What did Babur think of India, Hinduism, and the Rajputs? Who invited Babur to invade India? What aspects of India did Babur appreciate, and what aspects did he criticize? Read this to learn more about the first Mughal Emperor, Zahiruddin Muhammad Babur, and his insights on India.
Introduction
The first Mughal emperor Zahir ud-Din Muhammad Babur is a well-known polarizing figure in the Indo-Pak polity and politics. Even if not revered or extolled to a great extent, he is remembered positively by many Muslims for consolidating the Muslim rule in the subcontinent.
When it comes to non-Muslims, Babur is considered a villain by a small but influential minority of Brahmins and other upper-caste Hindus. However, the majority of the Bahujan backward communities (OBCs, SCs, STs, etc.), who make up over 85% of all Indians, are largely indifferent.
However some Bahujan-backward thinkers do credit Muslim rulers for deposing the rigid Hindu upper caste polities from India as this facilitated social reforms, anti-caste movements, and the rise of a powerful Jat, Gujjar, and Ahir peasantry, especially in the fertile Punjab and Ganga-Yamuna Doab regions which were earlier under the rigid grip of Brahmanical classes.
For instance, in the words of noted historian Satish Chandra, “The Brahmans had lost both in prestige and power following the defeat of the Rajput rulers and the establishment of the Turkish Sultanate. As a result, movements, such as the Nath Panthi movement challenging the caste system and the superiority of the Brahmans, had gained popularity”.
Babur on India and Hinduism
Babur was a keen observer. When he arrived in India, he did not fail in taking cognizance of the prevailing unjust social construct of the non-Muslims of India, especially the Hindus.
In the Hindustan chapter of Baburnama, he wrote that settled non-Muslims of India were divided into different castes under which everyone followed the occupation that had come down to him from his forefathers.
Having said that, he elaborately described the things he liked about India and the things he did not like.
“Hindustan is a country of few charms. Its people have no good looks; of social intercourse, paying and receiving visits there is none; of genius and capacity none; of manners none; in handicraft and work there is no form or symmetry, method or quality; there are no good horses, no good dogs, no grapes, musk-melons or first-rate fruits, no ice or cold water, no good bread or cooked food in the bazaars, no hot-baths, no colleges, no candles, torches or candlesticks. Peasants and people of low standing go about naked though it is a large country and has masses of gold and silver.”
Babur’s statement corroborates the great scale of inequity, discrimination, and injustice prevalent in India in those times as Allama Iqbal once said-
Shudra ke liye Hindustan ghamkhana hai;
Dard-e-Insani se is basti ka dil Begana hai.
Brahman sarshaar hai ab tak mai-e-pindaar mein;
Shamma-e-Gautam jal rahi hai mehfil-e-aghyaar mein.
English Translation: Alas, for the Shudras, India is a house of sorrow, and this land is indifferent to the sufferings of Humankind. The Brahmins are still drunk with the wine of Pride/Arrogance, and Buddha’s lamp is burning in the assembly halls of foreigners.
Distributing the Hoarded Wealth in Agra
After defeating Ibrahim Lodhi and Maharana Sanga, Babur became the master of India and to his disposal was the vast treasure of Agra-the capital city of Lodhis.
In the words of Babur, that wealth was distributed in the following manner-
“Suitable money-gifts were bestowed from the Treasury on the whole army, to every tribe there was-Afghan, Hazara, Arab, and Baloch, etc., to each according to its position. Every trader and student, indeed every man who had come with the army, took ample portion and share of bounteous gift and largess…we gave one Shahrukhi for every soul in the country of Kabul and the valley-side of Varsak, man and woman, bond and free, of age or non-age.”
Babur later distributed parts of the royal treasury amongst poor Indians as well apart from those mentioned above after his victory over Maharana Sanga.
And in distributing all of that hoarded wealth, Babur probably tried to act on Islamic traditions of not hoarding wealth but distributing it then and there.
“Narrated Anas (RA): “Some goods came to Allah’s Apostle from Bahrain. The Prophet ordered the people to spread them in the mosque. It was the biggest amount of goods Allah’s Apostle had ever received. He left for prayer and did not even look at it. After finishing the prayer, he sat by those goods and gave those to everybody he saw. Al-Abbas came to him and said, “Oh Allah’s Apostle! Give me (something) too, because I gave ransom for myself and Aqil. Allah’s Apostle told him to take. So he stuffed his garment with it and tried to carry it away but he failed to do so. He said, “Oh Allah’s Apostle! Order someone to help me in lifting it.” The Prophet refused. He then said to the Prophet: Will you please help me to lift it?” Allah’s Apostle refused. Then Al-Abbas threw some of it and tried to lift it (but failed). He again said, “Oh Allah’s Apostle Order someone to help me to lift it.” He refused. Al-Abbas then said to the Prophet: “Will you please help me to lift it?” He again refused. Then Al-Abbas threw some of it, and lifted it on his shoulders, and went away. Allah’s Apostle kept on watching him till he disappeared from his sight and was astonished at his greediness. Allah’s Apostle did not get up until the last coin was distributed.” (Sahih Bukhari, Volume 1, Book 8, Number 413)
Relations with Military
Even when Babur become the sovereign of India, the equation between him and his generals remained the same which exists amongst friends.
His military generals spoke in front of him without any hesitation and occasionally even made fun of him without any fear.
When some of his men decided to leave India after the defeat of Lodhis and Rajputs, he did not force them to stay but convinced them in the following manner-
“There is no supremacy and grip on the world without means and resources; without lands and retainers, sovereignty and command (Badshahi and Amiri) are impossible. By the labors of several years, by encountering hardship, by long travel, by flinging myself and the army into battle, and by deadly slaughter, we, through God’s grace, have beaten these masses of enemies in order that we might take their broad lands.”
“And now what force compels us, what necessity has arisen that we should without cause abandon countries taken at such risk of life? Was it for us to remain in Kabul the sport of harsh poverty? Henceforth, let no well-wisher of mine speak of such things! But let not those turn back from going who, weak in strong persistence, have set their faces to depart.”
Using such tactics, Babur was able to persuade most of his army to stay with him. Those who still wanted to leave were allowed to do so.
And when one of the departing commanders Khwaja Kalan made fun of Babur with a couplet (If safe and sound I cross the Sindh, blacken my face if I wish for Hind), Babur felt bad and wrote that it was ill-mannered for the said Khawaja Kalan to make fun of his stay in India. Babur also wrote his own prose in protest-
“Give a hundred thanks to Babur, that the generous Pardoner has given thee Sindh and Hind and many other kingdoms; Thou have not the strength for their heats if thou say, let me see the cold side Ghazni.”
Later, he again resorted to persuasion after his army became hesitant to fight with the more powerful army of Maharana Sanga and when his men had lost all their hopes and wanted to leave India for Kabul.
Who invited Babur to invade India?
According to most Historians, Babur came to India on the invitation and persuasion of Maharana Sanga (Sangram Singh) the ruler of Mewar and Daulat Khan Lodhi, the governor of Punjab.
For the unversed, Maharana Sanga was the grandfather of Maharana Pratap of Mewar.
But when Babur reached India, Maharana Sanga backtracked and refused to assist him. Nonetheless, Babur on his own was able to defeat the Lodhis and subsequently captured Delhi and Agra.
However, Babur did not forget the treachery of the Maharana and recorded his absence and betrayal in the following manner-
“While we were still in Kabul, this Rana Sanga had sent an envoy to testify his good wishes and proposed this plan: ‘If the honored Badshah comes near Dilli from that side (West), from this side we will move on Agra.’ But I defeated Ibrahim, took Dilli and Agra, and till now that Pagan has given no sign so ever of moving from his place.”
Historians are of the opinion that Maharana did not pay a visit to Babur because he was expecting Babur to leave India after plundering Delhi and Agra.
The Maharana probably had a pan-India imperial ambition and wanted to crown himself as the ruler of Delhi.
However, when Babur decided to stay in India, his plans were shattered. The impatient Maharana now decided to attack Babur himself after calculating that his military prowess was greater than that of Babur’s.
Conniving with some remaining Lodhi governors of East Indian and Central Provinces, he decided to march on Agra and decimate the Mughals.
Thus, Babur was soon surrounded in Agra from all sides as nearby provinces were captured by the rebels and they were encamping in Kannauj, a city not far from Agra.
Maharana was also able to capture areas as far as Kandhar, Afghanistan, and rapidly advanced towards Babur while ruining all the territories and forts on the way.
At this time, the fear of defeat and death gripped the Mughal army describing which he writes-
“Owing to the Pagan’s rapid advance, to the fighting in Biana (Haryana) and to the praise and laud of the pagans made by Shah Mansur, Qismati and the rest from Biana, people in the army showed sign of want of heart.”
It is very interesting to read his disapproval and castigation of those who spoke of bad omen in front of him and who predicted his defeat in the upcoming battle with Rana Sanga. Narrating about them he writes-
“At a time such as this, when, as has been mentioned, the army was anxious and afraid because of past occurrences and vicissitudes, wild words and opinions, this Muhammad Sharif-the ill-augurer, though he had not a helpful word to say to me, kept insisting to all he met that ‘Mars is in the west in these days so who comes into the fight from this (east) side will be defeated.’ Timid people who questioned the ill-augurer became the more shattered in the heart.”
Renounciation of Wine
In the previous section, we discussed that how Babur’s army was disenchanted by the landscape and weather of India and became afraid when it heard the frightful tales of rapidly advancing armies of the powerful Maharana Sanga and his allies.
Here one can draw an analogy with the armies of Alexander the Great who also had to abandon his dream of victory over India and had to return empty hand when his army was panicked by a similar fear.
Babur was also disappointed and sensed his defeat in the upcoming battle with the Maharana. At this time when he got succour from nowhere, he turned to his creator and sought refuge in Islam.
He decided to get himself rid of all sinful and forbidden acts in Islam. He had his gold and silver vessels distributed amongst needy persons and saints of the area. He also decided not to trim his beard and publicly renounced wine.
He writes-“That night and next day some 300 Begs (Army Commanders) and persons of the household, soldiers and not soldiers, renounced wine. What wine we had with us was poured on the ground. What Baba Dost had brought was ordered salted to make vinegar. At the place where the wine was poured upon the ground, a well was ordered to be dug, built up with stone and having an almshouse beside it.”
Babur’s opinion on Jihad
While preparing for the great war with Maharana Sanga, Babur also kept praying and seeking forgiveness from God for his sins and kept renouncing his evil deeds.
He writes that after some days of sorrow and repentance, he abandoned his evil practices one by one, and thus the gates of retrogression became closed for him. He writes that-
“An order was given that with the Holy War there should begin the still greater war which has to be waged against sensuality. In short, we declared with sincerity that we would subjugate our passions, and engraved on the tablet of my heart ‘I turn unto Thee with repentance, and I am the first of true believers’”
Having made the public resolution to abstain from wine, he writes-“the victorious servants, in accordance with the illustrious order, dashed upon the earth and destroyed the flagons and the cups, and other utensils made of gold and silver, whose brilliance were like the stars of the firmament. They dashed them in pieces, (and, God willing! Soon will be dashed the gods of the idolaters), and they distributed those fragments among the poor and needy.”
Firman of Equality
We know that for a substantial time during the early British rule, native Indians and Europeans were subject to different laws.
While the law applicable to Indians was harsh and brutal, the Europeans were subjected to better laws and often took advantage of that which resulted in the exploitation of Indians vis-a-vis Europeans.
Compared to this, Babar’s royal decrees were applicable equally to all under his command regardless of their nationalities or races. He writes-
“The proper course for all who shelter under the shade of the royal benevolence, whether they be Turk, Tajik, ‘Arab, Hindi, or Farsi (Persian), peasants or soldiers, of every nation or tribe of the sons of Adam, is to strengthen themselves by the tenets of religion, and to be full of hope and prayer for the dynasty which is linked with eternity, and to adhere to these ordinances, and not in any way to transgress them. It behooves all to act according to this Farman; they are to accept it as authentic when it comes attested by the Sign-Manual.”
There are many instances in Baburnama which show that Babur accorded equal respect and treatment to (Hindustani) Indian and Turk Amirs, commanders and generals, etc.
“On our return to camp, I summoned the Turk Amirs and the Amirs of Hindustan to a consultation about moving into the Pagan (Sanga)’s country; the plan was given up because of the little water and much heat on the road.”
On the same lines, he also discussed the battle plans with both of them. For instance, even during the Battle of Khanwa, he took the counsel of both Hindi and Turk Amirs.
“These armies appointed, we summoned the Turk amirs ‘ and the Hindustan amirs, and tossed the following matters in amongst them…”
All these instances show that Indians and Turks were treated at par ie Indian counsels were not subjugated to the foreign ones.
Battle of Khanwa
After winning the battle of sensuality and over self and submitting himself to the religion of Islam, Babur prepared for the great battle with Rana Sanga.
He writes that he had his camp laid out and strongly protected by ditch and carts (probably canons).
Only a few tents had been erected when news of enemy appearance was brought to him. He prayed for the mercy of God and wrote later-
“For every mercy a thanksgiving is due, and every thanksgiving is followed by mercy. To render full thanks is beyond men’s power; the mightiest are helpless to discharge their obligations. Above all, adequate thanks cannot be rendered for a benefit than which none is greater in the world and nothing is more blessed, in the world to come, to wit, victory over most powerful infidels and dominion over wealthiest heretics, ‘these are the unbelievers, the wicked!’ And in the eyes of the judicious, no blessing can be greater than this.”
Narrating about the strength of his enemies (ie Maharana Sanga and his allies), Babur writes-
“Ten powerful chiefs, each the leader of a pagan host, uprose in rebellion, as smoke rises, and linked themselves as though enchained to that perverse one (Maharana Sanga)…raised misery-freighted standards/flags and had many allies, and troops, and wide-extended lands. For instance, Salahuddin (a Rajput convert to Islam who later defected to Babur possibly on the day of the battle) had territory yielding 30,000 horse, Rawal Udai Singh of Bagar had 12,000, Medni Rai had 12,000, Hasan Khan of Mewat had 12,000, Baramal had 4,000, Narpat Hara had 7,000, Satravi of Kach (Cutch) had 6,000, Dharmdeo had 4,000, Bir Singh Deo had 4,000, and Mahmud Khan, son of Sikandar Lodhi, (though he possessed neither district nor pargana), had gathered 10,000 horses in hope of his re-attaining his supremacy. Thus, according to the calculation of Hind, 201,000 was the total of those sundered from salvation.”
“Describing the day of the battle, Babur writes,-“that haughty pagan, inwardly blind, and hardened of heart, having joined with other pagans, dark-fated and doomed to perdition, advanced to contend with the followers of Islam and to destroy the foundations of the law of the Prince of Men (Muhammad), on whom be God’s blessing! The protagonists of the royal forces fell, like divine destiny, on that one-eyed Dajjal (Maharana was blind from one eye) who, to understanding men, showed the truth of the saying”.
When Fate arrives, the eye becomes blind, and, setting before their eyes the scripture which says-‘Whosoever strives to promote the true religion, strives for the good of his own soul, acts on the precept to which obedience is due, and fight against infidels and hypocrites.’ (Al-Quran 29:5)”
Describing the Elephant filled army of Maharana Sanga, Babur wrote-
“Having these elephants, the wretched Hindus became proud, like the Lords of the Elephant”
Narrating about the situation of the Battle, Babur writes-
“The pagan right-wing made a repeated and desperate attack on the left-wing of the army of Islam, falling furiously on the holy warriors, possessors of salvation, but each time was made to turn back or, smitten with the arrows of victory, was made to descend into Hell, the house of perdition.”
He also quotes a Quranic verse here-“they shall be thrown to burn therein, and an unhappy dwelling shall it be.” (Al-Quran 14:33)
He further writes, “When signs were manifest of the victory of the Strivers and of the up-rearing of the standards of Islam, those accursed infidels and wicked unbelievers remained for one hour confounded. At length, their hearts abandoning life, they fell upon the right and left of our center.”
Their attack on the left was the more vigorous and there they approached furthest, but the holy warriors, their minds set on the reward, planted shoots of arrows in the field of the breast of each one of them, and, such being their gloomy fate, overthrew them. The absurd (Batil) Hindus, knowing their position perilous, dispersed like carded wool before the wind, and like moths scattered abroad. Mounds were made of the bodies of the slain, pillars of their heads.”
After his glorious victory over the powerful Maharana, Babur did not forget to thank God Almighty in the following manner-
“Now praise be to God, All-hearing, and All-wise, for victory is from God alone, the Mighty, the Wise.” (Quranic Verse)
He also wrote a couplet-
“For the sake of Islam, I wandered in the wilds, prepared for war with (mighty) pagans and Hindus, resolved myself to meet the martyr’s death. Thanks be to God! A Ghazi I became.”
After the battle was over, he consulted his Amirs (both Indian and Turks) on whether or not to move further into Sanga’s territory and abandoned the plan when advised against it due to little water and much heat on the road. In his words,
“On our return to camp, I summoned the Turk Amirs and the Amirs of Hind to a consultation about moving into the Pagan (Sanga)’s country; the plan was given up because of the little water and much heat on the road.”
To reiterate, this also shows that Indians and Turks were treated at par i.e. Indian counsels were not subjugated to the foreign ones.
Relations with Rajputs
As discussed earlier, Babur came to India on the invitation and persuasion of Maharana Sanga and others.
But when Babur arrived in India and Sanga didn’t turn up, Babur criticized him and when he was informed about Sanga’s aggression, he became furious and declared him his nemesis.
He also never forgave him for his betrayal and treachery. In Baburnama, Babur referred to Maharana Sanga as an arrogant, haughty, infidel, pagan, perverse, etc.
He writes that “when the flashing-swords of our Islam-guarded soldiers had illuminated the land of Hindustan with rays of victory and conquest and the Divine favor caused our standards to be raised in the territories of Dilli, Agra, Jaunpur, Bihar, etc., and when many chiefs, both pagans, and Muslims submitted to our generals and showed sincere obedience, Rana Sanga-the pagan (who in earlier times was submissive) was puffed up with pride and collected an army of accursed heretics, thus gathering a rabble-rout of whom some wore the accursed tilak, janeu (Brahmanical thread) on the neck, and some had in the skirt the calamitous thorn of apostasy.”
Babur has also labeled Maharana Sanga as the oppressor of Muslims. He writes-“Infidel standards dominated some 200 towns in the territories of Islam; in them, mosques and shrines fell into ruin; the wives and children of the Faithful (Muslims) were carried away as captives. So greatly had his (Sanga’s) forces grown that, according to the Hindu calculation by which one lakh of revenue should yield 100 horsemen, and one crore of revenue, 10,000 horsemen, the territories subject to the Pagan (Sanga) yielding 10 crores, should yield him 100,000 horse. Many noted pagans who hitherto had not helped him in battle, now swelled his ranks out of hostility to the people of Islam.”
Maharana Sanga was later poisoned by his own men who held his plans of renewing the fight with Babur to be suicidal.
Taking about the capture of Chanderi Fort from Medni Rai (an ally of Maharana Sanga), Babur narrates,
“Not even as much as this did the pagans fight in the citadel when a number of our men swarmed up, they (Rajputs) fled in haste. In a little while, they came out again, quite naked, and renewed the fight; they put many of our men to flight; they made them fly over the ramparts; some they cut down and killed. Why they had gone so suddenly off the walls seems to have been that they had taken the resolve of those who give up a place as lost;
They put all their ladies and beauties to death, then, looking themselves to die, came naked out to fight. Our men attacking, each one from his post, drove them from the walls whereupon 2 or 200 of them entered Medini Rao’s house where almost all killed one another in this way-one having taken a stand with a sword, the rest eagerly stretched out the neck for his blow.
Thus went the greater number to hell. By God’s grace, this renowned fort was captured in 2 or 3 garis (cir. an hour), without drum and standard, with no hard fighting done.”
He clearly was not impressed either by the fighting skills of the Rajputs or their sacrifice and collective suicide. Note, that suicide is prohibited in Islam.
Love for Gardens and Canals
After his victory over Rana Sanga, there was no one else to challenge Babar and he peacefully settled in the Lodhi capital city Agra and started rebuilding and modifying it according to his taste apart from dispatching his Fathnama (letters of victory) and gifts to his faraway relatives and friends in central Asia.
Babur had a great taste in architecture and gardening. He disliked the asymmetrical manner in which settlements were built in India and he was also disappointed by the lack of running water. He writes that-
“The beginning was made with the large well from which water comes for the Hot-bath, and also with the piece of ground where now stand the tamarind trees and the octagonal tank. After that came the large tank with its enclosure; after that the tank and verandah in front of the outer residence. After that the private residences with its garden and various dwellings and after that the Hot-bath. Then in that charmless and disorderly Hind, plots of gardens were seen laid out with order and symmetry, with suitable borders and parterres in every corner, and in every border rose and narcissus in perfect arrangement.”
He also ordered that a large chambered well be constructed in an empty space inside the fort, which was lying between erstwhile Sultan Ibrahim Lodhi’s residence and the ramparts of the Fort. But the well could be completed only after his victory in the intense battle of Khanwa with Rana Sanga.
So this was the persona of Zahiruddin Muhammad Babar-the first Mughal Emperor of India. In his own words-
For the sake of Islam, I wandered in the wilds, prepared for war with (Mighty) pagans and (Upper Caste) Hindus, resolved myself to meet the martyr’s death. Thanks be to God! A Ghazi I became.
Zahiruddin Muhammad Babur [Baburnama, Volume II (Late March 1527)]
Say, “Surely my prayer, my worship, my life, and my death are all for Allah—Lord of all worlds. Holy Quran 6:162
Works cited
- Holy Quran
- Sahih al-Bukhari
- The Baburnama Volume I and II (Translated into English by Annette Susannah Beveridge
Disclaimer:
This post in no way is meant to idolize Babur or endorse the Mughal system of governance as an ideal one. Note, that Islam itself prohibits and invalidates Monarchy and hereditary succession as far as governance and rulership are concerned.
However, this is not to say that he was not well cultured in manners and characters as a person and individual as Girish Shahane writes-“He was brave, honest, generous, convivial, considerate to his wives, children, and relatives, an acute judge of character, intellectually curious, piercingly rational, though given to bursts of endearing sentimentality, a man of letters, and a lover of nature.”