Zaheeruddin Babar

 Successive failures encouraged the first Mughal emperor to head for India and establish the Mughal Empire there

While Zahiruddin Muhammad Babur (1530-1483), the founder of the Mughal Empire, is seen and described as a great conqueror, he is also considered a great artist and a great writer in many circles. Babur historian Stephen Dale has written that it becomes difficult to decide whether Babur is more important as a king or as a poet and writer.

Babur is considered as an invader, robber, usurper, anti-Hindu, cruel and oppressive king among those who have a certain ideology of the majority Hindu class in India today. Not limited to this, the ruling party of India looks against everything attributed to the Mughal Empire, not just Babur.

About five hundred years ago, Babur founded an empire that is unique in itself. By defeating Ibrahim Lodhi in the First Battle of Panipat in 1526, he established an empire in India which at its height held more than a quarter of the world's wealth and covered almost the entire subcontinent. It covered Afghanistan.

But Babur's life is defined as constant struggle. Babur's greatest introduction to the world today is his own biography. This work of his is known today as 'Babar Nama' or 'Tazak Babri'.



Nishat Manzar, head of the history department at Delhi's Central University, Jamia Millia Islamia, says that Babur's life can be divided into two parts: one in the Marwan Her region of the Sehun River (Sir Darya) and the Jehun River (Amu Darya). The middle covers the struggle for supremacy in Central Asia and the second period is very short but very important in that in just four years he founded a great empire in India which lasted for almost three hundred years.
Moin Ahmed Nizami, a fellow in South Asian Islam at the Oxford Center for Islamic Studies, told the BBC that Babur, who was of Timurid and Genghisian descent, had inherited a small state called Ferghana from his father Umar Sheikh Mirza. Neighboring states were governed by their relatives. "He even lost his homeland and spent most of his life in desert trekking and adventure," he explains. His efforts to regain his homeland continued to fail, until circumstances forced him to turn towards India. Babur, in his autobiography, recounting his successive failures at that time, wrote: ''As long as I stayed in Tashkent, I suffered a lot of hardship and suffering. Neither the country was in possession nor was it expected to be found. The servants often left, those who were left behind could not be with me again due to poverty.
He further writes that 'Finally, with such wandering and this homelessness, I got fed up and tired of life. I said in my heart that it is better to go here than to live with such harshness. Hide so that no one sees. Thinking that it is better to go as far away as possible, where no one would recognize me, than to live in such a disgraceful state in front of people, I decided to go to Khata (Northern China). Since my childhood, I was fond of traveling abroad, but could not go because of the empire and relations. Moin Ahmad Nizami said that he had written such things elsewhere. In one place it is written 'is there anything left to see, what irony of fate and persecution is left to see now.'
Moin Ahmad Nizami said that he had written such things elsewhere. In one place it is written 'is there anything left to see, what irony of fate and persecution is left to see now.' In a poem, he has expressed his condition, the meaning of which is that 'Now I have neither friends nor family nor property, I don't want even for a moment. It was my decision to come here but now I can't even go back.


Dr. Premqal Kadyrov has portrayed Babur's exciting and turbulent situation in his biographical novel 'Zahiruddin Babar'. In one place he writes that 'Babur stopped for a while to catch his breath but he continued his speech. Everything is mortal. Even great empires crumble as soon as their founders rise from the world. But the poet's words live for centuries. He once engraved one of his poems on a stone after mentioning Jamshid Badshah, which is now in a museum in Tajikistan. He interprets their situation.
This shows that he was not one to give up. Babur had the power of a mountain spring that would burst through the rocky ground and flow from a height with such force that it would irrigate the whole earth. So Premkul Kadyrov has described this situation in one place like this. At that time Babur was very amused by the sight of the powerful spring. Babur thought that the water in this spring might be coming from Parikh Glacier. This meant that the water had to go much deeper than the depths of the gorges between the two mountains in order to come down from Parikh and then rise up to the top of the sky. Where was the fountain of water getting so much power for it? Babur found it very appropriate and good to compare his own life with such a fountain.
Babur to India
There are various theories as to how Babur's attention was drawn to India, but Prof. Nishat Manzar says that his attention to India was very reasonable as there was only one thing to levy in Kabul and the management of the government. And Ansram was in dire need of wealth, so Babur had no other option but to turn towards India. So we see that before crossing the river Indus, they had already invaded the western part of India several times and returned to Kabul after getting booty from there.
He says that the way Babur begins his biography cannot be expected from a twelve-year-old boy with such courage and determination. But Babur's blood included valor along with rule. Nishat Manzar says that he was drawn here by both fate and necessity, otherwise all his initial efforts were aimed at consolidating the kingdom of his forefathers in Central Asia to the north and establishing a great empire. He also said that it is a separate subject of debate whether Rana Sanga or Daulat Khan Lodhi invited him to attack the Delhi Sultanate or not but it is certain that we judge the reign of the Sultans by today's democratic values. Can not do it.
. In that era, whoever went to a place and was victorious, both the people and the elites of that place would accept him and not consider him as an invader.
But about Babur's dream of India, LF Rushbrook has written in his book 'Zahiruddin Muhammad Babar' that Babur decided to stay in a village called Dekhkat after being exhausted. He adapted himself to the environment in a sincere way. Abandoned all his pretensions and stayed as a simple guest in the house of the village headman (headman). Here lay an antecedent which fate had decreed would have a profound influence on the shaping of Babur's future life. Muqaddam's age would be seventy or eighty years, but his mother was 111 years old and she was still alive. Some relatives of this old lady went to India with Timur Beg's army. This was in her mind and she used to tell the story.
The stories he told of the exploits of Babur's elders excited the imagination of the young prince, and there can be no doubt that from that time he dreamed of renewing Timur's conquests in India. remained constantly in the background of the mind.' Rahma Javed Rashid, assistant professor in the history department of Jamia Millia University, says that it is known to all that Babur was from the fifth generation of the Timur family from his father's side, while from his mother's side, he was the 14th generation from the great conqueror Genghis Khan. were from Thus the blood of two great conquerors of Asia was involved in Babur which gave him superiority over other regional rulers.
Education and Training
Babur was born in Andjan, the capital of Ferghana, and was educated there. Prof. Nishat Manzar says that although both his ancestors, Amjad Genghis Khan and Timur Ling, were not literate, they were well aware that without education Jahan Bani is a difficult matter. So he gave his children higher education. Babur's education also started at the age of four years and four days according to Islamic tradition. He further said that the people who educated Genghis Khan's children belonged to the Uyghur nation, which today is in trouble in China's Xinjiang province, but they were considered the most literate in the Middle Ages.
Similarly, Timur Beg hired Chaghatai Turks for the education of his children, who were considered to be very literate in their time and who, despite the dominance of Arabic and Persian, gave their language a literary status.
When I asked him how he was able to become a king at such a young age and in so many wars and battles, how did he achieve this position in the field of knowledge and skills, he said that wherever Babur went, his teachers also accompanied him. And he liked to mingle with all kinds of people and especially patronized poets like Ali Sher Nawai. He said that the open manner in which Babur described himself was not about any other king. He has mentioned everything up to his marriage, love, drinking, desert climbing, repentance and his heart condition. Stephen Dale in his book 'Garden of Eight Paradise' i.e. 'Bagh Hasht Behesht' has described Babur's prose as 'inspirational'.And it is written about as directly as it is common to write 500 years later or as it is encouraged to write today. He also mentions how he had corrected his son Humayun on this and wrote that 'the subject gets lost in your writing' and therefore advised him to write directly. The well-known Urdu poet Ghalib invented the method of writing in Urdu almost three hundred years later and of which he was proud, such clear and simple prose was written by Babur before him for his successors.
A reading of Babur Nama reveals that his first marriage was with his cousin Aisha, who gave birth to a daughter who did not survive even 40 days, but Babur had no affection for his own Begum. He has written that there was a boy in the Urdu market. Babri name in which Hum name also had a match. These days I developed a strange attachment to him
But the situation was that if Babri ever came in front of me, I would not be able to look at him out of shame. I wish I could meet him and talk to him. Anxiety was such a state of heart that I could not even thank him for coming. This is where he could bring the flock to the language of not coming and who had the power to forcefully call him.
This bait was perfect for me. In those days, such a force of love and extreme youth and madness prevailed that sometimes he used to walk barefoot in the neighborhoods, gardens and gardens. There was no regard for oneself or others, nor concern for oneself or others. By the way, Babur's most beloved wife was Mahim Begum, from whose womb Humayun was born, while Gulbadan Begum, Hindal, Askari and Kamran were born from other wives.
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Professor Nishat Manzar says that Babur lived an ascetic life for 21 years but then he started drinking alcohol with Arbab Nishat. So there is a mention of drunken women in their gatherings and Babur has not tried to hide the mention of it. He also writes about his father that he had a habit of drinking alcohol and started consuming drugs, while it is known about Humayun that he was addicted to eating opium. Nishat Manzar explains that when Babur repented from alcohol, that was his strategy. Before him was India's greatest warrior, Rana Sanga, who had never been defeated in any battle before. Babur's army was reduced to half after the battle of Panipat and there came a stage during the war when Babur was facing defeat.So he first gave a fiery speech and then repented. Some scholars believe that because of Babur's true repentance, Allah granted Mughals a three hundred year empire in India. But Professor Rizwan Qaiser, a history teacher at Jamia Millia Islamia, says that this may be a religious explanation of Babur's action, but its historical status is not because it cannot be proven in any way, but it can be said that Babur did Must have used religious fervor to win the war. Earlier, when Babur had received support from the king of Iran to recover his native land of Ferghana and called himself a Shia, a great scholar of that time had criticized Babur very much and for his opposition. They came down.
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Professor Nishat also said that Babur used the word 'kafir' for his enemy Muslim rulers in many places and cursed them. However, Babur has mentioned his repentance like this: 'I had ordered wine from Kabul and Baba Dost Suji brought it on three rows of camels full of wine. In the meantime, Muhammad Sharif astrologer spread the word that at this time Mars star is in the west and this is inauspicious and therefore there will be defeat. This thing shook the hearts of my army.
It was the 23rd of Jumadi al-Thani, it was a Tuesday, and I suddenly thought why not repent with alcohol. With this intention, I repented of alcohol. He broke all the gold and silver vessels of wine. And all the alcohol that was present in the camp at that time was blown away. He distributed the gold and silver from the wine vessels among the poor. My colleague As also supported me in this work. On hearing the news of my repentance, three persons among my fellow nobles repented that night. Since Baba Dost had brought many casks of wine from Kabul loaded on many camels, and this wine was plentiful, instead of blowing it, he added salt to it so that it would take the form of vinegar. At the place where I repented with wine and poured wine into pits, I repented there A stone was installed as a memorial and a building was constructed. 'I had also made up my mind that if Allah would give victory to Rana Sanga, I would waive all kinds of taxes in my kingdom. I felt it necessary to announce this apology and ordered the editors to issue decrees of this article and to spread its fame far and wide. 'There was disorder in the army due to the large number of the enemy, so I gathered the whole army together and gave a speech: 'Whoever has come into this world must die. Life is in God's hands, so death should not be feared. Swear to me in the name of Allah that you will not turn your back when you see death in front of you and will continue fighting as long as you live.' My speech had a great impact. This invigorated the army.The battle was frozen and finally I was victorious. This victory took place in 1527.
Tolerance in the personality of Babur

Babur is accused of invading India and destroying temples, converting Hindus to Islam by force, while his grandson Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar is called 'Salh Kal' and religious tolerance is considered part of him. But Saifuddin Ahmed, assistant professor in the history department of Delhi University, says that historians and political experts have often looked at Akbar and Ashoka as a strong ruler and highlighted his importance. Both these figures are considered as the dynasties of empire building in the long history of India, while King Babur is infamous for demolishing a temple and building a mosque in Ayodhya.
He adds that Babur's will, which he created for his son and successor Humayun, is a fine example of the political ideology that evolved in Khorasan. Babar points out several issues that today's political parties completely ignore, or neglect to take into account. Babur did not have the chance to stay long in India, but his natural intelligence soon made him a character, and the will he wrote for Humayun shows his justice and tact.'
Babur wrote: 'My son, first of all, don't do politics in the name of religion, don't give any place to religious prejudice in your heart and do full justice to all people while taking care of the religious sentiments and religious customs of the people. Saifuddin Ahmed said that Babur's theory is called secularism today. He further said that Babur advised not to create tension in the ideology of national relations and wrote: 'Especially avoid cow-slaughter so that it will earn you a place in the hearts of the people and thus they will return to you through the chain of favor and gratitude. Be submissive.'
According to Saifuddin Ahmad, the third thing Babur said was that 'You should not demolish the place of worship of any nation and always do full justice so that the relations between the king and the subjects are friendly and there is peace and order in the country.' Fourthly, he said that 'Islam would be better propagated by the sword of kindness than by the sword of persecution.'' Apart from this, Babur advised to ignore the Shia-Sunni differences and the people in the name of caste. He asked to avoid internal strife, otherwise it will damage the unity of the country and the rulers will soon lose their power.
According to Saifuddin, Babur also said that 'consider the different characteristics of your subjects like the different seasons of the year so that the government and the people can avoid different diseases and weaknesses.' Professor Nishat Manzar said that the fact is that Babur's heart was as wide as India and he believed in Jihad continuously. His interest in nature and the construction of gardens in India ushered in a new era, the culmination of which we see in the gardens of Jahangir and the construction of Shah Jahan.
Religion was very much involved in Babur's life and while describing many people he does not forget to mention that he was a prayerful person or that he started his journey at such and such prayer time and offered such and such prayer there.

          Tomb of Babur in Kabul 
Although they used to inquire about astrologers and astrologers, they were far from superstition. So, in his account of Kabul, Babur has written that 'Among the elders here was Mullah Abdul Rahman. He was a scholar and used to read all the time. He died in the same situation. People say that there is a shrine in Ghazni, if you pray on it, it starts shaking. I went and saw it and found the grave moving. When I found out, I found out that the neighbors there are clever. A net is made over the grave and when they walk on the net it vibrates. And by its shaking, the grave also seems to be shaking. I uprooted this trap and made a dome.
There are other such incidents in the Baburnama, but the death of Babur is a very spiritual event in itself. Gulbadan Banu has described it in detail how Humayun's condition was deteriorating so Babur circumambulated his bed and offered obeisance. She writes that it used to happen here, but Baba Janam asked for Humayun's life in exchange for his own life, so it happened that Humayun became good and Babar Alil and a great conqueror bid farewell to the world on December 26, 1530. Said and left behind countless questions.