I WILL now pen a short discourse respecting Hindôstân.

To the versed in the truths of facts, and to the diligent searcher into reports and traditions it is not unknown, that the liberation and freedom of Bâber Mîrzâ, son of Mirza Omar Sheikh, from obscurity and distraction, from perplexity and distress, and his mounting on the saddle of impe­rial command, were not effected but by laying hold of and hanging on the skirts of the august dynasty of the prince, equal in state to Solomon, the father of permanency, Shâh Ismaïl Safavi. For every person informed in the history of the children and grand-children of the Lord of Con­junction, Amîr Tîmôr Kôrkân, well knows, what their conduct was to each other, and the conduct of the people towards them; that neglecting no single punctilio of altercation and bloody conten­tion among themselves, they considered it their duty to murder or otherwise to injure one another; and that the people, in consequence of their dis­putes and tyrannical demeanour, being continually harrassed with grief and affliction and every kind of calamity and provocation, felt the existence of that family as a weight on their hearts, and bending all their thoughts to a riddance of them, neglected no means in their power, nor any moment of opportunity to slay them as they could. The happiest in his life and circum­stances was the Soltân, Hosein Mirza Bâïcar, who after the establishment of his authority, with reference to the others, was extremely moderate and quiet. But after his decease and the pre­dominance of Sheibek Khân the Ozbek, and after the extirpation of the sons of that emperor by the violence and treachery of the latter, and the elevation of the standards of his own majesty and pomp, the affairs of the remaining members of the family of Tîmôr came to such a pass of weakness, as must be generally known to all searchers of history. In short, the strength of counsel and the beam of regard of the Safavean prince, incomparable in lineage, the fame of whose majesty had spread from east to west and filled both horizons, having brought Bâber Mîrzâ into the field of splendour, gave him wings and pinions, and conferred on him all kinds of favours and continual assistance. He also, during the whole course of his life, both in the days of his empire in Hindôstân, and before that, was in the habit of recurring for support, and of manifest­ing the sincerity of his friendship, to that august dynasty; sometimes by giving currency to its Khotbah and coin, as in Samarcand; sometimes by sending humble petitions and supplications of requests; and thus maintaining the satisfaction and contentment of the prince, equal in state to Solo­mon. His children also and grand-children on any occasion of weakness and necessity, and when they had some purpose in view, always preserved this custom of recurring for support and assistance to the sublime Safavean family, and held it as the central affection of their minds; but at the time of any calamity or frightful occurrence in Irân, or at the cessation of their interested views and wants by reason of their tranquillity and the absence of all violent disputes from every corner of their Indian empire, changing their former habit into affected haughtiness and exorbitant pride, they barred up the road of intimacy. This habit has been confirmed in the nature and con­stitution of the line of Bâber; and it would appear that the disposition is an effect of the water and air of India; for it is evident that the people of this country cultivate no one's friendship without some selfish motive, and it is proved from ancient books and records, that also before the intro­duction of Islamism the Râis and Rulers of these regions were of the same temper and character. Whenever the kings of Persia were either them­selves in person on their march in this direction, or had despatched any of their military com­manders, the Indians seeing they had no power of victory nor of contention within their reach, affected great wretchedness and debility, and shewed every kind of obedience and the utmost readiness in paying their imposts; but after the return of the Persians to their own country, in a short space of time and on the first occasion, those Râis of confused reason, at the sight of the despicable crowds of their dependents flocking round them as in a rookery, and on view of a few handfuls of Direms and Dînârs collected together, would be tempted with the temptation of pride, and in their own house, and as far as they were free to range, began to display their empty boastings and rash falsehood, so as forgetting their past circumstances, their promises and engagements, to change altogether the tenour of their conduct.