(g. His amīrs.)
There was Muḥammad Barandūq Barlās, descending from Chākū Barlās as follows,—Muḥammad Barandūq, son of ‘Alī, son of Barandūq, son of Jahān-shāh, son of Chākū Barlās.[1061] He had been a beg of Bābur Mīrzā’s presence; later on Sl. Abū-sa‘īd Mīrzā favoured him, gave him Kābul conjointly with Jahāngīr Barlās, and made him Aūlūgh Beg Mīrzā’s guardian. After the death of Sl. Abū-sa‘īd Mīrzā, Aūlūgh Beg Mīrzā formed designs against the two Barlās; they got to know this, kept tight hold of him, made the tribes and hordes march,[1062] moved as for Qūndūz, and when up on Hindū-kush, courteously compelled Aūlūgh Beg Mīrzā to start back for Kābul, they themselves going on to Sl. Ḥusain Mīrzā in Khurāsān, who, in his turn, shewed them great favour. Muḥammad Barandūq was remarkably intelligent, a very leaderlike man indeed! He was extravagantly fond of a hawk; so much so, they say, that if a hawk of his had strayed or had died, he would ask, taking the names of his sons on his lips, what it would have mattered if such or such a son had died or had broken his neck, rather than this or that bird had died or had strayed.
Muz̤affar Barlās was another.[1063] He had been with the Mīrzā in the guerilla fighting and, for some cause unknown, had received extreme favour. In such honour was he in those guerilla days that the compact was for the Mīrzā to take four dāng (sixths) Fol. 170b.of any country conquered, and for him to take two dāng. A strange compact indeed! How could it be right to make even a faithful servant a co-partner in rule? Not even a younger brother or a son obtains such a pact; how then should a beg?[1064] When the Mīrzā had possession of the throne, he repented the compact, but his repentance was of no avail; that muddy-minded mannikin, favoured so much already, made growing assumption to rule. The Mīrzā acted without judgment; people say Muz̤affar Barlās was poisoned in the end.[1065] God knows the truth!
‘Alī-sher Nawā’ī was another, the Mīrzā’s friend rather than his beg. They had been learners together in childhood and even then are said to have been close friends. It is not known for what offence Sl. Abū-sa‘īd Mīrzā drove ‘Alī-sher Beg from Herī; he then went to Samarkand where he was protected and supported by Aḥmad Ḥājī Beg during the several years of his stay.[1066] He was noted for refinement of manner; people fancied this due to the pride of high fortune but it may not have been so, it may have been innate, since it was equally noticeable also in Samarkand.[1067] ‘Alī-sher Beg had no match. For as long as verse has been written in the Turkī tongue, no-one has written so much or so well as he. He wrote six books of poems (mas̤nawī), five of them answering to the Quintet (Khamsah),[1068] the sixth, entitled the Lisānu’t̤-t̤air (Tongue of the birds), was in the same metre as the Mant̤iqu’t̤-t̤air (Speech of the birds).[1069] He put together four dīwāns (collections) of odes, bearing the names, Curiosities of Childhood, Marvels of Youth, Wonders of Manhood and Advantages of Age.[1070] There are good quatrains of his also. Some others of his compositions rank below thoseFol. 171. mentioned; amongst them is a collection of his letters, imitating that of Maulānā ‘Abdu’r-raḥmān Jāmī and aiming at gathering together every letter on any topic he had ever written to any person. He wrote also the Mīzānu’l-aūzān (Measure of measures) on prosody; it is very worthless; he has made mistake in it about the metres of four out of twenty-four quatrains, while about other measures he has made mistake such as any-one who has given attention to prosody, will understand. He put a Persian dīwān together also, Fānī (transitory) being his pen-name for Persian verse.[1071] Some couplets in it are not bad but for the most part it is flat and poor. In music also he composed good things (nīma), some excellent airs and preludes (nakhsh u peshrau). No such patron and protector of men of parts and accomplishments is known, nor has one such been heard of as ever appearing. It was through his instruction and support that Master (Ustād) Qul-i-muḥammad the lutanist, Shaikhī the flautist, and Ḥusain the lutanist, famous performers all, rose to eminence and renown. It was through his effort and supervision that Master Bih-zād and Shāh Muz̤affar became so distinguished in painting. Few are heard of as having helped to lay the good foundation for future excellence he helped to lay. He had neither son nor daughter, wife or family; he let the world pass by, alone and unencumbered. At first he was Keeper of the Seal; in middle-life he became a beg and for a time was Commandant in Astarābād; later on he forsook soldiering. He took nothing from the Mīrzā, on the contrary, he each year Fol. 171b.offered considerable gifts. When the Mīrzā was returning from the Astarābād campaign, ‘Alī-sher Beg went out to give him meeting; they saw one another but before ‘Alī-sher Beg should have risen to leave, his condition became such that he could not rise. He was lifted up and carried away; the doctors could not tell what was wrong; he went to God’s mercy next day,[1072] one of his own couplets suiting his case:—
I was felled by a stroke out of their ken and mine;
What, in such evils, can doctors avail?
Aḥmad the son of Tawakkal Barlās was another;[1073] for a time he held Qandahār.
Walī Beg was another; he was of Ḥājī Saifu’d-dīn Beg’s line,[1074] and had been one of the Mīrzā’s father’s (Manṣūr’s) great begs.[1075] Short life was granted to him after the Mīrzā took the throne (973 AH.); he died directly afterwards. He was orthodox and made the Prayers, was rough (turk) and sincere.
Ḥusain of Shaikh Tīmūr was another; he had been favoured and raised to the rank of beg[1076] by Bābur Mīrzā.
Nuyān Beg was another. He was a Sayyid of Tīrmīẕ on his father’s side; on his mother’s he was related both to Sl. Abū-sa‘īd Mīrzā and to Sl. Ḥusain Mīrzā.[1077] Sl. Abū-sa‘īd Mīrzā had favoured him; he was the beg honoured in Sl. Aḥmad Mīrzā’s presence and he met with very great favour when he went to Sl. Ḥusain Mīrzā’s. He was a bragging, easy-going, wine-bibbing, jolly person. Through being in his father’s service,[1078] Ḥasan of Ya‘qūb used to be called also Nuyān’s Ḥasan.