The Bābur-nāma

After carrying out this design an universal decree was issued that in the imperial dominions – May God protect them from every danger and calamity – no-one shall partake of strong drink, or engage in its manufacture, nor sell it, nor buy it or possess it, nor convey it or fetch it. “Beware of touching it.” “Perchance this will give you prosperity.”2021

In thanks for these great victories,2022 and as a thank-offering for God’s acceptance of repentance and sorrow, the ocean of the royal munificence became commoved, and those waves of kindness, which are the cause of the civilization of the world and of the glory of the sons of Adam, were displayed, – and throughout all the territories the tax (tamghā) on Musalmāns was abolished, – though its yield was more than the dreams of avarice, and though it had been established and maintained by former rulers, – for it is a practice outside of the edicts of the Prince of Apostles (Muḥammad). So a decree was passed that in no city, town, road, ferry, pass, or port, should the tax be levied or exacted. No alteration whatsoever of this order is to be permitted. “Whoever after hearing it makes any change therein, the sin of such change will be upon him.”2023

The proper course (sabīl) for all who shelter under the shade of the royal benevolence, whether they be Turk, Tājik, ‘Arab, Hindī, or Fārsī (Persian), peasants or soldiers, of every nation or tribe of the sons of Adam, is to strengthen themselves by the tenets of religion, and to be full of hope and prayer for the dynasty which is linked with eternity, and to adhere to these ordinances, and not in any way to transgress them. It behoves all to act according to this farmān; they are to accept it as authentic when it comes attested by the Sign-Manual.

Written by order of the Exalted one, – May his excellence endure for ever! on the 24th of Jumāda I. 933 (February 26th 1527).

(t. Alarm in Bābur’s camp.)

In these days, as has been mentioned, (our people) great and small, had been made very anxious and timid by past occurrences. No manly word or brave counsel was heard from any one soever. What bold speech was there from the wazīrs who are to speak out (dīgūchī), or from the amīrs who will devour the land (wilāyat-yīghūchī)?2024 None had advice to give, none a bold plan of his own to expound. Khalīfa (however) did well in this campaign, neglecting nothing of control and supervision, painstaking and diligence.

At length after I had made enquiry concerning people’s want of heart and had seen their slackness for myself, a plan occurred to me; I summoned all the begs and braves and said to them, “Begs and braves!

“Better than life with a bad name, is death with a good one.

Примечание 12025

“God the Most High has allotted to us such happiness and has created for us such good-fortune that we die as martyrs, we kill as avengers of His cause. Therefore must each of you take oath upon His Holy Word that he will not think of turning his face from this foe, or withdraw from this deadly encounter so long as life is not rent from his body.” All those present, beg and retainer, great and small, took the Holy Book joyfully into their hands and made vow and compact to this purport. The plan was perfect; it worked admirably for those near and afar, for seërs and hearers, for friend and foe.

(u. Bābur’s perilous position.)

In those same days trouble and disturbance arose on every side: – Ḥusain Khān Nuḥānī went and took Rāprī; Qut̤b Khān’s man took Chandwār2026; a mannikin called Rustam Khān who had collected quiver-wearers from Between-the-two-waters (Ganges and Jamna), took Kūl (Koel) and made Kīchīk ‘Alī prisoner; Khwāja Zāhid abandoned Saṃbal and went off; Sl. Muḥammad Dūldāī came from Qanūj to me; the Gūālīār pagans laid siege to that fort; ‘Ālam Khān when sent to reinforce it, did not go to Gūālīār but to his own district. Every day bad news came from every side. Desertion of many Hindūstānīs set in; Haibat Khān Karg-andāz2027 deserted and went to Saṃbal; Ḥasan Khān of Bārī deserted and joined the Pagan. We gave attention to none of them but went straight on with our own affair.

(v. Bābur advances to fight.)

The apparatus and appliances, the carts and wheeled tripods being ready, we arrayed in right, left and centre, and marched forward on New Year’s Day,2028 Tuesday, the 9th of the second Jumāda (March 13th), having the carts2029 and wheeled tripods moving in front of us, with Ustād ‘Alī-qulī and all the matchlock-men ranged behind them in order that these men, being on foot, should not be left behind the array but should advance with it.

When the various divisions, right, left and centre, had gone each to its place, I galloped from one to another to give encouragement to begs, braves, and sipāhīs. After each man had had assigned to him his post and usual work with his company, we advanced, marshalled on the plan determined, for as much as one kuroh (2 m.)2030 and then dismounted.

The Pagan’s men, for their part, were on the alert; they came from their side, one company after another.

The camp was laid out and strongly protected by ditch and carts. As we did not intend to fight that day, we sent a few unmailed braves ahead, who were to get to grips with the enemy and thus take an omen. They made a few pagans prisoner, cut off and brought in their heads. Malik Qāsim also cut off and brought in a few heads; he did well. By these successes the hearts of our men became very strong.

When we marched on next day, I had it in my mind to fight, but Khalīfa and other well-wishers represented that the camping-ground previously decided on was near and that it would favour our fortunes if we had a ditch and defences made there and went there direct. Khalīfa accordingly rode off to get the ditch dug; he settled its position with the spades-men, appointed overseers of the work and returned to us. (w. The battle of Kānwa.)2031

On Saturday the 13th of the second Jumāda (March 17th, 1527 AD.) we had the carts dragged in front of us (as before), made a kuroh (2 m.) of road, arrayed in right, left and centre, and dismounted on the ground selected.

A few tents had been set up; a few were in setting up when news of the appearance of the enemy was brought. Mounting instantly, I ordered every man to his post and that our array should be protected with the carts.2032

*As the following Letter-of-victory (Fatḥ-nāma) which is what Shaikh Zain had indited, makes known particulars about the army of Islām, the great host of the pagans with the position of their arrayed ranks, and the encounters had between them and the army of Islām, it is inserted here without addition or deduction.2033

SHAIKH ZAIN’S LETTER-OF-VICTORY

(a. Introduction.)

Praise be to God the Faithful Promiser, the Helper of His servants, the Supporter of His armies, the Scatterer of hostile hosts, the One alone without whom there is nothing.

O Thou the Exalter of the pillars of Islām, Helper of thy faithful minister, Overthrower of the pedestals of idols, Overcomer of rebellious foes, Exterminator to the uttermost of the followers of darkness!

Lauds be to God the Lord of the worlds, and may the blessing of God be upon the best of His creatures Muḥammad, Lord of ghāzīs and champions of the Faith, and upon his companions, the pointers of the way, until the Day of judgment.

The successive gifts of the Almighty are the cause of frequent praises and thanksgivings, and the number of these praises and thanksgivings is, in its turn, the cause of the constant succession of God’s mercies. For every mercy a thanksgiving is due, and every thanksgiving is followed by a mercy. To render full thanks is beyond men’s power; the mightiest are helpless to discharge their obligations. Above all, adequate thanks cannot be rendered for a benefit than which none is greater in the world and nothing is more blessed, in the world to come, to wit, victory over most powerful infidels and dominion over wealthiest heretics, “these are the unbelievers, the wicked.”2034 In the eyes of the judicious, no blessing can be greater than this. Thanks be to God! that this great blessing and mighty boon, which from the cradle until now has been the real object of this right-thinking mind (Bābur’s), has now manifested itself by the graciousness of the King of the worlds; the Opener who dispenses his treasures without awaiting solicitation, hath opened them with a master-key before our victorious Nawāb (Bābur),2035 so that the names of our2036 conquering heroes have been emblazoned in the records of glorious ghāzīs. By the help of our victorious soldiers the standards of Islām have been raised to the highest pinnacles. The account of this auspicious fortune is as follows: —

(b. Rānā Sangā and his forces.)

When the flashing-swords of our Islām-guarded soldiers had illuminated the land of Hindūstān with rays of victory and conquest, as has been recorded in former letters-of-victory,2037 the Divine favour caused our standards to be upreared in the territories of Dihlī, Āgra, Jūn-pūr, Kharīd,2038 Bihār, etc., when many chiefs, both pagans and Muḥammadans submitted to our generals and shewed sincere obedience to our fortunate Nawāb. But Rānā Sangā the pagan who in earlier times breathed submissive to the Nawāb,2039 now was puffed up with pride and became of the number of unbelievers.2040 Satan-like he threw back his head and collected an army of accursed heretics, thus gathering a rabble-rout of whom some wore the accursed torque (t̤auq), the zīnār,2041 on the neck, some had in the skirt the calamitous thorn of apostacy.2042 Previous to the rising in Hindūstān of the Sun of dominion and the emergence there of the light of the Shāhanshāh’s Khalīfate [i. e. Bābur’s] the authority of that execrated pagan (Sangā) —at the Judgment Day he shall have no friend,2043 was such that not one of all the exalted sovereigns of this wide realm, such as the Sult̤ān of Dihlī, the Sult̤ān of Gujrāt and the Sult̤ān of Mandū, could cope with this evil-dispositioned one, without the help of other pagans; one and all they cajoled him and temporized with him; and he had this authority although the rājas and rāīs of high degree, who obeyed him in this battle, and the governors and commanders who were amongst his followers in this conflict, had not obeyed him in any earlier fight or, out of regard to their own dignity, been friendly with him. Infidel standards dominated some 200 towns in the territories of Islām; in them mosques and shrines fell into ruin; from them the wives and children of the Faithful were carried away captive. So greatly had his forces grown that, according to the Hindū calculation by which one lak of revenue should yield 100 horsemen, and one krūr of revenue, 10,000 horsemen, the territories subject to the Pagan (Sangā) yielding 10 krūrs, should yield him 100,000 horse. Many noted pagans who hitherto had not helped him in battle, now swelled his ranks out of hostility to the people of Islām. Ten powerful chiefs, each the leader of a pagan host, uprose in rebellion, as smoke rises, and linked themselves, as though enchained, to that perverse one (Sangā); and this infidel decade who, unlike the blessed ten,2044 uplifted misery-freighted standards which denounce unto them excruciating punishment,2045 had many dependants, and troops, and wide-extended lands. As, for instance, Ṣalāḥu’d-dīn2046 had territory yielding 30,000 horse, Rāwal Ūdai Sīngh of Bāgar had 12,000, Medinī Rāī had 12,000, Ḥasan Khān of Mīwāt had 12,000, Bār-mal of Īdr had 4,000, Narpat Hāra had 7,000, Satrvī of Kach (Cutch) had 6,000, Dharm-deo had 4,000, Bīr-sing-deo had 4,000, and Maḥmūd Khān, son of Sl. Sikandar, to whom, though he possessed neither district nor pargana, 10,000 horse had gathered in hope of his attaining supremacy. Thus, according to the calculation of Hind, 201,000 was the total of those sundered from salvation. In brief, that haughty pagan, inwardly blind, and hardened of heart, having joined with other pagans, dark-fated and doomed to perdition, advanced to contend with the followers of Islām and to destroy the foundations of the law of the Prince of Men (Muḥammad), on whom be God’s blessing! The protagonists of the royal forces fell, like divine destiny, on that one-eyed Dajjāl2047 who, to understanding men, shewed the truth of the saying, When Fate arrives, the eye becomes blind, and, setting before their eyes the scripture which saith, Whosoever striveth to promote the true religion, striveth for the good of his own soul,2048 they acted on the precept to which obedience is due, Fight against infidels and hypocrites.

(c. Military movements.)

(March 17th, 1527) On Saturday the 13th day of the second Jumāda of the date 933, a day blessed by the words, God hath blessed your Saturday, the army of Islām was encamped near the village of Kānwa, a dependency of Bīāna, hard by a hill which was 2 kurohs (4 m.) from the enemies of the Faith. When those accursed infidel foes of Muḥammad’s religion heard the reverberation of the armies of Islām, they arrayed their ill-starred forces and moved forward with one heart, relying on their mountain-like, demon-shaped elephants, as had relied the Lords of the Elephant2049 who went to overthrow the sanctuary (ka‘ba) of Islām.

“Having these elephants, the wretched HindusBecame proud, like the Lords of the Elephant;Yet were they odious and vile as is the evening of death,Blacker2050 than night, outnumbering the stars,All such as fire is2051 but their heads upraisedIn hate, as rises its smoke in the azure sky,Ant-like they come from right and from left,Thousands and thousands of horse and foot.”

They advanced towards the victorious encampment, intending to give battle. The holy warriors of Islām, trees in the garden of valour, moved forward in ranks straight as serried pines and, like pines uplift their crests to heaven, uplifting their helmet-crests which shone even as shine the hearts of those that strive in the way of the Lord; their array was like Alexander’s iron-wall,2052 and, as is the way of the Prophet’s Law, straight and firm and strong, as though they were a well-compacted building;2053 and they became fortunate and successful in accordance with the saying, They are directed by their Lord, and they shall prosper.2054

In that array no rent was frayed by timid souls;Firm was it as the Shāhanshāh’s resolve, strong as the Faith;Their standards brushed against the sky;Verily we have granted thee certain victory.2055

Obeying the cautions of prudence, we imitated the ghāzīs of Rūm2056 by posting matchlockmen (tufanchīān) and cannoneers (ra‘d-andāzān) along the line of carts which were chained to one another in front of us; in fact, Islām’s army was so arrayed and so steadfast that primal Intelligence2057 and the firmament (‘aql-i-pīr u charkh-i-as̤īr) applauded the marshalling thereof. To effect this arrangement and organization, Niz̤āmu’d-dīn ‘Alī Khalīfa, the pillar of the Imperial fortune, exerted himself strenuously; his efforts were in accord with Destiny, and were approved by his sovereign’s luminous judgment.

(d. Commanders of the centre.)

His Majesty’s post was in the centre. In the right-hand of the centre were stationed the illustrious and most upright brother, the beloved friend of Destiny, the favoured of Him whose aid is entreated (i. e. God), Chīn-tīmūr Sult̤ān,2058– the illustrious son, accepted in the sight of the revered Allāh, Sulaimān Shāh,2059– the reservoir of sanctity, the way-shower, Khwāja Kamālu’d-dīn (Perfect-in-the Faith) Dost-i-khāwand, – the trusted of the sult̤ānate, the abider near the sublime threshold, the close companion, the cream of associates, Kamālu’d-dīn Yūnas-i-‘alī, – the pillar of royal retainers, the perfect in friendship, Jalālu’d-dīn (Glory-of-the-Faith) Shāh Manṣūr Barlās, – the pillar of royal retainers, most excellent of servants, Niz̤āmu’d-dīn (Upholder-of-the-Faith) Darwīsh-i-muḥammad Sārbān, – the pillars of royal retainers, the sincere in fidelity, Shihābu’d-dīn (Meteor-of-the-Faith) ‘Abdu’l-lāh the librarian and Nīẕāmu’d-dīn Dost Lord-of-the-Gate.

In the left-hand of the centre took each his post, the reservoir of sovereignty, ally of the Khalīfate, object of royal favour, Sult̤ān ‘Alā’u’d-dīn ‘Ālam Khān son of Sl. Bahlūl Lūdī, – the intimate of illustrious Majesty, the high priest (dastūr) of ṣadrs amongst men, the refuge of all people, the pillar of Islām, Shaikh Zain of Khawāf,2060– the pillar of the nobility, Kamālu’d-dīn Muḥibb-i-‘alī, son of the intimate counsellor named above (i. e. Khalīfa), – the pillar of royal retainers, Niz̤āmu’d-dīn Tardī Beg brother of Qūj (son of) Aḥmad, whom God hath taken into His mercy, – Shīrafgan son of the above-named Qūj Beg deceased, – the pillar of great ones, the mighty khān, Ārāīsh Khān,2061– the wazīr, greatest of wazīrs amongst men, Khwāja Kamālu’d-dīn Ḥusain, – and a number of other attendants at Court (dīwanīān).

(e. Commanders of the right wing.)

In the right wing was the exalted son, honourable and fortunate, the befriended of Destiny, the Star of the Sign of sovereignty and success, Sun of the sphere of the Khalīfate, lauded of slave and free, Muḥammad Humāyūn Bahādur. On that exalted prince’s right hand there were, one whose rank approximates to royalty and who is distinguished by the favour of the royal giver of gifts, Qāsim-i-ḥusain Sult̤ān, – the pillar of the nobility Niz̤āmu’d-dīn Aḥmad-ī-yūsuf Aūghlāqchī,2062– the trusted of royalty, most excellent of servants, Jalālu’d-dīn Hindū Beg qūchīn,2063– the trusted of royalty, perfect in loyalty, Jalālu’d-dīn Khusrau Kūkūldāsh, – the trusted of royalty, Qawām (var. Qiyām) Beg Aūrdū-shāh, – the pillar of royal retainers, of perfect sincerity, Walī Qarā-qūzī the treasurer,2064– the pillar of royal retainers, Niz̤āmu’d-dīn Pīr-qulī of Sīstān, – the pillar of wazīrs, Khwāja Kamālu’d-dīn pahlawān (champion) of Badakhshān, – the pillar of royal retainers, ‘Abdu’l-sḥakūr, – the pillar of the nobility, most excellent of servants, the envoy from ‘Irāq Sulaimān Āqā, – and Ḥusain Āqā the envoy from Sīstān. On the victory-crowned left of the fortunate son already named there were, the sayyid of lofty birth, of the family of Murtiẓā (‘Alī), Mīr Hama (or Hāma), – the pillar of royal retainers, the perfect in sincerity, Shamsu’d-dīn Muḥammadī Kūkūldāsh and Niz̤āmu’d-dīn Khwājagī Asad jān-dār.2065 In the right wing there were, of the amīrs of Hind, – the pillar of the State, the Khān-of-Khāns, Dilāwar Khān,2066– the pillar of the nobility, Malik Dād Kararānī, – and the pillar of the nobility, the Shaikh-of-shaikhs, Shaikh Gūran, each standing in his appointed place.

(f. Commanders of the left wing.)

In the left wing of the armies of Islām there extended their ranks, – the lord of lofty lineage, the refuge of those in authority, the ornament of the family of T̤a Ha and Ya Sin,2067 the model for the descendants of the prince of ambassadors (Muḥammad), Sayyid Mahdī Khwāja, – the exalted and fortunate brother, the well-regarded of his Majesty, Muḥammad Sl. Mīrzā,2068– the personage approximating to royalty, the descended of monarchs, ‘Ādil Sult̤ān son of Mahdī Sult̤ān,2069– the trusted in the State, perfect in attachment, ‘Abdu’l-'azīz Master of the Horse, – the trusted in the State, the pure in friendship, Shamsu’d-dīn Muḥammad ‘Ali Jang-jang,2070– the pillar of royal retainers, Jalālu’d-dīn Qūtlūq-qadam qarāwal (scout), – the pillar of royal retainers, the perfect in sincerity, Jalālu’d-dīn Shāh Ḥusain yārāgī Mughūl Ghānchī(?),2071– and Niz̤āmu’d-dīn Jān-i-muḥammad Beg Ātāka.

Of amīrs of Hind there were in this division, the scions of sult̤āns, Kamāl Khān and Jamāl Khān sons of the Sl. ‘Alā’u’d-dīn above-mentioned, – the most excellent officer ‘Alī Khān Shaikh-zāda of Farmūl, – and the pillar of the nobility, Niz̤ām Khān of Bīāna.

(g. The flanking parties.)

For the flank-movement (tūlghāma) of the right wing there were posted two of the most trusted of the household retainers, Tardīka2072 and Malik Qāsim the brother of Bābā Qashqa, with a body of Mughūls; for the flank-movement of the left wing were the two trusted chiefs Mūmin Ātāka and Rustam Turkmān, leading a body of special troops.

(h. The Chief of the Staff.)

The pillar of royal retainers, the perfect in loyalty, the cream of privy-counsellors, Niz̤āmu’d-dīn Sult̤ān Muḥammad Bakhshī, after posting the ghāzīs of Islām, came to receive the royal commands. He despatched adjutants (tawāchī) and messengers (yasāwal) in various directions to convey imperative orders concerning the marshalling of the troops to the great sult̤āns and amīrs. And when the Commanders had taken up their positions, an imperative order was given that none should quit his post or, uncommanded, stretch forth his arm to fight.

(i. The battle.)

One watch2073 of the afore-mentioned day had elapsed when the opposing forces approached each other and the battle began. As Light opposes Darkness, so did the centres of the two armies oppose one another. Fighting began on the right and left wings, such fighting as shook the Earth and filled highest Heaven with clangour.

The left wing of the ill-fated pagans advanced against the right wing of the Faith-garbed troops of Islām and charged down on Khusrau Kūkūldāsh and Bābā Qashqa’s brother Malik Qāsim. The most glorious and most upright brother Chīn-tīmūr Sult̤ān, obeying orders, went to reinforce them and, engaging in the conflict with bold attack, bore the pagans back almost to the rear of their centre. Guerdon was made for the brother’s glorious fame.2074 The marvel of the Age, Muṣt̤afa of Rūm, had his post in the centre (of the right wing) where was the exalted son, upright and fortunate, the object of the favourable regard of

Creative Majesty (i. e. God), the one distinguished by the particular grace of the mighty Sovereign who commands to do and not to do (i. e. Bābur), Muḥammad Humāyūn Bahādur. This Muṣt̤afa of Rūm had the carts (arābahā)2075 brought forward and broke the ranks of pagans with matchlock and culverin dark like their hearts(?).2076 In the thick of the fight, the most glorious brother Qāsim-i-ḥusain Sult̤ān and the pillars of royal retainers, Niz̤āmu’d-dīn Aḥmad-i-yūsuf and Qawām Beg, obeying orders, hastened to their help. And since band after band of pagan troops followed each other to help their men, so we, in our turn, sent the trusted in the State, the glory of the Faith, Hindū Beg, and, after him, the pillars of the nobility, Muhammadī Kūkūldāsh and Khwājagī Asad jān-dār, and, after them, the trusted in the State, the trustworthy in the resplendent Court, the most confided-in of nobles, the elect of confidential servants, Yūnas-i-'alī, together with the pillar of the nobility, the perfect in friendship, Shāh Manṣūr Barlās and the pillar of the grandees, the pure in fidelity, ‘Abdu’l-lāh the librarian, and after these, the pillar of the nobles, Dost the Lord-of-the-Gate, and Muḥammad Khalīl the master-gelder (akhta-begī).2077

The pagan right wing made repeated and desperate attack on the left wing of the army of Islām, falling furiously on the holy warriors, possessors of salvation, but each time was made to turn back or, smitten with the arrows of victory, was made to descend into Hell, the house of perdition; they shall be thrown to burn therein, and an unhappy dwelling shall it be.2078 Then the trusty amongst the nobles, Mūmin Ātāka and Rustam Turkmān betook themselves to the rear2079 of the host of darkened pagans; and to help them were sent the Commanders Khwāja Maḥmūd and ‘Alī Ātāka, servants of him who amongst the royal retainers is near the throne, the trusted of the Sult̤ānate, Niz̤āmu’d-din ‘Alī Khalīfa.