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
A work issuing from a Sunnī Aūzbeg centre, Faẓl bin Ruzbahān _Isfahānī's
Sūlūku'l-mulūk_, has a Preface of special value, as shewing one view of
what it writes of as the spread of heresy in Māwarā'u'n-nahr through
Bābur's invasions. The book itself is a Treatise on Musalmān Law, and
was prepared by order of `Ubaidu'l-lāh Khān _Aūzbeg_ for his help in
fulfilling a vow he had made, before attacking Bābur in 918 AH., at the
shrine of Khwāja Aḥmad _Yasawī_ [in Haẓrat Turkistān], that, if he were
victorious, he would conform exactly with the divine Law and uphold it
in Māwarā'u'n-nahr (Rieu's Pers. Cat. ii, 448).
The _Tārīkh-i Ḥājī Muḥammad `Ārif Qandahārī_ appears, from the frequent
use Firishta made of it, to be a useful source, both because its author
was a native of Qandahār, a place much occupying Bābur's activities, and
because he was a servant of Bairām Khān-i-khānān, whose assassination
under Akbar he witnessed.[1333] Unfortunately, though his life of Akbar
survives no copy is now known of the section of his General History
which deals with Bābur's.
An early source is Yahya _Kazwīnī's Lubbu't-tawārīkh_, written in 948
AH. (1541 AD.), but brief only in the Bābur period. It issued from a
Shī`a source, being commanded by Shāh Ismā`īl _Ṣafawī_'s son Bahrām.
Another work issuing also from a _Ṣafawī_ centre is Mīr Sikandar's
_Tārīkh-i-`ālam-arāī_, a history of Shāh `Abbas I, with an introduction
treating of his predecessors which was completed in 1025 AH. (1616 AD.).
Its interest lies in its outlook on Bābur's dealings with Shāh Ismā`īl.
A later source, brief only, is Firishta's _Tārīkh-i-firishta_, finished
under Jahāngīr in the first quarter of the 17th century.
Mr. Erskine makes frequent reference to Kh(w)āfī Khān's _Tārīkh_, a
secondary authority however, written under Aurangzīb, mainly based on
Firishta's work, and merely summarizing Bābur's period. References to
detached incidents of the period are found in Shaikh `Abdu'l-qādir's
_Tārīkh-i-badāyūnī_ and Mīr Ma`ṣūm's _Tārīkh-i-sind_.
_EVENTS OF THE UNCHRONICLED YEARS_
914 AH.-MAY 2ND 1508 TO APRIL 21ST 1509 AD.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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