[The French translation has the following account of Hindāl’s adoption by the mother of Humāyūn (Vol. ii, p. 86, following the words ‘my officers and the soldiers’).]
IN order to understand what has been said above it is necessary to bear in mind that up to this time all the children that had been born of Humāyūn’s mother, namely a son (who was younger than Humāyūn, but older than my other children) and three daughters, had died in infancy. I ardently desired to see a brother or sister born to him. Just about this time Dildār Agācha became pregnant, so I kept on saying, ‘I wish to God that the child which is coming might be born to Humāyūn’s mother.’ To this my mother replied, ‘If Dildār Agācha bears a son, can I not take it and be responsible for it?’ I said in my turn, ‘Nothing could be better.’ As a rule womenfolk practise the following method of taking omens when they wish to ascertain if they are going to have a son or a daughter. They take two bits of paper, on one of which they write the name of Ali or Hasan, and on the other that of Fātimah. They then put these in two balls of clay which are placed in a cup of water. The one which is first opened serves them as a means of foretelling the future. If it discloses the name of a boy, she will have a boy, and if a girl, a girl. So this method was employed by these ladies (Bābur’s womenfolk) and the birth of a male child was predicted. On the receipt of this good news, I immediately wrote to acquaint my mother; some days later the prediction was verified. God had given me a boy. Three days after his birth, and before announcing it, the child was carried off willy-nilly from its mother and brought to my palace, where it was taken care of. When I had informed my mother about him, she, on learning that she had obtained the object of her prayers, had bestowed on the young prince the name of Hindāl, which was for us a name of good omen. Under this arrangement, the child was to me at one and the same time a younger brother and a son.
[N.B.—There is some confusion in this passage, as by ‘my mother’ is meant Humāyūn’s mother (Māhim) and not that of Bābur. This gives colour to the idea that the note was partly written by Humāyūn.]