The Babur-nama in English (Memoirs of Babur)

The Babur-nama in English (Memoirs of Babur)IVIicrosoft Corporation
OF
BY
ANNETTE SUSANNAH BEVERIDGE
Issued in Four Fasciculi:—Farghana 1912—Kabul 1914—Hindustan 1917—Preface, Indices, etc.
1921.
SOLD BY
1922
932 AH.—OCT. 18th 1525 to OCT. 8th 1526 AD.^
{a. Fifth expedition into Hiiidustdn^
{Nov. 17th) On Friday the ist of the month of Safar at the Haidara-
date 932, the Sun being in the Sign of the Archer, we set out ^^Jj 251^,
for Hindustan, crossed the small rise of Yak-langa, and dis-
mounted in the meadow to the west of the water of Dih-i-ya*qiib.^
*Abdu'l-maluk the armourer came into this camp ; he had gone
seven or eight months earlier as my envoy to Sultan Sa'Id Khan (in Kashghar), and now brought one of the Khan's men, styled
YangI Beg (new beg) Kukuldash who conveyed letters, and
' Elph. MS. f. 205/5; W.-i-B. I.O. 215 f. 199/5 omits the year's events on the
;
Kehr's Codex p. 1084.
A considerable amount of reliable textual material for revising the Hindustan section of the English translation of the Bdbur-ndvia is wanting through loss of pages
from the Elphinstone Codex ; in one instance no less than an equivalent of 36 folios
of the Haidarabad Codex are missing (f. 356 et seg.), but to set against this loss there
is the valuable pe)- contra that Kehr's manuscript throughout the section becomes of
substantial value, losing its Persified character and approximating closely to the true
text of the Elphinstone and Haidarabad Codices. Collateral help in revision is given
by the works specified {itt loco p. 428) as serving to. fill the gap existing in Babur's
narrative previous to 932 ah. and this notably by those described by Elliot and Dowson. Of these last, special help in supplementary details is given for 932 AH, and part of 933 AH. by Shaikh Zain S^KhawdJVi?, Tabaqat-i-bahtiri, which is a highly
rhetorical paraphrase of Babur's narrative, requiring familiarity with ornate Persian
to understand. For all my references to it, I am indebted to my husband. It may be mentioned as an interesting circumstance that the B. M. possesses in Or. 1999 a copy of this work which was transcribed in 998 AH. by one of Khwand-amir's grandsons and, judging from its date, presumably for Abu'l-fazl's use in the Akbar-nama.
Like part of the Kabul section, the Hindustan one is in diary-form, but it is still
more heavily surcharged with matter entered at a date later than the diarj'. It departs
from the style of the preceding diary by an occasional lapse into courtly phrase and by exchange of some Turk! words for Arabic and Persian ones, doubtless found
current in Hind, e.g.fauj, dira, ?nanzi/, khail-khdna. ^ This is the Logar affluent of the Baran-water (Kabul-river). Masson describes
this haltingplace (iii, 174).
small presents, and verbal messages ^ from the Khanlms and the
Khan.2
{Nov. i8th to 2ist) After staying two days in that camp for
the convenience of the army,3 we marched on, halted one night,^
and next dismounted at Badam-chashma. There we ate a con-
fection {ina'jun).
{Nov. 22nd) On Wednesday (Safar 6th), when we had dis-
mounted at Barlk-ab, the younger brethren of Nur Beg—he
himself remaining in Hindustan—brought gold ashi^afts and
tankas 5 to the value of 20,000 shdhrukhis, sent from the Labor
revenues by Khwaja Husain. The greater part of these moneys
was despatched by Mulla Ahmad, one of the chief men of Balkh,
for the benefit of Balkh.^
{Nov. 24tk) On Friday the 8th of the month (Safar), after
Foi. 252. dismounting at Gandamak, I had a violent discharge ; 7 by
God's mercy, it passed off easily.
^ muhaqqar saughdt u blldk or ttldk. A small verbal point arises about bildk (or
tllak). Bildk is said by Quatremere to mean a gift (N. et E. xiv, 119 n.) but here muhaqqar satighdt expresses gift. Another meaning can be assigned to blldk here,
[one had also by tildk^ viz. that of word-of-mouth news or communication, sometimes supplementing written communication, possibly secret instructions, possibly small
domestic details. In blldk, a gift, the root may be bll, the act of knowing, in tlldk
it is til, the act of speaking [whence //"/, the tongue, and til tutmdk, to get news].
In the sentence noted, either word would suit for a verbal communication. Returning to blldk as a gift, it may express the nuance of English token, the maker-known of friendship, affection and so-on. This differentiates blldk from saughdt, used in its
frequent sense of ceremonial and diplomatic presents of value and importance. ^ With Sa'ld at this time were two Khanlms Sultan-nigar and Daulat-sultan who
were Babur's maternal-aunts. Erskine suggested Khub-nigar, but she had died in
907 AH. (f. 96).
3 Humayun's non-arrival would be the main cause of delay. Apparently he should
have joined before the Kabul force left that town. The halt would be at But-khak, the last station before the Adinapur road takes
to the hills.
5 Discussing the value of coins mentioned by Babur, Erskine says in his History of India (vol. i, Appendix E. ) which was published in 1854 ad. that he had come to
think his estimates of the value of the coins was set too low in the Memoirs (published
in 1826 AD.). This sum of 20,000 shdhrukhls he put at £\'XiO. Cf. E. Thomas' Pathan Kings of Dihli and Resources of the Mughal Empire.
^ One of Masson's interesting details seems to fit the next stage of Babur's march (iii, 179). It is that after leaving But-khak, the road passes what in the thirties of
the 19th Century, was locally known as Babur Padshah's Stone-heap (cairn) and believed piled in obedience to Babur's order that each man in his army should drop a stone on it in passing. No time for raising such a monument could be fitter than
that of the fifth expedition into Hindustan when a climax of opportunity allowed hope of success.
7 rezdndallk. This Erskine translates, both here and on ff. 253, 254, by defluxion,
but de Courteille by rhume de cerveau. Shaikh Zain supports de Courteille by writing, not rezdndallk^ but nuzla, catarrh. De Courteille, in illustration of his
_ 932 AH.—OCT. 18th 1525 to OCT. 8th 1526 AD. 447
{Nov. 2^th) On Saturday we dismounted in the Bagh-i-wafa.
We delayed there a few days, waiting for Humayun and the
army from that side.^ More than once in this history the bounds
and extent, charm and deHght of that garden have been described ;
it is most beautifully placed ; who sees it with the buyer's eye
will know the sort of place it is. During the short time we
were there, most people drank on drinking-days ^ and took
their morning ; on non-drinking days there were parties for
ma'jun.
I wrote harsh letters to Humayun, lecturing him severely
because of his long delay beyond the time fixed for him to
join me.3
{Dec. 3rd) On Sunday the 17th of Safar, after the morning
had been taken, Humayun arrived. I spoke very severely to
him at once. Khwaja Kalan also arrived to-day, coming up
from Ghazni. We marched in the evening of that same Sunday,
and dismounted in a new garden between Sultanpur and Khwaja
Rustam.
{Dec. 6th) Marching on Wednesday (Safar 20th), we got on
a raft, and, drinking as we went reached Qush-gumbaz,4 there
landed and joined the camp.
reading of the word, quotes Burnes' account of an affection common in the Panj-ab and there called nuzla, which is a running at the nostrils, that wastes the brain and stamina of the body and ends fatally (Travels in Bukhara ed. 1839, ii, 41).
' Tramontana, north of Plindu-kush. ^ Shaikh Zain says that the drinking days were Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday and
Wednesday. 3 The Elph. Codex (f. 208^) contains the following note of Humayun's about his
delay; it has been expunged from the text but is still fairly legible :
—" The time
fixed was after 'Ashura (loth Muharram, a voluntary fast) ; although we arrived after
the next-following loth {''dsht'tr, i.e. of Safar), the delay had been necessary. The purpose of the letters (Babur's) was to get information ; (in reply) it was repre-
sented that the equipment of the army of Badakhshan caused delay. If this slave
(Humajmn), trusting to his [father's] kindness, caused further delay, he has been sorry."
Babur's march from the Bagh-i-wafa was delayed about a month ; Humayun started
late from Badakhshan ; his force may have needed some stay in Kabul for completion of equipment ; his personal share of blame for which he counted on his father's
forgiveness, is likely to have been connected with his mother's presence in Kabul. Humayun's note is quoted in Turk! by one MS. of the Persian text (B.M. W.-i-B.
16,623 f. 128) ; and from certain indications in Muhammad Shtrdzfs lithograph
(P- ^63), appears to be in his archetype the Udaipur Codex ; but it is not with all
MSS. of the Persian text e.g. not with I.O. 217 and 218. A portion of it is in Kehr's MS. (p. 1086).
* Bird's-dome [f. I45(5, n.] or The pair {qUsh) of domes.
448 HINDUSTAN
{^Dec. J til) Starting off the camp at dawn, we ourselves went on
a raft, and there ate confection {rna'jun). Our encamping-ground
was always Qlrlq-ariq, but not a sign or trace of the camp could
Fol. 2^2b. be seen when we got opposite it, nor any appearance of our
horses. Thought I, " Garm-chashma (Hot-spring) is close by ;
they may have dismounted there." So saying, we went on from
Qlrlq-arlq. By the time we reached Garm-chashma, the very
day was late ; ^ we did not stop there, but going on in its
lateness {kichtsi)^ had the raft tied up somewhere, and slept
awhile.
{^Dec. 8th) At day-break we landed at Yada-blr where, as the
day wore on, the army-folks began to come in. The camp must
have been at Qlrlq-arlq, but out of our sight.
There were several verse-makers on the raft, such as Shaikh
Abu'1-wajd,^ Shaikh Zain, Mulla 'All-jan, Tardi Beg Khdksdr
and others. In this company was quoted the following couplet
of Muhammad Salih :—
3
(Persian) With thee, arch coquette, for a sweetheart, what can man do ?
—
(Persian) With one all bewildered as thou, what can man do? , what can man do ? s
' gfin khud kick bulub aldl ; a little joke perhaps at the lateness both of the day and the army.
* Shaikh Zain's maternal -uncle.
3 Shaikh Zain's useful detail that this man's pen-name was Sharaf distinguishes
him from Muhammad Salih the author of the Shaibanl-nama. • gosha, angle ((/". gosha-i-kdr, limits of work). Parodies were to be made, having
the same metre, rhyme, and refrain as the model couplet. 5 I am unable to attach sense to Babur's second line ; what is wanted is an illustra-
tion of two incompatible things. Babur's reflections [^itifra\ condemned his verse.
Shaikh Zain describes the whole episode of the verse-making on the raft, and goes on with, "He (Babur) excised this choice couplet from the pages of his Acts ( Waqi''dt) with the knife of censure, and scratched it out from the tablets of his noble heart with the finger-nails of repentance. I shall now give an account of this spiritual
matter" {i.e. the repentance), "by presenting the recantations of his Solomon-like Majesty in his very own words, which are weightier than any from the lips of Aesop." Shaikh Zain next quotes the Turk! passage here translated in b. Mention of the Mubln.
932 AH.—OCT. 18th 1525 TO OCT. 8th 1526 AD. 449
{b. Mention of the Mubin}^ »
From time to time before it,^ whatever came into my head,
of good or bad, grave or jest, used to be strung into verse and
written down, however empty and harsh the verse might be, but
while I was composing the Mubin, this thought pierced through
my dull wits and made way into my troubled heart, " A pity it Fol. 253.
will be if the tongue which has treasure of utterances so lofty as
these are, waste itself again on low words ; sad will it be if again
vile imaginings find way into the mind that has made exposition
of these sublime realities." 3 Since that time I had refrained
from satirical and jesting verse ; I was repentant {ta'zb) ; but these
matters were totally out of mind and remembrance when I made that couplet (on Mulla 'Ali-jan).^ A few days later in Bigram
when I had fever and discharge, followed by cough, and I began
to spit blood each time I coughed, I knew whence my reproof
came ; I knew what act of mine had brought this affliction on me. " Whoever shall violate his oath, will violate it to the hurt
of his own soul ; but whoever shall perform that which he hath
covenanted with God, to that man surely will He give great
reward " {Qordn cap. 48 v. 10).
( Tiirki) What is it I do with thee, ah ! my tongue ?
My entrails bleed as a reckoning for thee.
Good once s as thy words were, has followed this verse
Jesting, empty, ^ obscene, has followed a lie.
If thou say, "Burn will I not ! " by keeping this vow
Thou turnest thy rein from this field of strife. ^
The Mubin {q.v. Index) is mentioned again and quoted on f. 351 (5. In both
laces its name escaped the notice of Erskine and de Courteille, who here took it for
min, I, and on f. 351(5 omitted it, matters of which the obvious cause is that both translators were less familiar with the poem than it is now easy to be. There is
amplest textual warrant for reading Muhin in both the places indicated above ; its
reinstatement gives to the English and French translations what they have needed,
namely, the clinch of a definite stimulus and date of repentance, which was the
influence of the Mubin in 928 ah. {152 1-2 ad.). The whole passage about the
peccant verse and its fruit of contrition should be read with others that express the same regret for broken law and may all have been added to the diary at the same time,
probably in 935 ah. (1529 ad. ). They will be found grouped in the Index s.n. Babur, - muiidln hurun, by which I understand, as the grammatical construction will
warrant, before tvriting the Alubin. To read the words as referring to the peccant verse, is to take the clinch off the whole passage.
3 i.e. of the Qordn on which the Miibln is based. '* Dropping down-stream, with wine and good company, he entirely forgot his good
resolutions.
5 This appears to refer to the good thoughts embodied in the Mtibin. * This appears to contrast with the "sublime realities" of the Qordn. "> In view of the interest of the passage, and because this verse is not in the Rampur
Diwdn, as are many contained in the Hindustan section, the TurkI original is
450 HINDUSTAN
" O Lord ! we have dealt unjustly with our own souls ; if
Thou forgive us not, and be not merciful unto us, we shall surely
be of those that perish" ^ {Qordn cap. 7 v. 22).
Taking anew the place of the penitent pleading for pardon,
I gave my mind rest^ from such empty thinking and such
unlawful occupation. I broke my pen. Made by that Court,
such reproof of sinful slaves is for their felicity ; happy are the
highest and the slave when such reproof brings warning and its
profitable fruit.
at 'Ali-masjid. The ground here being very confined, I always
Fol. 2533. used to dismount on a rise overlooking the camp in the valley-
bottom.3 The camp-fires made a wonderful illumination there
at night ; assuredly it was because of this that there had always
been drinking there, and was so now.
{Dec. gth and lotJt) To-day I rode out before dawn ; I preferred
a confection {indjiin)^ and also kept this day a fast. We dismounted near Blgram (Peshawar) ; and next morning, the
camp remaining on that same ground, rode to Karg-awi.5 We crossed the Siyah-ab in front of Blgram, and formed our hunting-
circle looking down-stream. After a little, a person brought
quoted. My translation differs from those of Mr. Erskine and M. de Courteille ; all
three are tentative of a somewhat difficult verse.
Ni qila tnin slnitig bila al til ?
Jihattng din mining alchlm qdn dur.
Nlcha yakhshl dlsdng bu hazl alia shi''r
Blrl-sifaliash fi blrlydlghan dilr.
Gar dlsang kulmd mln, bujazm blla
JaldtHngnl bii ''arsa din ydn dur.
' The Qoran puts these sayings into the mouths of Adam and Eve. = Hai. MS. llndiirub', Ilminsky, p. 327, ydndfirub \ W.-i-B. I.O. 217, f. 175,
sard sdkhta.
3 Of 'Ali-masjid the Second Afghdn War (official account) has a picture which might be taken from Kabur's camp.
* Shaikh Zain's list of the drinking-days (f, 252 note) explains why sometimes Babur says he preferred ma''jun. In the instances I have noticed, he does this
on a drinking-day ; the preference will be therefore for a confection over wine.
December 9th was a Saturday and drinking-day; on it he mentions the preference; Tuesday Nov. 21st was a drinking day, and he states that he ate ma'Jun.
5 presumably the ^ar^-MJ«d: of f. 222b, rhinoceros-home in both places. A similar
name applies to a tract in the Rawalpindi District,—Babur-khana, Tiger-home, which is linked to the tradition of Buddha's self-sacrifice to appease the hunger of seven tiger-cubs. [In this Babur-khana is the town Kacha-kot from which Babur always names the river Haru.]
932 AH.—OCT. 18th 1525 TO OCT. 8th 1526 AD. 451
word that there was a rhino in a bit of jungle near Bigram, and
that people had been stationed near-about it. We betook our-
selves, loose rein, to the place, formed a ring round the jungle,
made a noise, and brought the rhino out, when it took its way
across the plain. Humayun and those come with him from that
side (Tramontana), who had never seen one before, were much
entertained. It was pursued for two miles ; many arrows were
shot at it ; it was brought down without having made a good
set at man or horse. Two others were killed. I had often
wondered how a rhino and an elephant would behave if brought
face to face ; this time one came out right in front of some
elephants the mahauts were bringing along ; it did not face them Fol. 254.
when the mahauts drove them towards it, but got off in another
direction.
{d. Preparationsforferrying the Indus}')
On the day we were in Bigram, several of the begs and
household were appointed, with pay-masters and dlwans, six or
seven being put in command, to take charge of the boats at the
Nll-ab crossing, to make a list of all who were with the army,
name by name, and to count them up.
That evening I had fever and discharge^ which led on to
cough and every time I coughed, I spat blood. Anxiety was
great but, by God's mercy, it passed off in two or three days.
{^Dec. nth) It rained when we left Bigram ; we dismounted
on the Kabul-water.
{e. Newsfrom Ldhor.)
News came that Daulat Khan 3 and (Apaq) GhazI Khan,
having collected an army of from 20 to 30,000, had taken
Kilanur, and intended to move on Labor. At…