das Thor eingeht, reitet oder fahrt, ist die Thorwache placiert. Tagsüber sind die Thore beständig öffen, nach Eintritt der Dunkelheit aber werden dieselben geschlossen und die Schlüssel dem zuständigen Polizeichef abgeliefert… In den erwähnten Thorhallen nehmen in den hoch unabhängigen Gebieten an Bazar-tagen haufig die Richter Platz, um jedem der irgend ein Anliegen hat, so fort Recht zu sprechen. Die zudiktierten Strafen werden auch gleich in diesem selben locale vollzogen und eventuell die zum Hangen verurteilten Verbrecher an den Deckbalken aufgehängt, so dass die Besucher des Bazars unter den gehenkten durchpassieren müssen.”
154
bu khabarnī ‘Abdu’l-wahhāb shaghāwaldīn ‘arẓa-dāsht qīlīb Mīrzāghā chāptūrdīlār. This passage has been taken to mean that the shaghāwal, i. e. chief scribe, was the courier, but I think Bābur’s words shew that the shaghāwal’s act preceded the despatch of the news. Moreover the only accusative of the participle and of the verb is khabarnī. ‘Abdu’l-wahhāb had been ‘Umar Shaikh’s and was now Aḥmad’s officer in Khujand, on the main road for Aūrā-tīpā whence the courier started on the rapid ride. The news may have gone verbally to ‘Abdu’l-wahhāb and he have written it on to Aḥmad and Abū-sa‘īd.
155
Measured from point to point even, the distance appears to be over 500 miles. Concerning Bābā Khākī see Ḥ.S. ii. 224; for rapid riding i. a. Kostenko iii, cap. Studs.
156
qūshūqlārnī yakhshī aītūrā īkān dūr. Elph. MS. for qūshūq, tūyūk. Qūshūq is allowed, both by its root and by usage, to describe improvisations of combined dance and song. I understand from Bābur’s tense, that his information was hearsay only.
157
i. e. of the military class. Cf. Vullers s. n. and T.R. p. 301.
158
The Hūma is a fabulous bird, overshadowing by whose wings brings good-fortune. The couplet appears to be addressed to some man, under the name Hūma, from whom Ḥasan of Yaq‘ūb hoped for benefit.
159
khāk-bīla; the Sanglākh, (quoting this passage) gives khāk-p: l:k as the correct form of the word.
162
i. e. uncle on the mother’s side, of any degree, here a grandmother’s brother. The title appears to have been given for life to men related to the ruling House. Parallel with it are Madame Mère, Royal Uncle, Sult̤ān Wālida.
163
kīm dīsā būlghāī, perhaps meaning, “Nothing of service to me.”
165
Cf. Chardin ed. Langlès v, 461 and ed. 1723 AD. v, 183.
166
n. e. of Kāsān. Cf. f. 74. Ḥai MS., erroneously, Samarkand.
167
An occasional doubt arises as to whether a t̤aurī of the text is Arabic and dispraises or Turkī and laudatory. Cf. Mems. p. 17 and Méms. i, 3.
168
Elph. and Ḥai. MSS. aftābachī, water-bottle bearer on journeys; Kehr (p. 82) aftābchī, ewer-bearer; Ilminsky (p. 19) akhtachi, squire or groom. Circumstances support aftābachī. Yūnas was town-bred, his ewer-bearer would hardly be the rough Mughūl, Qaṃbar-‘alī, useful as an aftābachī.
169
Bābur was Governor of Andijān and the month being June, would be living out-of-doors. Cf. Ḥ.S. ii. 272 and Schuyler ii, 37.
170
To the word Sherīm applies Abū’l-ghāzī’s explanation of Nurūm and Ḥājīm, namely, that they are abbreviations of Nūr and Ḥājī Muḥammad. It explains Sult̤ānīm also when used (f. 72) of Sl. Muḥammad Khānika but of Sult̤ānīm as the name is common with Bābur, Ḥaidar and Gul-badan, i. e. as a woman’s, Busbecq’s explanation is the better, namely, that it means My Sult̤ān and is applied to a person of rank and means. This explains other women’s titles e. g. Khānīm, my Khān and Ākām (Ākīm), My Lady. A third group of names formed like the last by enclitic 'm (my), may be called names of affection, e. g. Māhīm, My Moon, Jānīm, My Life. (Cf. Persian equivalents.) Cf. Abū’l-ghāzī’s Shajarat-i-Turkī (Désmaisons p. 272); and Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq’s Life and Letters (Forster and Daniel i, 38.)
171
Namāz-gāh; generally an open terrace, with a wall towards the Qibla and outside the town, whither on festival days the people go out in crowds to pray. (Erskine.)
172
Bēglār (nīng) mīnī u wilāyatnī tāpshūrghūlārī dūr; a noticeably idiomatic sentence. Cf. f. 16b 1. 6 and 1. 7 for a repetition.
173
Maḥmūd was in Tāshkīnt, Aḥmad in Kāshghār or on the Āq-sū.
174
The B.N. contains a considerable number of what are virtually footnotes. They are sometimes, as here, entered in the middle of a sentence and confuse the narrative; they are introduced by kīm, a mere sign of parenthetical matter to follow, and some certainly, known not to be Bābur’s own, must have stood first on the margin of his text. It seems best to enter them as Author’s notes.
175
darzī; Ḥ.S. khaiyāt̤.
176
bīr yīrgā (qūyūb), lit. to one place.
177
i. e. reconstructed the earthern defences. Cf. Von Schwarz s. n. loess.
178
They had been sent, presumably, before ‘Umar Shaikh’s death, to observe Sl. Aḥmad M.’s advance. Cf. f. 6.
179
i. e. the author of the Hidāyat. Cf. f. 3b and note; Blochmann Āyīn-i-akbarī s.n. qulij and note; Bellew’s Afghan Tribes p. 100, Khilich.
180
Ar. dead, gone. The precision of Bābur’s words khānwādalār and yūsūnlūq is illustrated by the existence in the days of Tīmūr, in Marghīnān, (Burhānu’d-dīn’s township) of a ruler named Aīlīk Khān, apparently a descendant of Sātūq-būghrā Khān (b. 384 AH. -994 AD.) so that in Khwāja Qāẓī were united two dynasties, (khānwādalār), one priestly, perhaps also regal, the other of bye-gone ruling Khāns. Cf. D’Herbélot p. 433; Yarkand Mission, Bellew p. 121; Taẕkirat-i Sult̤ān Sātūq-būghrā Khān Ghāzī Pādshāh and Tārīkh-i-nāṣirī (Raverty s. n.)
181
The time-table of the Andijān Railway has a station, Kouwa (Qabā).
182
Bābur, always I think, calls this man Long Ḥasan; Khwānd-amīr styles him Khwāja Ḥasan; he seems to be the brother of one of ‘Umar Shaikh’s fathers-in-law, Khwāja Ḥusain.
183
bātqāq. This word is underlined in the Elph. MS. by dil-dil and in the Ḥai. MS. by jam-jama. It is
