Author
Zuhair al-Din Muhammad Babur (1483-1530)
Publication Date
10th century AH/AD 16th century (Mughal)
Publication Place
India (Place of Origin) -
Subject
Manuscripts and Rare Books, Islamic World, Islamic Manuscripts, India, Nepal, and Tibet
Type
Document
Language
Arabic
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
Yes
Physical Dimensions
Folio H: 12 5/8 x W: 8 1/4 in. (32 x 21 cm); W closed: 8 1/4 x D: 3/8 in. (21 x 1 cm)
Library
The Walters Art Museum
Record ID
W.596
Library Location
Not on view
Date
10th century AH/AD 16th century (Mughal)
Notes
Walters manuscript W.596 is a copy of the Baburnama. Recognized as one of the world's great autobiographical memoirs, the Baburnama is the story of Zahir al-Din Muhammad Babur (866 AH/AD 1483-937 AH/AD 1530), who conquered northern India and established the Mughal Empire (or Timurid-Mughal empire). Born in Fergana (Central Asia), Babur was a patrilineal Timurid and matrilineal Chingizid. Babur wrote his memoir in Chaghatay Turkish, which he referred to as Turkic, and it was later translated into Persian and repeatedly copied and illustrated under his Mughal successors. The present copy in Persian, written in Nasta'liq script, is a fragment of a dispersed manuscript that was executed in the late 10th century AH/AD 16th. The ordering of the folios as found here does not follow the narrative of the text. The Walters' fragment contains 30 mostly full-page paintings that are representative of the Mughal court style under the Mughal Emperor Akbar (reigned 963 AH/AD 1556-1014 AH/AD 1605). Another major fragment of this work containing 57 folios is in the State Museum of Eastern Cultures, Moscow. The dark green leather binding, which is not original to the manuscript, dates to the late 13th century AH/AD 19th or early 14th century AH/AD 20th.
Sergi Ayrıntıları
Poetry and Prayer: Islamic Manuscripts from the Walters Art Museum. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore., Mything Persons: Historic Figures in Legends of East and West. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore., The Royal Style. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore., Illuminated Manuscripts: Masterpieces in Miniature. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore., The Art of the Book in India. British Library, London.
Sergi Yılı
2010, 1998, 1988-1989, 1984-1985, 1982
Bağış/Edinim
Acquired by Henry Walters
