Gulbadan Begum - Content of The Document

Content of The Document

Upon being entrusted with the directive by Akbar to write the manuscript, Gulbadan Begum begins thus:

There had been an order issued, ‘Write down whatever you know of the doings of Firdous-Makani (Babur) and Jannat-Ashyani (Humayun)’. At this time when his Majesty Firdaus-Makani passed from this perishable world to the everlasting home, I, this lowly one, was eight years old, so it may well be that I do not remember much. However in obedience to the royal command, I set down whatever there is that I have heard and remember.

From her account we know that Gulbadan was married by the age of 17 to Khizr Khwaja, a Chagtai Mughal by ancestry on his mothers side and from the khwajgan sayed rulers of bukhara on his fathers side. She had at least one son. She had moved to Delhi/Agra in 1528 from Kabul with one of her step mothers who was allowed to adopt her as her own on the command of her Father the Emperor. After the defeat of Humayun in 1540 she moved back to Kabul to live with one of her half-brothers. She did not return to Agra immediately after Humayun won back his kingdom. Instead, she stayed behind in Kabul until she was brought back to Agra by Akbar, two years after Humayun died in a tragic accident in 1556. Gulbadan Begum lived in Agra and then in Sikri for a short while but mostly in Lahore or with the Court for the rest of her life, except for a period of seven years when she undertook a pilgrimage to Mecca.The Mughal Court even up to the early years of Shahjahans Reign was never a confined thing but a traveling grand encampment and there is no doubt that Gulbadan Banu Begum like most Mughal Ladies hated the confines living in buildings and no doubt wholeheartedly agreed with the verses of Jahanara Begum the daughter of Shahjahan that the rot of the empire would set in when the Mughals confine themselves to closed houses.

She appears to have been an educated, pious, and cultured woman of royalty. She was fond of reading and she had enjoyed the confidences of both her brother Humayun and nephew Akbar. From her account it is also apparent that she was an astute observer, well-versed with the intricacies of warfare, and the intrigues of royal deal making. The first part of her story deals with Humayun’s rule after her father’s death and the travails of Humayun after his defeat. She had written little about her father Babur, as she was only aged eight when he died. However, there are anecdotes and stories she had heard about him from her companions in the Mahal (harem) that she included in her account. The latter part also deals with life in the Mughal harem.

She recorded one light-hearted incident about Babur. He had minted a large gold coin, as he was fond of doing, after he established his kingdom in India. This heavy gold coin was sent to Kabul, with special instructions to play a practical joke on the court jester Asas, who had stayed behind in Kabul. Asas was to be blindfolded and the coin was to be hung around his neck. Asas was intrigued and worried about the heavy weight around his neck, not knowing what it was. However, when he realized that it was a gold coin, Asas jumped with joy and pranced around the room, repeatedly saying that no one shall ever take it from him.

Gulbadan Begum describes her father’s death when her brother had fallen ill at the age of 22. She tells that Babur was depressed to see his son seriously ill and dying. For four days he circumambulated the bed of his son repeatedly, praying to Allah, begging to be taken to the eternal world in his son’s place. As if by miracle, his prayers were answered. The son recovered and the 47-year old father died soon after.

Soon after his exile, Humayun had seen and fallen in love with a 13-year old girl named [[Hamida Banu Begum|Hamida Banu the niece of Shah Husain Mirza. At first she refused to come to see the Emperor, who was much older than her. Finally she was advised by the other women of the harem to reconsider, and she consented to marry the Emperor. Two years later, in 1542, she bore Humayun a son named Akbar, the greatest of the Mughal rulers. Gulbadan Begum described the details of this incident and the marriage of Humayun and Hamida Banu with glee, and a hint of mischievousness in her manuscript.

Gulbadan also recorded the nomadic life style of Mughal women. Her younger days were spent in the typical style of the peripatetic Mughal family, wandering between Kabul,Agra and Lahore. During Humayun’s exile the problem was further exaggerated. She had to live in Kabul with one of her step brothers, who later tried to recruit her husband to join him against Humayun. Gulbadan Begum persuaded her husband not to do so.He however did so during her nephew's reign and, along with his son, was defeated and was expelled from court and from her presence for the rest of his life.He was not even allowed to be buried next to her.His grave is in one corner of the main quadrangle in which she is buried