The Bābur-nāma in English (Memoirs of Bābur) — John Shaqi
The Bābur-nāma in English (Memoirs of Bābur)Babur, Emperor of Hindustan
History
The Bābur-nāma in English (Memoirs of Bābur)
Babur, Emperor of Hindustan
Babur, Emperor of Hindustan, 1483-1530; Mogul Empire
Babur's home-milieu favoured excellence in the quiet Arts and set before
its children high standard and example of proficiency. Moreover, by
schooling him in obedience to the Law, it planted in him some of Art's
essentials, self-restraint and close attention. Amongst primal
influences on him, his mother Qut-luq-nigar's ranked high; she,
well-born and a scholar's daughter, would certainly be educated in Turki
and Persian and in the home-accomplishments her governess possessed
_(ātūn_ q.v.). From her and her mother Aisan-daulat, the child would
learn respect for the attainments of his wise old grandfather Yunas
Khan. Aisan-daulat herself brought to her grandson much that goes to the
making of a man; nomad-born and sternly-bred, she was brave to obey her
opinion of right, and was practically the boy's ruling counsellor
through his early struggle to hold Farghana. With these two in fine
influence must be counted Khan-zada, his five-years elder sister who
from his birth to his death proved her devotion to him. Her life-story
tempts, but is too long to tell; her girlish promise is seen fulfilled
in Gul-badan's pages. `Umar Shaikh's own mother Shah Sultan Begim
brought in a type of merit widely differing from that of Aisan-daulat
Begim; as a town-lady of high Tarkhan birth, used to the amenities of
life in a wealthy house of Samarkand, she was, doubtless, an
accomplished and cultured woman.
`Umar Shaikh's environment was dominated for many years by two great
men, the scholar and lover of town-life Yunas Khan and the saintly
Ahrari (_i.e._ Khwaja `Ubaidu'l-lah) who were frequently with him in
company, came at Babur's birth and assisted at his naming. Ahrari died
in 895-1491 when the child was about seven years old but his influence
was life-long; in 935-1529 he was invoked as a spiritual helper by the
fever-stricken Babur and his mediation believed efficacious for recovery
(pp. 619, 648). For the babe or boy to be where the three friends held
social session in high converse, would be thought to draw blessing on
him; his hushed silence in the presence would sow the seed of reverence
for wisdom and virtue, such, for example, as he felt for Jami (_q.v._).
It is worth while to tell some part at least of Yunas' attainments in
the gentler Arts, because the biography from which they are quoted may
well have been written on the information of his wife Aisan-daulat, and
it indicates the breadth of his exemplary influence. Yunas was many
things—penman, painter, singer, instrumentalist, and a past master in
the crafts. He was an expert in good companionship, having even temper
and perfect manners, quick perception and conversational charm. His
intellectual distinction was attributed to his twelve years of wardship
under the learned and highly honoured Yazdi (Sharafu'd-din 'Ali), the
author of the _Zafar-nama_ [Timur's Book of Victory]. That book was in
hand during four years of Yunas' education; he will thus have known it
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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