Vaqi'at-i Bāburī - The Memoirs of Bābur, Volume 1

On the morrow, we marched thence, and halted on the banks of the same river, at a village of the Īsakhail.¹ The Īsakhail having had notice of our approach, had betaken themselves to the Choupāreh mountains.² I next marched from the village of the Īsakhail, and encamped on the skirts of the Choupāreh mountains, while the skirmishers, ascending the mountain, stormed a sanger of the Īsakhail, and brought back sheep, cattle, and cloths, in great quantity. The same night, the Īsakhail Afghans attempted a surprise; but as I had been particularly cautious, they did not succeed. The whole army had been drawn up in battle array, with right and left wing, centre and van, at their stations, armed and ready to maintain their posts; and there were foot-soldiers on the watch all round the camp, at the distance of rather more than a bowshot from the tents. In this manner the army passed the night. Every night I drew out the army in the same manner; and every night three or four of my most trusty chiefs^a in turn went the rounds about the camp with torches. I myself also took one round. Such persons as had not repaired to their posts had their noses slit, and were led about the camp in that state. On the right wing was Jehāngīr Mirza, with Bāki Cheghāniāni, Shīrīm Taghāi, Syed Hussain Akber, and several other Begs; on the left wing were Mirza Khan, Abdal Razāk Mirza, Kāsim Beg, and some other Begs; in the centre there were none of the superior Begs, all of them were Begs of my own household; in the van were Syed Kāsim, the chamberlain, Baba Ughūl Allah-berdi, and several other Begs. The whole army was divided into six bodies, each of which, in its turn, was appointed to keep watch for one whole day and night.

Leaving the skirt of this mountain I marched towards the west,³ and halted between Dasht and Bannu,⁴ at a tank in which there was no water.^a The soldiers here digging in the dry bed of a river, procured water for themselves, their flocks, mares, and cattle. By digging a gaz or a gaz and half into the dry channel, water was found; and it is not in this river alone that this occurs, but in all the beds of rivers in Hindustān, water is with certainty found by digging down a gaz or a gaz and a half. It is a wonderful provision of Providence, that though in Hindustān there is no permanently running water except in the large rivers, yet that water should be found so near the surface in all the dry channels of the rivulets.

Marching from this dry river in the morning, the light cavalry moving forward without anything to encumber them, about afternoon prayers reached the villages of Dasht.¹ The skirmishers immediately proceeded to ravage several of the villages, and brought off much spoil in raiment, flocks of sheep, and horses bred for sale. All this night, till morning, and all next day till night,^b the beasts of burden, flocks of sheep, camels, and foot-soldiers of the army, which had been left behind on the road, continued to drop in. During the day that we remained here, the pillaging parties went out, and brought in numbers of sheep and oxen from the villages of Dasht. Having also fallen in with some Afghan merchants, they took a great quantity of white cloth, aromatic drugs, sugar, both candied and in powder, the stout species of horses called Tipchāk, and other horses which they had for sale. Mendi Moghul dismounted Khwājeh Khizer Lohāni,² who was one of the most noted and eminent of the Afghan merchants, cut off his head, and brought it to the camp. Shīrīm Taghāi had gone out in the rear of the pillagers. He met an Afghan on foot, who struck him a blow with his sword that cut off his fore-finger.

On the next morning we marched forward, and halted at Reaches
the Gumal. no great distance, among the villages of Dasht. Our next march was to the banks of the river Gumal. From Dasht there are two roads that lead to the west. One of them is the road of Sang-e-surākh, which reaches Fermūl by way of Būrek.^a The other is along the banks of the Gumal which also conducts to Fermūl, but without passing Būrek. The road along the Gumal is generally preferred. During the few days that I had been in the Dasht, it had rained incessantly; and the Gumal had in consequence swelled so much, that it was with great difficulty that we found a ford by which we could pass. Persons who knew the road informed me that it would be necessary by the Gumal road to cross the river several times; which would be attended with extreme difficulty if the flooding should continue as high as it then was. Some hesitation still remained respecting the propriety of taking this route; nor were our opinions quite settled next morning when the drum beat for the march. It was my intention to have conversed over the matter as we mounted our horses,^b and to have followed the route that March 7
1505. should then appear best. It was the Īd e fitr,¹ and I was engaged in performing the ceremonial ablutions required on account of that festival, while Jehāngīr Mirza and the Begs were conversing on the subject. Some of them suggested that the mountain on the west of the Dasht, which they call the Mehter Suleimāni mountain,² lies between Dasht and Dūki; that if we could turn the extremity^c of the mountain we should come to a road that was level, although it might make a difference of a march or two. This plan meeting with their approbation, they directed the march of the army towards the edge of the mountain.³ Before I had completed my ablutions, the army was in full march for the skirts of the mountains, and many had even passed the river Gumal. As none of us had ever been this road, we were perfectly ignorant of its length or shortness. It had been adopted on mere idle surmise. The stated prayers of the Īd were recited on the banks of the Gumal. In this year the Nouroz¹ fell remarkably near the Īd e fitr, there being only a few days between them. On the subject of this approximation I composed the following ghazel:

They are blest who see the new moon and the face of their beloved at the same time:
But I, far from the countenance of my beloved and her eyebrow, experience only sorrow.
O Bābur, deem thou the face of thy love the best of new moons, and an interview the best of Īds!
For a better day than that thou canst not find, were there a hundred festivals of Nouroz, and a hundred Bairāms.

Leaving the banks of the Gumal, we directed our course towards the south, and marched along the skirts of the mountain. We had advanced a kos or two, when a body of death-devoted Afghans presented themselves on an eminence close upon the mountain. We instantly proceeded to charge them at full gallop; the greater part of them fled away; the rest foolishly attempted to make a stand on some small hills, which were on the skirts of the heights. One Afghan took his stand on a detached hillock, apparently because all its other sides^a being steep and a direct precipice, he had no road by which to escape. Sultan Ali Chanāk rode up,^b gained the summit, engaged and took him. This feat, which he performed in my presence, was the occasion of his future favour and advancement. In another declivity of the hill, Kūtluk Kadem engaged an Afghan in combat, and while they grappled, both of them fell tumbling from a height of ten or twelve gaz; at last, however, Kūtluk cut off his head, and brought it in. Kupek Beg grappled with another Afghan on a steep knoll, when both the combatants came rolling from the top midway down; but he also brought away the Afghan’s head. A great many of these Afghans fell into my hands on this occasion, but I released them all.

After leaving Dasht, we marched for three stages in a southerly direction, keeping close to the skirts of the mountain of Mehter Suleimān; and at the close of the fourth halted at Bīlah,¹ a small district lying on the banks of the Sind, and which is dependent on Multān. The inhabitants in general took directly to their boats, and crossed the river; a few plunged into the water, and crossed it by swimming. Opposite to this village there was an island, on which we observed several natives who had not passed over to the mainland; many of our troops drove their horses, all armed as they were, into the river, and passed over. Several of them were carried down by the stream; of my followers one was Kūl Ahmed Arūk, another the chief of my tent-pitchers² and house servants^a; of Jehāngīr Mirza’s followers, one was Kaitmās Turkmān. In this island a considerable booty in clothes, furniture, and other property fell into the hands of our men. All the people of that neighbourhood passed the Sind in boats, and went to the other side. A party that had passed immediately opposite to the island, trusting to the breadth of the river, drew their swords, and began to flourish them in an insulting way. Among those who had passed over to the island, one was Kūl Bayezīd the cupbearer,³ who alone, and on an unarmed horse, threw himself into the stream and pushed for them. The water on the other side of the island was twice as broad as on this side. After swimming his horse for the distance of a bowshot in the face of the enemy, who stood on the banks, it got footing and took ground, with the water reaching as high as the flap of the saddle. He stopped there as long as milk takes to boil; and having apparently made up his mind, seeing nobody following behind to support him, and having no hopes of receiving any assistance, he rushed with great speed on the enemy who occupied the bank: they discharged two or three arrows at him, but durst not stand their ground, and fled. Alone, on an unarmed horse,¹ devoid of all support, to swim across such a river as the Sind, to put the enemy to flight and occupy their ground, was a stout and manly feat. After the enemy had taken to flight, our troops passed over, and got a considerable booty in cloth, cattle, and other plunder. Although on several former occasions I had distinguished Kūl Bayezīd by marks of favour, in consequence of the services which he had done, and of the bravery which he had repeatedly displayed, and had promoted him from the office of cook to be one of my tasters, yet after this last courageous achievement, I was still more resolved to show him every possible mark of favour, and accordingly I did distinguish him in the most marked manner, as will be mentioned. In truth, he was worthy of every kind of attention and honour.

I made other two marches down the river Sind, keeping close to its banks. The soldiers had now completely knocked up their horses, from being perpetually on plundering parties, in the course of which too they had gained no booty worth the while. It consisted chiefly of bullocks; in the Dasht they had got some sheep, and in several places clothes, and such like articles. After leaving the Dasht, they got nothing but bullocks. In our marches along the Sind, however, these were found in such plenty, that the meanest retainer in the army often picked up three or four hundred bullocks and cows; but from their very numbers they were obliged to leave the greater part of them behind.^a

For three marches I proceeded along the Sind, and separated from it right against the tomb of Pīr Kānū,² on reaching which we halted. As some of the soldiers had wounded several of the attendants at the tomb, I ordered one of the culprits to be punished, and he was hewn to pieces as an example. This tomb is very highly respected in Hindustān. It lies on the skirts of a hill which is connected with the mountain of Mehter Suleimān.

Taking my departure from this tomb, I reached the top of a hill-pass,¹ where we halted. Marching from thence I gained Rūdi, a place dependent on the country of Dūki.² While moving from that station, Fāzil Gokultāsh, the Dārogha of Sīvi,³ a servant of Shah Beg,⁴ with twenty of his people, who had come to reconnoitre us, were seized and brought in; but as at that time we were not on bad terms, I dismissed them with their arms and horses.

Leaving this station, the second march brought us to Chotiāli, one of the villages of Dūki,⁵ near which we encamped. Though the horses had undergone great fatigue in the continual plundering parties in which they had been engaged, both before reaching the Sind, and along its banks, yet they had plenty of corn, and abundance of grain cut in the ear, so that they did not flag. But when we left the banks of the Sind, and moved up by Pīr Kānū, there were no longer green cuttings, or at least in two or three marches a very inconsiderable quantity of young corn was occasionally met with. I could not even get corn for my own horse. In the course of these marches, the horses of the army began to flag.^a In the stage at which we halted after leaving Chotiāli, I was even forced to leave my pavilion-tent¹ behind for want of carriage. While there, such a rain fell during the night, that the water reached above the knee among the tents, and I was obliged to sit on carpets piled on each other; in which melancholy plight we were forced to wear away the night till morning appeared.

A march or two after, Jehāngīr Mirza came up to me, and whispered in my ear, ‘I have a word to speak with you in private.’ I retired with him, and he said to me, ‘Bāki Cheghāniāni has been with me, and said, We intend to send the King, with seven, eight, or ten persons, over the Sind, and to raise you to the throne.’ I asked, ‘Who are his inferior associates in this plot?’ He replied, ‘Bāki Beg himself mentioned it to me just now, and I know not any one else.’ I said, ‘You must endeavour to learn who the other conspirators are, as it is probable that Syed Hussain Akber, Sultan Ali Chihreh, and other Begs and retainers of Khosrou Shah are concerned in the business.’ In truth, Jehāngīr Mirza, on this occasion, conducted himself perfectly well, and in a brotherly manner; and his proceedings, on this emergency, were the exact counterpart of my own at Kahmerd, when this same worthless man,² by his machinations, attempted to stir up discord and hostility between us.

We marched from this station, and when I reached the next halting-place, I dispatched a body of soldiers, whose horses were still capable of service, under the command of Jehāngīr Mirza, to attack and plunder the Aughāns³ in that vicinity. At this stage, the horses of the army began to be completely worn out, and every day^b two hundred horses, or three hundred horses, were obliged to be left behind. Many brave partisans, and some of note, were reduced to march on foot. Shah Mahmūd Ughlākchi, who was one of the officers of my household, and a man of eminence, having lost all his horses, was forced to trudge it on foot. This continued to be the state of the horses of the army till we reached Ghazni.

Three marches afterwards, Jehāngīr Mirza, having plundered a party of Afghans, brought in a few sheep.

In one or two marches more, we reached Āb-istādeh,¹ when a wonderfully large sheet of water presented itself to our view. Nothing could be seen of the plains on the opposite side. The water seemed to join the sky; the hills and mountains on the farther side appeared inverted, like the hills and mountains on the farther side of the mirāge;² while the hills and mountains near at hand appeared suspended between earth and heaven.^a In this spot are collected the waters arising from the inundations occasioned by the rains of spring, in the valley of Kattehwāz, the dale of Zurmet, the river of Ghazni, with the meadow of Karabāgh, and all the superfluous water of the spring season, that arises from the swelling of the rivers, and that remains after the purposes of irrigation are Its singular
appear-
ance. answered. When I came within one kos of Āb-istādeh, a singular phenomenon presented itself. From time to time, between this water and the heavens, something of a red appearance was seen, like the ruddy crepuscule, which again by and by vanished, and so continued shifting till we had come near it. When we came close up, we discovered that this appearance was occasioned by immense flocks of wild geese,³ not of ten thousand or twenty thousand, but absolutely beyond computation, and innumerable; and in their flight, as they moved their wings, their red feathers sometimes appeared and sometimes were hid. But it was not wild geese alone; innumerable flocks of every species of bird settled on the banks of this water, and the eggs of countless multitudes of fowl were deposited on every corner of its banks. A few^a Afghans who had come here, and were employed in gathering these eggs, on seeing us, fled, and threw themselves into the lake; but a party of my men pursued them for nearly a kos, and brought them back. As far as these went into the water, it was nearly of one uniform depth, reaching up to the horse’s belly; indeed, the water, apparently in consequence of the levelness of the plain, did not seem to acquire any great depth. On reaching the banks of the river of the plain of Kattehwāz, which falls into Āb-istādeh, we halted. It is in general a dry river, not having any running water in it. I have passed its channel many times, but never found any water in it, except on this occasion, when, in consequence of the rains of spring, it was so flooded, that I could find no ford to pass; for though it is not very broad, yet it was extremely deep. All the horses and camels were crossed over by swimming. Many of the soldiers tied up their baggage in bundles, which they pulled over to the other side with cords. After passing this torrent, we proceeded by the way of Kuhneh-Nāni,¹ and, Arrives at
Ghazni. passing the water-mound² of Sardeh,³ we reached Ghazni. Jehāngīr Mirza there entertained us, provided us with victuals, did the honours of the place for a day or two, and presented me with his peshkesh.⁴

This year the greater part of the streams and rivers came down in flood, so violently that we could get no passage over the river of Deh-Yākūb. I therefore made them carry a boat, which I caused to be constructed in a tank of water, and launch it in the river of Deh-Yākūb, opposite to Kamari,¹ and by means of this vessel all the army was passed over. In this way, after surmounting the hill pass of Sajāwend,² we proceeded directly forward, Reaches
Kābul,
May 1505. and passing the Kamari river in boats,^a reached Kābul, in the month of Zilhijeh.

A few days before our arrival, Syed Yūsef Beg had been carried off by a colic, and departed to enjoy the mercy of God.

Nāsir Mirza, as was formerly mentioned, after providing his people with some necessaries from his government, had obtained leave to stay behind in Kūsh-gumbez, promising to follow me in two or three days. But we had no sooner separated, than, under pretence of quelling the refractory spirit of the men of Dareh-Nūr, though in reality the matter of complaint was very slight, he dispatched his whole army towards Dareh-Nūr. Fazli, who was the general of the army, did not keep up proper discipline, nor act with sufficient circumspection, considering the strength of the fort of Dareh-Nūr, that it was surrounded with rice-fields, and situated on the brow of a hill, as has been described. For in that mountainous tract, and in sight of the fortified hill, he divided his force and sent out a detachment to plunder. The men of Dareh-Nūr, immediately sallying forth, attacked the plunderers who were scattered for pillage, and routed them; and no sooner were they discomfited, than the rest of the army, unable to maintain their ground, also took to flight. Many were slain, and many horses and arms taken. Such will always be the fate of an army that has a general like Fazli. Whether it was from this circumstance, or whether some disaffection influenced Nāsir Mirza, he did not follow me, but stayed behind. Another circumstance, which had some influence on his conduct, was that I had bestowed Alingār on Yūsef, and Alisheng on Bahlol, the two sons of Ayūb, than whom more wicked, more seditious, more arrogant or haughty persons, were nowhere to be found. They also were to have made some levies from their governments, and to have come along with Nāsir Mirza to join me; but as Nāsir Mirza did not come, they also stayed behind, and were the favourite bottle companions and friends of Nāsir Mirza all that winter.

During the course of this winter he made one excursion against the Turkolāni Afghans, and ravaged their country. All the Aimāks, Īls, and Ulūses, from the upper country, who had descended into Nangenhār and Lamghānāt, he attacked and drove up, and then^a encamped on the banks of the Bārān. While Nāsir Mirza was on that river, and in its neighbourhood, the tidings arrived of the defeat and slaughter of the Uzbeks, by the inhabitants of Badakhshān, and of the general rising of that country, which took place in the following manner.

Sheibāni Khan, having entrusted Kunduz to Kamber Bī, proceeded himself to Khwārizm. Kamber Bī, for the purpose of securing the submission of^b the inhabitants of Badakhshān, had sent into that country Mahmūd, the son of Muhammed Makhdūmi; but Mubārek Shah, whose ancestors had been Begs of the Kings of Badakhshān, having rebelled, cut off the heads of Mahmūd, the son of Makhdūmi, and of several more of the Uzbeks, and seizing on the fort of Zafer,¹ formerly known by the name of Shāf-tiwār, fortified himself in it. He was the person who gave this fortress the name of Zafer. Besides this, Muhammed Korchi, who was one of the Korchis² of Khosrou Shah, and at this time had the command of Khamalangān, likewise rebelled; and having slain the Sader (or Justiciary) of Sheibāni Khan, with a number of Uzbeks in Rustāk, fortified himself in Khamalangān. An inhabitant of Rāgh,¹ too, whose forefathers had been nobles in the court of the kings of Badakhshān, at the same time rose in Rāgh. Jehāngīr Turkomān, who was one of the retainers of Wali, the brother of Khosrou Shah, and who, during the late confusions, had separated from his lord, having collected some fugitive soldiers, besides stragglers and Aimāks, Nāsir Mir-
za attempts
to subdue
it. drew off and revolted. Nāsir Mirza, on receiving this intelligence, inspired with the ambition of acquiring Badakhshān, at the instigation of certain senseless and short-sighted flatterers, passed over into that quarter by the route of Shibertū and Ābdareh, accompanied by some bodies of these Īls and Ulūses, who, on being expelled from the other side of the hills, had come hither and were moving about with their whole families and property.^a

Khosrou Shah, after flying from Ajer with Ahmed Kāsim, had proceeded with him to Khorasān; and having met with Badīa-ez-zemān Mirza and Zūlnūn Beg by the way, they all went together to Heri, and paid their court to Sultan Hussain Mirza. I alone was the cause that these men, who for a series of years had been at open enmity with the Mirza, and had subjected him to many insults, the old sores of which were still rankling in his heart, now all went in such a state of distress and humility, to present themselves before him. For had I not deprived Khosrou Shah of his army and retainers, and reduced him to his present helpless condition, and had not I taken Kābul from Mukīm, Zūlnūn’s son, they never would have thought of going to wait upon the Mirza. Badīa-ez-zemān was only as dough in the hands of the other two, and never attempted to swerve from their advice. Sultan Hussain Mirza received them all in a gracious manner, without reminding them of their offences, and made them a variety of presents. After some time Khosrou Shah asked permission to return to his own country, alleging that, if he were allowed to go, he could now reduce the whole of it to subjection. As, however, he was without arms, and without any means of success for such an enterprise, objections were made to his return. On perceiving this, he only persevered with the greater importunity to be allowed to take his leave. As his importunities increased, Muhammed Berandūk retorted on him sharply: ‘When you had thirty thousand men, and the whole country in your hands, what did you effect, that now you are so anxious to set out with five hundred men, and the country in the hands of the Uzbeks?’ However judicious the remonstrances made to him were, as his destined end was drawing near, he refused to listen to them. The urgency of his representations increasing, he was at last permitted to take his departure; and, attended by three or four hundred men, he advanced directly to the confines of Dahāneh.

At this very juncture Nāsir Mirza had passed over to the same quarter. He had a conference with Nāsir Mirza in the territory of Dehāneh.¹ The chiefs of Badakhshān had invited Nāsir Mirza alone, and did not wish for Khosrou Shah’s return; but all the efforts that Nāsir Mirza made to prevail on him to separate from him, and proceed to the hill-country, had no influence on Khosrou Shah, who saw the Mirza’s motives. Khosrou Shah’s plan was to employ Nāsir Mirza’s name as a cover to his designs, and after acting in his name so as to get possession of these countries, to seize and put him to death.^a As, however, they could not come to an understanding, each of them put his adherents in array in the territory of Ishkamish,² and having clothed them in armour, and drawn them out ready for action, they separated from each other, Khosrou
Shah ad-
vances to
Kunduz, and Nāsir Mirza proceeded towards Badakhshān; while Khosrou Shah, having collected a naked and disorderly rabble, to the amount of a thousand men, good and bad, went to lay siege to Kunduz, and took post at Khwājeh Chārtāk, one or two farsangs distant from that city.

After Muhammed Sheibāni Khan had taken Sultan Ahmed Tambol in Andejān, he had advanced against Hissār, upon which Khosrou Shah, without either battle or effort, had abandoned his territories and fled. Sheibāni Khan reached Hissār, in which was Shīrīm Chihreh with some brave soldiers, who, although deserted by their superiors, who had fled the country, would not surrender the fortress, but made every exertion for its defence. Sheibāni Khan left Hamzeh Sultan and Mahdi Sultan to conduct the blockade of Hissār, and himself proceeded against Kunduz; he conferred the government of Kunduz on his younger brother Mahmūd Sultan, and himself without delay marched for Khwārizm against Chīn Sūfi. He had not yet reached Samarkand, when his brother Mahmūd Sultan died in Kunduz, on which he gave the command in Kunduz to Kamber Bī of Merv. When Khosrou Shah arrived, Kamber Bī was in Kunduz; and instantly dispatched messengers to Hamzeh Sultan and the other Sultans who had been left behind, to call them in to his aid. Hamzeh Sultan having himself advanced as far as Serāi,¹ on the banks of the river Amu, sent on his army to Kunduz, under the command of his sons and Begs, who marched on to battle is defeated the instant they arrived. Khosrou Shah could not stand his ground, and his gross body was not sufficiently alert for flight; so that Hamzeh Sultan’s men unhorsed him, and brought him in as a prisoner. They also slew Ahmed Kāsim, his sister’s son, Shīrīm Chihreh, and a number of his best troops. They then carried Khosrou Shah to and put to
death. Kunduz, where they struck off his head, which they sent to Sheibāni Khan at Khwārizm. Khosrou Shah had no sooner entered the Kunduz territory, than, as he had predicted, the conduct and demeanour of his old followers and retainers, who had taken service with me, was visibly changed. Numbers of them began to draw off, and marched for Khwājeh Riwāj and the country in its vicinity. The greater part of my force at this time consisted of his old retainers. Several Moghuls of note went off, and the rest had begun to form combinations together; the moment the news of his death arrived, the spirit of discontent was quenched, as when water is thrown on fire.

EVENTS OF THE YEAR 911

IN the month of Muharrem,¹ my mother, Kūtluk Nigār Death of
Bābur’s
mother. Khanum, was seized with the pustulous eruption, termed hasbeh,² and blood was let without effect. A Khorasān physician, named Syed Tabīb, attended her; he gave her water-melons, according to the practice of Khorasān; but as her time was come, she expired, after six days’ illness, on a Saturday, and was received into the mercy of God. Ulugh Beg Mirza had built a garden palace on the side of a hill, and called it Bāgh-e-Nourozi (the Garden of the New Year). Having got the permission of his heirs,³ we conveyed her remains to this garden; and on Sunday I and Kāsim Gokultāsh committed them to the earth. During the period of mourning for my mother, the news of the death of the younger Khan, my uncle Alāchah Khan,⁴ and of my grandmother Īsān Doulet Begum, also arrived. The distribution of food on the fortieth day after the Khanum’s decease was near at hand, when the mother of the Khans, Shah Begum, my maternal grandmother, Meher Nigār Khanum, the widow of Sultan Ahmed Mirza, with Muhammed Hussain Gurkān Dughlet, arrived from Khorasān. Our lamentation and mourning now broke out afresh. Our grief for the separations we had suffered was unbounded. After completing the period of mourning,^a food and victuals were dressed and doled out to the poor and needy. Having directed readings of the Korān, and prayers to be offered up for the souls of the departed, and eased the sorrows of our hearts by these demonstrations of love, I returned to my political enterprises which had been interrupted,^a and by the advice of Bāki Cheghāniāni, led my army against Kandahār. We had marched as far as the auleng (or meadow) of Kūsh-Nādir, where we had halted, when I was seized with a fever. It came most unseasonably. Whatever^b efforts they made to keep me awake, my eyes constantly fell back into sleep. After four or five days, I got somewhat better.^c

At this period there was such an earthquake that many ramparts of fortresses, the summits of some hills,^d and many houses, both in the towns and villages, were violently shaken and levelled with the ground. Numbers of persons lost their lives by their houses and terraces falling on them. The whole houses of the village of Pamghān¹ fell down, and seventy or eighty respectable householders were buried under the ruins. Between Pamghān and Bektūt, a piece of ground, about a stone’s throw in breadth, separated itself, and descended for the length of a bowshot; and springs burst out and formed a well in the place that it had occupied. From Isterghach to the plain,^e being a distance of about six or seven farsangs, the whole space was so rent and fractured, that in some places the ground was elevated to the height of an elephant above its old level, and in other places as much depressed; and in many places it was so split that a person might have hid himself in the gaps. During the time of the earthquake,² a great cloud of dust rose from the tops of the mountains. Nūr-allah, the lutanist, happened to be playing before me on the mandolin, and had also another instrument with him; he instantly caught up both the instruments in his hands, but had so little command of himself, that they knocked against each other. Jehāngīr Mirza was at Tībah, in the upper veranda of a palace built by Ulugh Beg Mirza. The moment the earth began to quake, he threw himself down, and escaped without injury. One of his domestics was in the same story, when the terrace^a of this upper floor fell on him. God preserved him, and he did not sustain the slightest harm. Many rising-grounds^b were levelled. That same day there were thirty-three shocks; and for the space of a month, the earth shook two or three times every day and night. The Begs and soldiers had orders to repair the rents and breaches in the walls and fortifications^c of the fortress. By great diligence and exertions, in twenty days or a month, all the parts of the walls that had been damaged or thrown down were repaired and rebuilt.

My expedition against Kandahār had been delayed by my sickness and the earthquake; but as soon as I had regained my health, and restored the defences of the fortress, I immediately resumed my former plan. When we halted below Shnīz,¹ we had not yet finally decided between marching against Kandahār, and sending out detachments to scour the hills and plains. I called Jehāngīr Mirza and the Begs to a council of war; when Jehāngīr Mirza and Bāki Cheghāniāni warmly supporting the proposition for proceeding against Kalāt, it was settled that we should move and attack it. On reaching Tāzi, I gained information that Sher Ali Chihreh and Kūchek Bāki Diwāneh, with some others, had formed the plan of deserting. I instantly had them seized; and as Sher Ali Chihreh had been notoriously guilty of various seditious and mutinous practices, both while in my service, and when in the service of others, and in various countries, he was delivered over to the executioner. Having deprived the others of their arms and horses, I let them go.

When we reached Kalāt,¹ without having arrayed ourselves in armour, or erected any engines for an attack, we instantly made an assault. The conflict was severe. Kūchek Beg, the elder brother of Khwājeh Kalān, was a most courageous and gallant man, and had many a time wielded his sword with great effect in my presence, as has already been mentioned in these Memoirs. He had clambered up a tower on the south-west of Kalāt, and had nearly gained the top, when he was wounded in the eye with a spear; and he died of this wound two or three days after Kalāt was taken. Kūchek Bāki Diwāneh, who had been seized while attempting to desert with Sher Ali, here atoned for that act of treachery, being killed with a stone under the rampart, while attempting to enter. Two or three other persons of note were killed. The fight continued in this way till about the time of afternoon prayers; when, just as the assailants, who had fought bravely, and exerted all their vigour, were almost exhausted, the garrison demanded quarter, and surrendered. Zūlnūn Arghūn had bestowed Kalāt on Mukīm, and two of Mukīm’s partisans, Farrukh Arghūn and Kara Bilūt, held it at this time on his part. They came out with their bows,^a quivers, and scimitars hanging round their necks, and I forgave them. It was not my wish to treat this family harshly; for had anything severe been practised among us at a time when such an enemy as the Uzbeks was close at hand, what would not have been said, both far and near, by those who either saw or heard of it? As this enterprise had been undertaken at the instance of Jehāngīr Mirza and Bāki Beg, I gave up Kalāt to the charge of the Mirza, but he would not accept of it; neither would Bāki Beg undertake to keep it, though he could offer no satisfactory excuse for declining; so that all our exertions and our success in the assault and taking of the place, were completely thrown away.

Proceeding southward from Kalāt, we plundered the Afghans of Sawa-Sang, Alatāgh,¹ and that neighbourhood, and then returned to Kābul. The night that I arrived in Kābul, I proceeded to the fortress, leaving my tents and horses at the Chārbāgh. That same night a Khirilchi thief came and stole from the Chārbāgh a bay horse of mine, caparisoned as it was, and one of my own sabres.^a

From the time that Bāki Cheghāniāni had joined me on the banks of the Amu, no person about me had been in higher estimation or authority than himself. Whatever was done or said, was said or done by his ascendancy; although I had never experienced from him that duty which was to have been expected, or that propriety of conduct which is indispensably necessary. Indeed, on the contrary, he had done many unjustifiable acts, and shown me many marks of disrespect. He was mean, sordid, malicious, narrow-minded, envious, and cross-tempered. He carried his meanness to such a length, that when he broke up from Termez, and came and joined me with his family and property, though his own flock of sheep amounted to thirty or forty thousand, and though every march numbers of them passed before our face, while my servants and retainers were tortured with hunger, he did not give us a single sheep; at last, when we reached Kahmerd,² he then gave them fifty sheep! Although he had himself acknowledged me as his King, he used to have the nagarets beaten before his tent. He liked nobody, and could see no one prosper. The revenue of Kābul arises from a tamgha³ (or stamp-tax). This tamgha I bestowed on him; and made him at the same time Dārogha of Kābul and Penjhīr; gave him the property-tax levied from the Hazāras,^a and conferred on him the office of Captain of my Guards,^b with absolute power in my household. Though distinguished by such marks of favour, he was never either thankful or contented; but, on the contrary, cherished the most wicked and dangerous projects of treason, as has been mentioned. I never, however, upbraided him with them, nor mentioned them to him. He constantly affected great chariness, and asked leave to go away. I gave in to his dissimulation, and in a tone of apology, refused him the permission he solicited.

Every day or two he returned again, and used again to begin asking his discharge. His dissimulation, and eternal requests for liberty to depart, at length exceeded all bounds; so that, wearied to death with his conduct and teasing,^c I lost patience, and gave him his discharge. Disappointed and alarmed at this, he was now in the utmost perplexity;^d but to no purpose. He sent to remind me that I had made an agreement with him, that I would not call him to account till he had been guilty of nine offences towards me. I sent him by Mulla Bāba a list of eleven grievances, the justice of which he was forced to acknowledge one after another. He submitted, and having obtained leave, proceeded towards Hindustān with his family and effects. A few of his own retainers accompanied him as far as Kheiber, and then returned back. Having joined the caravan of Bāki Gagiāni, he passed by Nilāb. At this time Yār Hussain Deryā Khan was in Kacheh-Kot. This man had converted into a sanad the firmān which he had received from me on leaving Kohat; and having enlisted^e in his service a number of followers, who were partly Afghans of the tribes of Dilazāk and Yusefzai, and partly men of the Jāt¹ and Gujer tribes, his sole occupation now was ravaging the country, and robbing on the highways. Having got notice of Bāki’s approach, he occupied the road, and took prisoner Bāki himself, and every person that was along His death. with him. He put Bāki to death, and took his lady. Though I gave Bāki his discharge, and did him no harm, yet he was caught in his own evil, and taken in his own toils.

Do thou resign to Fate him who injures thee;
For Fate is a servant that will not leave thee unavenged.

This winter we remained encamped in the Chārbāgh, during one or two of the first falls of snow.^a Down to the time of my arrival in Kābul, the Turkomān Hazāras had been guilty of numerous insults and depredations; I therefore determined to make an excursion against them, and having gone into the city, and taken up my residence in the palace of Ulugh Beg Mirza, called Bostān-serāi, I set out from thence in the month of Shābān,¹ with the intention of making a foray on the Turkomān Hazāras. A detachment was pushed on, which made a sudden attack on a small party of Hazāras at Jangelik, in the mouth of the valley of Khesh,^b and dispersed them. A few Hazāras had lain in ambush in a cave near the valley of Khesh. Sheikh Dervīsh Gokultāsh had been in many an action along with me, held the office of Korbegi,² and was distinguished for the strength with which he drew the bow, as well as the sureness of his aim. He had gone up close to the mouth of this den, without suspecting anything, when a Hazāra from within shot him with an arrow under the nipple, and he died the same day. The great body of the Turkomān Hazāras had erected their winter habitations in the valley of Khesh; we now pushed forward to fall upon them.

The valley of Khesh is a particular kind of glen. For about half a kos from its mouth there is a strait, which makes it necessary for the road to pass along the face of the hill. Below this road is a precipice of fifty or sixty gaz perpendicular descent. Higher up than this road runs a pathway, by which one horseman only can pass at a time. Having passed this strait, we proceeded forward the same day till between noonday and afternoon prayers, when, not having come upon the enemy, we halted. A fat shuterlūk¹ belonging to the Hazāras was found, brought in, and killed. We ate part of its flesh roasted, part of it sun-dried.^a I never ate such fine-flavoured camel’s flesh; many could not distinguish it from mutton.

Marching thence next morning, we began to approach the place where the Hazāras had taken up their winter quarters. It was about the end of the first watch,² when a man came from the advance with information, that, in a narrow defile, the Hazāras had fortified and strengthened a ford with branches of trees, and had stopped the advance of our troops who were now engaged with them. On hearing this, we instantly quickened our pace, and when we had advanced a little way, reached the place where the Hazāras had made their stand, and were in hot action. That winter the snow lay very deep, which rendered it dangerous to leave the common road. The banks of the stream, about the ford, were all covered with ice; and it was impossible to pass the river at any place off the road, on account of the ice and snow. The Hazāras had cut down a number of branches of trees, with which they had fortified^b the opposite landing-place. They ranged themselves both on horseback and foot, as well in the channel as along the banks of the river, and maintained the fight by discharges of arrows. Muhammed Ali Mubashar Beg, one of the new Amirs, whom I had distinguished by particular marks of favour, and who was a very brave and able man, and a deserving young officer, had neglected to put on his coat of mail; as he advanced rather near to the place where the road was blocked up by the branches, he was struck by an arrow in the kidneys, and expired on the spot. We had come up hurriedly, and many of us had not taken time to put on our armour. One or two arrows passed whizzing by, and missed us. Ahmed Yūsef Beg, in evident alarm, said every time, ‘You should not have come here unarmed—you must go back. I have observed two or three arrows graze close by your head.’—I replied, ‘Be you bold: as good arrows have many a time passed my head.’ At this very moment, on our right, Kāsim Beg, with his band, discovered a place where the stream could be crossed, and having gained a footing on the opposite side, no sooner pushed on his horse to the charge, than the Hazāras, unable to keep their ground, took to flight. The party that had got in among them, followed them in close pursuit, dismounting and cutting numbers of them down. In reward for his bravery on this occasion, I bestowed Bangash on Kāsim Beg as a provision. Khātim Korbegi also signalized himself on this expedition, on which account I gave him the office of Korbegi, which had been held by Sheikh Derwīsh Gokultāsh. To Kupūk Kuli Baba, for his good conduct, I gave Muhammed Ali Mubashar Beg’s office. Sultan Kuli Chanāk went in pursuit of them, but it was impossible to leave the road on account of the quantity and depth of the snow. I myself accompanied the pursuers; we fell in with the sheep and herds of horses of the Hazāras, near their winter habitations. I collected, for my own share, to the number of four or five hundred sheep, and twenty or twenty-five horses. Sultan Kuli, and two or three other persons^a who were at hand, were joint sharers. I myself went twice on a plundering party. This was one of the times. The other was also [A.D. 1506-
1507.] against these very Turkomān Hazāras, when, on my return from Khorasān, I led a foray against them, and brought off numbers of their horses and sheep. The wives and little children of the Hazāras escaped on foot to the snow-covered hillocks, and there remained. We were rather remiss in following them. The day, too, was far spent; we therefore went and halted at the huts of the Hazāras.

This winter the snow lay very deep. At this place, off the road, it reached up to the horses’ cruppers; the picket¹ appointed for the night-watch round the camp were obliged to remain on horseback till daybreak, in consequence of the depth of the snow.

Next morning we began to move back, and passed the night in the winter huts of the Hazāras, within the valley of Khesh. Marching thence we halted at Jangelik. Yārek Taghāi and some others having lagged a little behind, I directed them to proceed and take the Hazāras who had shot Sheikh Dervīsh. These wretches, infatuated by the blood on their heads,^a still remained in the cave. Our people, on coming up, filled the cave with smoke, took seventy or eighty Hazāras, and passed the greater number under the edge of the sword.

On finishing this inroad against the Hazāras, we moved down the river Bārān, into the vicinity of Ai-tughdi, for the purpose of collecting the revenue of Nijrau. While I remained at Ai-tughdi, Jehāngīr Mirza waited upon me from Ghazni.

At this time, on the 13th of Ramzan, I was attacked with so severe a lumbago, that for forty days I was unable to move, and was obliged to be turned from one side to the other by my people. Among the glens of the valley of Nijrau, that of Bachghān is the chief, and is the principal district in the valley. The headman, Hussain Ghaibi Agha, and his younger brother, were noted for^b their rebellious and contumacious spirit. I dispatched a division against him, under the command of Jehāngīr Mirza, whom I made Kāsim Beg accompany. The detachment went, attacked, and took by storm, a rough stone fort, or sanger, which had been thrown up, and inflicted on part of them the punishment they deserved. In consequence of the pain I suffered from my lumbago, they made a sort of litter, in which I was conveyed from the banks of the Bārān to the city, where I was lodged in the Bostān-serāi, and spent there some part of that winter. My first complaint was not removed, when I was seized with boils on my right cheek, which I got lanced. I also used laxatives for this disorder.

On getting better I moved into the Chārbāgh. Jehāngīr Mirza came thither to pay his respects to me. Yūsef and Bahlol, the sons of Ayūb, from the time they had joined the Mirza, had been instigating him to seditious and treasonable practices. I did not on this occasion find Jehāngīr Mirza what he had formerly been. In the course of a few days he set out from his quarters, put on his mail, and went off hastily for Ghazni. Having taken Kila Bāki,^a and killed several of the men in it, he completely plundered the place. He then pushed on, accompanied by all his retainers of every description, and directed his route through the midst of the Hazāras towards Bāmiān.¹ Almighty God knows that neither from me, nor any person dependent on me, did he receive any provocation by word or deed to occasion such violent measures. I afterwards learned that he assigned the following cause for his flight. At the time when Causes
of it. Jehāngīr Mirza came from Ghazni, and Kāsim Beg and the rest of the Begs went out to meet him, the Mirza had thrown off a falcon at a budīneh, or quail. When the falcon had overtaken it, and was in the act of seizing it in his pounces, the quail dashed itself on the ground. There was a cry, ‘Has he taken it or not?’ Kāsim Beg observed, ‘When he has reduced his enemy to such a plight, he will not let him off. No doubt, he will take him.’ This expression struck him, was misinterpreted, and was subsequently one of the causes of the Mirza’s elopement. They also noted and treasured up one or two expressions still more idle and unmeaning than even this. In a word, having acted at Ghazni in the manner that has been mentioned, they passed through the midst of the Hazāras, and repaired to the Aimāks.² At that time the Aimāks had left Nāsir Mirza, but were in a state of hostilities with the Uzbeks, and lived in Yāi, Asterāb, and the summer habitations in that quarter.

At this very juncture Sultan Hussain Mirza having come SultanHus
sain Mirza
resolves to
oppose
Sheibāni
Khan. to a determined resolution to check the progress of Muhammed Sheibāni Khan, summoned all his sons to attend him. He also sent Syed Afzal, the son of Syed Sultan Ali Summons
Bābur. Khāb-bīn (the dreamer), to summon me. It appeared to me expedient to march towards Khorasān on many accounts. One of these was, that when a mighty prince like Sultan Hussain Mirza, who filled the throne of Taimūr Beg, had collected his sons and Amirs from every quarter, with the intention of attacking so formidable an enemy as Sheibāni Khān, if others went on their feet, it became me to accompany them were it on my head; if others went against him with sticks, it was my business to go were it only with stones. Another consideration was, that Jehāngīr Mirza having shown his hostility, it became necessary either to remove his animosity, or to repel his aggressions.

This year Sheibāni Khan besieged Hussain Sūfi¹ in Khwārizm, which he took after a siege of ten months. In the course of this siege a number of desperate actions were fought, and the men of Khwārizm displayed many deeds of consummate bravery, and distinguished themselves by their gallant exertions; they discharged their arrows with so much force that often they pierced through both shield and mail, and frequently right through the double cuirass. For ten months was the siege protracted; when, there being no hope of succour from any quarter, some mean and dastardly wretches among the inhabitants,^a having lost heart, entered into an understanding with the Uzbeks, and introduced them into the fortress. Hussain Sūfi, on hearing the alarm, repaired to the spot, charged those who had scaled the walls, and while in the act of driving them out, was struck with an arrow, and died.^b This put an end to the contest, and the place was taken. The blessing of God rest on Hussain Sūfi, who never hesitated for a moment, in the midst of danger and distress, gallantly to expose his life at the call of duty.

Sheibāni Khan having committed Khwārizm to the care of Kūchek Bī,¹ himself repaired to Samarkand.

In the latter part of this year, in the month of Zilhijeh,² Sultan Hussain Mirza, when he had collected an army for the purpose of acting against Sheibāni Khan, and had advanced as far as Baba Ilāhi, was called to the mercy of God.

He was born in the year 842 at Heri, in the time of Shahrokh Mirza. Sultan Hussain was the son of Mansūr, the son of Baikara, the son of Omer-Sheikh, the son of Amīr Taimūr. Mansūr Mirza and Baikara Mirza never mounted the throne. His mother was Firōzeh Begum, a grand-daughter of Taimūr Beg. Sultan Hussain Mirza was also the grandson of Mirānshah.³ He was of exalted birth, and of royal race by both parents. There were born of that marriage, two brothers and two sisters of the full blood, Baikara Mirza, Sultan Hussain Mirza, Aka Begum, and another sister, whom Ahmed Khan married. Baikara Mirza, though elder than Sultan Hussain Mirza, served under him, but did not attend in the Diwān.^a Except when in the Diwān, they were accustomed to sit on the same cushion. The younger brother bestowed on him the government of Balkh, which he held many years. He had three sons, Sultan Muhammed Mirza, Sultan Weis Mirza, and Sultan Iskander Mirza. Aka Begum was the Mirza’s elder sister; she married Sultan Ahmed Mirza, the grandson of Mirānshah. She had one son named Kūchek Mirza, who at first entered into the service of his maternal uncle; but afterwards, renouncing the military life, devoted himself to letters. He is said to have become very learned, and had a genius for poetry. The following is one of his rubāis (quatrains):

There is a coincidence between these lines and a quatrain of the Mulla (Jāmi’s). Latterly^a he went on the pilgrimage of Mekka. Badkeh Begum was the Mirza’s younger¹ sister. She was given in marriage to Ahmed Khan, the Khan of Hāji-tarkhān.^b2 She had two sons by him, who came to Heri, and were long in the Mirza’s service.

He had straight narrow eyes, his body was robust and firm;³ from the waist downwards he was of a slenderer make. Although he was advanced in years and had a white beard, he dressed in gay-coloured red and green woollen^c clothes. He usually wore a cap of black lamb’s skin, or a kilpāk.⁴ Now and then, on festival days, he put on a small turban tied in three folds, broad and showy,^d and having placed a plume nodding over it, went in this style to prayers.

On first mounting the throne, he took it into his head that he would cause the names of the twelve Imāms⁵ to be recited in the khutbeh. Many used their endeavours to prevent him.^e Finally, however, he directed and arranged everything according to the orthodox Sunni faith. From a disorder in his joints, he was unable to perform⁶ his prayers, nor could he observe the stated fasts. He was a lively, pleasant man. His temper was rather hasty, and his language took after his temper. In many instances he displayed a profound reverence for the faith;^f on one occasion, one of his sons having slain a man, he delivered him up to the avengers of blood to be carried before the judgement-seat of the Kazi. For about six or seven years after he first ascended the throne, he was very guarded in abstaining from such things as were forbidden by the law; afterwards he became addicted to drinking wine. During nearly forty years that he was King of Khorasān, not a day passed in which he did not drink after midday prayers; but he never drank wine in the morning. His sons, the whole of the soldiery, and the townspeople, followed his example in this respect, and seemed to vie with each other in debauchery and lasciviousness. He was a brave and valiant man. He often engaged sword in hand in fight, nay, frequently distinguished his prowess hand to hand several times in the course of the same fight. No person of the race of Taimūr Beg ever equalled Sultan Hussain Mirza in the use of the scimitar. He had a turn for poetry, and composed a diwān. He wrote in Tūrki. His poetical name was Hussaini. Many of his verses are far from being bad, but the whole of the Mirza’s diwān is in the same measure. Although a prince of dignity, both as to years and extent of territory, he was as fond as a child of keeping butting rams, and of amusing himself with flying pigeons and cock-fighting.

One of his exploits was on the banks of the river of Kurkān,¹ when he plunged into the stream, passed it, and completely routed a party of Uzbeks. Another was, when Sultan Abūsaīd Mirza nominated Muhammed Ali Bakhshi to the command of three thousand horse, with instructions to proceed without halt, and attack him by surprise. Sultan Hussain Mirza advanced to meet them with only sixty men, fell upon them straightway, and fairly discomfited them.² This was a gallant and most distinguished achievement of Sultan Hussain Mirza. On another occasion he had a battle with Sultan Mahmūd Mirza at Asterābād, and defeated him.³ He had also another fight at Asterābād, when he beat Hussain Turkomān Saadlīmek.⁴ Another of his battles was after mounting the throne, when he engaged and routed Yādgār Muhammed Mirza in Khabārān.¹ Another of his exploits was when, passing the bridge of the Murghāb,² he proceeded by forced marches, and surprised and took prisoner Yādgār Muhammed Mirza, who was lying in a state of intoxication in the Bāgh-Zāghān (or Raven Garden),³ after a debauch, and by this success gained the undisturbed possession of Khorasān.⁴ Another of them was at Chekmān,⁵ in the vicinity of Andekhūd and Shaberghān,⁶ where he encountered and defeated Sultan Mahmūd Mirza. Another of them was, when Ababeker Mirza came from Irāk, accompanied by the Turkomāns of the Black-sheep, defeated Ulugh Beg Mirza in Takāneh and Khimār, and took Kābul, which he abandoned in consequence of the confusions in Irāk, passed by way of Kheiber, traversed the territory of Khushāb and Multān, and entered Sīvī, from whence he proceeded and occupied Karmān; but being unable to retain it, he again entered the country of Khorasān, when Sultan Hussain Mirza came upon him by surprise, and took him prisoner.⁷ On another occasion, at the bridge of Chirāgh, he defeated Badīa-ez-zemān Mirza, one of his own sons.^a8 At another time he raised an army, with which he besieged Kunduz, but was forced to abandon the siege; on another occasion he besieged Hissār, but not succeeding, he raised the siege.¹ Another of his enterprises was when he marched against Zūlnūn Beg’s country; the Dārogha of Bast surrendered the place,² but he could effect nothing further, and was obliged even to abandon Bast and retreat.³ Sultan Hussain Mirza, though a great and warlike prince, accomplished nothing worthy of his dignity in these two or three enterprises, and returned baffled. At another time, he engaged and defeated in the Auleng-Nīshīn his son Badīa-ez-zemān Mirza, who had advanced, accompanied by Shah Shujā Beg, the son of Zūlnūn Beg.⁴ On this occasion a singular coincidence occurred. Sultan Hussain Mirza, having divided his army, had sent the main body towards Asterābād. On the very day of the battle, the army that had been dispatched against Asterābād returned and joined him: and the very same day, Sultan Masaūd Mirza, from whom Hissār had been wrested by Baiesanghar Mirza, made his appearance from another quarter, and also joined Sultan Hussain Mirza.^a

His kingdom was that of Khorasān, which on the east has Balkh, on the west Bistām⁵ and Damghān, on the north Khwārizm, and on the south Kandahār and Sīstān. After the fine city of Heri fell into his hands, his whole time was devoted, night and day, to revelry and enjoyment; and there was not one of his servants or dependants, who, in like manner, did not give himself up to pleasure and riot. The cares of ambition and the necessary toils of military discipline were consequently neglected. Hence, down to the time of his death, his dominions and servants went on diminishing, without getting any corresponding increase.

He had fourteen sons and eleven daughters who lived. The eldest of his sons was Badīa-ez-zemān Mirza, whose Badīa-ez-
zemān
Mirza. mother was the daughter of Sanjer Mirza of Merv.

Another was Shah Gharīb Mirza. Although his form Gharīb
Mirza was not prepossessing,^a he had a fine genius; and though his constitution was feeble, he had a powerful style. He assumed the poetical name of Gharbi, and composed a diwān. He wrote verses both in Persian and Tūrki. The following is his:

I had a passing glance of a fairy face, and became inflamed to madness with her love; What is her name, where her abode, I know not.

Sultan Hussain Mirza gave Shah Gharīb the government of Heri for some time. He departed in his father’s lifetime, leaving no son nor daughter.

Another was Muzaffer Hussain Mirza, who was the favourite son of Sultan Hussain Mirza, although there was nothing in his manners or conduct to justify such marked favour. In consequence of the decided partiality which he showed to this son, several of the others were induced to revolt. Khadījeh Begum, who had been a concubine of Sultan Abūsaīd Mirza’s, was the mother of the two last-mentioned Mirzas. She had likewise a daughter by the Mirza, named Ak Begum.¹

Another of his sons was Abul Hassan Mirza. Another was Kīpek Mirza,² as he was generally called, but his name was Muhammed Muhsin Mirza. The mother of these two was Latīfeh Sultan Aghācheh.

Another was Abu Tarāb Mirza, who in early life was highly extolled for his rapid acquirements. When his father’s illness increased and became extreme, having heard something to alarm him, he went to Irāk, accompanied by his younger brother, Muhammed Hussain Mirza. He there renounced the profession of arms, and betook himself to that of a dervīsh. I never heard of him afterwards. He had one son, Sohrāb Mirza, who was in my service when [A.D. 1511.] I defeated Hamzeh Sultan, Mahdi Sultan, and the other Sultans, and took Hissār. This young man was blind of one eye. He was singularly ill-favoured, and his manners corresponded with his looks. Having been guilty of something extremely reprehensible, he found it impossible to remain in my employment, and repaired to Asterābād, where Najem Sāni inflicted on him condign punishment for his misdeeds.

Another son was Muhammed Hussain Mirza. He and Shah Ismāel¹ were once imprisoned in the same place in Irāk, at which time he became one of Shah Ismāel’s disciples, and from that period was a rank heretic.² Although his father, his elder brother, and his younger brothers were all orthodox Sunnis, he continued a blind and confirmed rāfizi (heretic) till his death in Asterābād. His character stood high as a brave and courageous warrior; but I never heard any of his exploits that deserve to be recorded. He had a genius for poetry; the following is his:

Another was Ferīdūn Hussain Mirza. He was a powerful archer, and an excellent marksman. They say that his gūrdehieh (or double-stringed³ bow) required forty mans⁴ weight to make the ears meet.⁵ He was himself a man of bravery, but not fortunate in battle. He was beaten wherever he engaged. At Rabāt-e-dodez, Ferīdūn Hussain Mirza, and his younger brother Ibn Hussain Mirza, engaged Taimūr Sultan and Ubeid Sultan, and were defeated. On that occasion, Ferīdūn Hussain Mirza distinguished himself by his strenuous exertions. At Damghān, Ferīdūn Hussain Mirza and Muhammed Zemān Mirza¹ fell into the hands of Sheibāni Khan. He killed neither of them, but set them at liberty. Afterwards, when Shah Muhammed Diwāneh fortified Kalāt² for a siege, he repaired thither; and when the Uzbeks took Kalāt, was made prisoner, and put to death. These three last-mentioned princes were all by Mingeli-bī Aghācheh, an Uzbek concubine of the Mirza’s.

Another was Haider, whose mother was Payandeh Sultan Begum, the daughter of Sultan Abūsaīd Mirza. In his father’s lifetime he for some time enjoyed the government of Meshhad and Balkh. At the siege of Hissār, Sultan Hussain Mirza betrothed this son to the daughter of Sultan Mahmūd Mirza by Khanzādeh Begum, concluded a peace, and raised the siege of Hissār. By her he had one daughter, called Shād Begum, who lived to grow up. She latterly came to Kābul, and was given to Ādil Sultan. Haider Mirza also departed this life before his father.

Another was Muhammed Maasūm Mirza, to whom Kandahār was given by his father, Sultan Hussain Mirza. On that occasion a daughter of Ulugh Beg Mirza was betrothed to this son. After she was brought to Heri he made a grand festival, and erected a magnificent pavilion³ for the occasion. Though he bestowed Kandahār on this prince, yet everything that was done, be it black or be it white, was done by Shah Beg Arghūn;⁴ the Mirza had neither power nor influence in the matter; for which reason he would not continue at Kandahār, but returned to Khorasān, where he died in his father’s lifetime.

Another was Farrukh Hussain Mirza, who did not reach any great age, and did not survive his younger brother Ibrahīm Hussain Mirza.

Another was Ibrahīm Hussain Mirza, whose talents were thought respectable. He was eternally drinking the wine of Heri to excess, and died of hard drinking in his father’s lifetime.

Another was Ibn Hussain Mirza, who, with Muhammed Kāsim Mirza, will be mentioned in the sequel. The mother of these five Mirzas was Pāpa Aghācheh, who was a concubine.

His eldest daughter was Sultānim Begum, who had no brother or sister of the full blood. Her mother, Jūli Begum, was the daughter of one of the Begs of the Azāks. Sultānim Begum was very eloquent and ingenious,^a but her remarks in conversation were frequently rude and ill-timed.^b Her elder brother¹ gave her in marriage to Sultan Weis Mirza, the son of Miāngi Baikara Mirza, by whom she had one son and one daughter. This daughter was given to Īsān Kuli Sultan, the younger brother of Dilbars^c Sultan, one of the Shābān Sultans. Sultan Muhammed Mirza, on whom I have conferred the government of Kanauj,² is the son of this marriage. Sultānim Begum set out along with her grandson for Hindustān, but expired at Nilāb on the journey. Her attendants returned back with her remains, while her grandson continued his route and joined me.

Again, by Payandeh Sultan Begum, Sultan Hussain Ak Begum. Mirza had four daughters. The eldest of them was Ak Begum, who was married to Muhammed Kāsim Arlat, the grandson of Begah Begum, Bābur Mirza’s³ younger sister. By him she had one daughter named Karagūz Begum (the black-eyed princess), who was married to Nāsir Mirza. Kīchek
Begum. The second of the daughters was Kīchek Begum. Sultan Masaūd Mirza was extremely attached to her, but whatever efforts he made, Payandeh Sultan Begum, having an aversion to him, would not consent to the match. She was afterwards married to Mulla Khwājeh, who was of the family of Syed Begah Be-
gum, and
Agha Be-
gum. Āta. The third sister, Begah Begum, and the fourth, Agha Begum, were given to Bābur Mirza,¹ and Sultan Murād Mirza, the sons of his younger sister Rabīah Sultan Begum.

By Mangeli-bī Aghācheh he had two daughters; the elder was given to Syed Abdallah Mirza, who was descended of the Syeds of Andekhūd, and the grandson, by a daughter, of Baikara Mirza. She had one son named Syed Barkeh. When I took Samarkand, he came and entered my service. He afterwards went to Urganj,² and aspired to the sovereignty. The Kizelbashes³ slew him in Asterābād. Fātimeh
Sultan. The name of the other daughter was Fātimeh Sultan. She was married to Yādgār Muhammed Mirza, who was of the line of Taimūr Beg.

By Pāpa Aghācheh he had three daughters. The eldest Sultan
Nizhād
Begum. was Sultan Nizhād Begum. Sultan Hussain Mirza gave her in marriage to Sikander Mirza, the younger son of his Begum
Sultan. elder brother. The second daughter was Begum Sultan, who was bestowed on Sultan Masaūd Mirza, after the loss of his eyesight. By him she had one son and one daughter. The daughter was taken charge of, and brought up by Apāk Begum, one of Sultan Hussain Mirza’s ladies. She came to Kābul from Heri, and Apāk married her to Syed Mirza.^a After the Uzbeks had put to death Masaūd Sultan, Begum Sultan set out with her son, for Mekka. I have received information that she and her son are now in Mekka. The third daughter was married to one of the Syeds of Andekhūd, well known under the name of Syed Mirza.

He had one other daughter, called Aisha Sultan, by a concubine. Her mother was Zobeideh Aghācheh, the grand-daughter of Hussain Sheikh Taimūr, of the race of the Shābān Sultans.^a This daughter was given in marriage to Kāsim Sultan. By him she had one son, Kāsim Hussain, who came to Hindustān, entered into my service, and was in the holy war against Rāna Sanka. I gave him the government of Budāūn.¹ After Kāsim Sultan, she married Burān Sultan, one of his relations, by whom she had another son named Abdallah Sultan, who is at present in my service, and although young, acquits himself very respectably.

The first wife whom he married was Begah Sultan Begum, the daughter of Sanjer Mirza of Merv. By her he had Badīa-ez-zemān Mirza. She was extremely cross-tempered, and fretted Sultan Hussain Mirza beyond endurance, till the Mirza, driven to extremities by her insufferable humour, divorced her. What could he do? The Mirza was in the right;

(Persian)—

A bad wife in a good man’s house, Even in this world, makes a hell on earth.2

May the Almighty remove such a visitation from every good Moslem; and God grant that such a thing as an ill-tempered, cross-grained wife, be not left in the world!

Another of his wives was Jūli Begum, the daughter of one of the chiefs of the Azāks, by whom he had Sultānim Begum.

Another was Shaher-bānu Begum, the daughter of Sultan Abūsaīd Mirza, whom he married after he ascended the throne. At the battle of Chikmān, when all the Mirza’s ladies descended from their litters and mounted on horseback, this princess, relying on her younger brother,³ did not leave her litter nor take to horse. This was reported to the Mirza, who thereupon divorced her, and married her youngest sister, Payandeh Sultan Begum. After the Uzbeks Payandeh
Sultan Be-
gum. took Khorasān, Payandeh Sultan Begum went to Irāk, where she died in distress.

Another was Khadījeh Begum, who had been a concubine of Sultan Abūsaīd Mirza, and borne him one daughter, who was named Ak Begum (or the Fair Lady). After the defeat of Sultan Abūsaīd Mirza in Irāk, this lady came to Heri, where Sultan Hussain Mirza took her, and being passionately fond of her, raised her from the rank of concubine to that of Begum. She finally managed him entirely according to her will and pleasure. It was by her intrigues that Muhammed Mūmin Mirza¹ was put to death. She was the chief cause of the rebellions of Sultan Hussain Mirza’s sons. She regarded herself as a personage of profound sense, but was in truth a foolish, talkative woman. She was, besides, heretical in her religious opinions. She had two sons, Shah Gharīb Mirza and Muzaffer Hussain Mirza.

Another of his wives was Apāk Begum, by whom he had neither son nor daughter. Pāpa Aghācheh, who was so much attached to her,^a was her foster sister; having no children herself, she brought up the sons of Pāpa Aghācheh as her own. She attended the Mirza with very tender care during his illnesses; indeed, no lady of his family equalled her in dutiful attentions. The year that I came to Hindustān² she arrived from Heri. I showed her all the respect and kindness in my power. While I was besieging Chanderi,³ I learned that, at Kābul, she had departed to the mercy of God.

Of Sultan Hussain Mirza’s concubines, one was Latīf Sultan,^b by whom he had Abul Hassan Mirza, and Kīpek Mirza.

Another of them was Mangeli-bī Aghācheh, who was an Uzbek, and one of Shaher-bānu Begum’s people. She was the mother of Abu Tarāb Mirza, of Muhammed Hussain Mirza, and of Ferīdūn Mirza. She had also two daughters.

Another of them was Pāpa Aghācheh, the foster-sister of Apāk Begum. The Mirza having seen and liked her, took her; and she was the mother of five sons and four daughters, as has been mentioned.¹

Another was Begi Sultan Aghācheh, by whom he had neither son nor daughter.

He had many other concubines and women^a: those whom I have mentioned were the most eminent of his wives and concubines. There was no prince of his time who could be compared to Sultan Hussain Mirza in power, nor any city of Islām like Heri; yet it is remarkable, that of his fourteen sons,² only three were legitimate. The consequences of vice and debauchery manifested their baleful influence on himself, his sons, his tribes, and hordes (Īls and Ulūses). It was one of the judgements which they drew down, that of so large a family, in seven or eight years, not a trace or vestige remained, except only Muhammed Zemān Mirza.³

With regard to his Amirs, one of them was Muhammed Berendūk Birlās, who was descended of Jākū Birlās; his genealogy runs thus: Muhammed Berendūk,⁴ the son of Jehān-shah, the son of Jākū Birlās. He was first a Beg in the service of Bābur Mirza, and was afterwards in high favour with Sultan Abūsaīd Mirza,⁵ who gave Kābul to him and Jehāngīr Birlās, and appointed him governor to his son Ulugh Beg Mirza.⁶ After the death of Sultan Abūsaīd Mirza, Ulugh Beg Mirza formed designs to rid himself of the two Birlās; but they, having discovered his plans, placed him under custody, moved away with their Īls and Ulūses, and marched for Kunduz. On reaching the top of Hindū-kūsh, they sent back the Mirza in the handsomest manner to Kābul; while they themselves proceeded on to Khorasān to Sultan Hussain Mirza, who gave them the most favourable reception. Muhammed Berendūk Beg was a very prudent and wise man, and incomparably the first in distinction at the court of Heri.^a He was extremely fond of his hawks, insomuch, that if he at any time learned that one of his hawks was dead or lost, he used to take the name of one of his sons, and say, ‘Had such a son died, or such an one broken his neck, I would have thought nothing of it in comparison with the death or loss of such a hawk.’

Another of his Amirs was Muzaffer Birlās, who attended him in all his wars. I know not in what manner he contrived to ingratiate himself so much with the Mirza, but that prince loaded him with favours. Such was the Mirza’s familiarity with him, that in his first campaigns they entered into an agreement, that whatsoever country should be conquered, four parts should belong to the Mirza and two to him. A strange agreement! How could it possibly answer for a monarch to adopt a servant as the partner of his sovereignty? Such an agreement could never have answered even with his own brother or son. How could it succeed with one of his Amirs or Captains? After he had mounted the throne he became ashamed of this compact, but to no purpose. This wrong-headed man, singularly distinguished as he had been by the Mirza’s favour, only presumed the more on it, and behaved factiously. The Mirza, not being able to retain him within the limits of his duty, is said finally to have poisoned him. The omniscient God knows with truth what befell him.

Another of them was Ali Sher Beg Nawāi, who was not so much his Amīr as his friend. In their youth they had been schoolfellows, and were extremely intimate. I know not for what offence he was driven from Heri by Sultan Abūsaīd Mirza; but he went to Samarkand, where he remained for several years, and was protected and patronized by Ahmed Hāji Beg. Ali Sher Beg was celebrated for the elegance of his manners; and this elegance and polish were ascribed to the conscious pride of high fortune: but this was not the case; they were natural to him, and he had precisely the same refined manner when he was in Samarkand. Indeed, Ali Sher Beg was an incomparable person. From the time that poetry was first written in the Tūrki language, no man has written so much and so well. He composed six masnevis in verse, five in imitation of the Khamsah¹ (of Nizāmi), and one in imitation of the Mantik-ut-teir² (the Speech of the Birds). This last he called Lissān-ut-teir (the Tongue of the Birds). He also composed four diwāns of ghazels (or odes), entitled, The Singularities of Infancy, The Wonders of Youth, The Marvels of Manhood, and The Benefits of Age.^a3 He likewise composed several other works, which are of a lower class and inferior in merit to these. Of that number is an imitation of the Epistles of Moulāna Abdal Rahmān Jāmi, which he partly wrote and partly collected. The object of it is to enable every person to find in it a letter suited to any business on which he may desire to write.^b He also wrote the Mizān-al-auzān (the Measure of Measures) on Prosody, in which he is very incorrect; for, in describing the measures of twenty-four rubāis (quatrains), he has erred in the measures of four; he has also made some mistakes regarding other poetical measures, as will be evident to any one who has attended to the structure of Persian verse. He besides completed a diwān⁴ in Persian, and in his Persian compositions he assumed the poetical name of Fāni.⁵ Some of his Persian verses are not bad, but the greater part of them are heavy^a and poor. He has also left excellent pieces of music; they are excellent both as to the airs themselves and as to the preludes. There is not upon record in history any man who was a greater patron and protector of men of ingenuity and talent than Ali Sher Beg. Ustād¹ Kuli Muhammed, the celebrated Sheikhi,² and Hussain Ūdī,³ who were so distinguished for their skill in instrumental music, attained their high eminence and celebrity by the instructions and encouragement of Ali Sher Beg. Ustād Behzād and Shah Muzaffer owed the extent of their reputation and fame in painting to his exertions and patronage; and so many were the excellent works which owed their origin to him, that few persons ever effected anything like it. He had no son, nor daughter, nor wife, nor family: he passed through the world single and unencumbered. At first he was keeper of the signet; in the middle part of his life he was invested with the dignity of Beg, and held the government of Asterābād for some time. He afterwards renounced the profession of arms, and would accept of nothing from the Mirza; on the contrary, he annually presented him with a large sum of money as an offering. When Sultan Hussain Mirza returned from the Asterābād campaign, the Beg came out of the city to meet him; between the moment of the Mirza’s saluting him and his rising, he was affected with a sudden stroke, which prevented his getting up, and he was obliged to be carried off. The physicians were unable to render him any assistance,^b and next morning he departed to the mercy of God.⁴ One of his own couplets was highly applicable to his situation:

(Tūrki)—

I perish of a mortal disease, though I know not what it is; In this disease, what remedy can physicians administer?c

Another of Sultan Hussain’s Begs was Wali Beg, who was of the race of Hāji Seifed-dīn Beg. He was one of the Mirza’s principal Begs, but did not long survive that Prince’s accession to the throne.^a

Another of them was Sheikh Hassan Taimūr, who had been in high favour with Bābur Mirza, by whom he was elevated to the rank of Beg.

Another of them was Nuyān Beg. His father was of the Syeds of Termez, and his mother was of the same extraction.^b Sultan Abūsaīd Mirza patronized him greatly, and he was the Beg who stood highest in the confidence of Ahmed Mirza.¹ When he went to Sultan Hussain Mirza, he was received by him with marked favour and promoted. He was a profligate, jolly, drinking, debauched libertine. Hassan Yākūb, from having been in his father’s service, was frequently called Hassan Nuyān.

Another was Jehāngīr Birlās, who was for some time joint governor of Kābul with Muhammed Berendūk. He afterwards went to the court of Sultan Hussain Mirza, and was graciously received. His manners and deportment were remarkable for elegance and politeness.^c He was of a gay lively temper, and a great favourite of Badīa-ez-zemān Mirza. He never forgot that Prince’s attachment to him, and always spoke of him in terms of praise.

Another was Mirza Ahmed Ali Fārsi.^d

Another was Abdal Khālik Beg, whose grandfather, Abdal Khā-
lik Beg. Firoz-Shāh Beg, having received high marks of favour from Shahrokh Mirza, this nobleman was from him called Abdal Khālik Firoz-Shāhi. He held the government of Khwārizm for some time.

Another of them was Ibrahīm Duldāi, who was profoundly skilled in the revenue accounts, and in the course of public business. He was a second Muhammed Berendūk.

Another was Zūlnūn Arghūn, a brave man. He distinguished himself above all the other young warriors, in the presence of Sultan Abūsaīd Mirza, by his use of the scimitar, and afterwards, on every occasion on which he went into action, he acquitted himself with distinction. His courage is unimpeached, but certainly he was rather deficient in understanding. He left the service of our Mirzas, and took himself to Sultan Hussain Mirza, who conferred on him the government of Ghūr and the Nukderi country. With only seventy or eighty followers, he performed several very gallant exploits in that quarter. With but a handful of men he bravely vanquished and reduced large and numerous bodies of Hazāras and Nukderis; and these tribes were never so effectually settled and kept in order by any other person. Some time afterwards he also got the Zamīn-dāwer.¹ His son Shah Shujā Arghūn, though a boy, accompanied his father in his expeditions, and sword in hand displayed great valour. Sultan Hussain Mirza, to gratify the father’s feelings, gave Kandahār to be held by the father and son in common. Afterwards, however, this father and son stirred up dissension between their sovereign and his son, and were the cause of dangerous rebellions. In the same year in which I took Khosrou Shah, and separated him from his adherents and retainers, I likewise took Kābul from Mukīm,² the youngest son of Zūlnūn Arghūn; in consequence of which, Zūlnūn and Khosrou Shah, being both reduced to great difficulties, repaired to Sultan Hussain Mirza’s court. After the demise of Sultan Hussain Mirza, Zūlnūn rose to very high rank, and the countries on the Dāmenkoh (skirts of the mountains) of Heri, such as Ubeh and Chakhcherān,³ were given to him. He was Badīa-ez-zemān’s prime adviser, as Muhammed Berendūk Birlās was Muzaffer Mirza’s.^a Though a man of courage, he was ignorant, and somewhat crazed. Had it not been for this craziness and ignorance, he never would have made himself the dupe of such gross flattery, and exposed himself to scorn in consequence. The story is this: When he was prime minister, and in the chief confidence at Heri, several Sheikhs and Mullas came and told him that they had had an intercourse with the spheres, and that the title of Hizaber-ullah (the Lion of God) had been conferred on him; that he was predestined to defeat the Uzbeks, and make them all prisoners. He, implicitly believing all this flattery, tied a kerchief round his neck, and returned thanks to God. When Sheibāni Khan fell upon the Mirzas in the territory of Badghīs, prevented their junction and discomfited them, Zūlnūn was in Kara Rabāt with a hundred or a hundred and fifty men, and relying on this prediction, boldly kept his ground, and made head against Sheibāni Khan. No sooner had Sheibāni’s numerous troops come up, than this small body was surrounded and taken on the spot. Zūlnūn was made prisoner and put to death. He was a pious and orthodox believer, never neglected saying the appointed prayers, and frequently repeated the supererogatory ones. He was madly fond of chess; if a person played at it with one hand, he played at it with his two hands.¹ He played without art, just as his fancy suggested. He was the slave of avarice and meanness.

Another of the nobles was Derwīsh Ali Beg, who was the younger brother of the full blood of Ali Sher Beg, and for some time held the government of Balkh, which he managed creditably. He was, however, a muddle-brained, wrong-headed, dull man. Sultan Hussain Mirza, when he first advanced against Kunduz and Hissār, was baffled through his stupidity, and forced to retreat; on which account he was dismissed from his government of Balkh. In the year 1510. 916, when I went to Kunduz, he joined me. He was a buffoon, and a silly fellow, as unfit for the exercise of dignified authority, as incapable of the virtues of social life. The favour which he experienced was entirely on account of his brother Ali Sher Beg.

Another of them was Moghul Beg, who for some time possessed the government of Heri, and afterwards got that of Asterābād. From Asterābād he fled to Irāk to Yākūb Beg. He was of a low turn, and eternally gambling with dice.

Another was Syed Bader, who was a man of great strength,^a and of very sweet manners. He was highly skilled in the elegant arts, and danced singularly well, exhibiting dances of the most uncommon sort, of which he was generally himself the inventor.^b He was always in the Mirza’s immediate service, was his boon companion, and his comrade in his drinking-bouts.^c

Another was Sultan Juneid Birlās, who latterly went into the service of Sultan Ahmed Mirza. This is the Sultan Juneid Birlās whose father is at present associated with him in the government of Jaunpūr.

Another was Sheikh Abūsaīd Khan Dar-mian (in the midst). I do not know whether it was from having brought the Mirza a horse in the middle of a fight, or from warding off the blow of an enemy by interposing between him and the Mirza, that he gained this appellation.

Another was Behbūd Beg, who at first served in the band of young soldiers.^d As he did good service in the Mirza’s expeditions, in reward of it, his name was inscribed on the tamgha and sikka.¹

Another was Sheikhim Beg. As he bore the poetical name of Suheili, he was generally called Sheikhim Suheili.¹ He composed a sort of verse, in which both the words and sense are terrific, and corresponding with each other. The following is one of his couplets:

During my sorrows of the night, the whirlpool of my sighs bears the firmament from its place;
The dragons of the inundation of my tears bear down the four quarters of the habitable world.

It is well known that, on one occasion, having repeated these verses to Moulāna Abdal Rahmān Jāmi, the Mulla said, ‘Are you repeating poetry, or terrifying folks?’ He composed a diwān, and was likewise the author of various masnevis.

Another was Muhammed Wali Beg, the son of the Wali Beg who has been mentioned. He latterly became a great Beg in the Mirza’s court; but notwithstanding his high rank, he never abated of his service, but day and night was constantly at court; insomuch that he even paid his allowances to his retainers, and made his distributions of food, at the palace. One who pays such assiduous court is sure to meet with corresponding favour. It is a heavy calamity nowadays, when one who gets the name of Mīr invites and calls in to him five or six scabbed, blind fellows, to create trouble and confusion in the palace.^a But where is the other kind of service to be found? The present practice of the Begs only serves to evince their want of liberality. The food and distributions of victuals made by Muhammed Wali Beg, on the contrary, were always respectable. He kept his servants in a good style, and in handsome attire. He bestowed much with his own hand on the poor, and on mendicants. He was, however, a foulmouthed, bad-tongued man. When I took Samarkand in A. D. 1511. the year 917, Muhammed Wali Beg, and Derwīsh Ali Kitābdār (the librarian), were with me. At that time he had been struck with a palsy, and had no remains of anything agreeable either in his language or manners. He did not seem equal to the favours that had been shown him; and probably the assiduity of his service had assisted in elevating him to his high rank.

Another of Sultan Hussain Mirza’s nobles was Bāba Ali, the Ishek-Agha (or Master of Ceremonies). He was at first in the service of Ali Sher Beg, but afterwards, on account of his bravery, he was taken into the Mirza’s service, and appointed Ishek-Agha. He attained the rank of Beg. Yunis Ali, who is now a Beg with me, and in my intimate confidence, and hereafter will be mentioned, is a son of his.

Another was Badereddīn, who first served with Mīrek Abdalrahīm, the Sadder (or Justiciary) of Sultan Abūsaīd Mirza. He was a very alert and nimble man; it is said that he could leap over seven horses at once. He and Bāba Ali were intimate friends.

Another was Hassan Ali Jalāir. His proper name was Hussain Ali Jalāir; but he was generally called Hassan Ali. His father, Ali Jalāir, was in the service of Bābur Mirza, by whom he was raised to the rank of Beg. Afterwards when Yādgār Muhammed Mirza took Heri, there was no man in higher estimation in his service than Ali Jalāir. Hassan Ali Jalāir was grand Falconer¹ to Sultan Hussain Mirza. He was a poet, and assumed the poetical name of Tufeili. He wrote many beautiful kasīdehs, and was the most eminent of his age in that species of composition. When I took Samarkand, in the year 917, he joined me, A. D. 1511. and was in my service five or six years. He addressed to me some very fine kasīdehs; he was an extravagant, shameless man, and kept catamites; he was everlastingly playing at draughts, or at dice.

Another was Khwājeh Abdallah Marwārīd, who was at first Sadder²; but afterwards entered the service, and becoming a retainer and courtier, was raised to the dignity of Beg. He was a man full of accomplishments; and no person could match him in playing on the kānūn (or dulcimer). The mode of shaking on this instrument is his invention. He excelled in writing the various hands, and in particular wrote the taalīk character in a very beautiful and superior manner. He was well versed in the epistolary style of composition.¹ He was a very pleasant companion, and was also a poet. He assumed the poetical name of Bayāni, but his poetry fell far below his other merits, though he was an excellent critic in poetry. He was profligate and debauched. From excess of sensual indulgence, he was attacked with boils all over his body, and lost the use of his hands and feet. After enduring various and exquisite pain and torture for several years, he was finally carried off by this disease.

Another was Muhammed Syed Urūs. His father was Urūs Arghūn, who, when Sultan Abūsaīd Mirza seized the throne, was a Beg of the first rank, and his prime adviser. At that time many brave young men signalized their courage. One of the most eminent of them was this Muhammed Syed Urūs. His bow was strong, and his arrow long, and its range was far, and its aim sure. He for some time held the government of Andekhūd.

Mīr Ali, the Mīr Akhūr (or Master of the Horse), was another. This was the man who sent a person to Sultan Hussain Mirza, and brought him to fall upon Yādgār Muhammed Mirza, when off his guard, and defenceless.

Another was Syed Hussain Ughlākchi, the son of Syed Syed Hus-
sain Ugh-
lākchi.
[A.D. 1511.] Ughlākchi, and elder^a brother of Syed Yūsef Beg. He had a son named Mirza Farrukh, a man of great acquirements and talents, who joined me when I took Samarkand in 917. He was a poet, and though he wrote little, he wrote that little well. He was well acquainted with the use of the astrolabe, and the science of astronomy. He was also an agreeable friend and companion. He was rather addicted to wine, and was riotous in his cups. He fell in the battle of Ghajdewān.¹

Another was Tengri Berdi, of the Samānchi tribe. He was an honest, brave man, and an accomplished swordsman. By a well-conducted surprise, he seized and carried off, from the gates of Balkh, Nazar Bahāder Khosrou Shah’s head-man, as has been mentioned.^a

There were, besides, several Turkomān Begs, who had come and joined the Mirza, and had been well received by him. Of the first comers, one was Ali Khan Baiendūr. Ased Beg, and Tahemtan Beg, who were brothers, were also of the number. It was the daughter of this Tahemtan Beg whom Badīa-ez-zemān Mirza married, and had by her Muhammed Zemān Mirza. Another was Ibrahīm Chaghatāi; another Amir Omer-Beg, who was afterwards in Badīa-ez-zemān’s service. He was a brave, plain, honest man. A son of his, named Abul Fateh, came to me from Irāk, and is still with me; he is a lazy, inactive, good-for-nothing fellow. Such a father to have such a son!

Of the later comers, who joined him after Shah Ismāel had conquered Irāk and Azarbāijān, one was Abdal Bāki Mirza. He was of the race of Taimūr Beg, by the Mirān-shāhi branch. From the very first, though of such illustrious extraction, when he came into those countries, he laid aside^b all pretensions to sovereignty, and entered into the service of the kings of the country, by whom he was treated with great favour. The paternal uncle of this Abdal Bāki Mirza, named Taimūr Osmān, was a nobleman of high estimation and consequence with Yākūb Beg. On one occasion, having marched with a large army, it was supposed that he had moved to invade Khorasān. Immediately on Abdal Bāki Mirza’s arrival at court, he met with a gracious reception from Sultan Hussain Mirza, who made him his son-in-law by giving him in marriage Sultānim Begum, who was the mother of Muhammed Sultan Mirza.

Another of the later comers was Murād Beg Bayandūr.

As for the heads of the Sadder,¹ one was Mīr Sar barahneh (the bare-headed Mīr). He was from a village in Andejān. He affected to be a Syed. He was of an amiable disposition, an agreeable companion, and elegant in his conversation. Among the men of letters and poets of Khorasān, his judgement and opinion were reckoned of the greatest weight and a law. He wasted his life in an attempt to rival the story of Amir Hamzeh,² and in composing a far-fetched, long-winded, improbable tale, an employment altogether absurd, and quite unworthy of his genius.^a

Another of them was Kamāled-dīn Hussain Gāzergāhi, who, though not a Sūfi, affected Sūfi principles. Many who affected these Sūfi principles gathered about Sher Ali Beg, pretended to raptures and ecstasies, and studied the doctrines of the sect. Of all these this man had made the greatest progress in these mystical fancies,^b which probably was the reason of the distinctions that he had received, as he showed no ability in anything else. He composed one work, the Majālis-ul-ushāk (the Assembly of Lovers), which he ascribes to Sultan Hussain Mirza. It is very dull, full of fiction, and of tasteless fiction, and contains passages so profane, that they subjected him to the imputation of infidelity. He has, for example, represented some of the prophets, and many saints, as engaged in amours, and has provided each of them with a lover and a friend. It was certainly a strangely absurd thing, after, in the preface, ascribing the work to Sultan Hussain Mirza as its author, in the body of the work to introduce odes and pieces of poetry known to be written by Kamāled-dīn Hussain, by saying that ‘they are by the writer of this work’. It was in consequence of the flattery of this same Kamāled-dīn Hussain that Zūlnūn Arghūn got the name of Hizaber-ullah (the Lion of God).

Of the Wazīrs of Sultan Hussain Mirza, one was Majd-ed-dīn Muhammed, the son of Khwājeh Pir Ahmed Khawāfi, who was the chief counsellor in the Diwān¹ of Shahrokh Mirza. Before his time, Sultan Hussain Mirza’s Diwān was conducted without regularity or method, and the greatest disorder and waste prevailed. The subjects suffered from exactions, and the soldiers were not satisfied. At the time when Majd-ed-dīn Muhammed held the office of Parwānchi² (or issuer of the royal firmāns), he went by the name of Mīrek; the Mirza happened on one occasion to want a little money, and sent for the officers of the Diwān, who told him that there was none, and that none could be got. Majd-ed-dīn, who was present, smiled; the Mirza asked him the reason, and retired with him; when Majd-ed-dīn told him his whole mind, and added, ‘If your majesty will make an agreement with me, by consenting to give me full power, and not to deviate from my plans, I will undertake, in a very short time, to make the subjects comfortable, the army satisfied, and the treasury full.’ The Mirza entered into the agreement with great willingness, placed the whole revenues of Khorasān entirely under his management, and gave him the unlimited direction of everything. Majd-ed-dīn, on his part, spared no pains nor labour, exerted his utmost ability, and in a short time made both the peasantry and soldiery contented and happy, while he, at the same time, replenished the treasury, and rendered the country flourishing and populous. He, however, conducted himself with envious hostility towards^a Ali Sher Beg, and the Amirs who were in his interest, as well as towards all men who were in office; on which account all of them were ill disposed towards him, and their endeavours to ruin him finally effected his overthrow, and got him dismissed, when Nizām-ul-mulk was made Diwān in his place. In a short time, Nizām-ul-mulk was in his turn seized and put to death, when Khwājeh Afzal was brought from Irāk and appointed Diwān. At the time when I came to Kābul, Khwājeh Afzal had been made a Beg, and held the seal of the Diwān.

Another was Khwājeh Atā,¹ who although he was not, like those who have been mentioned, of the first rank nor Diwān, yet, in the whole extent of the Khorasān dominions, nothing was done without his advice. He was a man of piety, strictly observant of the accustomed prayers, and devoted to religious exercises. He was, besides, diligent in business. Such were the principal advisers and ministers of Sultan Hussain Mirza.

The age of Sultan Hussain Mirza was certainly a wonderful age, and Khorasān, particularly the city of Heri, abounded with eminent men of unrivalled acquirements, each of whom made it his aim and ambition to carry to the highest perfection the art to which he devoted himself. Among these Jāmi. was the Moulāna Abdal Rahmān Jāmi,² to whom there was no person of that period who could be compared, whether in respect to profane or sacred science. His poems are well known. The merits of the Mulla are of too exalted a nature to admit of being described by me; but I have been anxious to bring the mention of his name, and an allusion to his excellencies, into these humble pages, for a good omen and a blessing.

Another was the Sheikh-ul-Islām, Seif-ed-dīn Ahmed, who was descended of the stock of Mulla Saad-ed-dīn Taftazāni,¹ which for several generations had occupied the situation of Sheikh-ul-Islām in the kingdom of Khorasān. He was eminent for his knowledge, and particularly versed in the sciences of the Arabs,² and the sciences dependent on theology. He was a man of great piety, and devoted to religion. Though of the sect of Shāfi,³ he cherished persons of every persuasion. It is said, that for nearly seventy years he had never omitted the appointed prayers in the public worship. Shah Ismāel, when he took Heri,⁴ put him to death, and he was the last of his family.

Another was Moulāna Sheikh Hussain. Although he was in his greatest eminence and celebrity in the time of Sultan Abūsaīd Mirza, yet, as he continued to flourish in the reign of Sultan Hussain Mirza, he is mentioned here. He was profoundly skilled in philosophy, logic, rhetoric, and metaphysics. He had the faculty of extracting a great deal of meaning from a very few words, and of commenting with great subtlety on them. In the time of Sultan Abūsaīd Mirza, he enjoyed a high degree of influence and intimacy with that prince, and was consulted on all affairs of national importance. Nobody performed the office of Muhtesib⁵ with more ability. In consequence of the great favour in which he had been with Sultan Abūsaīd Mirza, this incomparable person was but harshly treated in the time of Sultan Hussain Mirza.

Another was the Mulla-zādeh Mulla Osmān, who was from the village of Chirkh, which lies in the Tumān of Lohūger,⁶ one of the Tumāns of Kābul. As, in the time of Ulugh Beg Mirza, when only fourteen years of age, he had commenced giving instructions as a teacher, he was denominated the Mother-born Mulla. When he was on his journey from Samarkand to Mekka, as he was passing through Heri, Sultan Hussain Mirza stopped him by the way, and detained him at his court. He was a man of most extensive knowledge. There was not in that age any one who equalled him in the extent of his acquirements. Many affirmed that he had attained the degree of ijtihād,¹ but he never pretended to it. It was he who said, ‘When a man has heard anything, how can he forget it?’ He had a most retentive memory.

Another was Mīr Jamāleddīn Muhaddis (or the traditionalist), who, in the science of tradition, was unequalled in all the country of Khorasān. He is of a very advanced age, and is still alive at the present date.

Another was Mīr Murtāz, who was well versed in the sciences of practical philosophy and of metaphysics. He received the name of Murtāz (the Ascetic) from the frequency of his fasting. He was madly fond of the game of chess; to such a degree, indeed, that when he met with two persons who understood the game, while he played with one of them, he used to lay hold of the skirts of the other’s clothes to prevent his going away.

Another of them was Mulla Masaūd, who was of Sherwān.

Another was Abdal Ghafūr of Lār, who was both the scholar and disciple of Moulāna Abdal Rahmān Jāmi. He had read many of the Mulla’s works, under his immediate guidance,² and wrote a sort of exposition or commentary on the Nafahāt³ (or Breeze of Affection) of that author. He was extremely versed in the profane sciences, besides having made great proficiency in mystical knowledge. He was a remarkably unassuming and unceremonious man. If any person had but the name of a Mulla, he was never ashamed to take out a section of any work, and enter into discussion with him;^a and if any derwīsh was mentioned to him as being in a particular place, he was never satisfied [A.D. 1506.] till he had sought him out and seen him. When I visited Khorasān, Mulla Abdal Ghafūr was sick; and when I went and circumambulated the Mulla’s shrine (Jāmi’s), I at the same time went and inquired after the health of Mulla Abdal Ghafūr. He was at that time in the Mulla’s¹ college. A few days afterwards he died of the disease of which he was then ill.

Another of them was Mīr Atā-ullah of Meshhad, who was well versed in Arabic literature. He wrote a treatise in Persian, on the kāfiah (rhyme or versification), which is extremely well composed; but has this fault, that all his examples are taken from his own verses, and he introduces each example by saying, ‘as is to be observed in this couplet of mine.’^b He wrote another very excellent work on the kinds and measures of verse, which he called Badāī-us sanāi (the wonders of art). He was not quite orthodox in his religious opinions.

Another was Kazi Ikhtiyār, who executed the duties of Kazi with great propriety. He wrote a treatise, in Persian, on Jurisprudence.² It is an excellent treatise. He formed a collection of passages, for the purpose of elucidating and explaining the texts of the Koran.³ When I met the Mirzas at Murghāb, Kazi Ikhtiyār and Muhammed Mīr Yūsef accompanied them, and they were introduced to me. The conversation turned on the Bāburi character. I sent for the letters, and wrote them,^c and at that same meeting he read the characters, comprehended the rules of writing, and wrote a little.

Another was Muhammed Mīr Yūsef, the scholar of the Sheikh-ul-Islām, and afterwards his successor. In many parties, Kazi Ikhtiyār had the upper place; and in others, Muhammed Mīr Yūsef. He finally was so much carried away and infatuated by his fondness for soldiership and generalship, that, except where these two matters were concerned, one could discover neither learning in his conversation, nor sense in his communications. Although he had neither good fortune nor talents in either of these pursuits, he, in the end, on their account, gave to the wind his wealth, his life, his family, and his reputation.^a1

Of the poets of Sultan Hussain Mirza’s court, the most distinguished and the most eminent by far was Moulāna Jāmi.
Suheili.
Tufeili. Abdal Rahmān Jāmi. Sheikhim Suheili, and Hassan Ali Tufeili Jalāir, whose names and characters have been mentioned in the short account which has been given of Sultan Hussain Mirza’s principal Begs and courtiers, were also distinguished as poets.

Another of the poets was Āsafi,² who was the son of a Wazīr, whence he obtained the poetical name of Āsafi.³ His poems want neither colouring of style nor sentiment, although not possessed of passion or enthusiasm. He had a pride in saying, ‘I have never composed any of my odes with the intention of collecting them.’ This was probably mere affectation. His odes were collected by his friends, and those about him.^a He wrote few poems except odes. When I went to Khorasān, he waited on me.

Another of them was Banāi¹ of Heri, whose father’s name was Ustād Muhammed Sabz Banā, whence he himself derived his poetical name. His odes possess both colouring of style and enthusiasm, and he composed a diwān. He also wrote masnevis, among which there is one on the qualities of fruits, in the mutakārib measure. It is a sorry composition, of no value. Another of them was a short masnevi in the khafīf measure; and another of greater extent, also in the khafīf measure; this last he completed in his latter days. At first he was unacquainted with the science of music, and Ali Sher Beg had taunted him with his ignorance; but, one year, the Mirza having spent a winter at Merv, whither he was accompanied by Ali Sher Beg, Banāi remained behind at Heri, applied himself to the study of music, and made such rapid progress, that, before the summer, he was even able to compose some pieces. In the summer when the Mirza returned to Heri, he sang in his presence, and that to music of his own composition, to the great astonishment of Ali Sher Beg, who complimented him on the occasion. He composed several pieces of music, one of which is denominated the Nuh-rang (or nine measure). The parts of this Nuh-rang, and of the Yaldai Naksh (or Midwinter-Night’s Air), have their modulations in tenor.^b He was a decided rival and opponent of Ali Sher Beg, whence he suffered much trouble and molestation; and finally, being unable to maintain his ground, went to Irāk and Azarbaijān to Yākūb Beg, by whom he was well received, and became his companion in all his parties. After the death of Yākūb Beg,¹ he was obliged to leave those countries, and returned to Heri. He still retained his humour and his spirit of opposition, of which the following, among other instances, is related. One day at a chess-party, Ali Sher Beg happening to stretch out his foot, it touched the hinder parts² of Banāi; on which Ali Sher Beg said, in a joking way, ‘It is a sad nuisance in Heri, that you cannot stretch out your foot without coming in contact with the backside of a poet.’ ‘Nor draw it in again,’ said Banāi, ‘without coming in contact with a poet’s backside.’ At last his sarcasms drove Banāi from Heri, and he went to Samarkand.³ As Ali Sher Beg was the author and patron of many and useful inventions, every man who made any discovery or invention in his art or profession, in order to give it credit or currency, called it the Ali Sheri. Some carried their imitation of him to such an excess, that Ali Sher Beg having tied a handkerchief round his head, on account of an earache, that style of tying a handkerchief came to prevail,^a under the name of the Ali Sheri fashion. When Banāi left Heri for Samarkand, as he was setting out, he ordered rather an uncommon sort of pad for his ass, and called it the Ali Sheri. The Ali Sheri pad became common, and is now well known.

Another was Seifi Bokhāri, who was a tolerable Mulla. He used to point to the numerous volumes he had read, as a proof of his undoubted claim to the title. He composed a diwān. There is another diwān of his which he composed for the use of tradespeople. He wrote many fables, but left no masnevi, as may be gathered from the following verses:

(Persian)—	Although the masnevi be deemed the test of a poet’s orthodoxy,
	I take the ghazel as my creed;
	Five couplets that afford delight,
	I hold better than manya khamsehs.

He left a Persian Prosody,¹ which is very brief in one respect, and prolix in another. It is brief as it has omitted to treat of several useful and difficult subjects; and prolix inasmuch as such subjects as are plain and clear are treated of in their minutest particulars, down to their points and discriminating marks. He was addicted to wine, and troublesome in his cups. He was remarkable for the force with which he could inflict a blow with his fist.

Another was Abdallah Masnevigoi (the masnevi writer), who was of Jām. He was the nephew of the Mulla by his sister. He took the poetical name of Hātifi.² He wrote some masnevis in emulation of the khamsehs. He also composed the Taimūr-nāmeh in rivalry to the Haft-paiker (or seven statues^b). Of his masnevis, the best-known is the Leili-Mejnūn, though its excellence does not equal its reputation.

Another was Mīr Hussain Maamāi (the Enigmatist). None perhaps ever equalled him in his conundrums and riddles. His whole time was spent in devising enigmas. He was a humble, unpretending, and, in his way, incomparable^c man.

Another was Mulla Muhammed Badakhshi, who was from Ishkamish. Ishkamish is not in Badakhshān,³ which makes it odd that he should have taken the poetical name of Badakhshi. His poems are not equal to those of the poets whose names I have mentioned.¹ Though he has written a treatise on enigmas, his enigmas are not particularly good; but he was a pleasant companionable man. He waited on me when I was at Samarkand.

Another was Yūsef Badīaī, who was from the country of Ferghāna, and composed very respectable kasīdehs.²

Another was Āhī,³ who wrote pretty good ghazels.⁴ He latterly went and lived with Ibn Hussain Mirza. He composed a diwān.

Another was Muhammed Sālih.⁵ He wrote sweet ghazels, but their correctness is not equal to their sweetness. He also composed verses in the Tūrki tongue, and good ones. He finally went to the Khan’s court, and was received with every kind of favour. He wrote a Tūrki masnevi, which he addressed to Sheibāni Khan, in the measure of ramal musaddas makhbūn,⁶ which is that of the Sabhat⁷ (of Jāmi). It is very dull and flat. One soon gets tired of reading Muhammed Sālih’s poems.^a One good couplet of his is the following:

Tambal (lubber) has gained the land of Ferghāna;
He converts Ferghāna into a Tambal-Khāneh (lubberland).

The country of Ferghāna is also called Tambal-Khāneh. I am not quite certain, however, that this couplet is to be found in his masnevi. He was wicked, tyrannical, and unfeeling.

Another was Shah Hussain Kāmi. His poems are very fair. He composed ghazels, and also wrote a diwān.

Another was Hilāli,¹ who is still alive. His ghazels are correct and elegant, but leave little impression behind. He also wrote a diwān, and a masnevi entitled Shah-va-derwīsh (the king and the derwīsh), in the khāfīf measure: although many verses in it are excellent, yet the general plan of this poem and its structure are exceptionable and vicious. Former poets who have treated of love stories have made a man the lover and a woman the mistress. Hilāli has made the derwīsh the lover, and the king the object of his passion. The upshot of the verses in which he describes the words and actions of the king is, that he makes the king a catamite and an abandoned creature. So that the moral example afforded by this masnevi of his is that of a young man, a king, acting the part of a prostitute and catamite, which surely is no commendable or decent thing. He had a most retentive memory, and remembered thirty or forty thousand couplets. It is said that his recollection of most of the verses of the different^a khamsehs was of great service to him, in regard to prosody and rhyming.

Another was Āhili,² who could neither write nor read.^b His poems are excellent. He also composed a diwān.

Although there were many beautiful penmen,³ yet the person who excelled all others in the Nastālīk character was Sultan Ali Meshadi.⁴ He copied many books for the Mirza and Ali Sher Beg. He every day copied thirty couplets for the Mirza, and twenty for Ali Sher Beg.

Of the painters or limners, the most eminent was Behzād. He was a very elegant painter, but did not draw young beardless faces well. He made the neck¹ too large. Bearded faces he painted extremely well.

Another was Shah Muzaffer. He took likenesses very beautifully,^a but he did not live long, and died when he was rising to eminence.

Of the musicians, there was none performed on the kānūn² in a style to be compared with Khwājeh Abdallah Marwārīd, as has been observed. Another was Kūl Muhammed Ūdī (the lutanist). He also performed well on the guitar. He added three strings to it. No vocal or instrumental performer ever composed so many and such excellent overtures.³

Another was Sheikhi Nāyi (the flute-player). He also played well on the lute and guitar.⁴ From the age of twelve or thirteen, he played well on the flute.⁵ On one occasion he played an air beautifully before Badia-ez-zemān Mirza on the flute. Kūl Muhammed attempted, but was unable to play it on the guitar. He said, ‘The guitar is an imperfect instrument.’ Sheikhi immediately took the guitar out of Kūl Muhammed’s hand, and played the same air completely and delightfully upon it. They tell of Sheikhi, that he was so accomplished in music, that on hearing any air whatever, he said, ‘Such a tune of such a person resembles this.’^b He did not compose much. They preserve two or three of his airs.⁶

Another was Shah Kuli Ghicheki (the performer on the ghichek or guitar). He was a native of Irāk, who came into Khorasān, and rose to fame by his excellence as a composer.⁷ He composed many tunes, preludes, and airs.⁸

Another was Hussain Ūdī (the lutanist), who played with great taste on the lute, and composed elegantly. He could play, using only one string of his lute at a time. He had the fault of giving himself many airs when desired to play. On one occasion Sheibāni Khan desired him to play. After giving much trouble he played very ill, and besides, did not bring his own instrument, but one that was good for nothing. Sheibāni Khan, on learning how matters stood, directed that, at that very party, he should receive a certain number of blows on the neck. This was one good deed that Sheibāni Khan did in his day; and indeed the affectation of such people deserves even more severe animadversion.

Ghulām Shādi was also a musical composer. He was the son of Shādi the singer. Though a performer, yet he did not play so as to deserve to be ranked with the performers who have been mentioned. He composed sweet airs, and some finished pieces;^a there were few compositions of that day that could be compared to his. At last Sheibāni Khan sent him to Muhammed Amīn Khan Kara Khāni,¹ since which I have not heard of him.

Another was Mīr Azū. He was not a performer, but composed. Though his productions are few, yet they are exquisite of their kind.

Banāi was likewise a composer. He left many excellent nakshes and sūts.²

Another peerless man was Pahlewān³ Muhammed Busaīd. He was unequalled as a wrestler. He was a poet too, and likewise composed various musical sūts and nakshes. He composed one beautiful (air or) naksh in the chārgāh key.⁴ He was an agreeable man in society. The degree of excellence which he reached in athletic exercises was quite wonderful.

When Sultan Hussain Mirza expired, Badīa-ez-zemān Mirza and Muzaffer Hussain Mirza were the only Mirzas at hand. As Muzaffer Hussain Mirza was his favourite son, and as Muhammed Berendūk Birlās, the Amir and minister in chief credit, was that prince’s atkeh (or tutor), and as, besides, his mother Khadījeh Begum had the most influence of all the Mirza’s wives, the greater part of the people who were about the Mirza gathered round Muzaffer Hussain Mirza, and looked up to him as his father’s successor. Badīa-ez-zemān Mirza being alarmed at this, intended not to go to head-quarters. Muzaffer Mirza and Muhammed Beg, however, having mounted and gone to wait upon him, removed all uneasiness from his mind, and prevailed upon the Mirza to accompany them thither. Sultan Hussain Mirza was conveyed in a royal style, and with all due pomp, to Heri, where they interred him in his own college. At this time Zūlnūn Beg was likewise on the spot. Muhammed Berendūk Beg, Zūlnūn Beg, and other Amirs, who had been with Sultan Hussain Mirza, and had accompanied the Mirzas, having now met and consulted together, finally resolved to place Badīa-ez-zemān Mirza, with Muzaffer Hussain Mirza, on the throne of Heri, as joint kings. At the court of Badīa-ez-zemān Mirza, Zūlnūn Beg was prime minister, and Muhammed Berendūk Beg held the same office in the court of Muzaffer Hussain Mirza. On the part of Badīa-ez-zemān Mirza, Sheikh Ali Taghāi was Dārogha of the city; as Yūsef Ali Gokultāsh was on the part of Muzaffer Mirza. This was a strange arrangement. A joint kingship was never before heard of. The well-known words of Sheikh Sādi in the Gulistān are very applicable to it: ‘Ten Derwishes can sleep on one rug; but the same climate of the earth cannot contain two kings.’¹