That two men of the calibre and high repute of Ahrari and Vunas maintained friendly guidance so long over 'Umar cannot but be held an accreditment and give fragrance of goodness to his name. Apart from the high justice and generosity his son ascribes to him, he could ■set other example, for he was a reader of great books, the Qoran and the Masnazui being amongst his favourites. This choice, it mav be, led Abu'1-fazl to say he had the darwesh-mind. Babur was old enough before 'Umar's death to profit by the sight of his father enjoying the perusal of such books. As with other parents and other children, there would follow the happy stilling to a quiet mood, the piquing of curiosity as to what was in the book, the sight of refuge taken as in a haven from self and care, and perhaps, Babur being intelligent and of inquiring mind and 'Umar a skilled reciter, the boy would marvel at the perennial miracle that a lifeless page can become eloquent gentle hints all, pointers of the way to literary creation.
Few who are at home in Baburiana but will take Timur as Babur's great exemplar not only as a soldier but as a chronicler. Timur cannot have seemed remote from that group of people so well-informed about him arid his civilian doings; his Shahrukhi grandchildren in Samarkand had carried on his author-tradition ; the 74 years of Yunas Khan's life had bridged the gap between Timur's death in 807-1405 and Babur's birth in 888-1483. To Babur Timur will have been exemplary through his grandson Aulugh Beg who has two productions to his credit, the Chdr-ulus (Four Hordes) and the Kurkani Astronomical Tables. His sons, again, Babur {qalandar) and Ibrahim carried on the family torch of letters, the first in verse and the second by initiating and fostering Yazdi's labours on the Zafar-tiama. Wide-radiating and potent influence for the Arts of Peace came forth from Herat during the reign of that Sultan Husain Mirza whose Court Babur describes in one of the best supplements to his autobiography. Husain was a Timurid of the elder branch of Bai-qara, an author himself but far more effective as a Macaenas ; one man of the shining galaxy of competence that gave him fame, set pertinent example for Babur the author, namely, the Andijani
