He left no one to represent him in India, he
claimed no sovereignty, and founded no dynasty there. There is no
doubt much in the prestige of a name; and though six generations had
passed away, the people of Northern India still trembled at that of
the lame monster. Babur wished to impress upon the minds of the
people the notion that he had at his back the same army of demons
that Timur had commanded; and be boasted his descent from him for the
same motive that Alexander boasted his from the horned and cloven-
footed god of the Egyptian desert, as something to sanctify all
enterprises, justify the use of all means, and carry before him the
belief in his invincibility.
Babur was an admirable chief--a fit founder of a great dynasty--a
very proper object for the imagination of future generations to dwell
upon, though not quite so good as his grandson, the great Akbar.
Timur was a ferocious monster, who knew how to organize and command
the set of demons who composed his army, and how best to direct them
for the destruction of the civilized portion of mankind and their
works; but who knew nothing else.
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