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i6 FARGHANA

braves,1 he got to work with his own sword, once at the Gate of Akhsl, once at the Gate of Shahrukhiya. A middling archer, he was strong in the fist,— not a man but fell to his blow. Through his ambition, peace was exchanged often for war, friendliness for hostility.

In his early days he was a great drinker, later on used to have a party once or twice a week. He was good company, on occasions reciting verses admirably. Towards the last he rather preferred intoxicating confects 2 and, under their sway, used to lose his head. His disposition 3 was amorous, and he bore many a lover's mark.4 He played draughts a good deal, sometimes even threw the dice.

f. His battles and encounters.

He fought three ranged battles, the first with Yunas Khan, Foi. 8. on the Saihun, north of Andijan, at the Goat-leap,5 a village so-called because near it the foot-hills so narrow the flow of the water that people say goats leap across.6 There he was beaten and made prisoner. Yunas Khan for his part did well by him and gave him leave to go to his own district (Andijan). This fight having been at that place, the Battle of the Goat-leap became a date in those parts.

His second battle was fought on the Urus,7 in Turkistan, with Auzbegs returning from a raid near Samarkand. He crossed the river on the ice, gave them a good beating, separated off all their prisoners and booty and, without coveting a single thing for himself, gave everything back to its owners.

1 ylgitlar, young men, the modem jighit. Babur uses the word for men on the effective fighting strength. It answers to the " brave " of North American Indian story ; here de C. translates it by braves.

2 ma'jun. Cf. Von Schwarz p. 286 for a recipe.

3 mutaiyam. This word, not clearly written in all MSS., has been mistaken for yitim. Cf. JRAS 1910 p. 882 for a note upon it by my husband to whom I owe the emendation.

4 na'l u daghi bisyar idi, that is, he had inflicted on himself many of the brands made by lovers and enthusiasts. Cf. Chardin's Voyages ii, 253 and Lady M. Montague's Letters p. 200.

5 tika sikritku, lit. likely to make goats leap, from sikramak to jump close- footed (Shaw).

6 sikrikan dur. Both sikritku and sikrikan dur, appear to dictate translation in general terms and not by reference to a single traditional leap by one goat.

7 i.e. Russian ; it is the Arys tributary of the Sir.