Babur Quotes

“The one nice aspect of Hindustan is that it is a large country with lots of gold and mone-Babur in the Baburnama”
― Salman Rushdie, Step Across This Line: Collected Nonfiction 1992-2002

“Babur was more than ordinarily ruthless. He pursued to the limit the concept of Jihad- a total war for the annihilation of his adversaries as prescribed by Islam of which he was a practitioner. He was a product of his age and environment, and that is exactly how we must see him. Whitewashing his blood-soaked record to turn him into a figure of chivalry and prince charming is an exercise in juvenile fantasy. Babur saw ruthlessness as a virtue, and terror as a useful tactical tool. In this he was a true descendant of Timur and Chengiz Khan- both of whom were his ancestors. Guru Nanak's eyewitness account gives a better picture of Babur and his methods than almost any modern history book. The same holds true for the Baburnama: it is a primary source of great importance that goes to demolish romantic tales about him.- NS Rajaram quoted in Rushdie's book.”
― NS Rajaram