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
This item of work, a harmless attempt of Salim (_i.e_. Jahangir
Padshah; 1605-28) to provide the ancestral autobiography with
certain stop-gaps, has caused much needless trouble and
discussion without effecting any useful result. It is this:—In
his own autobiography, the _Tuzuk-i-jahangiri s.a_. 1607, he
writes of a Babur-nama Codex he examined, that it was all in
Babur's "blessed handwriting" except four portions which were
in his own and each of which he attested in Turki as so being.
Unfortunately he did not specify his topics; unfortunately also
no attestation has been found to passages reasonably enough
attributable to his activities. His portions may consist of the
"Rescue-passage" (App. D) and a length of translation from the
_Akbar-nāma_, a continuous part of its Babur chapter but broken
up where only I have seen it, _i.e._ the Bukhara compilation,
into (1) a plain tale of Kanwa (1527), (2) episodes of Babur's
latter months (1529)—both transferred to the first person—and
(3) an account of Babur's death (December 26th, 1530) and
Court.
Jahangir's occupation, harmless in itself, led to an imbroglio
of Langlés with Erskine, for the former stating in the
_Biographie Universelle_ art. Babour, that Babour's
Commentaries "_augmentés par Jahangir_" were translated into
Persian by `Abdu'r-rahim. Erskine made answer, "I know not on
what authority the learned Langlés hazarded this assertion,
which is certainly incorrect" (_Memoirs_, Preface, p. ix). Had
Langlés somewhere met with Jahangir's attestations? He had
authority if he had seen merely the statement of 1607, but
Erskine was right also, because the Persian translation
contains no more than the unaugmented Turki text. The royal
stop-gaps are in Kehr's MS. and through Ilminski reached De
Courteille, whence the biting and thorough analysis of the
three "Fragments" by Teufel. Both episodes—the Langlés and the
Teufel ones—are time-wasters but they are comprehensible in
the circumstances that Jahangir could not foresee the
consequences of his doubtless good intentions.
If the question arise of how writings that had had place in
Jahangir's library reached Bukhara, their open road is through
the Padshah's correspondence (App. Q and references), with a
descendant of Ahrari in whose hands they were close to
Bukhara.[19]
It groups scattered information to recall that Salim (Jahangir)
was `Abdu'r-rahim's ward, that then, as now, Babur's
Autobiography was the best example of classic Turki, and that
it would appeal on grounds of piety—as it did appeal on some
sufficient ground—to have its broken story made good. Also that
for three of the four "portions" Abu'l-fazl's concise matter
was to hand.
IX
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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