The Bābur-nāma in English (Memoirs of Bābur)

(Jan. 20th) On Thursday the 10th of the first Jumāda, I set Fol. 357.out for the East after the 3rd garī (cir. 7.10 a.m.), crossed Jūn by boat a little above Jalīsīr, and went to the Gold-scattering-garden.2433 It was ordered that the standard (tūgh), drum, stable and all the army-folk should remain on the other side of the water, opposite to the garden, and that persons coming for an interview2434 should cross by boat.

(Jan. 22nd) On Saturday (12th) Ismā‘īl Mītā, the Bengal envoy brought the Bengalī’s offering (Naṣrat Shāh’s), and waited on me in Hindūstān fashion, advancing to within an arrow’s flight, making his reverence, and retiring. They then put on him the due dress of honour (khi‘lat) which people call * * * *2435, and brought him before me. He knelt thrice in our fashion, advanced, handed Naṣrat Shāh’s letter, set before me the offering he had brought, and retired.

(Jan. 30th) On Sunday (Jumāda I. 20th), the Aūzbeg envoys were given their leave. To Kūchūm Khān’s envoy Amīn Mīrzā were presented a dagger with belt, cloth of gold,2440 and 70,000 tankas.2441 Abū-sa‘īd’s servant Mullā T̤aghāī and the servants ofFol. 357b. Mihr-bān Khānim and her son Pūlād Sl. were made to put on dresses of honour with gold-embroidered jackets, and were presented also with money in accordance with their station.

In congratulation on the birth of Humāyūn’s son and Kāmrān’s marriage, Mullā Tabrīzī and Mīrzā Beg T̤aghāī2444 were sent with gifts (sāchāq) to each Mīrzā of 10,000 shāhrukhīs, a coat I had worn, and a belt with clasps. Through Mullā Bihishtī were sent to Hind-āl an inlaid dagger with belt, an inlaid ink-stand, a stool worked in mother-o’pearl, a tunic and a girdle,2445 together with the alphabet of the Bāburī script and fragments (qit̤a‘lār) written in that script. To Humāyūn were sent the translation (tarjuma) and verses made in Hindūstān.2446 To Hind-āl and Khwāja Kalān also the translation and verses were sent. They were sent too to Kāmrān, through Mīrzā Beg T̤aghāī, together with head-lines (sar-khat̤) in the Bāburī script.2447

(Feb. 1st) On Tuesday, after writing letters to be taken by those going to Kābul, the buildings in hand at Āgra and Dūlpūr Fol. 358.were recalled to mind, and entrusted to the charge of Mullā Qāsim, Ustād Shāh Muḥammad the stone-cutter, Mīrak, Mīr Ghīāṣ, Mīr Sang-tarāsh (stone-cutter) and Shāh Bābā the spadesman. Their leave was then given them.

(Feb. 4th and 5th) Having stayed one day (Friday) at Fatḥpūr, we got to horse on Saturday (26th) after making ablution (waẓū) at dawn. We went through the Morning Prayer in assembly near Rāprī, Maulānā Muḥammad of Fārāb being the leader (imām). At sun-rise I got into a boat below the great crook2456 of Rāprī.

(Feb. 6th) Opposite Jākīn,2460 one of the Rāprī parganas, we Fol. 358b.had the boats drawn to the bank and just spent the night in them. We had them moved on from that place before the dawn (Sunday 27th), after having gone through the Morning Prayer. When I was again on board, Pay-master Sl. Muḥammad came, bringing a servant of Khwāja Kalān, Shamsu’d-dīn Muḥammad, from whose letters and information particulars about the affairs of Kābul became known.2461 Mahdī Khwāja also came when I was in the boat.2462 At the Mid-day Prayer I landed in a garden opposite Etāwa, there bathed (ghusl) in the Jūn, and fulfilled the duty of prayer. Moving nearer towards Etāwa, we sat down in that same garden under trees on a height over-looking the river, and there set the braves to amuse us.2463 Food ordered by Mahdī Khwāja, was set before us. At the Evening Prayer we crossed the river; at the bed-time one we reached camp.

Several remaining letters for Kābul were written on this same ground. One to Humāyūn was to this purport:—If the work have not yet been done satisfactorily, stop the raiders and thieves thyself; do not let them embroil the peace now descending amongst the peoples.2465 Again, there was this:—I have madeFol. 359. Kābul a crown-domain, let no son of mine covet it. Again:—that I had summoned Hind-āl.

“Boundless and infinite is my desire to go to those parts.2469 Matters are coming to some sort of settlement in Hindūstān; there is hope, through the Most High, that the work here will soon be arranged. This work brought to order, God willing! my start will be made at once.”

“How should a person forget the pleasant things of those countries, especially one who has repented and vowed to sin no more? How should he banish from his mind the permitted flavours of melons and grapes? Taking this opportunity,2470 a melon was brought to me; to cut and eat it affected me strangely; I was all tears!”

“The unsettled state2471 of Kābul had already been written of Fol. 359b.to me. After thinking matters over, my choice fell on this:—How should a country hold together and be strong (marbūt̤ u maẓbūt̤), if it have seven or eight Governors? Under this aspect of the affair, I have summoned my elder sister (Khān-zāda) and my wives to Hindūstān, have made Kābul and its neighbouring countries a crown-domain, and have written in this sense to both Humāyūn and Kāmrān. Let a capable person take those letters to the Mīrzās. As you may know already, I had written earlier to them with the same purport. About the safe-guarding and prosperity of the country, there will now be no excuse, and not a word to say. Henceforth, if the town-wall2472 be not solid or subjects not thriving, if provisions be not in store or the Treasury not full, it will all be laid on the back of the inefficiency of the Pillar-of-the State.”2473

“The things that must be done are specified below; for some of them orders have gone already, one of these being, ‘Let treasure accumulate.’ The things which must be done are these:—First, the repair of the fort; again:—the provision of stores; again:—the daily allowance and lodging2474 of envoys going backwards and forwards2475; again:—let money, taken legally from revenue,2476 be spent for building the Congregational Mosque; again:—the repairs of the Kārwan-sarā (Caravan-sarai) and the Hot-baths; again:—the completion of the unfinished building Fol. 360.made of burnt-brick which Ūstād Ḥasan ‘Alī was constructing in the citadel. Let this work be ordered after taking counsel with Ūstād Sl. Muḥammad; if a design exist, drawn earlier by Ūstād

Ḥasan ‘Alī, let Ūstād Sl. Muḥammad finish the building precisely according to it; if not, let him do so, after making a gracious and harmonious design, and in such a way that its floor shall be level with that of the Audience-hall; again:—the Khẉurd-Kābul dam which is to hold up the But-khāk-water at its exit from the Khẉurd-Kābul narrows; again:—the repair of the Ghaznī dam2477; again:—the Avenue-garden in which water is short and for which a one-mill stream must be diverted2478; again:—I had water brought from Tūtūm-dara to rising ground south-west of Khwāja Basta, there made a reservoir and planted young trees. The place got the name of Belvedere,2479 because it faces the ford and gives a first-rate view. The best of young trees must be planted there, lawns arranged, and borders set with sweet-herbs and with flowers of beautiful colour and scent; again:—Sayyid Qāsim has been named to reinforce thee; again:—do not neglect the condition of matchlockmen and of Ūstād Muḥammad Amīn the armourer2480; again:—directly this letter arrives, thou must get my elder sister (Khān-zāda Begīm) and my wives right out of Kābul, and escort them to Nīl-āb. However averse they may still be, they most certainly must start within a week of the arrival ofFol. 360b. this letter. For why? Both because the armies which have gone from Hindūstān to escort them are suffering hardship in a cramped place (tār yīrdā), and also because they2481 are ruining the country.”

“Again:—I made it clear in a letter written to ‘Abdu’l-lāh (‘asas), that there had been very great confusion in my mind (dúghdugha), to counterbalance being in the oasis (wādī) of penitence. This quatrain was somewhat dissuading (mānī‘):—2482