Baburnama

"He was the first Mughal emperor. He was born north of Afghanistan in the Fergana Valley in today’s Uzbekistan. He spent most of his life fighting. When he was a young and up-and-coming princeling he tried to capture Kabul but failed. He captured Delhi in 1526. He then returned to Afghanistan and captured Kabul. Get the weekly Five Books newsletter He always said he wanted to live in Kabul and have it as his capital. He thought it was the most marvellous city in the world and had the best climate anywhere, especially compared with Delhi, which was hot and sticky. He spent as much time as he could in Kabul and he is buried in the city. You can still visit his tomb. Mughals loved gardens, so not only does he have a lovely marble surround to his tomb but it is set in these lovely gardens. Every time I go to Kabul I visit them. They have recently been restored by the Aga Khan, as they fell into a state of disrepair. Yes, he talks about everything. He was a remarkable character. Apparently, every river he came to – including the Ganges – he insisted on swimming across. He was a very good swimmer. He was also enormously strong and it is said he could run up a hill with a man on each of his shoulders."

"More than anyone else, I think, it’s Emperor Babur, the founder of the Mughal Dynasty in India. He was a great warrior and commander – descended from both Tamburlaine and Genghis Khan – but also with a wonderful eye for nature and landscape. It’s rare to combine warfare and gardening. In The Babur Nama he describes the country in Fergana in Uzbekistan where he grew up, for example, noting the topography and the plants, even though he left when he was only 12. He describes the Judas tree in bloom, and planting willows around a pond and spotting wild tulips in the fields up above Kabul. Support Five Books Five Books interviews are expensive to produce. If you're enjoying this interview, please support us by donating a small amount . I’m writing a book about Mughal gardens at the moment, trying to follow Babur’s trail down from Afghanistan, through the Punjab and on to Delhi. And the amazing thing is that, even when campaigning, if he paused amongst beautiful scenery, he would have his men do some landscaping, enlarging a stream here or moving a bank there. He must have been the most extraordinary man and his memoir makes the best kind of bedside reading: intrigue, conquest, history on an epic scale and gardening!"