On Monday, Askeri, who had begun his march, and left the town, took leave of me in my bath, and proceeded to the eastward.
Dec. 22. On Tuesday I set out to visit the tanks, garden, and palace,*
Revisits
Dhūlpūr.
which I had ordered to be made at Dhūlpūr. I mounted at
my garden-house at one gari of the second watch,*
and five
garis of the first watch*
of the night were past, when I
reached the garden of Dhūlpūr.
On Thursday the 11th, the stone well, the cypresses,* the twenty-six stones* and stone columns, and the water-channels, which were all hewed on the hill from the solid rock, were finished. About the third watch* of that same day, they began to draw water from the well. Presents were given to the stone-cutters, carpenters, and all the labourers, according to the usage of the artisans and labourers of Agra. By way of precaution, in order to remove any disagreeable taste that might be in the water, they were directed to turn the water-wheel of the well day and night incessantly for fifty* days, and let the water run off.
Dec. 25.On Friday, while there was still one gari of the first watch* remaining, I set off from Dhūlpūr, and the sun was not set when I had alighted, and passed the river.*
Dec. 29. On Tuesday the 16th, a man who had been in the battle
between the Kizilbāshes and Uzbeks, a servant of Dev
Sultan, came and gave an account of the engagement.
He informed me, that the battle between the Uzbeks and
Turkomāns was fought on the Roz-i-Ashūr, in the neighbourhood
10th Mu-
harrem.
Sept. 26.
of Jām and Khirgird, and lasted from the first twilight*
till noon-day prayers. The Uzbeks were three hundred
thousand in number; the Turkomāns, according to their
own account, amounted to only forty or fifty thousand,
but, from their array, had the appearance of amounting
to a hundred thousand; while the Uzbeks made their own
army amount to only one hundred and five thousand. The
Kizilbāshes engaged, after having placed their guns,
artillery,*
and musketeers in order, and fortified their
position, according to the tactics of Rūm*;
they had two
thousand artillery-men*
and six thousand matchlock-men.
The Prince and Chūkeh*
Sultan were stationed behind
the guns,*
with twenty thousand chosen men. The other
Amīrs were placed beyond the guns, on the right and left
wings. The Uzbeks, on the first charge, having broken
and defeated the outposts and flankers,*
whom they drove
in, and made a number of prisoners, advanced into the rear
of the Kizilbāsh army, where they took the camels and
plundered the baggage. The troops who had been stationed
behind the artillery, now unloosing the chains of the guns,
Defeat of
the Uzbeks.
issued forth, when a desperate action ensued. The Uzbeks,
who were commanded by Kūchim Khan,*
were thrice
broken, and thrice returned to the charge; but at length,
by the divine favour, were totally routed, and nine Sultans,
including*
Obeidullah Khan and Abūsaīd Sultan, left
on the field,*
of which number Abūsaīd*
Sultan was the only
one taken alive, the other eight being slain. The head of
Obeidullah Khan could not be found, but his body was
discovered. Fifty thousand Uzbeks and twenty thousand
Turkomāns fell in the action.
The same day, Ghīaseddīn Korchi, who had gone to Jaunpūr, and engaged to return by a stated day, came back, having been absent sixteen days.* Sultan Juneid and the officers who were with him had levied an army, and advanced to Kharid;* so that Ghīaseddīn, being obliged to follow him thither, had been unable to return back at the time appointed. Sultan Juneid had answered verbally, that, thanks to the goodness of God, affairs in that quarter exhibited no symptoms that appeared to call for the presence of the Emperor. ‘Let a Mirza* come, and let orders be issued to the Sultans, Khans, and Amīrs of the neighbouring provinces, to attend the Mirza, and I have no doubt that everything will go on in a satisfactory manner, and successfully.*’ Though I had received this answer from Sultan Juneid, yet as Mulla Muhammed Mazhab, who, after the holy war against Sanka the Pagan, had been sent on an embassy to Bengal, was daily expected back, I waited till I could hear his account also of the state of things.
A. D. 1529.On Friday the 19th, I had taken a maajūn, and was sitting with a few of my particular intimates in my private apartments, when Mulla Muhammed Mazhab arrived; and, on the evening of the same day, being Saturday eve, he came and waited upon me. I inquired minutely and in detail into all the affairs of that quarter, one after another; and learned that Bengal was in a state of perfect obedience and tranquillity.
an. 2.On Saturday,* I called the Tūrki nobles and those of Hind into my private apartments, and held a consultation with them. It was observed, that the Bengalis had sent an ambassador, and were submissive and quiet; that it was, therefore, quite unnecessary for me to proceed to Bengal; that if I did not go to Bengal, there was no other place in that direction which was rich enough to satisfy the troops; that, towards the west, there were several places, which were both near at hand, and rich in wealth:
| (Tūrki verse)— | The country is rich, the inhabitants pagans, the road short; If that to the east is remote, this is close at hand. |
At length, it was resolved that I should march to the west, as being the nearest. I delayed* some days, in order to be perfectly at ease respecting the affairs to the eastward before I moved. I therefore once more dispatched Ghīaseddīn Korchi, directing him to return to me in twenty days, and wrote and sent by him firmāns to the Amīrs of Pūrab A. D. 1529 (or the East), desiring all the Sultans, Khans, and Amīrs on that side of* the river Ganges, to join Askeri, and to march with him against the enemy. I gave him special directions that, after delivering the firmāns, he should collect all the news that he could relating to these parts, and return to me with speed by the appointed time.
IncursionNews reached me at this same period, by dispatches from Muhammed Gokultāsh, that the Balūches* had again made an incursion, and committed great devastation in several places. In order to punish this insult, I directed Chīn Taimūr Sultan to proceed to assemble the Amīrs of Sirhind and Samāneh, and that neighbourhood,* such as Ādil Sultan, Sultan Muhammed Duldāi, Khosrou Gokultāsh, Muhammed Ali Jeng-Jeng, Dilāwer Khan, Ahmed Yūsef, Shah Mansūr Birlās, Muhammedi Gokultāsh,* Abdal-azīz Mīr Akhūr (or master of horse), Syed Ali, Wali Kizilbāsh,* Kirācheh Halāhil, Āshik Bekāwel, Sheikh Ali Kitteh, Kajūr* Khan, and Hassan Ali Siwādi; and orders were issued that these noblemen should join Chīn Taimūr, with arms and provisions for six months’ service, and proceed against the Balūches; that they should all assemble on his summons, march under his orders, and act in every respect in perfect conformity to his commands.* I appointed Abdal-Ghafūr as tewāchi* (or special messenger), to convey these firmāns. It was arranged that he should, in the first place, carry the firmāns for Chīn Taimūr Sultan, and afterwards proceed to deliver the firmāns to the other noblemen who have been mentioned, enjoining them all to repair, attended by their forces, to such place as should be pointed out by Chīn Taimūr Sultan for their assembling; that Abdal-Ghafūr should himself remain with the army, and report to me by letter if any of the officers betrayed indolence or want of zeal, in which case I would deprive the offender of his rank and station, and remove him from his government and perganna. Having written, and delivered these letters to Abdal-Ghafūr, I dispatched him, giving him at the same time additional verbal instructions.
Bābur