in observing the life of the villagers, and especially in conversing
with the mother of the headman, an old lady of a hundred and eleven,
whose descendants, to the number of ninety-six, lived in the country
round about. One of her relatives had served in the army with which
Timur had invaded India, and she entertained the future Emperor of
Hindustan by telling him stories of his ancestor's adventures.

After several fruitless raids with the few troopers who remained
faithful to him, he allied himself with his two uncles, Mahmud and
Ahmad Khan, in an attack against Tambal, one of the powerful nobles
who had revolted against him and set up Jahangir, his brother, on
the throne of Farghana. At a critical moment his uncles left Babar to
the mercy of his enemy, and he was again forced to fly for his life,
hotly pursued by Tambal's horsemen. He was overtaken by two of them,
who, not daring to pit themselves against Babar's prodigious strength
and courage, tried to inveigle him into a trap. Babar gives a moving
description of this great crisis in his life. Thoroughly exhausted,
and seeing no prospect of escape, he resigned himself to die:--

"There was a stream in the garden, and there I made my ablutions
and recited a prayer of two bowings. Then surrendering myself
to meditation, I was about to ask God for His compassion, when
sleep closed my eyes. I saw (in my dream) Khwája Yakub, the son of
Khwája Yahya, and grandson of his Eminence the Khwája 'Obaid-Allah
(a famous saint of Samarkand), with a numerous escort, mounted on
dappled grey horses, come before me and say, '_Do not be anxious,
the Khwája has sent me to tell you that he will support you and seat
you on the throne of sovereignty; whenever a difficulty occurs to you,
remember to beg his help, and he will at once respond to your appeal,
and victory and triumph shall straightway lean to your side_.' I