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899 AH.— OCT. 12th. 1493 to OCT. 2nd. 1494 15

wore them without twisting and let the ends hang down.^ In the heats and except in his Court, he generally wore the Mughul cap.

e. His qualities and habits.

He was a true believer {Hanafi mazhablik) and pure in the Faith, not neglecting the Five Prayers and, his life through, making up his Omissions.^ He read the Qur'an very frequently and was a disciple of his Highness Khwaja 'Ubaidu'l-lah (Ahrart) who honoured him by visits and even called him son. His current readings^ were the two Quintets and the Masnawi;^ of histories he read chiefly the Shdh-nama. He had a poetic nature, but no taste for composing verses. He was so just that when he heard of caravan returning from Khitai as overwhelmed by snow in the mountains of Eastern Andijan,^ and that of its thousand heads of houses (awiluq) two only had escaped, he sent his overseers to take charge of all goods and, though no heirs were near and though he was in want himself, summoned the heirs from Khurasan and Samarkand, and in the course of a year or two had made over to them all their property safe and sound.

He was very generous ; in truth, his character rose altogether to the height of generosity. He was affable, eloquent and sweet-spoken, daring and bold. Twice out-distancing all his

1 The apposition may be between placing the turban - sash round the turban-cap in a single flat fold and winding it four times round after twisting it on itself. Cf. f. 18 and Hughes Diet, of Islam s.n. turban.

2 qazalar, the prayers and fasts omitted when due, through war, travel sickness, etc.

3 rawan sawadi bar idi ; perhaps, wrote a running hand. De C. i, 13, ses lectures courantes itaient ...

4 The dates of 'Umar Shaikh's limits of perusal allow the Quintets (Khamsatin) here referred to to be those of Nizami and Amir Khusrau of Dihli. The Masnawi must be that of Jalalu'd-din Rumi. (H.B.)

5 Probably below the Tirak (Poplar) Pass, the caravan route much exposed to avalanches.

Mr. Erskine notes that this anecdote is erroneously told as of Babur by Firishta and others. Perhaps it has been confused with the episode on f. 207b. Firishta makes another mistaken attribution to Babur, that of Ilasan of Yaq'ub's couplet. (H.B.) Cf. f. 13b and Dow's Hindustan ii, 218.

Fol. 'jb.