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Illustrations in the Baburnama

regarding the fauna of South Asia.

An image of Rhino hunt from

Baburnama.

BaburnamaFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bāburnāma (Chagatai/Persian: بابر نامہ;´, literally: "Book of Babur" or"Letters of Babur"; alternatively known as Tuzk-e Babri) is the namegiven to the memoirs of Ẓahīr ud-Dīn Muḥammad Bābur (1483–1530),founder of the Mughal Empire and a great-great-great-grandson ofTimur.

It is an autobiographical work, written in the Chagatai language, knownto Babur as "Turki" (meaning Turkic), the spoken language of theAndijan-Timurids. Babur's prose is highly Persianized in its sentence

structure, morphology, and vocabulary,[1] and also contains manyphrases and smaller poems in Persian. During Emperor Akbar's reign, thework was completely translated to Persian by a Mughal courtier, Abdul

Rahīm, in AH 998 (1589–90).[2]

Contents

1 Overview

2 Contents

3 Illustrations from the Manuscript of Baburnama (Memoirs of

Babur)

4 See also

5 References

6 Further reading

7 External links

Overview

Bābur was an educated Timurid and his observations and comments inhis memoirs reflect an interest in nature, society, politics and economics.His vivid account of events covers not just his life, but the history andgeography of the areas he lived in, and their flora and fauna, as well asthe people with whom he came into contact.

Contents

The Bāburnāma begins with these plain words:[3]

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“ In the month of Ramadan of the year 899 and in the twelfth year of my age, I became rulerin the country of Farghana ”

After some background, Bābur describes his fluctuating fortunes as a minor ruler in Central Asia – in which he tookand lost Samarkand twice – and his move to Kabul in 1504.

There is a break in the manuscript between 1508 and 1519. By the latter date Bābur is established in Kabul andfrom there launches an invasion into northwestern India. The final section of the Bāburnāma covers the years 1525to 1529 and the establishment of the Mughal empire in India, which Bābur's descendants would rule for threecenturies.

The Baburnama is also the earliest known reference to mass conversions of the jatt tribes converting to Islam andthe only known Islamic text describing an Islamic conquest into Hindu India providing a great insight into the

ongoings of an Islamic Empire progressing.[2]

Babur also writes about his homeland, Fergana:

“The Domain of Fergana has seven towns, five on the south and two on the north of the Syr

river. Of those on the south, one is Andijan. It has a central position and is the capital of theFergana Domain.

”

He also wrote:

“A man took aim at Ibrahim Beg. But then Ibrahim Beg yelled,"Hai! Hai!"; and he let him

pass, and by mistake shot me in an armpit from as near as a man on guard at the Gatestands from another. Two plates of my armour cracked. I shot at a man running away along

the ramparts, adjusting his cap against the battlements. He abandoned his cap, nailed to thewall and went off, gathering his turban sash together in his hand.

”

The Bāburnāma is widely translated and is part of text books in no less than 25 countries mostly in Central,Western, and Southern Asia. It was first translated into English by John Leyden and William Erskine as Memoirs of

Zehir-Ed-Din Muhammed Baber: Emperor of Hindustan[4] and later by the British orientalist scholar AnnetteSusannah Beveridge (née Akroyd, 1842–1929).

Illustrations from the Manuscript of Baburnama (Memoirs ofBabur)

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An awards ceremony inthe Sultan Ibrāhīm’scourt before being senton an expedition toSambhal

The first MughalEmperor Babur.

A scene with peacocksand birds from theBaburnama

A scene from theBaburnama.

Animals of Hindustansmall deer and cowscalled gīnī, fromIlluminated manuscriptBaburnama (Memoirs ofBabur)

Illuminated ManuscriptBaburnamah

See also

Akbarnama

Tuzk-e-Jahangiri

Tuzk-e-Taimuri

References

1. ^ Dale, Stephen Frederic (2004). The garden of the eight paradises: Bābur and the culture of Empire in Central

Asia, Afghanistan and India (1483–1530). Brill. pp. 15,150. ISBN 90-04-13707-6.

2. ̂a b "Biography of Abdur Rahim Khankhana" (http://www.poemhunter.com/abdur-rahim-

khankhana/biography/poet-33381/). Retrieved 2006-10-28.

3. ^ English translation (https://archive.org/stream/baburnamainengli01babuuoft#page/n69/mode/2up)

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4. ^ Bābur (Emperor of Hindustān) (1826). Memoirs of Zehir-Ed-Din Muhammed Baber: emperor of Hindustan

(http://books.google.com/books?id=kydN074DwhwC). Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green. Retrieved 5

October 2011.

Further reading

The Babur-nama in English (Memoirs of Babur) (1922) Volume 1 by Annette Susannah Beveridge

(http://www.archive.org/details/baburnamainengli01babuuoft) on Internet Archive

The Babur-nama in English (Memoirs of Babur) (1922) Volume 2 by Annette Susannah Beveridge

(http://www.archive.org/details/baburnamainengli02babuuoft) on Internet Archive

The Baburnama: Memoirs of Babur, Prince and Emperor, Zahir-ud-din Mohammad Babur, Translated,

edited and annotated by Wheeler M. Thackston. 2002 Modern Library Palang-faack Edition, New York.

ISBN 0-375-76137-3

Babur Nama: Journal of Emperor Babur, Zahir Uddin Muhammad Babur, Translated from Chagatai

Turkic by Annette Susannah Beveridge, Abridged, edited and introduced by Dilip Hiro. (ISBN ) ISBN 978-

0-14-400149-1; (ISBN ) ISBN 0-14-400149-7. – online version

(http://www.farlang.com/diamonds/beveridge-baburnama/page_057)

Local Culture (http://www.yachtworks.info/baburnamah.htm)

External links

Baburnama, at Washington University (http://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/texts/babur/babur1.html)

The Babur-nama in English (Memoirs of Babur)

(https://archive.org/stream/baburnamainengli01babuuoft#page/n69/mode/2up) at Internet Archive

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Baburnama&oldid=602872789"

Categories: Mughal Empire History books about India Indian autobiographies Medieval Indian literature

16th-century books 16th-century Indian books Political autobiographies Islamic illuminated manuscripts

Mughal art Persian books

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