Yunas Khan, son of Wais Khan, son of Sher-'ali Aughlon, son of Muhammad Khan, son of Khizr Khwaja Khan, son of Tughluq-timur Khan, son of Aisan-bugha Khan, son of Dawa Khan, son of Baraq Khan, son of Yesuntawa Khan, son of Muatukan, son of Chagatai Khan, son of Genghis Khan

"Pillar of heads"

We had been told that when Afghans are powerless to resist, they go before their foe with grass between their teeth, this being as much as to say, " I am your cow."  Here we saw this custom ; Afghans unable to make resistance, came before us with grass between their teeth. Those our men had brought in as prisoners were ordered to be beheaded and a pillar of their heads was set up in our camp 

I first heard the word sangur after coming to Kabul where people describe fortifying themselves on a hill as making a sangur. Our men went straight up, broke into it and cut off a hundred or two of insolent Afghan heads. There also a pillar of heads was set up.

After dismounting in Bannu, we heard that the tribesmen in the Plain (Dasht) were for resisting an4 were entrenching themselves on a hill to the north. A force headed by Jahanglr Mirza, went against what seemed to be the Kiwi sangur, took it at once, made general slaughter, cut off and brought in many heads. Much white cloth fell into (their) hands. In Bannu also a pillar of heads was set up. After the sangur had been taken, the Kiwi head-man, Shadi Khan, came to my presence, with grass between his teeth, and did me obeisance. I pardoned all the prisoners.

On his "wretched" Mongol cousins compared to his own troops:

The Moghul troops who had come as reinforcements had no endurance for battle. They left the battle and began to unhorse and plunder our own men. It was not just here they did this: those wretched Moghuls always do this. If they win they take booty; if they lose they unhorse their own people and plunder them for for booty.

On the deplorable "Hindustan":

Hindustan is a place of little charm… There are no good horses, meat, grapes, melons, or other fruit. There is no ice, cold water, good food or bread in the markets. There are no baths and no madrasas. There are no candles, torches, or candlesticks.

On killing "infidels"

For the sake of Islam I became a wanderer,
I battled infidels and Hindus,
I determined to become a martyr
Thank God I became a Killer of Non-Muslims!

Babar and Music

Mentions Musicians that need to be remembered.  This among many:

ShaikhT the flautist {ndyt) was another ; it is said he played also the lute and the guitar, and that he had played the flute from his 12th or 13th year. He once produced a wonderful air on the flute, at one of Badl'u'z-zaman Mirza's assemblies ; Qul-i- muhammad could not reproduce it on the guitar, so declared this a worthless instrument ; Shaikhl Ndyi at once took the guitar from Qul-i-muhammad's hands and played the air on it, well and in perfect tune. They say he was so expert in music that having once heard an air, he was able to say, "This or that is the tune of so-and-so's or so-and-so's flute." 

Amongst the musicians present at this party were Hafiz HajT, Jalalu'd-din Mahmud the flautist, and Ghulam shadt's younger brother, Ghulam bacha the Jews'-harpist. Hafiz Haji sang well, as Herl people sing, quietly, delicately, and in tune. With Jahangir Mirza was a Samarkandl singer Mir Jan whose singing was always loud, harsh and out-of-tune. The Mirza, having had enough, ordered him to sing ; he did so, loudly, harshly and without taste. Khurasanis have quite refined manners ; if, under this singing, one did stop his ears, the face of another put question, not one could stop the singer, out of consideration for the Mirza.

Musicians are named in parties:

Having ridden out at the Mid-day Prayer for an excursion, we got on a boat and 'araq was drunk. The people of the party were Dost Beg, Mirza Quli, Ahmadi, Gadai, Muhammad 'All Jang-jang, 'Asas,5 and Aughan-blrdI MughilL The musicians were Rauh-dam, Baba Jan, Qasim-i-'all, Yusuf-i-'alT, Tingrl-qull, Abu'l-qasim, Ramzan Lull. We drank in the boat till the Bed- time Prayer ; then getting off it, full of drink, we mounted, took torches in our hands, and went to camp from the river's bank

Babar's Poverty

During my stay in Tashkent, I endured much poverty and humiliation. I had no country or hope of one! Most of my retainers dispersed; those who remained were unable to move about with me because of their destitution. This uncertainty and want of house and home drove me at last to despair. I thought, 'It would be better to go off by myself than live in such misery; better to go as far as my feet can carry me than for others to see me in such poverty and humiliation. 

On Melons (he loved melons!):

In all Fergana no fort is so strong as Akhsi. Its suburbs extend some two miles further than the walled town. People say of Akhsi, "Where is the village? Where are the trees?" Its melons are excellent; one variety of them is known as Mir Timuri and may have no equal in the world. The melons of Bukhara are famous. When I took Samarkand, I had some brought from there and some from Akhsi. They were cut up at an entertainment and those from Bukhara could not compare with those from Akhsi. The fowling and hunting of Akhsi are very good indeed; white deer abound in the waste on the Akhsi side of the Syr-Darya; in the jungle on the Andijan side, abundant and well-fed bucks and does, pheasant and hare are had.

One of those on the south is Andijan, which has a central position and is the capital of the Fergana country. It produces much grain, fruits in abundance, excellent grapes and melons. In the melon season, it is not customary to sell them out at the fields. There are no pears better than those of Andijan. After Samarkand and Kesh, the fort of Andijan is the largest in Mawara'u'n-nahr (Transoxiana). It has three gates. Its citadel (ark) is on its south side. Water flows into it by nine channels, but, oddly, flows out by none. Round the outer edge of the ditch runs a gravelled highway; the width of this highway divides the fort from the suburbs surrounding it.

 Educational

Just as 'Arabs call every place outside 'Arab (Arabia), ' Ajam, so Hindustanis call every place outside Hindustan, Khurasan. There are two trade-marts on the land-route between Hindustan and Khurasan ; one is Kabul, the other, Qandahar.

From all these the mountains of Nijr-au, the Lamghanat and Sawad differ in having masses of cypresses,^ holm-oak, olive and mastic {kkanjak) ; their grass also is different, — it is dense, it is tall, it is good neither for horse nor sheep. Although these mountains are not so high as those already described, indeed they look to be low, none-the-less, they are strongholds ; what to the eye is even slope, really is hard rock on which it is impossible to ride. Many of the beasts and birds of Hindustan are found amongst them, such as the parrot, mina, peacock and liija {lukhd), the ape, nil-gdu and hog-deer {kuta-pdt); some found there are not found even in Hindustan.

References:
https://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/texts/babur/babur1.html
https://archive.org/stream/baburnamainengli01babuuoft/baburnamainengli01babuuoft_djvu.txt

Babar and Guru Nanak in 1520-1521

Before we go into the shabad, let's consider the historical background based on what I have gathered from several sources including Babar's Autobiography in the past few days.

The year was 1520.  The season was winter.  Babar made his third invasion into India and easily subdued several cities including Sialkot.  He wanted to do the same with Saidpur, a town of landowners and merchants.  The inhabitants of Saidpur, not knowing Babar's savage intentions, resisted and in his wrath Babar ordered a bloody massacre of city dwellers.

Guru Nanak was traveling back home after his trip to Mecca, and reached Saidpur from Punja Sahib and stayed with disciple and friend Bhai Lalo.  Guru Nanak and Bhai Lalo, along with other older men, women and children were imprisoned by Babar.  Babar had to leave Saidpur because of attacks at his home in Afganisthan.  According to the Puratan Janam Saaki, Guru Nanak and Bhai Lalo were made to carry loads of wealth on their backs for Babar's troops to take away (See Babur's Invasion).

Many of the historical accounts of Babar's third invasion I found were short and colorless. For example, one account mentioned Babar's invasion in the following way:

"There is no doubt, however, that he made an expedition, called the third, in 1520. On this occasion he crossed the Indus, marched into the part known now as the Rawal Pindi division, crossed the Jehlam, reached Sialkot, which he spared, and then marched on Saiyidpur, which he plundered. He was called from this place to Kabul to meet a threatened attack upon that capital."

In comparsion ... Guru Nanak is beautifully descriptive, and he calls the savagery like it is: evil and sinful:

Calling it like it is ... Guru Nanak Style

Guru Nanak's courageous song of truth that describes the condition of Saidpur after it was devastated by Babar's attack in 1521:

How many times can a man turn his head
And pretend that he just doesn't see?

The convenient thing to do is to ignore atrocities.  It saves you from any negative repercussions.  But the right and courageous thing to do is to stand by the truth.  Guru Nanak's poem is especially courageous because it could result in him losing his life; despite this, he choses to write and sing this.


He is saying it like it is.  

The Wedding Metaphor

Wedding are often used as metaphors of death in sufi poetry and gurbani. Just like the bridegroom leaves her temporary house and goes to her husband's house one day, it is inevitable that we all die.  Guru Nanak extends this metaphor chillingly -- the wedding party has come from Kabul and "demands" land.  This sin has come from greed.  Through this poem he slays the greed of acquirers of land and women. The fact that he wanted the land and riches of the people of Saidpur has been corroborated from primary sources.  

The wedding party of sin comes from Kabul.  After Babur's failures in Central Asia he had moved south east to Kabul and established his supremacy.  He was especially punitive to the Afghans, often setting up "pillars of heads" after winning battles; now he brings such horrors to India.  

One historian remarks that Guru Nanak knew about Babur's attack beforehand and came to Saidpur to warn Bhai Lalo of the devastation.  I believe the shabad was written afterwards because of the specific description and the evidence (chakki). 

Normally weddings are decent and righteous affairs; they are celebrations. And normally the pious elevated individuals conduct marriage ceremonies. So that would be the brahman for hindus and the kazi for muslims. But in this case Satan is conducting wedding rites. As we go on in this shabad, the wedding metaphors will continue - especially about singing wedding songs in the end of the shabad.

Toll of War on Women

Although kungoo is often translated as "saffron" in most translations of this shabad, this is not accurate. Kungoo is a powdered dye from a variety of millet that was used as make-up by women. I found some references of modern use of this millet for making hair pink (More on Kungoo)! Continuing the extension of this chilling metaphor of death, the poet is also decorated with the kungoo, but its the kungoo of blood and he sings the songs of murder.

It is interesting to note that Khoon is red.  Kungoo is pink, derived from red. And Lalo, although a person's name, is also derived from red.  Red is the color of blood. It is the color of blood that makes a memory of war so gory. Yet, it is also the color of love. It is the traditional color of a bride's dress.  The redness of Guru Nanak's last line highlights the dichotomy of the world that we live in. This world is full of suffering, yet it is also full of love.  And all us poets of life have a choice.

Guru Nanak Sings His Part 

What does Guru Nanak do despite all the suffering. He is not dejected. He sings! The poet of the soul is ready to die.  He is ready to die a bloody death.  Not just ready, he accepts the bloody death gleefully. He sings the songs of murder. He does what he is here for. He does his part.   In the darkest hours of life, he sees stars; he has optimism. He has hope. He rejoices in His Will.

How can we remove all this dark falsehood? By rejoicing in His Will, says Nanak! (Japji 1)

We live in a time of great confusion and pain. There was uncalled for bloodshed in Paris, Syria and California last year.  Terrorists were killing innocent people for reasons even baser than Babar's. But you shouldn't be discouraged. While you might not be able to fix this, but you should not lose heart. Peace begins with you. Just like Guru Nanak, you have a unique mission. Just like him, you can be singing.  Just like him, you can make a big difference. Just like him, you can truly live.

Martin Luther King once said, "A man dies when he refuses to stand up for that which is right. A man dies when he refuses to stand up for justice. A man dies when he refuses to take a stand for that which is true." To truly live, you have to sing what is right, you have to sing for justice, you have have to sing the truth.  The Guru Nanak within us lives as long as we sing the truth. He sings eternally, 'Akhaan Jeevan Visrai Mar Jaon' ... he sings, "As long as I sing I live; as soon as I forget I die."

Babar was soldier of fortune, founder of the Mughal dynasty in India, diarist and poet, descending in the fifth generation from Timur, was born on 14 February 1483. In June 1494, he succeeded his father, 'Umar Shaik , as ruler of Farghana, whose revenues supported no more than a few hundred cavalry. With this force of helmeted, mailclad warriors, Babar began his career of conquest. He joined in the family struggle for power, thrice winning and thrice losing Samarkand, alternately master of a kingdom or a wanderer through the hills. In 1504, he made himself master of Kabul and so came in touch with India whose wealth was a standing temptation. In 1517 and again in 1519, he swept down the Afghan plateau into the plains of India. He entered the Punjab in 1523 on the invitation of Daulat Khan Lodhi, the governor of the province, and 'Alam Khan, an uncle of Ibrahim Lodhi, the Delhi Sultan. But, wars in his home country however, compelled Babar to return so that his final invasion was not begun until November 1525.

Babar's army of 12,000 men was mostly undisciplined group of men who wanted to loot the riches of India. These 12,000 men, a tiny army with which to attempt the conquest of Ibrahim Lodhi's realm, first devasted Punjab. Guru Nanak in his famous epic named "Babarvani" describes the atrocities of Babar and his men in Punjab.

Babarvani (Babar's command or sway) is how the four hymns by Guru Nanak alluding to the invasions by Babar (1483-1530), are collectively known in Sikh literature. The name is derived from the use of the term in one of these hymns "Babarvani phiri gal kuiru na rot khai -Babar's command or sway has spread; even the princes go without food" (GG, 417). Three of these hymns are in Asa measure at pages 360 and 417-18 of the standard recension of Guru Granth Sahib and the fourth is in Tilang measure on pages 722-23.

In his first invasion, Babar came as far as Peshawar. The following year he crossed the Indus and, conquering Sialkot without resistance, marched on Saidpur (now Eminabad, 15 km southeast of Gujranwala in Pakistan) which suffered the worst fury of the invading host. The town was taken by assault, the garrison put to the sword and the inhabitants carried into captivity. During his next invasion in 1524, Babar ransacked Lahore. His final invasion was launched during the winter of 1525-26 and he became master of Delhi after his Victory at Panipat on 21 April 1526.

Guru Nanak was an eye-witness to the havoc created during these invasions. Janam Sakhis mention that he himself was taken captive at Saidpur. A little of his, outside of Babarwani hymns, indicates that he may have been present in Lahore when the city was given up to plunder. In six pithy words this line conveys, "For a pahar and a quarter, i.e. for nearly four hours, the city of Lahore remained subject to death and fury" (GG,1412). The mention in one of the Babalvani hymns of the use of guns by the Mughals against the Afghan defence relying mainly upon their war - elephants may well be a reference to the historic battle of Panipat which sealed the fate of the Afghan king, Ibrahim Lodhi.

The Sikh tradition strongly subscribes to a meeting in 1520 between  Guru Nanak and Babar during the latter's invasion of Saidpur, now called Eminabad, in Gujranwala district of Pakistan. The town was taken by assault, the garrison put to the sword and the inhabitants carried into captivity. According to the Puratan Janam Sakhi,  Guru Nanak and Mardana, also among the captives, were ordered to be taken to prison as slaves. The Guru was given a load to carry and Mardana a horse to lead. But Mir Khan, says the Janam Sakhi, saw that the Guru's bundle was carried without any support and Mardana's horse followed him without the reins. He reported this to Sultan Babar who remarked, "If there was such a holy man here, the town should not have been destroyed." The Janam Sakhi continues, "Babar kissed his (Guru Nanak's) feet. He said, 'On the face of this fair one sees God himself.' Then all the people, Hindus and Musalmans, began to make their salutations. The king spoke again, 'O dervish, accept something'. The Guru answered, 'I take nothing, but you must release all the prisoners of Saidpur and restore their property to them'. King Babar ordered, 'Those who are in detention be released and their property be returned to them'. All the prisoners of Saidpur were set at liberty"

Babarvani hymns are not a narrative of historical events like Guru Gobind Singh's Bachitra Natak, nor are they an indictment of Babar as his Zafarnamah was that of Aurangzab. They are the outpourings of a compassionate soul touched by scenes of human misery and by the cruelty perpetrated by the invaders. The sufferings of the people are rendered here in accents of intense power and protest. The events are placed in the larger social and historical perspective decline in moral standards must lead to chaos. A corrupt political system must end in dissolution. Lure of power divides men and violence unresisted tends to flourish It could not be wished away by magic or sorcery Guru Nanak reiterated his faith in the Almighty and in His justice. Yet so acute was his realization of the distress of the people that he could not resist making the complaint: "When there was such suffering, such killing, such shrieking in pain, did not Thou, O God, feel pity? Creator, Thou art the same for all!"

The people for Guru Nanak were the people as a whole, the Hindus and the Muslims, the high-caste and the low-caste, soldiers and civilians, men and women. These hymns are remarkable for their moral structurs and poetical eloquence. Nowhere else in contemporary literature are the issues in medieval Indian situation comprehended with such clarity or presented in tones of greater urgency. In spite of his destructive role Babar is seen by Guru Nanak to have been an unwitting instrument of the divine Will. Because the Lodhi's had violated God's laws, they had to pay the penalty. Babar descended from Kabul as God's chosen agent, demonstrating the absolute authority of God and the retribution which must follow defiance of His laws. Guru Nanak's commentary on the events which he actually witnessed thus becomes a part of the same universal message. God is absolute and no man may disobey. His commands with impunity. Obey Him and receive freedom. Disobey him and the result must inevitably be retribution, a dire reckoning which brings suffering in this present life and continued transmigration in the hereafter. The hymn rendered in free English verse reads:Lord, Thou takest Khurasan under Thy wing, but yielded India to the invader's wrath. Yet thou takest no blame; And sendest the Mughal as the messenger of death. When there was such suffering, killing, such shrieking in pain, Didst not Thou, O God, feel pity ?


The fourth Babarvani hymn is probably addressed to Bhal Lalo, one of Guru Nanak's devotees living at Saidpur itself. It ends on a prophetic note, alluding perhaps to the rise of Sher Khan, an Afghan of Sur clan, who had already captured Bengal and Bihar, defeated Babar's son and successor, Humayun, at Chausa on the Ganga in June 1539 (during the lifetime of Guru Nanak), and who finally drove the Mughal king out of India in the following year. The hymn in Tilang measure is, like the other three, an expression of Guru Nanak feeling of distress at the moral degradation of the people at the imposition by the mighty. It is a statement also of his belief in God's justice and in the ultimate victory of good over evil. In an English rendering:" As descendeth the Lord's word to me, so do I deliver it unto you, O Lalo: [Babar] leading a wedding-array of sin hath descended from Kabul and demandeth by force the bride, O Lalo. decency and righteousness have vanished, and falsehood struts abroad, O Lalo. Gone are the days of Qazis and Brahmans, Satan now conducts the nuptials, O Lalo. The Muslim women recite the Qur'an and in distress remember their God, O Lalo. Similar is the fate of Hindu women of castes high and low, O Lalo. They sing paeans of blood, O Nanak, and by blood, not saffron, ointment is made, O Lalo. In this city of corpses, Nanak proclaimeth God's praises, and uttereth this true saying: The Lord who created men and put them to their tasks watcheth them from His seclusion. True is that Lord, true His verdict, and true is the justice He dealeth. As her body's vesture is torn to shreds, India shall remember my words. In seventy-eight they come, in ninety seven shall depart; another man of destiny shall arise. Nanak pronounceth words of truth, Truth he uttereth; truth the time calls for."


The words Seventy-eight and ninetyseven" in the penultimate line are interpreted as 1578 and 1597 of the Indian calendar, corresponding respectively with 1521 and 1540 which are the dates of Babar's invasion and Humayun's dethronement by Sher Khan/Shah. Though Babar's Tuzk, or Memoirs, a work of high literary quality, gives many interesting details of the campaigns and the events he was involved in and also describes the Indian life and customs very minutely there is no mention in these recollections that he met Guru Nanak. Nevertheless, the possibility of such a meeting having taken place cannot be ruled out. There are references in Guru Nanak's bans to Babars's invasions. An open tragedy like the one that struck Saidpur moved him profoundly and he described the sorrows of Indians-Hindus and Muslims alike-in words of intense power and suffering. Babar's army, in the words of Guru Nanak, was "the bridal procession of sin." In fact, Indian literature of that period records no more virile protest against the invading hordes than do Guru Nanak's four hymns of Babarvani in the Guru Granth Sahib.

Babar died on 26 December 1530 at Agra. Several years later his body was moved to its present grave in one of the gardens of Kabul.

Babar's ivasion and occupation of India impacted the life in India in all aspects. His generals forced people to be converted to Islam, his Zamindar's and other influential people bestowed lands and property on the newly converted Muslims. Babar himself became a Ghazi which in Islamic terminology is a positive epitecht and it means "a muslim who has killed a non-muslim", such a person is guaranteed heaven with "beautiful women, wine and rivers of honey." Another thing to note is that Babar destroyed several Hindu temples all over Punjab, and UP. Reason being is because founder of islam, Mohammad had done the same thing when he attacked Meeca and destroyed its temple and idolized Kaba. He made a pathway to kaaba using destroyed debree of the old temple, this tradition was continued by all the Mughal kings who invaded Indian, including Humayun, Akbar, Jahangir, Shahjahan and Aurungzeb, they destroyed temples and converted them to mosques, even though it is not allowed in islam as muslims claim but Mohammad himself had done it so they followed their leader.

The clash between Sikh and Islamic culture was inevitable and resulted in first small hostilities between Guru's followers starting with the Sixth Guru Hargobind Singh and later into full scale with Tenth Guru Gobind Singh.