Reflections: Wine and Tulips in Kabul

Babur was ambitious, and his dominion in Kabul was limited by the Afghan’s insubordination

• Babur was ambitious, and his dominion in Kabul was limited by the Afghan’s insubordination
• He needed to expand elsewhere
• He tried again to take Samarkand, and was again beaten back
• So he raided what is now Pakistan, found the people of the plains easier meat than the mountain tribes, and by 1523 pretty much controlled Lahore
• Delhi was in his sights
• Because it had been part of Timur’s domains, Babur maintained that it was legitimately his, and wrote to the ruler to stake his claim

Sultan Ibrahim, understandably, ignored him, so Babur marched south and defeated him at the battle of Panipat

• Sultan Ibrahim, understandably, ignored him, so Babur marched south and defeated him at the battle of Panipat
• The sultan was killed, along with 15,000-16,000 of his troops

Babur stayed in Delhi to consolidate his power, but he hated India

• Babur stayed in Delhi to consolidate his power, but he hated India
• The only things Babur liked about India were the abundance of gold and silver and the weather after the monsoon

He built gardens to remind him of Kabul, but flowers do not do as well in India as in the crisp Afghan air

• He built gardens to remind him of Kabul, but flowers do not do as well in India as in the crisp Afghan air
• His friends could not stand the heat, and went back to Kabul
• As ruler, he was stuck there, pining for the jollity of the old days
• In 1528, he wrote to one of his oldest friends, Khwajah Kalan, “With whom do you spend time? With whom do you drink wine?”

It was not just the friends that Babur missed

• It was not just the friends that Babur missed
• He had given up drinking because of his health
• The knowledge that wine was forbidden sharpened his yearning for “the permitted flavors of melons and grapes” that flourished in Kabul
• When he cut open a melon, he wept