punctuality, according as the means of enforcing it were nearer or more remote.' The Hazára remained unsubdued, though often beaten, Indeed, the relation of Bábar with the wild tribes of Afghánistán, and the nature of his guerilla fighting in that difficult country, may readily be understood by any one who has followed the recent history and campaigns in the north-west frontier of India. Except that Bábar had a few firearms, and the tribes had only bows, the conditions of warfare and the national characteristics were much the same then as in 1898.
It must be remembered that he was established in only a small part of Afghánistán, that his army was composed of mixed and far from trustworthy elements, that the tribes around were in frequent revolt, and that there could be no security so long as Shaibáni pursued his victorious career just the other side of the mountains, and might at any moment follow in B§,bar’s steps. For years after his conquest of Kábul, the exiled king looked back upon his native land, now overrun by the hardy Uzbegs, with deep regret; and although he was already dreaming those grandiose visions of an Indian Empire, which were not to be realized till twenty years later, his chief preoccupation at first was to protect his rear, and if possible get the better of the victorious chief who had robbed him of his birthright. The only possibility of vanquishing Shaibáni lay in a vigorous combination of the surviving fragments of the family of Tímúr. In pursuit of such a union Bábar now journeyed to Herát.
