The art of war in the countries to the north of the Oxus was certainly in a very rude state. No regular armies were maintained, and success chiefly depended upon rapidity of motion. A prince suddenly raised an army, and led it, by forced marches, into a neighbouring country, to surprise his enemy. Those who were attacked took refuge in their walled towns, where, from the defects in the art of attacking fortified places, they were for the most part secure. The two countries harassed each other by predatory inroads and petty warfare. Sometimes the stronger party kept the field, blockaded a fort, and reduced it by wasting the sur­rounding country; but peace was usually made with as much levity as war had been entered upon. Great bravery was often exhibited in their desperate forays; and the use of the sword and the bow was carefully studied. Some matchlocks were beginning to be introduced into their armies; but the sabre and the charge of horse still generally decided the day. They were not ignorant of the art of mining. Their most skilful miners were from Badakhshān, where they probably learned the art from working the ruby mines and beds of lapis lazuli. A few cannon had begun to be used in sieges, and latterly even in the line. Their military array, however, was still formed according to the rules given by Taimūr Beg. They had indeed, a right and left wing, and a centre, with a body in advance, and a reserve;* they had also parties of flankers on their wings; but they seem seldom to have engaged in a regular battle. Most of the armies mentioned by Bābur were far from being numerous; and the day seldom appears to have been decided by superior skill in military tactics.

These are the only remarks that seem necessary regarding the countries north of the Hindū-kūsh mountains; and little need be added concerning those to the south, which were subdued by Bābur. The labours of Major Rennell throw sufficient light on the geography of that monarch’s transactions in India; and long before this volume can appear, a similar light must have been shed over his marches in Afghanistān, by the publication of the work of Mr. Elphin­stone on that country. It may only be briefly remarked, that the Hindū-kūsh range, after passing to the north of Kābul, breaks into numerous hills running west and south-west, which constitute the ancient kingdom of Bāmiān and the modern countries of the Hazāras and Aimāks; that the Belūt-tāgh mountains, formerly mentioned as running north from Hindū-kūsh, seem also to shoot south by Sefīd Koh, forming the Suleimān range which traverses the whole of Afghanistān, as far as the country of Beluchis­tān, running in the greater part of its course nearly parallel to the Indus; and that this range, soon after it passes the latitude of Ghazni, seems to divide into three or more parallel ridges that run south; but that though the moun­tains run north and south, the slope of the land is from west to east; in consequence of which, some of the rivers that rise in the high lands of Ghazni and Kābul, appear to be obliged to force their way through a rupture in the transverse ranges, when they pursue their course eastward to the Indus. Such is the case with the river of Kābul, when it bursts its way first through the Logar range, and lower down, through the Suleimān hills, near Jelālābād; and, in an inferior degree, with the Kurram and Gumal rivers, which have wrought themselves a course through the more southern branches of the same range.

From this long range, which runs south, there issue three minor branches of some note, that run eastward. The most northerly is the Kheiber, or Kohāt range, which extends from Sefīd Koh to Nilāb on the Indus, running all the way nearly parallel to the Kābul river, and to the road from Kābul to Peshāwar. The next, which by Bābur is called the Bangash hills, and by Mr. Elphinstone is designated as the Salt Range, runs from Sefīd Koh south-east to Kālabagh, where it is crossed by the Indus, but pursues its course in its original direction to the Behāt or Jhelam river, the Hydaspes of antiquity, beyond Pind-Dādan-Khan. The third, which runs from Bāzār to Paniāla, on the Indus, may be called the Dūki Range. Between the two first lies the valley of Kohāt, so particu­larly mentioned by Bābur; and between the two last, Bannu, part of Bangash, and several other districts. The other places in this direction will be noted when they occur.

From the west of the Sefīd Koh runs a range which passes to the south-west of Kābul, Ghazni, and Kandahār, whence it runs down to the desert of Sīstān.

Between this range and that of Paropamisus, the level country of Kābul rises up to Ghazni, which is the highest table-land in Afghānistān, the rivers descending on the one side north to Kābul, on the other west to Kandahār, and on the eastward to the Indus. The western slope of Ghazni is by Kandahār, to the Lake of Sīstān and the desert. This level country is of no great breadth.

But the part of Afghānistān which is most frequently alluded to by Bābur is the tract lying along the southern slope of the Hindū-kūsh mountains and the angle formed by the Paropamisan hills as they advance to the south. It consists of a number of mountainous mounds, pushed forwards from the higher hills, and forming steep and narrow, but beautiful and finely watered, valleys between, which transmit their streams to swell the Kābul river. Most of these, from Ghorbend and Panjsher, down to Panjkora and Sawād, are particularly commemorated by Bābur himself, in his lively description of the country. His account of the different roads from Hindustān is a curious portion of the geography of Afghānistān.

With the assistance of Major Rennell’s and Mr. Elphin­stone’s maps, it will be easy to follow Bābur through all the journeys mentioned in the two last parts of the Memoirs; and the Memoir and map of Mr. Waddington will give a clearer idea than is elsewhere to be found of the country north of the Oxus, the scene of the first part of the Memoirs.*