Humayun-Nama
| Author: |
Gullbadan Begum Bint-e-Babar Badsha
|
| Publisher: |
Sang-e meel Publications |
Preface
Description:
Humayun, the second Mughal Emperor lost the kingdom that his Kabul born father Babur had established in India in the year.
During the tenth year of his rule, in 1540, Humayun, who had a tendency to be complacent and lazy, lost his empire to Sher Khan Sur, an upstart from Bihar. With only his close family, Humayun first fled to Lahore, and then later to Kabul. With his entourage of his pregnant wife, one female attendant and a few good men Humayun fled. He was in exile for the next fifteen years in Afghanistan and Persia.
One of Humayun’s sisters, Gulbadan Begum had traveled to India when her father Babur had made substantial gains and
established a kingdom. She was six years old then and later lived in Kabul again during the years when Humayun had fled
Delhi. Her life, like all the other Mughal women of the harem, was intricately intertwined with three Mughal kings – her father Babur, brother Humayun and nephew Akbar. Two years after Humayun re-established the Delhi Empire, she accompanied other Mughal women of the harem back to Agra at the behest of Akbar, who had begun his rule.
Gulbadan Begum was commissioned by her nephew Akbar to chronicle the story of her brother Humayun. Akbar was fond of his aunt and knew of her storytelling skills. It was fashionable for the Mughals to engage writers to document their own reigns. Akbar asked his aunt to write whatever she remembered about her brother’s life - Humayun’s glory days of victories and agonies of his defeats, his joys and
trepidations. Gulbadan Begum took the challenge and produced a special document that came to be called Humayun namah.
The original title of her work is: Ahwal Humayun Padshah Jamah Kardom Gulbadan Begum bint Babur Padshah amma Akbar Padshah. It came to be known as Humayun-nama.
Gulbadan wrote in simple Persian without the erudite language used by better known writers. Her father Babur had written Babur-nama in the same style and she took his cue and wrote down from her memory. Unlike some of her contemporary writers, Gulbadan wrote a factual account of what she remembered, without embellishment. In contrast to the laudatory encomium written by the better known writers, Gulbadan’s account seems to be fresh and from the heart. What she produced not only chronicles the uncertainty of Humayun’s rule, its trials and tribulations, but also gives us a glimpse of life in the Mughal harem. It is the only writing penned by a woman of Mughal royalty in the sixteenth century.
The memoir had been lost for several centuries and what has been found is not well preserved, poorly bound with many pages missing. It also appears to be incomplete, with the last chapters missing. Yet, whatever has remained tells a remarkable story of a woman of privilege, with an insight to the life in the harem of Mughal emperors. There must have been very few copies of the manuscript, and for this reason it did not receive the recognition it deserved. It is the forgotten document of the Mughal history.
| DesiStore # |
PBH01126 |
| ISBN |
969-35-0318-X |
| Pages |
272 |
| Edition |
2005 |
| Weight (kg) |
0.400 |
| Shipping Weight (lbs) |
0.88 |
| HB/PB |
Hard Back |
|
Humayun-Nama
|
|
