upon the Emperor mounted his horse and rode to the top of some rising ground.'
And from their tents the Tartar horsemen filed
Into the open plain.
The enemy were deploying on the plain, and the only road by which they could approach was in a ravine between two hills. They preferred to climb one of the hills, rather than risk being shut up in the gorge. One of their chiefs led 10,000 men to the assault. Khán Mirza was given the post of honour, and he hurried to meet the climbing squadrons. The furious charge of the Uzbeg horse bore down every one before it, and they had almost reached the Mirza himself, when an opportune reinforcement saved the day.
It was the boy Haidar who was thus proudly able to reward his benefactor. Bábar had brought him most reluctantly from Kábul, only at his piteous entreaty not to be left behind; on the way a number of Haidar's hereditary retainers had joined him, and these veterans Bábar had hurriedly dispatched to the rescue of Khán Mirza. Haidar himself he kept at his side—'you are still too young for such business' he said and one can imagine the eager joy of the young prince as he watched beside his patron and saw his men, his very own followers, rallying the Emperor's vanguard, and driving the enemy down the hill. It was a glorious moment for him, and when one of his own people brought the first prisoner to the Emperor, and Bábar said, 'Inscribe the name of Mirza Haidar upon the first trophy,' he was radiantly happy.
