U.—The Inscriptions on Bābur’s Mosque in Ajodhya (Oudh).
Thanks to the kind response made by the Deputy-Commissioner of Fyzābād to my husband’s enquiry about two inscriptions mentioned by several Gazetteers as still existing on “Bābur’s Mosque” in Oudh, I am able to quote copies of both.2847
a. The inscription inside the Mosque is as follows:—
1. Ba farmūda-i-Shāh Bābur ki ‘ādilash
Banā’īst tā kākh-i-gardūn mulāqī,
2. Banā kard īn muhbit̤-i-qudsiyān
Amīr-i-sa‘ādat-nishān Mīr Bāqī
3. Bavad khair bāqī! chū sāl-i-banā’īsh
‘Iyān shud ki guftam,—Buvad khair bāqī (935).
The translation and explanation of the above, manifestly made by a Musalmān and as such having special value, are as follows:—2848
1. By the command of the Emperor Bābur whose justice is an edifice reaching up to the very height of the heavens,
2. The good-hearted Mīr Bāqī built this alighting-place of angels;2849
3. Bavad khāir bāqī! (May this goodness last for ever!)2850
The year of building it was made clear likewise when I said, Buvad khair bāqī ( = 935).2851
The explanation of this is:—
1st couplet:—The poet begins by praising the Emperor Bābur under whose orders the mosque was erected. As justice is the (chief) virtue of kings, he naturally compares his (Bābur’s) justice to a palace reaching up to the very heavens, signifying thereby that the fame of that justice had not only spread in the wide world but had gone up to the heavens.
2nd couplet:—In the second couplet, the poet tells who was entrusted with the work of construction. M[i]r Bāqī was evidently some nobleman of distinction at Bābur’s Court.—The noble height, the pure religious atmosphere, and the scrupulous cleanliness and neatness of the mosque are beautifully suggested by saying that it was to be the abode of angels.
3rd couplet:—The third couplet begins and ends with the expression Buvad khair bāqī. The letters forming it by their numerical values represent the number 935, thus:—
| B = 2, v = 6, d = 4 | total 12 |
| Kh = 600, ai = 10, r = 200 | ” 810 |
| B = 2, ā = 1, q = 100, r = 10 | ” 113 |
| ___ | |
| Total 935 | |
The poet indirectly refers to a religious commandment (dictum?) of the Qorān that a man’s good deeds live after his death, and signifies that this noble mosque is verily such a one.
b. The inscription outside the Mosque is as follows:—
1. Ba nām-i-anki dānā hast akbar
Ki khāliq-i-jamla ‘ālam lā-makānī
2. Durūd Muṣt̤afá ba‘d az sitāyish
Ki sarwar-i-aṃbiyā’ dū jahānī
3. Fasāna dar jahān Bābur qalandar
Ki shud dar daur gītī kāmrānī.2852
The explanation of the above is as follows:—
In the first couplet the poet praises God, in the second Muḥammad, in the third Bābur.—There is a peculiar literary beauty in the use of the word lā-makānī in the 1st couplet. The author hints that the mosque is meant to be the abode of God, although He has no fixed abiding-place.—In the first hemistich of the 3rd couplet the poet gives Bābur the appellation of qalandar, which means a perfect devotee, indifferent to all worldly pleasures. In the second hemistich he gives as the reason for his being so, that Bābur became and was known all the world over as a qalandar, because having become Emperor of India and having thus reached the summit of worldly success, he had nothing to wish for on this earth.2853
The inscription is incomplete and the above is the plain interpretation which can be given to the couplets that are to hand. Attempts may be made to read further meaning into them but the language would not warrant it.