The Baburnama : Memoirs of Babur, Prince and Emperor (Modern Library Classics)

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Zahiruddin Muhammad Babur was the first Mughal, or Mongol, emperor of India. A devoted warrior who fought by the bloodthirsty standards of his time, Babur was also a gifted scholar and ethnographer, and his memoir, The Baburnama--which translator and editor Wheeler Thackston heralds as the first autobiography in Islamic literature--paints a fascinating portrait of the lands he conquered, such as Hindustan: "A strange country. Compared to ours, it is another world. Its mountains, rivers, forests, and wildernesses, its villages and provinces, animals and plants, peoples and languages, even its rain and winds are altogether different." They were different indeed, and we're fortunate to have this beautifully illustrated record of Babur's wonderment at the new places he saw.


From Library Journal
Thackston's work is the first English translation in 70 years of Babur's candid 16th-century autobiography?the earliest known autobiography in Islamic literature. Babur, one of the most significant figures in Indo-Islamic history, was descended from Timur (known in the West as Tamerlane). During the 15th century, Timurid influence on eastern Islamic art and architecture was incalculable. Driven from Timurid lands in eastern Iran and central Asia, Babur established a new domain in northern India. One of Babur's Mogul descendants would build the Taj Majal. Thackston's richly illustrated translation is extremely readable and straightforward; it captures the spirit of one of the most attractive figures in Islamic history. Highly recommended for academic libraries and for larger public libraries with reader interest in this area.?Robert Andrews, Duluth P.L., Minn.Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Review
“One of the classics of world literature.” —The New York Times Book Review


Review
?One of the classics of world literature.? ?The New York Times Book Review


Book Description
Both an official chronicle and the highly personal memoir of the emperor Babur (1483–1530), The Baburnama presents a vivid and extraordinarily detailed picture of life in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India during the late-fifteenth and early-sixteenth centuries. Babur’s honest and intimate chronicle is the first autobiography in Islamic literature, written at a time when there was no historical precedent for a personal narrative—now in a sparkling new translation by Islamic scholar Wheeler Thackston.

This Modern Library Paperback Classics edition includes notes, indices, maps, and illustrations.


Language Notes
Text: English
Original Language: Turkish


From the Inside Flap
Both an official chronicle and the highly personal memoir of the emperor Babur (1483–1530), The Baburnama presents a vivid and extraordinarily detailed picture of life in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India during the late-fifteenth and early-sixteenth centuries. Babur’s honest and intimate chronicle is the first autobiography in Islamic literature, written at a time when there was no historical precedent for a personal narrative—now in a sparkling new translation by Islamic scholar Wheeler Thackston.

This Modern Library Paperback Classics edition includes notes, indices, maps, and illustrations.


From the Back Cover
“One of the classics of world literature.” —The New York Times Book Review


About the Author
Wheeler M. Thackston is professor of the Practice in Persian and Other Near Eastern Languages at Harvard University, where he has taught for twenty years.

Salman Rushdie is the author of Midnight’s Children (winner of the Booker Prize) and Fury, among others. His latest book is Step Across This Line.


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Thackston's work is the first English translation in 70 years of Babur's candid 16th-century autobiography-the earliest known autobiography in Islamic literature. Babur, one of the most significant figures in Indo-Islamic history, was descended from Timur (known in the West as Tamerlane). During the 15th century, Timurid influence on eastern Islamic art and architecture was incalculable. Driven from Timurid lands in eastern Iran and central Asia, Babur established a new domain in northern India. One of Babur's Mogul descendants would build the Taj Majal. Thackston's richly illustrated translation is extremely readable and straightforward; it captures the spirit of one of the most attractive figures in Islamic history. Highly recommended for academic libraries and for larger public libraries with reader interest in this area.-Robert Andrews, Duluth P.L., Minn.


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