Driven away from one of his early attempts to take Delhi, he has a race with two of his officers; and he writes of the first meal which he ate in hiding as of a royal banquet—“such peace and plenty, nice fat meat, bread of fine flour well baked, sweet melons, excellent grapes”.
Again: “I could not, on account of one or two defeats, sit down and look idly around me”, he tells us; and we find him getting to work again immediately.
Many years of wandering were before him. He had only two tents and less than three hundred followers. They had to bear thirst and hunger, pain and poverty; but the joyous spirit of the Tiger-boy carried them through all. And his tenderness and love and thoughtfulness were as his courage and good cheer.
He gave his own tent to his mother, who shared his wanderings; and for her, as for his followers, he gathered brightness from every smallest thing—from tulips and grasses, from animals and birds and insects.
Kabul fell to him when he was eighteen; and here for ten years he lived peacefully, caring for his mother and grandmother, his aunts and sisters, and all his people who had been faithful to him. Here also he married the lady whom he called “Maham”—“my Moon”—of whom we know only because of Baber’s great love for her. It was the “Moon-Lady” who was the mother of Humayun.
But the land beyond the hills was calling Baber; and soon there came a chance to try once more for the throne of Delhi.
The people of Hindustan were fighting among themselves, and asked Baber’s help. Of the great battle that Baber won on the field of Paniput near Delhi, there are many stories.
Baber’s Vow
“Battle was joined at the time of early morning prayers”; and by midday Baber the Tiger was lord of Delhi and Agra. There are wonderful tales of the presents which he sent after this victory, to his family and people in Kabul—forgetting no one. Ladies and nurses of the zenana, officers, clerks, traders, even “all who pray for me”, were remembered; and so great was the list, that it was three days before the presents were divided. To his daughters and aunts and the princesses of the zenana were given gold plates full of gems, trays of coins, and nine different kinds of stuff chosen for each lady by Baber himself—“uplifting us with pride”, says his daughter.