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Thread: Some of the sources of Mughal History

  1. #1

    Some of the sources of Mughal History

    The Mughal empire followed the fall of Ibrahim Lodi in the First Battle of Panipat at the hands of Babur in 1526 A.D. Their lineage ended with the transportation of last of the Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah II to Rangoon in 1858 where after eight years he died as a prisoner of the British.

    This long period of Indian History is very interesting to understand various facets of the life and culture of the people of India during those times. The life and letters of the period could be read with the help of a number of sources available in the form of various memoirs, official correspondence, historical books and sketches in different languages intact even today.

    One such source of information is Babur's memoir known as Tuzuk-i-Baburi. Since he was the first Mughal to establish his rule oveer a vasst tract of North-western India, we would like to share what Babur has written and how the historians evluate his book as a source of history.

    Kindly share solid historical facts only to make the exercise worth undertaking.
    Last edited by DrRajpalSingh; November 5th, 2015 at 11:07 AM.
    History is best when created, better when re-constructed and worst when invented.

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  3. #2


    According to Lane-Poole, "If ever there were a case when the testimony of a single historical document, unsupported by other evidence, should be accepted as sufficient proof, it is the case with Babur's Memoirs. No reader of this prince of autobiographers can doubt his honesty or his competence as witness and chronicler."

    But there are others also who accept this view with a pinch of salt.
    Last edited by DrRajpalSingh; November 5th, 2015 at 07:26 AM.
    History is best when created, better when re-constructed and worst when invented.

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  5. #3
    Any person write himself about him/her will always write whatever suits to that person, same may be the case of Babur, after all he was not a samaj sevak, how can it be believed that whatever he wrote was correct from actual happening


    Quote Originally Posted by DrRajpalSingh View Post
    Before discussing the contents of this memoir, let us first know what historians across globe say about its worth. Some of the historians favour putting full reliance on what Babur has written in his Tuzuk-i-Baburi originally written in Turkish, latter translated into Persian and styled as Baburnama. In subsequent times it has been translated into French, English and many other languages. On the instruction of Akbar, Baburnamah was translated into Persian in 1589 by one of his nobles, Mirza Abdur-Rahim, who was also Bairam Khan's son. Bairam Khan was the precpter to Mughal emperor Akbar. It was translated into English for the first time by Leyden and Erskine in 1826. The second English translation was made in 1905 by Mrs. Beveridge. Baburnamah was rendered into French by Pavet de Courteille in 1871.

    What Lane-Poole has to say about its value as historical document is :

    According to Lane-Poole, "If ever there were a case when the testimony of a single historical document, unsupported by other evidence, should be accepted as sufficient proof, it is the case with Babur's Memoirs. No reader of this prince of autobiographers can doubt his honesty or his competence as witness and chronicler."

    But there are others also who accept this view with a pinch of salt.

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  7. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by krishdel View Post
    Any person write himself about him/her will always write whatever suits to that person, same may be the case of Babur, after all he was not a samaj sevak, how can it be believed that whatever he wrote was correct from actual happening
    This is the purpose of the thread to find out what Babur's Memoir contain and what were the conditions prevalent at his time. Kindly contribute to prove his autobiography as true representation of factual position or false portrayal of events with evidence to prove either side.
    History is best when created, better when re-constructed and worst when invented.

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  9. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by DrRajpalSingh View Post
    Kindly contribute to prove his autobiography as true representation of factual position or false portrayal of events with evidence to prove either side.
    Very few historical documents (if any at all), are complete falsehoods, or complete truths. Unless we are dealing with something specific, which can be corroborated or contradicted with some other historical document/proof or its contemporary outcome, I fail to understand how we can give sweeping statements either way. So I don't understand how his autobiography can be termed "as true representation of factual position or false portrayal of events" - so unless somebody has some ultra motive behind it, at best only portions of it can be deemed to be one way or another (though even that is doubtful).

  10. #6
    Mughal Official correspondence is available in abundance in original form regarding the Mughal government in National Archives of India, New Delhi and some other repositories.

    Without reading it, none can understand various facets of government and society of that important part of Indian History.
    Last edited by DrRajpalSingh; November 5th, 2015 at 07:36 AM.
    History is best when created, better when re-constructed and worst when invented.

  11. #7
    Another source of information on the issue is the correspondence passed between Vakils/ Waqia-navisas posted at Delhi/Agra Mughal court and their masters/manasbdars.
    History is best when created, better when re-constructed and worst when invented.

  12. #8
    If somebody does some search and provide online links of these records then we can use them in history. While searching Shekhawati farmers movement I found some such records have been made available online by the British Libraries.
    Laxman Burdak

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