Of the Historical Introduction, and of the Supplements which fill up the various blanks in the Memoirs, little need be said. They were compiled from such books and manu­scripts as were within my reach. For the copies of Khāfi Khan,* and of the Maāsir al umarā,* the former of which was of great use to me throughout, I was indebted to the kindness of Henry Russell, Esq., the British Resident at the Court of the Nizām, to whom I owe many similar obligations; the copy of the Ālim-ārāi-Ābbāsi,* which I have followed in the account of Bābur’s latest transactions in Māweral­naher, was furnished me by my friend Claudius James Rich, Esq., the British Resident at Bagdad. The curious anony­mous history,* which contains the singular anecdote regard­ing the succession of Humāiūn, I owe to Captain William Miles of the Bombay Establishment. Nor must I forget to acknowledge the use of a corrected copy of Dow’s translation of Ferishta’s Life of Bābur, part of a revisal of the whole of Dow’s translation of the History of Hindostān, by Captain John Briggs of the Madras Establishment, assistant to the Resident at Poona. The important and gross mistakes in names, in geography, and in the sense of the author, with which Dow’s translation abounds, makes it to be wished that Captain Briggs would communicate to the public the result of his studies, either by presenting a more accurate translation of that excellent author, or by giving an original work on these periods of the history of India, which he has studied with so much industry and success.*

For the materials from which the Geographical Sketch of the countries north of the Hindū-kūsh range are compiled, I am indebted almost solely to the Honourable Mount­stuart Elphinstone. The description of these countries contained in geographical works and in books of travels, is very defective, and often erroneous. When Mr. Elphin­stone went on his Embassy to Kābul, he exerted himself to procure, from merchants and travellers, such accounts as were to be had, of all the range of country as far as the borders of Russia. These he committed to writing, and even after his return to Hindustān and the Dekhan, he continued to add to his geographical treasures by conversing with such intelligent natives of these northern countries as happened to visit India, and securing the information which they afforded. Many of them he induced to write accounts of their own districts, or itineraries of their travels, in the Persian tongue. The unreserved use of the whole of these collections, with his own remarks and corrections, Mr. Elphinstone threw open to me, with that perfect frankness which belongs only to superior minds. Nor have I to acknowledge to him my obligations only in this part of the work. I received similar assistance from his accurate researches into the geography of Afghānistān and the Panjāb, and many of Bābur’s marches, particularly that of Chotiāli and Āb-īstādeh, with the whole course of his progress to Khorāsān and return from that country, would have been unintelligible to me without the assistance which his descriptions and maps afforded; and I may add that I have rarely had occasion to consult him regarding the manners of the age, or difficulties of the language, without feeling the benefit of the same extensive and accurate knowledge.

Besides my obligations for the use of his own papers, my thanks are further due to him for the communication of some valuable manuscripts of the late Lieutenant Macartney and of Captain Irvine of the Bengal Establishment, regard­ing the provinces to the north and west of Hindustān, from which I have freely drawn; and for procuring from Mr. Moorcroft the use of a very curious journal in the Per­sian language, kept by Syed Izzet-ullah, who had been sent by that gentleman on a route hitherto little frequented by travellers. The Syed went from the Sind to Kashmīr, thence across the hills to Leh or Ladāk, from thence to Yārkend and Kāshghar, whence he returned by Ush, Khojend, Uratippa, Samarkand, Bokhāra, and the Afghān country. This route traverses a very great proportion of the little-frequented districts so often spoken of by Bābur, and lies through the heart of that Prince’s paternal kingdom. The instructions of Mr. Moorcroft appear to have been so judicious, that the Journal of Syed Izzet-ullah, besides giving an accurate itinerary of the country through which he passed, contains many amusing facts regarding the manners and state of society of the inhabitants, and was found of the greatest service in the construction of the map.

The countries which were the scene of Bābur’s early transactions are so little known, and so imperfectly laid down in all our maps, that I was desirous that a chart of at least Ferghāna and Māweralnaher should be constructed with the assistance of the new materials afforded from different quarters, and my friend Mr. Charles Waddington of the Bombay Engineers kindly undertook the labour. The mode which he adopted for laying it down, will be best explained by his own Memoir. Having only one fixed point by which to correct his positions, the difficulties he had to encounter were very great. How well he has overcome them the map itself is the best evidence.* The additions and improvements made in the geography of all the country beyond the Oxus, but especially in the country of Ferghāna and the districts near Samarkand, will be visible by com­paring his delineation with any previous one of these coun­tries. Mr. Waddington laid me under the greatest obliga­tions by the ready politeness with which, for a considerable period of time, he devoted to the completion of the map most of the few hours allowed him for relaxation from his professional duties; and it is not a little to his honour, that while still only in the first step of his professional career, he has exhibited not only a love of knowledge, but a judge­ment and science in the use of his materials, that would have done no discredit to the most experienced officer of the scientific corps to which he belongs. Of the following work this portion will very generally be considered as the most valuable.

Before concluding, it may be necessary to say something of the orthography adopted in writing Asiatic words. I have in general preserved that used by Dr. Leyden. The vowels have the sound that is given to them in Italian; i has the sound of the English ee; u, of the English oo; of the consonants the ghain is expressed by gh; the two kāfs are not discriminated; g has always its hard sound; shīn is expressed by sh; che by ch, which has the sound of ce in Italian, and j expresses the Italian gi.*