Peasants and people of low
standing
go about naked.
Cambridge History of India - v4 - Mugul Period
In June 1504 we find him accompanied
by a handful of men and women, a refugee without a home and
without a destination. Shaibani Khan, the Uzbeg, in the meanwhile
had become master of Transoxiana, and had put to flight Khusrav
Shah, the governor of Qunduz. This disaster and the consequent
dispersal of Khusrav's army came as a blessing to Babur, to whose
camp large numbers of deserters fled. Those chiefs who now attached
themselves to Babur were called the "Guest Begs". Babur now
found himself at the head of a force of over four thousand men
(according to Mirza Haidar, twenty thousand) and he was obliged
to choose between marching to help in the defence of Herat which
1
1
## p. 5 (#37) ###############################################
BABUR'S FIRST RAID INTO INDIA
5
was being attacked by Shaibani Khan, or of moving farther south,
over the Hindu Kush. Feeling his forces were not sufficiently strong
to cope with Shaibani's large army, he chose the latter alternative.
Having led his men over the formidable passes of the Hindu Kush,
he came at last within sight of Kabul. As we have seen, Kabul
had on the death of his father Abu Sa'id passed into the hands of
Ulugh Beg, on whose death in 1501 it went to his son 'Abdur-Razzaq,
who had been immediately displaced by Muqim the Arghun. Had
Babur found Kabul safely in the power of his cousin 'Abdur-Razzaq,
ne would have had no good excuse for trying to take possession of
that important military post, but seeing that it was in the hands of
an usurper, whom 'Abdur-Razzaq had been unable to withstand,
he not only attacked but, as much by ruse as by daring, captured it,
and having done so asserted his hereditary right to the kingdom of
Kabul and pensioned off his cousin with an estate. We are justified
in assuming that it was while Babur was bringing order into his new
kingdom and somewhat vainly attempting to collect its revenues that
he was first inspired with his Indian dream. The temptations offered
by the fertile plains of Hindustan did not affect his passionate affec-
tion for the land of his birth, to which he so constantly refers in his
Memoirs, and it is unlikely that he had contemplated settling in
India until after his defeat at Ghazdawan in 1512. Moreover, to
conquer Hindustan did not necessarily mean lasting severance from
Turkestan; rather would success in the south give the means whereby
to recapture Farghana and Samarqand.
In January, 1505 Babur set out via Badam-chasma, Jagdalik,
Adinapur, Ningrahar, Jam-rud through the Khyber Pass and Kohat,
and thence along the mountains to the west of the Indus as far as
Dera Ghazi Khan. Although it was mid-winter he and his men,
encountering such climatic conditions as they had never before
experienced, suffered much from the sub-tropical sun of upper India.
The raid lasted four months, and by May 1506 Babur was back again
in Kabul (Abu-'l-Fazl's first invasion). In March, 1508, Humayun
was born in Kabul, of Babur's third wife Mahim. In the meanwhile
Shaibani Khan had captured Khiva, and was threatening Balkh.
Husain Baiqara, realising that the town of Herat was now endangered,
called on Babur and other princes of the Timurid house to come to
his rescue; and although Babur set out with all haste from Kabul
in response to this appeal, he had only reached Kahmard when news
came that the old Sultan was dead (May, 1506). Babur, nevertheless,
continued his march on Herat in order to oppose the Uzbeg Khan
in Khurasan, perhaps chiefly with the idea of saving the face of the
Timurids in general. On 26 October, 1506, he met the assembled
Mirzas, who persuaded him to spend the winter in Herat, but on
24 December, finding that no proper arrangements for winter quarters
had been made, he moved out of Herat and marched back over the
## p. 6 (#38) ###############################################
6
BABUR
1
snow-clad passes to Kabul, raiding the Hazaras on his way. Mean-
while there had been a conspiracy in Kabul to place his cousin
Mirza Khan, son of Mahmud Mirza, on the throne. He quickly
suppressed this rebellion. In the spring of 1507 Shaibani Khan set
out from Samarqand to invade Khurasan, and owing to the indeci-
sion of the Mirzas he was allowed to take Herat (June, 1507), which,
being in a wretched state of defence, fell at the explosion of the first
mine.
Babur had long desired to get possession of Qandahar on account
of its strategic importance. On the fall of Herat the Arghun princes
in Qandahar had appealed to Babur for military aid, but no sooner
had Babur set out than they changed their minds and determined
to oppose him. Babur, advancing by way of Qalat, which he took,
met Muqim and Shah Beg, the sons of Zu'n Nun Arghun, in a pitched
battle, in which the Arghuns were put to flight. Shortly afterwards
Nasir Mirza brought news that Shaibani Khan was on his way to
lay siege to Qandahar, having apparently been encouraged in this
enterprise by the fugitive Muqim. Shaibani fully expected to find
Babur in Qandahar, but Babur on this occasion did not display his
wonted courage. Instead of waiting to meet the Uzbegs he held a
council of war, at which it was decided to undertake a raid into
Hindustan, and in September, 1507, he set out on an expedition
which is regarded by Abu-'l-Fazl as Babur's second invasion of India.
Meanwhile Shaibani Khan had attacked Qandahar, but withdrew
without taking it, his presence being required in the north owing
to the rebellion of one of his chiefs. On reaching Mandrawar Babur
retraced his steps to Kabul, but whether this was on account of dis-
agreement among his nobles—for they had started without any fixed
plan-or as a result of Shaibani's withdrawal, we cannot determine.
It was on his return to Kabul from this expedition that Babur
ordered that he should in future be styled not Mirza (prince), but
Padishah (emperor). It was perhaps an unsuitable moment for him
to change his title, but it should be remembered that Kabul was the
only Timurid state which remained after the fall of Herat.
April, 1509, to April, 1510, was passed quietly in Kabul, but
exciting news began to arrive of the hostilities which had broken
out between Shah Ismail Safavi and the redoubtable Uzbeg Khan,
who had now been in possession of Transoxiana for about nine years.
In the summer of 1510 Shaibani had led an army against the elusive
Hazaras eastward of Herat, and, having failed to discover them, he
gave leave of absence to his troops for the winter; but no sooner had
he done so than news came that Shah Isma‘il had set out with his
army for Khurasan. Most of this province had been wrested from
the aged Sultan Husain (1506) by Shaibani, and his troops had even
penetrated into the province of Kirman. This led to an acrimonious
correspondence between the Shiah king and the Sunni usurper (con-
1
!
## p. 7 (#39) ###############################################
BABUR AND SHAH ISMAIL
7
taining taunting references to the possible visit of the former to
Meshed and of the latter to Mecca). Isma‘il, having overrun Khurasan
as far as Meshed, went in pursuit of Shaibani in the direction of
Marv, where the latter shut himself up. Isma'il, in order to bring
him out into the open, gave out that he was returning home after
paying a ceremonial visit to the Holy City of Meshed. The ruse had
the desired result, and on 2 December, 1510, a battle was engaged
outside Marv, in which Shaibani was defeated and slain. The Uzbegs
now withdrew from Khurasan into Transoxiana, and Isma'il wintered
in Herat. News of the victory at Mary was brought to Babur, who,
with hopes revived of regaining his lost territories, set out with all
possible speed via Bamian and reached Qunduz in January, 1511.
Shah Isma'il sent an embassy, laden with rich presents and bringing
Babur's sister Khanzada Begam, who had, as we have seen, been
given in marriage to Shaibani Khan. On the approach of Babur,
however, fearing the results of her devotion to her brother, Shaibani
had divorced her and married her to a man who afterwards fell in
the battle near Marv. Babur sent Khan Mirza to thank Isma'il and
to congratulate him on his victory over their common enemy; he
further suggested that Isma'il might help him to recover Transoxiana.
The latter consented and began to invade this country but, owing
to affairs in Azarbaijan which required his personal attention, he
accepted proposals of peace made by certain Uzbeg chiefs, and with-
drew again to Herat. In the meanwhile Babur learnt that his cousin
Mirza Haidar had driven the Uzbegs out of Farghana. Not long
after, Babur with the help of some Qizilbash_troops took Bukhara
and Samarqand, and the Uzbegs withdrew to Turkestan. In October,
1511, he was proclaimed king at Samarqand. His dominions now
included Tashkent and Kabul, Qunduz and Hisar, Samarqand,
Bukhara and Farghana.
When the Uzbegs, who had retired beyond the Jaxartes, learnt
that Shah Isma'il had withdrawn, they resolved to attempt the
recovery of Transoxiana. 'Ubaid-ullah Khan, who had succeeded his
uncle Shaibani Khan, now attacked Bukhara; whereupon Babur
moved out of Samarqand to meet him. In May, 1512, an encounter
took place at Kul-i-Malik, in which Babur was defeated, and, finding
it impossible to remain in Samarqand, he withdrew to Hisar, whither
the Uzbegs followed him in August. In the meanwhile Najm Beg
(Najm-i-Sani), who had been despatched to help Babur by Shah
Isma'il on reaching the frontier of Khurasan, hearing of Babur's
defeat at Kul-i-Malik, collected further troops from Herat, advanced
on Balkh and in October met Babur at the Darband-i-Ahanin. The
combined armies took Khuzar and moved on Qarshi, whose inhabi-
tants were put mercilessly to the sword, much to the disgust of Babur
who desired them to be spared. Najm Beg now advanced on Bukhara.
The Uzbegs entrenched themselves in the fort of Ghazdawan where
## p. 8 (#40) ###############################################
8
BABUR
they were besieged by Bairam Beg and Najm Beg, but it was winter
and, while the Uzbegs were well provisioned, Najm Beg was unable
to feed his troops. Babur and others advised him to withdraw to
Qarshi till the winter was over, and then to return with plentiful
supplies. Najm Beg agreed, but on the morrow the Uzbegs attacked
and utterly defeated the Persians. Babur, who was at this time thirty,
now abandoned all hope of reascending the throne of Samarqand
which he had won and lost no less than three times. His Mughul
allies turned against him and, barely escaping in his sleeping attire
from a sudden attack made on his camp, he withdrew first to Hisar
and then to Qunduz, and finally he again crossed to Hindu Kush and
returned to Kabul. Khan Mirza (Wais Mirza), the son of Mahmud
Mirza, was left in Badakhshan, which Babur still possessed and Nasir
Mirza, who had been left in charge of Kabul, was on Babur's return
appointed to Ghazni. His death, due to intemperate habits which
shortly after intervened, led to a revolt among the Mughul chiefs.
Babur, having disposed of this rebellion, now settled down for four
years (1515-18) to what was the nearest approach to a "quiet life"
that he had ever known. Muller says “Babur dedicated the next
four years to ceaseless wars in every direction, for without them it
was not possible to teach the mountain dwellers of Kabul and
Ghazni the respect due to his overlordship"—which means that he
conducted a series of punitive expeditions. Grenard states that these
expeditions were “merely an Asiatic method of advertising the advan-
tages of obedience". His raids were "shopping expeditions". For
example, Babur himself writes in one place: "We resolved that, since
grain was plentiful in Hashtnagar, it was expedient to lead a raid
against the Afghans there. ” At any rate, during these years Babur
undertook nothing in the nature of military expeditions on a larger
scale.
II
We may now turn to the second phase of Babur's career, namely
his invasions and conquest of Hindustan. In this part of his history
we shall encounter many names already familiar to the student of
these volumes; it may, nevertheless, be useful to enumerate some of
those persons with whom the narrative is mostly concerned. Hitherto
Babur had been dealing with men of his own race or of races closely
connected with it, either Mongols or Turks. That is, of course, only
true in regard to the chiefs and leaders; for the population of
Khurasan, Badakhshan and Kabul were more Iranian than Turkish.
Not till he crossed the Sind or Indus river did Babur encounter rulers
and chiefs of Indo-Aryan stock, and whereas the first twenty years
of his active life were spent in competition with Tatar chiefs, his
last years (1524-30) were passed in fighting against Afghans and
Hindus. Hindustan was as foreign to him and to his army-in spite
## p. 9 (#41) ###############################################
i BUHLUL LODI
9
of the bond of Islam-as Egypt was to Napoleon and his French
troops.
Although the Punjab had been overrun by Tamerlane in 1398-9
this event had only caused a temporary interruption in the Turko-
Afghan period, which had begun with Qutb-ud-din Aibak in 1206.
This period had witnessed the rise and fall of six dynasties, none of
which lasted a full century. When Tamerlane invaded India he
brought to an end the Tughluq dynasty, which had ruled over Delhi
for nearly a hundred years. He left no prince to continue his con-
quest; all he did was to appoint Khizr Khan governor of Multan,
and for nearly forty years this man and his descendants ruled in
Delhi under the name of the Sayyid dynasty, the last of whom,
‘Ala-ud-Din (1444-50), abdicated in favour of Buhlul Lodi. On his
passage to India, however, Tamerlane had established his rule in all
the country between the Oxus and the Indus, and when at the
beginning of the sixteenth century his descendant Babur crossed the
Hindu Kush, he regarded not merely Kabul and Ghazni as his
lawful heritage, but even the Punjab. Recalling the precedent set
by the Mongols in the thirteenth century and by Tamerlane in the
fourteenth, it came as a complete surprise both to the Afghans and
to the Hindu rajas when Babur made it clear that he had come to
stay. But though he made the way ready for the Mughul Empire
.
of Delhi, it was only a military preparation, and his own son having
failed to put these gains on a lasting basis, it fell to the lot of his
grandson, Akbar, to turn all these advantages to permanent account.
When Buhlul Lodi, the elected head of a confederacy of Afghan
chiefs, appeared on the scene, the old empire of Delhi had really
ceased to exist. His grandfather had been governor of Multan under
Firuz Tughluq, and his father and several of his uncles had served
under the Sayyids. Buhlul annexed the Punjab to Delhi; his son
Sikandar Lodi during a reign of thirty years added considerably to
the kingdom he had inherited from his father. But the Delhi kingdom
was actually a congeries of semi-independent governorships mostly
held by Afghans (Lodis, Farmulis or Lohanis). Babur himself says
that when he first entered Hindustan this country was governed by
five Muslim and two pagan rulers, namely the Lodis in the Delhi
empire which extended from Bhera to Bihar; Sultan Muhammad
Muzaffar in Gujarat; the Bahmanis in the Deccan; Mahmud Khalji
in Malwa; Nusrat Shah in Bengal; the Raja of Vijayanagar, and
Rana Sanga in Chitor. In order to make himself master of Hindustan,
Babur would have to dispose of the Lodis and of Rana Sanga. The
leading dramatis personae in this Indian episode are Ibrahim Lodi--
the son of Sikandar Lodi, the son of Buhlul Lodi—who came to the
throne in 1517; and ‘Alam Khan or ‘Ala-ud-Din—another son of
Buhlul Lodi. Outside the ruling house were Daulat Khan, governor
of Lahore, the son of Tatar Khan, who held Sirhind and all the
## p. 10 (#42) ##############################################
10
BABUR
countries of the Punjab to the north of the Sutlej; Dilawar Khan,
Ghazi Khan and Hajji Khan, his sons; Hasan Khan Mewati, Biban-an
Afghan chief, king of Oudh—and Rana Sangram Singh, or Rana Sanga
of Chitor, who was the acknowledged head of the Hindu chiefs.
THE FOUR INVASIONS
There has been some disagreement among the Muslim historians
regarding the various invasions of Hindustan by Babur. Babur him.
self, writing in 1526 after the battle of Panipat, says that from the
time of his conquest of Kabul in 1505 his desire for Hindustan had
been constant, but that until 1519 it had not, for a variety of reasons,
been possible to make a move on that country, and so its territories
had remained unsubdued. At the beginning of this year, however,
Babur made a sudden descent on Bajaur which he captured after a
short siege. At the same time with a view to winning over the people
he concluded an alliance with the Yusufzais by marrying the daughter
of one of their chiefs; and when shortly after the fort of Bhera on the
Jhelum submitted without offering resistance Babur gave orders that
no violence should be done to the inhabitants or to their flocks and
crops. Babur himself evidently regarded his occupation of Bajaur
and Bhera as his first Indian expedition. “From then till now we
laboriously held tight to Hindustan, five times leading an army into
it. The fifth time. . . made Hindustan our conquest and possession. ”]
Abu-'l-Fazl also reckons that Babur made five expeditions, but he
regards the abortive expeditions of January, 1505, and of September,
1507, as the first and second, and the successful invasion in January,
1519, as the third. Abu-'l-Fazl confesses he could get no information
about his fourth expedition; the fifth is, of course, that which led
to the battle of Panipat. Unfortunately there is a gap in the Memoirs
between 2 January, 1520, and 16 November, 1525, so that we cannot
know precisely which expeditions Babur regarded as the second, third
and fourth
In January, 1505, Babur took Kohat and Tarbila in Multan, and
returned in May of that year without having crossed the Indus. In
September, 1507, he turned back owing to disagreement among his
chiefs after reaching Mandrawar.
In order to understand the circumstances which facilitated the
ultimate conquest of India by Babur, we must take up the narrative
where it broke off in chapter ix of vol. III of this series.
Ibrahim Shah Lodi, in 1523, was confronted with rebellion and
risings in all the outlying parts of his kingdom. His relations had
one and all turned against him, but his most serious rivals were his
uncle, ‘Alam Khan (also known as 'Ala-ud-din) who had been living
1 Memoirs, translated by Mrs Beveridge, p. 479.
## p. 11 (#43) ##############################################
'ALAM KHAN AND DAULAT KHAN
11
under the protection of Sultan Muzaffar of Gujarat (see vol. III,
p. 321), and Daulat Khan Lodi, the governor of Lahore. During
the revolts against Shah Ibrahim, Daulat Khan, who had formed the
confederacy, sent his son Ghazi Khan to Delhi in order to ascertain
the position of affairs at headquarters, and on his return to Lahore
Ghazi Khan warned his father that Ibrahim intended to deprive
him of his governorship. Daulat Khan was determined to resist, but
doubting his power to do so unaided he sent messengers to Kabul,
offering to acknowledge Babur as his sovereign in return for assistance.
Babur readily agreed, although 'Alam Khan, the uncle of Shah
Ibrahim, who had recently fled to Kabul, was at the time begging
Babur to place him on the throne of Delhi.
The Lodi army sent against Daulat Khan under the leadership
of Bihar Khan encountered Babur's army near Lahore and was
utterly defeated, and Babur found himself master of that city, a
victory which he quickly followed up by the capture of Dipalpur,
where he was joined by Daulat Khan and his two sons Ghazi and
Dilawar. Instead of handing over Lahore to Daulat Khan, Babur
only presented him with Jullundur and Sultanpur as assignments.
Daulat Khan was naturally disgusted and went into hiding with his
son Ghazi, intending to take the first opportunity which might offer
of regaining what he had lost. Dilawar Khan, who had acted
treacherously towards his father, was now given Sultanpur and the
title of Khan Khanan.
'Alam, who still aspired to the throne of Delhi, now offered Babur
the formal cession of Lahore if he would help him to achieve this
end. This offer on the part of a leading Lodi prince naturally appealed
to Babur, as it would give him a legitimate right to what he had only
taken by force. He therefore instructed his generals whom he had
left in Lahore to assist 'Alam Khan in his attack on Delhi. That
Babur himself could not take part in this expedition was due to the
fact that the Uzbegs were laying siege to Balkh, and as the safety
of this city was almost as vital to himself as to Shah Isma'il, to whom
it now belonged, he felt it incumbent upon him to go to the aid of
his Persian ally. 'Alam Khan now felt that the sooner he acted the
better, as it would not only be to his own advantage if he could
defeat his nephew Ibrahim without the personal aid of Babur, but
also because there was the risk that if things did not go well with
Babur, the Indian contingent might at any moment be recalled.
Daulat Khan, as soon as Babur left India, emerged from his hiding-
place, and with a view to the possible recovery of Lahore offered
to help 'Alam Khan to conquer Delhi. Babur's officers, however,
could not agree to this arrangement, in that Daulat Khan was no
longer on friendly terms with Babur. After much discussion it was
finally agreed that Daulat and his son Ghazi were to remain in
charge of the Punjab, while his other sons Dilawar and Hajji were
>
## p. 12 (#44) ##############################################
12
BABUR
to accompany ‘Alam Khan in his attack on Delhi. The attack came
to nothing-chiefly owing to treachery on both sides—and Ibrahim
still remained lord of Delhi. But Babur, who had disposed of his
troubles in the north, was not far off.
Leaving Mirza Kamran, then a mere child, in nominal charge
of Kabul and Qandahar, Babur set out over the Indus river to
Sialkot. On his march he was joined first by Humayun with the
troops from Badakhshan, and later on the same day by Khvaja
Kilan with the Ghazni troops. It was at Sialkot that Babur heard
of Alam Khan's failure to take Delhi. Daulat Khan and Ghazi, on
learning of Babur's approach, fled to the fortress of Milwat (Malot)
north of Lahore. Babur blockaded Milwat on every side and Daulat
Khan, seeing no hope of escape, capitulated. Daulat Khan died on
the way to Bhera, where he was to have been imprisoned. “Alam
Khan again fled to Babur, bringing with him a certain number of
his scattered troops, who had suffered severely at the hands of
Ibrahin. He arrived on foot and nearly destitute.
Lahore and its dependent provinces being practically subdued,
Babur was now able to devote his whole attention to the capture of
Delhi. Realising the political importance of having an Afghan prince
in his camp, he paid every attention to ‘Alam Khan suitable to his
rank; and, although the latter had everything to lose by Babur's
success, he was entrusted with a command both at Panipat and at
Khanua. The opposing parties were now both advancing to an
encounter. Ibrahim marched his main forces due north from Delhi
along the right bank of the Jumna, while a secondary force under
Hamid Khan moved up from Hissar Firuza in the south-west. This
force, coming into contact with Babur's right wing was totally routed
by Humayun, who was then eighteen years of age. This was Humayun's
first experience of battle. Babur marched to Ambala, and following
the river Jumna arrived at Panipat, which he occupied. Here Babur,
whose forces probably numbered some 25,000, took up a defensive
position, drawing up his army in a long line. On his extreme right
.
were the town and suburbs of Panipat. His centre was protected by
rows of movable carts (araba), seven hundred in number, connected
by twisted bull-hides; between every pair of guns there were six or
seven movable breastworks (tura) for the protection of the matchlock
men. In the centre (ghul) was Babur himself. His left was protected
by ditches and branches of trees. His principal officers were Humayun
and Khvaja Kilan on the right, Muhammad Sultan Mirza and Mahdi
Khvaja on the left, Chin Timur Sultan on the right centre (ung-ghul),
and Mir Ali Khalifa--the Prime Minister on the left centre (sul-
ghul). On the extreme right and left of the whole line were strong
1 Ghazi Khan seems to have been a man of culture and taste, for Babur speaks
of his library where he found precious books, which he divided between Huma-
yun and Kamran.
## p. 13 (#45) ##############################################
a
THE BATTLE OF PANIPAT
13
flanking parties (tulghama), ready at a moment's notice to wheel round
and take the enemy in the flank or rear. On 12 April Babur was ready
to receive Ibrahim's attack, but for eight days nothing happened,
except for the attempt of small parties of the emperor's troops to
vex the enemy by riding up to their camp and shooting arrows
among them. On 20 April Babur, growing impatient, sent out a
force of four or five thousand men to make a night attack, which
though badly conducted had the desired effect of making Ibrahim
move. On 21 April at day break the Afghans were seen to approach.
Ibrahim had with him 100,000 men and nearly 1000 elephants. It
seemed that the main attack was to be made on the emperor's right.
At first they moved forward at a quick pace in the manner of shock
troops, and the first slackening of their speed when they came near
Babur's defences caused confusion with the lines which were follow-
ing close on their heels. Babur at once took advantage of this check
to use his flanking parties, which wheeled round and attacked the
enemy in the rear. In the meanwhile the emperor's left wing under
Mahdi Khvaja had been faring badly at the hands of the Afghans,
but strong support being sent from the centre, the Mughuls were
able to repel them. At this juncture Babur ordered his gunners to
open fire, and then the main attacking force of the Afghans found
themselves exposed to arrows on either flank and to shot or bullets
in front. The battle lasted till noon and was throughout most hotly
contested, but the superior strategy and experience of the Timurid
prince enabled him to bring confusion among the vastly superior
numbers of the Afghans, who finally took to flight leaving, it is said,
over 15,000 dead on the field, including Sultan Ibrahim himself and
Vikramajit the old Raja of Gwalior, who had fought nobly on the
side of the man who had but lately deprived him of his principality.
Babur's first care now was to secure the public treasures of Delhi
and Agra, and to prevent plundering by his victorious army. He
himself entered Delhi and Humayun was sent forward to Agra, which
still held out: and though he was not able at once to enter the forts,
he prevented any treasure being carried off. An incident now
occurred which has its place among the romantic anecdotes of Indian
history. The wives and children of the Raja of Gwalior, who had
been left in the fort of Agra, were seized, while attempting to escape,
by Humayun's men. Humayun, hearing of this, treated them with
the utmost courtesy and protected them from their captors. In order
to show their gratitude to the young prince they presented him with
jewels and precious stones; among these was a diamond of enormous
value, which has been identified with the famous Koh-i-Nur now in
the Tower of London. Humayun handed over this diamond by way
of homage to his father, who returned it to him as a gift. On the
Friday following Babur's arrival in Delhi (27 April, 15261) his name
1 Hodivala, Historical Studies in Mughul Numismatics, pp. 261-2.
## p. 14 (#46) ##############################################
14
BABUR
1
.
was read in the Grand Mosque as "Emperor of Hindustan" and his
highest ambition was at last attained. In his Memoirs Babur com-
pares his own success to the similar achievements of Sultan Mahmud
of Ghazni and of Sultan Shihab-ud-Din Ghuri, and points out that
though he owed everything to divine favour, his own performance
was infinitely superior to theirs for they had had at their disposal
enormous resources in men and money.
The Indian summer having now set in, Babur's most devoted chiefs
and followers were beginning to murmur, including the loyal Khvaja
Kilan, who, advocating that Babur should follow the example of
Tamerlane and abandon Hindustan, was allowed to withdraw and
become governor of Ghazni; to others was offered the choice of
staying or returning.
No chapter in the Memoirs is more interesting than that containing
Babur's description of India and its fauna and flora, which follows
his description of the battle of Panipat. It is fitting in this place to
quote his general impressions of this country :
Hindustan is a country of few charms. Its people have no good looks; of
social intercourse, paying and receiving visits there is none; of genius and
capacity none; of manners none; in handicraft and work there is no form or
symmetry, method or quality; there are no good horses, no good dogs, no grapes,
musk-melons or first-rate fruits, no ice or cold water, no good bread or cooked
food in the bazars, no hot-baths, no colleges, no candles, torches or candlesticks.
In place of candle and torch they have a great dirty gang they call lamp-men
(diwati), who in the left hand hold a smallish wooden tripod to one corner of
which a thing like the top of a candlestick is fixed, having a wick in it about
as thick as the thumb. In the right hand they hold a gourd, through a narrow
slit made in which oil is let trickle in a thin thread when the wick needs it.
Great people keep a hundred or two of these lamp-men. This is the Hindustan
substitute for lamps and candlesticks! If their rulers and begs have work at
night needing candles, these dirty lamp-men bring these lamps, go close up
and there stand.
Except their large rivers and their standing-waters which flow in ravines or
hollows (there are no waters). There are no running-waters in their gardens
or residence (‘imaratlar). These residences have no charm, air (hawa),
regularity or symmetry.
Peasants and people of low standing go about naked. They tie on a thing
called languta, a decency-clout which hangs two spans below the navel. From
the tie of this pendant decency-clout, another clout is passed between the
thighs and made fast behind. Women also tie on a cloth (lang), one-half of
which goes round the waist, the other is thrown over the head.
Pleasant things of Hindustan are that it is a large country and has masses
of gold and silver. Its air in the Rains is very fine. Sometimes it rains 10, 15 or
20 times a day; torrents pour down all at once and rivers flow where no water
had been While it rains and through the Rains, the air is remarkably fine,
not to be surpassed for healthiness and charm. . The fault is that the air
becomes very soft and damp. A bow of those (Transoxanian) countries after
going through the Rains in Hindustan, may not be drawn even; it is ruined;
not only the bow, everything is affected, armour, book, cloth, and utensils all;
a house even does not last long. Not only in the Rains but also in the cold
and the hot seasons, the airs are excellent; at these times, however, the north-
west wind constantly gets up laden with dust and earth. It gets up in great
strength every year in the heats, under the Bull and Twins, when the Rains
## p. 15 (#47) ##############################################
BABUR SETTLES IN HINDUSTAN
15
are near; so strong and carrying so much dust and earth that there is no seeing
one another. People call this wind Darkener of the Sky (H. andhi). The
weather is hot under the Bull and Twins, but not intolerably so, not so hot as
in Balkh and Qandahar and not for half so long.
Another good thing in Hindustan is that it has unnumbered and endless
workmen of every kind. There is a fixed caste (jamʻi) for every sort of work
and for every thing, which has done that work or that thing from father to
son till now. Muila Sharaf, writing in the Zafar-nama about the building of
Timur Beg's Stone Mosque, lays stress on the fact that on it 200 stone-cutters
worked, from Azarbaijan, Fars, Hindustan and other countries. But 680 men
worked daily on my buildings in Agra and of Agra stone-cutters only; while
1491 stone-cutters worked daily on my buildings in Agra, Sikri, Biana
(Bayana), Dholpur, Gwaliar and Kol. In the same way there are numberless
artisans and workmen of every sort in Hindustan. (Memoirs, pp. 518-29. )
The difficulties with which Babur was now confronted cannot be
better described than in his own words :
On our first coming to Agra, there was remarkable dislike and hostility
between its people and mine, the peasantry and soldiers running away in fear
of our men. Delhi and Agra excepted, not a fortified town but strengthened
its defences and neither was in obedience nor submitted. Qasim Sambhali
was in Sambhal; Nizam Khan was in Biana; in Mewat was Hasan Khan
Mewati himself-impious mannikin! -who was the sole leader of the trouble
and mischief. Muhammad Zaitun was in Dholpur; Tatar Khan Sarang-khani
was in Gwaliar; Husain Khan Nuhani was in Rapri; Qutb Khan was in Itawa
(Etawa); 'Alam Khan (Kalpi) was in Kalpi. Qanauj and the other side of
Gang (Ganges) was all held by Afghans in independent hostility, such as
Nasir Khan Nuhani, Ma'ruf Farmuli and a crowd of other amirs. These had
been in rebellion for three or four years before Ibrahim's death and when I
defeated him, were holding Qanauj and the whole country beyond it.
At
the present time they were lying two or three marches on our side of Qanauj
and had made Bihar Khan the son of Darya Khan Nuhani their padshah, under
the style Sultan Muhammad. Marghub the slave was in Mahawin (Mahaban);
he remained there, thus close, for some time but came no nearer.
It was the hot-season when we came to Agra. All the inhabitants had run
away in terror. Neither grain for ourselves nor corn for our horses was to
be had. The villages, out of hostility and hatred to us, had taken to thieving
and highway-robbery; there was no moving on the roads. There had been no
chance since the treasure was distributed to send men in strength into the
parganas and elsewhere. Moreover the year was a very hot one; violent pesti-
lential winds struck people down in heaps together; masses began to die off.
On these accounts the greater part of the begs and best braves became
unwilling to stay in Hindustan, indeed set their faces for leaving it. It is no
reproach to old and experienced begs if they speak of such matters; even if
they do so, this man (Babur) has enough sense and reason to get at what is
honest or what is mutinous in their representations, to distinguish between
loss and gain. But as this man had seen his task whole, for himself, when he
resolved on it, what taste was there in their reiterating that things should be
done differently? What recommends the expression of distasteful opinions by
men of little standing ? Here is a curious thing: This last time of our riding
out from Kabul, a few men of little standing had just been made begs; what I
looked for from them was that if I went through fire and water and came out
again, they would have gone in with me unhesitatingly, and with me have come
out, that wherever I went, there at my side would they be-not that they would
speak against my fixed purpose, not that they would turn back from any task
or great affair on which, all counselling, all consenting, we had resolved, so long
as that counsel was not abandoned. Badly as these new begs behaved, Secretary
## p. 16 (#48) ##############################################
16
BABUR
Ahmadi and Treasurer Wali behaved still worse. Khwaja Kilan had done well
in the march out from Kabul, in Ibrahim's defeat and until Agra was occupied:
he had spoken bold words and shewn ambitious views. But a few days after
the capture of Agra, all his views changed—the one zealous for departure at
any price was Khwaja Kilan.
When I knew of this unsteadiness amongst (my) people, I summoned all the
begs and took counsel. Said I, “There is no supremacy and grip on the world
without means and resources; without lands and retainers sovereignty and com-
mand are impossible. By the labours of several years, by encountering hardship,
by long travel, by flinging myself and the army into battle, and by deadly
slaughter, we, through God's grace, beat these masses of enemies in order that
we might take their broad lands. And now what force compels us, what
necessity has arisen that we should, without cause, abandon countries taken at
such risk of life? Was it for us to remain in Kabul, the sport of harsh poverty?
Henceforth, let no well-wisher of mine speak of such things ! But let not those
turn back from going who, weak in strong persistence, have set their faces to
depart ! ” By these words, which recalled just and reasonable views to their
minds, I made them, willy-nilly, quit their fears. (Memoirs, pp. 523-5. )
Meanwhile, some of the Afghan chiefs set up Ibrahim's brother,
Mahmud, but most of them, seeing that Babur, who had made Agra
his headquarters, had come to stay and did not, like Tamerlane,
intend to withdraw, laid down their arms. While Babur was in Kabul,
Rana Sanga of Chitor (the modern Udaipur), who was at this time
recognised as head of all the Rajputs, had exchanged friendly
embassies with him, and had even offered to help him against
Ibrahim. His life had been one of constant wars, in the course of
which he had defeated Sultan Mahmud Khalji, and captured the
provinces of Bhilsa, Sarangpur, Chanderi and Ranthambhor. He is
said to have been so often wounded in battle that in addition to
having eighty scars he had but one eye and one arm and was a cripple.
He is said to have had at his disposal when necessary seven rajas and
one hundred and four chiefs. But Babur as emperor of Delhi and
Babur as a leader of raids from Kabul were two different people,
and Rana Sanga now declared war against him, and for the first
time Babur found himself engaged in a jihad or Holy War against
the idolator. Humayun meanwhile was sent on a punitive expedition
against the various amirs in the east, who under Nasir Khan Nuhani
and Ma'ruf Farmuli had taken Kanauj. During this expedition
Humayun took Jaunpur and Ghazipur. Gwalior was also taken bv
a stratagem, of which Babur gives a vivid account. It may be
mentioned that after the capture of Gwalior, Babur had a narrow
escape from death by poisoning, for which Sultan Ibrahim's mother
was responsible. Rana Sanga now marched on Bayana, where Mahdi
Khvaja was governor, but the troops who came out to oppose the
Rana, being unable to withstand him, turned back. The Rana, who
had now been joined by a number of powerful chiefs including
Silahdi (Silah-ud-Din) of Raisen (30,000 horse) and Hasan Khan,
the renegade raja of Mewat (12,000 horse), advanced with 100. 000
horse to a hill near Khanua, a village in the Bharatpur state thirty-
>
## p. 17 (#49) ##############################################
THE BATTLE OF KHANUA
:17
seven miles west of Agra. - Babur was at this moment in a highly
precarious position, being practically surrounded in his camp on all
sides by an enemy in possession of the open country. As he himself
confesses, he was at this crisis overwhelmed by religious compunctior.
He had on many occasions intended to give up wine drinking, and
now he issued a farman on the subject, and having disposed of all his
gold and silver wine vessels he poured his wine into a well. He
further vowed that he would remit the tamgha or stamp duty to all
Muslims. As before the battle of Panipat, he found it necessary to
speak stirring words of encouragement to his troops, who were even
more dejected than their master. On 16 March, 1527, was fought the
.
battle of Khanua. Babur again adopted the araba formation. He
himself was in the centre; Chin Timur and Khusrav Kukiltash were
on the right; Humayun (who had returned from his successful cam-
paign in the east), Dilawar Khan Khanan and other Indian nobles
were also on the right wing; Sayyid Mahdi Khvaja was on the left;
and on the right and left were flanking parties; the artillery line was
commanded by Nizam-ud-din 'Ali Khalifa. The Rana's left wing
opened the battle by attacking Babur's right, but was driven back
by Chin Timur. Mustafa Rumi, the Turkish gunner, brought for-
ward the carts and guns from the centre of Humayun's division, and
broke the enemy's ranks. Then followed an attack by the Rana's
right wing, which was repulsed, and finally Babur led his centre
forward. After ten hours' fighting Babur's forces were victorious,
and the Rana took to flight. Hasan Khan Mewati was among the
slain. Sultan Mahmud Lodi who was present at the battle escaped.
After his victory over Rana Sanga, Babur proceeded to reduce Mewat,
and on 7 April, 1527, he entered its capital Alwar in triumph. By
the end of 1527 Babur's authority was established everywhere except
in Oudh.
- Meanwhile Medini Rai, a Rajput chief, had established himself
in Chanderi on the borders of Bundelkhand and Malwa. Here he was
besieged by Pabur. The garrison on the second day gave up all hope
of resistance, and having put their women to death they rushed out
naked to perish, but not to be captured (29 January, 1528). Humayun
with a large contingent, taking advantage of Babur's promise made
before the battle of Khanua that all who pleased might go on leave
to Kabul, was now despatched to Badakhshan, while Babur himself
set cut to punish Biban, who had repulsed the Mughul army in
Oudh and captured Lucknow. Crossing the Ganges Babur speedily
defeated Biban and drove him into Bengal. Sultan Mahmud Lodi,
the brother of Ibrahim, had meanwhile occupied Bihar, and he now
with a force of 100,000 men advanced on Benares, where he was put
to flight. On 6 May, 1529, Babur won his third great battle in India,
at the junction of the Ganges and its tributary the Gogra, whence
it has come to be known as the battle of the Gogra. In this engage-
2
## p. 18 (#50) ##############################################
18
BABUR
ment he was opposed by the Afghan chiefs who had taken up the
cause of Sultan Mahmud Lodi. Babur gives a very detailed account
of the campaign leading up to this battle, which reads like a diary
kept from day to day. The progress of the battle itself, in which
much use was made both of boats and of artillery, is, however, by
no means easy to follow. As a result of this victory Babur was joined
by nearly all the Afghan chiefs and amirs; and was able to conclude
a treaty of peace with Nusrat Shah, king of Bengal, by which he
himself became sovereign of Bihar.
Humayun having spent a year in Badakhshan, where in obedience
to his father's commands he had refrained from attempting the recap-
ture of Samarqand, set out for Kabul and thence for Agra. He was
next sent to his jagir Sambhal. At the end of six months he was
suddenly attacked by fever. This caused Babur so much anxiety that
he caused Humayun to be brought to Agra. The most learned
doctors were at a loss for a remedy. A famous saint, Mir Abu Baqa,
being called in to advise, said that when physicians were at a loss,
the patient should give in alms the most valuable thing he had and
should seek remedy from God. Babur thereupon said: "I am the
.
most valuable thing that Humayun possesses. . . . I shall make myself
a sacrifice for him. May God the Creator accept it. ”i Babur was
shortly after taken ill, and Humayun recovered : as he lay dying,
Babur appointed Humayun his successor. Mir Khalifa, having
formed a bad opinion of Humayun, desired to place Mahdi Khvaja,
Babur's brother-in-law, on the throne, but he changed his mind, it
would seem, on account of the arrogant behaviour of the Khvaja.
Babur died in Agra on 26 December, 1530. ”
The Indian career of the Turki prince Babur did not actually
begin till his capture of Lahore in 1524, and he died in 1530. It
therefore took him only six years to lay the foundations of a vast
empire the rulers of which, real or nominal, continued down to the
middle of the nineteenth century. It is interesting to recall that his
famous ancestor Timur had, in 1397, invaded northern India, and
entered Delhi in 1398 as a conqueror. But Tamerlane's ambitions
were too great for him to treat his Indian campaign as more than
a raid. That Babur should have confined his conquering activities
to northern India, after consolidating his power between the Oxus
and Kashmir, was, no doubt, partly due to the fact that he had been
helped by the powerful founder of the Safavid kingdom, Shah Isma'il,
with whom, much against his better Sunni feelings, he had made an
alliance which had lasted twenty months (A. H. 917-18-A. D. 1511-12).
There could, therefore, be no question of attacking Persia, even had
he been strong enough to do so. It was as lord of Kabul that he cast
longing glances across the Hindu Kush.
The question naturally presents itself: how did Babur keep such
1 Akbar-nama, p. 276.
? Hodivala, p. 262.
## p. 19 (#51) ##############################################
BABUR'S CHARACTER
19
a detailed record of his own doings from the age of eleven (A. H. 899) ?
Not only his own doings, but those of his relations are recorded in
full detail. And whence did he derive all this information, bio-
graphical and geographical? Mirza Haidar Dughlat had the same
gift: he tells us he wrote the Tarikh-i-Rashidi because the memory
of the Mughuls and their Khans—i. e. the eastern branch of the
Chaghatai-stood in danger of being altogether lost through want of
a chronicler. The earlier Mongols, Chingiz and his descendants, had
been fortunate in their chroniclers in their own day. It was the
descendants of Tamerlane, however, Babur, Mirza Haidar, Gulbadan
Begam, who first among princes undertook to write autobiographies,
while Humayun, Jahangir (for part of his reign) and Shah Jahan
were content to have their memoirs written by personal attendants.
There are very few examples in history of a great conqueror who was
also an eminent poet, though many soldiers, like Julius Caesar and
Xenophon, have been men of letters. Babur was a sufficiently good
poet (in Turki) to have become famous on that account alone, had
he achieved no fame as a soldier or ruler.
In writing an epitome of the emperor Babur's career, having in
view only the part he played in the history of his times, the romantic
side of this remarkable man's personal character has perforce been
relegated to the background: but in conclusion a few words may be
said regarding his private life.
Babur was one of those men who are so active in mind and body
that they are never idle and always find time for everything. Excepting
during the three years when he was hiding in Tashkent under the
protection of the Sultan of Kashghar he knew no rest, and he himself
says towards the end of his life that he had never kept the Fast of
Ramazan twice in any one place. He was pre-eminently human,
and has drawn a picture of himself in his memoirs in which no attempt
is made to hide either his virtues or his vices. He was a rigid Sunni
Muslim, and both orthodox and superstitious in his beliefs. When in
order to please the Shiah Shah Isma'il he adopted the Qizilbash
head-dress for himself and his soldiers, he showed a form of mora!
courage reminding one of his grandson Akbar, who while still pro-
fessing Islam displayed the utmost leniency towards Hindus and
Christians : and if Babur's motive was purely political, it required
no little self-reliance to face the sarcasm and derision which this
head-dress provoked among the zealous Sunnis of Transoxiana: not
to mention the hatred in which the name of Shah Isma'il was held
by reason of his cruelty towards the Sunnis of Khurasan.
As a soldier Babur was, like most of his race, fearless in battle, and
as a general he was a great tactician with a keen eye to detect any
mistake on the part of his opponents. He was also one of the first
military commanders in Asia to appreciate the value of artillery.
As a diplomatist he seems to have shown much more cunning and
## p. 20 (#52) ##############################################
20
BABUR
skill in dealing with the Afghans than with his own people and
the manner in which he played off the rebellious amirs of Sultan
Ibrahim against each other was worthy of a Machiaveili.
While inheriting a savagery common to all the Mongols and
Turks, and a total disregard for human life, he was capable of great
generosity in forgiving those who had behaved ill towards him. Like
all his family he was strongly addicted to intemperance, though his
drinking bouts were always followed by very sincere repentance.
He had a love for the beauties of nature probably rare in his day,
something apart from a delight in the artificial beauties of poetry,
which was common to all his co-religionists whether Turks or Persians.
His careful descriptions of the animals and plants of India reves)
great powers of observation. These portions of his memoirs read like
the notes of a peace-loving naturalist rather than those of a restless
warrior.
The Memoirs of Babur must be reckoned among the most enthral-
ling and romantic works in the literature of all time. They were
written in that form of Turkish known as Turki, which was Bahur's
mother-tongue. As we possess them they are not complete; all the
copies known to us contain gaps from 1508 to 1519, from 1520 to
1525 and from 1529 to 1530. A more complete copy was apparently
known to his cousin Mirza Haidar, the author of the Tarikh-i-Rashidi.
but the translation into Persian made in 1589 by Khan Khanan
'Abdur-Rahim, the son of Bairam Khan, contains the same gaps as
the Haidarabad Codex, from which Mrs Annette Beveridge made
her admirable English translation.
Babur was a real poet, and apart from the incidental verses intro-
duced in his memoirs we have from his pen a small collection of
Turki lyrics, which bear comparison with the best poetry of his day!
He also wrote a religious pcem called the Mubayyin, and about two
years before his death he wrote a versified rendering of the Risala-i-
Walidiyya, a pious tract written by the famous Khwaja Ahrar in
honour of his parents:
See Divan-i-Babur Padishah, edited with facsimile by E. Denison Ross.
Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1910. This edition was based on a
unique MS. in the library of the Nawab of Rampur:
## p. 21 (#53) ##############################################
CHAPTER II
HUMAYUN
ALTHOUGH Babur had recognised his eldest son Humayun as
successor to the large territory he had acquired, the new ruler's
position was extremely insecure. As he lay dying Babur had warned
Humayun of the possibility of claims by the three other brothers and
had charged him always to forgive their faults.
By force of arms the Mughuls had imposed themselves on northern
India, but they had been so occupied in fighting that they had hardly
begun to rule, and India was still only an outlying portion of the
realm, Kabul being the proper capital and centre. Their generals
were still soldiers and not administrators, and, as Babur had said on
his first conquest of Kabul, the scheme of government was still saifi
(by the sword) not qalami (by the pen). To strengthen his position
Babur had invited members of the families of Timur and Chingiz
freely to join him. Not a few with royal blood in their veins were
possible claimants to the throne recently vacated. In the occupied
area were many turbulent elements excited by the century of chaos
which had followed Timur's invasion, and among these, especially
towards the east, were many Afghans belonging to the last dynasty
which had ruled. Babur had met and defeated the Rajputs, but had
not subdued them, and they, more than the other sections of Indians
in the north, had a strong national instinct. South-east of Rajputana
lay Gujarat, where Bahadur Shah was reviving and extending the
kingdom of his predecessors. "
Humayun, taking his insecure seat on the throne four days after
his father's death, assigned the westerly Punjab, Kabul and Qandahar
to be governed by his brother Kamran, and made smaller provisions
for the two younger brothers. He then proceeded early in 1531 to
besiege the strong fortress of Kalinjar in Bundelkhand, which might
be used as a base for attacks on the lower Duab. During these
operations he received news that Mahmud Lodi, brother of the late
king Ibrahim Lodi, who had received support in Bengal, had invaded
the east of his territory and taken Jaunpur. Humayun marched
rapidly towards Jaunpur and defeated the Afghans. They were
scattered for a time, but Sher Khan, who was reported to have failed
to support Mahmud Lodi at the critical time and was the ables!
1 There was even a plot in favour of Mahdi Khvaja, brother-in-law of Babu:.
(Humayun-nama, pp. 25 and 298. )
2 See vol. II, chap XIII.
3 The site of the battle was probably in the Daunrua estate, on the banks of
the Sai river, 15 miles east of Jaunpur.
4 For Sher Khan's earlier history see chap. III.
## p. 22 (#54) ##############################################
22
HUMAYUN
leader among them, began a fresh concentration. In order to break
this up Humayun despatched an army to invest the stronghold of
Chunar on the Ganges south of Benares, and followed it himself.
Before any results could be obtained other embarrassments led him
to arrange a peace by which Sher Khan was left to continue his plans
for an Afghan supremacy in the east. Kamran, since his father's
death, had cherished hopes of gaining the whole of Babur's territory
in spite of the ample provision he had received. Leaving his brother
'Askari in charge of Qandahar he advanced with an army to Lahore
which he secured by a cunning stratagem, as the governor refused
to be false to his trust. At the same time he continued to assure
Humayun of his loyalty and actually received a further grant
of territory round Hissar Firuza which had been Humayun's own
governorship and for some generations to come was regarded as the
holding of the Mughul heir apparent.
by a handful of men and women, a refugee without a home and
without a destination. Shaibani Khan, the Uzbeg, in the meanwhile
had become master of Transoxiana, and had put to flight Khusrav
Shah, the governor of Qunduz. This disaster and the consequent
dispersal of Khusrav's army came as a blessing to Babur, to whose
camp large numbers of deserters fled. Those chiefs who now attached
themselves to Babur were called the "Guest Begs". Babur now
found himself at the head of a force of over four thousand men
(according to Mirza Haidar, twenty thousand) and he was obliged
to choose between marching to help in the defence of Herat which
1
1
## p. 5 (#37) ###############################################
BABUR'S FIRST RAID INTO INDIA
5
was being attacked by Shaibani Khan, or of moving farther south,
over the Hindu Kush. Feeling his forces were not sufficiently strong
to cope with Shaibani's large army, he chose the latter alternative.
Having led his men over the formidable passes of the Hindu Kush,
he came at last within sight of Kabul. As we have seen, Kabul
had on the death of his father Abu Sa'id passed into the hands of
Ulugh Beg, on whose death in 1501 it went to his son 'Abdur-Razzaq,
who had been immediately displaced by Muqim the Arghun. Had
Babur found Kabul safely in the power of his cousin 'Abdur-Razzaq,
ne would have had no good excuse for trying to take possession of
that important military post, but seeing that it was in the hands of
an usurper, whom 'Abdur-Razzaq had been unable to withstand,
he not only attacked but, as much by ruse as by daring, captured it,
and having done so asserted his hereditary right to the kingdom of
Kabul and pensioned off his cousin with an estate. We are justified
in assuming that it was while Babur was bringing order into his new
kingdom and somewhat vainly attempting to collect its revenues that
he was first inspired with his Indian dream. The temptations offered
by the fertile plains of Hindustan did not affect his passionate affec-
tion for the land of his birth, to which he so constantly refers in his
Memoirs, and it is unlikely that he had contemplated settling in
India until after his defeat at Ghazdawan in 1512. Moreover, to
conquer Hindustan did not necessarily mean lasting severance from
Turkestan; rather would success in the south give the means whereby
to recapture Farghana and Samarqand.
In January, 1505 Babur set out via Badam-chasma, Jagdalik,
Adinapur, Ningrahar, Jam-rud through the Khyber Pass and Kohat,
and thence along the mountains to the west of the Indus as far as
Dera Ghazi Khan. Although it was mid-winter he and his men,
encountering such climatic conditions as they had never before
experienced, suffered much from the sub-tropical sun of upper India.
The raid lasted four months, and by May 1506 Babur was back again
in Kabul (Abu-'l-Fazl's first invasion). In March, 1508, Humayun
was born in Kabul, of Babur's third wife Mahim. In the meanwhile
Shaibani Khan had captured Khiva, and was threatening Balkh.
Husain Baiqara, realising that the town of Herat was now endangered,
called on Babur and other princes of the Timurid house to come to
his rescue; and although Babur set out with all haste from Kabul
in response to this appeal, he had only reached Kahmard when news
came that the old Sultan was dead (May, 1506). Babur, nevertheless,
continued his march on Herat in order to oppose the Uzbeg Khan
in Khurasan, perhaps chiefly with the idea of saving the face of the
Timurids in general. On 26 October, 1506, he met the assembled
Mirzas, who persuaded him to spend the winter in Herat, but on
24 December, finding that no proper arrangements for winter quarters
had been made, he moved out of Herat and marched back over the
## p. 6 (#38) ###############################################
6
BABUR
1
snow-clad passes to Kabul, raiding the Hazaras on his way. Mean-
while there had been a conspiracy in Kabul to place his cousin
Mirza Khan, son of Mahmud Mirza, on the throne. He quickly
suppressed this rebellion. In the spring of 1507 Shaibani Khan set
out from Samarqand to invade Khurasan, and owing to the indeci-
sion of the Mirzas he was allowed to take Herat (June, 1507), which,
being in a wretched state of defence, fell at the explosion of the first
mine.
Babur had long desired to get possession of Qandahar on account
of its strategic importance. On the fall of Herat the Arghun princes
in Qandahar had appealed to Babur for military aid, but no sooner
had Babur set out than they changed their minds and determined
to oppose him. Babur, advancing by way of Qalat, which he took,
met Muqim and Shah Beg, the sons of Zu'n Nun Arghun, in a pitched
battle, in which the Arghuns were put to flight. Shortly afterwards
Nasir Mirza brought news that Shaibani Khan was on his way to
lay siege to Qandahar, having apparently been encouraged in this
enterprise by the fugitive Muqim. Shaibani fully expected to find
Babur in Qandahar, but Babur on this occasion did not display his
wonted courage. Instead of waiting to meet the Uzbegs he held a
council of war, at which it was decided to undertake a raid into
Hindustan, and in September, 1507, he set out on an expedition
which is regarded by Abu-'l-Fazl as Babur's second invasion of India.
Meanwhile Shaibani Khan had attacked Qandahar, but withdrew
without taking it, his presence being required in the north owing
to the rebellion of one of his chiefs. On reaching Mandrawar Babur
retraced his steps to Kabul, but whether this was on account of dis-
agreement among his nobles—for they had started without any fixed
plan-or as a result of Shaibani's withdrawal, we cannot determine.
It was on his return to Kabul from this expedition that Babur
ordered that he should in future be styled not Mirza (prince), but
Padishah (emperor). It was perhaps an unsuitable moment for him
to change his title, but it should be remembered that Kabul was the
only Timurid state which remained after the fall of Herat.
April, 1509, to April, 1510, was passed quietly in Kabul, but
exciting news began to arrive of the hostilities which had broken
out between Shah Ismail Safavi and the redoubtable Uzbeg Khan,
who had now been in possession of Transoxiana for about nine years.
In the summer of 1510 Shaibani had led an army against the elusive
Hazaras eastward of Herat, and, having failed to discover them, he
gave leave of absence to his troops for the winter; but no sooner had
he done so than news came that Shah Isma‘il had set out with his
army for Khurasan. Most of this province had been wrested from
the aged Sultan Husain (1506) by Shaibani, and his troops had even
penetrated into the province of Kirman. This led to an acrimonious
correspondence between the Shiah king and the Sunni usurper (con-
1
!
## p. 7 (#39) ###############################################
BABUR AND SHAH ISMAIL
7
taining taunting references to the possible visit of the former to
Meshed and of the latter to Mecca). Isma‘il, having overrun Khurasan
as far as Meshed, went in pursuit of Shaibani in the direction of
Marv, where the latter shut himself up. Isma'il, in order to bring
him out into the open, gave out that he was returning home after
paying a ceremonial visit to the Holy City of Meshed. The ruse had
the desired result, and on 2 December, 1510, a battle was engaged
outside Marv, in which Shaibani was defeated and slain. The Uzbegs
now withdrew from Khurasan into Transoxiana, and Isma'il wintered
in Herat. News of the victory at Mary was brought to Babur, who,
with hopes revived of regaining his lost territories, set out with all
possible speed via Bamian and reached Qunduz in January, 1511.
Shah Isma'il sent an embassy, laden with rich presents and bringing
Babur's sister Khanzada Begam, who had, as we have seen, been
given in marriage to Shaibani Khan. On the approach of Babur,
however, fearing the results of her devotion to her brother, Shaibani
had divorced her and married her to a man who afterwards fell in
the battle near Marv. Babur sent Khan Mirza to thank Isma'il and
to congratulate him on his victory over their common enemy; he
further suggested that Isma'il might help him to recover Transoxiana.
The latter consented and began to invade this country but, owing
to affairs in Azarbaijan which required his personal attention, he
accepted proposals of peace made by certain Uzbeg chiefs, and with-
drew again to Herat. In the meanwhile Babur learnt that his cousin
Mirza Haidar had driven the Uzbegs out of Farghana. Not long
after, Babur with the help of some Qizilbash_troops took Bukhara
and Samarqand, and the Uzbegs withdrew to Turkestan. In October,
1511, he was proclaimed king at Samarqand. His dominions now
included Tashkent and Kabul, Qunduz and Hisar, Samarqand,
Bukhara and Farghana.
When the Uzbegs, who had retired beyond the Jaxartes, learnt
that Shah Isma'il had withdrawn, they resolved to attempt the
recovery of Transoxiana. 'Ubaid-ullah Khan, who had succeeded his
uncle Shaibani Khan, now attacked Bukhara; whereupon Babur
moved out of Samarqand to meet him. In May, 1512, an encounter
took place at Kul-i-Malik, in which Babur was defeated, and, finding
it impossible to remain in Samarqand, he withdrew to Hisar, whither
the Uzbegs followed him in August. In the meanwhile Najm Beg
(Najm-i-Sani), who had been despatched to help Babur by Shah
Isma'il on reaching the frontier of Khurasan, hearing of Babur's
defeat at Kul-i-Malik, collected further troops from Herat, advanced
on Balkh and in October met Babur at the Darband-i-Ahanin. The
combined armies took Khuzar and moved on Qarshi, whose inhabi-
tants were put mercilessly to the sword, much to the disgust of Babur
who desired them to be spared. Najm Beg now advanced on Bukhara.
The Uzbegs entrenched themselves in the fort of Ghazdawan where
## p. 8 (#40) ###############################################
8
BABUR
they were besieged by Bairam Beg and Najm Beg, but it was winter
and, while the Uzbegs were well provisioned, Najm Beg was unable
to feed his troops. Babur and others advised him to withdraw to
Qarshi till the winter was over, and then to return with plentiful
supplies. Najm Beg agreed, but on the morrow the Uzbegs attacked
and utterly defeated the Persians. Babur, who was at this time thirty,
now abandoned all hope of reascending the throne of Samarqand
which he had won and lost no less than three times. His Mughul
allies turned against him and, barely escaping in his sleeping attire
from a sudden attack made on his camp, he withdrew first to Hisar
and then to Qunduz, and finally he again crossed to Hindu Kush and
returned to Kabul. Khan Mirza (Wais Mirza), the son of Mahmud
Mirza, was left in Badakhshan, which Babur still possessed and Nasir
Mirza, who had been left in charge of Kabul, was on Babur's return
appointed to Ghazni. His death, due to intemperate habits which
shortly after intervened, led to a revolt among the Mughul chiefs.
Babur, having disposed of this rebellion, now settled down for four
years (1515-18) to what was the nearest approach to a "quiet life"
that he had ever known. Muller says “Babur dedicated the next
four years to ceaseless wars in every direction, for without them it
was not possible to teach the mountain dwellers of Kabul and
Ghazni the respect due to his overlordship"—which means that he
conducted a series of punitive expeditions. Grenard states that these
expeditions were “merely an Asiatic method of advertising the advan-
tages of obedience". His raids were "shopping expeditions". For
example, Babur himself writes in one place: "We resolved that, since
grain was plentiful in Hashtnagar, it was expedient to lead a raid
against the Afghans there. ” At any rate, during these years Babur
undertook nothing in the nature of military expeditions on a larger
scale.
II
We may now turn to the second phase of Babur's career, namely
his invasions and conquest of Hindustan. In this part of his history
we shall encounter many names already familiar to the student of
these volumes; it may, nevertheless, be useful to enumerate some of
those persons with whom the narrative is mostly concerned. Hitherto
Babur had been dealing with men of his own race or of races closely
connected with it, either Mongols or Turks. That is, of course, only
true in regard to the chiefs and leaders; for the population of
Khurasan, Badakhshan and Kabul were more Iranian than Turkish.
Not till he crossed the Sind or Indus river did Babur encounter rulers
and chiefs of Indo-Aryan stock, and whereas the first twenty years
of his active life were spent in competition with Tatar chiefs, his
last years (1524-30) were passed in fighting against Afghans and
Hindus. Hindustan was as foreign to him and to his army-in spite
## p. 9 (#41) ###############################################
i BUHLUL LODI
9
of the bond of Islam-as Egypt was to Napoleon and his French
troops.
Although the Punjab had been overrun by Tamerlane in 1398-9
this event had only caused a temporary interruption in the Turko-
Afghan period, which had begun with Qutb-ud-din Aibak in 1206.
This period had witnessed the rise and fall of six dynasties, none of
which lasted a full century. When Tamerlane invaded India he
brought to an end the Tughluq dynasty, which had ruled over Delhi
for nearly a hundred years. He left no prince to continue his con-
quest; all he did was to appoint Khizr Khan governor of Multan,
and for nearly forty years this man and his descendants ruled in
Delhi under the name of the Sayyid dynasty, the last of whom,
‘Ala-ud-Din (1444-50), abdicated in favour of Buhlul Lodi. On his
passage to India, however, Tamerlane had established his rule in all
the country between the Oxus and the Indus, and when at the
beginning of the sixteenth century his descendant Babur crossed the
Hindu Kush, he regarded not merely Kabul and Ghazni as his
lawful heritage, but even the Punjab. Recalling the precedent set
by the Mongols in the thirteenth century and by Tamerlane in the
fourteenth, it came as a complete surprise both to the Afghans and
to the Hindu rajas when Babur made it clear that he had come to
stay. But though he made the way ready for the Mughul Empire
.
of Delhi, it was only a military preparation, and his own son having
failed to put these gains on a lasting basis, it fell to the lot of his
grandson, Akbar, to turn all these advantages to permanent account.
When Buhlul Lodi, the elected head of a confederacy of Afghan
chiefs, appeared on the scene, the old empire of Delhi had really
ceased to exist. His grandfather had been governor of Multan under
Firuz Tughluq, and his father and several of his uncles had served
under the Sayyids. Buhlul annexed the Punjab to Delhi; his son
Sikandar Lodi during a reign of thirty years added considerably to
the kingdom he had inherited from his father. But the Delhi kingdom
was actually a congeries of semi-independent governorships mostly
held by Afghans (Lodis, Farmulis or Lohanis). Babur himself says
that when he first entered Hindustan this country was governed by
five Muslim and two pagan rulers, namely the Lodis in the Delhi
empire which extended from Bhera to Bihar; Sultan Muhammad
Muzaffar in Gujarat; the Bahmanis in the Deccan; Mahmud Khalji
in Malwa; Nusrat Shah in Bengal; the Raja of Vijayanagar, and
Rana Sanga in Chitor. In order to make himself master of Hindustan,
Babur would have to dispose of the Lodis and of Rana Sanga. The
leading dramatis personae in this Indian episode are Ibrahim Lodi--
the son of Sikandar Lodi, the son of Buhlul Lodi—who came to the
throne in 1517; and ‘Alam Khan or ‘Ala-ud-Din—another son of
Buhlul Lodi. Outside the ruling house were Daulat Khan, governor
of Lahore, the son of Tatar Khan, who held Sirhind and all the
## p. 10 (#42) ##############################################
10
BABUR
countries of the Punjab to the north of the Sutlej; Dilawar Khan,
Ghazi Khan and Hajji Khan, his sons; Hasan Khan Mewati, Biban-an
Afghan chief, king of Oudh—and Rana Sangram Singh, or Rana Sanga
of Chitor, who was the acknowledged head of the Hindu chiefs.
THE FOUR INVASIONS
There has been some disagreement among the Muslim historians
regarding the various invasions of Hindustan by Babur. Babur him.
self, writing in 1526 after the battle of Panipat, says that from the
time of his conquest of Kabul in 1505 his desire for Hindustan had
been constant, but that until 1519 it had not, for a variety of reasons,
been possible to make a move on that country, and so its territories
had remained unsubdued. At the beginning of this year, however,
Babur made a sudden descent on Bajaur which he captured after a
short siege. At the same time with a view to winning over the people
he concluded an alliance with the Yusufzais by marrying the daughter
of one of their chiefs; and when shortly after the fort of Bhera on the
Jhelum submitted without offering resistance Babur gave orders that
no violence should be done to the inhabitants or to their flocks and
crops. Babur himself evidently regarded his occupation of Bajaur
and Bhera as his first Indian expedition. “From then till now we
laboriously held tight to Hindustan, five times leading an army into
it. The fifth time. . . made Hindustan our conquest and possession. ”]
Abu-'l-Fazl also reckons that Babur made five expeditions, but he
regards the abortive expeditions of January, 1505, and of September,
1507, as the first and second, and the successful invasion in January,
1519, as the third. Abu-'l-Fazl confesses he could get no information
about his fourth expedition; the fifth is, of course, that which led
to the battle of Panipat. Unfortunately there is a gap in the Memoirs
between 2 January, 1520, and 16 November, 1525, so that we cannot
know precisely which expeditions Babur regarded as the second, third
and fourth
In January, 1505, Babur took Kohat and Tarbila in Multan, and
returned in May of that year without having crossed the Indus. In
September, 1507, he turned back owing to disagreement among his
chiefs after reaching Mandrawar.
In order to understand the circumstances which facilitated the
ultimate conquest of India by Babur, we must take up the narrative
where it broke off in chapter ix of vol. III of this series.
Ibrahim Shah Lodi, in 1523, was confronted with rebellion and
risings in all the outlying parts of his kingdom. His relations had
one and all turned against him, but his most serious rivals were his
uncle, ‘Alam Khan (also known as 'Ala-ud-din) who had been living
1 Memoirs, translated by Mrs Beveridge, p. 479.
## p. 11 (#43) ##############################################
'ALAM KHAN AND DAULAT KHAN
11
under the protection of Sultan Muzaffar of Gujarat (see vol. III,
p. 321), and Daulat Khan Lodi, the governor of Lahore. During
the revolts against Shah Ibrahim, Daulat Khan, who had formed the
confederacy, sent his son Ghazi Khan to Delhi in order to ascertain
the position of affairs at headquarters, and on his return to Lahore
Ghazi Khan warned his father that Ibrahim intended to deprive
him of his governorship. Daulat Khan was determined to resist, but
doubting his power to do so unaided he sent messengers to Kabul,
offering to acknowledge Babur as his sovereign in return for assistance.
Babur readily agreed, although 'Alam Khan, the uncle of Shah
Ibrahim, who had recently fled to Kabul, was at the time begging
Babur to place him on the throne of Delhi.
The Lodi army sent against Daulat Khan under the leadership
of Bihar Khan encountered Babur's army near Lahore and was
utterly defeated, and Babur found himself master of that city, a
victory which he quickly followed up by the capture of Dipalpur,
where he was joined by Daulat Khan and his two sons Ghazi and
Dilawar. Instead of handing over Lahore to Daulat Khan, Babur
only presented him with Jullundur and Sultanpur as assignments.
Daulat Khan was naturally disgusted and went into hiding with his
son Ghazi, intending to take the first opportunity which might offer
of regaining what he had lost. Dilawar Khan, who had acted
treacherously towards his father, was now given Sultanpur and the
title of Khan Khanan.
'Alam, who still aspired to the throne of Delhi, now offered Babur
the formal cession of Lahore if he would help him to achieve this
end. This offer on the part of a leading Lodi prince naturally appealed
to Babur, as it would give him a legitimate right to what he had only
taken by force. He therefore instructed his generals whom he had
left in Lahore to assist 'Alam Khan in his attack on Delhi. That
Babur himself could not take part in this expedition was due to the
fact that the Uzbegs were laying siege to Balkh, and as the safety
of this city was almost as vital to himself as to Shah Isma'il, to whom
it now belonged, he felt it incumbent upon him to go to the aid of
his Persian ally. 'Alam Khan now felt that the sooner he acted the
better, as it would not only be to his own advantage if he could
defeat his nephew Ibrahim without the personal aid of Babur, but
also because there was the risk that if things did not go well with
Babur, the Indian contingent might at any moment be recalled.
Daulat Khan, as soon as Babur left India, emerged from his hiding-
place, and with a view to the possible recovery of Lahore offered
to help 'Alam Khan to conquer Delhi. Babur's officers, however,
could not agree to this arrangement, in that Daulat Khan was no
longer on friendly terms with Babur. After much discussion it was
finally agreed that Daulat and his son Ghazi were to remain in
charge of the Punjab, while his other sons Dilawar and Hajji were
>
## p. 12 (#44) ##############################################
12
BABUR
to accompany ‘Alam Khan in his attack on Delhi. The attack came
to nothing-chiefly owing to treachery on both sides—and Ibrahim
still remained lord of Delhi. But Babur, who had disposed of his
troubles in the north, was not far off.
Leaving Mirza Kamran, then a mere child, in nominal charge
of Kabul and Qandahar, Babur set out over the Indus river to
Sialkot. On his march he was joined first by Humayun with the
troops from Badakhshan, and later on the same day by Khvaja
Kilan with the Ghazni troops. It was at Sialkot that Babur heard
of Alam Khan's failure to take Delhi. Daulat Khan and Ghazi, on
learning of Babur's approach, fled to the fortress of Milwat (Malot)
north of Lahore. Babur blockaded Milwat on every side and Daulat
Khan, seeing no hope of escape, capitulated. Daulat Khan died on
the way to Bhera, where he was to have been imprisoned. “Alam
Khan again fled to Babur, bringing with him a certain number of
his scattered troops, who had suffered severely at the hands of
Ibrahin. He arrived on foot and nearly destitute.
Lahore and its dependent provinces being practically subdued,
Babur was now able to devote his whole attention to the capture of
Delhi. Realising the political importance of having an Afghan prince
in his camp, he paid every attention to ‘Alam Khan suitable to his
rank; and, although the latter had everything to lose by Babur's
success, he was entrusted with a command both at Panipat and at
Khanua. The opposing parties were now both advancing to an
encounter. Ibrahim marched his main forces due north from Delhi
along the right bank of the Jumna, while a secondary force under
Hamid Khan moved up from Hissar Firuza in the south-west. This
force, coming into contact with Babur's right wing was totally routed
by Humayun, who was then eighteen years of age. This was Humayun's
first experience of battle. Babur marched to Ambala, and following
the river Jumna arrived at Panipat, which he occupied. Here Babur,
whose forces probably numbered some 25,000, took up a defensive
position, drawing up his army in a long line. On his extreme right
.
were the town and suburbs of Panipat. His centre was protected by
rows of movable carts (araba), seven hundred in number, connected
by twisted bull-hides; between every pair of guns there were six or
seven movable breastworks (tura) for the protection of the matchlock
men. In the centre (ghul) was Babur himself. His left was protected
by ditches and branches of trees. His principal officers were Humayun
and Khvaja Kilan on the right, Muhammad Sultan Mirza and Mahdi
Khvaja on the left, Chin Timur Sultan on the right centre (ung-ghul),
and Mir Ali Khalifa--the Prime Minister on the left centre (sul-
ghul). On the extreme right and left of the whole line were strong
1 Ghazi Khan seems to have been a man of culture and taste, for Babur speaks
of his library where he found precious books, which he divided between Huma-
yun and Kamran.
## p. 13 (#45) ##############################################
a
THE BATTLE OF PANIPAT
13
flanking parties (tulghama), ready at a moment's notice to wheel round
and take the enemy in the flank or rear. On 12 April Babur was ready
to receive Ibrahim's attack, but for eight days nothing happened,
except for the attempt of small parties of the emperor's troops to
vex the enemy by riding up to their camp and shooting arrows
among them. On 20 April Babur, growing impatient, sent out a
force of four or five thousand men to make a night attack, which
though badly conducted had the desired effect of making Ibrahim
move. On 21 April at day break the Afghans were seen to approach.
Ibrahim had with him 100,000 men and nearly 1000 elephants. It
seemed that the main attack was to be made on the emperor's right.
At first they moved forward at a quick pace in the manner of shock
troops, and the first slackening of their speed when they came near
Babur's defences caused confusion with the lines which were follow-
ing close on their heels. Babur at once took advantage of this check
to use his flanking parties, which wheeled round and attacked the
enemy in the rear. In the meanwhile the emperor's left wing under
Mahdi Khvaja had been faring badly at the hands of the Afghans,
but strong support being sent from the centre, the Mughuls were
able to repel them. At this juncture Babur ordered his gunners to
open fire, and then the main attacking force of the Afghans found
themselves exposed to arrows on either flank and to shot or bullets
in front. The battle lasted till noon and was throughout most hotly
contested, but the superior strategy and experience of the Timurid
prince enabled him to bring confusion among the vastly superior
numbers of the Afghans, who finally took to flight leaving, it is said,
over 15,000 dead on the field, including Sultan Ibrahim himself and
Vikramajit the old Raja of Gwalior, who had fought nobly on the
side of the man who had but lately deprived him of his principality.
Babur's first care now was to secure the public treasures of Delhi
and Agra, and to prevent plundering by his victorious army. He
himself entered Delhi and Humayun was sent forward to Agra, which
still held out: and though he was not able at once to enter the forts,
he prevented any treasure being carried off. An incident now
occurred which has its place among the romantic anecdotes of Indian
history. The wives and children of the Raja of Gwalior, who had
been left in the fort of Agra, were seized, while attempting to escape,
by Humayun's men. Humayun, hearing of this, treated them with
the utmost courtesy and protected them from their captors. In order
to show their gratitude to the young prince they presented him with
jewels and precious stones; among these was a diamond of enormous
value, which has been identified with the famous Koh-i-Nur now in
the Tower of London. Humayun handed over this diamond by way
of homage to his father, who returned it to him as a gift. On the
Friday following Babur's arrival in Delhi (27 April, 15261) his name
1 Hodivala, Historical Studies in Mughul Numismatics, pp. 261-2.
## p. 14 (#46) ##############################################
14
BABUR
1
.
was read in the Grand Mosque as "Emperor of Hindustan" and his
highest ambition was at last attained. In his Memoirs Babur com-
pares his own success to the similar achievements of Sultan Mahmud
of Ghazni and of Sultan Shihab-ud-Din Ghuri, and points out that
though he owed everything to divine favour, his own performance
was infinitely superior to theirs for they had had at their disposal
enormous resources in men and money.
The Indian summer having now set in, Babur's most devoted chiefs
and followers were beginning to murmur, including the loyal Khvaja
Kilan, who, advocating that Babur should follow the example of
Tamerlane and abandon Hindustan, was allowed to withdraw and
become governor of Ghazni; to others was offered the choice of
staying or returning.
No chapter in the Memoirs is more interesting than that containing
Babur's description of India and its fauna and flora, which follows
his description of the battle of Panipat. It is fitting in this place to
quote his general impressions of this country :
Hindustan is a country of few charms. Its people have no good looks; of
social intercourse, paying and receiving visits there is none; of genius and
capacity none; of manners none; in handicraft and work there is no form or
symmetry, method or quality; there are no good horses, no good dogs, no grapes,
musk-melons or first-rate fruits, no ice or cold water, no good bread or cooked
food in the bazars, no hot-baths, no colleges, no candles, torches or candlesticks.
In place of candle and torch they have a great dirty gang they call lamp-men
(diwati), who in the left hand hold a smallish wooden tripod to one corner of
which a thing like the top of a candlestick is fixed, having a wick in it about
as thick as the thumb. In the right hand they hold a gourd, through a narrow
slit made in which oil is let trickle in a thin thread when the wick needs it.
Great people keep a hundred or two of these lamp-men. This is the Hindustan
substitute for lamps and candlesticks! If their rulers and begs have work at
night needing candles, these dirty lamp-men bring these lamps, go close up
and there stand.
Except their large rivers and their standing-waters which flow in ravines or
hollows (there are no waters). There are no running-waters in their gardens
or residence (‘imaratlar). These residences have no charm, air (hawa),
regularity or symmetry.
Peasants and people of low standing go about naked. They tie on a thing
called languta, a decency-clout which hangs two spans below the navel. From
the tie of this pendant decency-clout, another clout is passed between the
thighs and made fast behind. Women also tie on a cloth (lang), one-half of
which goes round the waist, the other is thrown over the head.
Pleasant things of Hindustan are that it is a large country and has masses
of gold and silver. Its air in the Rains is very fine. Sometimes it rains 10, 15 or
20 times a day; torrents pour down all at once and rivers flow where no water
had been While it rains and through the Rains, the air is remarkably fine,
not to be surpassed for healthiness and charm. . The fault is that the air
becomes very soft and damp. A bow of those (Transoxanian) countries after
going through the Rains in Hindustan, may not be drawn even; it is ruined;
not only the bow, everything is affected, armour, book, cloth, and utensils all;
a house even does not last long. Not only in the Rains but also in the cold
and the hot seasons, the airs are excellent; at these times, however, the north-
west wind constantly gets up laden with dust and earth. It gets up in great
strength every year in the heats, under the Bull and Twins, when the Rains
## p. 15 (#47) ##############################################
BABUR SETTLES IN HINDUSTAN
15
are near; so strong and carrying so much dust and earth that there is no seeing
one another. People call this wind Darkener of the Sky (H. andhi). The
weather is hot under the Bull and Twins, but not intolerably so, not so hot as
in Balkh and Qandahar and not for half so long.
Another good thing in Hindustan is that it has unnumbered and endless
workmen of every kind. There is a fixed caste (jamʻi) for every sort of work
and for every thing, which has done that work or that thing from father to
son till now. Muila Sharaf, writing in the Zafar-nama about the building of
Timur Beg's Stone Mosque, lays stress on the fact that on it 200 stone-cutters
worked, from Azarbaijan, Fars, Hindustan and other countries. But 680 men
worked daily on my buildings in Agra and of Agra stone-cutters only; while
1491 stone-cutters worked daily on my buildings in Agra, Sikri, Biana
(Bayana), Dholpur, Gwaliar and Kol. In the same way there are numberless
artisans and workmen of every sort in Hindustan. (Memoirs, pp. 518-29. )
The difficulties with which Babur was now confronted cannot be
better described than in his own words :
On our first coming to Agra, there was remarkable dislike and hostility
between its people and mine, the peasantry and soldiers running away in fear
of our men. Delhi and Agra excepted, not a fortified town but strengthened
its defences and neither was in obedience nor submitted. Qasim Sambhali
was in Sambhal; Nizam Khan was in Biana; in Mewat was Hasan Khan
Mewati himself-impious mannikin! -who was the sole leader of the trouble
and mischief. Muhammad Zaitun was in Dholpur; Tatar Khan Sarang-khani
was in Gwaliar; Husain Khan Nuhani was in Rapri; Qutb Khan was in Itawa
(Etawa); 'Alam Khan (Kalpi) was in Kalpi. Qanauj and the other side of
Gang (Ganges) was all held by Afghans in independent hostility, such as
Nasir Khan Nuhani, Ma'ruf Farmuli and a crowd of other amirs. These had
been in rebellion for three or four years before Ibrahim's death and when I
defeated him, were holding Qanauj and the whole country beyond it.
At
the present time they were lying two or three marches on our side of Qanauj
and had made Bihar Khan the son of Darya Khan Nuhani their padshah, under
the style Sultan Muhammad. Marghub the slave was in Mahawin (Mahaban);
he remained there, thus close, for some time but came no nearer.
It was the hot-season when we came to Agra. All the inhabitants had run
away in terror. Neither grain for ourselves nor corn for our horses was to
be had. The villages, out of hostility and hatred to us, had taken to thieving
and highway-robbery; there was no moving on the roads. There had been no
chance since the treasure was distributed to send men in strength into the
parganas and elsewhere. Moreover the year was a very hot one; violent pesti-
lential winds struck people down in heaps together; masses began to die off.
On these accounts the greater part of the begs and best braves became
unwilling to stay in Hindustan, indeed set their faces for leaving it. It is no
reproach to old and experienced begs if they speak of such matters; even if
they do so, this man (Babur) has enough sense and reason to get at what is
honest or what is mutinous in their representations, to distinguish between
loss and gain. But as this man had seen his task whole, for himself, when he
resolved on it, what taste was there in their reiterating that things should be
done differently? What recommends the expression of distasteful opinions by
men of little standing ? Here is a curious thing: This last time of our riding
out from Kabul, a few men of little standing had just been made begs; what I
looked for from them was that if I went through fire and water and came out
again, they would have gone in with me unhesitatingly, and with me have come
out, that wherever I went, there at my side would they be-not that they would
speak against my fixed purpose, not that they would turn back from any task
or great affair on which, all counselling, all consenting, we had resolved, so long
as that counsel was not abandoned. Badly as these new begs behaved, Secretary
## p. 16 (#48) ##############################################
16
BABUR
Ahmadi and Treasurer Wali behaved still worse. Khwaja Kilan had done well
in the march out from Kabul, in Ibrahim's defeat and until Agra was occupied:
he had spoken bold words and shewn ambitious views. But a few days after
the capture of Agra, all his views changed—the one zealous for departure at
any price was Khwaja Kilan.
When I knew of this unsteadiness amongst (my) people, I summoned all the
begs and took counsel. Said I, “There is no supremacy and grip on the world
without means and resources; without lands and retainers sovereignty and com-
mand are impossible. By the labours of several years, by encountering hardship,
by long travel, by flinging myself and the army into battle, and by deadly
slaughter, we, through God's grace, beat these masses of enemies in order that
we might take their broad lands. And now what force compels us, what
necessity has arisen that we should, without cause, abandon countries taken at
such risk of life? Was it for us to remain in Kabul, the sport of harsh poverty?
Henceforth, let no well-wisher of mine speak of such things ! But let not those
turn back from going who, weak in strong persistence, have set their faces to
depart ! ” By these words, which recalled just and reasonable views to their
minds, I made them, willy-nilly, quit their fears. (Memoirs, pp. 523-5. )
Meanwhile, some of the Afghan chiefs set up Ibrahim's brother,
Mahmud, but most of them, seeing that Babur, who had made Agra
his headquarters, had come to stay and did not, like Tamerlane,
intend to withdraw, laid down their arms. While Babur was in Kabul,
Rana Sanga of Chitor (the modern Udaipur), who was at this time
recognised as head of all the Rajputs, had exchanged friendly
embassies with him, and had even offered to help him against
Ibrahim. His life had been one of constant wars, in the course of
which he had defeated Sultan Mahmud Khalji, and captured the
provinces of Bhilsa, Sarangpur, Chanderi and Ranthambhor. He is
said to have been so often wounded in battle that in addition to
having eighty scars he had but one eye and one arm and was a cripple.
He is said to have had at his disposal when necessary seven rajas and
one hundred and four chiefs. But Babur as emperor of Delhi and
Babur as a leader of raids from Kabul were two different people,
and Rana Sanga now declared war against him, and for the first
time Babur found himself engaged in a jihad or Holy War against
the idolator. Humayun meanwhile was sent on a punitive expedition
against the various amirs in the east, who under Nasir Khan Nuhani
and Ma'ruf Farmuli had taken Kanauj. During this expedition
Humayun took Jaunpur and Ghazipur. Gwalior was also taken bv
a stratagem, of which Babur gives a vivid account. It may be
mentioned that after the capture of Gwalior, Babur had a narrow
escape from death by poisoning, for which Sultan Ibrahim's mother
was responsible. Rana Sanga now marched on Bayana, where Mahdi
Khvaja was governor, but the troops who came out to oppose the
Rana, being unable to withstand him, turned back. The Rana, who
had now been joined by a number of powerful chiefs including
Silahdi (Silah-ud-Din) of Raisen (30,000 horse) and Hasan Khan,
the renegade raja of Mewat (12,000 horse), advanced with 100. 000
horse to a hill near Khanua, a village in the Bharatpur state thirty-
>
## p. 17 (#49) ##############################################
THE BATTLE OF KHANUA
:17
seven miles west of Agra. - Babur was at this moment in a highly
precarious position, being practically surrounded in his camp on all
sides by an enemy in possession of the open country. As he himself
confesses, he was at this crisis overwhelmed by religious compunctior.
He had on many occasions intended to give up wine drinking, and
now he issued a farman on the subject, and having disposed of all his
gold and silver wine vessels he poured his wine into a well. He
further vowed that he would remit the tamgha or stamp duty to all
Muslims. As before the battle of Panipat, he found it necessary to
speak stirring words of encouragement to his troops, who were even
more dejected than their master. On 16 March, 1527, was fought the
.
battle of Khanua. Babur again adopted the araba formation. He
himself was in the centre; Chin Timur and Khusrav Kukiltash were
on the right; Humayun (who had returned from his successful cam-
paign in the east), Dilawar Khan Khanan and other Indian nobles
were also on the right wing; Sayyid Mahdi Khvaja was on the left;
and on the right and left were flanking parties; the artillery line was
commanded by Nizam-ud-din 'Ali Khalifa. The Rana's left wing
opened the battle by attacking Babur's right, but was driven back
by Chin Timur. Mustafa Rumi, the Turkish gunner, brought for-
ward the carts and guns from the centre of Humayun's division, and
broke the enemy's ranks. Then followed an attack by the Rana's
right wing, which was repulsed, and finally Babur led his centre
forward. After ten hours' fighting Babur's forces were victorious,
and the Rana took to flight. Hasan Khan Mewati was among the
slain. Sultan Mahmud Lodi who was present at the battle escaped.
After his victory over Rana Sanga, Babur proceeded to reduce Mewat,
and on 7 April, 1527, he entered its capital Alwar in triumph. By
the end of 1527 Babur's authority was established everywhere except
in Oudh.
- Meanwhile Medini Rai, a Rajput chief, had established himself
in Chanderi on the borders of Bundelkhand and Malwa. Here he was
besieged by Pabur. The garrison on the second day gave up all hope
of resistance, and having put their women to death they rushed out
naked to perish, but not to be captured (29 January, 1528). Humayun
with a large contingent, taking advantage of Babur's promise made
before the battle of Khanua that all who pleased might go on leave
to Kabul, was now despatched to Badakhshan, while Babur himself
set cut to punish Biban, who had repulsed the Mughul army in
Oudh and captured Lucknow. Crossing the Ganges Babur speedily
defeated Biban and drove him into Bengal. Sultan Mahmud Lodi,
the brother of Ibrahim, had meanwhile occupied Bihar, and he now
with a force of 100,000 men advanced on Benares, where he was put
to flight. On 6 May, 1529, Babur won his third great battle in India,
at the junction of the Ganges and its tributary the Gogra, whence
it has come to be known as the battle of the Gogra. In this engage-
2
## p. 18 (#50) ##############################################
18
BABUR
ment he was opposed by the Afghan chiefs who had taken up the
cause of Sultan Mahmud Lodi. Babur gives a very detailed account
of the campaign leading up to this battle, which reads like a diary
kept from day to day. The progress of the battle itself, in which
much use was made both of boats and of artillery, is, however, by
no means easy to follow. As a result of this victory Babur was joined
by nearly all the Afghan chiefs and amirs; and was able to conclude
a treaty of peace with Nusrat Shah, king of Bengal, by which he
himself became sovereign of Bihar.
Humayun having spent a year in Badakhshan, where in obedience
to his father's commands he had refrained from attempting the recap-
ture of Samarqand, set out for Kabul and thence for Agra. He was
next sent to his jagir Sambhal. At the end of six months he was
suddenly attacked by fever. This caused Babur so much anxiety that
he caused Humayun to be brought to Agra. The most learned
doctors were at a loss for a remedy. A famous saint, Mir Abu Baqa,
being called in to advise, said that when physicians were at a loss,
the patient should give in alms the most valuable thing he had and
should seek remedy from God. Babur thereupon said: "I am the
.
most valuable thing that Humayun possesses. . . . I shall make myself
a sacrifice for him. May God the Creator accept it. ”i Babur was
shortly after taken ill, and Humayun recovered : as he lay dying,
Babur appointed Humayun his successor. Mir Khalifa, having
formed a bad opinion of Humayun, desired to place Mahdi Khvaja,
Babur's brother-in-law, on the throne, but he changed his mind, it
would seem, on account of the arrogant behaviour of the Khvaja.
Babur died in Agra on 26 December, 1530. ”
The Indian career of the Turki prince Babur did not actually
begin till his capture of Lahore in 1524, and he died in 1530. It
therefore took him only six years to lay the foundations of a vast
empire the rulers of which, real or nominal, continued down to the
middle of the nineteenth century. It is interesting to recall that his
famous ancestor Timur had, in 1397, invaded northern India, and
entered Delhi in 1398 as a conqueror. But Tamerlane's ambitions
were too great for him to treat his Indian campaign as more than
a raid. That Babur should have confined his conquering activities
to northern India, after consolidating his power between the Oxus
and Kashmir, was, no doubt, partly due to the fact that he had been
helped by the powerful founder of the Safavid kingdom, Shah Isma'il,
with whom, much against his better Sunni feelings, he had made an
alliance which had lasted twenty months (A. H. 917-18-A. D. 1511-12).
There could, therefore, be no question of attacking Persia, even had
he been strong enough to do so. It was as lord of Kabul that he cast
longing glances across the Hindu Kush.
The question naturally presents itself: how did Babur keep such
1 Akbar-nama, p. 276.
? Hodivala, p. 262.
## p. 19 (#51) ##############################################
BABUR'S CHARACTER
19
a detailed record of his own doings from the age of eleven (A. H. 899) ?
Not only his own doings, but those of his relations are recorded in
full detail. And whence did he derive all this information, bio-
graphical and geographical? Mirza Haidar Dughlat had the same
gift: he tells us he wrote the Tarikh-i-Rashidi because the memory
of the Mughuls and their Khans—i. e. the eastern branch of the
Chaghatai-stood in danger of being altogether lost through want of
a chronicler. The earlier Mongols, Chingiz and his descendants, had
been fortunate in their chroniclers in their own day. It was the
descendants of Tamerlane, however, Babur, Mirza Haidar, Gulbadan
Begam, who first among princes undertook to write autobiographies,
while Humayun, Jahangir (for part of his reign) and Shah Jahan
were content to have their memoirs written by personal attendants.
There are very few examples in history of a great conqueror who was
also an eminent poet, though many soldiers, like Julius Caesar and
Xenophon, have been men of letters. Babur was a sufficiently good
poet (in Turki) to have become famous on that account alone, had
he achieved no fame as a soldier or ruler.
In writing an epitome of the emperor Babur's career, having in
view only the part he played in the history of his times, the romantic
side of this remarkable man's personal character has perforce been
relegated to the background: but in conclusion a few words may be
said regarding his private life.
Babur was one of those men who are so active in mind and body
that they are never idle and always find time for everything. Excepting
during the three years when he was hiding in Tashkent under the
protection of the Sultan of Kashghar he knew no rest, and he himself
says towards the end of his life that he had never kept the Fast of
Ramazan twice in any one place. He was pre-eminently human,
and has drawn a picture of himself in his memoirs in which no attempt
is made to hide either his virtues or his vices. He was a rigid Sunni
Muslim, and both orthodox and superstitious in his beliefs. When in
order to please the Shiah Shah Isma'il he adopted the Qizilbash
head-dress for himself and his soldiers, he showed a form of mora!
courage reminding one of his grandson Akbar, who while still pro-
fessing Islam displayed the utmost leniency towards Hindus and
Christians : and if Babur's motive was purely political, it required
no little self-reliance to face the sarcasm and derision which this
head-dress provoked among the zealous Sunnis of Transoxiana: not
to mention the hatred in which the name of Shah Isma'il was held
by reason of his cruelty towards the Sunnis of Khurasan.
As a soldier Babur was, like most of his race, fearless in battle, and
as a general he was a great tactician with a keen eye to detect any
mistake on the part of his opponents. He was also one of the first
military commanders in Asia to appreciate the value of artillery.
As a diplomatist he seems to have shown much more cunning and
## p. 20 (#52) ##############################################
20
BABUR
skill in dealing with the Afghans than with his own people and
the manner in which he played off the rebellious amirs of Sultan
Ibrahim against each other was worthy of a Machiaveili.
While inheriting a savagery common to all the Mongols and
Turks, and a total disregard for human life, he was capable of great
generosity in forgiving those who had behaved ill towards him. Like
all his family he was strongly addicted to intemperance, though his
drinking bouts were always followed by very sincere repentance.
He had a love for the beauties of nature probably rare in his day,
something apart from a delight in the artificial beauties of poetry,
which was common to all his co-religionists whether Turks or Persians.
His careful descriptions of the animals and plants of India reves)
great powers of observation. These portions of his memoirs read like
the notes of a peace-loving naturalist rather than those of a restless
warrior.
The Memoirs of Babur must be reckoned among the most enthral-
ling and romantic works in the literature of all time. They were
written in that form of Turkish known as Turki, which was Bahur's
mother-tongue. As we possess them they are not complete; all the
copies known to us contain gaps from 1508 to 1519, from 1520 to
1525 and from 1529 to 1530. A more complete copy was apparently
known to his cousin Mirza Haidar, the author of the Tarikh-i-Rashidi.
but the translation into Persian made in 1589 by Khan Khanan
'Abdur-Rahim, the son of Bairam Khan, contains the same gaps as
the Haidarabad Codex, from which Mrs Annette Beveridge made
her admirable English translation.
Babur was a real poet, and apart from the incidental verses intro-
duced in his memoirs we have from his pen a small collection of
Turki lyrics, which bear comparison with the best poetry of his day!
He also wrote a religious pcem called the Mubayyin, and about two
years before his death he wrote a versified rendering of the Risala-i-
Walidiyya, a pious tract written by the famous Khwaja Ahrar in
honour of his parents:
See Divan-i-Babur Padishah, edited with facsimile by E. Denison Ross.
Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1910. This edition was based on a
unique MS. in the library of the Nawab of Rampur:
## p. 21 (#53) ##############################################
CHAPTER II
HUMAYUN
ALTHOUGH Babur had recognised his eldest son Humayun as
successor to the large territory he had acquired, the new ruler's
position was extremely insecure. As he lay dying Babur had warned
Humayun of the possibility of claims by the three other brothers and
had charged him always to forgive their faults.
By force of arms the Mughuls had imposed themselves on northern
India, but they had been so occupied in fighting that they had hardly
begun to rule, and India was still only an outlying portion of the
realm, Kabul being the proper capital and centre. Their generals
were still soldiers and not administrators, and, as Babur had said on
his first conquest of Kabul, the scheme of government was still saifi
(by the sword) not qalami (by the pen). To strengthen his position
Babur had invited members of the families of Timur and Chingiz
freely to join him. Not a few with royal blood in their veins were
possible claimants to the throne recently vacated. In the occupied
area were many turbulent elements excited by the century of chaos
which had followed Timur's invasion, and among these, especially
towards the east, were many Afghans belonging to the last dynasty
which had ruled. Babur had met and defeated the Rajputs, but had
not subdued them, and they, more than the other sections of Indians
in the north, had a strong national instinct. South-east of Rajputana
lay Gujarat, where Bahadur Shah was reviving and extending the
kingdom of his predecessors. "
Humayun, taking his insecure seat on the throne four days after
his father's death, assigned the westerly Punjab, Kabul and Qandahar
to be governed by his brother Kamran, and made smaller provisions
for the two younger brothers. He then proceeded early in 1531 to
besiege the strong fortress of Kalinjar in Bundelkhand, which might
be used as a base for attacks on the lower Duab. During these
operations he received news that Mahmud Lodi, brother of the late
king Ibrahim Lodi, who had received support in Bengal, had invaded
the east of his territory and taken Jaunpur. Humayun marched
rapidly towards Jaunpur and defeated the Afghans. They were
scattered for a time, but Sher Khan, who was reported to have failed
to support Mahmud Lodi at the critical time and was the ables!
1 There was even a plot in favour of Mahdi Khvaja, brother-in-law of Babu:.
(Humayun-nama, pp. 25 and 298. )
2 See vol. II, chap XIII.
3 The site of the battle was probably in the Daunrua estate, on the banks of
the Sai river, 15 miles east of Jaunpur.
4 For Sher Khan's earlier history see chap. III.
## p. 22 (#54) ##############################################
22
HUMAYUN
leader among them, began a fresh concentration. In order to break
this up Humayun despatched an army to invest the stronghold of
Chunar on the Ganges south of Benares, and followed it himself.
Before any results could be obtained other embarrassments led him
to arrange a peace by which Sher Khan was left to continue his plans
for an Afghan supremacy in the east. Kamran, since his father's
death, had cherished hopes of gaining the whole of Babur's territory
in spite of the ample provision he had received. Leaving his brother
'Askari in charge of Qandahar he advanced with an army to Lahore
which he secured by a cunning stratagem, as the governor refused
to be false to his trust. At the same time he continued to assure
Humayun of his loyalty and actually received a further grant
of territory round Hissar Firuza which had been Humayun's own
governorship and for some generations to come was regarded as the
holding of the Mughul heir apparent.
