BABER. 
CHAPTER I. 
a.d. 1483 — 1506 . 
It is some relief to turn from a biography fraught 
with such repelling features as that of Timur Beg, to one 
in which the brighter qualities of human nature are not 
hidden and but in a small degree obscured by its frailties 
and imperfections. There is little conflicting testimony 
respecting the character of him the events of whose life 
I am about to trace. He was unquestionably among 
the greatest princes whom history has handed down 
to the admiration of posterity, and his memory is to 
this day held in the highest veneration by his de- 
scendants, who glory rather in their descent from him 
than from the more distinguished conqueror Timur. 
Baber was unquestionably a greater man than Timur 
Beg, inasmuch as the founder of a dynasty rises 
higher among the renowned of the earth than the mere 
vanquisher of nations. It may be held as an incon- 
trovertible axiom in political science, that it is easier 
to subdue than to govern kingdoms. 
