The book is, indeed, extraordinarily frank and intimate, being such a diary as a man writes for his own private delectation rather than for the perusal of even his most confidential friends, much less subjects; and probably no king at any rate ever wrote, or at any rate suffered to be circulated, such Confessions. While recording fully the many great historical events in which he took part, he does not hesitate to mention when he shaved for the first time * at the age of 23 in the year 909/1503-4; when he saw the star Canopus for the first time; * how he was first induced to taste wine * at Herát in 912/1506-7; and when he made his first attempt to write Turkí verse. * He describes his unhappy marriage with 'Á'isha Sulṭán Begum, * his reckless and unrestrained passion for Báburí, * his drinking-bouts, * his favourite vintage, * and how on one occasion he refrained from exceeding at a drinking-party in order to form an impartial opinion as to the effects of drunkenness on others. * Mention has already been made of the value of his geographical observations, but his notes on the fauna and flora of Central Asia and India are of nearly equal interest, while his impartial and acute delineations of the characters and personal peculiarities of his royal kinsmen and most notable contemporaries are of the highest interest and value. From our present point Descriptions of men of letters and artists in the Bábur-náma of view, however, no portion of his Memoirs is more interesting than that which he devotes to a series of literary portraits of the leading poets, writers and artists * who conferred such distinction on the court of Sulṭán Abu'l-Ghází Ḥusayn, beginning with that monarch himself and his eminent and accomplished minister Mír 'Alí Shír Nawá'í. * As the whole of it may be read in French in the first volume of Pavet de Courteille's translation (pp. 364-415), it will be sufficient here to summarize a few of the more interesting passages.
Having spoken of Sulṭán Ḥusayn's birth, death, family and personal appearance, Bábur mentions the predilection Description of Sulṭán Ḥusayn for the Shí'ite doctrine which he showed at the beginning of his reign, but which was checked by Mír 'Alí Shír. Chronic rheumatism prevented him from saying his prayers, but is no explanation of his neglect to keep the fast. After he had reigned six or seven years he took to drink, “and during the forty years for which he reigned over Khurásán, there was not a day whereon he did not drink after the morning prayer though he never drank in the early morning.” His sons, soldiers and subjects imitated his example, and were for the most part dissolute and self-indulgent. He was, however, of proved valour, a very skilful swordsman, and wrote moderately good poetry in the Turkí language under the nom de guerre of Ḥasan. His kingdom of Khurásán extended eastwards to Balkh, westwards to Bisṭám and Dámghán, northwards to Khwárazm (Khiva), and southwards to Qandahár and Sístán. “His was a wonderful age,” says Bábur a little further on; “Khurásán, and especially Herát, were filled with men of talent and incomparable artists. Whoever undertook any task, his aim and ambition was to perform it to perfection.”
Mír 'Alí Shír Nawá'í is next discussed, and a high tribute is paid to his poetical talent, alike in romantic Of Mír 'Alí Shír Nawá'í and lyric verse and in the quatrain, but his epistolary style is rated lower. Though he wrote chiefly in Turkí, he has also a Persian Díwán, in which he uses the pen-name of Fání. He was a great patron of art as well as of letters, and the fame attained by the painters Bihzád and Sháh Muẓaffar was largely due to his encouragement. He was devout, orthodox, and attentive to his religious duties, and was an enthusiastic chess-player. In this last respect he was excelled by Mír Murtáḍ the philosopher, who, when he found two good players, would play a game with one while he held on to the skirt of the other to prevent him from going away until he had played a game with him also. He was a batchelor, without domestic ties, and very free and easy with his intimates. Thus on one occasion while engaged in playing chess he stretched out his foot and accidentally kicked the poet Banná'í, whereupon he jestingly exclaimed, “A plague on Herát! If you stretch out your feet, you kick the backside of a poet.” “And so you do if you draw in your feet,” * retorted Banná'í.
Shaykhum Beg, who assumed the pen-name of Suhaylí, was another of Sulṭán Ḥusayn's amírs who had some Shaykhum Beg Suhaylí poetical talent, but was criticized for an undue partiality for terrifying words and ideas. Thus on one occasion he recited the following verse in the presence of Jámí:
<text in Arabic script omitted>
“In the night of grief the whirl-wind of my sighs displaced the world;
The dragon of my tear-torrent engulfed the habitable quarter [of the
globe].”
“Do you want to write poetry or to frighten your fellow-
“Kamálu'd-Dín Ḥusayn Gázargáhí,” says Bábur a little further on, * “although he was not a Ṣúfí, posed as such.
Kamálu'd-Dín Gázargáhí Pretended Ṣúfís of this type were wont to gather round 'Alí Shír Beg and indulge in their ecstasies and religious music. This man's principles were better than most of them, and to this fact he probably owed the consideration which he enjoyed, for otherwise he had no special talent worth mentioning. He wrote a book entitled Majálisu'l-'Ushsháq (“Lovers' Meetings”) of which he ascribed the authorship to Ḥusayn Mírzá. * It is a miserable production, mostly lies, and insipid and impertinent lies to boot, some of which raise a suspicion of heresy. Thus he attributes carnal loves to many prophets and saints, inventing for each one of them a paramour. Another astonishing piece of folly is that while describing the book in the preface as the work of Sulṭán Ḥusayn Mírzá himself, over every one of his own verses and sonnets occurring in the course of the book he puts ‘by the author.’” Of Jámí, by far the greatest poet of the time, Bábur
refrains from uttering any criticism, because, he says, “he
Jámí and
Sayfu'd-Dín
Taftázání
stands too high to need any praise,” wherefore
he only mentions his name “for luck and for a
blessing.” He praises the Arabic scholarship
and theological attainments of the Shaykhu'l-Islám Sayfu'd-
Amongst the poets, besides those already noticed, of
whom he makes mention are Áṣafí, Banná'í, Sayfí of Bukhárá
(the author of a useful treatise on Prosody),
*
Hátifí (Jámí's
Other poets
mentioned by
Bábur
nephew) also known as 'Abdu'lláh-i-Mathna-