Daily Times
July 16, 2021
There is that heart-reading and mysterious episode at the end of Babur’s life. Humayun is fatally ill and is on what appeared to be his death bed, and all medicines and doctors have failed. Babur is aware that he has just won India, but he will not have an heir to pass it on to create a dynasty. The Mughal Empire is over before it has even begun. He consults everyone and tries everything. He is advised a life for a life: if he gives up his most precious possession, his son’s life may be spared. The fabulous Koh-i-Noor is offered, but Babur knows it has to be his own life, and he offers it without hesitation. The family women are torn and traumatised which one will they pray for: Father or son? Here is how the episode is depicted in the epic:
Daily Times
July 15, 2021
By writing his epic poem Bibi Mubarika and Babur, Sahibzada Riaz Noor has not only done a favour to literature but also history. He has given us not only a poem rich in imagery, colour, and emotion but a history lesson full of insights. (For the sake of transparency, I must state that I wrote the Foreword and have leaned on it for this article).
The poem is in the Homeric vein its characters heroic, its scope vast and the story consequential. The history throws light on a little-known aspect of the life of one of the great figures of world history, Babur or, as some prefer, Babar, the founder of the Mughal empire, arguably India’s greatest and most glorious empire. In the process, the poet has given us in Bibi Mubarika, Babur’s empress, a marvellous icon and role model, a woman of grit and honour, an empress with compassion and courage. The epic is called Bibi Mubarika and Babur. The poet deliberately put her name first in the title to restore her pla