BABER. 
£3 7 
“ No history/' says Mr. Erskine,* “ contains so 
lively a picture of the life and opinions of an Eastern 
prince. The geographical description which he gives 
of his hereditary kingdom, and of the various countries 
which he subdued, have, what such descriptions seldom 
possess, not only great accuracy, but the merit of un- 
common distinctness.” 
“ In his person, Baber was handsome ; his address 
was engaging and unaffected, his countenance pleasing, 
and his disposition affable. The following instance 
of his justice is worthy of being recorded : — When 
he was prince of Ferghana, the owner of a valuable 
caravan of Khutta, who was crossing the mountains 
of Andejan, one of the southern divisions of Baber’s 
dominions, was killed by lightning. Baber ordered 
all the goods to be collected, and sent messengers to 
Khutta to proclaim the accident and bring the owner’s 
heirs to his court. Upon their arrival, at the end of 
two years, he entertained them hospitably and re- 
turned them the whole of their property, not only 
refusing to accept a present, but even to be reimbursed 
for the expenses incurred in securing it.” t This hap- 
pened when the young sovereign was yet a boy. 
The mind of Baber was early matured by the se- 
vere exertion which he was called upon to exercise 
during his ten derest years. He ascended the throne 
of his hereditary dominions at the age of eleven, and 
from that moment was opposed in many arduous 
and difficult struggles with the most warlike princes 
of his time. In the stern school of adversity his na- 
* Supplement, page 432. 
f Ferishta, Life of Baber, Brigg’s translation, vol. ii.p. 66 - 
