Twilight of the Sultanate c17.s9: Bābur's Impressions of City Life
Twilight of the Sultanate c17.s9
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Bābur's Impressions of City Life
c17.s9.1
Bābur was not impressed with the life in the Indian cities. "Hindustan is a country," writes he, "that has few pleasures to recommend it. The people are not handsome. They have no idea of the charms of friendly society, of frankly mixing together, or of familiar intercourse. They have no genius, no comprehension of mind, no politeness of manner, no kindness or fellow-feeling, no ingenuity or mechanical invention in planning or executing their handicraft works, no skill or knowledge in design or architecture; they have no good horses, no good flesh, no grapes or musk-melons, no good fruits, no ice or cold water, no good food or bread in their bazārs, no baths or colleges, no candles, no torches, not a candle-stick".¹⁷⁶
c17.s9.2
¹⁷⁶ Memoirs, Leyden and Erskine, 333. The passage in Mrs. Beveridge's translation, 518, does not bring out Bābur's reactions so clearly.
c17.s9.3
His references to bazārs, hot-baths and colleges, leave no doubt in one's mind that in the above passage, Bābur is referring to life in the cities only, and probably in the important cities like Lahore, Delhi and Agra. Undoubtedly it is a downright condemnation of Indian life in the fifteenth-sixteenth century, and had it come from a pen other than that of Bābur's, one could have imputed motives to the author and brushed the statement aside. But Bābur is no ordinary observer, and he could not have made such statements without sufficient reason. And a little thought would explain why he has been so uncharitable in his evaluation of the life in the cities and towns of India.
c17.s9.4
Obviously he was judging things from his own standards. Bābur was no puritan. He was fond of good company, and believed in the philosophy of eat, drink and be merry. He always had a large table for guests. He ate heartily off porcelain plates¹⁷⁷ and drank lustily his *arak* and the "acceptable" Ghaznī wine¹⁷⁸ in the company of friends, while the story-teller (Qissā Khwān) was always at his beck and call.¹⁷⁹ Such a gay and liberal character could not be happy with the social life of the Indian cities. The Hindus did not inter-dine with the Muslims, and had scruples about inter-dining amongst themselves. During Ibrāhīm's reign nobleman was pitted against nobleman and the King was suspicious of every one. In such an atmosphere there could have been no "frank mixing together". Besides there was the tradition of not eating in the presence of the Sultan.¹⁸⁰ In these circumstances there need be no surprise if Bābur wrote: "They have no charm of friendly society, of frankly mixing together, or of familiar intercourse".
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¹⁷⁷ B.N. (B), II, 541.
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¹⁷⁸ *Ibid.*, 551. How he once exclaimed, "Drink wine in the citadel of Kabul, and send round the cup without stopping, for it is at once a mountain and a stream, a town and a desert." B.N. (L & E), 137.
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¹⁷⁹ B.N. (B), II, 460. Also Islamic Culture, XXX, 1956, 40-43.
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¹⁸⁰ 'Abdulla relates that when Sikandar Lodī took his supper at night, he used to invite a number of 'Ulema to join him. Food was served before them, but they did not eat. When the Sultan had finished, the scholars took their meals home.
c17.s9.9
Bābur's other remarks about the Indians not having "ingenuity or mechanical invention in planning or executing their handicraft works, no skill or knowledge in design or architecture", are also not entirely without foundation. Bābur has remarked that in Hindustan even arts and crafts were the monopoly of particular castes. "Again: every artisan there is follows the trade that has come down to him from his forefather."¹⁸¹ In view of this, and in keeping with the Indian tradition, the emphasis was on preserving the old designs in art and craft rather than inventing new ones, so that the sculptural and architectural achievements of the Hindus, of which we are so proud, excelled in everything except in the novelty of vision and design. The causes of lack of mechanical inventions have already been discussed in an earlier context. Bābur was a good judge of men and things. What he appreciated he praised unhesitatingly. He was deeply impressed with the beauty of Raja Mān Singh's fort and palace at Gwalior, and declared:
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¹⁸¹ B.N. (B), II, 518.
c17.s9.11
"They are wonderful buildings, entirely hewn of stone".¹⁸² He is also all praise for the Indian stone-cutters whom he employed in large numbers to work on his buildings.¹⁸³
c17.s9.12
¹⁸² *Ibid.*, 608.
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¹⁸³ *Ibid.*, 520.
c17.s9.14
He was again stating a fact when he declared that in India there were no good horses, for we know that good-breed horses were imported from abroad, both in the south and in the north. Muskmelon (*Sardā*) which Bābur loved so much was then not grown in India. The *Hamām* and little canals with running water, the Mughal rulers themselves introduced in this country. True, his account of the people of India is a little biassed, not because he was by conviction uncharitable towards the Indian people, but perhaps because, firstly, his stay in Hindustan was much too short to enable him to acquaint himself fully and accurately with the customs, manners, ideas and habits of the people, and secondly, everything struck him strange in "a different world". But he was certainly interested in everything he noticed in this country. He gives a detailed and minute account of the flora and fauna of Hindustan, of its mountains and rivers, of its various kinds of vegetables and fruits.¹⁸⁴
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¹⁸⁴ B.N. (B), II, 488-517.
c17.s9.16
And when one reads of Bābur's jubilance at India's rains, one cannot say that he is unfair to the country. "The pleasant things of Hindustan are that it is a large country and has masses of gold and silver. Its air in the Rains is very fine. Sometimes it rains 10, 15, or 20 times a day, torrents pour down all at once and rivers flow where no water had been. While it rains and through the Rains, the air is remarkably fine, not to be surpassed for healthiness and charm."¹⁸⁵
c17.s9.17
¹⁸⁵ *Ibid.*, 519.