Zahir ud-Din Muhammad Babur (1483–1530), founder of the Mughal Empire, composed his memoirs — the Bābur-nāma — in Chaghatai Turkic, and they stand as one of the great autobiographies of world literature. Babur records his military campaigns across Central Asia and into the Indian subcontinent with extraordinary candour, alongside lyrical descriptions of gardens, food, wine, and the landscapes he loved.
Remarkable for their self-awareness and literary quality, these memoirs offer a unique window into the mind of a conqueror who was also a poet and naturalist. Download this English translation as a free EPUB and encounter one of history’s most vivid autobiographical voices.