Jx..d:l URN 7 "Q £ '
I IAVIN T:iv;uio
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IT’G/t'.
THE
ORIENTAL ANNUAL.
e*--, T r\ A i
LIVES
OF
THE MOGHUL EMPERORS,
BY THE
REV. HOBART CAUNTER, B.D.
WITH
TWENTY-TWO ENGRAVINGS
FROM DRAWINGS
BY WILLIAM DANIELL, R.A.
LONDON :
PUBLISHED FOR THE PROPRIETOR, BY
CHARLES TILT, 86, FLEET STREET. 1837.
LONDON :
PRINTED BY SAMUEL BENTLEY,
Dorset Street, Fleet Street.
TO THE
PRESIDENT AND COUNCIL
OF
THE ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY,
THIS VOLUME IS DEDICATED,
BY
THEIR HUMBLE AND OBEDIENT SERVANT,
THE AUTHOR.
PREFACE.
This volume being the commencement of a new series, I am anxious to say a few words with refer- ence to the motive which directed my present choice. Little is commonly known of the Mohammedan history of India, and this because the means of information are not readily accessible to the general reader. It therefore occurred to me, that a series of volumes em- bracing a portion of history with which, though ex- tremely interesting, the large majority of persons are not familiar, would be opening a new source of know- ledge, agreeable to many in search of information as well as amusement.
The volumes of the Oriental Annual already pub- lished are better calculated, upon the whole, to amuse than instruct ; at the same time, they were intended to convey that sort of instruction to be derived from an
VI
PREFACE.
acquaintance with the manners, customs and habits, the literature, arts and social condition of that country to the description of which they are confined. In the present series, if there shall be found less to entertain, there will, I trust, be more to instruct, and a fair balance of advantage in the reader s favour be there- by struck. In saying this, I am not vain enough to imagine that I have done justice to the subject, far from it ; but although sensible that in abler hands it might have been made full of high and stirring interest, I trust I may be allowed to say, that I have collected information from a variety of sources not open to general readers, and that, with all its de- ficiencies, the volume will contain the results of much painful and laborious research. I might have pro- duced an apparently learned work at less cost of ex- ertion,— for the mask of learning is easily assumed ; but my purpose has been rather to be understood by unlearned readers, than to challenge the higher and more fastidious reading of learned men.
In writing these lives, it has been my aim to con- vey all the information in my power, without en- cumbering the text with dry details, or embarrassing it by multiplying the names of persons and places ;
PREFACE.
Vll
I have, therefore, endeavoured to divest the subject of much of its natural perplexity and dryness, in order to render it intelligible to the many, and not a sealed book accessible only to the few.
It must necessarily happen that the lives of men whose days have been devoted to conquests, will afford less variety than the lives of those whose existence has been distinguished by a more diversified field of action, and a more varied tenour of circumstances: for the conqueror, however extended the sphere of his opera- tions, is always, so to speak, in the same element, and discloses therefore, at all times, pretty nearly the same, or at least similar, moral features under every aspect of his career. Nevertheless, there is much to arrest the reflections of thinking men, in viewing the issues resulting from the ambition of heroes, whose in- satiable thirst for glory causes them to look upon the ruin of countries and the subversion of empires with a bounding heart and a sparkling eye. Their actions are often the embryos of great moral revolutions : — this might be strikingly illustrated by the Mohammedan conquest of Hindostan, if here were the place to pur- sue such an inquiry.
There will, in truth, be found much salutary food
Vlll
PREFACE.
for mental digestion,, when we look at the strange re- volutions often produced by the mere blind passions of men. A lesson is read well worth our study, when we trace the remote results of causes where there has appeared scarcely any relation between the cause and the effect. We take a far profounder insight into the almost infinitely diversified field of human actions and of human motives, and peer with a surer scrutiny into the mystical depths which lie profoundly and darkly beneath the surface, when we examine history but as the great index of humanity, and trace through the long lapse of ages the mighty ends which past events both dark and bright — those alike which have won our ad- miration, and excited our awe — have concurred to produce. Battles and massacres are frightful things to contemplate, but their ultimate effects upon the social condition are often signal and permanent. Society, under certain modifications, assumes at times its tone and aspect from circumstances, that, in them- selves, simply considered, present the most repelling features with which the passions or vices of men can invest them. As from the ashes which strew the forest that has been desolated by fire, a fresher and more exuberant growth arises, so from the devastation
PREFACE,
IX
of war new societies frequently spring, which add order and harmony to the civil and moral world. Destruction is everywhere the precursor of fecundity, and confusion of order. Thus we trace amid the va- rious phases of circumstance, grand issues produced by an Almighty and providential agency, not seen or contemplated in the embryo, which nevertheless spring out of the darkest and most unpromising events. The first conquest of Hindostan by Timur Beg, and its final conquest by Baber, have led to results perhaps yet to be consummated, but which appear rapidly advancing towards their climax. Those conquests presented new views to the sovereigns of the west ; spread before them a new field of enterprise, and prepared the way to the subjugation of India by the arms of a Christian people, by which it is to be hoped that the faith of Christ will finally prevail throughout those vast regions of the East, containing upwards of two hundred mil- lions of our fellow-creatures, principally idolaters.
I am requested by Mr. Daniell to state, that the views in Boutan, engraved in the present volume, were made from sketches by the late Samuel Davis,
X
PREFACE.
Esq. who visited Boutan, in 1783. Mr. Davis was an accomplished draughtsman, with whom Mr. Daniell was personally acquainted, and can therefore answer for the accuracy and fidelity with which the sketches were made.
ENGRAVINGS
FROM
Hratotng#
BY
WILLIAM DANIELL, ESQ. R.A.
SULTAN BABER (Frontispiece.)
THE FAN-LEAF PALM (Vignette Title.)
CROSSING A TORRENT IN BOOTAN . . . Page 9
THE ALLIGATOR AND OX . . . .18
A MOGUL TROOPER 29
THE HUNTING CHEETAH 39
CAPTA CASTLE, BOOTAN 51
NEAR BUXADUWAR, BOOTAN . . . .54
A MOHAMMEDAN FAKEER 69
VIEW NEAR WANDEPORE 91
MAUSOLEUM OF TOGHLUK SHAH . . • .95
PALACE AT TACISSUDON, BOOTAN . . .105
THE PALACE AT WANDECHY, BOOTAN . . .121
THE FIRE-PHEASANT OF JAVA . . . .145
STATE PRISON AT DELHI 160
A MOHAMMEDAN AT PRAYERS . . . .169
PAT AN TOMB AT TOGHLUKABAD, OLD DELHI . .175
BRIDGE AT OLD DELHI 182
BOATS ON THE GANGES . . . . .198
SHAHJEHANABAD . .... 208
THE NORTH GATE, OLD DELHI . . . .212
THE BORE RUSHING UP THE HOOGLEY . . .224
LIVES
OF THE
MOGHUL EMPERORS.
TIMUR BEG.
CHAPTER I. a.d. 1336 — 1354.
Perhaps there is no character in history which has been represented under such various aspects of high moral excellence, and of extreme moral deformity, as that of Timur Beg, Emperor of the Moghuls, more com- monly known to European readers under the name of Tamerlane. It is a difficult thing to trace the true lineaments of eminent persons of remote ages in the pictures given by historians ; as all who have distin- guished themselves by the splendour of their achieve- ments have their detractors as well as their admirers; it is consequently no easy matter to reach the naked truth between the wilful misrepresentations of the one and the exaggerated eulogies of the other. There is one tolerably sure guide, however, — the actions of men are an infallible test where these are brought before us in their severe and undisguised reality; but even here there are the glosses of friends and the warpings of enemies to be removed, before we can contemplate the
B
o
LIVES OF THE MOGHUL EMPERORS.
object in its simple identity, and discriminate clearly, through the obstructions gathered round it by the fo- reign adjuncts of censure or of praise. Friends conceal and enemies magnify the truth, where this is unfa- vourable ; it is therefore to be sought between the two extremes, and will generally be found by a patient and unbiassed inquirer.
In considering what has been said by the writers who have treated the life of Timur Beg, it seems to me, only one conclusion can be drawn : — that he was an unrelenting man, an implacable and cruel prince. This appears even in his own Memoirs, evidently written with the design of giving to posterity a most favourable impression of his character and actions. The thin crust of palliation is too transparent to hide the dark results of ferocious passion and sanguinary ambition, which lie in black and thick masses be- neath; and the pretence to strong religious impressions is but a flimsy foil to the enormities which may be continually traced, with repelling vividness, in a life of seventy years. In fact, it may be truly said that all conquerors are tyrants, for tyranny is inseparable from the lust of dominion : it is the necessary result of conquest, as those impulses which lead to the one invariably tend to the other.
In his autobiography, Timur has maintained for himself the highest principles of virtue ; but sentiments and actions are often as cardinal points in the moral hemisphere, and as opposed as they are extreme. A person may be practically wicked who is theoretically moral; and no argument can be drawn, in favour of a man’s good tendencies, from his written admiration of
TIMUR BEG.
3
virtue, when his actions do not confirm the interpreta- tion of his words.
It is easy to apprehend why Timur was so anxious to leave behind him a record of his principles apart from his practice, when he was probably aware that his actions would not bear a severe scrutiny. He had the penetration to discover the advantages of virtue even to sovereigns, and was no doubt desirous to impress upon his successors the necessity of putting it into constant and earnest operation, and to eradicate through them the impression of his own cruelties ; but this was not to be effected. However the de- formities of tyrants may be veiled, they cannot alto- gether escape the penetration of posterity ; for, when prepossessions and prejudices have been neutralized by the lapse of years, men will generally look with a clear and unbiassed eye, and come tolerably near the truth, though they may not be entirely free from error.
I shall endeavour in the following pages to give as faithful an account of the life of this illustrious despot as my own judgment and anxiety to reach the truth will enable me to do. Having no predilections to gratify, no prejudices to overcome, I can be actuated by no motive either to misrepresent or exaggerate.
Timur was bom on the twenty-fifth of Shaban, in the year of the Hegira 736, corresponding with the se- venth of May a. d. 1336. He gives a singular account of his own name : — My father related to me the fol- lowing circumstances relative to my name. <r Soon af- ter your birth, I took your virtuous mother to pay our respects to the celebrated saint Shaikh Shems Addeen.
4
LIVES OF THE MOGHUL EMPERORS.
When we entered his apartment he was reading aloud the sixty-seventh chapter of the Koran, and was repeating this verse. f Are you sure that He who dwelleth in heaven will not cause the earth to swal- low you up, and behold, it shall shake (Tamuru)/ The Shaikh then stopped, and said, f We have named your son Timur/ M * The word Tamerlane, by which designation this prince is more familiarly known in Europe, is said to be compounded of two Turkish words, timur, signifying iron, and lank or lenk, lame. He is supposed to have been so called because his whole life was spent amid the din of arms, and on account of a defect in one of his legs. He was born at a small village forty miles to the south of Samer- kund, in Kesh, a province in a district of Independ- ent Tartary, known to the Greeks under the name of Transoxiana, because it was situated on the other side of the river Oxus, but called by the Arabs and Per- sians, Maveralnaher, that is, ff The country beyond the river/' It is identical with the modern Bukhara.
A singular legend relative to the birth of Timur has been received with great faith by the Orientals as an imperishable testimony of the pre-eminent distinc- tion of their favourite hero. It is said, that the mother of this warlike prince appearing suddenly preg- nant before her marriage, her father became so exas- perated at her dishonour, that he was about to put her to death. The princess, conscious of her own purity, flung herself at the feet of her excited parent, and disclosed to him the miraculous cause of her con- dition. She assured him that, while she was lying on her couch, a sunbeam, piercing through an opening * See Memoirs of Timur, p. 21.
TIMUR BEG.
5
in the window of her apartment, over which the curtain had been left undrawn, covered her with a mantle of light, and at the same time seemed af- fectionately to caress her. ie Such, said the princess, is the cause of the condition in which you now be- hold me. The bountiful source at once of light and of fecundity, who fills the wide world with his glories, is the parent of that child to which I shall shortly give birth/’ Her father, after a proper exa- mination of the matter, became convinced of the truth of his daughter’s declaration, and gravely persuaded himself that a child, indebted for its existence to the great Author and Dispenser of all fruitfulness, must be destined to fill the world with the renown of his achievements. This story probably owed its origin to the name of Timur’s father— Teragay, which signifies the source of light. Teragay was at this time a noble of distinguished reputation at the court of the sove- reign of Turkestan and Transoxiana, the latter country being dependent upon the former.
The account of Timur’s family, given in the Intro- duction to his “ Autobiographical Memoirs,” is as follows : — ff In the tenth century, a person named Tumenah Khan, whose descent has been traced by the Oriental historians from Noah, commanded a horde of Moghuls then dwelling to the northwest of China. This person had twin sons, Kubel Khan and Kajuly Behader, whom he prevailed on to sign an agreement, that the dignity of Khan should continue in the posterity of the former, and that of Sepah Salar, commander-in-chief, in the descendants of the latter. From the first of these sons was descended, in
b 3
6
LIVES OF THE MOGHUL EMPERORS.
the fourth degree, Zingis, called by the Persians Jengyz Khan, born a.d. 1154; and from the second, in the eighth degree, the hero of the following me- moirs.
“Jengyz, or Zingis, died in a.d. 1227, having divided his vast dominions among his four sons, called Jujy or Tuchy, Jagtay, Auktay, and Tuly, To the first of these was assigned the extensive kingdom of Kip- chak, or Great Tartary ; to the second, Turkestan and Maveralnaher (Transoxiana) ; to the third, Mo- ghulistan and northern China ; to the fourth, Persia, and that part of India west of the river Indus. Their descendants reigned over these countries till the time of Timur, who subdued them all; but, as neither Jengyz nor Timur assumed the title of Khakan (em- peror), there probably existed a more ancient and honourable family than either of them. The ancestor of Timur, named Kerachar Nuyan, was married to a daughter of Jagtay Khan, second son of Zingis, by which means the two families became doubly con- nected ; in consequence of which, Timur bore the title of Gurgan, son-in-law of the Khan. It also signifies a great prince,”
At the time of Timur’s birth, his father, then only a nobleman at the court of the sovereign of Turkestan and Transoxiana, does not appear to have been a person of much political importance. Though the son frequently alludes in his Memoirs to the dignity of his family, it is evident that his own education was not at all exclusive, as an anecdote, related by himself, will show ; — it at the same time gives a strong inti- mation of the early bias of his mind.
TIMUR BEG.
7
While seated in the school-room., I always took the chief seat, and often fancied myself the com- mander of all the other boys. One day a subject of conversation was started on which was the best mode of sitting. Each boy gave some answer to the question. When it came to my turn, I said, the best mode of sitting is upon the knees, for Mohammed has commanded — ‘ Whilst in prayer sit on your knees/ On which all the spectators praised me exceedingly. When we came out from school, we began to play as children; but I, assuming the command, stood upon a high mound, and, having divided them into two armies, caused them to fight a sham battle. When I saw one of the parties worsted, I sent them assist- ance/’ *
In his early youth he was chiefly employed in taking charge of his father’s flocks, which appear to have been numerous. “ When I attained the age of seventeen,” he says, “ my father, being indifferent about worldly affairs, and in delicate health, I took upon me the charge of his private affairs, and made the following arrangements. I formed every hundred sheep into a separate flock, and appointed a shepherd to each flock, whose profits were to be one fourth of the milk, the butter, and the wool. I did the same with the goats, separating the wethers from the fe- males. I likewise denominated every twenty horses a stable, separating the horses from the mares; also the camels in the same manner.” t
Though descended from the Moghul princes, Ti- mur’s early life was passed remote from the pomp of * See Memoirs, p. 21. t Ibid. p. 24.
8
LIVES OF THE MOGHUL EMPERORS.
courts,, amid scenes of pastoral repose, but in which his restless and energetic spirit sought and found sufficient incitement to enterprise. From his earliest years he had manifested symptoms of that intrepid and indomitable spirit which distinguished his whole career. All the youth of the neighbourhood flocked to him, placed themselves under his guidance, submitted to his judgment, and acknowledged his ascendency. A specimen of his judicial sagacity at this early period will be seen from the following anecdote. A camel, having strayed from its companions, was found among the pastures claimed by the rustic associates of young Timur. Not being able to decide whether they should retain or drive it away, they appealed to their leader, who thus decided the matter : “ If the camel entered your pastures from a level country, it is incumbent upon you to let him return to the herd from which he has strayed ; but if he came from a hilly country, and it is probable he may not be able to join his companions without being exposed to be devoured by wild beasts, it will be proper to detain him.” Thus the most extensive monarchy of the East may be said to have originated in the sports of a few youths, which sports were directed by a boy finally destined to be one of the greatest conquerors recorded in the histories of nations.
By the time the illustrious son of Teragay had attained his eighteenth year, the lust of dominion be- gan more powerfully to influence his conduct. He felt conscious of the singular powers with which nature had endowed him, and there was no backward- ness of disposition to exercise those powers. He was
TIMUR BEG.
9
exceedingly fond of hunting, and to this may be attri- buted that vigour of constitution and activity of frame which he retained almost to the latest period of a long life of constant enterprise. Climbing the abrupt acclivities, and leaping the foaming torrents of his native hills, not only hardened his sinews, but rendered him patient of fatigue, and persevering under difficul- ties to a degree never witnessed among ordinary men. The precipice and the cataract wrere by him alike disregarded when they interposed betwixt him and the objects of his ambition ; and his resolute manner of overcoming such impediments may be estimated by the mode in which, even now throughout the hilly regions of the East, torrents are crossed by the hardy and fearless mountaineers.
On either side of the gully to be passed over, two poles are laid together, about half a yard from the top, forming an isosceles triangle with the rock upon which they rest, to their point of junction above. The rope being thrown across the stream, is laid in the in- verted angle produced by the poles above the triangle, and fastened on either side to some root projecting from the rocks beneath, a hoop being previously passed over the rope constituting the bridge. Such a transit is frequently one of the most fearful things that can be conceived. The mighty rush and roar of the tor- rent down an almost perpendicular channel, impeded by huge masses of rock, against which the ponderous waters dash with a weight and momentum that cause the firm hills to vibrate to their very summits, while the passenger is supported over a frightful abyss by a thin rope that may give way in a moment, and
10
LIVES OF THE MOGHUL EMPERORS.
from which the least shock must precipitate him — surely this is enough to cause the stoutest heart to throb and the pulses to quiver. When seated within the hoop, the traveller pulls himself across the cata- ract ; but this requires considerable strength, dexte- rity, and steadiness of nerve, to do it effectually. It is, however, a familiarity with these and similar dan- gers which renders the hardy mountaineer so fearless under peril and patient under difficulty.
Climbing precipices and crossing torrents were labours with which young Timur was familiar; and it was, no doubt, the being early habituated to bodily exertion which rendered him, during the whole of his enterprising but dark career, so capable of enduring the severe fatigues of a whole life of almost unre- lieved warfare. The accompanying engraving will give a very just idea of the nature of those difficulties which occur to the traveller in the more elevated regions of the East. It represents a scene in the Hi- malaya range of mountains, the most picturesque as well as the highest in the world.
As the young prince advanced towards man’s estate, his influence among his followers increased : they were at once won by his intrepidity and awed by his daring. Of the latter, an instance occurred in. the early part of his eighteenth year. Being one day hunting deer, he suddenly reached the brink of a ditch five yards wide and four deep. Coming unex- pectedly upon it, he tried to turn his horse, but the animal kept forward. The sudden check, however, had rendered the leap a matter of increased difficulty. The prince, nevertheless, spurred his steed to the
TIMUR BEG.
11
brink ; the animal made a desperate bound, but did not clear it. Clinging for a moment to the opposite bank, Timur sprang from his saddle, and reached the firm earth in safety ; but the horse, after a few strug- gles, fell back into the chasm, and was disabled. His friends, who now came up, were afraid to attempt a leap which their heroic leader had not been able to accomplish. They congratulated him upon his escape ; but he replied, “ It was God, the bestower of my fortune, who preserved me !”
Upon this occasion, his eagerness in pursuit of his favourite sport had withdrawn the prince far into the wilderness. He and his followers were overtaken by the night, and knew not where to seek a shelter. Rob- bers were numerous in the neighbourhood. Timur and his companions had no tents to protect them from the inclemency of the night, for in Eastern countries the dews fall heavily, and, towards the north especially, the nights are sometimes exceed- ingly cold. The prince had been used to privations of this kind, and was not, therefore, much disquieted by the perplexity to which he was reduced. He was preparing to halt, until morning should enable him to proceed with his retinue, when some of them unex- pectedly perceived several huts, which they at first took for hillocks of sand. Upon a nearer approach, a light appeared shining through one of the doors. Timur determined to enter, though there was a great- er prospect of peril than of security. Unused to weigh hazards, he boldly advanced to the entrance of the hovel through which the light gleamed. The in- mates, supposing him and his companions to be rob-
12
LIVES OF THE MOGHUL EMPERORS.
bers, gave an alarm,, and prepared to resist his en- trance. He was almost instantly surrounded, but with an air of undaunted confidence he told them that he was a hunter who, together with his followers, had been led into the wilderness in pursuit of deer; night had unexpectedly overtaken them, and they had lost their way. This was sufficient to excite the hospi- tality of the desert tribes. Having prepared an apartment which had been hollowed out under the surface of the ground, they lighted a fire, and laid what homely refreshments their domestic stores af- forded before the fatigued and hungry strangers. After having passed a night upon coarse rugs, and under blan- kets filled with fleas, they took their departure at the first blush of day, accompanied by the good wishes of their hospitable entertainer. Timur did not neglect these people after he ascended the imperial throne; but, recollecting their hospitality, he sent for and liberally rewarded them.
TIMUR BEG.
13
CHAPTER II. a. d. 1354 — 1362.
It appears from his autobiography that Timur was early possessed with the idea of his future greatness. After describing his recovery from a severe sickness, he says : — “ Another of the auspicious omens predict- ing my sovereignty was this : One day during this year I was seated in my father s monastery, and was reading the sixty-seventh chapter of the Koran,* when a grey-haired Syed entered the monastery, and look- ing attentively at me, demanded my name. Having told him, he compared it with the chapter I was reading, and said, f God Almighty has given the so- vereignty of the earth to this boy and his posterity.’ I looked upon this circumstance as a mere dream; but when it reached the ears of my father, he encouraged my hopes, and showed my horoscope to one of the astrologers of Turkestan, who said, f He will be supe- rior in his dominions, in dignity and authority, to any of his predecessors ; he will add other countries to his own dominions, and will be an ornament to religion.’ He then said to me, fYour descendants and poste- rity shall rise to the highest dignity.’ When I had heard these words, I gave him a handsome present.”
* Timur daily read the Koran with the earnestness of a zea- lous Mussulmaun, and always consulted it whenever he was about to embark upon any perilous enterprise.
C
14
LIVES OF THE MOGHUL EMPERORS.
It is clear, from various passages in these memoirs, that the notion of absolute dominion was scarcely ever absent from the prince’s thoughts ; and there can be no doubt that from his earliest years he was preparing himself for empire. Even at this period of his life some instances of sovereignt}^ which he exercised rendered him an object of respect and fear to his youthful followers. Having upon one occasion been informed that a wolf had carried off a sheep, the young despot commanded that the shepherd should be brought before him. Sternly upbraiding him with his negligence, he ordered him to be severely punished on the spot. — Upon another occasion, one of his re- tainers had been detected stealing cattle. He in- stantly commanded that the culprit should be im- paled ; and no intercession could prevail upon him to remit the severity of this cruel sentence. He thus became the terror of all his dependants ; and it was this stern influence, and the awe in which he was held, that directed his thoughts to conquest. His growing ambition was roused by the ascendency he had acquired over a few daring spirits, as eager as himself to be involved in those exciting deeds which eventually lead to power.
The act of justice exercised by Timur upon his guilty retainer was the immediate cause of revealing to the prince the secret of his strength, and of con- firming him in his determination to seek for glory in the acquisition of dominion. The parents of the criminal who had been impaled for robbery, thinking the punishment of their son extreme, at once threw off their allegiance, and publicly protesting against the unjustifiable application of that power with which their
TIMUR BEG.
15
young but intrepid leader had been invested by the youth of the district, took up arms against the judge and the ministers of his cruelty. Timur was not sor- ry at the opportunity thus afforded him of trying his strength in the field against the rebels to his authority. Conscious of the resources of his own genius, he saw clearly that this resistance would eventually tend not only to confirm his supremacy, but to enlarge his do- minions. The members of two families connected with the criminal whom he had so summarily sacrificed, mustered their strength, and united to avenge the death of their relative, whom they considered to have been executed not only without a legal trial, but with a barbarity far exceeding the magnitude of his offence. They encamped in the pastures, declaring themselves determined to avenge the death of one of their kin- dred, who had been doomed to destruction by an au- thority which was usurped, and which therefore they did not recognise.
Timur led his young associates to battle. The two rebel families being defeated with great slaughter were obliged to cast themselves upon the conqueror's clemency, and make an unconditional acknowledg- ment of his supremacy. In this and similar encoun- ters most of the prince’s followers served their novi- ciate in arms. This decisive victory gave him and them a foretaste of that glory which awaited his future achievements. The report of his valour and conduct soon gathered round him all the enterprising youth of the neighbourhood. He was extolled as a hero, and these early panegyrics excited within him a desire to prove himself more worthy of them. Multitudes of young men crowded to the standard of the youthful
16
LIVES OF THE MOGHUL EMPERORS.
conqueror, desiring to be led to victory under his ban- ners : they at once acknowledged him their chief, swore fealty to him as a leader worthy of their homage, and maintained towards him the same fidelity which would have been due from them had he been their hereditary sovereign. His influence daily strengthened.
From this time he commenced a career of petty conquests, and of those tyrannies which were the natural results of them. He began to encroach upon the territories of the neighbouring tribes, and rapidly to enlarge his possessions. To these predatory begin- nings he owed his future dexterity in the art of offen- sive warfare. The ordinances of civil justice were to him secondary to those which ambition established within his heart as rules of right and as laws of con- duct ; yet it is amusing to see in his own memoirs how he affects a fastidious humanity as absurd as it is improbable. “ At this time,” he says, (that is, when he was in his twentieth year,) “ I repented of my follies, and left off playing chess. I strictly adhered to the law, and followed the dictates of religion. I also made a vow never to injure any creature ; and whenever I did so by chance, was very sorry for it. Thus, one day having unintentionally trodden on an ant, I felt as if my foot had lost all its power. I con- stantly begged the intercession of the first Khalifs, and was benevolent to all mankind.”*
* Memoirs, p. 30. Who would imagine that in his maturer years, when these favourable impressions of virtue might have been expected to be confirmed within him, he should have order- ed the deliberate massacre of a hundred thousand unresisting captives ?
TIMUR BEG.
17
When Timur had attained his twentieth year, his father gave him a large number of tents,, sheep, camels, slaves, servants, and other attendants. These consi- derably increased his means of extending his con- quests, upon which his heart seemed to be now bent. He divided this new accession of followers into small bodies. “ The first arrangement,” he says, " I made of my own private affairs was this : — I entrusted the command of eighteen slaves to one, to whom I gave the title of Aun Bashy ; and I named every twenty horses a stable, and every hundred camels a string, and every thousand sheep a flock. I consigned each of these to the charge of a particular slave, and allot- ted to each slave a certain share of the profits.” *
From this passage it is clear that the young prince had already become a person of considerable opulence as well as power. The lands of which he had taken possession being inadequate to the support of so much cattle and such an increasing population, he found it necessary to add to his possessions without further delay ; he therefore began to invade the ter- ritories of his more powerful neighbours. Having invested a neighbouring capital with his small but resolute band of followers, he was attacked and de- feated with great loss, and compelled to raise the siege with precipitation. His troops being dispersed, he was reduced to extreme personal privation, being under the necessity of hiding himself in the jungles in order to escape the search of a vigilant enemy, exposed to the chance of destruction by wild beasts, as well as by less savage, though not less determined foes. Such perils * Memoirs, p. 30.
c 3
18
LIVES OF THE MOGHUL EMPERORS.
are common to the wanderer through the forests of the East, where death commonly threatens in various awful forms,, from which there is no security but in courage and presence of mind. Not only do the lion and tiger and the various feline races menace the traveller, but the insidious serpent,, the bite of which produces certain and almost instant death, lurks in his path. The alligator frequently rushes from the sedges beside the murky stream that rolls lazily through the jungle, and secures its victim, while the latter is basking beneath some refreshing shade. The great physical energies of the ox are insufficient to repel its ferocity : with a single curve of its tail it sweeps him into the water, and feeds sweetly” upon him in defiance of his bulk and of his strength.
Timur, after wandering about for many hours, hiding himself from the anxious search of his foes, reached a village, where he endeavoured to obtain a supply of food. He went from house to house in a state of painful exhaustion, but no one administered to his relief. His condition was melancholy, nevertheless the fervour of his ambition and the natural buoyancy of his temper sustained him. This was one of those severe lessons which conquerors must learn before they can become heroes. Strolling through the village, he met an old woman who knew him and invited him to her cottage. She was poor, but her poverty did not obliterate from her mind the obligations of hospi- tality. She placed before her hungry guest a mess of hot rice. The furniture of her little establishment offering no choice, she served up the rice in a long narrow dish. Excited by his anxiety to appease the
TIMUR BEG.
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cravings of a long-defrauded appetite, Timur, seizing the dish, began to devour its contents with incautious precipitation, taking them from the centre instead of from the sides, and thus burnt his mouth. His hostess, smiling at the accident, thus addressed him : — ■“ Be advised, prince, from the smart occasioned by your present hurry, to begin for the future with the sides of a dish of hot rice rather than the centre. You may learn from this trifling event a lesson not to be despised ; which is, that by carrying on war with too great eagerness into the heart of a country with- out having first secured the extremities, you will expose yourself to danger and misfortune.”
Timur did not forget this lesson in his prosperity, but acted upon it in all his future enterprises. The rational policy which it taught could not escape the ready penetration of his quick and comprehensive mind. From this time forward he never left any- thing behind which might embarrass his march, ob- struct his retreat, or offer impediments to his progress. He invariably secured success by the nice precautions with which all his measures were taken, the extreme judgment with which he calculated contingencies, and the skilful provisions which he made against failure. This was his first defeat, and it served to make him more wary in all his subsequent expeditions.
Though reduced to a state of extreme distress, the prince did not despond. The prodigious energies of his intellect were rather excited than cramped by this unexpected reverse. By degrees his dispersed comrades assembled, and once more rallied round him. Those who had escaped persuaded others of
20 LIVES OF THE MOGHUL EMPERORS.
their companions to join them, and, determined to wipe out the stigma of their late discomfiture, again flocked to the standard of their youthful leader with new fervour and a stimulated desire of revenge upon the authors of their disgrace. They continued the same devotedness to their chief, who affected a greater degree of haughtiness and rigour than he had main- tained before his reverse of fortune.
When Timur had attained the twenty-first year of his age, he married the grand-daughter of Amyr Kur- gen, governor of Transoxiana, by which alliance his political importance was increased. By this marriage he gained great honour and much wealth. Two years after, the Amyr gave him command of a thou- sand horsemen for the invasion of Khorassan, an ex- tensive province of Persia, whither Amyr Kurgen him- self proceeded with a large army, followed by Timur. The capital was attacked, and Melk Hussyn, the go- vernor, made overtures of peace, which he purchased at the expense of a heavy tribute. Amyr Kurgen withdrew his forces, leaving Timur in the neighbour- hood of Herat * with a thousand horse and the ad- vanced guard, in order to enforce the terms of the treaty.
His father-in-law had scarcely withdrawn when the prince received a confidential communication from Melk Hussyn, that the garrison of Herat was in a state of insurrection, and threatened to raise Melk Baker to the government. Melk Hussyn had com- manded his messenger to urge that Timur should
* A very ancient city of Khorassan, the Aria of the Greeks.
TIMUR BEG.
21
immediately march towards the city in order to protect the governor’s flight from the danger by which he was threatened. The prince accordingly advanced, when Melk Hussyn, under pretence of engaging the enemy, quitted Herat and joined him with considerable trea- sure, with which he had secretly loaded his followers. Many of the nobles and principal officers of Herat fol- lowed their chief. The Tartar army then retreated.
Shortly after Melk Hussyn had quitted the city, Timur received intelligence that Melk Baker had been raised to the government, and the deposition of Melk Hussyn publicly proclaimed. At the solicita- tion of the deposed governor, his new ally ordered his troops to prepare themselves for the recovery of Herat. By making four forced marches he unexpectedly ar- rived before the city, and attacking with vigour the principal gate, which the guard had just opened, not expecting an enemy, carried it, hounded over the drawbridge, followed by the bravest of his troops, and in a short time became master of the ancient capital of Khorassan, with scarcely the loss of a man. Melk Hussyn was restored to authority, and thus the vic- torious prince gained a steady friend and powerful tributary.
Timur now began to look forward to being raised to the throne of Samerkund, and his ambitious views were stimulated by a conspiracy among the nobles to put to death the venerable Amyr Kurgen ; hut Ti- mur, wisely perceiving that if he encouraged the conspiracy, instead of having one master he should have many, and knowing how uncertain would be the tenure of a throne ascended through the blood of a
22
LIVES OF THE MOGHUL EMPERORS.
predecessor, not only discouraged the conspiracy, but warned the Amyr of his danger. On the following year, however, this venerable prince was murdered by his own son-in-law, Kutlug Timur Khan.
Timur immediately uniting his forces with those of two other chieftains, Byan Selduz and Hajy Berlas, marched towards Samerkund to take vengeance on the murderer of the late Amyr. The united armies attacked the city, dethroned the Khan, whom Kutlug Timur had raised to the sovereignty, and took pos- session of the kingdom of Transoxiana, which they divided among them.
In the year of the Hegira 762, a.d. 1361, Timur s father, Teragay, was taken ill. He was immediately visited by his illustrious son, who received his last breath, and buried him with princely honours in the vicinity of Kesh, in the burying-ground consecrated to the remains of holy and illustrious men. Timur was now visited by the principal nobles of Transoxiana, and solicited by them to assume the entire sove- reignty of their country, at this time a dependent principality of Turkestan ; but, as he had higher views, he declined for the present the honour which they were so anxious to confer upon him.
The country was at this moment threatened with invasion by a descendant of Jengyz Khan, chief of a tribe of unconverted Turks who inhabited the country of Desht Jet-eh,* which forms the northern boundary of the Aral sea. Timur, not being in a condition to
* These Jetes must not be confounded with the ancient Getae, the ancestors of the present Calmucks. Gibbon has confounded the two.
TIMUR BEG.
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repel him by open force, bribed with costly presents the officers of the invader’s army, who agreed to sus- pend operations. Their prince, Toghluk Timur Khan, was so incensed at their treachery that he command- ed the presents which they had received to be depo- sited in his treasury. This gave such offence to his officers, that they raised the standard of rebellion. He was in consequence obliged to withdraw his troops from the invasion of Transoxiana. Timur’s conduct afforded such satisfaction to the people, that with one voice they proclaimed him sole sovereign of the country. He was now an absolute monarch, and fairly on the road to more extended dominion.
“ At this time,” he says in his Memoirs,* “ Kyku- bad, who was called the murderer of kings, waited on me, and began to flatter me ; but, as I had no confi- dence in him, I put him to death.” Here the despot began to be apparent. His punishments were as summary as his disposition was sanguinary. About this period he delivered his brother-in-law, Amyr Hussyn, from a powerful enemy who threatened Ba- dukhshan, then subject to Hussyn ; and leaving him in the quiet exercise of his sovereignty, returned to his own country, where he found that his uncle, Hajy Berlas, with whom he had been originally asso- ciated in the government, had assembled a large army to dispute his authority. The prince immediately formed his troops in order of battle; and having, after a short struggle, put the enemy to flight, he was left in undisturbed possession of his government.
After this defeat, Hajy Berlas was joined by Baye-
24
LIVES OF THE MOGHUL EMPERORS.
zeed Jelayr, governor of Samerkund. These two generals,, uniting their forces and encamping on the plains of Kesh, laid a plot to inveigle Timur into their camp, with intent to murder him and obtain posses- sion of the country under his rule. The wary pre- caution, however, of their intended victim defeated this treacherous design. Having entered the tent of Bayezeed, to which he had been invited under pretence of coming to an amicable adjustment, the prince per- ceived that the carpet was raised in a particular spot, which was covered with felt. Beneath, a deep hole had been sunk. Suspecting treachery, he pretended to be overtaken with a sudden bleeding of the nose, and abruptly quitting the tent, joined his officers, and thus escaped the snare laid against his life. Shortly after, Bayezeed and Berlas quarrelled, by which sea- sonable dissension Timur was delivered from their malice and their treachery. From this time his power rapidly increased.
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CHAPTER III.
A.D. 1362.
About this period Timur was obliged to quit Samer- kund, in consequence of the Jete chiefs, who had carried off four hundred virgins from that city, hav- ing laid snares for his destruction. He had retired to the hill country ; while there, he received a com- munication from his brother-in-law, Amyr Hussyn, also at that same time a wanderer in the moun- tains, that it would be advisable to unite their small forces against the common enemy. The exiled amyrs met, and resolved upon the immediate invasion of Khuarazm, an extensive region of Tartary on the eastern side of the Caspian, and divided from Trans- oxiana by the river Jihun, or Oxus, which, after a course of two thousand miles, falls into the Aral sea. Whilst they were about to attack a fort, which was the key to their projected conquest, they per- ceived a cloud of dust rising from the desert. A troop of cavalry soon became visible ; it turned out to be a thousand Jetes, commanded by an able general, who had come in pursuit of Timur and Hussyn. These latter had but sixty troopers to oppose this formid- able squadron ; still they were not dismayed. Timur drew up his little band upon the summit of a hill,
D
26
LIVES OF THE MOGHUL EMPERORS.
separating them into five sections of twelve men each, so as to give them the appearance of a considerable body. Having distributed to every section a distin- guishing flag,, and placed each under the command of a resolute officer; Timur stationed himself at their head. The JeteS; confiding in their superior nume- rical strength; charged them with great resolution; hut were so vigorously opposed by two of the divisions of Timur’s brave band that they fell back in astonish- ment. The two officers commanding these divisions, pursuing their advantage, followed the retreating squa- drons of the enemy, until, both their horses being dis- abled, Timur sent them two of his own, upon which they mounted and returned, flushed with success, to their post. So desperate had been the conflict, that of the thousand Jetes only three hundred effective men remained, the rest having been either killed or wounded, and some had quitted the field.
During the struggle of those two sections with the enemy’s van, Amyr Hussyn charged the centre of the adverse line ; but, pushing heedlessly forward, was surrounded by the foe, and rescued by Timur at the imminent hazard of his own life. When the evening- closed in, which obliged the contending parties to dis- continue hostilities, the Jetes had only a hundred and fifty men remaining, and Timur’s force was reduced to twelve. At day-break the Jetes again charged this small but determined body. The latter, with one con- sent, resolved to maintain the struggle so long as there remained a single man alive. Timur slew several of the enemy with his own hand. They were amazed at his prodigious prowess and desperate
TIMUR BEG.
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bravery. Whilst fighting against such fearful odds, the horse of Amyr Hussyn, being wounded by an arrow, threw him ; his wife, however, who was pre- sent, immediately dismounted and gave him hers. Timur having remounted Hussyn’s wife upon the same horse with his own, the two amyrs began to discharge their arrows with fatal aim at the enemy. Not a shaft missed its mark. There now remained of their little troop only seven mounted persons ; but the foe being much reduced, and fatigued with extreme exertion, withdrew from the hill, and took shelter in their tents upon the plain. Seizing this opportunity, Timur made a hasty retreat with his brave troopers, and proceeded on his journey. They were immediately followed by the Jetes, who fortu- nately missed them, and, becoming perplexed amid the trackless mazes of the desert, speedily returned to their camp.
After the fugitives had travelled for many hours over these arid and pathless plains, they came to a well, where, being exhausted with fatigue, hunger, and thirst, they alighted, and, having refreshed them- selves, slept all night round the spring. The whole party consisted, besides the females, of seven mount- ed persons, and three foot-soldiers from Balkh, the ancient Bactria. In the morning it fortunately hap- pened that a shepherd, who was tending his flock in the desert, brought them to drink at the well. Of him Ti- mur purchased several goats, part of which he and his little party cooked between heated stones, and thus sub- dued the pangs of a long-protracted hunger. They re- mained at the spring another night, and in the morning.
28
LIVES OF THE MOGHUL EMPERORS.
when about to proceed on their journey, it was found that the foot- soldiers had departed with three of the troopers’ steeds. This was a severe loss, for they were now reduced to seven persons and four horses. The wife of Timur bore these reverses and the privations of the journey with heroic fortitude ; replying to the consolations of her anxious husband, “ Our fortunes are now arrived at the lowest point, and must rise.”
It unfortunately happened that not one of the party was acquainted with the road ; this greatly added to their distress. As they were proceeding under the influence of melancholy apprehensions, they met a shepherd who showed them a pathway that led to the huts of a party of Turkomans, who had built their homely habitations in the wilderness. Elated with this information, the wanderers advanced in good spi- rits, and soon reached the lonely dwellings of this desert tribe. These being apparently abandoned, Timur and his companions took possession of one of the huts ; but were immediately assaulted by the Turkomans, who issued from several other habitations and commenced a fierce attack upon the weary tra- vellers. The prince having placed his wife and her companion within the hut, drew his sword, and issu- ing forth to repel the aggressors, was recognised by their chief as a former acquaintance. Advancing, he embraced the prince, and commanded the Turkomans to retreat, crying aloud: “ This is Timur, the governor of Maverhalnaher” (Transoxiana). The men came in- stantly forward, bent the knee to the son of Teragay, and paid him the honours due to his rank and courage.
It was at that time the practice for freebooters to
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inhabit the desert,, whither they frequently repaired in strong parties to plunder caravans. These free- booters were exceedingly daring, and often the terror of the surrounding districts. They sometimes occu- pied old forts, and were so strongly intrenched as to defy the regular armies of their princes. They were generally well armed and mounted, their arms con- sisting of a short cimeter, a crease or dagger, a shield, and a long lance, with a steel head more than a foot in length, flat and tapering to a fine point. The en- graving represents a chief of freebooters leading out a party for a day’s plunder : — they are issuing from a strong fortress upon the plains of old Delhi. In those times they were held in great dread by the petty sovereigns, whose territories they frequently ravaged without mercy, being extremely expert horse- men, very daring, capable of enduring great fatigue, and reckless of consequences. They lived on little, their food consisting almost entirely of rice, milk, and fruits. Their horses were inured to the same pri- vations as their riders, which enabled the latter to traverse immense tracts of country without the en- cumbrance of provisions, taking their chance of what the country might afford; being nevertheless often reduced to desperate extremities. Sometimes, how- ever, they returned from their marauding expeditions with immense plunder.
Timur, during his stay with the Turkomans in the desert, purchased from them, with a valuable ruby arm- let, three horses, some travelling equipage, armour and arms. Three days he and his party were hospitably entertained by the Turkoman chief, and
d 3
30
LIVES OF THE MOGHUL EMPERORS.
on their departure were provided by him with an escort of ten troopers.
Timur resolved to hide himself in a more secluded part of the wilderness, until his friends should have time to rally round his standard. In consequence of this determination, he wandered with his few followers in those trackless wilds for two days and two nights ; at length, almost famished with hunger and sinking with fatigue, they reached a ruined and deserted vil- lage, where they could find neither food nor water. Undismayed at his gloomy prospects, the prince ordered a well to be dug, which supplied them with tolerable water, and by the produce of the chase they con- tinued to maintain themselves in this desolate habi- tation for upwards of a month. Aly Beg Ghurbany, chief of the Turkomans, having at length been in- formed that Timur was in the desert secretly col- lecting troops for the purpose of plundering those by whom he had been so hospitably entertained, sent a party to surprise and make him prisoner: they accordingly attacked him and his companions in the night within the ruined village, and captured them all. Timur was taken to Aly Beg’s house and treated with the most humiliating indignity, being confined with his wife for nearly two months in a filthy chamber where oxen were stalled. They were moreover deprived of common necessaries and covered with vermin.
The prince finally resolved to escape from his de- grading captivity or perish in the attempt. He at first endeavoured to tamper with his guards ; but, finding
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this unsuccessful, he one day suddenly seized the sword of a sentinel, attacked the guard with des- perate energy, put them to flight, and, inflamed by the excitement of the moment, pursued them to the very presence of their chief. The Turkoman, seeing the bravery of his captive, was overcome with sudden remorse, took him from the odious den in which he had been so long immured, placed him in a more comfortable dwelling, and restored to him every- thing of which he had been deprived by those who had captured him. About this time Aly Beg Ghur- bany received a letter of severe reproof from his bro- ther for having imprisoned a descendant of the house of Jengyz Khan. This letter was accompanied with several presents for the royal captive ; but the avari- cious Turkoman, though he immediately humbled himself before Timur, and besought his pardon for the manner in which he had treated him, neverthe- less appropriated to his own purposes the most va- luable of the presents.
No sooner had the indefatigable prince escaped from this degrading thraldom, than he suddenly collected together twelve horsemen and raised the standard of royalty. Proceeding with his small but determined troop through the wilderness, after two days’ journey he reached a village, where he alighted and took pos- session of a house ; but he had scarcely occupied it, when a party of Turkomans assembled round the dwell- ing and prepared to assault it. Timur attacked them with his usual intrepidity ; when one of them recognis- ing him, as in the former instance, ordered his compa-
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LIVES OF THE MOGHUL EMPERORS.
nions to desist,, prostrated himself before the prince, and offered his services, together with those of his fol- lowers.
Soon after this unexpected recognition, Timur was joined by a hundred cavalry, and others daily flocked to his standard. Thus, he soon saw
himself at the head of two hundred horse. His
prospects were now beginning to brighten, when his brother-in-law Amyr Hussyn, who had hitherto been the companion of his fallen fortunes, becoming jealous of his authority, quitted him in disgust. Be- fore Timur left the desert, he was waited upon by some chiefs, who advised him immediately to quit his present place of retreat, and commence active ope- rations in the more populous country. Feeling confident that inactivity paralyses the energies of soldiers, he resolved to lead his troops to conquest, satisfied that their numbers would increase in pro- portion as victory should follow his standard. Weigh- ing maturely the best mode of proceeding, he de- termined to canton two hundred soldiers in the vicinity of Kesh, the district of his own birth, where they might remain until he should require their services. Meanwhile, he prepared to go among the nomadic hordes which inhabited the mountains and jungles, and endeavour to win them over to his service by the prospects of a rich spoil.
When he had concluded the necessary arrangements, he set out for the village of Karindan, a dependency of Bukhara. Here he fixed the cantonments of his little army, and left his wife, the sister of Amyr Hussyn. He then visited those tribes whom he hoped
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to gain over to his interests. Being joined about this time by one of his friends at the head of forty troopers, he intrusted this friend with his secret pur- pose of gaining over the nomadic hordes, and sent him to join his other troops at Karindan ; at the same time giving him orders, that, the moment he heard the standard of independence was raised at Samerkund by the supporters of Timur, he should march thither with the entire body of his forces.
The prince’s liberal offers, enforced as they were by his courtesy and manly bearing, the known re- sources of his genius, and his indomitable intrepidity, produced a very favourable effect upon the wandering tribes, whose lives were generally spent amid perils : such numbers flocked to his standard, and swore they would devote themselves to his cause, that in a short time he was at the head of a small but formid- able army. Finding himself now in a condition to being his career of conquest, he made up his mind immediately to commence active operations. Hav- ing come to this resolution, he selected a thousand of his bravest soldiers, whom he determined to despatch to Samerkund, and disperse secretly over the city, and that another thousand should follow to ensure the success of his enterprise. When his ar- rangements were completed, he repaired secretly to the capital, and took up his abode with his sister. Be- fore, however, he could avail himself of his prepara- tions, his intentions were discovered; and he was obliged to quit the capital in haste, in order to escape the threatened vengeance of the inhabitants.
Repairing to Kesh, the fugitive prince collected the
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LIVES OF THE MOGHUL EMPERORS.
forces whom he had quartered there, and proceeded with them to join his main body. Being without horses, and urged by the fear of pursuit, he found it difficult to get his troops beyond the reach of danger. Seeing a large herd of horses grazing in an extensive plain, he sent to inquire to whom they belonged ; and ascertaining that they were the property of a tribe of Turkomans who inhabited the borders of the desert, he issued a royal edict as a sort of cover for the despotic proceeding which he meditated, and seized the whole herd. Having mounted his fol- lowers, he galloped forward and halted in a glen near the Oxus. Here he remained several days to recruit his harassed and wearied troops ; then, crossing the river, he pitched his camp in a fruitful country beautifully varied with hills and valleys, where he was joined by his wife, together with the officers and troops whom he had left in cantonment at the village of Karindan.
His little army being thus increased, they were soon straitened for provisions, the product of the chase not proving sufficient to supply so many claimants. Deeming it imprudent to levy contributions upon the people of the neighbourhood, Timur determined to signalise his spirit of enterprise by marching at once to Kandahar, imagining that, if he succeeded in making himself master of this productive province, the whole of Cabulistan, of Sinde, and Moultan would soon fall under his dominion.
When the prince had inspected his forces, and equipped them in the best manner his circumstances would allow, he prepared to march. He could muster
TIMUR BEG.
35
at this moment only one thousand soldiers., including both infantry and cavalry ; many having deserted his standard after he quitted the district of Kesh. As his troops were miserably appointed, and altogether in wretched plight, he disposed of the jewels and ornaments which remained to him and his wife, and distributed the amount among them. Heading his cavalry, he then set forward towards Kandahar, which he had been long bent upon subduing. En- camping in the neighbourhood of Gurmsyr, he boldly sent a summons to the governor, Myr Mehedy, who immediately obeyed it. When the latter entered Ti- mur’s presence, this prince took his own turband from his head, and placed it upon that of Myr Mehedy, who presented him with many costly presents. Thus Ti- mur became master of Gurmsyr without the slightest opposition, and soon subdued the neighbouring dis- tricts. Being now again joined by Amyr Hussyn, who had abandoned him in his distress, he re- stored his brother-in-law to his confidence, and made over to him half the revenue of Gurmsyr. From this time the prince took up his residence in the neighbour- hood of Gurmsyr, waiting for a favourable opportunity to wrest Kandahar out of the hands of the Ghory dy- nasty, and place it under his own dominion.
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LIVES OF THE MOGHUL EMPERORS,
CHAPTER IV. a.d. 1362 — 1366.
Shortly after Timur had taken quiet possession of Gurmsyr, in a conflict with a neighbouring chieftain, he was wounded in the arm and in the foot, by two arrows. This obliged him to suspend all further warlike operations for the moment. He was at this time threatened by a formidable army of Jetes; but as great numbers of soldiers were daily flocking to his standard, he soon found himself in a condition to meet his enemies. Great, however, was the disparity of numbers between him and his foes, his army chiefly consisting of one thousand cavalry, in which lay his main strength, and that of the Jetes amounting to upwards of twenty thousand men. Happily, during his march, he was joined by a reinforcement of a thousand troopers, who had deserted from the foe.
Timur being now encamped on the banks of the Oxus, the Jete general sent a detachment of six thou- sand of his choicest troops to dispute his passage. The enemy having crossed the river at a ford, the prince did not think it prudent to attack them with so small an army, his available force at this moment amounting only to fifteen hundred men ; these were, however, all experienced and well-disciplined soldiers. Early
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the following morning his little band was reinforced by fifteen hundred cavalry, which had deserted from the enemy’s main body. Seeing that the battalions of their foe were daily increasing and theirs daily dimi- nishing, the Jetes resolved to attack him with their combined force before he could have time further to strengthen his army.
The adverse squadrons, amounting to twenty thou- sand men, marched in three divisions. Timur di- vided his three thousand into six sections, and having advanced to the bank of the river, took possession of the bridge, drew up his troops upon the plain, and patiently awaited his enemy’s approach. Giving or- ders for the attack at three points simultaneously, he spurred his horse forward, and the opposing armies met. The contest continued with alternate success from morning until evening, neither side giving way. At length, ordering the standards to be unfurled, the prince and Amyr Hussyn made a desperate charge, sword in hand, upon the hostile divisions. Being sorely pressed by their resolute foes, headed by two such brave commanders, the Jete army wavered, fell into disorder, and fled before the adverse troops, who chased them entirely from the field, and took pos- session of their camp. A great quantity of plun- der thus passed into the hands of the victors. The Jetes, however, soon mustered in still stronger force, and marched towards the conqueror, resolved to redeem their lost honour by the extermination of their enemies.
The victorious prince not finding himself strong enough to contend against such odds, had recourse to
E
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LIVES OF THE MOGHUL EMPERORS.
stratagem. Crossing the Oxus before daybreak with five hundred cavalry, he posted himself upon an emi- nence which overlooked the hostile camp. On the following night he ordered fires to be lighted upon different parts of the hill; this so alarmed the Jetes, who imagined themselves surrounded by a numerous army, that they fled with tumultuary precipitation. Being now joined by Amyr Hussyn, he pursued the enemy with great slaughter.
The united armies of the two amyrs were soon increased to upwards of seven thousand effective men ; Timur therefore resolved to proceed towards Kesh, then in possession of the Jetes, and dispossess them. As their forces were numerous and well appointed, this was no easy enterprise. Having received information that the Jete general had sent a large body of troops into Kesh, and garrisoned all the strongholds of Trans- oxiana, Timur despatched two officers with a strong detachment to drive the enemy from his native pro- vince. Knowing their superior numerical strength, he commanded his two officers on arriving near Kesh to gallop their cavalry about so as to raise a great dust. The more effectually, however, to execute this com- mand of their prince, these officers ordered their men to cut down large branches of trees. These the latter fastened to the cruppers of their horses, which being urged to a gallop, dragged the branches along the ground, and produced such a prodigious cloud of dust, that the foe, supposing an immense army was ad- vancing against them, abandoned the neighbourhood with the utmost despatch. Timur followed them with only six thousand horse, and, after a desperate strug-
TIMUR BEG.
39
gle, defeated thirty thousand of their troops. The carnage was terrible. Thus were the Jetes entirely expelled from the province of Transoxiana.
Having got rid of his enemy, the conqueror deter- mined to amuse his army with a general hunt ; ff and in this manner/’ he says in his Memoirs, “ hunting and coursing, we reached the vicinity of Samerkund. The inhabitants of Samerkund came out to meet me, and were lavish in their praises, saying, f Right has gained its right ;’ and held up their hands in prayer for my prosperity. Having thus established myself at Samerkund, I sent an escort to bring my wife, Aljay Turkhan Agha, with the remainder of my followers, from Gurmsyr to Systan.” *
Hunting has always been a favourite recreation with Mohammedan princes ; and, in fact, we find that it has at all times formed the chief amusement of war- like races. The general mode in different countries varies little; but that of coursing with the cheetah, or hunting-leopard, is, I believe, peculiar to India. Most Mohammedans of rank have several of these animals ; and that this plan of coursing was pursued in the days of Timur there is not much reason to doubt, when we consider how little the customs of all Oriental races have altered during the lapse of ages.
The manner of hunting by the cheetah is extremely interesting. The creature is conveyed to a spot which the herd is known to frequent, upon a hackery or plat- form, raised on wheels of about three feet diameter. Over the cheetah’s head is placed a hood, which is withdrawn the moment the herd appears in sight.
* Memoirs, p. 84.
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The cord is likewise slipped from its neck, and it stands at perfect liberty upon the platform, with its tail towards the driver. So soon as the animal per- ceives the deer, it bounds upon the plain, and with amazing speed darts onward instantly in pursuit, crouching if the herd stops, and springing forward as the affrighted fugitives resume their flight. The deer are usually so paralysed by their terrors, that the cheetah seldom fails to overtake them, and generally selects the fattest buck of the herd, upon which it springs, bringing it to the ground with great violence, and despatching it with extraordinary celerity. As soon as possible after it has secured its victim, the keeper goes up to it and replaces the hood upon its head, withdraws the carcass from its clutch, and pre- pares for a fresh start. The cheetah is frequently very sulky when deprived of its prey, and is at times reconciled with difficulty to being thus defrauded of the fruit of its exertions. The coaxing of the keeper, however, generally overcomes its reluctance to abandon its prize, and thus during a day’s coursing a great number of deer are secured by half a dozen cheetahs.
The harmony which had hitherto continued with scarcely any interruption between Amyr Hussyn and Timur was soon broken by the jealousy of the former, who aspired to the sovereignty of Transoxiana and Turkestan, both of which countries now acknowledged the supremacy of the latter ; nor were their differences adjusted until information was obtained that the Jetes were again advancing in prodigious force to invade the country under dispute. In order that no
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future jealousy should subsist between them, they permitted Kabul Shah Aghlan, who had been raised by the refractory nobles to the sovereignty of the disputed provinces, to retain the khanship. This un- happy prince was shortly afterwards put to death by his preceptor, who sought by this act of treachery to obtain the favour of Timur; but the latter imme- diately sent him to the relatives of the murdered khan, saying it was not fit that a regicide should be permitted to live.
Soon after this event, the Jete army having re- covered from their recent discomfitures, advanced towards Bukhara. Timur, whose forces were now considerably increased by new levies, marched to meet them with the greatest confidence. Amyr Hussyn commanded the right wing, and Timur the left. This prince, who had at the first onset repulsed the right wing of the enemy, sent a messenger to Hussyn, de- siring that he would immediately bring up his reserve, and, by a simultaneous attack upon their faltering squadrons, secure the victory, which was all but won. Hussyn, probably jealous of his brother-in-law's suc- cess, refused to advance, and, receiving a severe check, the opportunity was lost. Darkness at length sepa- rated the combatants.
Timur remained in his saddle the whole night, during which a tremendous storm of rain fell, accom- panied with thunder and lightning. The earth was saturated, and became like a slough, so that the horses were unable to act. Nevertheless, the next morning he advanced with undaunted resolution against the enemy, who had covered themselves and
e 3
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their steeds with large pieces of felt, which protected them from the weapons of Timur’s harassed and di- spirited squadrons. The attack, though extremely vigorous, was repelled with such resolution that the prince was obliged to retreat, but he quickly rallied his exhausted forces, and brought them again to the charge with desperate energy. His whole army must have been cut off, had not the Jete general been slain in the very act of striking Timur with his sabre. The enemy suddenly retreated upon the fall of their general, and were pursued by their foes, who halted on the plain, and ordered the trumpet of victory to be sounded.
Next morning the Jetes, who had rallied, appeared to dispute the field, and the battle was renewed. Though Timur was left with only two thousand horse, he again repulsed them with terrible slaughter. They fled a second time, pursued by the victorious prince; but being reinforced by a party of their own troops, who had been separated from them on the previous day, they returned to the charge, and the struggle recommenced. At length, Timur, being op- pressed by numbers, was forced to give way, and a dreadful carnage ensued. A great multitude perished on both sides in the sloughs and marshes. Upon the whole, more than ten thousand were slain : Timur lost at least one half of his army. After this severe check, Hussyn crossed the Oxus with the officers under his command, and retired from the neighbourhood. His brave confederate, however, resolved to remain and oppose the Jetes; but finding all his efforts un- successful, he finally repaired to Balkh to recruit his shattered battalions.
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The Jetes who had been strongly reinforced, laid siege to Samerkund, and the city was saved only by a mor- tality among the enemies’ horses, which obliged them to retire. Timur and Hussyn having renewed their friendship, repaired to the capital ; but, in consequence of the latter’s insatiable avarice, the nobles determined to oppose him, and place the supreme power in the hands of his brother-in-law. This produced a new breach between the two amyrs; and such was Hus- syn’s enmity, that he resolved upon the immediate destruction of his rival. Aware of the disaffection of the nobles, and their resolutions in favour of Timur, Hussyn assembled an army, determined to kindle the flames of civil war, which should be quenched only by the death of his competitor, who had retired from the capital to collect his forces in order to counteract the ambitious designs of his unnatural foe.
This year, a.d. 1366, Timur’s wife, to whom he was devotedly attached, died. She was the sister of Hussyn. This ruptured the last link of that friend- ship which had for years united these rival princes, but was now irrevocably dissolved. They both assembled their forces, and prepared to decide in whom the su- preme power should be vested. Whilst they were encamped, Hussyn endeavoured to destroy his ad- versary by treachery, but was defeated by the pru- dence and valour of that prince. He sent his trea- surer to Timur with a copy of the Koran, disavowing upon oath any hostile intentions, and soliciting a meeting at a certain pass, in order that their former friendship might be renewed. The substance of his proposal was, that both princes should advance to a
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delightful spot in the pass, accompanied each only by a hundred followers, where they might renew their vows of amity, and divide between them the fruitful province of Transoxiana. Timur, suspecting treach- ery, proceeded to the place with a body of three hundred horse, having previously posted a strong de- tachment in the defiles in front and rear of the pass. Hussyn advanced, accompanied by a thousand troopers, and attacking Timur’s followers just as the two amyrs were about to embrace, the troops which had been placed in ambush suddenly rushed upon Hussyn’s cavalry, put them to the rout, killed many, and took a great number of prisoners.
After this, Timur doubting the fidelity of some of his officers, made them inscribe their names on a muster-roll and swear fealty to him, which they did in the following terms : — We call God to witness, that if we shall be guilty of a breach of our promise, or desert the Amyr Timur, we hope we may be over- whelmed with the divine anger.” * He now retired with his forces to Makhan in Khorassan, where he recruited his army. Hearing that Hussyn had des- patched twelve thousand men under the command of an able leader, to attack him, he prepared to meet them ; but, in spite of their oath of fealty, his confidence in the fidelity of his own troops was shaken. His own account of the matter is at once curious and affecting.
“ I did not place much confidence in them ; which they having heard, came to me with the Koran, on
* Memoirs, p. 96.
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which they had sworn, in their hands, and their swords suspended round their necks, and said, f Here are the Korans, and here are our swords : if we have broken our oaths, kill us/ When I saw them in this state, I wept, and they wept. They then vowed they would devote their lives to my service, and I lauded them ; and with a tranquil mind I mounted my horse, with a full intention of fighting Amyr Hussyn/' *
* Memoirs, p. 97.
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CHAPTER V. a. d. 1366.
Determined to obtain possession of the town and fortress of Karshy, Timur adopted a stratagem to de- ceive the commander of that place. Having stopped several caravans,, he gave them leave to depart ; at the same time marching himself towards Herat,, as if he intended to proceed to that city. Amyr Musa, the general of Amyr Hussyn, being informed by the mer- chants the route which Timur had taken, and conclud- ing that he could have no design upon Karshy, marched out of that fortress with seven thousand choice troops, and encamped on the plains at some distance from the town, allowing his soldiers to enjoy the pleasures of the chase, which was followed, as is usual upon all such occasions, by feasting and carousings. Timur, who had received information of this, immediately al- tered his line of march and returned to his old station. When assured that Amyr Musa had quitted Karshy, he proceeded thither with only three hundred and forty soldiers, on whose courage he could rely, though there were twelve thousand of the enemy’s troops en- camped in the neighbourhood. Having surprised a village near Karshy, made prisoners of all persons in the interest of Hussyn, and secured the road against
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escape to the enemy’s camp, the bold prince pro- ceeded, accompanied by a single warrior, to recon- noitre the fortress. On reaching the ditch he found it full of water ; but in his progress round the walls he discovered a plank which had been thrown across the fosse, probably for the purpose of repairing the fortress, and incautiously left there. This he fear- lessly crossed, commanding his companion to await his return on the hither bank.
Timur walked boldly up to the gate and knocked ; but finding no one appeared, he concluded the guards were asleep. He now carefully examined the external walls, and discovering a small breach favourable for the planting of ladders and the application of ropes, returned to his troops, whom he instantly prepared for this desperate enterprise. Leaving forty persons in charge of the horses, with three hundred dismounted men he proceeded to that part of the ditch over which the plank lay ; and his followers having all crossed singly, he led them to the shattered wall, against which they applied their ropes and ladders. The whole immediately mounted without waking the sen- tinels, who, not expecting an enemy, were sleeping in perfect security. Before morning Timur was master of Karshy.
When the news of this unlooked-for event reached the governor, he invested the fortress with twelve thou- sand horse ; but these were so harassed by desperate sal- lies from the city, headed by Timur, with only a hun- dred troopers, that Musa quitted the place and retired to his camp, leaving Melk Behader with five thousand militia to continue the siege. Upon seeing the prince
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advance against him, this general likewise fled. In the pursuit, the conqueror perceiving the wife of Amyr Musa, who had been abandoned in her flight by Melk Behader, rode after and overtook her. Being then, with child, and the term of her confinement completed, she was next day brought to bed of a daughter, whom Timur subsequently married.
The capture of Karshy was certainly one of the most extraordinary acts of daring upon record, and the success was equal to the daring. When Hussyn was informed of the circumstance, his anger knew no bounds : he abused his generals in the first place for having allowed his rival to surprise so strong a for- tress, and in the next, for having suffered themselves with twelve thousand men to be defeated by an insig- nificant troop of three hundred ; but they might have fairly replied — These were headed by Prince Timur/’
When that conqueror had settled the government of Karshy, he returned to Makhan, where he had left the main body of his forces. Meanwhile Hussyn sent his general, Musa, to attempt the recovery of Karshy, but his troops were again defeated with immense loss by Timur, who hastened to its relief with six hundred men, made prisoners of Musa’s principal officers, and secured a considerable booty. The victor resolved not to allow the enemy time to recover their loss, but to march without delay against Amyr Hussyn : as, how- ever, his officers declined engaging in the enterprise, he was obliged to alter his plans, and repair to Samer- kund. Upon his arrival before that city, which was then in Hussyn’s possession, he sent a message to the governor, commanding its surrender ; but that officer
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refusing, Timur advanced with his squadrons, now amounting only to one thousand horse, close to the walls, with an intention of firing the gate. Hearing, however, that Hussyn was marching with a large army to its relief, he retreated to a station where the air was healthy and the water good, in order to refresh his troops.
Timur, finding himself unable to cope with the numerous forces of his rival, determined, with the con- currence of his officers, whom he generally consulted when about to make any important movements, to quit the country for the present, and await a more favour- able opportunity of obtaining possession of Samerkund. He consequently retired to the banks of the Jaxartes, where he encamped. Here he married his eldest son, Jehangire, to the daughter of Ky Khusero, son-in-law of Toghluk Timur Khan, sovereign of Jeteh, and passed a month at Tashkund, a city on the Jaxartes, in celebrating the marriage.
Scarcely had the month of rejoicing elapsed, when the prince received intelligence that his rival was ad- vancing towards him with an overwhelming force. The latter had despatched twenty thousand troops under the command of Amyr Musa, supported by his best generals, who had orders to gain possession of the different roads, and, having intercepted Timur’s pas- sage, surround him on all sides and compel him to sur- render. Timur, being informed of the exact disposition of the hostile forces, deliberated upon two plans, either to proceed directly forward, and attack Hussyn while separated from the main body of his army, or march against the several divisions and cut them off in de-
F
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tail. Finding that in conjunction with Ky Khusero, whose daughter his son had just married, he could only muster three thousand horse, he came to the de- termination of advancing against the detached parties. Dividing his cavalry therefore into three troops, he or- dered the Moghul standard to be raised, marched boldly towards the enemy, and attacking the divisions seve- rally, defeated them. When the news of their defeat was communicated to Amyr Hussyn, his rage knew no bounds, and, assembling the whole of his forces, he proceeded in person against the conqueror, who did not await his arrival, but at once resolved to meet him. Whilst on the march, a heavy storm of snow fell upon Hussyn’s troops. Being without provisions, having nothing to cover them, and fearing that to proceed would expose them to the danger of being buried in the snow, they made a precipitate retreat. Timur consequently retired, and took up his winter- quarters at Tashkund. The winter of this year was so severe, that the birds of the forest came into the town and sought shelter in the houses.
As soon as the fine weather set in, Hussyn, hear- ing that his rival had received a reinforcement of ten thousand cavalry, made overtures of peace, which were acceded to by Timur, and friendship was once more apparently restored between the two amyrs. Each disbanded his army ; the former returning to Samerkund, the latter to Kesh. Many of Ti- mur’s soldiers, who had been drawn from the hills, returned to their native mountains to enjoy the sweets of repose after a long and arduous service under the most enterprising general of his age. Ti-
r
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mur was partial to highland troops,, because they were capable of enduring not only great fatigue,, but priva- tions of every kind. In their native hills they were inured to hardships which rendered the severities Oi war a pastime rather than a penalty. Such troops under such a leader became invincible. Secluded as are the hillmen in the north of India,, and almost en- tirely cut off from intercourse with the inhabitants of the plains, they are much less barbarous than might be expected ; neither are their notions of political or social economy by any means to be despised. Little change has taken place in this respect probably since the time of the Jagatay conqueror, and both their do- mestic and military architecture will show that in their notions of applicability to climate and comfort, they are nothing behind the highland tribes of more enlightened Europe. The accompanying engraving is a specimen of military architecture in Boutan, a district forming part of that vast chain of mountains which divides Thibet and Tartary from Hindostan. The building is a small but strong castle, erected to guard a pass in the hills on a very elevated and exposed spot. It is admirably contrived to resist the storms which fre- quently burst with prodigious violence and sweep through the gorges of these mountains, bearing upon their wings the elements of destruction. The style of architecture, though simple, is imposing, and the building small without being insignificant. The edifice is formed of three long narrow halls, ter- minated with short square towers towards the pass, the centre one of which has balconies, whence missiles may be discharged upon an advancing foe from every
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side. The walls are exceedingly thick, and the building so low, that the wind, which blows with terrific violence in these altitudes, meets not with sufficient resistance to expose them to damage. Mr. Davis, in his manuscript account of Boutan, in posses- sion of the Asiatic Society, says of a fortress of that country —
" Panaka is one of the most ancient and most con- siderable of the rajah’s castles. The general form of all these buildings is alike ; consisting of two courts or divisions, — the first surrounded with two or three stories of verandaed apartments, for the servants of government and fighting men ; the other appropriated to the use of the priests, for their habitations, chapels, altars, &c. ; — and in the centre always rises a more lofty fabric for the rajah’s particular use, crowned with a gilt turret, said to be his sleeping-room. This is also intended for the same purpose as the keep to old English castles, and might hold out for a time after the rest of the fortress should be lost. The walls are of great height, and the whole pile has a noble and majestic appearance. The outer court is filled with earth, and raised twenty or thirty feet above the level of the ground without. The rooms beneath this may serve as storehouses, as they have loopholes but no windows. It would be impossible to take such a place by assault, and not easy to break the walls by any artillery that could he conveyed through this country. The best way of forcing admission might be by breaking open the gate with a petard. To effect this would be an enterprise neither difficult nor dan- gerous; the entrance to this, as to all other castles
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in Boutan, being through a single gate, which is not flanked or defended by any part of the building. This place is esteemed by the natives a masterpiece of magnificence and strength. It has really some pre- tensions to the former, nor would it be easily reduced by arrows and matchlocks.”
From this description a general idea may be formed of the castles constructed in those bleak and sterile altitudes, where Nature seems everywhere to frown upon her own sublimity. The fortress in the engrav- ing has precisely the character of that just described ; but, though a striking and imposing edifice, it has no pretensions to magnificence; nor indeed, with some few exceptions, have any of the hill-forts through- out the whole continent of Asia. Not only, however, do the public edifices, such as their forts and temples dedicated to the purposes of religion, exhibit strong marks of taste, and a nice discrimination of architec- tural propriety, but the private houses generally are not inferior to those erected in the alpine regions in Europe. In many of the villages the dwellings are four stories high, built of stone and clay, and roofed with shingles. The lower story is employed for the stabling of cattle and for lumber, the upper rooms only being inhabited. These are reached from the ground, floor by ladders, no staircase being employed in any of the houses in those hills. There is no appearance of misery or painful privation among these highlanders. Their habitations are mostly erected upon lofty sites, owing to the scarcity of even ground, which obliges them to take as little as possible from agriculture. They build, therefore, chiefly upon spots which could
f 3
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not be made available for cultivation. This is also the reason why they are obliged to stall their cattle in their houses. They cannot afford to employ for grazing the scanty strips of land which the mountains supply. They are not, however, much incommoded by their dumb families ; habit has rendered this mode of living perfectly endurable. The houses have neither chim- neys nor windows. These alone are wanting, toge- ther with lime and plaster, to render their habitations not only convenient, but extremely comfortable. The want of a staircase is not much felt, for the steps of their ladders are broad, though the ascent is steep. However great their desire to erect stairs, the thing seems scarcely practicable, as the expense of the labour would be prodigious, their carpenters having none but the very worst tools; yet it is surpris- ing how neatly they execute their work with the clumsy implements employed. “ Their timbers and planks are hewn, the use of the saw being altoge- ther unknown. The beams are put together with mortises and tenons, and the boards by a piece let in across and dovetailed. Not a nail or bit of iron is to be seen in their buildings, nor even a wooden pin ; yet their work is not deficient in firmness or stability.” *
The engraving here represents the dwelling-house of the chief of a small village in Boutan, and will give some idea of their attention to architectural effect as well as to comfort. The houses in general are not much inferior to this. Its situation is highly ro-
* Davis’s manuscript Account of Boutan.
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mantic. The rapid streamlet at its base, the lofty ridges in the distance, the glowing patches of vege- tation by which it is surrounded, together with the simple but picturesque bridge which crosses the stream, form altogether a scene of no ordinary in- terest.
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CHAPTER VI. a.d. 1366 — 1369.
When peace had been restored between Timur and Hussyn, the former retired to Kesh, where he soon after obtained information that the governor of Herat had invaded the territory of Balkh and plun- dered the inhabitants. He hastened against the in- vaders, surprised them by the extraordinary celerity of his movements, seized all their plunder, restored it to those from whom it had been taken, and re- turned with equal expedition to Badukhshan, whither Hussyn had proceeded to quell an insurrection of the princes of that district. Here the rival amyrs again met, renewed their pledges of friendship, and entered into arrangements for the immediate reduc- tion of Cabulistan, the governor of which had revolt- ed from his allegiance to Hussyn. Timur advanced against the fortress of Cahul, and became master of it after a vigorous resistance. Nothing perhaps can give a better idea of the character of this prince than his own account of his treatment of the governor : —
“ It came into my mind,” says he,* “ that no legi- timately horn person would have acted in the infamous
* Memoirs, p. 118.
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manner these two scoundrels* had done: I there- fore addressed Bugha, and said to him, f May your face be black ! If your mother had been a virtuous woman, you never would have been guilty of such ingratitude to your benefactor, the Amyr Hussy n, who raised you from a low situation to an important command. It has been truly said, that fa bastard never quits this world until he has injured his patron/ Ypu are the son of a prostitute, as you have clearly proved/ ”
When Hussyn arrived at Cabul after the surren- der of the fortress, he appointed agents to all the public offices, without in the slightest degree requit- ing the services of his brother-in-law, who again re- turned to Kesh; and Hussyn, having completed all the necessary political arrangements at Cabul, repaired to Balkh, which he intended to make the seat of his government.
Early in the following year the country was in- vaded by an immense army of Jetes, and Hussyn, dreading the consequence, sent to Timur, requesting his aid. The latter reproached him with his breach of contract after the reduction of Cabul. Without a moment’s delay, Hussyn marched his army to Kesh, and promised his rival the dominion of Samerkund and the territory belonging to it, if he would expel the enemy. That prince’s reply is characteristic : “ I will not accept Samerkund from you ; but, if it shall please God, I will take it from the enemy by the power of the sword.” This he accomplished by an unexpect- ed event. The two Jete generals having quarrelled, * The governor and his brother.
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Timur employed his artifices to foment the difference, which at length rose to such a height that they divided their forces and fought. Before they could recover from the effects of this conflict, their shatter- ed battalions were attacked by the vigilant foe, who compelled them to fly, and leave a considerable spoil to the victors. Shortly after this, he quelled an in- surrection of the princes of Badukhshan.
Hussyn’s enmity against his friend was rather aug- mented than abated by these successes. He used various stratagems to get him into his power, evi- dently with a design of taking his life ; but the latter, being aware of these hostile intentions, evaded his treachery and baffled his purposes. At length, seeing that no measures were to be kept with such a treach- erous man, Timur resolved at once to come to an open rupture, and declare war against him before he could have time to offer further provocation.
When this determination was known to the refrac- tory princes of Badukhshan, they, together with all the warlike tribes of Transoxiana, joined the Jagatay standard against Hussyn. With his army thus rein- forced, Timur proceeded directly to Balkh, blockaded the city on all sides, and besieged the citadel. The enemy offered a vigorous defence, made a spirited sally, and night alone put an end to the struggle. During this battle, Omer Sheikh, son of Timur, then but sixteen years of age, in an assault upon the walls of the town, received an arrow in his foot, which trans- fixed it and entered the side of his horse. The youth- ful prince, notwithstanding, continued the attack, till Hussyn, becoming alarmed, took refuge in the citadel.
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and ordered the gates to be secured. The young warrior, in spite of his suffering, rode up to the gate of the fort, struck it with an axe, shouted defiance at the foe, and returned to his father’s camp, where his foot was dressed, the surgeons drawing a red-hot iron through the wound to stanch the effusion of blood, the agony of which he bore with unflinching reso- lution.
On the following morning a fresh sally was made from the city. The garrison fought with a despera- tion which gave Hussyn some hopes of defeating the enemy. He beheld this terrible encounter from the ramparts of the citadel; and his troops, encouraged by the consciousness that they were fighting under the eye of their sovereign, made prodigious exertions to compel their foes to raise the siege. It was fruitless, however : the besieged were soon repulsed on all sides, and forced to retreat within their walls.
Hussyn now saw that his affairs were in a despe- rate condition. Timur sent a messenger to inform him, that if he had any hopes of preserving his life, he must immediately deliver up the fortress uncondi- tionally into the victor’s hands. Hussyn, perceiving that submission was his wisest policy, resolved at once to trust to the conqueror’s clemency, and there- fore sent his two sons to the hostile camp, accom- panied by the governor of Balkh, offering to resign his crown, and stipulating for nothing but that he might be permitted to make a pilgrimage to Mecca. This request being acceded to, he declared his intention of quitting Balkh on the following day. Distrusting, how- ever, Timur’s promise that his life should be spared,
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he quitted the citadel that very evening, disguised as a pilgrim, with only two servants. He had previ- ously taken the precaution of securing his most va- luable jewels in his girdle. Having wandered about until morning, and fearing detection, he entered a mosque, and hid himself in the cupola of the minaret, — the tower whence the muazins, or criers, proclaim the periods of public devotion.
The muazin soon afterwards ascending the mi- naret to announce the hour of early prayer, detected Hussyn in his lurking-place; and though the latter endeavoured to bribe him to silence by presenting him with a string of valuable pearls, the man immediately repaired to the victors camp and reported the discovery which he had just made. The officers and soldiers, on hearing this, ran to the mosque. Meanwhile, Hussyn, observing their approach, endeavoured to conceal himself in a dark recess beneath the tower ; but, unfortunately for him, a part of his pilgrim's robe being seen, he was discovered and dragged be- fore the conqueror. Timur, unwilling to violate the promise he had made, said to the officers near him, “ I renounce the right I have of taking away his life, and cancel the sentence of his death, by which I might revenge myself.” Ky Khusero in- stantly bent the knee, and demanded that the captive should be delivered up to him, in order that he might visit him with a just retribution for having killed his brother. The princes and amyrs, perceiving that their general was greatly affected at the idea of condemning to death so near a relative of one whom during her life he had so tenderly loved.
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made a sign to Ky Khusero and another amyr to quit the assembly. Embracing the opportunity, they im- mediately took horse, and following Hussyn, whom Timur had permitted to depart, overtook him at the tomb of a Mohammedan saint, whither he had sought sanctuary from his pursuers, and slew him on the spot.
Soon afterwards, the castle to which Hussyn had retired being demolished, two of his sons were burnt, and their ashes scattered in the air. His two other sons fled to India, where they perished miserably. It is impossible to believe that Timur was not privy to the death of the two elder. Upon the surrender of the fortress, he obtained all the treasure which his former rival had amassed by a long course of avarice and pe- culation. The conqueror issued a proclamation that all the inhabitants of Balkh who had shut themselves up in the citadel with their late amyr should return to the old city and rebuild it. The fortifications, together with Hussyn’s palaces, were razed to the ground, and everything which had belonged to him was destroyed, that there might remain no memorial of a prince so worthless and so detested.
Timur having made himself master of Balkh, there arose three candidates for the throne among the nobles who had joined his standard. When it was proposed in an assembly of the chiefs and amyrs that the sovereignty should be placed solely at the disposal of their beloved leader, Shah Moham- med, who was at the head of the princes of Badukh- shan, objected, and urged that the conquered coun- try should be divided into four portions, the three
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competitors and Timur each ruling over his separate province, and uniting for the general security in case of invasion. This produced an animated discussion, but at length the majority of voices declared in favour of the son of Teragay. Ky Khusero, however, one of the candidates, not content with this decision, proposed that the matter should be finally decided by lot. This was at length assented to. The names of the four claimants for the succession being written on slips of paper and placed under the carpet upon which the Mohammedans kneel when they say their prayers, the lots were drawn, and that of dominion fell to Timur. This at once decided the dispute. The other amyrs yielded to what they took to be the determina- tion of an Omnipotent will.
All the chiefs immediately crowded round the new sovereign, congratulated him, and offered him homage. One of the syeds then present having prayed for Ti- mur’s prosperity, took up the Koran, and placing it upon the heads of the chiefs one by one, said, " Let those who choose to enter into this covenant come ; and those who choose to fall off, let them fall to which each person replied, a We have heard and do obey.” Thus was Timur established in his eleva- tion to supreme power, and thenceforward his career was one of brilliant and unexampled success.
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CHAPTER VII. a.d.1369 — 1388.
44 In the year 771/’ (a. d. 1369) says Timur in his Memoirs/* 44 I entered my thirty-fifth year of age ; on which occasion four of the most revered syeds — namely, Abu al Berkat, Abu al Mualy, Zynaddyn, and Aly Akber — having chosen a fortunate hour, took me by the arms and placed me on the throne of sove- reignty. After I was seated on the throne, I opened the Koran, which was my constant companion, to search for an omen whether my government would endure ; and this verse came forth : 4 Say, God is the master of the world, he gives the kingdom to whom he chooses, and takes it away from those he chooses/ The learned body who were standing at the foot of my throne wrote the interpretation of this verse, and read prayers for the perpetuity of my dominion. In the same manner, the people, both great and low, held up their hands in prayer for my prosperity; after which the nobles bent their knees and congratulated me ; then the chiefs and officers of the hordes paid their respects ; after which all the people, whether soldiers or citizens, called out, 4 May your good fortune endure !’ ”
From this passage it will appear that Timur affect- ed extreme sanctity in all his proceedings; indeed
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throughout his Memoirs he describes himself as con- sulting the Koran on every remarkable event of his life,, and whenever he meditated any great enterprise. In spite of his powerful and vigorous understanding, he was the slave of superstition; for he appears to have had great faith in dreams and omens, which made him frequently a dupe to the juggles of priestcraft. Upon being raised by the unanimous consent of the nobles to fill the imperial throne of Jagatay, to which he reunited the dependent kingdoms of Khuarazm and Kandahar, the former a district of Tartary, the latter of Afghanistan, he treated the inhabitants of the coun- try he had just conquered with extreme rigour, be- heading some, imprisoning others, enslaving their wives and children, seizing their riches, and ravaging their lands. Having settled the affairs of Balkh, appointed a governor, and given him a code of written regulations for his guidance, he quitted that city and proceeded to Samerkund, where he soon after defeated a plot against his life, and, contrary to his usual mode of proceeding with his refractory or treacherous subjects, displayed a clemency which deserves to be recorded. He put none of the conspirators to death, pardoned one of the principals on account of a family connexion, and confined the other in a dungeon.
Timur, having a few months after possessed him- self of the strong fortress of Kat in the principality of Khuarazm, married his son Jehangire to Khan Zareh, niece of the king of that country, a princess so cele- brated for her beauty, that it was said of her “ she had the genius of an angel and the shape of a fairy.” He likewise put to death Ky Khusero, who had thrown off
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his allegiance,, and united himself with the sovereign of Khuarazm.
Upon Timur’s elevation to the throne of Jagatay, the Jete army again appeared in the field,, commanded by Kummer Addyn, against whom,, though the season of the year was unfavourable,, the emperor marched in person. The snow fell with such violence, and the cold was so in- tense, that many of the cattle which followed the im- perial camp died. Timur, however, pitched his camp, erecting huts for the troops, under which they re- mained during the rest of the winter. As soon as the milder weather set in, he gave the command of his army to the Prince Jehangire, who, hearing that Kummer Addyn was waiting at some distance for reinforcements, made a forced march, attacked his camp during the night, forced him to fly, and leave a considerable spoil to the conquerors.
Upon receiving intelligence of his son’s success, the emperor joined him with a strong reinforcement just as the prince had compelled the Jete general to quit his place of refuge, a pass in the hills to which the latter had retreated, and was plundering his followers. The fugi- tive Jetes were so closely pursued, that a large number of camels, together with a great quantity of baggage, fell into the hands of the victors. Kummer Addyn, being hotly pressed, was so overcome with fatigue, that, hav- ing slaked his thirst at a spring, he laid his head upon a stone near its margin, and fell asleep. The soldiers of Jehangire coming up, one of Kummer Addyn’s re- tinue, who greatly resembled him, threw himself be- fore his general, and cried out in a tone of authority, I am Kummer Addyn.” The enemy, deceived by the
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nobleness of his bearing, seized him : — this gave the Jete general time to escape.
In the year 1374, Jehangire being ill at Samer- kund, the command of the army devolved -upon his brother, Omer Sheikh Mirza. This prince enticed the Jetes, who had again mustered in strong force, to pursue him into the mountains, and thus cut off a great num- ber of their troops ; but, being much outnumbered, he sent to his father for reinforcements. Timur, in- stantly answering the call, ordered the army forward : on approaching the seat of war, he was surprised with only three hundred horse by the Jete general, who had concealed his forces in the woods for this purpose. Although the disparity in numbers was extreme, the Jagatay sovereign did not decline a contest, but charged the enemy with his usual resolution. In the second charge, Kummer Addyn advanced against the em- peror, who struck him so violent a blow upon the hel- met that he was for the moment stunned. His fol- lowers, seizing the reins of his horse, led him out of the battle. His troops, no longer encouraged by the presence of their general, retreated in disorder. Timur instantly pursued the Jete commander, who, though only attended by eight soldiers, fought with determined bravery. His horse however being wound- ed, he dismounted, threw off his armour, and con- trived to escape. Creeping into a hole, he evaded the vigilance of his pursuers. His army was so dispersed that they were unable that year to appear again in the field.
Just before this last battle, the emperor had two prophetic dreams respecting his son Jehangire. These
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were realised by the death of his first-born, which was announced to the father when he arrived in the vi- cinity of Samerkund. The prince, who was but twenty years old when he died, left two sons. Peer Mohammed, to whom Timur gave the title of his father Jehangire, which signifies “Conqueror of the World,” and Mo- hammed Sultan. To both he assigned offices of dis- tinction in his court.
Two years after this melancholy event, another son was born to the emperor, Mirza Shah Rukh. During this year he adorned the imperial city of Samerkund with several splendid monuments, among which was a sumptuous palace which he called “ The Garden of Paradise.”
Timur’s ambition now leading him to entertain hopes of universal dominion, he turned his thoughts towards the empire of Iran, or Persia. Having first made his third son, the Mirza Miran Shah, then only fourteen years old, governor of Khorassan, a valuable district of that country, he despatched him thither with fifty troops of horse. Towards the end of the year, the emperor assembled a numerous army of Turks and Tartars, and, crossing the Oxus, march- ed into Khorassan. Here his devotion prompted him to visit an illustrious Santon.* This person, in a fit of holy enthusiasm, flung a breast of mutton at the head of his imperial master, who, believing it to be a good augury, said, “ I am persuaded that God will grant me the conquest of Khorassan because this king- dom has been called the breast, or middle, of the ha-
* The Santons are a tribe of Mohammedan priests who de- vote their lives to the practice of religious austerities.
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bitable world.” Such are the silly pretences upon which despots justify their wars of extermination, and the spreading of death and desolation over conquered kingdoms !
From the Santons of earlier times have sprung up among the Mohammedans in India a race of religious enthusiasts unparalleled in the annals of superstition for the influence which they possess over their fol- lowers. These imposters are far more notorious for their licentiousness than for their devotion. They not only extort alms by demanding them in the name of their prophet, but, when these benefactions are not conceded to their expostulations, frequently obtain them by force. They often go in considerable parties, and then their pretended solicitations for gratuities be- come positive robberies. As these devotees are never interfered with by the native authorities, they levy their contributions upon the unprotected passenger with perfect impunity. They may be constantly seen on their way to perform some religious ceremony, at which times they reap a rich harvest from the charities of the pious, mounted upon an ox and clad in the costume of their vocation. This consists of undressed sheepskin, with the wool, or rather hair,* outside. Round the neck are several rows of large beads, and the head is covered with a profusion of hair, never, according to the custom of the Nazarites among the ancient Jews, having been clipped from the hour of their birth. Though they profess humility to the very extent of its acceptation among all religious en- thusiasts, nevertheless, conceiving it far more dignified * In India the sheep are covered with a thick curly hair.
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to ride than to walk,, they generally contrive to obtain from some pious follower, blessed with the gift of cha- rity, a bullock, which they adorn with certain orna- ments that procure for the sacred beasts a sort of reli- gious veneration from all devout Mussulmauns, as well as for the greater brute by whom it is bestrode. A bell is always hung round the ox’s neck, which, like that of the bell-wether of our own country, keeps up a monotonous tinkling as the animal proceeds : — its hocks are likewise adorned with rings of brass.
When these fakeers are met singly, they more gene- rally resort to importunity than to force in obtaining alms : but should their importunities be disregarded, the bitterest curses invariably follow; yet no true Mo- hammedan ever dares to retaliate, such is the awe in which these licentious devotees are universally held among the more rigid followers of their religious creed.
During the year after Timur’s entrance into Kho- rassan he besieged the strong fortress of Fushenj in that province, which capitulated after a vigorous re- sistance, While his troops assaulted the walls, the emperor, riding round them to encourage his soldiers, was severely wounded. Meanwhile the wall was scaled, the gate forced, and the fortress taken. The army marched thence to Herat, then a city of consi- derable importance and strongly fortified, which capi- tulated at the first summons. The conqueror seized the treasures, levied heavy contributions upon the inhabitants, and commanded the walls to be razed ; after which he quitted the place, to enrich himself with other conquests.
Being master of Khorassan, the emperor placed
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officers upon whom he could rely, in command of the several cities which he had subdued, and retired to Bukhara for the winter. Here he sustained the loss of his favourite daughter Taji Khan, a princess eminent alike for the beauty of her person and the accomplish- ments of her mind. She was the wife of Mohammed Bey, son of Amyr Musa. The father was so af- flicted at her death, that he could scarcely be roused to action when informed of the revolt of Ali Bey, whom he soon after besieged in the fortress of Kelat, and reduced to submission. But this amyr, violating his pledges, was pursued by the imperial troops into the mountains, where, having taken refuge in the strong fort of Tenshiz, he thought himself secure, that place being considered impregnable. The fort, however, was quickly reduced, and Ali Bey delivered up to the conqueror, who commanded him, together with the participators in his revolt, to be placed in bonds. They were subsequently put to death in consequence of another rebellion, suppressed shortly after, which they had excited.
So many rebels were slain on this occasion by the troops under the command of Mirza Miran Shah, that the soldiers built a lofty pyramid with their heads.
The following year, a.d. 1383, the emperor visited with a signal punishment Herat, which had revolted. When he had reduced the disaffected citizens to sub- mission, he ordered two thousand slaves to be piled alive one upon another with mortar and bricks ; thus forming a tower of human bodies. Immediately after, he took the fortress of Zareh in Seistan, an exten- sive province on the eastern side of Persia ; and, having
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massacred five thousand of the besieged,, formed a pile with their bodies,, and a tower with their heads, which had been separated from the trunks for this cruel purpose. The capital of Seistan likewise fell into the hands of the vanquisher, who, enraged at the de- sperate resistance which had been made, commanded the walls to be demolished, the houses to be levelled, and all the inhabitants, men, women, and children, to be slaughtered. The sovereign of Seistan, the gene- rals of his army, and governors of provinces, were sent prisoners to Samerkund. Several other cities shared the same fate : their fortifications were razed and their inhabitants slain.
The career of the Jagatay sovereign was from this time marked with the most cruel carnage. His cha- racter was now fully developed : where any opposition was made to his victorious progress, he spared nei- ther sex nor age. And yet one of his historians * has said of him — “ He was temperate, chaste, moderate, attached to the duties of religion, and, notwithstanding the assertions of one who has written his history, not cruel for a conqueror.” Immediately upon the con- quest of Seistan followed that of Kandahar, the go- vernor of which was sent to the imperial camp and there hanged. After these successes the emperor re- turned to Samerkund, where a prince was soon after bom to him, but did not long survive his birth.
Timur remained but three months at his capital, and again marched to new conquests. In the course of this year, 1385, having conquered Iran as far west-
* Father Fran§ois Catrou, of the Society of Jesus.
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ward as Soltaniya, supposed to be the ancient Ragau or Rages, he returned to Samerkund. During the winter, Tauris, a great city, which has at different periods been the capital of the Persian empire, was attacked by an army of ninety thousand Calmucks, under Toktamish Khan, who, becoming masters of the place, exercised the greatest cruelties. The Jagatay sovereign, not choosing that such sangui- nary acts should be exercised except by his own armies and with his authority, was greatly incensed at the audacity of the infidels. It confirmed him the more strongly in his determination to subdue the Persian empire. The year following, therefore, he again crossed the Oxus with a numerous army, and, after a long march, encamped before Firuzkeh, a fortress in Persian Irak. Here, receiving intelligence that a caravan, on its way to Mecca through this dis- trict, had been attacked and plundered, with a select detachment of his army he stormed a strong citadel, whither the plunderers had retired in the neighbour- ing mountains, and, having obliged them to surrender, ordered them to be cast headlong from the battle- ments.
After inflicting summary justice on these public robbers, the conqueror invested Tauris, which open- ed its gates, and a large sum of money was im- posed upon the citizens by way of ransom. The whole country of Azerbejan, one of the most fruit- ful districts of Persia, was in a short time subdued ; and Timur, with his usual barbarous policy, having put to death the bravest amyrs among the van- quished, and demolished several of their fortresses.
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prepared to enter Georgia, as he had long previ- ously meditated. The necessary arrangements being made, he marched, during a very severe winter, and encamped before Teflis, the capital of that country, which surrendered without opposition. Town after town followed the example of the metropolis, and the whole kingdom was soon subdued.
The emperor now entered Shirwan, a district in the north of Persia, the governor of which submitted to his arms without making a single effort to repel him. Among the presents brought to the conqueror were eight slaves; it being the usage to present nine of a sort, where a present consisted of more than one, it was remarked in Timur s presence that the ninth slave was wanting. The vanquished prince in- stantly presented himself to complete the number; which so flattered the despot, who had his vanity no less than inferior men, that he bestowed upon his abject dependant the whole country of Shirwan, with its dependencies, allowing him to assume the title of king. Other princes followed this example with simi- lar success. Even the mountain chiefs, who, protected by their hills, woods, marshes, and almost impregna- ble fortresses, had hitherto derided the idea of con- quest or submission, appeared before Timur and offer- ed him their fealty.
The emperor being informed that the Turkomans had robbed several caravans on their way to Mec- ca, and that they were continually committing ex- cesses in the neighbourhood of their encampments, hastened towards them, subdued them, ravaged their lands, and carried off their wives and children. He
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next bent his steps towards Armenia, which he entered a. d. 1387. After storming with his usual celerity several forts and cities, he laid siege to a strong fortress in Upper Armenia. The governor shut himself up in the citadel, which, being surround- ed by immensely strong walls, on the ridge of a mountain, and bounded on one side by a deep lake, was considered impregnable. Timur assaulted both the town and castle with such impetuosity, that the governor, apprehensive of the issue, and knowing the emperor’s severity where any desperate resistance was offered to his arms, judged it prudent to submit to the imperial clemency. The citizens, however, rely- ing upon the strength of the citadel, which had never yet been taken, refused to capitulate and the siege was renewed with encreased energy. Notwithstanding the most vigorous resistance, the town was entered on the twentieth day after the first assault by the Jagatay soldiers, who, tying several of the garrison neck and heels together, flung them from the ramparts. The castle was demolished by order of the victor, who, with the stern precaution of a despot, left no fortress in a conquered country likely to offer any impediment to his victorious career. In many of his sieges, Timur made use of mines with great success. These mines were constructed after the usual mode employed in ancient warfare. Galleries were carried under that portion of the wall in which the breach was to be made ; this, as the excavation proceeded, being sup- ported by strong wooden frames. When the mine was sufficiently spacious, the frames were set on fire, and the superincumbent structure giving way, fell into the cavity, which formed the breach.
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The whole of Kurdestan being subdued, the con- queror proceeded to Ispahan, the modern capital of Persia, and one of the most gorgeous cities of the East. Upon his arrival, the governor and chief citi- zens came out and implored the mercy of the Jagatay sovereign, who entered the city, where he was enter- tained with great magnificence. Having placed a gar- rison there, he returned to his camp.
A short time after, a sedition broke out in the suburbs of Ispahan, headed by a smith, who, collect- ing the rabble, slaughtered the commissaries appointed under the new government, together with upwards of three thousand Turks. They also slew the guards, and seized the gates. All the Jagatay soldiers would probably have been massacred had they not been de- fended by the more prudent citizens, who repelled the insurgents and restored some degree of order.
Next day, Timur, having stormed the city, entered it with his troops, and commanded all the inhabitants, except those who had opposed themselves to the in- surgents, to be slaughtered. This order was executed with such ferocity, that, according to the registers of the divan, the number of heads amounted to se- venty thousand; these were laid in heaps on the walls and afterwards piled up into pyramids. That horrible massacre happened at the close of the year 1387.
After this sanguinary event the emperor encamped before Shiraz, the capital of Fars, or Persia Proper, which submitted. The conquest of the whole king- dom almost immediately followed.
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CHAPTER VIII a, d. 1388—1394.
Hearing that the Kipchaks had invaded his heredi- tary dominions, Timur placed governors over his new conquests, and returned to Samerkund. No sooner were the enemy apprised of his having passed the Oxus, than they retreated with the utmost precipita- tion. In order to punish the citizens of the Khuarazm capital, who had taken part with the invaders, the emperor caused that city to be levelled with the ground, obliterated the very foundations, and com- manded the land to be sown with barley, so that not a vestige might remain to point out its site to fu- ture generations. Three years afterwards, however, having repented of his rashness, he sent an amyr into Khuarazm, who, collecting the scattered inhabitants, rebuilt the capital and restored it to its original splendour.
On the following year, having defeated with great slaughter an arn)y composed of Russians, Circassians, Bulgarians, and several tribes bordering upon Tartary, under the command ofToktamish Khan, of Kipchak or Western Tartary, an old enemy, the emperor marched into Jetah, a province of this vast region. During their journey through the desert, his army being in great want of water, came to a meadow covered
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with snow, though it was the summer season, which relieved both the soldiers and cattle. Timur, in defiance of the difficulties that opposed his progress, reached the capital of Jetah, which opened its gates. The subjugation of the whole district quickly followed. The sovereign of the country was forced to abandon his kingdom, after undergoing innumerable hardships. All his bravest soldiers had been either slain or taken prisoners, his wives and children, together with the chief inhabitants, made captives, his entire territory re- duced to a state of deplorable devastation, the houses pillaged, and the cattle driven away. Timur having now completed the overthrow of his enemies, and travelled above three thousand miles, quitted Yal- duz, on the road from Russia to China, according to La Croix, and four hundred and eighty leagues from Samerkund, which city he reached after a rapid march of twenty-two days, being at the rate of twenty- four miles a day.
In the autumn of the year 1390, Timur invaded the country of Kipchak with his victorious squadrons. Upon his arrival, Toktamish Khan, who held the sovereignty of that extensive empire, endeavoured to propitiate his formidable enemy, to whom he had been indebted for his crown. The latter, however, proceeded on his way, and reaching the desert, his troops were so straitened for provisions, that a pound of bread was sold for sixty-seven dinars,^ and the soldiers were obliged to hunt for food. At length Timur encountered the Kipchak forces and
* The gold dinar is worth about nine shillings, the silver dinar about three and sixpence.
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routed them after an obstinate resistance, the victors pursuing their vanquished foes with terrible slaughter for upwards of a hundred miles.
Upon the emperor's return to Samerkund, he cele- brated the marriages of several of his young nobles by a public banquet, at which he presided in person. The tables were arranged like an army in order of battle, Timur appearing at the head of the centre table on a throne of gold, the bridegrooms and brides being placed on either side of him. He did not, how- ever, permit the love of pleasure to cross the pur- poses of his ambition. Persia was again invaded, many of its princes having thrown off their allegiance. He collected an army for a campaign of five years, and, as usual, pursued his career of conquest. His route was marked by frightful devastations : towns were reduced to rubbish, and their inhabitants barba- rously slaughtered, Irak and Kurdestan submitted to the conqueror.
Shah Mansur, Prince of Fars, checked for a mo- ment the progress of the victorious Jagatay. With three thousand horse he proved a dangerous enemy to the conqueror. His cavalry were armed with coats of mail, having helmets and breastplates of leather lined with steel. Their horses were protected by a cuirass composed of thiek silk loosely fitting their bodies. At the head of these chosen squadrons, with their ensigns displayed, Mansur advanced against the veteran forces of Jagatay with fierce determination. Attacking the main body of his enemy, which consisted of thirty thou- sand Turks, considered by Timur as the best troops in his army, the Persian general broke their ranks,
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overthrew their battalions, and gained an impor- tant post in their rear. Seeing the emperor, who was gazing with admiration at the valour of his foe, accompanied only by fifteen horsemen, Mansur rode up and attacked him with desperate energy. Timur, though armed with his scimitar only, struck the Per- sian twice upon his helmet with such strength that the latter reeled under the force of the blow : but the Jagatay monarch, unprotected by armour, would pro- bably have fallen a victim to the resolution of his enemy, had not an attendant raised a buckler over his head, while the officers by whom he was attend- ed repulsed his furious assailant. Meanwhile, the Turks, who had rallied, attacked the Persians with such vigour that they gave way on all sides ; then Mirza Shah Rukh, who, though only seventeen years old, had distinguished himself by his heroic bravery, having cut off Mansur’s retreat, took him prisoner and cast his head at the emperor’s feet. The de- lighted father received with joy the trophy of his son’s triumph.
After this signal victory, the conqueror made his public entry into Shiraz. The treasures of Shah Man- sur were distributed among his nobles, and, as usual, a heavy ransom imposed upon the inhabitants. The same thing was done at Ispahan. He subsequent- ly ordered all the princes of the house of Mu- zaffer to be put to death. tc He declared,” says Gibbon in his usual caustic style, “ his esteem for the valour of a foe by extirpating all the males of so intrepid a race.”* Two alone escaped, who had * Decline and Fall, vol. i. p. 9.
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been both blinded, the one by his own father Shah Shuja, the other by Shah Mansur. These princes ex- perienced the clemency of their new sovereign, who sent them to his capital, where they had some of the best land assigned for their maintenance. The emperor re- mained only five days at Ispahan, whence he march- ed to a town in Kurdestan, whose inhabitants denied the authority of the Koran. Knowing that the bi- goted zeal of Timur would instigate him to accom- plish their extermination, they secured themselves in caverns among the hills, which they fortified. The Tartar troops, not being able to expel them by the sword, formed rivulets along the mountains, and breaking down their banks, caused the water to flow into the recesses where these unhappy fugitives had taken refuge, by which means the greater portion of them miserably perished.
Another town of Kurdestan, which made a resolute defence, suffered a chastisement equally signal and merciless: it was reduced to rubbish, and all the inhabitants put to the sword. Here was a great number of Parsees or fire-worshippers, usually called Ghebres, that is, infidels, who, on account of their idolatrous creed, were all cruelly massacred.
From this scene of heartless barbarity Timur pro- ceeded to Baghdad, whither he arrived on the tenth of October 1393. Upon reaching this celebrated ca- pital, he found that the Sultan had crossed the Tigris, broken down the bridge, and sunk the boats, to pre- vent his being pursued. The Jagatay soldiers how- ever, in spite of the rapidity of the river, threw them- selves into the Tigris with a great shout, passed over
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in safety, and entered the city. Having despatched a detachment in pursuit of the Sultan, who fled towards Syria, Timur took possession of this once renowned metropolis. The children of Sultan Ahmed, together with his wives, fell into the victor’s hands.
At this time the Kurds were reduced to such com- plete subjection, that a single traveller might pass through their country unmolested, though, until sub- dued by the imperial forces, scarcely a caravan, how- ever strongly guarded, entered their territory without being plundered. The year after Timur had complet- ed the conquest of Kurdestan, he received intelligence of the death of Mirza Omer Sheikh, his second son. This prince, being on his way to Shiraz, stopped at a small fort, and, ascending an eminence to examine the place, was killed by an arrow in the fortieth year of his age. The troops by whom he was accom- panied signally revenged his death by demolishing the fortress and butchering the garrison. The body of the prince was conveyed to Shiraz, and thence to Kesh, where it was interred with regal honours ; and the government of Pars, or Persia Proper, given to Peer Mohammed, son of the deceased, though only six- teen years old.
Timur, being determined to reduce Van, a place of importance in Turkish Armenia, the citadel of which he had before taken and destroyed because the governor refused to offer him allegiance, hasten- ed thither with his army, took the town, and, as usual, razed the walls. Messer, the governor, and his Turks, retired within the fortress, situated upon a steep and craggy mountain, all the passes to
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which were strongly fortified both by nature and art,, besides being blocked up with huge masses of rock. A wall was also built upon one side to the very edge of the precipice. The attack, however, of the Tartar troops was so vigorous, notwithstand- ing those almost insurmountable impediments, that Messer, in alarm, sent to implore Timur’s clemency. The emperor, suspecting this was only a feint to gain time, imprisoned the messengers, and commanded the governor’s son, a child only six years old, to be conducted into his presence. The boy pleaded so earnestly for his father, that the Jagatay monarch promised the life of his parent should be spared pro- vided the latter immediately repaired to the imperial camp and surrendered the fortress ; at the same time putting a collar of gold about the boy’s neck, and send- ing him to his father with a courteous letter. The Turks were so struck with this act of clemency, that they were clamorous in urging their leader to surren- der. He, nevertheless, doubting the faith of a con- queror whose career of victory had been invariably marked with violence, determined not to place his life in the tyrant’s hands.
Several houses being battered down by the engines employed in this siege, the governor sent his mother to beg quarter for her son, which the emperor again pro- mised upon immediate submission. Messer, neverthe- less, continued irresolute. At length an artificial tower, composed of earth and the trunks of trees, was raised above the walls of the fortress, the en- gines placed upon them, and such a volley of huge stones showered over the battlements as threaten-
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ed speedy destruction to the houses, and soon opened a practicable breach. The garrison, moreover, being reduced to great extremity from want of water, all the inhabitants were dismissed from the fortress but such as were able to defend the works. The gover- nor still continuing obstinate, seven of the besiegers mounting one of the arches upon which the fort was erected, reached the bottom of the wall. Being follow- ed by two officers, they began to sap the foundation, and soon made such progress, that the besieged, appre- hending the result, threw down their arms and in- sisted upon being permitted to depart. Some flung themselves from the battlements rather than fall alive into the enemy’s hands.
Messer, now reduced to the last extremity, once more sent his mother to supplicate the conqueror’s mercy. This was again promised, provided the ob- ject for whom it was implored would appear before the emperor and ask forgiveness on his knees. This he consented to do ; but such was his irresolution, arising from a dread of Timur’s known severity, that he would still have continued his defence of the place, had not the Turks under his command positively refused to offer further resistance. So great and so universal was the panic among them, that his domes- tics quitted him, and some even cast themselves from the walls.
Seeing that all further resistance was vain, Messer tied a handkerchief round his neck, in token of the most perfect abjection, and, with his sword pointed towards the ground, quitted the fortress and appeared in the presence of his victorious foe. Through the intercession
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of Mirza Mohammed Sultan, one of the princes of the blood, he obtained pardon ; but was sent forthwith to Samerkund, and his treasures distributed among those who had so bravely distinguished themselves during this stubborn siege.
After this, the whole of Armenia became tributary to the Jagatay sovereign. In obedience to the well- known Mohammedan maxim, that it is the duty of all true believers in the faith of Islam to make war upon such as profess a different religion, Timur deter- mined again to march into Georgia and finally re- duce the princes of that country to submission. Ad- vancing with a numerous army to Kars in Turkish Armenia, he encamped before that city. Here news was brought to him of the birth of a grandson. Shortly afterwards, the amyrs whom he had sent into Georgia having conquered the greatest part of the country, returned with their spoils, and congra- tulated their imperial master on the joyful addition to the family of his son Mirza Shah Rukh. A splendid banquet was provided, at which Timur entertained with great magnificence many foreign princes and persons of distinction. The festival being ended, Mirza Shah Rukh departed for Samerkund, the go- vernment of which his father had conferred upon him.
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CHAPTER IX. a. d. 1394—139 6.
Timur’s zeal for religion directed him now to march in person to the capital of Georgia. He entered the mountains,, death and desolation marking every step of his progress. The Black Bucklers., a war- like tribe, he attacked in their fastnesses and fortified castles, which were most of them built upon the edges of deep precipices, ravaged their lands, plundered their houses, and put all who fell into his power to the sword. Having nearly exterminated this unhappy race, he proceeded direct to Teflis, exercising the se- verest cruelties upon all Christians who fell in his way, against whom he had declared a war of ex- termination. But while the scourge of Asia was di- recting his fanatical vengeance against the Christians on that vast continent, intelligence was brought to him that his old enemy Toktamish was again in the field ready to oppose him with a new army.
The Kipchak general had ravaged some parts of Shirwan, the largest division of the Southern Caucasus, and laid the inhabitants under heavy contributions. Toktamish, who had re-established himself in his king- dom during the absence of the Jagatay monarch on
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foreign conquests, made incursions into that sovereign’s dominions, where he committed cruel violence, in order to repair the losses of and make retaliation for his late defeat. Before Timur marched, he sent a messenger to the invader to demand the reason of his entering the Jagatay territories, and satisfaction for the ravages he had committed. Toktamish would willingly have concluded a treaty with his powerful enemy, but was persuaded to continue hostilities by his generals, who had become enriched by the late spoils, and therefore considered the enterprises of war far more profitable than the cold calculations of peace.
The ambassador, upon his return to the imperial camp, found Timur at the foot of a mountain in the Georgian Caucasus, reviewing his army, which ex- tended a distance of fifteen miles, and was the greatest that had been assembled since the time of the re- nowned Jengyz Khan. The emperor, enraged at the answer returned by Toktamish, advanced with his martial host to meet that general, crossed the river Terk or Terek,* and proceeded towards Kulat, a for- tress on the Terk, in quest of provisions. Here receiv- ing a communication from his scouts that the Kipchak forces were marching by the lower bank of the river, Timur ranged his battalions, and taking care to se- cure the rising ground, wheeled round upon the foe.
This famous battle was fought with such obstinate bravery, that it deserves to be particularly recorded. The Jagatay monarch divided his forces into seven bodies, placing before each some of the best soldiers
A river of Asiatic Russia in the government of Caucasus.
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of his army, whom he had especially distinguished with the title of “ courageous.” The infantry stood before the cavalry covered with their bucklers. The main body was commanded by the emperor’s son, Mohammed Sultan ; Timur taking his station at the head of twenty-seven chosen divisions which formed a strong body of reserve. These divisions were com- posed of his choicest troops.
The battle commenced with a discharge of arrows on both sides ; after which a detachment from the enemy’s right wing attacking Timur’s left, the em- peror brought up his reserve and forced them to re- treat in confusion ; but being pursued, they rallied under the support of their main body, commanded by Toktamish in person, and compelled their pursuers in turn to retire. These falling back upon the divi- sions of the reserve, broke and confused their ranks, which, being thrown into disorder, began to retreat. The troops of Kipchak seeing their advantage, pushed boldly forward, thus increasing the confusion, and advanced to where Timur was posted. Attacking him with fierce resolution, the Jagatay hero was nearly overpowered, when one of his amyrs dis- mounting with fifty archers, they surrounded their beloved general and kept off the enemy by a vigorous discharge of arrows. Timur’s danger soon brought others to his assistance ; but not until the right wing of the enemy had been routed by the Prince Mo- hammed Sultan, was his royal parent released from jeopardy.
The van of the Jagatay army’s right wing being enclosed by the enemy’s left, a terrible struggle en-
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sued. The Tartars were on the point of being routed, but at this critical juncture a reinforcement coming up, the Kipchaks were overpowered after an obstinate contest and gave way, though not before they had left the field covered with dead bodies from their own and the enemy’s squadrons.
Meanwhile the Prince Rustem, Timur’s grandson, though a mere youth, had attacked the main body with such resolution, that they had retreated before the vigour of his onset. A relation of Toktamish, seeing the repulse of the Kipchak’s left wing, ad- vanced towards Ozman Bahader, one of the Jagatay generals, with a select band of followers, and chal- lenged his approach. Ozman did not decline the encounter, and a terrific conflict ensued between these brave leaders. Having broken their sabres, they seized their war-clubs and poniards, grappling each other with the fury of enraged tigers. The soldiers, instigated by the example of their chiefs, fought hand to hand with equal desperation. The Tartar was at length success- ful, killing the Kipchak chief, and entirely defeating his followers.
By this time the troops of Toktamish were every- where in disorder. The battle had been long and bravely contested; but the Kipchak commander, seeing there no longer remained a chance of turning the for- tune of the day, fled from the field, followed by his nobles and generals. Timur’s troops were inspired with new vigour at this sudden retreat of the hostile leaders, and falling upon their flying battalions with a shout of triumph, committed a frightful carnage. Great numbers who fell alive into their hands were
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hanged by order of the conqueror ; thus tarnishing one of his greatest victories by an act which must ever remain a foul blot upon his name. Toktamish was pursued; but he contrived to cross the Wolga with a few officers and escape into Bulgaria. Timur now appointed one of his own nobles Khan or sovereign of Kipchak, and sent him to collect together the scat- tered forces of that country, leaving him in possession of a subdued and impoverished kingdom. The Jaga- tay army on its return ravaged the conquered pro- vinces, and collected an immense booty, consisting of gold and silver, precious stones, furs, and slaves.
As he had now no enemy to engage his arms, the emperor, resolving to become master of all Asia to the north, crossed the Dnieper, or Borysthenes of the ancients, and entered the great desert which leads into Europe. Encountering the Uzbecks, he slew vast numbers of them, and obliged them to evacuate the country. Changing his route, the victorious Ja- gatay led his army towards Muscovy. Arriving at Moscow, he pillaged it, laid waste the neighbouring provinces, and thus amassed a prodigious quantity of treasure. Having set at liberty all the Mohamme- dans who had been made captives by the Russians, and put a great number of the latter to _ the sword, he marched to Azoph, a fortified town on the eastern extremity of the lake of that name in Asiatic Russia, on the confines of Tartary, and finally encamped be- fore the Circassian capital, whence he despatched the two princes Mohammed Sultan and Miran Shah into Circassia, which they quickly subdued, and returned to the imperial camp laden with spoil.
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Timur now directed his steps once more to Georgia, which he entered with his vast army, routed the Georgians in several engagements, reduced their fort- resses, until then considered impregnable, razed the walls, and put their garrisons to the sword. He made himself master of Taws, a strong fortress which stood upon so high an elevation that no archer could send an arrow over its battlements from the valley below. So soon as he obtained possession of this stronghold, with his accustomed savage policy he caused the whole garrison to be butchered.
No difficulties checked the victorious career of this unsatiable conqueror. He pillaged with unsparing severity the countries of the Cossacks in Georgia, put- ting all who fell into his hands to death. It is surpris- ing with what success he overcame the impediments opposed to his progress in this elevated region : his troops scaled the most precipitous acclivities, crossed the most dangerous torrents, and surmounted almost superhuman obstacles.
One of the greatest impediments to the progress of an army in all mountainous districts, is the cataracts, which frequently bound from the hills with an impe- tuosity that nothing can resist. These are passed by various means, all exceedingly perilous, except where there are regular substantial bridges, which is not usually the case. The engraving will give some idea of the sort of bridges employed in the vast chains of the Himalaya and Caucasus, being taken from a view in Boutan, a district in the former extensive range of mountains. The bridge represented in the print is thrown over a rapid stream in these hills,
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and is a very favourable specimen of that description of architecture in this mountainous region. Its con- struction is somewhat singular. Several strong beams are imbedded in masonry, and supported by the rocks on the precipitous banks of the stream. They are securely fixed in the interstices of these natural receptacles, and clamped together by means of strong wooden wedges, inserted into mortises — for there the workmen employ no iron in any of their structures. A space of several inches is left between the beams, which increase in length from the buttress formed by the rocky sides of the channel, the longest on either side reaching to within about a fourth part of the span of the bridge. Planks, upwards of two feet wide, are then placed on the uppermost and longest of the pro- jecting beams on each side of the stream : upon these planks small transverse joists are laid, and other planks again placed over them, the whole forming a steady and substantial floor. These bridges may be passed with perfect safety, and are no doubt precisely the same as those employed in the days of Timur. Some of the modern bridges built upon this principle have covered ways the entire length, and are protect- ed by a straight railing. Such, however, occur only in the neighbourhood of a castle, a palace, or some building of consequence.
The whole of Western Tartary, all the country lying between Khorassan and the Caspian Sea, Hun- gary, Russia, Circassia, Georgia, Armenia, and Persia, were now under the dominion of the Jagatay mon- arch, who had in each and all committed the most barbarous excesses. Having laid waste the Mus-
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covite territories, he returned to Georgia laden with spoil, and distinguished by the destruction or misery of millions of his fellow-beings. Upon re-entering this conquered country, his thirst of blood was yet to be slaked by more carnage. He demolished town after town, caused the inhabitants to be massacred, and finally left this once flourishing kingdom a scene of merciless desolation.
Unsated yet with slaughter, the ferocious con- queror marched to Kerman in Persia, capital of the ancient Caramania, at that time besieged by a large detachment of his army. The governor had sustained a three years’ siege, and upon his enemy’s arrival before the city only six of the garrison, besides the heroic noble who commanded them, remained alive. The place was soon after taken, and that brave officer’s obstinacy, as it was termed, punished with death. He merited a better fate. The Jagatay troops hav- ing subdued all the maritime towns on the shores of the Persian Gulf, Timur disbanded his army on the thirtieth of July 1396, and returned to Samerkund, after a career of conquest unparalleled in the histories of nations.
Gibbon’s summary of Timur’s conquests, from his first battle with Toktamish, in 1391, to his final return to his capital in 1396, gives a brief but admirable view of his victorious career. Through the gates of Der- bend,” writes that admirable historian, ec Toctamish entered Persia at the head of ninety thousand horse ; with the innumerable forces of Kipzak, Bulgaria, Cir- cassia, and Russia, he passed the Sihoon, burnt the palaces of Timour, and compelled him amid the winter
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snows to contend for Samarcand and his life. After a mild expostulation and a glorious victory,, the em- peror resolved on revenge, and, by the east and the west of the Caspian and the V olga, he twice invaded Kipzak with such mighty powers that thirteen miles were measured from his right to his left wing. In a march of five months, they rarely beheld the footsteps of man ; and their daily subsistence was often trusted to the fortune of the chase. At length the armies encountered each other; but the treachery of the standard-bearer, who in the heat of action reversed the imperial standard of Kipzak, determined the vic- tory of the Zagatais ; and Toctamish (I speak the language of the Institutions) gave the tribe of Toushi to the wind of desolation.* He fled to the Christian Duke of Lithuania; again returned to the banks of the V olga ; and, after fifteen battles with a domestic rival, at last perished in the wilds of Siberia. The pursuit of a flying enemy carried Timour into the tri- butary provinces of Russia : a duke of the reigning family was made prisoner amidst the ruins of his capital; and Yeletz, by the pride and ignorance of the Orientals, might easily be confounded with the genuine metropolis of the nation. Moscow trembled at the approach of the Tartar ; and the resistance would have been feeble, since the hopes of the Rus- sians were placed in a miraculous image of the Virgin, to whose protection they ascribed the casual and vo-
* Institutions of Timur, pp. 123 — 125. “ Mr. White, the
editor/’ says Gibbon in a note, “ bestows some animadversions on the superficial account of Sherefeddin, who was ignorant of the designs of Timour, and the true springs of action.”
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luntary retreat of the conqueror. Ambition and pru- dence recalled him to the south ; the desolate country was exhausted, and the Mogul soldiers were enriched with an immense spoil of precious furs, of linen of Antioch, and of ingots of gold and silver. On the banks of the Don, or Tanais, he received an humble deputation from the consuls and merchants of Egypt, Venice, Genoa, Catalonia, and Biscay, who occupied the commerce and city of Tana, or Azoph, at the mouth of the river. They offered their gifts, admired his magnificence, and trusted to his royal word. But the peaceful visits of an emir, who explored the state of the magazine and harbour, was speedily followed by the destructive presence of the Tartars. The city was reduced to ashes ; the moslems were pillaged and dismissed ; but all the Christians who had not fled to their ships were condemned either to death or slavery. Revenge prompted him to burn the cities of Serai and Astrachan, the monuments of rising civilisation ; and his vanity proclaimed, that he had penetrated to the region of perpetual daylight, — a strange phenomenon, which authorised the Mahometan doctors to dis- pense with the obligation of evening prayer.” *
Decline and Fall, vol. xii. pp. 10 — 13.
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CHAPTER X. a. d. 1398.
Timur, after a short repose in his capital, which he had embellished about this time with a splendid pa- lace and several other public buildings, determined to march his victorious army into the fertile pro- vinces south of the Indus. Having invested his fourth son Mirza Shah Rukh with the sovereignty of Khorassan and its neighbouring principalities, and built another magnificent palace for the reception of a new bride, he prepared for his memorable inva- sion of Hindostan.
Six years after the death of Feroz Toghluk Shah, Emperor of Delhi, Mulloo Yekbal Khan, and Sarung Khan, two brothers, who had been generals of that monarch, placed upon the throne his grandson Mah- mood Toghluk ; but afterwards assuming to themselves the sovereign power, which they exercised in his name, the one established himself in Delhi, the other in Mool- tan. The tomb of Toghluk Shah, who was certainly by far the greatest sovereign of the third Tartar race of the princes of Delhi,— all of that dynasty having borne the name of Toghluk, — -is a remarkably fine piece of monumental architecture. It is placed upon a slight elevation, commanding the neighbouring plain, here terminated by the Mewat hills, which form at once
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a grand and imposing boundary. This mausoleum is at Toghlukabad, about ten miles from Shahjehanabad, which is visible from it.
The divisions in the imperial cabinet at Delhi, encouraged the Jagatay emperor in his resolution of subduing India : he accordingly reached the banks of the Indus on the twelfth of Mohurrum, in the year of the Hegira 801, answering to the twelfth of September 1398 of the Christian era. Having desolated the coun- tries through which he passed and deluged their land with blood, he crossed the river with an army of two hundred thousand men, marched along its banks, and encamped before the strong fort and town of Toolumba. He immediately laid the inhabitants under contribu- tion ; and while they were collecting the sum imposed, stated to have been half a million sterling, a report was made to the invader that there was a scarcity of provisions in his camp. Orders were instantly given that grain should be seized wherever it could be found. In the execution of this cruel order, the Jaga- tay soldiers began to plunder the houses of the citi- zens, who, resenting the outrage, were indiscriminately massacred. Not staying to besiege the fort of Too- lumba, having obtained all the treasure of the town, the conqueror proceeded to a neighbouring city, where finding more grain than was sufficient for the con- sumption of his army, he commanded the surplus to be burnt.
He was here joined by his grandson, the Mirza Peer Mohammed, who was reduced to such dis- tress in the city of Moultan, into which he had been obliged to withdraw his army during the rains.
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that, unable to procure forage for his cavalry and food for his troops, they were reduced to the last extremity. The whole country had become a com- plete swamp, which occasioned such a mortality among the cattle, that most of his horses were de- stroyed ; and the scarcity of provisions was such, that the troops as well as the citizens of Moultan were obliged to eat the carcasses of oxen, and even of horses, which had died from disease.
The city being at this time besieged by a neigh- bouring rajah, the emperor first despatched a detach- ment of thirty thousand cavalry to its relief, and soon after followed with the rest of his forces. At his approach the Indian troops withdrew. The prince representing to his grandfather that the governor of Bhutneer had been the cause of his difficulties, Timur led his army to that fortress, then considered one of the strongest in India. When he had reached Ajood- hun, a town of Moultan, containing the shrine of a celebrated saint, and therefore the annual resort of numerous pilgrims, he visited the tomb of the Sheikh Fureed-ood-Deen Shukr-Gunj, and the following day advanced towards Bhutneer, fifty miles from this holy city. Upon his arrival, the people of the neighbour- hood crowded into the town in such multitudes, that there was not room in the houses, nor even in the streets, to accommodate them. They were conse- quently obliged to take refuge under the walls ; and being thus exposed to the merciless rage of the be- siegers, many thousands were savagely butchered. The town was assaulted with such vigour, that Timur in person soon obtained possession of the gate, where a
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great slaughter was made of the besieged, who were pursued from street to street until the whole place was a scene of carnage.
The fortress being still in the enemy’s hands, Timur ordered it to be undermined. The governor, fearing that resistance would only draw down upon him the implacable vengeance of the Tartar, proposed to capitulate. The conqueror received him with cour- tesy and loaded him with presents ; but, while thus entertaining the unsuspecting noble, he despatched two officers to take possession of the citadel, with orders to slay all who had taken refuge there, and had been active in occasioning the distresses of his grandson. In consequence of this command, an in- human massacre commenced; which so terrified the Hindoos, that, having first killed their wives and children in despair, they set fire to the place, and rushed upon their foes with the desperation of men resolved to die in the accomplishment of their re- venge. Several thousands of the Moghuls were slain by those frantic idolaters; who, however, were at length cut off to a man. The emperor was so in- censed at this outrage, as he was pleased to term it, that he caused every soul in the town and for- tress of Bhutneer to he massacred, and reduced the city to ashes. He exerqised a similar cruelty upon several of the neighbouring towns. His forces being divided, spread devastation through the provinces of Moultan and Lahore. At length he ordered a place of general rendezvous, joined his army and commenced his march towards Delhi. Upon reaching Paniput, he crossed the Jumna into the Dooab, and having
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taken the strong fortress of Lony by assault, put the garrison to the sword.
When the royal conqueror arrived in the vicinity of Delhi, he forded the river with only seven hundred horse to reconnoitre the city. Mahmood Toghluk, the king, observing the invader accompanied by so small a number of troops, ordered a sally to be made with five thousand cavalry : these were repulsed by the Jagatays, and the officer who led them falling into the enemy’s hands, was instantly beheaded. Timur then repassed the river and joined his army. Being informed that the prisoners taken since he had cross- ed the Indus, amounting to upwards of a hundred thousand, had given signs of exultation when they saw him attacked by the troops of Delhi, and fearing that they might join their countrymen on the day of battle, he ordered the whole of them above the age of fifteen to be slain. Thus, in one day, nearly a hundred thousand persons were put to death in cold blood. This massacre alone stamps the character of Timur. The glosses of friends cannot obliterate, nei- ther can the exaggerations of enemies magnify, this simple fact : all comment upon such a transaction must be mere waste of words. It happened early in the month of January 1399.
Next day the emperor again forded the river, and entrenched his army on the plain of Ferozabad, which commanded one of the suburbs of Delhi. On the seventh of January he quitted his entrenchments, and drew up his battalions in order of battle. This was pronounced an unlucky day by the astrologers, who had consulted the planets ; but the genius of
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the Jagatay rising above the timid suggestions of superstition, by which he was too often actuated, and feeling satisfied that his success depended upon the promptness and vigour of his measures, he de- termined to turn a deaf ear to the language of the stars, and be guided by the better intimations of his own discernment.
The King of Delhi, accompanied by his minister Mulloo Yekbal Khan and the chief nobles of his court, issued from his capital to meet the invaders. His army consisted of ten thousand horse and forty thou- sand infantry. Before these were marshalled a hundred and twenty elephants covered with armour, their tusks being armed with long poisoned daggers. Upon their backs were wooden towers filled with archers. Beside the elephants rode persons employed to fling fire and melted pitch upon the adverse squadrons as they ad- vanced. They were furnished also with rockets at- tached to a heavy iron rod, which, on being discharged, struck with such force as frequently to break the legs of those with whom they came in contact.
At the first onset, the drivers of the elephants being dismounted by the enemy, who had been ordered to direct their assault against these men, those huge ani- mals, finding themselves released from all restraint, dispersed over the field, and flying to the rear, pro- duced a universal confusion among the Indian troops. Timur, instantly taking advantage of the panic caused by this unexpected event, attacked the foe with such energy before order could be restored among their broken lines, that immediate rout followed, and they were pursued with terrible destruction to the gates
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of the capital. Such was the consternation in the city, that Mahmood Toghluk and his minister quitted Delhi during the night. Timur received the homage of all the chief men, who crowded to his camp, and were graciously promised his protection upon condi- tion of raising a suitable tribute. On the following Friday, the conqueror caused himself to be proclaim- ed Emperor of Hindostan, and the usual titles to be read in his name in all the mosques.* The next day, some resistance having been made to those persons deputed to collect the tribute, Timur sent a body of troops into Delhi to enforce the contribution. These began to plunder, and at length universal con- fusion prevailed through the capital, which was fired in several places by the fanatical Hindoos, who, fearing a common massacre, set fire to their houses, as at Bhut- neer, murdered their wives and children, and fell upon the Moghuls with a fury dictated by despair. This led to a general slaughter of the inhabitants, and the whole city was deluged with blood. Such was the pro- digious carnage, that in many places the streets were rendered impassable by the heaps of slain. The gates being thrown open, the entire Moghul army entered, and a scene of horror ensued perhaps unparalleled in the annals of human warfare. The frantic courage of the Delhi troops was of little avail against the superior discipline of the Jagatays, flushed by a long tide of success, and led by the greatest commander of his age and of his country. Their fierce despair for a while rendered them desperate, but was at length slaked in their own gore, and they finally
* See Ferishta, Brigg’s translation, vol. i. p. 492.
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yielded to the conqueror, whose troops continued the dreadful work of destruction until there was not a single family in this proud metropolis that did not mourn more than one dead. The ferocious conque- rors reeked with the blood of the slain. To use the words of the good Mussulmaun,* as he has been called, who recites these horrors with a cool and easy indif- ference, they sent to the pit of hell the souls of those infidels, of whose heads they erected towers.”
This sanguinary work continued for several days ; and the citizens finally permitted to live were driven from their homes to the most hitter bereavement. Delhi was given up to plunder, and the treasure obtained was enormous : the jewels alone are said to have amounted to an almost incredible sum. Scarcely anything of value was left in this fine city, which presented a scene of awful desolation. Timur appropriated to himself from the spoils a hundred and fifty elephants, twelve rhinoceroses, besides a great number of curious animals which had been collected by Feroze Toghluk. The splendid mosque erected by that prince, upon the stones of which were inscribed the principal transactions of his reign, was an object of such admiration to the conqueror, that he removed to Samerkund the architect who had designed and the masons employed in raising it, in order to erect one in his own capital.
On quitting Delhi, the emperor halted his army at
* Shureef-ood-Deen Ally, who composed a life of Timur from the public records by command of the emperor’s grandson, and consequently became the servile eulogist of his hero.
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Ferozabad, where he entered a mosque and offered up a thanksgiving for his recent success. Here he was presented by Bahadur Nahir of Mewat with two white parrots,, as a token of submission. These birds were considered great curiosities: they had been fa- vourites of Toghluk Shah, and for years enjoyed a distinguished place in the palace of that emperor.
Timur now encamped before Paniput, whence he sent a strong detachment of his army to besiege Merut; but his general finding the place too strong to render an assault practicable, and being defied from the walls, the sovereign marched in person, stormed the place with his usual celerity and success, and put every soul to the sword. His route was one scene of unmitigated carnage. Wherever he came, he conquered, and the sword of victory reeked with the blood of the van- quished. Proceeding up the Ganges, he was obliged to halt for some short time in consequence of an impost- hume in his arm. Nevertheless, he despatched fifty thousand men against the infidels, who had occupied the river in forty-eight large flat-bottomed boats. The Jagatays spurred their horses into the water, assault- ed the boats, of which they soon became masters, and slew their defenders.
Timur being informed that the Hindoos had assem- bled in considerable force at a defile in the moun- tains to the east of the Ganges, hastened thither in person with five hundred cavalry. Though the enemy had taken up a strong position in the hills, they were soon routed. The conqueror, however, be- ing left with only a hundred troopers, was suddenly attacked by an officer of the idolaters with a much
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superior force ; but Timur, having shot him in the belly with an arrow, clove him to the earth with his scimitar, and put his troops to flight. The victor now penetrated the mountains as far as the celebrated rock of Coupele called the Cow’s Mouth,* then supposed to be the source of the Ganges, carrying on a war of extermination in his progress.
In these hills the difficulties of Timur’s march were greatly increased by the resolution of the moun- taineers, who vigorously opposed his progress. Their fortified castles, built with considerable skill and in ordinary cases a sufficient defence against an invading force, could, however, oppose no successful obstacle to an army like that by which they were now encounter- ed. The state of society was here rude ; and the hill- men had been for generations comparatively so seldom molested, that they were not in a condition to contend against such an enemy as the Jagatay monarch. Though, probably, little advancement has been made in their condition as a community since the fourteenth century, some idea may be formed of their attention to the refinements of social comfort by the following description of the rajah’s palace in the country of
* “The rock,” says Captain Skinner, “which has little more remarkable in it than a cavity apparently worn by the water, once joined a neighbour on the other side, and formed an arch very little above the surface of the stream : then it resembled the mouth of a cow, and was worshipped from the opposite shore of the Jahnavi. As nothing could be seen beyond it, the river was supposed to issue from the mouth ; and so great a miracle merited suitable devotion. An earthquake probably divided it, if ever it were joined ; and the veil being rent, a more holy spot was dis- covered.”— Excursions in India, vol. ii. pp. 41, 42.
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Boutan, which, though not invaded by Timur, is in the same range of mountains more than once pene- trated by his armies. “The palace of Tacissudjon,” says Mr. Davis in his manuscript description of Bou- tan, “ really surprised me by the regularity and grandeur of its appearance, though I had previously conceived a favourable idea of it from similar build- ings on the way. It is an oblong, two hundred yards in front and a hundred in depth, divided within into two squares by a separate building raised in the centre, more lofty and more ornamented than the rest. In the latter the rajah and some of his principal people reside ; and upon the top appears a square gilded turret, said to be the habitation of one of the lamas.* One of the squares comprehends the chapel and apartments of the priests, and the other is allotted to the officers and servants of government. There are three stories of apartments, which commu- nicate by handsome verandas continued round the in- * side of the whole building, and from the middle story communicating by a passage to the rajah’s apartments in the centre. From the windows of the upper cham- bers balconies project of a size to hold fifteen or twenty persons ; but there are no windows below, as they would not contribute to the strength of the place. The walls are of stone and clay, built thick, and with a greater slope inwards than is given to European build- ings. The roof has little slope, and is covered with shingles, kept down by large stones placed upon them in the manner the Portuguese fasten the tiles of their houses in Madeira: — it projects considerably beyond
* The lamas are high priests.
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the walls. The apartments are spacious,, and as well proportioned as any in Europe. The only singularity that strikes at first sight is the ladders instead of stairs ; but the steps are broads and after a little use are not founfl inconvenient. The Bouteas, however, are not ignorant of a more eligible method of ascent ; for at one of the two gateways of the palace is a large and well-formed flight of stone steps. The pillars sup- porting the verandas are of wood, uniform and painted ; but their shape is not such as would please an eye ac- customed to better architecture : they swell too much towards the bottom, and have a capital like two long brackets joined together. The ornaments painted upon the pillars and walls are chiefly flowers and dragons in the Chinese taste ; and, as in China, bells are seen hanging from the corners of the roof. It will here occur to the reader that the Bouteas are of the race of Tar- tars who conquered and still govern China.
“ The timber used in the palace and in the ordinary houses is chiefly fir. Though the beams and smaller parts are joined by mortise and dovetail only, with- out pins either of iron or wood, there appears no defi- ciency of strength and security in the work. Most of the floors in the palace are boarded; and from the great breadth of some of the planks, we judged the trees to have been of much larger size than any we had met with. They have also floors composed of pebbles, well cemented together. The walls are whitewashed, with a stripe of red all round, a little below the roof. Upon the top of every chapel, or other place where there is an altar and service performed, a small cylin- der is placed, five or six feet long, usually covered
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with white cloth, with a broad ring of red, bordered by two of blue round the middle of it. Those upon the palace, and other houses belonging to the rajah, are gilt, and become a showy ornament.” The build- ing in the foreground of the engraving on the left is a guardhouse, in which there is always a body of Boutea soldiers ; near it are several flagstaffs. On the brow of the hill behind appears a small village.
When Timur had ascended the mountains as far as the Cow’s Mouth, he turned his steps towards the plains. Satisfied that he had marched to the eastern extremity of the Indian empire, and acquired the en- viable merit of having performed a successful crusade against the infidels, he resolved to retire into his own dominions. He was now master of the whole coun- try betwixt the Indus and the Ganges, by far the most fruitful portion of the vast continent of Asia. His return was marked by the same desolation as his advance : he fought no less than twenty battles in thirty days. Upon one occasion he made captive a Hindoo prince, and butchered all his followers, as was usual with him on all similar occasions, then blessed the Almighty for having delivered the enemies of the faithful into his hands, and, in order to signalise his zeal, prevailed upon the captive idolater to embrace the Mohammedan faith and eat the flesh of oxen, as a proof of the sincerity of his conversion.
Timur finally pillaged Lahore, allowing his army to commit dreadful ravages, disbanded them on the 23rd of March 1399, and sent them by different routes to their native land.
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CHAPTER XI. a.d. 1399 — 1404.
On his way to his own capital, the emperor was attacked in the hands and feet with painful ulcers, which affected him to such a degree that he was obliged to be carried in a litter. Before he reached the plains, he is said to have crossed one stream eight- and-forty times. On the 16th of April he entered Samerkund, where he erected a magnificent mosque as a memorial of his victory over the unbelievers. His repose in the capital was of short duration. Hearing that his son Miran Shah, whom he had left in the government of Persia, was labouring under mental de- rangement in consequence of a fall from his horse, and that the affairs of the government under that prince’s charge were consequently in great disorder, he issued a proclamation that his troops should be collected for another campaign of seven years. At the age of sixty- four he retained the same vigour both of mind and body as had hitherto so eminently distinguished his victorious career. The troops in the provinces were commanded to assemble at Ispahan, and await the arrival of the imperial standard. Upon reaching that capital, Timur put to death several persons who had taken advantage of his son’s mental infirmity, and
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had been instrumental in fomenting the disturbances which recalled the emperor from Samerkund. Among the persons who suffered upon this occasion was the celebrated Mulana Mohammed Kuhestani, a man distinguished for his knowledge of the sciences,, and so renowned as a poet that he was looked upon as the marvel of his age.
In the beginning of the year 1400, the Mirza Peer Mohammed, who had fallen into disgrace, was deposed and brought in bonds to the imperial camp. His younger brother being appointed to succeed him, the emperor marched into Georgia, many of the cities in that country having revolted from their allegiance to the Jagatay dominion. Timur ravaged the borders of Georgia with his accustomed celerity, and entered the mountains. Upon his approach the people betook themselves to their strongholds, hiding in caverns and recesses in the hills. The Jagatay soldiers, undis- mayed by the danger, got into large wicker-baskets, which they caused to be lowered from the heights to the hiding-places of the fugitives, whom they put to death in great numbers. They thus became masters of fifteen strongholds : these they demolished, and, with the usual policy of their sanguinary master, but- chered all the inhabitants.
Timur, having left a strong garrison at Teflis, quit- ted the hill-country and encamped in the plains. Throughout this flourishing district, cities and towns were razed, temples demolished, and mosques raised upon their sites.
While he was encamped in the plains, the con- queror of the East gave audience to the ambassadors
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of Bayazeed, or, as he is commonly called, Bajazet, and by his own admiring countrymen, the Thunder- bolt. Like his Tartar rival, this prince had consider- ably extended his conquests, and invaded the terri- tories of several princes in alliance with Timur. The latter had accordingly despatched a letter of remon- strance to the Ottoman, menacing hostility if he did not restrain his ambition, and confine his dominion within the limits of his own empire. The reply was such as might have been expected from the haughty Bayazeed, — one of severe and bitter recrimi- nation.
ie The Mogul and Ottoman conquests now touched each other in the neighbourhood of Erzeroum and the Euphrates ; nor had the doubtful limit been ascertained by time and treaty. Each of these ambitious mon- archs might accuse his rival of violating his territory, of threatening his vassals, and protecting his rebels ; and by the name of rebels each understood the fugi- tive princes whose kingdoms he had usurped, and whose life and liberty he implacably pursued. The resemblance of character was still more dangerous than the opposition of interest ; and in their victorious career, Timour was impatient of an equal, and Bajazet was ignorant of a superior.”*
The taunts and vehement defiance contained in the letter of the Turkish sultan roused the indignation of the Jagatay monarch, who marched without delay towards Anatolia, and invested Siwas or Sebaste, a strong city upon the borders of that country. After a
* Gibbon, Decline and Fall, vol. xii. p. 17.
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siege of eighteen days it submitted to the conqueror, who ordered four thousand Arminian cavalry to be buried alive, and the walls of Sebaste to be levelled with the ground. The entire subjugation of Anatolia, a pro- vince of Asia Minor, immediately followed ; but as the Sultan of Egypt, no less than the Ottoman Emperor, had roused the anger of Timur, the vindictive Tartar resolved to invade the dominions of the former before he proceeded to chastise the insolence of the latter. Accordingly, he entered Syria with a vast army. While reconnoitring a fort built with extremely high and strong walls at the foot of a mountain, a stone, discharged at him from an engine, fell near his tent and rolled into it. He ordered an immediate assault to be made, took the place with very little loss, and by an act of capricious clemency spared the lives of the whole garrison. Hence he proceeded to Aleppo, which he reached on the eighth of November 1400! The main body of his army, commanded by the monarch in person, was covered with a line of ele- phants, each with a tower upon its back, from which were discharged arrows and Greek fire. The Amyrs of Aleppo were dismayed by the formidable array ; thou- sands of the Syrian troops were slain ; and, after a feeble resistance, the citadel of Aleppo, hitherto held to be impregnable, was surrendered, either by coward- ice or treachery. When the conqueror entered this splendid capital, a scene of carnage ensued which it is equally painful to contemplate and record. “ The streets of Aleppo/' says Gibbon, “ streamed with blood, and re-echoed with the cries of mothers and children — with the shrieks of violated virgins. The net
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plunder that was abandoned to the soldiers might stimulate their avarice ; but their cruelty was enforced by the peremptory command of producing an adequate number of heads, which, according to his custom, were curiously piled in columns and pyramids. The Moguls celebrated the feast of victory, while the sur- viving Moslems passed the night in tears and in chains.” — “ Here,” says another historian, “ was the greatest slaughter ever mentioned ; for, to avoid the fury of the sword, they flung themselves upon one another into the ditches. On the other hand, the Jagatays, with a single pike, often ran three or four of the enemy through at a time in the throng of the gate : so that the dead bodies were piled upon one another to the very plinth of the walls ; and at length a passage was made over the ditch upon those bodies, level with the drawbridge.” *
The treasure obtained in Aleppo was prodigious ; it had been amassed and laid up there by several successive sovereigns. A portion was distributed among the soldiers, and the rest left under the charge of eight nobles, who were appointed to govern the vanquished capital.
Quitting Aleppo, the emperor, having compelled the surrender of Emessa, and Balbec, the ancient Helio- polis, marched to Damascus. On his way, a plausi- ble villain, accompanied by two assassins in religious habits, employed by the Sultan of Egypt, joined Timur’s retinue, and were permitted to approach his
* See Universal History, Modern part, vol. v. edit. 1759. The account there given is almost wholly taken from the History of Timur, by Shureef-ood-Deen Ally.
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person ; but their intentions being suspected, they were examined,, and poisoned daggers found concealed in their boots. The chief conspirator was ordered to be slain with one of the daggers he had intended to direct against the emperor’s life,, and his body to be burned. His companions were deprived of their noses and ears., and in that mutilated state sent with a letter to their treacherous employer.
At this time, the revolt of Timur’s grandson Mirza Sultan Hussyn, who joined the Syrian army, gave the enemy such confidence that they attacked the Jagatay forces, which were nearly overthrown by the vigour of their onset. After a fierce struggle, however, the better fortune of the Tartars prevailed, and they pursued the flying squadrons of Syria to the gates of Da- mascus. The rebel prince was taken, and brought loaded with chains into the presence of his grand- father, who ordered him to receive the bastinado, but soon afterwards restored him to favour.
On the following morning, the emperor’s battalions, headed by the elephants, advanced against Damascus. A distance of from nine to twelve miles intervened be- tween the extremities of the two wings. Having ob- tained a truce, the sultan quitted the capital at mid- night. The next day, Timur discovering the sultan’s flight, invested the city with his whole army. This so terrified the inhabitants, that they threw open their gates ; and the principal citizens repairing to the imperial tent, offered their homage to the conqueror, and tendered a voluntary ransom for their lives. The citadel was taken with great difficulty. Its walls were formed of enormous stones, squared and admirably
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fitted, and so substantial as to bid defiance to the ope- ration of any ordinary mechanical force ; they were sur- rounded by a deep ditch upwards of thirty feet broad. This ditch being drained by the indefatigable Jagatays, though, during the whole progress of the work; huge stones and Greek fire were continually cast upon them by the besieged; they began to undermine the walls. As these were of immense thickness; and built upon vast masses of rock; the besiegers placed fire at their bases, and heating the rock through, suddenly cast vinegar upon it, thus causing it to split ; it was then broken with hammers, wooden props being placed underneath to sustain the superincumbent wall until a sufficient portion of the foundation should be removed to effect a practicable breach. So soon as the principal tower was sufficiently undermined, fire was applied to the props : these suddenly giving way, the tower fell with a tre- mendous crash, and eighty persons were crushed under a .mass of the adjoining bastion, which fell with it. The governor now capitulated, throwing himself upon the clemency of the conqueror, who ordered him to be put to death for his obstinacy. The citizens were involved in one indiscriminate massacre ; only a few persons of distinction, together with a colony of artificers, whom the conqueror sent to Samerkund, were spared.* On the following day, the city accidentally taking fire, was reduced to ashes.
The unusual activity of this campaign and the im-
* Timur, who was a Sheeah or follower of Ali, affected to avenge the cause of the fourth Khaliph on the Syrians, who were the most devoted adherents of Moawiyah.
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mense reduction of his army determined the emperor to quit Syria, and abandon for the present the conquest of Egypt and Palestine, which he had contemplated. In his progress to the Euphrates, he ordered the walls of the citadel at Aleppo to be razed, and the city to be fired. He then crossed the river, ravaged the province of Diarbekir, the ancient Mesopotamia, and having des- patched a detachment of his army into Georgia, where they again committed terrible ravages, directed his march to Baghdad, which he took by assault, and sig- nalised his victory by erecting a pyramid of ninety thou- sand human heads. The governor and his daughter were drowned in attempting to escape across the Tigris. So dreadful was the carnage, that the air became infected with the stench arising from the bodies of the slain, which obliged Timur to remove his camp. Not yet satisfied with conquest, the insatiable Tartar once more punished the Kurds with his accustomed severity, and entered Georgia, where he passed the winter. Here he received ambassadors from the Turkish sultan. His determination was made upon the answer of his astrologers, whom he consulted in every emergency. It was alike flattering to his pride and encouraging to his ambition. “ It appears by the ephemerides of the present year, that the ascendant of this empire is in the highest degree of strength, and that of the enemy in the lowest degree of weakness. A comet will ap- pear in Aries ; and an army which comes from the east will make an entire conquest of Anatolia, the prince of which will be taken prisoner.”
Encouraged by this prediction, in 1402, Timur ad- vanced towards the latter province. He had previ-
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ously despatched ambassadors to Bayazeed with his proposals, upon the acceptance or rejection of which the issue should be peace or war. Having received an unsatisfactory reply from the Ottoman prince, he proceeded towards Angora, a populous city of Asiatic Turkey, with the intention of meeting the army of Bayazeed, who was advancing on that side. Upon his way he appeared dejected, as if appre- hensive of failure ; when one of his amyrs asked him the cause of his apparent disquietude. “ If I appear thoughtful,” he replied, “it proceeds from the state of indecision by which my mind is perplexed, and from which it is out of your power to release me. I am reflecting whether I shall be able to find among you,” turning to the officers by whom he was sur- rounded, “ a man of sufficient capacity to support the weight of the diadem to the conquest of which we are marching, and of sustaining with dignity the vacant throne of Bayazeed.” A reply so full of confidence inspired his officers and troops with renewed courage.
On the plains around Angora was fought the me- morable battle which has immortalised the glory of Timur and the shame of Bayazeed. The unhappy sultan, after performing the duties of a brave soldier and able general, though affected with the gout in both hands, was obliged to fly from the field upon the fleetest of his horses, but was overtaken and brought before the haughty conqueror. After this victory the whole of Anatolia was reduced to a state of deplo- rable desolation. The horrors of fire and sword were everywhere visible, and the victor’s vengeance was ex- tinguished in the blood of the vanquished. This san-
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guinary career of the Tartar squadrons was only final- ly stopped by the waters of the Mediterranean Sea. Ezmeer, the modern Smyrna, defended by the valour of the Rhodian Knights, and the abode of numerous Christians, was deemed by the victorious Jagatay a place worthy of his own presence. Having laid siege to the city in form, it was taken after an obstinate resistance. Every living creature was barbarously slaughtered, except a few who escaped by swimming to the ships in the harbour, and the houses were levelled with the ground. In fourteen days Timur obtained possession of a place which his rival the Ottoman sultan had besieged in vain for seven years. This latter prince died in captivity the following year, 1403, at Akshehr, a town of Natolia, in Asiatic Turkey. Timur is said to have bewailed his death with tears, having intended, after the final conquest of Anatolia, to restore to him his crown. The intentions of ty- rants are never to be solved but in their execution. Tears were an easy tribute to the memory of a de- parted rival, but they cannot wash out the blood-stains of millions of murders. The story of the iron cage, in which Bayazeed was said to be confined, seems now admitted by the general assent of historians to have been a false imputation upon the memory of Timur the invincible. “ The iron cage,” says one of his historians,* “ is an ornament of which I would not willingly deprive history if I thought there were just grounds for believing it ; but as some of the best his- torians make no mention of it, and the Moghul Chro-
* Father Catrou.
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nicle is altogether silent concerning it, I am inclined to believe that it is an agreeable fiction invented by the Greeks, who were the enemies of Bayazeed. It would seem that they had a pleasure in representing the cap- tivity of this unfortunate prince as attended with circumstances the most gratifying to their vindictive feelings/’
The career of the Jagatay emperor was everywhere signally successful. The whole of Egypt was subdued, Georgia again ravaged. From the Irtish, a great river of northern Asia which rises in Independent Tartary, and the Wolga to the Persian gulf, and from the Ganges to Damascus and the Archipelago, Asia was in the hands of Timur. He threatened with his invincible hosts the nations of Christendom, who already trembled at his name ; but he had no naval force, and was there- fore unable to transport his victorious legions to the shores of Europe. Flushed with the conquest of so many countries and of such extensive regions, he re- turned to Samerkund in the month Moharrum a. h. 807, or July a. d. 1404.
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CHAPTER XII. a. d. 1404.
Timur, upon returning to the capital of his empire, at once displayed his magnificence and his power. He gave audience to the ambassadors of Egypt, Ara- bia, India, Tartary, Russia, and Spain, the last of whom presented several pieces of tapestry so exqui- sitely wrought as to eclipse the finest efforts of the most celebrated Oriental artists. During this brief respite from the fatigues of war, he completed another mag- nificent palace, forming a square of two hundred feet, ornamented with numberless marble sculptures, and the walls of which were faced with porcelain. The completion of this gorgeous edifice he distinguished by a grand entertainment, to which all foreigners of distinction within his dominions were invited, and among them the different ambassadors of Europe then at the court of this Eastern conqueror. Having dis- posed of six of his grandsons in marriage, he so- lemnised their nuptials in the gardens of Khani Ghul * with a splendour which almost realised the descriptions of Eastern romance. The trees of se- veral large forests are said to have been cut down to
This signifies the mine of roses/
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supply fuel for the royal kitchens. Guests from all parts of Asia crowded to this memorable feast : they drank from gold cups adorned with pearls and the rarest jewels, and everything was in harmony with this splendid prodigality.
After the banquet, the bridegrooms with their brides were nine times clothed in costly suits of apparel, their girdles studded with gems, and wearing on their heads coronets of inestimable value. The ground upon which they trod was strewed with gold, pearls, and precious gems, which were left as perquisites to their attendants. The festivities lasted two months, during which period unlimited indulgences against the laws of the Koran were freely permitted. After the expiration of this term of universal freedom, the permission was recalled by royal proclamation ; when the great conqueror of the East retired to his closet, where, says his historian,* “ he thanked God for his favours, in raising him from a petty prince to he the most mighty monarch in the world, in giving him so many victories and conquests, maintaining him in sovereign authority, and making him his chosen ser- vant/’
Timur, weary of the inactivity of peace, though in his seventieth year, resolved upon the invasion of China, and marched in a severe winter at the head of two hundred thousand chosen men, besides probably a large body of mercenaries. These consisted of forces from all the northern provinces of Asia, of Persia, and among them were a considerable body of Kara Tar-
* Shureef-ood Deen Ally.
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tars. With this vast army Timur set out from Sa- merkund on the eighth of January, 1405, undismayed by the inclemency of the winter, which had set in with unusual severity. So intense was the cold that he ordered huts to he erected upon the line of march, not choosing to expose his troops under canvass in so inclement a season. He was not deterred by the diffi- culties opposed to his progress, feeling at the age of sixty-nine fully equal to the labour of ascending moun- tains and scaling precipices as in the best vigour of his days. The whole country through which he had to pass was subject to his dominion, and he had no op- position to apprehend until he reached the enemy’s frontier. Even amid the mountains he knew that he might be entertained by the petty princes presiding over small districts, in a manner not unworthy of his dignity- and of his fame. As little advance has been made among the inhabitants of those mountainous re- gions in social improvements for several centuries, the present aspect of their country will give a tolerably cor- rect idea of what it was in the days of the Jagatay monarch. The engraving represents the summer re- treat of a mountain rajah. The simple and appropriate style of archit ecture may be remarked as singularly cha- racteristic and original, combining extreme taste with a nice discrimination of appropriateness to climate and locality. It is built of clay and stone covered with white chunam, the roof neatly tiled and ornamented at the angles after the Chinese fashion. It has two stories, the second rising out of the first in the form of a square tower surmounted by an elegant gallery, the whole crowned with a small dome and spire. The banners
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which flank the building on either side are military insignia,, and are always thus fixed near the dwellings of distinguished persons. The eaves of the roof proj ect several feet from the waif so as to give the effect rather of a graceful canopy than of a simple covering, and the straight line presented in front of the building, har- monizing as it does with the square forms of which the structure is generally composed, has a very strik- ing and agreeable effect. Just below the projection of the roof is a broad red streak upon each side of the edifice. This denotes that it is the abode of some sacred person, the rajah being both prince and priest. The red lines upon the flag bear the same signification.
Timur, in his march towards the Chinese frontier, made such admirable arrangements in his commis- sariat, that the army was abundantly supplied. Al- though the cold was so intense that many men and horses perished on the road in spite of the precautions he had taken to guard against such casualties, he cross- ed the Jaxartes upon the ice, and on the twenty- seventh arrived at Otrar, three hundred miles from his capital towards the north. The river was so deeply frozen, that the troops were obliged to perforate up- wards of four feet to obtain water. The emperor halted his army at Otrar, where, in the somewhat affected phrase of Gibbon, “ he was expected by the angel of death.” He was attacked by fever, which being ac- celerated by the imprudent use of ice, he died in the seventieth year of his age, and the thirty-sixth of his reign. “ When he found death approaching,” says hi historian, Shureef-ood-Deen Ally, “ he sent for the em- presses and principal amyrs. He bid them not weep.
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but pray for him ; said he had hopes God would par- don his sins,, though numberless ; and had this consola- tion, that he had never suffered the strong to injure the weak. He exhorted them to procure ease and safety to the people, as an account would be required of all in power at the day of judgment.” How is man frequently blinded by fanaticism to the atrocity of his own actions, when these have far exceeded the measure of ordinary guilt ! The last sickness and death of this extraordinary man are differently detailed in the Moghul Chronicle. “ Timur,” says that record, “had forbidden, upon pain of death, those sanguinary combats of squadron against squadron, an exercise to which his bravest soldiers had been accustomed. It was a point of dis- cipline which he had so much the more at heart, as his army suffered greater loss by this kind of mock en- gagements than they did through disease or in con- flicts with the enemy. In spite of this prohibition, the Mirza Miran Shah, his third son, disobeyed the injunction of his father. He put himself at the head of a troop of Tartars, and engaged another troop with so much fury that a small number only on both sides survived the combat. This act of disobedience irritated Timur to such a degree that he became in- capable of consolation. Twice he gave orders that his son should be put to death, but as often repented and retracted the order. Distracted between his zeal for discipline and his paternal affection for Miran Shah, these two passions so preyed upon his mind that he fell sick. His great age, mortification, and anxiety of mind, all contributed to render his case desperate. It was then that he excluded every one from his presence
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with the exception of an Imaun, who was made ac- quainted with his sentiments on matters of faith. Full of confidence in the mercy and justice of God, he expired at the age of sixty-nine years, confessing the unity of one God.”
The character of this celebrated conqueror has been variously coloured, according to the bias of those who have recorded the great and stirring, but too fre- quently terrible, events of his life.
Timur is said to have been distinguished for his sincere piety, great veneration for religion, strict justice, and unbounded liberality ; but it would be a difficult matter to find these virtues realised in the actions of his life, which was remarkable for hy- pocrisy, cruelty, and oppression. His religion ap- pears to have been a weak and unmanly superstition, his piety fanaticism, his “ strict justice and un- bounded liberality” mere effects of state policy — for he was neither just nor liberal beyond the boundaries of his own dominions. His ferocious massacres, his wanton devastations of countries and demolition of cities, are sufficient to confirm the conclusion that he was really neither pious, liberal, nor just. That he was a man of commanding genius, consummate bra- very, possessing admirable clearness of judgment, and almost infallible accuracy of perception, is evident to a demonstration. He spent nine years in foreign countries, to advance himself in the knowledge neces- sary for dominion, where the great energy of his mind was displayed in councils and assemblies, and his un- daunted courage in personal combats and pitched battles ; nevertheless, with all his great qualities, it is
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impossible not to see how deplorably they were ob- scured by the ferocious tendencies of his heart.
Timur in his person was tall, corpulent, and well- shaped. His limbs were robust and muscular, his shoulders broad, his fingers thick, and his legs long. His forehead was spacious, and his head large, his eyes being prominent and penetrating. His complexion was fair, and extremely ruddy ; his voice loud and piercing. He had improved his naturally vigorous constitution by temperance and exercise. He left behind him thirty- six sons and grandsons, besides seventeen female de- scendants, with all of whom he lived in general har- mony and good-will. His authority over them was absolute ; and whenever one of the former was de- tected in any failure of duty, according to the laws of Jengyz Khan, he was punished with the bastinado, and then restored to favour. The sceptre of J agatay was one of twenty-seven held by this great conqueror, and he kept in awe the whole Eastern world.
Timur was a munificent prince, as is sufficient- ly proved by the cities, fortresses, bridges, palaces, mosques, hospitals, and serais which he erected in his own dominions, and in different parts of Asia; the rivers and canals which he dug, besides the various institutions which he endowed and supported. Even his warmest admirers, however, admit that he was a great dissembler, and yet he is stated to have so ab- horred a lie that he never forgave it ; but it is to be_ suspected that this love of truth was a subsidiary quality of his mind, rather than a moral impulse, and was encouraged because it helped the accomplish- ment of his political purposes, not from the abstract
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admiration of what is essentially and irrespectively good. * Though he had obtained by conquest an in- credible extent of dominion, his empire was disjoint- ed and unwisely governed. His genius was ex- clusively warlike. He had made himself master of vast tracts of territory, hut the resources of his mind were unequal to the mighty task of founding an em- pire. Though deeply skilled in the art of war, he was ignorant of legislation ; and consequently, within a few years after his death, his dominions were torn from his descendants, and there remained in his fa- mily only his native country of Transoxiana, with Persia and Cabul. Gibbon, after a very favourable view of his character, looking upon him rather as a political than a moral agent, concludes his eloquent summary in these words :
" The four following observations will serve to ap- preciate Timour’s claim to the public gratitude ; and perhaps we shall conclude that the Mogul emperor was rather the scourge than the benefactor of man- kind. First : If some partial disorders, some local oppressions, were healed by the sword of Timour, the remedy was far more pernicious than the disease. By their rapine, cruelty, and discord, the petty tyrants of Persia might afflict their subjects ; but whole na- tions were crushed under the footsteps of the re-
* The writers of Timur’s Life, in the Universal History, after giving a summary of his character from the work of his eulogist Shureef-ood-Deen Ally, observe, that “it is confirmed by his enemy Arabshah, with circumstances which give us a much greater idea of that prince than what his professed friend and flatterer has said of him.” Of Arabshah the same writers have
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former. The ground which had been occupied by flourishing cities was often marked by his abomina- ble trophies, by columns or pyramids of human heads. Astracan, Carizme, Delhi, Ispahan, Bagdad, Aleppo, Damascus, Boursa, Smyrna, and a thousand others, were sacked, or burned, or utterly destroyed, in his presence and by his troops ; and perhaps his conscience would have been startled, if a priest or philosopher had dared to number the millions of victims whom he had sacrificed to the establishment of peace and order. Secondly: His most destructive wars were rather inroads than conquests. He invaded Turkes- tan, Kipzak, Russia, Hindostan, Syria, Anatolia, Armenia, and Georgia, without a hope or a desire of preserving those distant provinces. From thence he departed laden with spoil j but he left behind him neither troops to awe the contumacious, nor magistrates to protect the obedient, natives. When he had broken the fabric of their ancient government,
elsewhere said, “ being prejudiced against Timur for having con- quered his country, he takes all occasions to vilify and blacken his character.” Now as, according to their own showing, that his- torian has done justice to the merits of this hero, the fair inference is, that if his enmity did not prevent him from being just to the merits of the man who had conquered his country, his general veracity cannot be fairly questioned. The writers of the Universal History, moreover, pronounce the author of the work whence they drew their materials for a memoir of the Jagatay conqueror, to have been ‘ ‘ his friend and flatterer.” Is not the integrity of such a historian as fairly open to question, as that of an avowed enemy? A flatterer’s authority is at best equivocal. After all, I suspect we shall come full as near the truth in the life of Timur by his enemy and detractor Arabshah, as in that of his friend and flatterer Shureef-ood-Deen Ally.
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he abandoned them to the evils which his invasion had aggravated or caused, nor were those evils com- pensated by any present or possible benefits. Thirdly : The kingdoms of Transoxiana and Persia were the proper field which he laboured to cultivate and adorn, as the perpetual inheritance of his family. But his peaceful labours were often interrupted, and some- times blasted, by the absence of the conqueror. While he triumphed on the Volga, or the Ganges, his ser- vants, and even his sons, forgot their master and their duty. The public and private injuries were poorly redressed by the tardy rigour of inquiry and punishment, and we must be content to praise the Institutions of Timour as the specious idea of a per- fect monarchy. Fourthly : Whatsoever might be the blessings of his administration, they evaporated with his life. To reign, rather than to govern, was the ambition of his children and grandchildren, — the ene- mies of each other, and of the people. A fragment of the empire was upheld with some glory by his youngest son ; but, after his decease, the scene was again involved in darkness and blood; and before the end of a century, Transoxiana and Persia were trampled by the Uzbeks from the North, and the Turkmans of the black and white sheep. The race of Timour would have been extinct, if a hero, his de- scendant in the fifth degree, had not fled before the Uzbek arms to the conquest of Hindostan. His suc- cessors, the Great Moguls, extended their sway from the mountains of Cashmir to Cape Comorin, and from Candahar to the Gulf of Bengal. Since the reign
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of Aurungzebe their empire has been dissolved ; the treasures of Delhi have been rifled by a Persian robber, and the richest of their kingdoms is now possessed by a company of Christian merchants, of a remote island in the Northern Ocean.” *
* Decline and Fall, vol. xii. pp. 44, 5, 6.
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CHAPTER XIII. a. d. 1405 — 1494.
The day after the emperor’s death, the body was embalmed with camphor, musk, and rose-water, wrapped in fine linen and placed in an ebony coffin. It was then conveyed to Samerkund, and interred with regal magnificence. Timur’s grandson, Khalil Sultan, the third son of Miran Shah, was raised to the throne. He was in the twenty-second year of his age ; an amiable prince, of refined talents, of a warm and ge- nerous temper, but not fitted to direct the affairs of a distracted kingdom, and suppress the disorders oc- casioned by the dissensions of a turbulent nobility. After a short but tumultuous reign, he was deposed by his refractory nobles ; upon which, Shah Rukh, the late emperor’s youngest son, and uncle to the deposed monarch, took possession of the imperial sceptre, and governed the extensive dominions left by his father, with a firm and vigorous administration until his death, which happened a.d. 1446.
Upon the death of this prince, the peace of the em- pire was disturbed by the claims of his sons, who each seized upon different portions, maintaining perpetual hostilities with each other. Ulug Beg, eldest son of the late sovereign, kept possession of Samerkund, of
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which he had held the government during his father’s lifetime,, and soon added to it the city of Herat and its adjoining territory. His own son Abdol-latif having revolted and seized upon Balkh, the father hastened towards that city to punish his rebellion. Immediate- ly upon his departure, Abusaid Mirza, son of Mo- hammed Mirza, son of Miran Shah, third son of Timur, revolted and seized upon Samerkund, though always treated with extreme kindness by Ulug Beg, whose daughter he had married. The indignant prince, upon receiving intelligence of this revolt, turned back to defend his capital ; but being followed by his rebellious son Abdol-latif, a battle ensued, which ter- minated in the father’s defeat and death, after a short reign of three years. Ulug Beg was a great lover of science, and has justified his claim to the veneration of posterity by the valuable astronomical tables con- structed under his directions in an observatory which he caused to be built at Samerkund for that purpose.
After the murder of his father, Abdol-latif marched to Samerkund, of which he obtained possession and made Abusaid prisoner ; but the latter shortly after- wards effected his escape and retired into Bokhara. While in this retreat, hearing that the parricide had been slain by his soldiers, who shot him to death with their arrows, and succeeded by his cousin, Ab- dallah, grandson of Shah Rukh by his second son Ibrahim, he mustered an army of Uzbecks, engaged Abdallah, defeated him, and made himself master of the whole of Transoxiana. Meanwhile Baber Mirza, another grandson of Shah Rukh by his third son Baisanghar, having been driven from Herat, which he
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had occupied, by Yar-Ally, a Turkoman chief, re- turned to it with a large army, regained possession of the city, put the Turkoman to death, and subdued the province of Khorassan. Before, however, he could establish himself in his new conquest, he was defeated by his two elder brothers, the sovereigns of Fars and Irak, both considerable provinces of Persia, and forced to retire to a strong fortress, which he was finally com- pelled to abandon and conceal himself in the moun- tains. The two brothers finally quarrelled, and Mo- hammed Mirza, king of Irak, quitted Khorassan in disgust; Baber then, issuing from his concealment, mustered his forces, attacked his brother Alla-ood- Dowlet, king of Fars, drove him from place to place, and at length made him prisoner. Upon hearing of this unexpected reverse, Mohammed returned to Khorassan to the relief of Alla-ood-Dowlet. Baber ordered his prisoner to be blinded ; but the operation not having been effectively performed, the captive prince did not lose his sight. Baber now, in order to withdraw his elder brother from Khorassan, directed his army to proceed against Fars, whither he accom- panied it in person; but obtaining information that Alla-ood-Dowlet had escaped from confinement and was at the head of a considerable army, he hastened back to Khorassan, where, upon his arrival, he found that the revolt had been suppressed, and his brother forced to retreat from his dominions.
Not long after this, while on a foreign expedition, his territories were invaded from the north by Abu- said Mirza. When informed of this unprovoked ag- gression, he retraced his steps, followed the invader
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across the Oxus, and invested Samerkund ; but after carrying on an ineffectual siege for forty days,, a peace was concluded between the rival princes. Baber then returned to Herat., and died,, a.d. 1457, from a disease brought on by habitual excess,*
Immediately after the death of Baber, Abusaid re- solved to attempt the conquest of Khorassan, a great portion of which he overran ; but was repelled by Jehan Shah, a Turkoman chief, whom, however, he finally compelled to abandon that country and sue for peace. Sultan Hussyn Mirza, descended from Ti- mur in the fourth degree by his son Omer Sheikh, having plundered the borders of Khorassan, Abusaid marched against him, defeated his forces, and pur- suing his advantage, entered the invader’s capital, of which he made one of his own sons governor. Meanwhile Mohammed Juki, a grandson of Ulug Beg, entered Abusaid’s territories with an army of Uz- becks and committed terrible ravages ; but, upon the sovereign’s approach, retired beyond the Jaxartes. The capital of Abusaid being besieged by Sultan Hus- syn during his temporary absence, the king returned, obliged the invader to raise the siege, drove him out of his dominions, and following him into his own, made himself master of them. He now turned his arms against Mohammed Juki, who had retired to a strong fortress upon the Jaxartes, which Abusaid took after a siege of four months.'}- Being de- livered from his enemies, he directed his atten-
* D’Herbelot, in voce Abusaid. De Guignes, vol. v. p. 88.
t Abulghazi Khan, Gen. Hist, of the Turks, vol. i. p. 215. London, 1730. 8vo.
N
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tion to the government of his kingdom, and soon after gave a splendid entertainment, which continu- ed five months, to celebrate the circumcision of his sons. It was upon this occasion that his son Omer Sheikh Mirza, Baber’s father, received the government of Ferghana.*
About this time Jehan Shah, prince of the Turko- mans of the Black Sheep, having been defeated and slain by Uzun Hassan, Beg of the Turkomans of the White Sheep, Hassan Ally, son of the former, solicited the aid of Abusaid, who readily undertook to restore him to his paternal dominions. As Abusaid advanced towards the hills of Azerbijan, a fruitful district of Per- sia, forming part of ancient Media, Uzun Hassan made overtures of peace ; but the invader insisting that he should come and humble himself before a descend- ant of Timur Beg, the haughty Turkoman refused the conditions, and, retiring to the mountains, cut off the enemy’s supplies, harassed his troops by sudden ir- ruptions and frequent surprises, until at length, re- duced to the saddest privations, they deserted the im- perial standard by degrees, and Abusaid was finally obliged to seek his safety in flight. This, however, did not avail him : he was pursued, taken, and be- headed, a. d. 1468.t
At the death of Abusaid, his dominions were divided between his sons. The eldest, Sultan Ahmed Mirza, took possession of Samerkund and Bukhara. Sultan Mahmood Mirza claimed the government of Asterabad, a district of Persia, and of Khorassan; but, though
* See Erskine’s Introduction to Baber’s Memoirs, t D’Herbelot, art. Abusaid.
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driven from these provinces, he formed an alliance with a Moghul nobleman of great influence, and with his aid finally obtained possession of all the country from the Straits of Derhend to the Belut mountains. Ulug Beg Mirza, another of Abusaid’s sons, obtained the government of Cabul and Ghizni ; and Omer Sheikh Mirza, his fourth son, father of the illustrious Baber, held the sovereignty of Ferghana.
Sultan Hussyn Mirza being, by the death of Abusaid, released from an enemy whom he feared to encounter, immediately marched into Khorassan, which he soon subdued, and put to death Prince Yadgar Mirza, who had been raised to the throne of that country by Uzun Hassan.
Omer Sheikh Mirza retained only at his death, which happened in 1494, the sovereignty of Ferghana, which he left to his eldest son Baber, who at the time of his accession to the throne was only eleven years old. The Moghul Chronicle, as quoted by Father Catrou, gives the following account of Omer Sheikh’s death : — “ Almost the only diversion in which this good prince indulged was that of rearing pigeons, and teaching them to engage in certain combats. Two dove-houses had been constructed in the harams at the two extremities of a terrace ; upon these the king was accustomed to assemble the birds, which gathered about him at the slightest signal. At times he made use of a long cane, to which was attached a sort of standard com- posed of white satin. All the pigeons of one of the dove-houses would collect around the flag, and accom- pany the monarch, who led them to the attack of the opposite dove-house. These animals, notwithstanding
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their natural mildness, would defend fiercely their possessions against the irruption of their assailants. Sometimes the besieged quitted their retreat and gave battle in the open air. The monarch encouraged them by his voice and gestures, fluttering the standard to in- spire them with greater rage and induce them to come to a closer engagement. One day when Omer Sheikh was enjoying this diversion, having his attention fixed upon a flock of pigeons which he was animating to the combat, and consequently not observing a place where the parapet of the terrace had given way, he fell from a considerable height to the ground, and died two days afterwards from the injuries he received. This prince had nothing of the impetuosity which characterised the Tartars. He was reproached with showing too great an indolence of temper ; which appeared in him the more particular, as he was surrounded on all sides by princes of a warlike character/’ — Such was the father of the renowned Zeheer-ood-Deen Mohammed, surnamed Baber or the Tiger.
BABER.
CHAPTER I. a.d. 1483 — 1506.
It is some relief to turn from a biography fraught with such repelling features as that of Timur Beg, to one in which the brighter qualities of human nature are not hidden and but in a small degree obscured by its frailties and imperfections. There is little conflicting testimony respecting the character of him the events of whose life I am about to trace. He was unquestionably among the greatest princes whom history has handed down to the admiration of posterity, and his memory is to this day held in the highest veneration by his de- scendants, who glory rather in their descent from him than from the more distinguished conqueror Timur. Baber was unquestionably a greater man than Timur Beg, inasmuch as the founder of a dynasty rises higher among the renowned of the earth than the mere vanquisher of nations. It may be held as an incon- trovertible axiom in political science, that it is easier to subdue than to govern kingdoms.
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The Emperor Baber was of Tartar race, and de- scended in the fifth degree from Timur Beg, being born of Omer Sheikh, son of Abusaid Mirza, grand- child of Miran Shah, Timur’s third son ; whence he always speaks of himself as being a Turk. By his mother’s side he descended from the great Jengyz Khan, being the grandson of Yunis Khan, a celebrated Moghul prince. “ All Baber’s affections, however,” says Mr. Erskine,* c< were with the Turks, and he often speaks of the Moghuls with a mingled sentiment of hatred and contempt.” He was born on the sixth Moharrum 888, answering to the fourteenth of Febru- ary a. d. 1483. Very little is known of his early life. He first saw the light upon the edge of the desert to the north-east of the Caspian Sea ; and though brought up among the rude tribes who inhabited this wild tract, he at a very early age showed his talents for government, and finally settled himself upon the throne of Delhi, which gradually increased in extent and splendour until its decline after the prosperous reign of Aurengzebe, the fifth in direct descent from this illustrious progenitor.
At the age of eleven years, Baber, on the death of his father, ascended the throne of Ferghana, a small principality which forms the kingdom of Kokan, bounded on the east by Kashgar, a country on the western limit of Chinese or Independent Tartary ; on the west by Samerkund ; on the south by the hill country on the confines of Badakshan in Great Buk- hara, and on the north by Otrar, in Turkistan.
Introduction to the Memoirs of Baber, p. xxvi.
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“ Though in former times there were such cities as Almaligh, Almatu, and Yangi, which is known in books of history by the name of Otrar ; yet at the pre- sent date, in consequence of the incursions of the Uz- becks, they are desolate and no population remains/’*
The country of Ferghana is surrounded on all sides by hills of considerable altitude, except on the west towards Samerkund and Khojend, where there are none. On that side only is it open to invasion. It is divided into two parts by the river Sihun or Jaxartes, there being five small districts on the south and two on the north, which are extremely prolific in grain and fruits. In Baber’s time the revenues of Ferghana would not more than suffice for the mainte- nance of from three to four thousand troops.
On the 10th of June 1494, the prince being at his father’s capital, received intelligence of the event which left him the sovereignty of a small but disturbed kingdom. Omer Sheikh was at the fort of Akhsit at the time of the disaster which terminated his life. No sooner was his death made public, than Baber’s two uncles, the one on his father’s, the other on his mother’s side, attempted to prevent their nephew’s succession and become masters of his kingdom ; but the vigour of the young monarch frustrated the en- deavour of these ambitious relatives.
Having discovered the treachery of one Mohammed Dervish, Baber despatched him with his own hand. This energy in so youthful a sovereign astonished his enemies, who soon left him in quiet possession of his * Memoirs of Baber, p. 1.
t One of the two districts of Ferghana, north of the Jaxartes.
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kingdom. One of his uncles died on his retreat to Samerkund, after being obliged to raise the siege of Andejan, the capital of Ferghana; the other was driven out of the country over which he aspired to reign. Baber, being now firmly seated on the throne of his hereditary dominions, appointed Hassan Yakub his visier, who immediately rebelled, but was slain by a detachment sent against him ; and on the following year, the young king having become reconciled to his maternal uncle Sultan Mahmood Khan, was left with- out a competitor.
Towards the conclusion of 1497, Baber, then only fourteen years old, made himself master of Samerkund after a siege of seven months, ascended the throne, and was acknowledged king by the majority of the amyrs. This metropolis, according to the Oriental traditions, was founded by Sekundur,* but we find it earlier noticed under the name of Maracanda, as an important commercial mart : it was at this time one of the most distinguished cities of the East. As the sovereign forbade all plunder when Samer- kund capitulated, the Moghuls, disappointed in their expectations of a rich spoil, deserted, and, followed by several begs, repaired to Akhsi, the first district of Ferghana north of the Jaxartes, and go- verned by Baber’s younger brother Jehangire Mirza. From hence they despatched a messenger to the king, desiring that he would confer the government of An- dejan as well as of Akhsi on the prince his brother. Baber, irritated at this request, reflected in severe terms upon his nobles generally ; which so incensed
* Alexander the Great.
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those who had remained, that they instantly abandon- ed him, and, joining the insurgents, besieged Andejan with a numerous body of troops ; intelligence of which was brought to Baber just as he was recovering from a severe illness* His anxiety of mind and exertion of body in consequence of this vexatious proceeding on the part of his turbulent allies, brought on so severe a relapse, that for four days he continued speechless, and the only nourishment he received was from moistened cotton applied to his tongue.
So soon as the king was able to march, he advanced with all speed toward the capital of his paternal domi- nions, determined to risk the loss of Samerkund in order to save his native city. He, however, arrived too late ; the report of his death, which was current, inducing the governor to capitulate, that officer was barbarously put to death by Jehangire Mirza, who caused him to be hanged over the gates of the citadel. The young mon- arch was now reduced to great distress. He was aban- doned by his army, only between two and three hun- dred men remaining with him. These swore to live and die in his service. Nevertheless, not being able to cope with his enemies, he retired to Khojend, one of the divisions of his paternal inheritance. Here re- ceiving a small reinforcement of eight hundred Mo- ghuls, he stormed and carried some strong forts ; but, on account of the reduced number of his forces, was unable to retain possession of them.
Baber, notwithstanding the unpromising state of his affairs, could not remain idle. He continued in Kho- jend nearly two years, during which period he took possession of several fortresses ,* but being obliged to
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abandon them, he became a wanderer and an exile. About this time. Ally Dost Toghai, who had resigned the province of Andejan into the hands of Jehangire Mirza, made overtures to his former master for a re- storation to favour. Baber gladly listened to the proposals; and that noble, as a proof of his sin- cerity, delivered the fort of Marghinan, in one of the southern divisions of Ferghana, into the king’s hands. The rebels, who had seized upon Andejan, when they received intelligence of this, laid siege to Marghinan, but were obliged to retire in great dis- order. Shortly after, Andejan declared in favour of the lawful sovereign, who once more entered his capital. Jehangire Mirza was in his turn obliged to abandon the province and retire to Ush, a district of Ferghana, on the south of the river Jaxartes.
A second revolt of his Moghul troops, in conse- quence of an order that they should restore all plun- der taken from the king’s adherents, again reduced Baber to the greatest straits. The rebels being join- ed by Sultan Ahmed Tumbol, one of the disaffected begs who had united with Jehangire Mirza in his revolt, attacked the royal forces which had been sent against him and defeated them, many officers of dis- tinction being slain and several made prisoners.
Baber having recruited his forces, on the twenty- fifth of August 1499 quitted his capital, from which he had previously obliged the enemy to retire after they had laid siege to it for thirty days. The re- bels advanced against Ush, but were followed by the young monarch ; when suddenly decamping, they made a forced march and appeared again before Andejan. The
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king proceeding speedily to its relief a battle ensued which terminated in the entire defeat of the rebels, who were compelled to seek safety in* flight. Peace was forthwith concluded between the brothers, on the following terms: that Jehangire Mirza should retain possession of all the country between Khojend and Akhsi, and that Andejan and the district of Uzkend should be ceded to Baber. It was further stipulated that the brothers should unite their forces for the sub- jugation of Samerkund ; and that if possession of it were obtained, Baber should enjoy the sovereignty and resign that of Andejan into the hands of his younger brother. Not long after this arrangement. Ally Dost. Toghai, whose ambitious designs upon the crown in favour of his own son had been defeated, quitted the capital and sought refuge in the camp of Sultan Ah- med Tumbol, where he soon after died of cancer. The son falling into the hands of the Uzbecks, they put out his eyes.
At this period, Bukhara being occupied by the Uz- becks, Samerkund surrendered to Sheebany Khan, their chief, without opposition. When Baber was informed of this, he determined to make an attempt upon that city ; and notwithstanding the defection of his troops, which reduced him to two hundred and fifty men, he surprised and took Samerkund in the night. Upon the soldiers proclaiming his name through the streets, the citizens flocked to his standard ; and the Uzbecks, seeing that they could not longer maintain their recent conquest, quitted Samerkund and fled towards Bukhara, leaving Baber in quiet possession of the capital.
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During the winter the Uzbecks had time to recruit their forces, and early in the spring the king marched against them ; but owing to the desertion of his uncle and brother, who drew off several other princes in al- liance with him., Baber was defeated and obliged to retire to Samerkund, which Sheebany Khan imme- diately invested^ but attempting to enter it by esca- lade, was repulsed with great loss. Having turned the siege into a blockade, a dreadful famine raged within the walls. The blockade continuing for several months, the youthful sovereign seeing no hopes of relief, quitted the city with about a hundred followers under cover of night. After encountering the severest hardships he finally reached Tashkund, where he was received by his uncle Sultan Mahmood Khan with great kindness " The flight of Baber, and the success of Sheebany Khan/' says Father Catrou,* “were the means of establishing two of the greatest monarchies in the East. The Uzbecks took possession of Samerkund, which has ever since been the capital of their empire ; and Baber, compelled to fly, carried into India the Moghul domination, which subsists to the present day.”
From this time Baber was the sport of fortune for more than two years. He was successively dispos- sessed of every place which had owned the domination of his father ; and Sheebany Khan secured the so- vereignty of his kingdom. The young monarch, however, still retained the command of a few brave troops who followed his desperate fortunes. Seeing
* Hist, du Moghul.
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that there was no hope at present of regaining his em- pire, he marched towards Cabul. On his route he re- ceived a reinforcement of seven thousand men, with which he proceeded direct to the capital, besieged and took it after a faint resistance.
On the 3rd of June 1505, the king’s mother died at Cabul. This year was distinguished by dreadful earthquakes, which laid many of the neighbouring ci- ties in ruins. Baber’s unwearied exertions to alleviate the distresses of the people obtained for him the firm attachment of his new subjects. He soon subdued the small principality of Ghizny, the government of which he conferred upon his brother Jehangire Mirza. Though the young king was of a restless and active spirit, his mind was at times fully alive to the pleasures of re- pose. One of his favourite amusements was collect- ing rare animals of different countries; and of such objects of curiosity, perhaps no country in the world supplies a greater abundance and variety than India. Among the feathered tribe, the fire-pheasant of Java is one of the most deservedly distinguished. It is called the fire-pheasant from the circumstance of its having upon the back, just above the tail, a mass of feathers of an ardently luminous colour. In some lights this is so bright as to appear like a flame of fire. The darkest tint about the neck and body is of an intense purple, deepening almost into a Prussian blue. This pervades the neck and back, gradually subsiding towards the tail until it terminates in the flame- colour feathers already mentioned. The tuft on
the head is dark blue, but the colour is less intense than that of the back. About the eyes, which are of a
o
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deep scarlet, the feathers assume a tint of pale greenish azure. The beak is yellow blended with brown, and the legs are red. From the tail two white feathers branch with a graceful curve, terminating in a black circular spot like the tail-feathers of the peacock. The white streaks upon the body are on a ground of bluish purple, similar in tint to the wings, hut not so dark. The bird is about the size of a common dunghill cock. The hen is of a reddish brown, with nothing of splen- dour in her plumage.
Several specimens of this beautiful bird have been sent to England ; hut every one that I have seen is without the two long tail-feathers, which circumstance has led many members of the Zoological Society to doubt their existence in the living bird. The fact is, that in the island of Java, of which the fire- pheasant is a native, those feathers are so highly valued, that the Javanese invariably pluck them from the bird whenever it is obtained, and sell them at a high price ; and in proportion as they are difficult to procure perfect, they become valuable. This will at once account for the specimens sent to Europe being generally, if not always, without the tail-feathers.
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CHAPTER II. a.d. 1506— 1519.
On the seventh of February 1506, Baber was at- tacked with a severe illness, which confined him to his bed forty days. Upon his recovery, he marched towards Khorassan to meet Sultan Hussyn Mirza. great grandson of Timur Beg, who united with his re- lative against the Uzbecks their mutual enemies. On his way he was joined by his brother Jehangire Mirza. That prince came to his brother’s camp, besought his pardon for past injuries, and proceeded with the army. Whilst absent on this expedition, a report of the king’s death was circulated at Cabul,* but the rumour was soon silenced by his return, with- out having effected anything decisive against the Uzbecks. Towards the end of this year, Nasir Mirza, Baber’s youngest brother, to whom the go- vernment of Badakhshan had been assigned, was de- feated by one of the generals of Sheebany Khan ; he consequently came to Cabul, and sought the protection of his royal relative Jehangire Mirza, who had given himself up to excess, and dying about this time, the government of Ghizny was conferred upon Nasir Mirza.
The following year, Baber marched against the Ghil- gies, a tribe inhabiting a tract to the south-east of
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Ghizny, took a hundred thousand sheep, several thou- sands of other cattle, and returned to his capital. He now directed his steps towards Kandahar, in con- sequence of an invitation from the nobles of the house of Arghoon to unite with them for the purpose of ex- pelling the Uzbecks ; those nobles promising to put him in possession of the whole province in case of success against the foe. When, however, Baber reached the borders of Kandahar, his treacherous allies, who had changed their minds, prepared to oppose his entrance : he accordingly engaged and routed them. So soon as he had taken possession of their capital, he returned in triumph to Cabul.
The conqueror had scarcely departed ere the city was besieged by the Uzbecks : not being in a con- dition to contend with his powerful foe, Nasir Mirza, whom his royal brother had left governor of Kandahar, capitulated, and joined the king at Cabul. About this time Baber issued a proclamation, that in future he should be addressed by the title of Padshah or Emperor. This year, 1508, on the seventh of March, Prince Humaioon, Baber’s eldest son, was born.
A few months afterwards, the king defeated a con- spiracy of the Moghuls, which led to a general de- fection of those rapacious subsidiaries. Their revolt so reduced his army, that out of ten thousand horse there scarcely remained five hundred. Under this melancholy aspect of affairs, however, he was not dis- mayed, but still kept the field, assaulting the rebels and defeating them in several encounters. They were astonished at the skill and bravery which he display- ed, combining the adventurous gallantry of the cham-
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pion with the sagacity and prudent foresight of the general. He shrank from no danger, and distinguish- ed himself by several remarkable personal contests. On one occasion, in a severe conflict with the enemy, he advanced before their line and challenged the adverse chief. His challenge being declined, five champions successively answered his call, and were slain by the royal hero. This combination of bra- very, strength, and military skill, produced such dis- may among his enemies, who admired as well as dreaded him, that they gradually dropped off, and in proportion as their numbers diminished his victories multiplied. One defeat succeeded another ; the im- perial army increased daily with its success ; and Baber was finally seated more firmly than ever upon the thrones of Cabul and Ghizny.
In the year 1510, Shah Ismael, king of Persia, ad- dressed a letter to Sheebany Khan, complaining, but with great temperance, of certain devastations which the Uzbeck chief had committed upon his territories. The haughty Tartar, elated by a long career of con- quest, returned an insolent reply. This was imme- diately followed by an invasion of Khorassan. Shah Ismael did not give his enemy time to prepare for de- fence, but, entering his dominions, forced his generals to seek refuge in their capital. Sheebany Khan, who had just returned from a foreign expedition, hearing that the Persian king had entered his territo- ries, retired to Merv, a position where he could easily receive reinforcements from his northern dominions, or from which he could easily retire across the Oxus. Hither he was followed by the enemy, who obliged
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him to seek refuge within the fort. Many desperate encounters took place under the walls ; and Shah Ismael, finding that the siege was likely to he pro- tracted to a great length, affected to retire towards Persia. “ Sheebany Khan followed him with twenty- five thousand men ; but had scarcely passed a river about two miles from Merv, when Shah Ismael, who threw a body of horse into his rear, broke down the bridge and fell upon him with seventy thousand cavalry. The regulated valour of the Kezzelbashes, or Red-bonnets, a name given to the Persian soldiers, speedily prevailed. Sheebany Khan was defeated, and his retreat cut off. He was forced to fly, attend- ed by about five hundred men, chiefly the sons of sultans, the heads of tribes, and men of rank, into an enclosure which had been erected for accommodating the cattle of travellers and of the neighbouring pea- sants. They were closely pursued and hard pressed. The enclosure had only one issue, which was attacked by the pursuers. The khan leaped his horse over the wall of the enclosure towards the river, but fell and was soon overlaid and smothered by the numbers who followed him. After the battle, his dead body was sought for, and disentangled from the heap of slain by which it was covered. His head was cut off and presented to Shah Ismael, who ordered his body to be dismembered and his limbs sent to different parts of his kingdom. The skin of the head was stripped off, stuffed with hay, and forwarded to Sultan Bayezid, the son of Sultan Mohammed of Ghizny, the Turkish emperor of Con- stantinople. His skull, set in gold, the king used as
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a drinking-cup, and was proud of displaying it at great entertainments/’*
Thus was Baber released from his greatest enemy. The conqueror formed an alliance with him, and he soon found himself at the head of sixty thousand horse. With this army he defeated the Uzbecks, subdued the kingdom of Bukhara, a third time ob- tained possession of Samerkund, and was acknow- ledged its sovereign. The king’s ill fortune, how- ever, speedily prevailed. Bukhara was again invad- ed by the Uzbecks, his troops were defeated, and he was once more obliged to abandon the capital. Shah Ismael sent an army to his assistance, which being joined by Baber, invested the fortress of Karshi, then in possession of the Uzbecks. Upon its surrender the Persians put fifteen thousand citizens, including the garrison, to the sword. This greatly disgusted Baber, the citizens being chiefly Jagatay Turks, his countrymen, to whom he was greatly attached.
The enemy now collected their forces for a final struggle ; and having defeated the combined armies of Baber and Shah Ismael, the general of the latter be- ing slain in the action, the former became a fugitive, as he had already frequently been, and scarcely a hope remained to him of recovering his hereditary do- minions. To add to his distress, the Moghuls revolted, fell upon him in the night, slaughtered his followers, and plundered his baggage. This attack was so unex- pected, that the royal fugitive not being prepared to re- pel it, was obliged to take refuge in his night-clothes
* Memoirs of Baber, pp. 239, 240.
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in the citadel of Hissar, whither he had retired after his late defeat. So desperate had his affairs become, that he was unable to resent the insult.
The power of the Uzbecks daily increasing, they soon regained possession of all Bukhara, including the country of Hissar. Famine and pestilence were add- ed to the calamities of wrar, and Baber was thus re- duced to the lowest extremity of bereavement. Seeing no longer any hopes of regaining Samerkund, the un- happy monarch quitted Hissar, and returned to Cabul attended only by a few faithful companions. From this time he seems to have relinquished all thoughts of regaining his paternal inheritance, and was “ led by Divine inspiration,” says the courtly Abulfazel, writing in the reign of his grandson, the renowned Akbar, to turn his mind to the conquest of Hin- dostan.” It is related by Father Catrou, from the Moghul Chronicle, translated into Portuguese by Ma- nouchi, a Venetian, that Baber, before he under- took the conquest of Hindostan, entered that fruit- ful country in the disguise of a religious mendi- cant, in order to make himself acquainted with the habits and resources of the people whom he hoped to subdue. In this sacred character, he visited all the fortresses occupied by Tartars, and obtained such in- formation as greatly assisted him in accomplishing his future conquests. The beauty of the country de- lighted him, and at once determined his ambition. He was anxious to become sovereign of so productive a land. Its wealth, its cultivated plains watered by magnificent rivers, its populous cities studded with pagodas in which the treasure of ages was deposited.
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were too tempting a prize to be abandoned. The king was a profound admirer of Nature, and India presented objects to diet his admiration. Her palm trees alone are a volume for the study of those who love to ex- amine the wonders of the vegetable world. The most useful of these palms, and not the least extraordinary, is the palmyra.'* Its manner of growth is similar to that of the cocoa-nut tree. The stem attains nearly the same height, but is more uniformly perpendicular, and the texture of the timber much firmer and more dur- able. The blacker this is, the more valuable ; and it has the rare quality of resisting the depredations of in- sects. The leaves are shorter, harder, and thicker than those of the tree just mentioned, having the form of an open fan, as which they are frequently used, and from this circumstance the palmyra is common- ly called the fan-leaf palm. Upon slips of these leaves all Cingalese and Burmese manuscripts are written with an iron stylus. The fruit of this palm is a firm pulp, about the bigness of a new-born child’s head, of a black colour, emitting an agreeable perfume, and con- taining in its centre from one to three nuts the size of a common plum. The toddy drawn from the pal- myra makes better arrack than that extracted from any other palm ; and excellent sugar is obtained by mixing the toddy with the pulp of the fruit and boiling them together. This .tree, besides supplying a valuable wood for exportation, is of the greatest im- portance to the natives ; its fruit and roots being used by them for food, and many other parts being success- fully applied to the purposes of manufacture. The
* See Vignette.
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cocoa-nut is exclusively confined to the coast, hut the palmyra is frequently found in districts at a long distance from the sea.
This palm is sometimes embraced by an extraordi- nary creeper which encloses it like a coat of mail. “ I observed/’ says Lieutenant P. W. H. Hardy, in his Travels in the interior of Mexico, “ a curious creeper entwining itself round the stems of the palm trees. In some instances its folds have a striking resem- blance to a print I have seen in f Paradise Lost,’ where the serpent is made to enfold the tree of the forbidden fruit. Round some also it appears to have been arti- ficially plaited ; in others again the stem of the palm is completely hidden, its head inclined downwards, while the creeper itself seems to assume the solidity of a tree. If there be sympathy in plants, surely it is seen in these : — the palm tree in its youth supported the infant creeper ; whilst the latter in its maturity, as if in gratitude for former benefits, maintains within its embrace the declining powers of the palm, and pro- tects its decaying trunk from the effects of age and the violence of the storm.” These palms are among the most beautiful vegetable productions of the East.
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CHAPTER III. a. d. 1519 — 1525.
In the year 1518, Baber invaded the territories of the Afghans ; and having defeated those mountaineers, prepared to march into India. He proceeded with his army to the Neelab, a ford fifteen miles above Attock, the place where Timur crossed the Indus a hundred and twenty years before, having overrun with his troops all the country on the route, and se- cured an immense quantity of plunder. Upon reach- ing Berah, a town north of the Jelam or Behat river, (the Hydaspes of the Greeks,) instead of permitting his troops to plunder, he levied a contribution of four hundred thousand sharookhies, amounting to about twenty thousand pounds sterling.
The king now despatched ambassadors to Sultan Ibra- him, who had succeeded Sikundur Lody on the throne of Delhi, demanding restitution of those countries in the Punjab* of which Baber s ancestor Timur Beg had retained possession. Whilst at Berah, it was officially announced that a son had been born to him, whom he
* The Pun-j&b, or Country of the Five Rivers, deriving its name from the Indus and its tributary branches, is an extensive region of Hindostan, principally situated in the district of La- hore, but including part of Moultan.
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named Hindal Mirza, from the circumstance of his being upon the point of invading Hind when the joy- ful tidings reached his camp.
Meanwhile JBaber turned his arms against the tribes inhabiting the neighbouring hills., who had committed great depredations upon the inhabitants of the plains. He attacked a strong fort belonging to these moun- taineers, which, in spite of its almost inaccessible posi- tion, he obliged them to surrender. “ Perhaleh/’ the fortress alluded to,” says the Padshah in his Memoirs, “ which stands high in the midst of deep valleys, has two roads leading to it ; one of them on the south-east, which was the road we advanced by. This road runs along the edge of the ravines, and has ravines and precipices on both sides. Within half a coss (about a mile) of Perhaleh, the road becomes extremely diffi- cult, and continues so up to the very gates of the city ; the ravine road, in four or five places, being so narrow and steep that only one person can go along it at a time ; and, for about a bow-shot, it is necessary to proceed with the utmost circumspection. The other road is on the north-west. It advances towards Perhaleh through the midst of an open valley. Except these two roads, there is no other on any side. Although the place has no breastwork nor battlements, yet it is so situated that it is not assailable. It is surrounded by a precipice of seven or eight gez* perpendicular height. The troops to the left wing having passed along the narrows, went pouring on towards the gate. Hati, with thirty or forty horsemen, all, both man and horse, in complete
* The gez is about two feet.
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armour, accompanied by a number of foot-soldiers, attacked and drove back the skirmishers. Dost Beg, who commanded the reserve, coming up, and falling on the enemy with great impetuosity, brought down a number of them and routed the rest. Hati Gaker, who distinguished himself by his courage and firm- ness in the action, in spite of all his exertions could not maintain his ground, and fled. He was unable to defend the narrows, and, on reaching the fort, found that it was equally out of his power to maintain him- self there. The detachment which followed close on his heels having entered the fort along with him, Hati was compelled to make his escape, nearly alone, by the north-west entrance. Dost Beg, on this occa- sion, again greatly distinguished himself. I ordered an honorary gift to be presented to him. At the same time I entered Perhaleh, and took up my abode in Tatar’s palace. During these operations, some men who had been commanded to remain with me joined the skir- mishing party : in order to punish them for this offence, I turned them out disgracefully into the deserts and wilds to find their way back to the camp.”*
The king having now settled his conquests, and placed the government of the different districts in the hands of two confidential nobles, returned to Cabul. During the march he lost one of his favourite omrahs. Dost Beg, who died of fever. Upon one occasion, this noble had saved the life of his royal master. When the latter, surrounded by foes, had received a severe sabre stroke on the head, which, though
* Memoirs, pp. 261, 262.
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not a thread of his cap of mail was divided, had pe- netrated to the skull. Dost Beg engaged the enemy alone, though at imminent hazard, and thus gave his sovereign the opportunity of escaping without fur- ther injury. Baber gives him a very high character in his Memoirs.
Towards the close of this year, (1519,) Baber again directed his march towards Hindostan. His progress was opposed by the Afghans, whom he de- feated, and he had reached the Indus, when he was obliged to return to repel an invasion of his own do- minions. Leaving four thousand cavalry under the command of six confidential officers to proceed with his projected conquests in the East, he retraced his steps homeward ; hut, on reaching the borders of Cabul, learned that the invader had retired. A tribe of Afghans, however, had ventured to commit depredations upon his territories during his absence : these he punished by entering their country, which he ravaged with great severity, and returned to his capital.
The third expedition of Baber into India took place a. d. 1520. Having driven from the field Shah Beg Arghoon, who had entered his territories on the side of Kandahar, he shut him up in his capital, which he kept for three years in a state of blockade, and fi- nally deprived him of his kingdom. Meanwhile, the governor of Badakhshan dying, he bestowed that coun- try upon his eldest son Humaioon Mirza.
Of the result of Baber’s fourth expedition into India little is known: his own Memoirs give no informa- tion, and the histories of Abulfazel and Ferishta are
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alike unsatisfactory. It is clear, however, that he had long been bent upon the conquest of that rich and populous country. The reigning monarch, Sultan Ibrahim, was extremely unpopular ; and the impolitic arrogance of the Afghan nobles, who considered them- selves as having raised his family to the dominion of the greatest empire of the East, added to the general disaffection against his government. Many of his omrahs had quitted his court in disgust, and retired beyond the Ganges. All the eastern provinces were in a state of insurrection, and his empire in Hindos- tan scarcely extended beyond Delhi, Agra, and the Dooab. Bengal had its independent sovereign. The Rajpoot princes, from Mewat to Oudapoor, had thrown off the yoke of fealty, and exercised an un- controlled jurisdiction over their respective provinces. The Punjab was under the domination of Afghan chiefs, who, alarmed at the tyranny of Sultan Ibrahim, had determined to deliver themselves from the oppressions of one whose stern severity and do- mineering spirit had forced them to rebellion, as the preferable evil to a patient submission to tyranny. The harsh maxims of his government had driven his wisest nobles from the capital, and destroyed the confidence of his subjects. The state-prisons were filled with the victims of his cruelties, and death or captivity were but too commonly the reward of incorruptible integrity.
The engraving represents the ruins of the state- prison still to be seen on the plains of old Delhi. When it was built is now mere matter of conjecture, though it was probably erected during the supremacy
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of the Afghan sovereigns ; and there is little doubt but here many victims of Sultan Ibrahim’s cruelty expiated some mere imputed crime with the loss of life or liberty.
The Selim Ghur, or state-prison, appears on the right-hand side of the picture, and is united to the fort of Shahjehanabad, the modem city, or New Delhi, as it is now called, by a strong stone bridge. The bastions projecting from the wall towards the river, and sloping upwards from the base, have precisely the character of an Afghan or Patan structure. It is separated from the opposite fortress, a beautiful specimen of the later Mohammedan architecture,* by the river Jumna. Its aspect is extremely gloomy. The top is now overgrown with stunted trees, which put forth their sickly vegetation as if they were emblems of the misery which once reigned within those dim and murky walls. The opposite edifice is a fine contrast to the repelling gloom of the Selim Ghur: the tall central tower, surrounded by splendid balco- nies rising majestically from the solid octagonal mass beneath, has an imposing effect, either from the river or the opposite plain. Since the dilapidation of the former pile, certain hill-forts have been converted into state-prisons. Within their dark and silent chambers the sanguinary work of despotism has been frequently done in secret, and no record has remained to chronicle the tale of blood.
So numerous had been the victims of Sultan Ibra- him’s cruelties, that, actuated by their terrors, the
* This fortress was built by Shah Jehan, a descendant from Baber in the fourth degree.
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disaffected nobles made overtures to Baber to march towards Delhi and relieve them from their oppres- sion. He listened to their appeals,, and determined to answer them without delay. He again subdued the mountaineers, who had assembled in large bodies to oppose his progress. The Afghan chiefs still in the interest of Ibrahim collected a numerous body of forces and offered him battle as he approached Lahore. That city was taken, given up to pillage, and fired. In his march he was joined by several disaffected nobles, but the treachery of his new allies obliged him to fall back upon Lahore. Finding that he was not in a condition to advance to Delhi, he disposed of the conquered dis- tricts among his new confederates and returned once more to Cabul.
He had now obtained a permanent footing beyond the Indus, and contemplated the future conquest of India as an object of sure success. He had been join- ed by Sultan Alla-ood-Deen, Ibrahim’s brother, whom he appointed to the government of Depalpoor, a city upon the Sutlege, and probably secured his fidelity by flattering him with hopes of succeeding to the throne of Delhi. In making these appointments, Baber took care to place his own officers on whom he could rely in subordinate offices under those foreign governors, as a check upon them in case they should feel disposed to rebel against the new authority. Scarcely had he re- tired, before an army of Afghans assembled under Dowlut Khan, who had confederated with him, ex- pelled the governors whom Baber had appointed over his Indian conquests, and obliged the Sultan Alla- ood-Deen to fly to Cabul ; but a detachment of the
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forces of Cabulistan marched from Lahore, encountered the enemy and entirely routed them.
Meanwhile Dowlut Khan hearing that the sovereign of Cabul was obliged to march to the relief of Balkh, which was besieged by the Uzbecks, thought this an opportunity to recover his lost influence at the court of Delhi, by traversing the views of that mon- arch. Ascertaining that Sultan Alla-ood-Deen had been sent by him against Delhi, accompanied by se- veral of Baber’s generals, for the purpose of assum- ing the sceptre, the crafty old politician addressed a letter to the sultan congratulating him upon his prospects of accession to the throne, forwarding at the same time a deed of fealty regularly attested by his chiefs and cadis. In consequence of this, Alla-ood- Deen, in defiance of the expostulations of Baber’s begs, entered into a formal alliance with Dowlut Khan, who immediately joined him with his forces. The begs, dissatisfied at this imprudent treaty, quitted his camp.
In their march towards Delhi the confederates were joined by many disaffected omrahs ; and, by the time they reached the imperial city, the army of Alla-ood- Deen amounted to forty thousand horse. With these he invested that magnificent capital. The Em- peror Ibrahim advanced to oppose his brother from Agra, but his army being surprised in the night, were thrown into confusion and dispersed. Owing, how- ever, to the ill state of discipline of Alla-ood-Deen’s battalions, composed of various bodies, hastily collected, ill assorted, and under little subjection, the imperial forces, which had been broken, rallied, attacked the
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invader, who was already flattering himself with the glories of a triumph, and put him to the rout. The confederates immediately dispersed, and Alla-ood- Deen retreated with only a few followers into the Punjab, now in possession of Baber.
The defeat of his ally soon reached Cabul, and de- termined its sovereign to make a fifth attempt upon Hindostan. He accordingly set out for the last time on the seventeenth of November 1525, to complete the subjugation of that mighty empire. On the third of December he was joined by his eldest son Humaioon. During the march he amused the army by hunting the rhinoceros : two of these animals were killed. On the sixteenth he passed the Indus, and advanced along the skirts of the Sialkote hills. The winter was extremely severe, all the tanks and streams being frozen. This, however, did not check the progress of the invading army. Arriving at Sialkote, the king of Cabul was joined by Alla-ood-Deen Lody, and seve- ral amyrs. Dowlut Khan and his sons were at this time encamped near Lahore with forty thousand men ; but upon Baber’s approach they retired, the father to the strong fortress of Malwat, and his sons to the mountains. The former was immediately besieged in the place of his retreat, where he capitulated after sustaining a siege of only a few days, and Dowlut Khan was obliged to appear before the conqueror with two swords slung round his neck in token of his com- plete abjection.
“ When he came to offer me his obeisance,” says Baber,* “ he affected delay in bowing. I directed
* Memoirs, p. 298.
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them to push his leg and make him bow, I then made him sit down before me, and desired a man who understood the Hindustani language to explain to him what I said, sentence by sentence, in order to reassure him; and to say to him — fI called you father; I showed you more respect and reverence than you could have desired or expected. I delivered you and your sons from the insults of your enemies. I delivered your tribe, your family and women, from the bondage of Ibrahim. The countries held by Tartar Khan, to the amount of three crores,* I bestowed upon you. What evil have I ever done you, that you should come in this manner against me, with these two swords by your side, and, attended by an army, stir up tumult and confusion in my territories V The man, being stupi- fied, stammered out a few words not at all to the pur- pose; and indeed what could he say in answer to such confounding truths? It was settled that he and his family should retain their authority in their own tribes and possession of their villages, but that all the rest of their property should be sequestrated.”
When Baber took possession of the fort, he had placed a guard at the gate in order to prevent any- thing of value being removed, and to seize the son of Dowlut Khan, should he be within the walls and en- deavour to effect his escape. The troops, attempting to rush in and plunder so soon as the gate was opened, considerable tumult ensued ; the king was under the necessity of using violence to obviate out- rage, and during the confusion he struck with an
* About seventy-five thousand pounds sterling.
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arrow one of Humaioon’s servants, who expired upon the spot.
The next day, finding that Ghazy Khan, Dowlut Khan’s son, was not in the fortress, Baber hastened with a strong detachment towards the hills, whither that noble had taken refuge. On his march he made several prisoners of rank, from whom he subsequently received large ransoms. Ghazy Khan was overtaken and defeated ; shortly after which his father died, pro- bably a prey to disappointed ambition.
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CHAPTER IV.
A. D. 1525.
Having now defeated the most formidable of his ene- mies., the king of Cabul determined to proceed towards Delhi without further delay. The army of Ibrahim, the reigning emperor, was said to amount to a hundred thousand men ; — he had besides nearly a thousand elephants. Baber was not intimidated at the ap- prehension of encountering these numerous squadrons. He sent to Cabul the best part of the treasures obtain- ed at the fort of Malwat, and then boldly advanced towards the sultan, who, he heard, was on his march to meet him with the whole of his army. Baber, finding that the governor of Hissar-Ferozeh had des- patched a numerous body of troops to interrupt his progress, sent forward his son Humaioon, accompanied by several experienced officers, to repel the enemy. The prince executed his commission with complete success, putting them to flight, and making many prisoners. This being the first battle in which Hu- maioon had commanded, the king was so elated at his triumph, that he rewarded the messenger who came to him with the despatch from the young conqueror with a dress of honour, a horse from the royal stud.
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and a liberal sum of money. Hissar-Ferozeh, which, together with its dependencies and subordinate districts, was now completely subdued, was bestowed upon the victorious prince by his royal parent, accompanied with a present of gold to the amount of twenty-five thou- sand pounds sterling.
A curious record occurs in the Wakaya Babury, after the description of the battle just spoken of:
- — “ At this same station, and this same day, the razor or scissors were first applied to Humaioon’s beard. As my honoured father mentions in these commentaries the time of his first using a razor, in humble emulation of him, I have communicated the same circumstance regarding myself. I was then eighteen years of age. Now that I am forty-six, I, Mohammed Humaioon, am transcribing a copy of these Memoirs from the original, in his late majesty's own handwriting/' “ This note," says Mr. Erskine, one of the translators, “must have been made by Humaioon a. d. 1553, during his residence in Cabul before his last return to Hindostan."
Baber at length halted his army on the banks of the Jumna. Hearing that Ibrahim had sent a detach- ment of twenty-seven thousand horse in advance of his main body, he determined upon a prompt attack, hoping to take it by surprise, and thus secure a sure and easy victory. The promptness of his mea- sures, and the vigour with which they were executed, produced the result he had anticipated. The enemy were routed and pursued to the imperial camp. Their general, Hatim Khan, was slain. About a hundred prisoners, among whom was the general's brother.
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together with seven elephants, fell into the victor’s hands.
Baber, having reached the field of battle with his main army, halted there for six days ; and, to inspire the enemy with terror, commanded several prisoners to be put to death. Here he ordered his park of artillery to be linked together with straps cut from raw ox-hides, and twisted. Between every two gun-carriages he raised breast- works, behind which the matchlock-men were appointed to stand and dis- charge their matchlocks, protected from the enemy’s fire. When he had made the necessary arrange- ments, he called a council of his officers, in which it was decided that the town of Paniput * should cover one flank of his army, while the front should be pro- tected by roofed defences and cannon, and the match- lock-men placed in rear of the guns. This being settled, the squadron marched, and halted towards evening before Paniput. Accordingly, the disposition was made which had already been determined upon. His troops being thus strongly entrenched, he waited securely behind his defences for a favourable moment of attack.
The Indian army, notwithstanding its loss in the late encounter, was nearly a hundred thousand strong, while that of the invader did not exceed twelve thou- sand. The troops of Ibrahim, moreover, were accom- panied by above nine hundred elephants, which were held in great dread by the invading troops, who had hitherto been little accustomed to encounter them.
About fifty miles north-west from Delhi.
, Drawn* hy W DaTpLeZL JLA . Erigra.'.'£.d> hy D Cochran/-
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Like a pious Mussulmaun, the brave descendant of Timur Beg turned his face towards the holy city, and put up a prayer for his success in the approaching conflict.
Nothing can be more regular than the Mohamme- dans in general are in conforming to the ceremonial observances of their worship. In India you will fre- quently observe a grave votary of the Arabian Pro- phet, with his long lean visage, black bushy beard, and angular frame, seated before the door of a musjid offering up his prayers, while the vacant expression of his features betrays the utter absence of devotion from his heart. He is to be seen on the eastern side of the mosque, sitting upon a piece of striped carpet called a satringee, to imply that he is something supe- rior to the common mass of his fellow-worshippers, who rest themselves upon the bare earth. His carpet is spread upon a chabutra, a frame raised several inches from the ground, which is brought and removed by an attendant. There is always much less of humility than of pomp in this eye-service,’’ as it has been most expressively designated by a sacred writer.
According to their law, Mussulmauns are obliged to pray regularly five times a day, — at dawn, at noon, between noon and sunset, at sunset, and about an hour and a half after the sun has disappeared. When the worshipper prays before a mosque, he tucks his legs under him, as it is considered a mark of irreverence to show the feet.
Among his troops, the Emperor of Delhi had a great number of mercenaries ; but they were so irregular- ly paid, that a general dissatisfaction pervaded their
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ranks. Baber was not ignorant of this, and failed not to take advantage of it. He continually harassed Ibrahim's camp by sallies ; and having kept the enemy for several days in a state of constant alarm, he se- lected five thousand of his choicest soldiers to make a sudden attack upon them in the night. There was, however, some irregularity in the arrangement of the march of this detachment, so that the day had dawned before they reached the imperial camp. Ibrahim im- mediately drew out his forces and stood prepared to meet the foe, who, seeing the overwhelming superiority of the hostile army, retreated towards their tents ; but, though pursued by the troops of Delhi, they did not lose a single man. One of the officers was so severely wounded as to be unable to assist at the battle which took place on the following day.
When Baber received intelligence that his squa- drons had not been able to accomplish their pur- pose, but were returning to his camp, he des- patched Humaioon with a division to cover their retreat, whilst he drew out his line in readiness for action. That prince joined the battalions to the aid of which he was sent, and returned with them to the main army. As the enemy did not seem disposed to make an attack, towards evening Baber led his troops back to their tents. In the night there was a call to arms, in consequence of a false alarm being raised of the enemy’s approach ; but it quickly subsided, and the eventful day of Baber’s greatness dawned with auspicious brightness.
As soon as early prayer had been performed accord- ing to the regulations of the Koran, it was announced
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by the scouts that the army of Sultan Ibrahim was ad- vancing in order of battle. Baber prepared to meet him with that confidence which the brave alone feel,, having determined upon such an order of battle as he consider- ed best calculated to ensure success. He divided his army into two lines, comprising four divisions, with a reserve in the rear of each, and a few light horse to skir- mish in front. The right wing of the first division was placed under the command of Humaioon, accompanied by several officers of known reputation ; the left was commanded by a near relative, Mohammed Sultan Mirza ; several begs who had distinguished themselves in many previous battles were likewise placed under him. The right and left of the second line were re- spectively under the direction of officers in whom their sovereign had the highest confidence. The reserve at- tached to the two lines was given in charge of officers of merit ; and besides these, the extremity of the right and left divisions were flanked by a large body of choice troops, who had received orders to make a circuit and fall upon the enemy’s rear so soon as the latter ap- proached sufficiently nigh.
Having made his final arrangements, and given the required instructions to his generals, Baber placed himself in the centre of the first line, and awaited with calm intrepidity the approach of the Delhi force. When these came in sight, according to the practice of Indian warfare, Ibrahim ordered his cavalry to charge. Their first onset was mainly directed against the right division of the invading army : this Baber in- stantly ordered to be reinforced by the reserve The enemy’s charge was received so steadily, that,
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finding they produced no impression, the Delhi troops fell hack in considerable disorder. The battalions flanking Babers lines now wheeled suddenly round, meeting in the centre upon Ibrahim’s wavering squadrons, cut off their retreat, and effected a dreadful carnage. This success increased the confidence of the invaders, and depressed the energies of their foes. The sultan made a gallant effort to turn the tide of victory, but fell fighting bravely, surrounded by five thousand slain.
The battle commenced at sunrise and continued until midday, when the Afghans were completely routed with a slaughter almost incredible for the short time the struggle lasted. The number of slain in different parts of the field amounted to from fif- teen to sixteen thousand, though some authors have computed it at fifty thousand. The ease with which this victory was obtained is no doubt in a great mea- sure attributable to the dissatisfaction of Ibrahim’s mercenaries, whom he had neglected to satisfy with their arrears of pay. Troops of this description are never to be relied on, as they will always join that party whom it is most advantageous to serve, and cal- culate their interest precisely according to the amount of compensation for services performed. There can be no attachment in such soldiers towards those by whom they are hired, and their bravery may generally be pretty accurately measured by their indifference and their sordidness.
In addition to the slain in this decisive battle, a great many prisoners were taken. Most of the elephants fell into the victors’ hands. Several
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omrahs and Afghans of distinction surrendered them- selves, and were kindly treated by a generous enemy. Supposing that Ibrahim had escaped, Baber despatch- ed a body of troops in pursuit of him, and took posses- sion of his camp, securing an immense booty, which he divided among his soldiers. The dead body of the sultan being at length found surrounded by a multi- tude of slain, its head was severed from the trunk, taken to the royal tent, and cast at the sovereign’s feet.
When Baber had refreshed his soldiers, he directed Humaioon, and the begs under his command, to pro- ceed with all possible expedition to Agra, occupy the city, and take possession of the treasury. He gave similar orders to his relative Mohammed Sultan Mirza, who was likewise directed, together with the officers who had acted under him in the recent battle, to ad- vance by forced marches to Delhi and compel the citadel to capitulate. These princes accordingly proceeded to execute the imperial commands, Baber marching lei- surely towards Delhi with his main army. On the third day he encamped on the banks of the Jumna, visited the tomb of a distinguished saint, and all the prin- cipal objects in the neighbourhood of that capital, espe- cially the celebrated minaret known by the name of the Cuttub Minar, of which a description is given in the first volume of the Oriental Annual.* He was amazed at the magnificence of the objects by which he was surrounded, Delhi at this period being the centre of all that was gorgeous and splendid. Its mausoleums
Q 3
* See page 232.
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and palaces were numerous ; whilst its gardens, tanks, and baths were of the most costly and luxurious de- scription.
Upon the plains which surround this once beautiful metropolis, the conqueror halted to enjoy alike the satisfactions of conquest and the sweets of repose. Whilst here, he indulged in a very favourite pleasure, as may be gathered from his own statement. After he had visited the tombs, palaces, and all that was worth seeing in the imperial city, he says, “I re- turned into the camp and went on board a boat, where we drank arak an enjoyment, it must be confessed, little becoming either the dignity or the taste of a con- queror, much less that of a king. A propensity to drinking was Baber’s besetting sin, and by it his con- stitution was eventually so broken, that this unhappy indulgence no doubt finally cost him his life. He sowed in folly and reaped a bitter penalty.
Mohammed Mirza having secured the fort of Delhi, Baber ordered the public treasury, into which the principal wealth of the capital was first amassed, to be sealed with the royal signet, and placed over it a strong guard to prevent pillage. He then proceeded towards Agra, halting on the banks of the Jumna, in sight of Toglokabad. This once distinguished place stood to the south of Delhi, between the Cuttub Minar and the river. The remains of massy fortifications sufficiently attest its former greatness ; but it is now nothing more than an area of splendid ruins, and en- tirely deserted. It was built by Feroze Toghluk, in the year 1354, and suffered greatly during the Turki dynasty established by Baber and continued under his
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successors. Most of the ruins in this neighbourhood show the extreme strength of the original structure, being constructed of a hard, compact granite ; which, in their present state of perishing grandeur, will stand the assaults of the elements until the last convulsions of nature shall confound all material things in
“The wreck of matter and the crush of worlds.”
The mausoleum in the engraving covers the remains of some Afghan chief whose name has passed from the memories of men, as it has no place in those records of history which perpetuate the deeds of illustrious indi- viduals. It is a handsome building bearing the pecu- liar characteristics of Patan architecture. It is as- cended from the hill on one side by a steep flight of high stone steps, a circuitous path leading from the plain to the principal entrance. From the elevation upon which it stands, a commanding view may be obtained of the ruined city and the whole surround- ing plains, the modern Delhi or Shahjehanabad rising magnificently in the distance, with its innumerable cupolas and minarets.
Below the tomb is a striking ruin of a once magnifi- cent structure, the only portions remaining being the arches upon which the foundation was originally laid. Above it now lies the main road to and from Agra. The whole scene is remarkably striking, and an ob- ject of great attraction to travellers. The vaults be- neath the arches are of no great extent, and afford a refreshing retreat from the intense heat of the noon- day sun ; though, being generally the resort of snakes and other reptiles, great inconvenience is sometimes
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felt in repairing to such a shelter, as the expulsion of those venomous inmates is attended with some danger and more difficulty. The natives, however, resort to these recesses without apprehension, and often pass the night in them surrounded by crea- tures which would scare the slumbers of a more fasti- dious European.
Baber having marched from Delhi on the twenty- sixth of April, encamped near the suburbs of Agra on the fourth of May.
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CHAPTER V. a. d. 1 526.
When Baber reached Agra,, he invested the fort. Humaioon had previously taken the precaution of placing a guard upon every avenue. It was de- fended by the troops of Bikermajeet, Rajah of Gualior, who had been slain in the late decisive battle. The garrison, however, held the besieging army in such terror, that they attempted to quit the fortress by stealth, but were made prisoners by the guards, placed at the different issues in order to intercept any one quitting the fortress. The prince treated them with much clemency, not per- mitting them to be plundered ; which so won upon the good opinion of the generally stern and un- compromising rajpoots, that they sent a large quan- tity of treasure into the royal camp, among which was a diamond weighing two hundred and twenty- four rutties, equal to six hundred and seventy-two carats. This magnificent gem was presented by the new emperor to his eldest son.
Baber everywhere displayed such forbearance to- wards the vanquished, that he finally secured their confidence, though this was withheld for some time. When he took possession of Agra, he found there the
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mother of Ibrahim, the late sovereign, whom he treated with liberal distinction ; allowing her to re- tain all her property, and commanding the greatest respect to be paid to her by his own adherents, as well as by the nation generally.
When Baber obtained the throne of Hindostan, there existed five distinct Mohammedan sovereignties, -and two Hindoo, besides several minor principalities, held by petty rajahs. The first sovereignty was possessed by the Afghan monarch, Sultan Ibrahim Lody, who resigned his crown with his life in the memorable battle just recorded ; the second was the extensive province of Guzerat, the third that of the Deccan, the fourth of Malwa, and the fifth of Bengal. These districts were respectively governed by Mohammedan sovereigns. The two most powerful Hindoo princes were the Rajahs of Bijanagur and of Chittore. They had, during the confusion caused by the unpopularity of the late Emperor of Delhi, availed themselves of the distraction in several neighbouring principalities, added them to their dominions, and threatened to be formidable foes to the new government. Baber saw that he should have much to do before he could ex- pect to be quietly settled in his foreign conquests. A new sovereign and a stranger is always looked upon with suspicion ; besides which, the vanquished Hin- doos had at no period been reconciled to the Moham- medan domination, and the haughty rajpoots were at all times ready to vindicate their rights with that fierce spirit of resistance which has ever placed them among the foremost foes of their conquerors, who have still left them unsubdued.
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“ From the time of the blessed Prophet,” says Baber in his Memoirs,* “ on whom and on his family be peace and salvation ! down to the present time, three foreign kings had subdued the country, and ac- quired the sovereignty of Hindostan. One of these was Sultan Mahmood of Ghizny, whose family long con- tinued to fill the throne of that country. The second was Sultan Mohammed Ghoory, and for many years his slaves and dependants swayed the sceptre of these realms. I am the third ; but my achievement is not to be placed upon the same level with theirs; for Sultan Mahmood, at the time he conquered Hin- dostan, occupied the throne of Khorassan, and had absolute dominion over the Sultans of Khuarazm and the surrounding chiefs. The King of Samer- kund, too, was subject to him. If his army did not amount to two hundred thousand men, yet grant it was only one hundred thousand, and it is plain that all comparison between the two conquests must cease. Moreover, his enemies were rajahs. All Hindostan was not at that period subject to a single emperor ; every rajah set up for a monarch on his own account, in his own petty territories. Again, although Sultan Mohammed Ghoory did not himself enjoy the sove- reignty of Khorassan, yet his elder brother Gheias- ood-Deen Ghoory held it. In the Tabakat-e-Nasirit it is said, that on one occasion he marched into Hin- dostan with one hundred and twenty thousand cata-
* Pages 309, 310.
t “ An excellent history of the Mussulmaun world, down to the time of Sultan Nasir of Delhi, a. d. 1252/’ — Note to the Me-
moirs.
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phract horse.* His enemies too were rajahs ; a sin- gle monarch did not govern the whole of Hindostan. When I marched into Berah, we might amount to one thousand five hundred mem, or to two thousand at the utmost. When I invaded the country for the fifth time, overthrew Sultan Ibrahim, and subdued the empire of Hindostan, I had a larger army than I had ever before brought into it. My servants, the merchants and their servants, and the followers of all descriptions that were in the camp along with me, were numbered and amounted to twelve thou- sand men. The kingdoms that depended upon me were Badukhshan, Kundez, Cabul, and Kandahar ; but these countries did not furnish me with assistance equal to their resources ; and indeed, some of them, from their vicinity to the enemy, were so circum- stanced, that, far from affording me assistance, I was obliged to send them extensive supplies from my other territories. Besides this, all Maveralnaher was occu- pied by the khans and sultans of the Uzbecks, whose armies were calculated to amount to about a hundred thousand men, and who were my ancient foes. Finally, the whole empire of Hindostan, from Berah to Bahar, was in the hands of the Afghans. Their prince, Sultan Ibrahim, from the resources of his kingdom, could bring into the field an army of five hundred thousand men. At that time some of the amyrs to the east were in a state of rebellion. His army of foot was computed to he a hundred thousand strong. His own elephants, with those of his amyrs, were reckoned at nearly a thousand. Yet, under such circumstances
Horsemen in complete armour.
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and in spite of this power, placing my trust in God, and leaving behind me my old inveterate enemies, the Uzbecks, who had an army of a hundred thousand men, I advanced to meet so powerful a prince as Sultan Ibrahim, the lord of numerous armies, and emperor of extensive territories. In consideration of my confidence in the divine aid, the Most High God did not suffer the distress and hardships that I had undergone to be thrown away, hut defeated my for- midable enemy, and made me conqueror of the noble country of Hindostan. This success I do not ascribe to my own strength ; nor did this good fortune flow from my own efforts, hut from the fountain of the favour and mercy of God.”
It is sufficiently clear from this passage, that Baber was proud of his conquest, and determined to main- tain it. He was charmed at once with the climate and the productiveness of a country over which he was henceforward to hold dominion. When he entered the plains of Delhi, the magnificence of the structures of that celebrated capital had filled him with admiration and surprise. Cabul pre- sented no such features of splendour, and his mind was elevated by the prospect of a vaster and more powerful empire than he had hitherto ruled. On his road to the imperial city, then flourishing in the full maturity of its grandeur, but now a widely- scattered mass of glorious ruins, he passed over a bridge which is an admirable specimen of the descrip- tion of architecture at that early period. It is thrown over a spacious water-course, intersecting part of the plain upon which the ancient Indraprastha, or
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Old Delhi, once stood. In the rainy season, the stream is very rapid, and the water rises so high that the bridge is occasionally submerged.
This structure is of the Afghan taste, and must therefore have stood several centuries, though it does not bear any perceptible marks of dilapidation or de- cay. The architecture in its details is considerably ornamented, but the whole mass presents an elegant simplicity which cannot fail to attract the attention of a discriminating eye. Its symmetry is as remark- able as its decorations are chaste, and nothing can be more appropriate than the various accessories by which it is enriched. There are seven arches, pointed after the Gothic form, and defined by a strip of beautiful masonry, which terminates on either side upon a square buttress, surmounted by a plain column that ex- tends to the balustrade of the bridge. These columns separate the arches and support the balustrade, which consists of a handsome stone rail, with a plain coping of stone to correspond with the cornice, immediately above the arches. From the centre shafts on each side of the structure rise two extremely elegant penta- gonal pillars, about five feet high, standing upon a sculptured base, representing the capsule of the lotos or Indian water-lily, and ending in a small dome.
On the left of the picture is a splendid mausoleum, covering the ashes of some Afghan chieftain, yet differ- ing little except in the superior richness of its decora- tions from the numerous specimens of those sepulchral remains with which the plains of Old Delhi abound. It is enclosed by a wall of exquisite masonry, on the top of which lies a broad terrace, termi-
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nated on all sides of the square by a turreted para- pet. Here the solitary Mussulmaun may be fre- quently seen at the hour of sunset., with his face towards the holy city,* aspirating a silent prayer for the repose of the departed. Mohammedans are generally very fond of visiting the sepulchres of their saints and distinguished men, which are almost invariably edifices of great magnificence.
When Baber had obtained possession of Agra, considerable hostility was at first manifested by the citizens, both Mohammedan and Hindoo, towards his soldiers, who generally treated them with the arro- gance of conquerors. The peasantry would not enter the city, and the bazars were comparatively deserted. The neighbouring fortresses were put in a posture of defence by their respective commanders, who refused to offer allegiance to a foreign monarch. The whole country beyond the Ganges was still in possession of the Afghans, who exercised great influence in those districts which acknowledged the Mohammedan do- minion. Several of their princes had been in a state of insurrection for at least two years before the death of Ibrahim, their late sovereign, and, after Baber’s success, united in a confederation to maintain each other in the possessions which they had severally usurped.
The new sovereign was greatly perplexed. It being the hot season when he took possession of Agra, he could procure neither grain for the cattle nor food for his men. The heat was so oppressive, that his soldiers
Mecca.
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frequently dropped down dead in the streets, as if they had been stricken by a blast of the simoom. The in- habitants of the villages relinquished their usual occu- pations, and betook themselves to robbery : the roads were deserted in consequence of being infested with these marauders. Under the influence of so many discouraging circumstances, several begs and a large majority of the troops began to murmur, and de- clared their determination no longer to continue in the conquered country. They were anxious to re- turn to their more congenial homes. Every one con- sidered himself privileged to give an opinion upon the impolicy of remaining in a land where the impedi- ments to social enjoyment and to a lasting peace were so many. The emperor was greatly vexed at the dissatisfactions which pervaded his army : he there- fore summoned his chief officers, and expostulated with them upon the madness of abandoning such a conquest as they had recently made, merely because a few inconveniences, as was invariably the case un- der similar circumstances, stood in the way of a final adjustment of their claims and a satisfactory ar- rangement of the new settlements. He bade those who were his friends not to hint at quitting In- dia on pain of his implacable displeasure ; but said that all who had no desire to settle might instant- ly depart, and leave him to govern with strangers, whom he would endeavour to make wiser and fitter instruments. This appeal had its effect : the begs were ashamed to desert him, and retired from the council unanimously determined to remain, with the excep- tion of a single noble, who was permitted to depart
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with an appointment of considerable importance, being made governor of Cabul and Ghizny in consequence of the services he had rendered before and during the In- dian invasion.
To secure the confidence of his army, Baber dis- tributed large sums of money among his soldiers. To Samerkund, Khorassan, Kashgar, Erak, Mecca, Medina, and other holy places, he sent immense bene- factions. Such profuse, and, as it was considered, indiscreet prodigality, procured for him the cognomen of Kullunder, which signifies a person whose practice it is to keep nothing for the morrow.
It being now fully ascertained that the new monarch did not intend to quit Hindostan, as his renowned an- cestor Timur had done before him, he was joined by several officers of influence under the late government, with the troops which they commanded. This add- ed materially to the stability of his throne. He at once secured the confidence of these officers by raising them to posts of trust and presenting them with gifts of honour.
f<: The Tartars,” says Father Catrou,* “ the former subjects of Baber, arrived in crowds from Samerkund to enrich themselves under the new monarch. Em- ployments were given them at court. It was then that the Indians gave the name of Moghuls with- out distinction to all the Tartars, and transferred to the nation generally a name which at first was peculiar to the royal family. A great many Persians likewise came to Delhi to seek their fortunes. The
* Hist, du Moghul.
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employments which were conferred on them at court attracted others. Thus the Mohammedan rule soon became the most influential, and the strangers occu- pied all the governments and all the great offices of state. Finally, the rajahs, who in the beginning were from necessity treated with consideration, fell by de- grees into contempt, and the Mohammedan became the prevailing religion.”
In the distribution of the vanquished provinces, the emperor had bestowed upon his son Humaioon, the district of Sambhul, a division of Rohilcund, between the Ganges and the Goggra. The town and fortress of Sambhul being in a state of siege by an Afghan noble who had issued from the hills with a large body of fugitives and invested the place, Baber despatched a body of troops to its release. These obliged the enemy to raise the siege and again take refuge in the mountains. The fort was surren- dered to the emperor, who about the same time took Biana, to the south-west of Agra, and then reckon- ed one of the most important places in India from its vicinity to that capital, which it defended on the side of the Rajpoot states. Several places of importance now successively fell into the conque- ror’s hands, and he was soon firmly established in his new dominions by a total defeat of the Afghans, who almost alone disputed his pretensions to the go- vernment of the country which he had so bravely subdued. The insurgents mustered an army of fifty thousand horse, against whom the Prince Humaioon was sent with the choicest of the Moghul troops. Upon his approach, the enemy retreated to Juanpoor.
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Futteh Khan, the late king’s minister, joined Hu- maioon with a large body of forces. The Afghan was immediately sent to Agra, where he was received by the sovereign with great kindness, and through his in- fluence most of the rebellious chiefs were induced to submit to the imperial clemency. Being thus strength- ened by the submission of so many refractory nobles and by several new alliances, Baber turned his atten- tion to the improvement of his capital. He made an artificial pleasure-ground near Agra, in which he sank wells to supply the baths of his palace, cut a canal which he kept constantly filled from those wells by means of an hydraulic apparatus, and laid out an extensive and beautiful garden, enclosing a large tank, supplied with water from the same source and by the same means as the canal. Within the garden he constructed convenient baths, adjoining which were splendid private apartments. He likewise erected a magnificent palace and other public works, which added much to the splendour of that city, where from this time he usually held his court.
Though Biana and several considerable fortresses commanded by the Afghan amyrs had capitulated, the strong citadel of Gualior still held out. It was, how- ever, taken by stratagem, without bloodshed. The go- vernor, Tartar Khan, being besieged by a neighbouring- rajah, solicited the aid of Baber, promising to resign the fort into his hands when released from his present peril. The emperor immediately sent an army to his relief and obliged the rajah to raise the siege- Tartar Khan, relieved from apprehension by the retreat of his foes, refused to fulfil his engagements, trusting to the
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strength of his position, Gualior being situated upon an almost inaccessible hill. There happened to be a learned sheikh within the fortress, named Mohammed Ghows, who, favouring the claim of the Moghuls, wrote to the general whom Baber had sent to the relief of Gualior to endeavour to introduce himself alone into the citadel. Upon receipt of the sheikh’s letter, the wily Moghul requested an interview with Tartar Khan, and solicited permission to march his troops under protection of the fort, as the enemy were in the neighbourhood and likely to harass him by fre- quent assaults and surprises : he also requested that he might be allowed to visit the learned Mohammed Ghows, whose wisdom and piety were alike cele- brated through the country. This being acceded to, he contrived from time to time to obtain admit- tance for several of his officers, who finally opened the gates when the garrison were enjoying the plea- sures of a revel. The governor, perceiving that he had been outwitted, made a virtue of necessity, re- signed his command, proceeded to Agra, and entered into the service of the conqueror.
In the month of December 1526, an attempt was made to poison the emperor, at the instigation of the sultana, the late sovereign’s mother ; but only part of the poison having been thrown into the dish, of which Baber partook sparingly, he was seized with sickness, and, ejecting the deleterious mixture, suffered but little inconvenience. Two young men who had eaten from the same dish became very ill, which led to a detection of the attempt upon Baber’s life. The agents were discovered, confessed their crime, and declared who
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had instigated them to the commission of it. They were all executed, and the sultana put into confine- ment. “ Thanks be to God/’ says the emperor in a letter which he wrote to Cabul four days after, there are now no remains of illness. I did not fully compre- hend before that life was so sweet a thing. The poet says,
4 Whoever comes to the gates of death knows the value of life.’
Whenever these awful occurrences pass before my memory, I feel myself involuntarily turn faint. The mercy of God has bestowed a new life on me, and how can my tongue express my gratitude ?M*
* Memoirs, p. 348.
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CHAPTER VI. a. d. 1527.
Baber having imprisoned the sultana who had at- tempted to destroy him, seized all her money and ef- fects, and confiscated the whole of her property. Ima- gining that any member of a family one of which had been guilty of so heinous an offence would be a dan- gerous object to .be near his court, he sent out of the country the son of the late sovereign. Meanwhile Humaioon made himself master of Juanpoor, a city of considerable importance upon the banks of the river Goomty, about forty miles from Benares, and joined his royal parent at Kalpee on the Jumna, in the neighbourhood of his capital. About this time the emperor heard that Rana Sanka, a Rajpoot prince of extensive influence, had been joined by several Af- ghan nobles and Hindoo chiefs, and had collected a hundred thousand cavalry to dispute the empire of Hindostan with the reigning sovereign in favour of a brother of the late monarch, and re-establish the Afghan dynasty. Baber marched in person against them. His vanguard encountered them in the neigh- bourhood of Biana, and was defeated. The troops became in consequence dispirited, this being the first severe check they had experienced since their last en-
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trance into Hindostan. Their disquietude was in- creased by a silly fanatic,, who, pretending to the gift of divination, declared the planet Mars rose every evening in the west with a menacing aspect, and all who marched in that direction would suffer defeat. Baber, perceiving the effect produced by these evil predictions to be growing serious, summoned a council of his officers. Most of these were for quitting the country, and awaiting a more auspicious period for accomplish- ing what they had so successfully begun ; but the em- peror, by a spirited protest against an action so unworthy of conquerors, revived their drooping courage, and they unanimously resolved to fight under his standard and maintain their conquests with their lives. He, how- ever, was induced by the peril in which the consterna- tion of his troops had placed him to make a public vow that he would renounce his propensity to drinking should he prove victorious against the enemy. Orders were ac- cordingly given that wine should no longer be sold in the camp. He commanded the gold and silver goblets to be publicly broken up, and the precious fragments dis- tributed among the poor. As the confederates had be- come masters of several important places, Baber de- termined to march against them, and by a decisive battle settle the question of supremacy. Summoning his officers and amyrs, he thus addressed them : “ Noblemen and soldiers ! every man that comes into the world is subject to dissolution. When we are passed away and gone, God only survives unchangeable. Whoever comes to the feast of life must, before it is over, drink from the cup of death. He who arrives at the inn of mortality must one day inevitably take his
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departure from that house of sorrow, the world. How much better is it to die with honour than to live with infamy !
Even if I die, I am content with fame :
Let fame be mine, since this poor frame is death’s.*
The Most High God has been propitious to us, and has now placed us in such a crisis, that if we fall in the field, we die the death of martyrs ; if we survive, we rise victorious, avengers of the cause of God. Let us then with one accord swear on God’s holy word, that none of us will even think of turning his face from this warfare, nor desert from the battle and slaughter that ensue till his soul is separated from his body.”
This address had the desired effect, and his troops marched forward with confidence to a village on the Bangunga river, in the neighbourhood of Biana, four miles south of Bhurtpoor. He had scarcely pitched his camp, when intelligence reached him that the enemy were approaching. Having settled his order of bat- tle, he calmly awaited their onset.
The line on this occasion was single. The right and left wings were under the command of distin- guished leaders, and Prince Humaioon had charge of the advanced guard. There was besides a rear guard and a strong body of reserve, respectively placed un- der the direction of officers whose military conduct on former occasions had rendered them worthy of the trust. The emperor, at the head of the life-guards, composed of his choicest troops, placed himself in front of his park of artillery and commanded in person. About * This is a couplet from the Shahnameh of Ferdusi.
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half-past nine in the morning this memorable battle commenced. The right and left wings of the two op- posing armies first encountered, and an animated strug- gle ensued. The Moghuls began to give way, when they were reinforced by Cheen Timur Sultan, and the reserve under his command. Cheen Timur, joining in the com- bat with those troops, drove the enemy back upon their centre. Meanwhile the artillery being advanced, broke the line of the foe, producing a scene of dreadful con- fusion. Whole ranks were swept to the earth by those terrible engines of death. The wings of the imperial army, according to the tacticks of Jengyz Khan, wheeled round upon each flank of the confede- rates, supported by the reserve ; while the imperial matchlock men, issuing from behind the artillery, made dreadful havoc among the enemy’s disordered and broken lines. The struggle was maintained with unflinching resolution by the Rajpoots and their allies ; the former of whom, though they could not restore order among their ranks, disdained to fly. The slaughter was prodigious, and the confusion of the confederates increased every moment. At length, Baber, embracing a favourable opportunity, charged with his personal guards and compelled the Indians to give way. Most of the confederate nobles were slain. Rana Sanka escaped with difficulty from the field, which was covered with the dying and the dead. The words of the imperial firman are characteristic : The road from the field of battle was filled like hell with the wounded who died by the way ; and the lowest hell was rendered populous in consequence of numbers of infidels who had delivered up their lives to the an-
s
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gels of hell. On whatever side of the armies of the Islam a person went, on every hand he found men of distinction lying slain ; and the illustrious camp,, wher- ever it has moved after the fugitives, could nowhere find a spot in which to plant a foot, in consequence of the number of distinguished men lying mangled.”*
After this decisive conflict, Baber added to the im- perial titles that of Ghazy, which signifies f victo- rious in a holy war’ ; and to perpetuate the memory of this signal victory, he commanded a tower of skulls to be erected upon a small hill within sight of his camp. The false prophet who had predicted his de- feat came to congratulate him upon his success, when the conqueror, after having severely censured him for the impositions he had practised upon his superstitious soldiers, dismissed him with a present of about three hundred and fifty pounds sterling, in consideration that he had formerly been a domestic of the royal esta- blishment.
Hussan Khan Mewatty, governor of Mewat, had joined in the late confederacy against the new sove- reign, who in consequence determined to drive him from his dominions. His ancestors had governed Mewat in uninterrupted succession for nearly two hundred years. The country had never been subdued during the dominion of this family. They had yield- ed but a nominal submission to the kings of Delhi. Baber had shown signal marks of favour to Hussan Khan Mewatty, who repaid them with the basest in- gratitude, not only joining his enemies, but using the
* Memoirs, page 367.
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most strenuous endeavours to excite his subjects to rebellion. The sovereign being deeply wounded by the treachery of a man whom he had admitted to his friendship and confidence, resolved to punish him ; collected an army, marched towards Mewat, and encamped about ten or twelve miles from the fort of Alvar. Alarmed at the propinquity of so for- midable an enemy, the son of Hussan Khan Mewatty sent to the emperor, proposed terms, and resigned the whole province into his hand without attempting the slightest resistance. Baber bestowed the government of several towns and fortresses in this district upon those officers who had distinguished themselves in the late war. He then set out upon his return to Agra ; and, as many of the soldiers in that division of the army commanded by Humaioon were anxious to go back to their native country, he despatched the prince to Cabul with a large detachment, commanding him to unite the district of Badukhshan with that kingdom.
On the twenty-fifth of April, Baber reached his capital. During the late disorders, the disaffected Afghans had taken possession of Chundwar and Ra- bery, two fortresses in the Dooab below Agra. The emperor sent a strong body of troops to reduce those places. The former surrendered at discretion; but the governor of the latter attempting to cross the Jumna upon an elephant, was drowned, and the fortress occupied by the imperial soldiers with- out opposition. Still an Afghan chief, named Biban, of great power and influence, held out against the royal authority. During the late confusion of affairs, this noble had become master of Lucknow. Mo-
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hammed Sultan Mirza, the emperor’s cousin, was sent against him to Canouje, whither he had taken refuge after the defeat of the confederates. Hearing that the imperial forces were upon their march, he hastily- quitted Canouje, and was pursued by Sultan Moham- med as far as Khairabad ; but the imperial general was compelled to return on account of the setting in of the monsoon.
During the rainy season, the emperor had leisure to attend to the distribution of the conquered districts. He appointed governors to the different provinces, directed them to repair to their respective appoint- ments, and hold themselves in readiness to join him, each with his quota of troops, so soon as the monsoon ceased, should their services be required. About this time he received the vexatious intelli- gence that Humaioon had entered Delhi on his road to Cabul, forced the treasury, and taken possession of a large quantity of specie and jewels. Such in- gratitude in one towards whom Baber had ever proved an indulgent father grieved him exceedingly. He wrote to the prince in terms of the severest repre- hension, complaining of this treachery. His confi- dence was shaken in the integrity of a son on whom he had hitherto reposed implicit reliance. The Mirza, however, being beyond the immediate reach of his parent’s displeasure, appears to have rendered no satis- faction for his unwarrantable and undutiful conduct.
During the monsoon Baber despatched an ambassador to Persia, with some suitable curiosities and rarities. This present was courteously received by the Persian sovereign, with whom the conqueror of Hindostan main-
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tained an amicable alliance. There was now no serious opposition to apprehend to the favourable settlement of the vast empire which he had so gallantly subdued, and at such a comparatively trifling expense of human life. He was securely seated upon the most powerful throne in the East, which continued in his family with almost unexampled splendour for five consecu- tive generations ; but, though still retained by his de- scendants, with them the shadow of departed royalty alone remains.
Baber having secured the empire of Hindostan, his sole study was how to maintain his acquisir- tions. The mighty Ganges, whose bosom has for ages proudly heaved under the wealth of empires, watered the extensive plains of Bengal, thenceforth to own him as its sovereign; whilst the Jumna, a scarcely less mighty tributary, which united with the Ganges in its majestic course to the ocean, poured the tribute of its waters at the very foot of his capital. So far back as the records of man can be traced, the Gunga or Ganges has been a river of the first importance, and to this day it maintains the same character. The busy scene which it daily exhibits is not to be represented by words. The variety of native boats floating upon its calm turbid waters is perhaps not exceeded by that of any river in the world. Every form and description of craft is here seen, from the stately and highly-orna- mented moahpunkee* to the simple and unadorned canoe.
The large boat in the engraving is very striking,
* For a description of the moahpunkee, see the Oriental An- nual, vol. ii. p. 128.
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having a deck supported on either side by the rigging, and in the centre by the angular roof of the cabin. The deck is a floor of bamboos, placed close together, and united by cords of coir, a description of rope ma- nufactured from the husk of the cocoa-nut. It is sometimes interlaced with strips of the same cane. The cabin beneath is roofed in a similar manner, and is a sufficient protection against the ardent rays of the sun, though it would form but a very insecure shelter from a severe storm of rain. These boats are of consi- derable size, frequently from twenty to thirty tons, and manned with about a dozen dandies or boatmen. They carry a large square sail of thin light canvass, upon a pliant bamboo yard, which is lowered with great fa- cility at the slightest indications of stormy weather : against tempests the craft on the Ganges are ill cal- culated to contend, from the loose structure of their upper works and the slight manner in which their hulls are put together. They are built chiefly for tracking against the stream, being almost entirely thus employed. The boats generally are broad rather than deep; they consequently do not hold much water, and are so constructed in order that they may offer less resistance to the current in tracking. Some of them hoist two square sails on the same yard ; the hull being a wide capacious shell, capable of contain- ing a great quantity of light merchandise.
Near the margin of the print is a float of cudjree pots. These are large earthenware jars, tied together, filled with milk to be converted into ghee or clarified but- ter, and floated down the stream, a man swimming before and behind the float to direct and steady it.
&n/ //u/ q.
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In this manner milk is frequently conveyed to a dis- tance of ten or a dozen, and sometimes even twenty miles, to some town on the river ; and when thus disposed of, the men return by land, first destroying the pots, which are so cheap as to be scarcely of any value. This novel mode of transportation may be daily witnessed upon the Ganges.
The scene is very animated and imposing. The numerous boats, with their various forms and modes of rigging — the busy groups of swimmers proceed- ing to the bazars of some neighbouring town to dis- pose of the produce of their dairies — the fishermen plying their occupation in the creeks and friths — the towns and villages, with their groves and gardens, their pagodas and their ghauts — altogether present a sum of objects peculiarly arresting to the eye of a stranger ; and perhaps there is no river upon earth where the scene is so constantly varied and at all times so intensely interesting as upon the sacred Ganges — a river especially consecrated to idolatry and superstition.
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CHAPTER VII. a.d. 1528.
When the monsoon subsided in the year 1528, the emperor marched to Sambhul, the government of which he had bestowed upon the Prince Humaioon ; and having diverted himself for some time with the pleasures of the chase, he was taken ill of a fever, which obliged him to return to his capital. Upon his recovery he determined to proceed against Chan- dery, a fortress in Malwa, garrisoned by a numerous body of Rajpoots. He accordingly marched with a well-supplied park of artillery, and reached that place on the nineteenth of January. Chandery was strongly fortified : a rampart extended round the town, which was further protected by a citadel upon a hill, the town being built upon the slope below. The gar- rison was composed of troops proverbially brave — for Rajpoots are seldom known to yield to a foe.
Having made the necessary arrangements, prepared the scaling-ladders and turas, (a sort of shed under cover of which the besiegers advanced to breach the walls,) on the twenty-eighth of January the empe- ror advanced close to the fort, determined to storm it on the following day. Just as he had taken up his position, he received intelligence that the
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troops whom he had sent to the eastward against the turbulent Afghans had been defeated and compelled to fall back upon Canouje. This spread considerable dis- may among Baber’s ranks ; but he restored their con- fidence by his own,, and the skilful plan of his attack : moreover, their spirits were fortunately raised by the apparent inactivity of the foe, who had deserted the ramparts of the town, upon which were left only a few men, and shut themselves within the citadel. That very night the town was occupied by the imperial forces, after encountering a faint resistance. The few soldiers stationed to defend the fortifications took shel- ter in the upper fortress, which they were evidently determined to defend to the last extremity. Hither the wives and families of all the Rajpoots had been removed. On the following morning, soon after sun- rise, Baber commanded the troops to arm themselves and prepare to assault the citadel, which he was de- termined to carry at all hazards. The artillery was brought to bear upon it, but imperfectly, as the guns could not be raised to a sufficient elevation to throw the shot over the walls. These moreover were of prodigious strength, being built upon the solid rock, of which the hill was chiefly composed, with immense blocks of stone squared and fitted with such nicety as to form an entire mass. On one side of the fortifica- tions there was a covered way extending the whole distance down the hill, and terminating at a large tank or reservoir of water at the bottom. Against the walls of this covered way, which were much less substan- tial than those beneath the ramparts, the emperor deter- mined to direct his main efforts. His bravest troops
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were selected for this enterprise, which was one of great peril and difficulty on account of the steepness of the ascent. The difficulty too was increased by the activity and desperation of the foe.
It had been proclaimed throughout the imperial lines on the preceding evening that the signal for the troops to advance to the assault should be the raising of the royal standard, accompanied by a roll of the kettle-drum. The moment this was heard, and the floating banner seen quivering in the light morning breeze, those troops selected for the purpose stormed the lower works of the fort with irresistible impetuo- sity, and carried it after a vigorous resistance from the Hindoos, who rolled large stones from the ramparts, and cast fire upon the heads of their assailants, which produced incredible mischief, though it did not abate the energy of their attack. Meanwhile the scaling- ladders had been planted against the walls in several places, and the storming party poured rapidly in over the covered way, which was abandoned by its de- fenders, who retreated to the upper ramparts, whither they were eagerly followed by the successful Moghuls. Here a terrific struggle took place for some time ; but the Rajpoots were at length driven from the works, and the place was carried. Still the carnage was not at an end. Baber entered the citadel, and was witness to one of those awful acts of frenzy so common among the Rajpoot tribes when reduced to extremity. They put their wives and children* to
* This is called the rite of the Johur ; for a detailed account of which see Colonel Tod’sAnnals andAntiquities of Rajast’han, vol. i. pp. 265-6.
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death, rush out upon their enemies, and fight with ferocious desperation until not a Rajpoot remains alive. I shall give the description of this effect of despair in the emperor's own words. After he had entered the citadel, he says, “ In a short time the Pagans, in a state of complete nudity, rushed out to attack us, put numbers of my people to flight, and leaped over the ramparts. Some of our troops were attacked furiously and put to the sword. The reason of this desperate sally from their works was, that on giving up the place for lost, they had put to death the whole of their wives and women, and having resolved to perish, had stripped themselves naked, in which condition they rushed out to the fight, and engaging with ungovernable despe- ration, drove our people along the ramparts. Two or three hundred Pagans had entered Medini Rao’s house, where numbers of them slew each other in the follow- ing manner.— One person took his stand with a sword in his grasp, while the others, one by one, crowded in and stretched out their necks, eager to die. In this way many went to hell ; and, by the favour of God, in the space of two or three ghurris* I gained this cele- brated fort. On the top of a hill, to the north-west of Chandery, I erected a tower of heads of the Pagans. The words Fateh Dar-ul-Kherb (the conquest of the city hostile to the faith) were found to contain the date of its conquest." The letters comprising those words, form the numerals nine hundred and thirty- four, the year of the Hegira in which the fortress of Chandery was taken, answering to the year of Christ,
* A gliurri is about half an hour.
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1528. The barbarous practice of erecting towers with the heads of the slain was still prevalent in Baber’s time ; but it was abandoned by his successors. There was always this difference between these dis- gusting piles of human skulls raised by Baber and those erected by Timur : the one used only the heads of his enemies killed in battle ; the other butchered thousands of victims in order to build those horrible pyramids : the one slew his foes in honourable war- fare., the other butchered them in cold blood.
Baber had now vanquished the most formidable of his enemies, and had therefore leisure to march east- ward to the assistance of his general, lately dis- comfited by the Afghans, whom he was determined finally to reduce to obedience. On reaching Babery, he was joined by his defeated squadrons. Encamp- ing on the banks of the Ganges, he collected a num- ber of boats, and, to the astonishment and dismay of his enemies, threw a bridge over that river, and passed with his whole army. His vanguard attacked the dispirited Afghans, who gave way after a faint resistance, and retreated with such despatch that they left the whole of their baggage, together with many of their families and followers, in the hands of their foes. The emperor pursued his march towards Lucknow, whither the enemy had retired upon a former occasion, when Mohammed Sultan Mirza advanced against Canouje from which they retreated at his approach. Crossing the Goomty, one of the tributaries of the Ganges, Baber encamped on the banks of that stream and bathed in its refreshing waters. In consequence pro- bably of being overheated, he was seized with deafness.
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which continued for some time, but did not finally af- fect his hearing. Whilst encamped on the hank of the Goomty, a messenger arrived from Cheen Timur Khan, whom Baber had despatched in pursuit of the still re- fractory Afghans, bearing a request from that general that a reinforcement should be despatched to strength- en his force, as he had overtaken the enemy, who were too strong in point of numbers for him to venture upon a battle. The emperor sent to his assistance a thousand of his best men, under command of a confidential officer; at the same time removing his encampment further up the river, near the junction of the Goggra with the Sirjou.
The Afghans, alarmed at the emperors vicinity, broke up their camp and retreated, pursued by Cheen Timur Khan, who secured a great number of prisoners and obtained possession of all the enemy’s baggage. They were now so completely dispersed, that Baber, entertaining no further apprehension of being molested by them, determined to give his army a few days’ re- laxation after their late fatigues. He consequently halted for upwards of a week at the position which he had taken up near the junction of the two tributary streams ; and, having settled the government of Oude and the neighbouring country, prepared to enjoy with his whole army the military recreation of hunting. The whole district in this part of the Gangetic plain is peculiarly well adapted for that sport, and abounds with game of all kinds, from the timid hare to the ferocious tiger; the latter animal being the great object of this diversion among Oriental sports- men.
T
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The ground and fords being examined, and the de- scription and quantity of game ascertained, the royal cortege moved forward to the spot, followed by the whole military array. The jungles were encircled by a line of soldiers, who, enclosing a large space, narrow- ed their circle by degrees ; thus bringing together animals of all kinds, the most savage as well as the most timid, which were slaughtered in great multi- tudes. There was scarcely less blood spilt in these dangerous sports than in many well-contested battles. The same thing was repeated day after day, until the soldiers, as well as their chiefs, were wearied with the unprofitable excitement. The emperor no longer find- ing an enemy to contend with, broke up his encamp- ment, and once more returned to Agra.
From this time that city became the capital of Ba- ber’s Indian possessions ; but why he should have pre- ferred Agra to Delhi it is difficult to say, the latter being by far the more magnificent city of the two, as is even apparent at this day. The fragments of noble ruins to be seen upon the extensive plain where this splendid me- tropolis of a vast empire once stood, attest what it must have been during the period of its glory ; for perhaps there is not another spot upon earth, of the same extent, containing so great a variety of architectural remains. These have been the admiration of travellers for the last two hundred years, since which the new capital has been raised, scarcely inferior to the old in all that consti- tutes the just pride of kings and the boast of subjects.
Some idea may be formed of the grand ruins of the old city, as well as of the still gorgeous splendour of the new, from the fine fragment of an Afghan palace
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represented in the print. It is in a commanding situation, standing upon a slight elevation, which raises it above the surrounding plain. From its broken but massy walls a perfect view is obtained of Shahjehanabad, or modern Delhi. For a consider- able distance to the south-west and north of this metropolis (now how sadly fallen from its once high estate !) there are many architectural fragments of a distinguished order of beauty, and a great number of monumental buildings in a very good state of preservation, many of those mausoleums having been erected probably upwards of five hundred years, or even so far back as the time of Mahmood of Ghizny, who entered Hindostan in the beginning of the eleventh century.
Between the ruins upon the foreground of the engraving and Shahjehanabad there are several of a description precisely similar, being no doubt portions of the palaces of wealthy omrahs, or persons holding distinguished offices at the court of the Mohammedan princes. Some of these remains have suffered more from ill usage than from decay, superstition having at various times left the marks of its blind and bigoted fury upon them. Many of those edifices appear to have been constructed as places of defence as well as of residence, as the Afghan chieftains were in a con- stant state of civil and foreign warfare. The ce- ment used in their construction is as hard as the stone which it unites, it being scarcely possible to separate the masses thus joined with a nicety un- known to European builders. Groups of natives, armed with bows and arrows, matchlocks and shields.
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tulwars and spears, are frequently seen in the neigh- bourhood of these dilapidated structures, where they generally congregate for purposes of plunder. A camel is usually led by one of the party, to carry provisions and other necessaries, and likewise any booty they may chance to secure. Such groups render it hazar- dous to travel alone among the ruins in this neighbour- hood. The building in the distance is the celebrated Jumma Musjid or Grand Mosque of Shahjehanabad.
On the nineteenth of September, Baber set out to make a tour through his new dominions, in order that he might be an eye-witness to the manner in which the several provincial governments were con- ducted. He first proceeded to Gualior. This is a strong fortress in the province of Agra, about seventy miles south from the capital. It is built upon a hill three hundred and forty-two feet high on the north side, where it is so steep as to be nearly perpendicu- lar. It was considered impregnable, from its natural position, until taken by Major Popham by escalade in 1780. The storming party was led by Captain Bruce, brother to the celebrated traveller. It is abundantly supplied with water from several large natural caverns within the fort. During the whole period of the Mo- ghul empire — that is, from its establishment under Baber to its decline under Aurungzebe — the fortress of Gualior was used as a state prison, where all ob- noxious members of the royal family were confined, and an extensive menagerie of wild beasts of every description was kept for their entertainment.
The emperor in his way to Gualior visited a place where he had ordered a palace to be erected and
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gardens to be laid out. Here he directed that a solid block of granite of vast bulk should be excavated and converted into a dwelling-house ; but finding the block too small for the purpose, a tank was hollowed in the stone, and supplied by a well sunk on the north side, in the centre of a grove of mango and other fruit-trees, a short distance from the margin. When Baber had decided upon the necessary improve- ments, he repaired to Gualior. Here he visited the palace of the governor, which was an exceedingly splendid edifice. Outside one of the gates was a singular sculpture of an elephant of colossal size, with two drivers seated upon its neck. He likewise visited the gardens, and all the antiquities in the neighbour- hood. Among the latter was a gigantic stone idol, upwards of forty feet high, which, together with several other things employed for idolatrous purposes, he com- manded to be destroyed.
The day after his visit to Gualior, Baber received a communication from the son of Rana Sanka, whom he had lately defeated, offering him submission and allegiance upon certain conditions, which were ac- cepted. The alliance of the Rajpoot was purchased at an annuity equivalent to about seventeen thousand pounds sterling. ' During Baber’s stay he went in state to the grand mosque built by the emperor Altmish, for the repose of whose soul he commanded prayers to be offered, and returned to Agra, which he reached upon the ninth of October. A few days after he received a despatch from his son Humaioon, announcing the birth of a daughter to that prince.
On the sixth of November Baber was attacked
t 3
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with fever, which continued with great severity six days. During his illness he employed himself in translating into Turki verse the work of a Moham- medan sage, writing at the rate of fifty couplets per day. Upon being restored to health he offered up his prayers in the Jumma Musjid in acknowledgment of the divine mercy in granting him so speedy a reco- very, it being usual with him in similar attacks to be confined to his bed for thirty or forty days. He gave a public entertainment upon the occasion, distributed presents very liberally among his nobles, and ordered large sums of money to be disposed of to the distressed and deserving poor. During this term of general rejoicing several persons eminent for their literary acquirements were introduced to the royal presence, received munificent testimonies of their sovereign’s generosity, and were directed in future to remain at his court.
After the public rejoicings were over, Baber sent an answer to his son Humaioon’s despatch, — and an ex- tremely curious letter it is, as an extract will serve to show : — “In compliance with my wishes, you have indeed written me letters, but you certainly never read them over ; for, had you attempted to read them, you must have found it absolutely impossible, and would then undoubtedly have put them by. I con- trived, indeed, to decypher and comprehend the meaning of your last letter, but with much difficulty. It is excessively confused and crabbed. Who ever saw a moamma * in prose ? Your spelling is. not
* A riddle or charade.
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bad, yet not quite correct. You have written ‘iltafat’ with a toe instead of a te, and fkuling’ with a be instead of a kaf. Your letter may indeed be read ; but, in consequence of the far-fetched words you have employed, the meaning is by no means intelli- gible. You certainly do not excel in letter- writing, and fail chiefly because you have too great a desire to show your acquirements. For the future you should write unaffectedly, with clearness, using plain words, which would cost less trouble both to the writer and reader/'* There is a vast fund of good sense in these strictures.
About this time a royal proclamation was issued at Agra, that at the distance of every eighteen miles betwixt that capital and Cabul a minar should be erected, twenty-four feet high, having the regular distances marked upon each ; and that at every twenty miles post-houses should be built for the ac- commodation of travellers. Many of those minars exist in the north of India to this day.
On the twenty-ninth of December, the emperor re- ceived the gratifying intelligence that his ancient foes the Uzbecks had sustained a signal defeat in Kho- rassan. Their army was said to have amounted to three hundred thousand men, while the Turkomans by whom they were defeated mustered no more than from forty to fifty thousand. There is probably an exaggeration of numbers on one side and a diminution on the other. It is, however, certain that the Uz- becks sustained a complete overthrow, and were
* Memoirs, p. 392.
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driven from the field with immense loss. The strug- gle continued for upwards of six hours, and ended in the discomfiture of the enemy, who left eight sul- tans upon the field among the slain, besides many other officers of distinction. This was an event of heartfelt triumph to Baber, who had been a great sufferer by the incursions of those Tartars : they had driven him from his kingdom, and obliged him to seek in foreign conquests the establishment of a more lasting empire than he had inherited from his own family. As was usual upon occasions where suc- cess had attended either his own arms or those of his allies, he entered the Jumma Musjid, and of- fered up his thanksgiving for the advantage so signally obtained over his old and inveterate enemies.
Some idea may be formed of the grandeur of these places of Mohammedan worship in India by the ac- companying engraving, in which the near building is the Jumma Musjid at old Delhi, once the principal mosque in that magnificent capital. It is a very large and massy pile, built with prodigious strength, and must have been capable of containing a vast con- course of worshippers. It is flanked by towers, which project from the angles of the building, and contain chambers originally designed for the functionaries of the sanctuary. These are ornamented with a severe but appropriate taste, exhibiting a singular nicety of proportion, and harmonising admirably with the main structure, which is plain, and unadorned. The body of the edifice is square, sloping upward from the foun- dation, after the Afghan style, and surmounted by a capacious dome elegantly embellished, and admitting
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light to the interior, which is elaborately decorated. The gateway in the middle distance, which now no longer exists, is a noble specimen of Patan architec- ture : it is therefore the more to be lamented that this beautiful memorial of earlier times in one of the most interesting countries upon earth should have been destroyed at the suggestions of a mean and pitiful economy. The whole was levelled with the ground between twenty and thirty years ago, and the stone of which it was built employed for the erection of barracks for European soldiers. It is to be de- plored that such a fine specimen of architectural re- mains should have been so lamentably desecrated.
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CHAPTER VIII. a.d. 1529.
Baber having received intelligence that the whole territory of Bengal was in a state of tranquillity, re- solved again to visit some of the provinces in order that his own eye might see how the interests of his government were maintained. On his way to his new palace and gardens in the neighbourhood of Gua- lior, hearing that Bahar, the capital of a district of the same name, and about thirty-five miles south-east from Patna on the Ganges, had been taken by the Afghans, he altered his line of march, and, crossing the Jumna, proceeded in the direction of Bahar, the whole of which country was now in the hands of his in- veterate foes. On the twenty-second of February, having reached Currah, a town of Allahabad on the south-west side of the Ganges and forty-five miles from the capital of that province, he was joined by the army which he had despatched towards the east when he quitted Agra. Here he was informed that Sultan Mahmood, brother to the late king, Ibrahim Lody, was prepared at the head of a hundred thou- sand Afghans to dispute his supremacy. Mahmood, having been joined by several amyrs whom Baber had put into inferior governments in the conquered
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provinces,, laid siege to Chunar, a remarkably strong hill-fort on the Ganges about eighteen miles west of Benares. It was defended by a small but resolute garrison, and the besiegers could make no impression : they were repulsed in every attempt to scale the walls. Hearing of the approach of the imperial forces, they abandoned the place in haste and dispersed, passed over the river to Benares, and in the confusion of their retreat two boats full of soldiers sank and the whole were drowned. On the day that this news reached the royal camp, Baber nearly lost his life by an accident not unfrequent on the Ganges. He was riding on the margin of that river where it had been undermined by the current. Ere well aware of his proximity, he had reached the extreme edge of the bank, where it was unusually steep and high. Before he could retreat, he felt the ground totter suddenly under him : in another instant a chasm yawned beside him, the earth gave way and sank into the stream be- low. The moment he felt the quivering movement of the earth, aware of his peril, he sprang from his horse and leaped forward upon the centre of the disunited mass, where there was a firm footing : upon this he stood erect and uninjured after the shock had sub- sided. The portion of the bank which fell forced the water further out into the channel, forming a low promontory, upon which the conqueror of Hindostan remained without injury. His horse had fallen into the stream and was drowned.
The intelligence which Baber received respecting the fort of Chunar being so suddenly abandoned by the Afghans determined him to proceed at once to
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Bahar : he accordingly commanded the guns to be transported by boats down the river, and encamped his army about half a league from the fort of Chunar, which he visited. Proceeding to Ghazipoor, a town in the zemindary of Benares, he accepted the submission of several Afghan chieftains, who were kindly receiv- ed, and dismissed with assurances of favour. On the tenth of April he encamped below Buxar, a town and fortress in Bahar, situated on the south-east side of the Ganges, about fifty-eight miles below Benares. On the march his vanguard defeated a detachment of the enemy near a place where Sultan Mahmood had fixed his camp ; but, on hearing of the emperor s approach, the terrified Afghan retreated with such celerity, that he was obliged to kill two of his ele- phants that they might not encumber his retreat. A small body of his troops were overtaken by a squadron of the royal army, and most of them made pri- soners.
Baber having recovered the whole of Bahar, ap- pointed a governor over that province, upon whom he bestowed a full dress of honour from his own ward- robe— a mark of peculiar distinction — a dagger and a belt, a charger and the umbrella ; the latter a symbol only given to sovereigns and persons of the highest rank. He now received ambassadors from the Suba of Bengal, who had manifested symptoms of hostility in consequence of Baber s military attitude in the neighbouring district ; but the latter firmly declared his determination to act according to his own discre- tion, at the same time disclaiming any hostile inten- tion against the suba, and dismissed the Bengal diplo-
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matist with liberal presents. On the seventeenth of April,, being joined by a considerable detachment of troops from Juanpoor, he called a council of his offi- cers, and took their opinion whether they should cross the river and attack the Bengal forces, which had encamped on the opposite side for the pur- pose of obstructing his passage. The suba, dissa- tisfied with Baber’s assurances of forbearance, re- solved to oppose his further progress, and accordingly stationed a large body of troops upon the banks of the Goggra near its junction with the Ganges. Baber had manned a number of boats with matchlock-men, which he stationed at a ford to protect the passage of his soldiers. Two divisions of the army having succeeded in crossing the Goggra, vigorously attacked the enemy, who being unprepared, fled in confusion. The emperor soon after joined his victorious squadrons, expressed his high approbation of their spirit in the late conflict, and advanced two generals who had chiefly distinguished themselves to posts of honour. He bestowed the government of Juanpoor upon Mo- hammed Zeman Mirza. This signal success induced many of the Afghan chiefs to accept the royal cle- mency. The suba made overtures of peace, which was concluded, and the sovereign set out on his return to Agra. Some of the Afghan nobles, however, still held out, and intelligence reached the royal camp that they were in full march towards Lucknow. Baber des- patched a numerous body of forces to that city, and continued his march towards his capital. The very night that these troops were despatched, so violent a storm arose in the camp that most of the tents were
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blown down. “ I was writing in the middle of my pavilion/’ says the emperor in his Memoirs,* “ and so suddenly did the storm come on, that I had not time to gather up my papers and the loose sheets that were written, before it blew down the pavilion, with the screen that surrounded it, upon my head. The top of the pavilion was shattered to pieces, but God pre- served me : I suffered no injury. The books and sheets of paper were drenched with wet, but were ga- thered again with much trouble, folded in woollen cloth, and placed under a bed, over which carpets were thrown. The storm abated in two geris.t We con- trived to get up the Toshek-Khana tent, (the store- tent in which the cloths, carpets, &c. were kept,) lighted a candle with much difficulty, kindled a fire, and did not sleep till morning, being busily employed all the while in drying the leaves and papers.”
Baber having encamped his troops in the neigh- bourhood of Futtehpoor, a large town in the province of Allahabad, sixty-five miles south from Lucknow, refreshed his soldiers by a halt of several days, and thence proceeded to Ghazipoor. Here he received in- telligence that the enemy had attacked Lucknow, and made themselves masters of the fortress by an unto- ward accident. It appears they had assaulted the place without effect, being bravely repulsed by the garrison, when a large quantity of hay which had been col- lected near the walls being accidentally set on fire, the ramparts became so hot that the soldiers, unable to remain on them, were obliged to retire. Water
Page 419.
t About an hour.
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being thrown upon the walls from the river,, the parapet was successfully scaled by the Afghans, who thus obtained possession of the city almost without opposition : they were, however, soon expelled by the royal forces, who finally drove them from the pro- vinces of Oude and Bahar. Upon reaching the Sarjou, a branch of the Goggra river, Baber amused himself and his army in the evening by a novel mode of fishing. Fixing lights to a slight bamboo frame with baited hooks beneath, these were suffered to float down the stream. The fish, attracted by the lights, readily took the bait and were secured. This mode of fishing is still practised upon all the large rivers in India, and generally with great success.
During his march, the emperor entertained his soldiers by making wrestling-matches, and upon one occasion was so delighted with a favourite officer, a distinguished wrestler, who threw a Hindoo of great reputation among his own people, that he bestowed upon him a present equal to three thousand seven hundred and fifty pounds sterling, clothed him in a dress of honour, and allowed him to quit the army for a term, but of this permission the champion does not appear to have availed himself.
On reaching a ford, Baber despatched an officer with a small body of troops across the river, to ob- tain intelligence of the enemy, who were still scat- tered about the country. Next day about noon, that officer returned to the imperial camp with a num- ber of heads, from a party of Afghans whom he had surprised and routed. He had captured an Afghan of some note, who accompanied him on his
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return. Baber displayed towards the prisoner that lenity for which he was remarkable, especially to- wards his enemies, whom he never treated harshly but under extreme provocation.
The emperor now ordered his army to march directly to Agra ; but their progress was delayed by the arrival of a messenger from the fortress of Gualior, bring- ing information that Rahimdad, the governor, had re- volted. Baber instantly despatched an amyr to sum- mon that noble to his presence ; but the latter, afraid to trust himself in the hands of a sovereign whom he had unjustly irritated, refused to surrender, send- ing his son with a message signifying that he would follow in a day or two. This was evi- dently a feint to gain time. Meanwhile, overtures were made for an accommodation, which Baber re- ceived, and had actually sent despatches accepting the proposals of submission made by the refractory Rajpoot, when a person arrived from Gualior, who gave information that he had been sent for the ex- press purpose of endeavouring to effect the escape of the governor’s son. This act of gross disingenuousness on the part of Rahimdad so incensed the emperor, that he determined to proceed without delay against Gualior, and force him to a capitulation. He was, however, dissuaded from his purpose by some of his amyrs, who thought that the Hindoo might be more easily won than compelled to submission. A mild letter of remonstrance was accordingly forwarded. Baber halted his army on the banks of the river, where he awaited the reply. This pacific communication had the desired effect. The refractory governor commissioned two offi-
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cers to intercede in his behalf; these delegates having obtained Baber’s forgiveness for their superior, return- ed to the foil; with a commission of peace, and Gualior was surrendered to the emperor, who at length reach- ed his capital, after an absence of more than eight months. Peace and order being everywhere esta- blished throughout Baber’s extensive dominions, he seems to have entertained hopes of enjoying the fruits of his conquests, by passing the remainder of his days in repose from the toils of war, if not from the cares of empire. He was now master of all the principal provinces of Hindostan to the north. Ben- gal and Bahar, and the whole Gangetic plain from the Bay of Bengal to the Himalaya mountains, were either directly subject to the Moghul dominion, or tributary to the new monarch. His discretion in the appointments to provincial governments was no less remarkable than the wisdom with which he held so many loose and ill-compacted parts together ; and he showed himself even more able as a legislator than he had proved as a conqueror. His constitu- tion had already suffered considerably from the in- temperance in which he too frequently indulged dur- ing many years of incessant activity, and it became but too evident to him that repose was necessary to recruit his jaded body and harassed mind. Though not an old man in years, for he was still under fifty, the infirmities of age began to warn him that the energy of youth had already subsided, and that he was no longer able to bear those exertions which had finally placed him at the head of the most extensive empire in the East. He had happily suc-
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ceeded in securing tranquillity throughout his new dominions, and looked with satisfaction upon the promising effects of his mild and temperate govern- ment, which extended over a vast surface inhabited by a numerous and intelligent population.
The fruitful province of Bengal, at that time a principality, and since the locality of the capital of the India Company’s possessions in Hindostan, then owned the supremacy of that master-mind which had established an empire, in the pride of its glory one of the greatest in extent of domination and in political importance which have existed since the downfall of the Roman. At this period Calcutta, the city of pa- laces, had neither a local habitation nor a name. Scarcely more than a century ago, it was a mere dirty village, consisting of clusters of small hovels inhabited by the lowest castes, consequently by per- sons in the extremest state of destitution and of social degradation. Within half a century this wretched village had become a mighty capital, containing a po- pulation of four hundred thousand inhabitants, and a metropolis of great mercantile importance. It is now what Delhi and Agra were in the days of their ancient renown, — the pride of one of the most pro- ductive and interesting countries upon the face of the globe. Its splendid palaces, (for many of its private houses are palaces,) its magnificent churches, its public edifices, its extent and population, together with its site upon the sacred river, render it at this moment as distinguished a city as any of modern times. “ On approaching Calcutta from the sea,” says Hamilton, “ a stranger is much struck with its
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magnificent appearance ; the elegant villas on each side of the river, the Company’s botanic gardens, the spires of the churches, temples and minarets, and the strong and regular citadel of Fort William.” The majestic Hooghly, upon the banks of which it stands to the extent of two leagues, expands beautifully before the capital. That noble river is here about a mile broad, and is formed by the junction of the two most western branches of the Ganges above Calcutta, which it passes, with a broad, deep, and tranquil cur- rent, and is the only branch of the Ganges navigable by large vessels. Towards the sea it has many shoals, and taking a direction to the right near its embouchure, an extensive sandbank is produced, which is extreme- ly dangerous. Round this the channel is so perpe- tually varying, that it is necessary to have it fre- quently surveyed. But one of the most singular effects witnessed in this river is what is called the Bore,— a violent flux of the water, which rushes up the stream at certain periods with such extreme violence as to swamp everything within its influence. Its power is chiefly confined to the sides of the river, being scarcely felt in mid-channel, where the Indiamen generally lie at anchor.
“ This sudden influx of the tide commences at Hoogh- ly Point, where the river first contracts its width, and is perceptible above Hooghly Town. So quick is its motion, that it hardly employs four hours in travelling from one to the other, although the dis- tance is near seventy miles. It does not run on the Calcutta side, but along the opposite bank, from whence it crosses at Chitpoor, about four miles
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above Fort William, and proceeds with great vio- lence past Barnagore, Duckinsore, &c. On its ap- proach, boats must immediately quit the shore, and seek for safety in deep water in the middle of the river, which is little affected. At Calcutta it some- times occasions an instantaneous rise of five feet/’* So impetuous is the rush of the water, that if small vessels at anchor are not prepared to receive it, they must be infallibly upset. Ships at anchor being ge- nerally in mid-channel, where its influence is little felt, escape with a few uneasy rolls. If, however, larger vessels are overtaken by it, the shock is pro- digious, and at times serious mischief ensues, espe- cially should they be struck upon the broadside. By turning their prows towards the current, little or no in- jury is sustained. It commonly rises to the height of eighteen feet, and invariably produces a sensation of great terror near the shore, where small boats are always moored in considerable numbers; and though the visitation of this bore is not unfrequent, much alarm is excited whenever symptoms of its approach are manifest.
Hamilton's Description of Hindostan, vol. i. page 138.
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CHAPTER IX. a.d. 1529— 1531.
From this time the emperor’s health rapidly declined, his constitution being no doubt broken by the intem- perate use of ardent spirits, of which he appears to have been extremely fond. Humaioon, hearing of his royal parent’s precarious state, and considering it pru- dent to be near the seat of empire in case of the sovereign’s sudden death, quitted Badukhshan, of which he then had the government, left this in the hands of a confidential minister, and departed for Hindostan by way of Cabul. He had scarcely quit- ted the country entrusted to his charge, when the Khan of Kashgar invaded it, and being joined by several refractory amyrs, overran the whole district, of which, though vigorously opposed by Hindal Mirza, Humaioon’s brother, he finally took possession. Tid- ings of this unwelcome event reached the prince after he had arrived at his father’s court. He com- municated the intelligence to Baber, who received it with deep dejection. Feeling his own energies de- clining, the consciousness that he could not per- sonally resent such an unprovoked aggression preyed upon his mind, and aggravated the growing infir- mities of his frame. His strength daily decreased;
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nevertheless the vigour of his mind continued un- abated, and though he grieved in silence at his own premature decay, he did not lose sight of the inter- ests of his empire. Having summoned Khalifeh, his prime minister, a noble in whose abilities and in- tegrity he had great confidence, he ordered him to set out at the head of a large body of forces to recover Badukhshan. This, however, the minister evaded by plausible delays. Knowing that the com- mand had been given at the suggestion of Huinaioon’s mother, in consequence of the strong prejudice which she knew the minister entertained towards her son and his great ascendency over her royal consort, Khalifeh determined to resist it. He was well aware of the prince's, and [likewise of the sul- tana's anxiety to remove him from the capital, be- cause of the confidence which Baber reposed in him.
The emperor, eager to regain Badukhshan, issued an order that the prince should accompany his mi- nister and assist in recovering the government which he had lost by imprudently quitting it, and thus leaving it exposed to the incursions of his enemies. Humaioon, however, unwilling to depart from the court of Agra at such a critical juncture, pretended that anxiety for his father, in his present state of debility, obliged him to defer entering upon an ex- pedition which would remove him so far from a ten- der parent for whose welfare he felt the strongest solicitude. Under this plea, therefore, he refused to quit the royal presence. Mirza Suleiman, a nephew of the amyr whom Humaioon had deputed to the government of Badukhshan during his ab-
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sence, was commanded to repair to that country without delay, and he accordingly marched at the head of a considerable body of troops; but before he reach- ed Cabul, he received despatches announcing the re- treat of the invader. He nevertheless continued his march, entered the country, with the government of which he was immediately invested by Hindal Mirza. It was held by a long line of his successors, under the subsequent reigns of the Moghul princes.
Humaioon’s visit to Agra gave great offence to his royal parent, and produced much general dis- satisfaction at court. It was, nevertheless, soon for- gotten; and after a while he was sent to Sambhul, which had been conferred upon him immediately after the conquest of Hindostan. He repaired thither with some reluctance, though it was at no great distance from his father s capital. A few months after his departure, he was taken ill, and his disorder seemed to baffle the skill of the most eminent physicians. His life being despaired of, the emperor set out for Sambhul, which he reached just as it was supposed the prince was at the point of death. Whilst stand- ing by the bed of his son, at this time scarcely conscious of the imperial presence, accompanied by several nobles of his court, one among them, a man of distinguished wisdom and acknowledged piety, ob- served that in cases like the present, the Deity some- times condescended to accept a vicarious offering, and recommended that the monarch should present the most valuable thing he possessed as a ransom for the life of his heir. Baber assented to this, and observing that next to the life of Humaioon, his own was the
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thing most prized by him in this world, declared his determination to devote it in the way suggested. The nobles unanimously protested against such an act of paternal tenderness, and proposed that he should give the diamond taken at the surrender of Agra, which would be accepted as a sufficient redemp- tion ; pronouncing the purport of the declaration of that noble who had suggested the measure, in which the wise amyr himself at once concurred, to be that the most precious of a monarch’s worldly possessions would be a more acceptable oblation upon such an occasion than the sacrifice of his life. Baber would not con- sent to what he conceived to be a false interpretation of a sacred law laid down by the ancient sages, solemnly affirming that as nothing in this world could be so preci- ous as human life, he was determined to relinquish it in order to secure the restoration of his son. His nobles endeavoured to dissuade him from his resolution, as- suring him that he had put an erroneous construction upon what had been said, and declaring that accord- ing to the well-known maxim of the primitive syeds, the most valuable worldly possession would be held upon this occasion an effectual offering. The em- peror was deaf to the anxious remonstrances of his friends, who again proposed that he should offer the beautiful diamond taken at Agra, the finest gem among the imperial treasures. “ No gem, of whatever value,” said Baber in reply, “ can be put in competition with human life : I am therefore
determined to offer mine for the restoration of my son.” Having come to this final determination, he entered the prince’s chamber, and walked thrice round
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his couch, using certain gesticulations customary among the Mohammedans when they visit the deathbed of an expiring relative. He hung tenderly over his dy- ing son, and then quitted the apartment, offering up an earnest prayer to God that the malady should be transferred to him, if the prince might be permitted to recover at no less a sacrifice. After he had been absent some short time, he was heard to exclaim, “ I have borne it away ! I have borne it away !”
The Mussulmaun historians assert that from this moment the emperor began to sink rapidly, and the prince to recover. In proportion as the one lost his strength, the other regained, until it became evi- dent to all present that Baber had reached the term of his mortality. Aware of his end, he sum- moned the principal nobles of his court, and commu- nicated to them his last injunctions. He likewise called Humaioon to his presence, and having implored him to be affectionate to his family, recommended him to the protection of his nobles, from whom he extorted a promise that they would serve the son with as much fidelity and affection as they had always exhibited to- wards the father. The scene was touching ; all were moved to tears — they readily assented to what was proposed ; but the requests of princes whose power is about to be extinguished by death, are too commonly heard to be disregarded, being rather the signal for fac- tion than the seal of a bond of union. Baber’s mind was quieted by the kind assurances of those around him. With a quivering lip and tearful eye the prince pro- mised all that was required of him ; but the prime minister Khwajeh Khalifeh, to whose especial protec-
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tion the anxious father committed his son, quitted his dying master’s bedside with very equivocal inten- tions. He bore an extreme dislike to the prince, which all his admiration for the father could not subdue ; why, the Mohammedan historians do not relate. It was, however, so inveterate, that he resolved to use all his influence to frustrate Humaioon’s succession.
Thus the court of the expiring conqueror became a scene of intrigue and cabal, and Baber’s last moments were probably embittered by the apprehension that he should leave behind him a distracted empire. Kha- lifeh had great influence with the Turki nobles, who were the most numerous and powerful among the adherents of the new sovereign. They united with the prime minister in opposing the accession of Humaioon, and promoted that of Mehdi Khwajeh, Baber’s son-in-law, whom Khalifeh proposed as suc- cessor to the empire of Hindostan. This young man, though brave and liberal, was exceedingly wild and extravagant ; but so soon as it was known that the first officer of the state favoured his pretensions to the throne, he received the homage of the principal omrahs, and already began to assume the deportment of royalty. The liberality of his disposition gained him many ad- herents ; and as these were daily increasing, he looked upon his succession as certain, when he was suddenly arrested and placed in his own house under a guard, by order of Khalifeh.
“ The cause of this sudden change,” says Mr. Erskine,* " has escaped the researches of Abulfazil
* See Supplement to the Memoirs, page 428.
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and Khali Khan. It is explained, however, by a well-informed historian, who relates the anecdote on the authority of his father. f It so happened/ says he, f that Mir Khalifeh had gone to see Mehdi Khwajeh, whom he had found in his tent. No- body was present but Khalifeh, Mehdi Khwajeh, and my father Mohammed Mokim. Khalifeh had scarcely sat down an instant, when Baber, who was at the last extremity, suddenly sent for him. When he left the tent, Mehdi Khwajeh accompanied him to the door, to do him honour and to take leave of him, and stood in the middle of it, so that my father, who fol- lowed but out of respect did not push by him, was immediately behind. The young man, who was rather flighty, forgetting that my father was present, so soon as Khalifeh was fairly gone, muttered to him- self, f God willing, I will soon strip off your hide, old boy V and, turning round at the same instant, per- ceived my father. He was quite confounded, but immediately seizing my father s ear, twisted it, and said hurriedly, f The red tongue often gives the green .head to the winds V My father, having quitted the tent, sought out Khalifeh, and remonstrated with him, telling him that, in violation of his allegiance, he was taking away the sovereignty from Moham- med Humaioon, and his brothers, who were accom- plished princes, to bestow it on the son of a stranger ; and yet, how did this favoured man behave? He then repeated what had passed just as it happened. Khalifeh on the spot sent off an express for Hu- maioon, and despatched a body of special messengers to Mehdi Khwajeh, to inform him the king’s orders
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were that he should instantly retire to his own house. The young man had now sat down to dinner, which was still before him. The messengers communicat- ed the royal commands and forced him away. Mir Khalifeh then issued a proclamation, prohibiting all persons from resorting to Mehdi Khwajeh’s house, or waiting upon him ; while Mehdi Khwajeh himself re- ceived orders not to appear at court.”
Happily for the dying monarch, he was not at his capital where these intrigues were now in full opera- tion ; and was, therefore, most probably ignorant of much that was going on. From the moment he took to his bed, he never quitted it ; and his disorder in- creased so rapidly, that all hope of restoring him to his people vanished from the minds of his physicians and of his ministers. On the twenty-sixth of December 1530, this great prince expired at Charbagh, near Agra, in the fiftieth year of his age. In compliance with a wish expressed during his last sickness, his body was conveyed to Cabul, where it was interred with regal honours in a sepulchre erected upon a hill which still bears his name. Humaioon immediately ascend- ed the throne of Hindostan, through the influence of Khalifeh. Baber at his death had seven children liv- ing, of whom the prince who succeeded him was the eldest. The second son, Kamran Mirza, had the go- vernment of the Punjab in addition to that of Cabul and Kandahar. To Hindal Mirza, his third son, was assigned the country of Mewat ; and to Askeri, his fourth, the district of Sambuhl, the government of which had been originally held by Humaioon. All these princes took conspicuous parts in the distractions
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of the succeeding reign. Baber left three daughters, all by the same mother.
Of Baber much may be- said to his advantage, both as a sovereign and as a man : in each character he took a distinguished rank during those dark and tur- bulent times, in which it was his lot to direct the resources of a vast and powerful empire, and control the destinies of a numerous and enlightened people. He was liberal to excess, and no less humane than liberal. So strictly did he act upon the principle of re- turning good for evil, that he was beloved even by his avowed enemies. His sincerity and the utter absence from his heart of everything that bore the faintest hue of hypocrisy may be seen in his Memoirs, in which he freely and without reserve states his weaknesses, and leaves the reader to gather his virtues from the general tenour of his actions, the merit of which he inva- riably ascribes to the Disposer of all good. His re- ligion was upon the whole a rational and fervid belief; for though learned in the doctrines of the Huneef sect and rigidly attached to some of their ceremonials, ob- serving with scrupulous exactness the prescribed periods of prayers, he was neither intolerant nor bigoted. We find no religious persecutions during his reign ; and though he implicitly believed what the Mohammedan doctors taught, that there was no salvation to the Pa- gan, he did not esteem it an act of sacred obligation, as did his great predecessor Timur Beg, to do God service by butchering infidels, or persecuting them for righte- ousness’ sake. He permitted to the conquered Hindoos the free exercise of their religion, and became far more popular among them than any Mohammedan sovereign
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who had preceded him. Amidst his great and popular virtues, he had some propensities which can scarcely be reconciled with his other high and noble qualities. His love of drinking and of sensual indulgences, which he carried to an unpardonable excess, were a stain upon the generally preponderating goodness of his character. It must, however, be admitted that these were the vices of the age, rather than of the man, and were scarcely classed among moral offences by the ca- suists of his time and country. Those infirmities, more- over, were countervailed by so many estimable traits, that, with reference to the period in which he lived, he was in every respect a remarkable person, whether we look upon him as a moral or political agent, as a monarch or as a man. He is said to have possessed extraordinary vigour of body, to have exhibited great skill in all manly and warlike exercises. His strength was so great as to appear almost incredible, if what his historians relate of him be true. It is mentioned by them, that he used to leap from turret to turret of the pinnated ramparts used in the East, in his double-soled boots,- and that he even frequently took a man under each arm, and went leaping along the ramparts from one of the pointed pinnacles to another.*
In the frontispiece of the present volume, this cha- racter of extraordinary strength is fully indicated. The large muscular limbs, thick neck, and expansive chest, would show that Baber was a man of no ordi- nary physical powers. The sword upon which his right
* See Supplement to the Memoirs, page 430.
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hand rests could not be wielded except by a very sinewy arm. He was above the middle height and stout in proportion, possessing extreme activity and patience of endurance. In the background of the picture in which he stands with the manly bearing of a warrior king, is a specimen of the architecture peculiar to his time-. It is plain and massy, sparingly orna- mented, but having the character of ponderous strength and imposing solidity. Its style was severe, by com- parison with the more ornate specimens now existing of the days of Akbar and Shah Jehan. The Moham- medan architects contrived, with great ingenuity, to introduce into their buildings much of the ornamental carving which they found in the Hindoo structures. These latter they frequently destroyed, and built mosques upon their sites ; as was the case with Au- rungzebe’s mosque at Benares, the only Mohammedan temple in that city. At Juanpoor are many fine mo- numents of Mohammedan art. The Jumma Musjid in that city was constructed with the materials of an eminent Hindoo pagoda, which formerly stood upon that spot now consecrated to the worship of the Im- poster of Mecca. There are several noble structures of this description on the banks of the Goomty, which at a distance look quite plain and simple, but upon a nearer inspection are found to be rich even to exuber- ance in architectural decorations : these embellish- ments, however, are always judiciously applied, and never offend against good taste. The grand mosque at Juanpoor appears in the background of the frontis- piece : it is supposed to have been erected about Ba- bers time.
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LIVES OF THE MOGHUL EMPERORS.
In addition to the high moral qualities of the sove- reign of whose character I am now taking a summary review, his mental qualifications were of an un- common order. Besides being deeply skilled in the science of legislation, his knowledge of natural history was at once accurate and profound ; and he is to this day esteemed as holding an eminent rank among the poets of his country. He is mentioned by the cele- brated Abulfazil, the Burleigh of Akbar’s court, with great commendation ; that minister quoting some of his Persian verses, and extolling them in terms of high approbation.
Besides a collection of Turki and Persian poems, Baber wrote a work on prosody, and some miscella- neous productions ; to these he occasionally alludes in his Memoirs. He likewise composed a treatise on music, in which he is said to have been eminently skilled ; and his descriptions of the animal, vegetable, and mineral productions of Hindostan, which occur in the transactions of his own life written by him- self, evince an accurate and extensive knowledge of these respective subjects. His greatest work, however, is the Memoirs so frequently referred to in the course of this narrative. It was composed in the original Turki, with such simplicity and eloquence as to be considered by his countrymen a production of un- rivalled merit. It was translated into Persian, in the reign of his grandson Akbar, by Murza Khan Khanan ; and from that text we have an admirable version into English, begun by the late Dr. Leyden, and completed by Mr. Erskine of the Bombay Esta- blishment.
BABER.
£3 7
“ No history/' says Mr. Erskine,* “ contains so lively a picture of the life and opinions of an Eastern prince. The geographical description which he gives of his hereditary kingdom, and of the various countries which he subdued, have, what such descriptions seldom possess, not only great accuracy, but the merit of un- common distinctness.”
“ In his person, Baber was handsome ; his address was engaging and unaffected, his countenance pleasing, and his disposition affable. The following instance of his justice is worthy of being recorded : — When he was prince of Ferghana, the owner of a valuable caravan of Khutta, who was crossing the mountains of Andejan, one of the southern divisions of Baber’s dominions, was killed by lightning. Baber ordered all the goods to be collected, and sent messengers to Khutta to proclaim the accident and bring the owner’s heirs to his court. Upon their arrival, at the end of two years, he entertained them hospitably and re- turned them the whole of their property, not only refusing to accept a present, but even to be reimbursed for the expenses incurred in securing it.” t This hap- pened when the young sovereign was yet a boy.
The mind of Baber was early matured by the se- vere exertion which he was called upon to exercise during his ten derest years. He ascended the throne of his hereditary dominions at the age of eleven, and from that moment was opposed in many arduous and difficult struggles with the most warlike princes of his time. In the stern school of adversity his na-
* Supplement, page 432.
f Ferishta, Life of Baber, Brigg’s translation, vol. ii.p. 66-
238
LIVES OF THE MOGHUL EMPERORS.
turally strong and grasping intellects received their fall developement. During those adolescent years when other youths are passing their days in boyish sports or easy occupations, his life was a shifting scene of hardships, privations, and perilous adventures. He was frequently a fugitive without a shelter, and with scarcely a follower to share his bereavement ; one month the head of a principality, the next without a home, obliged to skulk into caverns, forests, or mountains, and often destitute of the common neces- saries of life. Within a few years, and before those of his manhood were attained, he had shared almost every variety of fortune.
In proportion, however, as the buoyancy of his in- domitable spirit bore him above the influence of these evils, his mind was enriched with a store of wisdom which it gleaned from the lessons taught by a rigorous though fortifying experience. The variously-coloured page of human life and of human character was fully unfold- ed to him ; and at an age when others are generally re- posing in the lap of ignorance, he was daily quaffing from a troubled indeed, but invigorating fountain, whence he drew the inspirations of sound practical knowledge. He was growing wise under the harsh yet salutary in- structions of adversity, which, while they fortified his experience and awakened his perceptions, softened his humanity and warmed his heart ; for under no condi- tion either of prosperity or of adversity do we find him forgetting the amenities and obligations of social or kindred affection. He was the kind companion, the warm friend, the zealous worker for the welfare of others, in a degree seldom exhibited by those who have
BABER.
239
been reared amid the pomp of courts, * and therefore remote from the common sympathies of mankind. He always remembered an obligation, and was wont to mourn the loss of a valuable subject rather with the keen regret of a brother than with the cold and formal dignity of a king. His attachment to his relations was ardent in the extreme. He was at once a dutiful son, an affectionate father, a tender husband, and a benevo- lent sovereign. Aware that monarchs are dependent upon their subjects for the prosperity attendant upon all wise administrations, he wus ever anxiously mindful of those reciprocal obligations which exist, and conse- quently ought to be recognised, between prince and subject, as among the common claims established by nature between man and man. The overflowing ge- nerosity of his disposition extended to all around him, and throughout his Memoirs he almost invariably speaks of every one connected with him, either by the ties of kindred or friendship, in terms of affectionate interest — sometimes of glowing enthusiasm. In short, his whole character was one of the purest benevolence. The forbearance of Mercy was at all times much more conspicuous in him than the severity of Jus- tice. He poised the scales of the latter, but retained her sword in the scabbard. “ A striking feature in Baber’s character is his unlikeness to the Asiatic princes. Instead of the stately, systematic, artificial character that seems to belong to the throne of Asia, we find him natural, lively, affectionate, simple, re- taining upon the throne all the best feelings and affec- tions of common life. Change a few circumstances arising from his religion and country, and in recording
240 LIVES OF THE MOGHUL EMPERORS.
the transactions of his life we might imagine that we had got among the adventurous knights of Froissart. This, as well as the simplicity of his language, he owed to his being a Turk. That style which wraps up a worthless meaning in a mist of words, and the eti- quette which annihilates the courtier in the presence of his prince, were still, fortunately for Baber, foreign to the Turki race, among whom he was born and edu- cated.
Upon the whole, if we review with impartiality the history of Asia, we shall find few princes entitled to rank higher than Baber in genius and accomplish- ments. His grandson Akbar may perhaps be placed above him for profound and benevolent policy. The crooked artifice of Aurungzebe is not entitled to the same distinction. The merit of Jengyz Khan and of Tamerlane terminates in their splendid conquests, which far excelled the achievements of Baber : but in activity of mind — in the gay equanimity and unbroken spirit with which he bore the extremes of good and bad fortune — in the possession of the manly and social virtues, so seldom the portion of princes — in his love of letters and his success in the cultivation of them, we shall probably find no other Asiatic prince who can justly be placed beside him.”*
* Supplement to the Memoirs, p. 452.
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