Page:Babur-nama Vol 1.djvu/109

This page needs to be proofread.

899 AH.— OCT. 12th. 1493 TO OCT. 2ND. 1494 39

Tarkhan was the superior of 'Abdu'l-'ali Tarkhan, this Pharoah regarded him not at all. For some years he had the Government of Bukhara. His retainers were reckoned at Fol. 22. 3,000 and he kept them well and handsomely. His gifts {bakhshish), his visits of enquiry (purshish), his public audience {diwan), his work-shops (dast-gah), his open-table {shilan) and his assemblies (majlis) were all like a king's. He was a strict disciplinarian, a tyrannical, vicious, self-infatuated person. Shaibani Khan, though not his retainer, was with him for a time ; most of the lesser (Shaiban) sultans did themselves take service with him. This same *Abdu'l-'ali Tarkhan was the cause of Shaibani Khan's rise to such a height and of the down- fall of such ancient dynasties.^

Sayyid Yusuf, the Grey Wolfer^ was another ; his grandfather will have come from the Mughul horde ; his father was favoured by Aulugh Beg Mirza (Shahrukhi). His judgment and counsel were excellent ; he had courage too. He played well on the guitar (qubuz). He was with me when I first went to Kabul ; I shewed him great favour and in truth he was worthy of favour. I left him in Kabul the first year the army rode out for Hin- dustan ; at that time he went to God's mercy.^

Darwesh Beg was another; he was of the line of Aiku-timur Beg,4 a favourite of Timur Beg. He was a disciple of his Highness Khwaja 'Ubaidu'1-lah {Ahrari), had knowledge of the science of music, played several instruments and was naturally Fol. 22^. disposed to poetry. He was drowned in the Chir at the time of SI. Ahmad Mirza's discomfiture.

Muhammad Mazid Tarkhan was another, a younger full- brother of Darwesh Muh. Tarkhan. He was Governor in Turkistan for some years till Shaibani Khan took it from him. His judgment and counsel were excellent ; he was an unscrupulous and vicious person. The second and third times

1 khana-wadalar, viz. the Chaghatai, the Timurid in two Miran-shahi branches, 'Ali's and Babur's and the Bai-qara in Harat.

2 aughlaqchi i.e. player at kUk-bura. Concerning the game, see Shaw's Vocabulary ; Schuyler i, 268 ; Kostenko iii, 82 ; Von Schwarz s.n. baiga.

3 Zu'l-hijja 910 AH.-May 1505 AD. Cf. i. 154. This statement helps to define what Babur reckoned his expeditions into Hindustan.

4 Aiku (Ayagu)-timur Tarkhan Arghun d. circa 793 AH. -1 391 AD. He was a friend of Timur. See Z.N. i, 525 etc.