The Babar-Nama

Babar was born in 1483 and died in 1530. His autobiography, a classic of Chaghatay Turkish literature, provides a vivid picture of the character and eventful career of a sophisticated and observant Central Asian warrior Prince, for before founding the Mughal Empire in India, its author had spent many years losing and winning a series of kingdoms in the area of modern Afghanistan and Soviet Central Asia. This is the standard edition of the Chaghatay text, consisting of a facsimile of the Haydarabad Codex, once in the possession of Sir Salar Jang, which is the best of the surviving MSS and seemingly the closest to Babar’s own copy.