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THE GARDEN OF THE EIGHT PARADISES
BRILL’S
INNER ASIAN LIBRARY
edited by
NICOLA DI COSMO
DEVIN DEWEESE
CAROLINE HUMPHREY
VOLUME 10
THE GARDEN OF THE
EIGHT PARADISES
B§bur and the Culture of Empire in Central Asia,
Afghanistan and India (1483-1530)
BY
STEPHEN F. DALE
BRILL
LEIDEN•BOSTON
2004
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Dale, Stephen Frederic.
The garden of the eight paradises : Babur and the culture of Empire in Central Asia,
Afghanistan and India (1483-1530)
p. cm. — (Brill’s inner Asian library ; 10)
Includes bibliographical references and index
ISBN 90-04-13707-6
1. Babur, Emperor of Hindustan, 1483-1530. 2. Asia, Central—History. 3.
Afghanistan—History. 4. India—Kings and rulers—Biography. 5.
India—History—1000-1765. I. Title. II. Series.
DS461.1.D35 2004
954.02’52’092—dc22
[B]
2003063901
ISSN 1566-7162
ISBN 90 04 13707 6
© Copyright 2004 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written
permission from the publisher.
Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal
use is granted by Brill provided that
the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright
Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910
Danvers MA 01923, USA.
Fees are subject to change.
printed in the netherlands
v
PREFACE
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface ........................................................................................ vii
Maps and Illustrations................................................................ ix
Abbreviations.............................................................................. xi
A Note on Transliteration .......................................................... xiii
Introduction............................................................................... 1
Chapter One. Emperors and Individuals.................................. 15
Chapter Two. The TÊmårid Denouement in Mawarannahr.... 67
Chapter Three. B§bur’s Cultural Personality............................ 135
Chapter Four. The P§dsh§h of Kabul....................................... 187
Chapter Five. Poetry and Autobiography.................................. 247
Chapter Six. The Conquest of Hindustan................................ 291
Chapter Seven. Strangers in a Strange Land............................ 355
Chapter Eight. The Rewards of Empire, the Loneliness of Exile 403
Epilogue: B§bur and the TÊmårid Renaissance ........................ 459
Bibliography .............................................................................. 473
Glossary..................................................................................... 495
Index.......................................................................................... 501
i
PREFACE
vii
PREFACE
PREFACE
Writing a biography of ZahÊr al-DÊn Muhammad B§bur has meant
relying on generations of scholars, the help of contemporaries and
the kindness and tolerance of friends. This biography would not
have been possible first of all, were it not for the publication of
scholarly editions and translations of B§bur’s remarkable autobiog-
raphy. Three works in particular have been especially important.
They are: the critical edition compiled by Professor E. J. Mano of
Kyoto University, the first English translation of B§bur’s original
TurkÊ text by Annette Susannah Beveridge, the self-taught, late-
Victorian scholar, and the edited Turkish translation of Reâit
Rahmeti Arat. Beyond these textual foundations I am especially
indebted to the scholarship of a group of late Soviet-era scholars,
in particular A. Azimdzhanova, I. V. Stebleva, O. D. Chekhovich
and Elena A. Davidovich. I first read B§bur’s poetry in Azimd-
zhanova’s and Stebleva’s Russian translations, and I have greatly
benefited from the numismatic and social-economic studies of
Davidovich and Chekhovich. Regarding the TÊmårids in particu-
lar, I have been educated by the scholarship and conversations with
Beatrice F. Manz, Jo-Ann Gross, Jürgen Paul and Maria E.
Subtelny. I have also made repeated use of Wheeler M. Thackston’s
valuable translations of B§bur’s text and that of B§bur’s Mongol
cousin, Haydar MÊrz§ Dughlat.
Over the course of many years I have been especially fortunate
to benefit from the expertise of several scholars, especially Thomas
T. Allsen, Cornell H. Fleischer and Peter B. Golden, who all have
patiently contributed to the knowledge of someone trained prima-
rily in Indo-Islamic studies. I have had innumerable conversations
about Central Asia with Tom Allsen, who also has generously sup-
plied me with dozens of references and/or articles and books that
reflect his own encylopedic knowledge of Mongol and post-Mongol
Central Asia. I first began studying Turkish with Cornell Fleischer,
who also, early in my work, presented me with a splendid copy of
Arat’s Turkish translation of B§bur’s autobiography. In many con-
versations and in his writings Peter Golden has shared his own
exceptional knowledge of Turks and Turkish history. Professor
viii
PREFACE
Dona Straley, the scholarly Middle East Librarian at Ohio State
University, has also generously supported this work with her own
expertise.
Many friends have openly shared my enthusiasm for this project
over a course of many years. One of the earliest was Carole J. Dale,
who among other things, organized the party to commemorate
B§bur’s 500th birth anniversary on the steppes of Central Ohio.
Alam and Parwin Payind have enriched my own knowledge of
Afghan culture—and cuisine—during many conversations and din-
ners. Beth Russell has graciously listened—on probably too many
occasions—to discussions of arcane aspects of B§bur’s life and Cen-
tral Asian, Afghan and Indian history. A number of Uzbek friends
and colleagues were wonderfully welcoming and helpful during my
most recent trip to Uzbekistan. These include Professor Shermatov
Akram of Samarqand State University, Majlis Deputy and Head of
the Babur International Fund, Zakhirjon Mashrabov, Dr. Kozim-
jon Turdaliev of the Andijan Ministry of Foreign Economic Rela-
tions and Professor Saifuddin Jalilov of Andijan State University.
Mr. Ted Elder of the Andijan Development Center also went out
of his way to help me when I stayed in Andijan. Finally, Anarbaev
Abdulhamid of the Uzbek Institute of Archeology kindly took the
time to explain the excavations at the site of the ancient city of
Akhsi.
I tentatively began this project with a generous grant from the
Social Science Research Council that allowed me to make my first
trip to then Soviet Uzbekistan. Later I had the opportunity to study
B§bur’s poetry during a year at the Woodrow Wilson Center in
Washington D.C., where the friendship of ”umit Ganguly and
Tapan Raychaudhuri was especially meaningful. A subsequent fel-
lowship at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton gave me
the time and support to write early drafts of several chapters of the
manuscript. The TÊmårid seminar held at the Institute was an es-
pecially valuable forcing ground for some of the ideas in this biog-
raphy. The College of Humanities at the Ohio State University has
given me research leave on several occasions and a grant that sup-
ported the publication of illustrations in this volume. The maps
were drawn by Mr. Ron Mclean of Ohio State University.
I have dedicated this volume to Lillian Li, whose encourage-
ment, criticism, warmth and laughter have meant more than I can
adequately express.
ix
PREFACE
MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS
A. Maps
1. The Middle East, Central Asia and India
2. The Ferghanah Valley
3. Central Asia, Afghanistan and Northwestern India
4. Kabul and Hindustan
B. Illustrations
1. Photograph: View from ancient Akhsi southeast toward
Andijan
2. Photograph: Går-i AmÊr: TÊmår’s tomb in Samarqand
3. Photograph: Madrasah of Ulugh Beg in Samarqand
4. Photograph: Yånas Khan’s tomb in Tashkent
5. Miniature: Review of Mongol Yak Tail Standards in
Ferghanah, June 1502.
6. Miniature: B§bur orders a stream straightened at Istalif,
sometime after September 1504. Illustrating the Kabul
gazetteer.
7. Photograph: The Harat fortress
8. Photograph: Masjid-i J§mi#: Friday mosque of Harat
9. Miniature: B§bur visits female relatives at Husayn Bay-
qara’s madrasah in Harat. December 1506.
