachment together with lofty restraint and majestic power flashed forth in his nature; in asceticism and absorption (faqr ū fanā)* a Junīd* and Bāyazīd; while the magnificence and genius of an Alexander and of a Farīdūn shone from his brow. The holy birth of this majestic one was on 6 Muḥarram 888 (14th February 1483) from the holy womb and pure veil of the gloriously chaste and nobly-born, Qutlaq Nigār Khānum. That jewel of fortune's ocean and sparkling star (durrī) of the heaven of glory arose from a happy quarter. She, the coiffure of purity and scarf of chastity, was the second daughter of Yūnus (Jonah) Khān and elder sister of Sulān Maḥmūd Khān. Her lineage is as follows:—daughter of Yūnus Khān b. Vais Khān, b. Shīr 'Alī Ōghlān, b. Muḥammad Khān, b. Khiẓr Khwāja Khān, b. Tughlaq Tīmūr Khān, b. Isān Bughā Khān, b. Davā Khān, b. Barāq Khān, b. Īsūn Tava,* b. Mutakan, b. Caghatāī Khān, b. Cingīz Khān. Maulānā Ḥisāmī* Qarākūlī recorded the date of the noble birth as follows.

Verse.

Since on 6 Muḥarram was born that bounteous king,
His birth's chronogram is also 6 Muḥarram (shash-i-Muḥarram.)*

Though the chronogram be of marvellous coincidence and unfathomable in its significance, there is something stranger yet, viz., the chronogram is in six letters which are reckoned by the masters of computation as a lucky number* and also the phrase (laf) shash ḥarf and the pips (naqsh) ‘adad-i-khair both indicate the date. Another wonderful thing is that the units, tens and hundreds of the date are all the same (8-8-8), thus pointing to equability of dispositions. His life corresponded to these mysteries of birth. That exemplar of high saints, Khwāja Aḥrār himself with his own bounty-shedding tongue gave him—the auspicious one—the names of ahīru-d-dīn Muḥammad, but as this weighty appellation with its majesty and sublimity, was not readily pronounceable or current on the tongues of the Turks, the name of Bābar was also given to him.

His Majesty was the eldest and straightest of the sons of ‘Umar Shaikh Mīrzā. In his twelfth year, on Tuesday, 5 Ramaẓān, 899 (10th June, 1494), he sate upon the throne in Andijān. Few kings have encountered such difficulties as he, and the courage, self-reliance and endurance which he displayed in the battle-field and in danger were superhuman. When the inevitable accident of ‘Umar Shaikh Mīrzā occurred in Akhsī, his Majesty Gītī-sitānī Firdūs-makānī was in the Cārbāgh (Palace) of Andijān. Next day, viz., Tuesday, 5 Ramaẓān, the news was brought to Andijān. In a moment he mounted his horse and proceeded to the fort of Andijān. As he was alight­ing at the gate,* Shīram* aghāī seized his bridle and carried him towards the namāzgāh (place of prayer) in order to take him to Ōzkand and the foot of the hills. His idea was that, as Sulān Aḥmad Mīrzā was coming with great power, the treacherous officers might make over the country to him; if out of disloyalty, they did so, his Majesty's sacred person might be saved from this danger and be conveyed to his maternal uncles Ilanja* Khān or Sulān Maḥmūd Khān. The officers, on becoming aware of this intention, sent Khwāja Muḥammad Darzī to dispel anxieties that had arisen in his mind. The cortêge had reached the namāzgāh when Khwāja Muḥam­mad came up with it. He calmed his Majesty and induced him to return. When he (Bābar) alighted at the citadel of Andijān, all the officers came to wait upon him and received marks of favour from him. It has already been mentioned that Sulān Aḥmad Mīrzā and Sulān Maḥmūd Khān had united and come against ‘Umar Shaikh Mīrzā. Now that by the decree of fate, an inevitable accident had occurred, all the officers, small and great, united to defend the fort. Sulān Aḥmad Mīrzā had taken possession of Ūrātippa, Khajand and Marghīnān which are districts of Farghāna, and had encamped within four kos of Andijān. Though they sent ambassadors and knocked at the door of peace, he did not listen but continued to advance. But as secret aids were always in attendance on this family, on account of the strength of the fort and the unanimity of the officers and of a pestilence which broke out in the camp and of the deaths of the horses,* Sulān Aḥmad got into difficulties and came to despair of his former designs. He therefore came to terms and returned without effecting anything. Coming from the north side of the river of Khajand, Sulān Maḥmūd Khān invested Akhsī. Jahāngīr Mīrzā, brother of his Majesty, and a large number of loyal officers were there. The Khān made several assaults, the officers made a spirited resistance, and so the Khān also did not effect his purpose, and being attacked by a sickness, had to give up his vain enterprise and turn his reins towards his own country. For eleven* years, his Majesty waged great wars in Transoxiana against the Caghatāī princes and the Uzbēgs. Thrice he conquered Samarqand, viz., once in 903 (end of November 1497) when coming* from Andijān, he took it from Bāyasanghar Mīrzā, son of Sulān Maḥmud Mīrzā; secondly, from Shaibak (Shaibānī) Khān in 906 (autumn of 1500); and thirdly, after Shaibak Khān had been killed in 917 (October 1511). As God's plan was the revealing of that unique pearl, his Majesty the king of kings, and designed that the country of Hindustān should be acquired and that his Majesty should proceed to a strange land and there arrive at greatness and felicity,—he caused the gates of trouble to be opened in his own native land which is the meeting place of faithful servants, so that in no way could that be fit for him. He was com­pelled to proceed with a small force towards Badakhshān and Kābul. When he reached Badakhshān, all the people of Khusrū Shāh who was ruler there, accepted his service. And the ruler himself was compelled to do so, though this wretch was ring-leader of the unjust ones and had martyred* Bāyasanghar and blinded Sulān Mas‘ūd Mīrzā, which two princes were his Majesty's cousins. He (Khusrū) also showed signs of pitilessness and inhumanity when at a time of calamity,* his Majesty's army was passing into Badakhshān.

Now when he beheld the face of his deeds in the mirror of recom­pense, and fortune had turned away her countenance from his worthless self, his Majesty from perfect humanity and excessive generosity, did not exercise retaliation,* but gave orders that he should carry away as much of his property as he desired and go off to Khurāsān. So he took five or six strings* of mules and camels, laden with jewelry and gold ornaments and went off to Khurāsān. And his Majesty Gītī-sitānī Firdūs-makānī having put Badakhshān into order, went to Kābul.