Page 15 - Jul - Sep 2021

VOL. 18 No. 3
Stories
Mughal Biographies Tell us a lot of DID YOU KNOW?
of kings,
things!
Zafarnama was a spiritual
As mentioned before, Mughals put a lot of emphasis on letter written by Guru Gobind
recording and documenting their actions. Therefore, Singh Ji to Mughal Emperor
most of the Mughal rulers had biographies. Aurangzeb. The original copy is
kept at Gurudwara Daya Singh
Yukta Shivam, Class 8 A, Ajanta Public School, Gurugram
in Aurangabad.

BABURNAMA (Tuzk-e Babri) Abhijot Singh, Class 6 C, Army Public
School, Beas
Author: Emperor Babur
Language: Chugtai Turkic;

Script: Nasta'liq JAHANGIRNAMA (Tuzk-e-Jahangiri)
Other details: Babur made notes Author: Emperor Jahangir
of some interesting observations. Language: Persian;
For example, he talks about the
Script: Nasta'liq
people, plants, fl owers, and animals
of India. Other details: He started
ACTIVITY: FRUIT NOSTALGIA his autobiography by talking
about some new decrees
A mere fruit reminded Babur of his homeland.
that he had issued about
He wrote: “How can one forget the pleasures of that
establishing hospitals, remov-
country? . . . Recently a melon was brought, and as I cut
ing taxes, etc. He also wrote
it and ate it I was oddly aff ected. I wept the whole time
about his views on art, culture,
I was eating it” Share with us which fruit or fl ower
and politics.
makes you nostalgic and reminds you of home!
Fun fact: Through this text, we
HUMAYUN-NAMA fi nd out that Akbar gave Jahangir the nickname ‘Shekhu
Baba’ as he was born in the house of Sheikh Salim Chisti.
Author: Gulbadan Begum, Babur’s daughter
Harsh Mandelkar, Centre Point School, Katol Road, Nagpur
Language: Persian; Script: Turkic
ACTIVITY: QUEST FOR SCIENCE!
Other details: The book talks about not just Humayun,
Jahangirnama records Jahangir's avid curiosity in
but also Babur and Akbar since the author was related to
nature and all things science. What experiments did
all. Since this was written by a woman, there were details
he conduct? Like Jahangir, design your own scientifi c
about the harem too!
manuscript!
Fun fact: Akbar had commissioned his aunt to write this
book because of her storytelling skills.
MILITARY MIGHT
AKBARNAMA
Tuzuk-i-Baburi: It describes
Author: Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak -- one of
Akbar’s navratnas effi cient military and
administrative organisation.
Language: Persian; Script: Naskh
Ain-i-Akbari: It contains the
Other details: The fi rst volume dealt
political reports of the judiciary
with his birth and upbringing. The
second volume talks of his reign till and the executive.
1602. The third volume, Ain-i-Akbari, Fatawa-i-Alamgiri: This
talks about his administrative systems. describes the imposition of
criminal and personal laws.
Fun fact: 116 illustrations from the original manuscript
are at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

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