Empire: World History - 206. Babur: Guns, Gardens & Diamonds

Episode Date: November 26, 2024

Against all odds, Babur defeats Sultan Lodi and captures Delhi. But despite the wealth that India can provide him, Babur hates his new home. He complains of the heat, the lack of his favourite fruits, and the culture. Yet he is a masterful tactical ruler, and begins to shape a Mughal government that he will soon pass down to his descendants. Although he had won against the Delhi sultanate, he faces a new threat from the Rajputs in the south who are even more heavily armed. Babur enters his final battle at Khanwa, and all the while he is ferociously writing his memoirs: documenting his thoughts, feelings, and love of nature in a way that will keep his memory alive long after his death… Join William and Anita as they explore the four years Babur spent establishing his kingdom in India before he passed away. To buy tickets for Great Mughals: Art, Architecture and Opulence visit: https://www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/great-mughals-art-architecture-opulence?utm_source=empire_podcast&utm_medium=paid_editorial&utm_campaign=great_mughals_empire_podcast Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: [e-mail] Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis + Becki Hills Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If you want access to bonus episodes reading lists for every series of Empire, a chat community, discounts for all the books mentioned in the week's podcasts, add free listening, and a weekly newsletter, sign up to Empire Club at www.mptopoduk.com. Hello and welcome to Empire with me, Anita Arnum. And me, William Turimple. That was worse than the last one. What, have you been encouraged on your World Tour to put it back in? No, I got to bed at 4 o'clock.

I've only got into Mumbai. It's actually a wee bit weary. You're doing a stellar job of doing this little podcast. All right, but look, we're on episode three of the story of Barber. The last time we met you, we were talking about the 42-year-old Barber now, having left his home in Kabul in autumn of 1525. He's marched on Northern India. He's gathered support from people who hate the Sultan of the Delhi Sultanate. And he has, well, he's done very, very well.

And what he wants, as William sort of highlighted, was to capture the wealth of a man who had lots. Lothi had been dismembered and pulled apart and all of his forces had been destroyed. But he has got this vision in mind. And it's based on something because his ancestor, Timor, had sacked Delhi a century earlier. So he had this idea of what that might feel like. So the reality, I think, must have been a little bit disappointing for Babu,

because Delhi had been a very rich country. and the south of India, particularly the kingdom of Vijan Agra, had been even richer. But by the time that Babbo gets to Delhi, Delhi is much reduced. The Lodi's mismanaged their sultanate, which is one of the reasons that people were giving invitations to Babu to come and take it from him. And in Delhi, he doesn't get much, not least because he doesn't loot it. But then there is a wonderful surprise. Babu sends his son Humayun, who we're going to hear a lot more about in the next episode,

straight to Agra, and it's Agra, which is the Lodi capital at this point, although it's a smaller city than Delhi. The Lodis have made their fort and their centre of administration a hundred miles south of Delhi in Agra. And there, as chance would have it, the city contains a man called Bikramjit, who's the Raja of Gualio. And he happens to be in Agra when all this takes place. he's caught, I think, by surprise, by the speed of the mogul advance, and he has on him what Babur rather nicely puts in his diary. He says, Bikramjit made my son a voluntary offering of a mass of jewels and valuables, amongst which was the famous diamond which Sultan aladdin Kalji must have brought. Its reputation is that every appraiser has estimated its value at

two and a half days food for the whole world. Apparently it weighs eight miscles. Omaian offered it to me when I arrived in Agra and I just gave it back to him. Now, this seems very likely to be our old friend. I've got a guess. Is it? Is it our friend? It probably is. No one knows for sure. And it's known usually as Barbo's diamond because there is no proof that it is the Coenol, but it's that kind of size. Eight miscles is the same size. as the Coenor. The Coenor diamond that William and I have talked extensively about on this podcast and written a book about, a very fine book, actually. Well, we first came together. Can I just say that does he give him the diamond expecting it back? Is it the kind of gift way? Oh, no, no, you shouldn't have.

It's staying in the family. So, okay. But he goes on. He says, no private individual has ever seen such a diamond or heard of it, nor is there any mention of it in any book. And we don't know. The description's too vague to be certain. And there are certainly a number. of mega diamonds circulating in India at this time. But this one is a whopper. It is a wopper. Size and heft of a hen's egg, my friends. Can I just say a little bit about how Barbo, you know, okay, he finds the diamond, which is probably a solace, because he really does not like India. It doesn't help that he arrives in May, and it's very hard to find anyone that would enjoy Delhi in May at any time in history. It's very, very hot indeed.

What he says is Hindustan is a place of little charm. There is no beauty in its people, rude, No graceful social intercourse, no poetic talent or understanding, no etiquette, nobility or manliness. Very rude. The arts and crafts have no harmony or symmetry. There are no good horses, meat, grapes, melons or other fruit. There is no ice. There's no cold water. Good food or bread in the markets. There are no baths. There are no schools, no torches or even candlesticks. Basically, he thinks it's a disaster. Worst of all, he says, are the jackfruits, which tasted like the revolting intestines of sheep. And then he says, on the plus side, Hindustan is a large country with lots of golden money. Okay. So he's wrong about almost everything. I mean, you can go through that list.

I mean, you know, it's a value judgment. You know, most people would say that most beautiful people on earth are from India. Oh, you flatterer. It's true. It's true. Look at all those beauty contests. after year. And also the idea there's no poetic talent, you know, there's endless, wonderful poets right through Indian history. The Lodi Gardens are full of wonderful tombs. I don't know there's no

arts or craft. There are fantastic melons, grapes and other fruits including mangoes, which is what originally attract him. And there are lots of sultanate period baths, lots of even more madrasas. So he's kind of wrong about everything. It's just hot and he's miserable. And I know that feeling from Delhi in May, where you just feel, oh, Lord, I want to get out of here and go to the hills. It's one of those reviews on TripAdvisor, where you know that Hindustan would make a reply in short order. If I think you're fine, you were rude to the staff, you didn't tip very well, and you were a grumpy or bastard. So, you know, it's one of those things.

It does feel rather unfair. Also, I wanted to say something about Agra, because Agra now is known for the Taj Mahal, but there isn't a Taj Mahal in Agra, because that has to be one of the who will build that in years to come. Well, that actually is an interesting thing you say, because the one thing he does in Agra is he builds the first Mughal garden. Now, several things to be said about his idea that there's no gardens. India has a garden tradition going back about 3,000 years,

and there are beautiful ancient gardens described in all the ancient texts. We have fragments of one of the most ancient gardens in South Asia surviving in Sri Lanka, and you can go and see it today, going right back, I think, to the fifth century. There are incredible gardens a little bit further south than where Barbo was from this period in Golconda, for example, had incredible Islamic garden tradition already by this stage. So he's just wrong. But anyway, the point is, when he gets to Agra, he can't find a garden he likes. And so the first thing he does is to build one at a place called Arambagh, which today is

called Rambug. It means the garden of rest in Persian. and now it's become a sort of Hindu-eyes into rambugs, or it's the garden of Lord Ramp. But he builds cascaded fountings and a hamam, and he calls it the garden of eight paradises, with canals and raised walkways from the Persian plan. And here he plants his familiar Afghan grapes and melons that he loves.

So he builds his own little oasis, where he can pretend, you know, rather like the Brits building similar, and sort of trying to create something that was familiar with cottage gardens and names of houses like you get in English, And so Babur, like any expat in a new country, tries to make himself feel at home there. But what this is in this case is not just building himself a cottage garden, it's starting the great mogul garden tradition, which in due course will produce

some of the most beautiful gardens ever built by mankind, including that around the targe. So, I mean, he's cultivating the gardens, but he's also using this time to cultivate his artillery. Because, you know, we mentioned that, you know, he had been successful against the Lordies, because they had not embraced the idea of the guns as well as he had. And you mentioned a name in the last episode, Ustadeli, who spends this time in Agra trying to cast new guns and cannons for him and make new shot and cannibals. It sounds as if Ustad Ali is working rather harder than Babu at this point,

who is just sitting back, moaning about the heat. Yeah, I mean, Babu's sort of, you know, piddling around. Grumpy, sort of like, you know, the Mughal Montedon planting things wherever he can. But you've got, in the meantime, Osthali is trying very, very hard to create an army fit for the future. And there's a good reason for this. We're told he builds a circle of eight furnaces, from each of which molten metal dribbles into a central mould. So just imagine sort of, you know, Mordor kind of situation here. This is Mordor, yes, this is Lord of the Rings again.

Yeah, yeah, exactly. But poor Estadali, he makes some kind of miscalculation. He's built all of these things and they're supposed to be running molten metal. into the middle, which can then be fashioned into everything, but the furnaces all run dry before the mould is full in the middle. So he's so distressed with Sardelli that he goes to Barbara and he says, I am so ashamed, I shall throw myself into the molten liquid metal because I'm that ashamed. I've let you down. But it said, Barbara says, you know, we comforted him. We put a robe of honor on him and we brought him out of his shame. So Sutherli, you know, basically pull yourself together and he

starts working again. And as you say, with good reason, because there is another threat on the horizon. Exactly, because although he successfully defeated the Lodis, the Lodis are by no means the biggest power in North India. In the old days, if you'd conquer the Delhi Sultan, you'd have had a very good reason to think you can lie back and sit in Aramburg for a year or two and build as many gardens as you like. But that's not the case for the Lodys, because the Lodies are just a mere regional power that he's conquered. And although he now has a foothold in India, he has a an army heading towards him. And this is led by the Rajput leader, Rana Sangha, who is the leader of this great, I mean, today when people go on holiday to India from the West, they tend to go first to

Rajasthan because of the colour of the Rajputs in the desert. This is the whole of Rajasthan now massing against Barbo. We should say a little about the Rajputs. I mean, they are a very ancient aristocratic lineage. They are based on martial principles. You know, they are fighting. as well as builders, so they're not going to be any pushover. Maybe that's why. I mean, you can tell us more about the rights of bits in a second, but I mean, that's why this is sort of three months after his offered suicide in a vat of molten metal, but Sathali actually has some good news. And he comes to Barbara and he says, look, I've done it, I've made it. And he creates what Barbara writes is a canon. I mean, it's a mortar. And he says, he was delighted to

discover it would throw a large stone nearly a mile. And that is going to be massively important. because that is a real breakthrough, a technological breakthrough that was Salleli, who hasn't turned himself into some kind of ornament, has now given him. Because the Rajputs fight until they win or they die. That's their credo, isn't it? Exactly that. And the idea of what it means to be a Rajput has been developing for centuries, that they are a very ancient lineage. But historians seem to agree that it's around the 1500s that this whole warrior identity sort of solidifies and takes, real political shape. So when Rana Sanga is marching on Babur, he's doing as the leader of these

different clans from the desert, all of whom have these strong martial traditions. And this is a far more serious army than that put together by the Lodis. It is by no means the case that he's won Hindustania. The big challenge is ahead of it. And the battle where they meet is the battle of Kanua. The thing about Rana Sanga, as opposed to the Lodi, leader who was deeply unpopular, is that he wears his bravery on his face, because this is a man who's already lost an eye in battle, and he leads charges. He doesn't sort of, you know, sort of cower in the background playing politics and granting favours to inconsequential men who flatter him. So, you know, the confrontation, which finally happens in the Battle of Kanwar,

you're absolutely right, is going to be massive. It's 1527. Barber and his troops are facing Rana Sangha, who has an army of 80,000 men. Rana Sanga is the same dynasty of Rajputs that now rule from Udaypo. And in the era of Rana Sanga, before Udaipur is built, they're ruling from the great city of Chitur, which is one of the greatest fortresses in Rajasthan. And there's this wonderful architecture from this period in a little bit before, including this extraordinary victory tower when you go there today. And Rana Sanga has united under his rule most of Rajasthan,

Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. He's one of the most powerful Rajput rulers in history. But the other thing about Rana Sangha is that he has a narrative behind him, that these are people of Hindustan. And Barber represents an invading force. They are foreigners. They have a different religion. They are a different people. So we have to fight them. So his 80,000 strong cavalry have absolute reasons to fight and win. So this is not going to be an easy clash. What happens when they face off? And Babur realizes that, and knowing that this is going to be the most difficult battle he's ever had, including fighting the Uzbeks and Shibani Khan, is that he suddenly comes overall religious, which is very un-Barbo. Barbara is not a religious man. And he

decides to make a vow that he will abjure alcohol, which is one of his greatest pleasures. And he makes this vow that he will give up alcohol for God and hope he will win because of his sort of, he gives it some religious identities, what I'm trying to say, which is not at all his normal tone. If you read his memoir, there's very little reference to religion or faith, and he's not a jihadi of the faith. But at this point, faced with an army of Rajputs, an enemy, he has no knowledge of, he suddenly turns himself into a gazi and the rhetoric he's using to sort of rally his troops. is the language of Islam. Can I not take issue, but just maybe question just a little bit about how he's not a religious

man. And he certainly hasn't shown any signs of being particularly religious. You know, the fact he can do deals with shears shows that it doesn't matter that much. I mean, he's more pragmatic than he is of the faith militant, if you like. Because when he does, and this is not long afterwards, he travels through the rest of India. And in Guaralio, which he, you know, he admires as a place. He thinks it's a beautiful place. But the one thing that he finds is insulting in amongst these wonderful buildings hewn of stone, which he talks about, are the huge Jane figures which have been carved into the rock face of a fort. You know, they're over a century old. And he writes about these. He says, these idols are shown quite naked without covering for their privates. I for my part ordered them to be destroyed.

So I'm not saying that, you know, he wasn't not religious at the beginning. But it's not. It does seem to be that he's on a bit of a journey and he's becoming more and more religious. And I wonder if that might be because of what happens when he does face off against Rana Sanga and his considerable army, where actually, you know, the result is not clear. It isn't clear. It's not going to be a cakewalk for him. It's not clear. Join us after the break when we find out what happens when Rana Sanga and Barber actually fight. Welcome back. Well, we are on the eve now of the crucial battle of Kanua. And Barbo faces a variety of enemies in India. He has very good reason to be afraid of the Afghans who are in Bengal, running their own kingdom in Bengal, and they are extremely hostile to Barbo and his moguls. And they will prove to be a major enemy against his son Humayun. So we're going to hear more about them in the next episode.

But Babu decides that the greatest threat is the Rajputs of Rajputs of Rajasthan under Rana Sanga. And Rana Sanga has managed to do what very few Rajput leaders succeed in doing throughout history, which is to unite all the different, often very competitive Rajput clans under his leadership. And he gathers troops from across his desert kingdoms. All the clans of Rajasthan unite under his banner. And he marches towards Agra, where Babur has been waiting. And there is an initial skirmish at a very interesting place called Bayana, which is near the later town of Fatipo Sikri. And Bayana is not a place many people go to today, but it is one of the most amazing sultanate. centers in India. You go there and there's no crowds, no tourists. You've just left Fatipo

Secret, which is one of the most popular places with bus tours and everything. Biana is only about half an hour's drive away from there, and it is packed with extraordinary ruins from this period. And in the initial clash there, Rana Sanga defeats to the Mughals. There is a complete defeat of the Mughals, and they withdraw back to Agra. It is part of the brand for Rana Sanga, because it is said of him that he has fought a hundred battles and lost only one. So, you know, this must sort of be filling Barbo's forces with a little bit of trepidation, but then he does up the ante. You know, he reminds his troops, you really are fighting a jihad. Put more lead in your pencil. We're going to face them again, and we will defeat them because God is on our side. That becomes

very much the rhetoric of this battle with Rana Sanga. And as we said, this is not his normal language. He loves his pleasures, but he breaks his cups. He pours the alcohol. on the ground, and he tries to pose, really, as a sort of man of the faith. And he says, and this is, I think, a crucial quote in his diary to show what his motives are. Having talked about abjuring alcohol, breaking his cups, pouring the liquor on the ground, and made a pledge of total abstinence henceforth, he writes, it was a really good plan, and it had a favourable propagandist effect on friend and foe. So he's doing it for effect. He knows what he's doing. He knows what he's doing. It's not, It's not because he's suddenly come over religious.

He just realized this will unite the people around him. Okay, that's interesting. So you think it's for sure. Although he does take against the Jains. I mean, the Jain statues, he finds them naked and idolatrous. So I wonder if there's this sort of religion creeping in? No, I don't think so. And there's any sign of that.

I've read that Babonama backwards. Okay, okay. My theory is to his timurid-trained eye, those Jain statues are just ugly. Okay. And he thinks it's bad taste according to his lights. I mean, they're extraordinary. You can visit them today. They've just been instantly, they've been restored in the last couple of years. So all the bits that Babur destroyed have been put back up again. Interesting. My son, Sam, went to visit them a month ago. He was writing an article

on Guadalio and all these idols with the celebratedly defaced by Babur, it's something that's in every history book. They're now, they've got all their faces back on again. Oh, that's very, very interesting. So they face off against each other, Ranasanga's troops and Barbo's troops at this place called Carnwall, which is 37-month. miles west of Agra. And it is a brutal battle, and it is one that could go either way. We have first to say, as well as all this sort of propaganda stuff and breaking his alcohol, he realizes how effective his tactics at the Battle of Pani-Pat have been. And in that case, it's just a last-minute decision to gather these farm carts and to strap them together with

leather. So he produces hundreds of carts. This time he fastens them not with leather straps, but iron chains, and the gaps between the carts were used for horsemen to charge through at the right moments. He's perfecting the same tactics that he used at Panipot. But what in particular he's done is improve the artillery. And Ustan Ali, who's nearly threw himself into the furnace, is producing now not just cannon, but muskets, things called forklets, which kind of medium-sized guns and mortars. And then they've got all the cavalry. This is the big strength of Central Asia throughout history is the use of horses and often being able to ride in one direction and fire in the other. So all these different things are coming together. And I think again, it is this

new tactic of firepower and artillery that allows him to defeat Rajputami, which is double his size. Yeah, but ironically, Ranasanga is not shot by one of these newfangled guns. What does for him is an arrow, can you believe it? He's struck by an arrow mid-battle. He's removed from the battlefield by his family. Like Harold at Hastings? Yes, Harold Godwinson at 1066. It sounds a little bit like that. So, you know, he's taken away and following the victory,

because it is a victory, eventually, you know, this firepower is just going to be overwhelming for the Rajboots and they're going to mow them down, even though their leader is killed by an arrow. But Barber orders a tower of enemy skulls to be put up. This is something that Timor used to do when he won a battle, a pyramid of skulls. And so he does the same.

You know, again, it's a shock and all territory. But where does this now leave him? I mean, he must be happy. He must be a bit cheery than he was in that first trip advisor account. He's not at all happy. No, no, he's still very much in his some negative trip advisory mode. Okay. Even more than before, he hates the heat.

And the only thing he hates more than the heat is the rains. During the monsoon, he writes, bows cannot be used to shoot. Armor, books, beddings and textiles are also affected. But the thing he hates most of what is not being able to drink. Well, he did go and make that promise to his law. He made that promise, and he's made it so publicly, he can't break it. So he writes these lovely letters to his old friend in Kabul. And his mate is called Quadja Cullen.

It's his old drinking partner. And he writes to him from India in the monsoon with the rain falling and sort of overflowing into his tent and him feeling damp and he can't draw his bow. He says, with whom do you hold parties? With whom do drink wine? how can one forget the pleasures of Kabul, especially when abstaining from drinking, how can one allow oneself to forget the licit pleasures like grapes and melons?

Recently a melon was brought as I cut it, I ate it, and I was oddly affected. I wept the whole time when I was weak. He was a bit of misery guts. I was eating it. And then he writes a little poem, I'm grief-stricken at abstaining from wine. I know that feeling.

I've never right going to diet. I feel like that. darkening my heart, I am always in a confused state. I know that feeling so well. Everybody regrets drinking and then takes an oath, but I have taken an oath and now regret it. Frozen in grief, I am lost. While with wine, I am cheerful and smiling. Good God, Barbara. In exile, this month of abstinence ages me. Separated from friends, exile has affected me. I deeply desired the riches from this Indian land, but what is the profit since this land oppresses me? Oh, my lord. Get over yourself, Barbara.

Look, I think he's probably his mood is even worse because he has to throw a party to celebrate his win over with Rajputs. So just imagine this. You know, if you're having to throw a dry party because you've made a promise. But it's a huge feast. I mean, I'll just sort of give you an idea of it. A massive pavilion is erected. Plates heaving with food, gifts, not the silly insulting ones, but, you know, beggars bowl here, but really lavish gifts to people. And what this does, again, you know, you put on shows of animals and animals fighting and dancing girls and acrobats and wrestling and all of that kind of colour, you are actually buying fealty from those who are perhaps potentially could go either way on either side.

And so, again, I didn't realise until we started getting into this how good he is at propaganda, that, you know, by doing these things, you are winning a propaganda, even if he's missing. triple a sin and he's not able to drink. He's still throwing these enormous parties saying if you're part of Team Barber there's a lot more of this to come. But I know from my own experience, don't you, that there's nothing more miserable than being at a good party when everyone else is drunk and you're sober. It's absolutely how? When have you ever done that? Very, very occasionally I go on diets in Lent or in January and give up alcohol. It's absolute misery. I hate it. Yeah. I mean, thank God I've not been around you in those times. Your poor wife.

It's just awful. Oh, it sounds hideous. Please, can you give me a good heads-up when that might be about to happen? I will. I will. I will. I will. I will. Okay. So he's won. What does Barba government look like? I mean, what does he do once he's won this battle? Because now he's got to consolidate. He's got to rule. So what will that be? So it's very interesting. And this is a very important point, is that he conciliates. And he, like his grandson Akbar will do later on a much grander scale, he offers to bring.

the Rajputs into government. And there's no sense that he's dancing on their grave and destroying their territories. Instead, he realizes he's a tiny minority. He's won this victory, but it could have easily gone the other way. And he makes alliances with the Rajput clans. And this is, I think, the single thing that's most forgotten or most misunderstood about Mughal rule in India right up until the time that Orang Zeb messes up this system. It is the alliance between the different Rajput clans and the Mughals that gives this kingdom its power. And it is always the Rajputs, although they hate to be reminded of this today, that form the shock troops of the Mughal empire. And so when you go to kingdoms today like Bikkener and go into their libraries, they often

contain the greatest treasures from the south of India and the Deccan because they were part of the armies which conquered these kingdoms in the generations to come and they shared the lute. So the greatest miniatures from the kingdom of Ahmed Nagar and the Deccan are today, for example, in Bikina. And the same is true of the J-Poor Library and museums. They contain treasures from further south because these guys collaborated with the moguls and got their pound of flesh for doing so. And Babur sets that up. He conciliates. He brings in the Rajputs. And while his rule is focused on Persian example and Persian literary culture, and while he does place Turks and Mongols in the highest positions, which his grandson Akbar does not do, the Rajputs get much more senior positions

in this later period, Babur does, for the first time, bring in Rajput rulers into medium-level positions. It is brilliant because it means that you're not fighting on every front. He also buys himself some time to actually enjoy the things that he really wants to. So, you know, as we've said numerous times in this podcast, he always misses Kabul. You know, Kabul was a place where, you know, he'd left his heart so he's trying to recreate it. But he is also at the same time working on his memoirs, which I think is really rather lovely. And we know what that was like and how seriously he's taking it. Because his little daughter, Gulberdan, who is also going to be a very good chronicler of the times. She's only about six years old, but she describes in her writing, watching him busy with

his papers, you know, he's scratching away, he's writing. He builds himself, you know, a lovely garden in Sikri, and he's working away. And she says that there's this one day where a storm blows up unexpectedly, and the tent in which he's writing just basically falls to pieces. She writes, sections and book were drenched underwater and gathered together with much difficulty. We laid them in the folds of a woolen throne carpet, put this on the throne and powered it with blankets. Because for him, you know, these recollections, he's now sort of, he's building an empire, sure, but he wants to leave his mark. And I think it's really interesting, because it's not always the case with rulers of the past, that he wants to leave a legacy. So that's why, you know,

now he's feeling a bit more secure on this new land. He is writing and writing and writing and writing that wonderful Barbaranama that you've edited goes into overdrive, if you're going. It goes into overdrive, you like. And it's really important to remember that he's still a fairly young man. I mean, he's just in his mid-40s, but he's not the most healthy man, even now, William, because Barba is often ill, it has to be said. I mean, he writes about it in his Barbaranama, but his daughter then will take up the mantle and write about how he is often ill. I mean, partly an explanation is that he was such a very heavy drinker until he's made that terrible vow. Oh, by the way, if you'll ever admit it, I'm not suggesting this for Lent.

He might have given up alcohol, but he does take this drug, and I don't know if he carries on doing that called Majun. Yes, which is a form of opium, I think, yeah. Yeah, it's an opiate. And he writes about it. I mean, basically it's the equivalent to the 1500s gummy, edible. And he writes in his memoir, while under its influence, wonderful fields of flowers are enjoyed. So, you know, he's not all doom and gloom.

But he's not healthy. He's not well. And in India, with its cursed climate, as he'd put it, he has boils, attacks. of boils. He gets sciatica. He gets ear infections. At one point, he's coughing up blood. No one has ever enjoyed conquering a kingdom less than Babu. No. No one has ever been less pleased with his kingdom once he's conquered it. Yeah, and probably his liver is packing up at the same time. So he gets very, very ill by 1529. So you know, you've got this man who's conquered a country, as it were, when he's sort of taken over, both Agra and Delhi. But he's not having

a very good time at all. And his family and his retainers are worried about him. What happens in 1529 is that he's seriously ill. So what happens with Humayu? We haven't talked very much about his relationship with his oldest son, Humayu. Tell me about it. Are they fond of each other? Do they like each other? It's a classic relationship of the very successful man and the slightly sort of hippie-dippy, second generation. Humayan actually is a rather amazing war leader, which is not how he's remembered. But he's always late for everything. The entire invasion of India is delayed. I think. think three months because Hermione's disappeared off doing some sort of astronomical observatories or something, doing some looking at the stars. And Babbo's absolutely hopping mad when he turns up, which is why he has to invade in the heat and why he gets so miserable in the heat after he's conquered it. And Babos is always, you know, he's the slightly overparing father with a slightly disappointing son.

And he's a familiar character. And for example, he's always ticking off Babu's letters. He says, Although your writing can be read with difficulty, it is obsessively obscure. Who has ever heard a prose designed to be an enigma? Probably your laziness with writing letters is due to the fact you tried to make it too fancy. From now on, write with uncomplicated, clear and plain words. This will cause less difficulty both for you and your reader. Oh my word. So he's a literary critic as well as quite the stern father.

He must have been a pain in the ass to be his father of. Also, he wants to make a man of his son who thinks he's a bit airy-fairy and, you know, can't write. So, you know, part of this, you know, he's got this airy-fairy son who's sort of wearing tie-dye and flowers in his hair. Sometimes literally, he was famous for his colourful clothes. You're right, yeah. Is that right? Okay, brilliant. So he says, right, you know what? You are going to go off and do something grown up. I can't install you in, you know, a branch of my bank, but you can go to Sambal and you can just look after it there and start learning something about governance. And, you know, in your spare time, learn to write a bit better.

And Sambal actually is not a good place to send anyone in that it's right up and until the modern period, famous for its brigands. It's where Fulandevi hung out in the ridges of Sambal. Yes. And it's a place which, because of its geography and these famous sort of deep valleys and this remote territory. Bandit country. It's a total bandit country.

So he doesn't give his son an easy task there. It's exactly where an enemy army can hide out and raid his communications and all the rest of it. But then, Humayin gets ill. And this father who's been overbearing and bossy, corrected his spelling and all the rest of it, is terrified at the way that Humayin has sunk. And even Humayan's mother is worried by how far Babur is looking completely broken by Humayan's illness. And she says, do not be troubled about my son. You are a king. What griefs have you?

You have other sons. I sorry, because I have only this one. And Babur replies, Maham, I have other sons, but I love none as I love your Humay. Oh my God, but he never tells Hamaya that. He never tells his for a time that he loves him. Familiar story, this, familiar story. And what's also interesting is, you know, Barbo knows about sickness because he's been spent so much of his time feeling ill with his boils and his sciatica and his discharging ears.

And, you know, his health has declined so much that he is, you know, just before Hermia falls ill. He's been coughing up blood as well. You know, he's not a well man. But he makes this, it's almost a deal with God, isn't it? He's pacing around Hermia's bed. He seeks the advice of a Sufi saint, and the Sufi saint tells him that in order to save Humayan, who really is now looking as if he's on his deathbed, that he should give up the most valuable thing that he possesses.

And Babu says, I am the most valuable thing that Humayan possesses. I myself will be his sacrifice. He is an extremity, and I have lost the power to behold his powerlessness, but I can endure all his pain. O God, if a life can be exchanged for a life, I, Barbo, hereby offer my life for Humayons. Babu then said his prayers and three times circled his son's bed. When his prayer had been heard by God, writes Abel Faisal, who's the next generation of courtier recording this a generation later. Barbo felt a strange effect upon himself, as if a fever had surged over him.

Convinced that his prayer and offering had prevailed, he cried out, have borne it away. I have borne it away. From that moment, Babu became ill, while Humayan steadily recovered. And Babur died two months later on December the 21st, 1530, at the age of only 46, and he left instructions that he wished to be buried on a high terrace in his favourite garden in Kabul, where he had loved to sit and admire the view. And ironically for a man who prided himself on his valour in the field, his greatest moment of her room was not displayed at the But at home. That's really touching.

Are you crying again? It's funny because he's remembered now in India as this brutal jihadi, which he really wasn't. And he's not really remembered in Uzbekistan. In Uzbekistan, they call him Bobor, is the Uzbek pronunciation of his name. And there's a little avenue in a park named after him in the diplomatic corner of Tashkent. And there's a lovely little memorial garden that I visited a couple of years ago in And Jan, the capital of Fargana. But the place that really has been beautifully restored of late is his grave in Kabul. And he's first of all buried initially in Arambagh, his garden of rest in Agra.

And then the following year, his coffin is taken up to Kabul. And it remained the great garden of Kabul. And it was very nearly destroyed in the cataclysmic fight between the Taliban and the Mujahideen, and there are pictures of it just 20 years ago, looking as if it's all fallen to bits, but there's been an incredible restoration project done by the Aga Khan Foundation. And when you go to Kabul today, Baba's grave is beautifully restored. The whole garden has been reconstructed as it was at his time. And there's a very nice little sort of crafty, shoppy place with selling carpets and blue herati glass and nice meals at the bottom.

And it's where the people of Kabul still go to pitiful. I'm looking at pictures of it now, yeah. So I think Baba would approve. Although it's quite a modest structure, considering, you know, this is a man who founded a dynasty that would be so, you know, very important in India. We're going to leave Barbara's story here, but don't take your eyes off his son, the son who, you know, he made the deal with God with, that, you know, save Hamayo and take me instead. Because in the next episodes, we're going to be talking about Hamayo, the man who steps into those very big shoes. Join us then. Till then, it's goodbye from me, Anita Arnan. And goodbye from me, William Durember.