BABUR and AFGHANS. A Short Study By Shah Jehan Khan. King Babar

BABUR and AFGHANS. A Short Study By Shah Jehan Khan. King Babar And Afghans.

INDIA 1529: The Emperor Babur finished his strategic meeting followed by an elaborate dinner with his generals including Farid Khan (Sher Shah Suri). Sher Shah’s main interest to participate was.. if he could have a chance to meet Mubarika Bibi, Babur’s Yousafzai (Afghan) wife.  

Party was in bloom, food and wine was in abundance and was slowly taking its toll, everyone turned into jolly mood, conversing and laughing..no one was giving attention to pretty Central Asian dancers with Turkish music. Babur was sitting aloof carefully listening and watching everyone but.. to Sher Shah in particular,.. 

Sher Shah put his glass aside, took out his dagger to cut a piece of a roasted lamb, he put his dagger on the lamb’s throat, looked at his Pashtun friend and mumbled in Pashto,.. ‘This is how the Mughal throats are supposed to be cut, the way Mughals cut our elders throats in Kabul’s when they were guests, oh, what a cheat’. One of the royal servants behind him heard it. The way Sher Shah cut the meat Babur and other noticed it. The servants went and whispered to Babur, guests could read Babur’s changed face. Sher Shah sensed the danger; before the hell broke he jumped out of the window, got on his horse and made a clean swift escape.

Babur left the party in anger, came to his chamber and called for his Afghan wife ‘Mubarika’. After few moments Kaneez (royal maids) opened the silky curtains for Mubarika..she stood in front of Babur in respect.. Babur took a long breath and said.. ‘Aghacha (Her name in palace) Please sit down’. She said.. ‘You look a little upset..may you never be’. He said.. ‘Do you know what happened on dinner tonight?’. She said.. ‘Yes, I know’. 

Both sat in front of each other, Babur said..‘Aghacha, although Sher Shah is not Yousafzai but these Afghans will never forget what my uncle Ulagh Baig did to them in Kabul, killed hundreds of Yousafzai sardars while they were our guests, trust me..I would have never approved that but I was too young to stop.  Look, I raised Sher Shah, from a son of a horse trader to my general level but .. oh these Afghans are so thankless’. Babur continued.. ‘I know Afghans are good fighters but they never think in long run, sometime they win, but they don’t know what to do with their win..we Mughals were the same but we learned the lessons. 

They should learn from big empires like Persian, Mongols and Turks..how to win the trust, hearts and rule. You know after I took over Hindustan most of my Mughal generals didn’t want to stay here due to hot and humid weather, I had a hard time to make them stay..although, I miss so much the Kabul’s morning Shumaal (Breeze), in my dreams I am always there.. you know my family has gone through hell, I remember when once I lost everything in Farghana, I was on run barefoot for days..but we forgot and focused on future, but these Afghans have no sense of future, they have always cut their brothers throats, and will do the same in future, they don’t trust anyone ’. Mubarika was listening head down..looks up to Babur.. ‘Forgive me your highness, they can rise if you big powers leave them alone, I don’t understand why all big powers run to our Afghan lands? What do they have?. You buy them, cheat them and they are fools to trust their .. so called ‘benefactors’. 

Babur smiled.. Aaha, for the first time you spoke to me like an Afghan’. While both were in conversation, they overheard outside some hot arguments between their Afghan and Mughal gardeners.. Mughal gardener shouted.. ‘If I take you to a clean water stream it will turn sour, and if I take you to fruit garden it will rot’. Afghan didn’t know how to respond, he picked the Mughal and dropped him on a pile of wood, Babur smiled, looked at Mubarika,...'You see'.