Bibi Mubaraka has been a very intriguing figure in the history of the Yusufzai and sadly there is very little about her that is ever mentioned in history books. Her claim to fame seems to be that she is one of Babur’s ten wives and she persuaded Humayun to inter Babur’s remains in his favorite garden in Kabul.
Yet there is more to this lady than just reburying her husband, her marriage to Babur on 30th January 1519 sealed an important pact between the Yusufzai and the Mughal, making it possible for Babur to strengthen his hold in India with the support of the Yusufzai or rather that he faced less trouble from them.
Most of the information about her is from Gulbadan’s Humayun-namah and sporadic mention of her in Babaur-namah.
What is known and agreed on is that she was the daughter of Shah Mansur who was the cheiftan of the Yusufzai during the time of Babur and grand daughter of Suleman Shah, who was the elder of the Yusufzais during the reign of Alag Baig in Kabul.
In January of 1505, Babur launched his first invasion of India. Entering through the Khyber Pass, Kohat and Bannu, into the Derajat he had many bloody encounters. In his memoirs, the Babur-Nama, Babur describes how he destroyed a tribal ambush and both at Kohat and Hangu erected pillars of the heads of his fallen foes, according to the customs of his people.
Babur says in his Babur-namah January 8th 1519
Next morning I pursued my march, and halted in the vale of Bajour,
at the fountain of Bāba Kāra. At the intercession of Khwājeh Kalān, I pardoned a few prisoners who were still left, and suffered them to depart with their wives and families. Several of the sultans and arch-rebels, who had fallen into our hands, were put to death. I sent the heads of the sultans, with some other heads, to Kabul, along with the dispatches announcing this victory. Letters conveying accounts of the victory were also sent, together with some heads, to Badakhshān, Kunduz, and Balkh. Shah Mansur Yūsefzai, who had come on a mission from the Yusufzais, was present at this victory and massacre. Having invested him with a dress of honor, and written threatening letters to the Yusufzais, I gave him leave to depart.
The marriage was forced on the Yusufzai as part of their fealty to Babur. Babur mentions in his Babur-namah
Malik Shah Mansur, the son of Malik Suleiman Shah, had come from the Yūsefzai Afghans with professions of sub¬mission and of attachment
to my interests. In order to conciliate the Yusufzais, I had asked his daughter in marriage. At this encampment we learned that the daughter of Shah Mansur was coming with the tribute of the Yusufzais.
There is also a brief and charming mention of her in Tarikh-i Rehmat Khani, according to which Babar dressed/disguised as a qalandar (an itinerant Sufi) comes to scout out Shah Mansur’s fort/village (Mahura Hill).
On arriving there, Babur is handed food by a servant that Bibi Mubaraka sends. Babur asks who sent the food, he does not eat it, but hides it under a rock. When Shah Mansur and Babur are ready to make peace, as condition of fealty Babur asks for Bibi Mubaraka’s hand in marriage to seal a pact between the Yusufzai and the Mughal.
Shah Mansur refuses on the grounds that he has no daughter. Babur tells him of his visit to Shah Mansur's house in disguise, of his seeing Bibi Mubaraka, and as witness to the truth of his story, he tells them to search for the food he had hidden between stones behind the house. No longer able to deny her existence Shah Mansur was forced to agree and all the Yusufzai generously donated to her dowry so that it befits a wife of Babur the Mughal.
Accompanied by her uncle Tawas Khan she arrives in Baburs camp on January 30th 1519 where they were married and she stayed in Bajuar till the February 10th
January 30. On Sunday the 28th we marched from the valley of Kahrāj, and encamped. Taūskhan Yūsefzai, the younger brother of Shah Mansūr, brought his niece, who has been mentioned, to this encampment. As the people of Besūd are connected with those of Bajour, I sent Yūsef Ali Bekāwel from this station to collect them, and remove them to Bajour.
February 10.... being Wednesday, I bestowed horses and dresses of honour on Sultan Weis and Sultan Alā ud dīn, and dismissed them with every assurance of protection and assistance; and then, continuing our march, we halted opposite to Bajour. I left the daughter of Shah Mansūr in the fort of Bajour, till the return of the army. Next morning, proceeding in our course, and passing Khwājeh Khizer, we halted.
Bibi Mubaraka helped in strengthening the relations of the Yousafzay and Babur. Here is a report of a conversation that took place between Babur and Bibi Mubaraka.
Bibi Mubaraka: "I have a petition to make. If an order be given, I will make it." She took up her dress in both hands and said,"Think that the whole Yousafzay tribe is enfolded in my skirt, and pardon their offences for my sake."
Babur is reported to have said, "I forgive the Yousafzay all their offences in thy presence, and I cast them all into thy skirt. Hereafter I shall have no ill-feeling to the Yousafzay."
Bibi Mubaraka drops out of sight for a while and doesn’t reappear till
she is mentioned in Gulandam’s Hamayun-namah. Calling her the Afghan Aghacha she writes fondly of her. Gulbadan mentions Bibi Mubarika fondly in her Hamayun-namah, and from the frequent and pleasant mentions we can deduce that she was a pleasant lady who was much loved at court. By summoning her to join Babur in India in 1529 (she was among a few select ladies that included Gulbadan and Maham), we can infer that she was a favorite.
Bibi Mubaraka seems to have been a playful woman who one day dislocated Gulbadan’s arm when she pulled it playfully. Gulbadan mentions this in chapter 29 of her Humayun Nama as
I and Afghānī āghācha were sitting in the front of the lower storey
when my lady went to prayers. I said to Afghānī āghācha: ‘Pull my hand.’ She pulled, and my hand came out. My strength went and I cried. (15b) Then they brought the bone-setter and when he had bound up my hand,
the Emperor went to Āgra.
Bibi Mubarak seems to have done a fair bit of travelling and had some misadventures. Travelling with Hindal, Dildar begum and Gulchehra they
run into Gawars who pursue them. On another occasion she delays the departure of the royal entourage by falling off her horse midstream.
Babur may not have thought highly of the Pashtun’s but seems to have bestowed a lot of honor on Bibi Mubaraka’s father and her tribe the Yusufzai. He mentions in his Babur-namah
On Monday, the first of the latter Jumāda, I bestowed dresses of honour on the Afghan Yūsefzai chiefs who had accompanied Shah Mansur; I gave Shah Mansur a silken robe with rich buttons; presented another with a robe of waved silk,* and gave other six persons robes of silk, after which I dismissed them. It was settled that they should never enter the country of Sawād higher up than Anūheh; and should strike out the contributions of the inhabitants from the rolls of their usual collections; and further, that the Afghans who cultivate lands in Bajour and Sewād should pay six thousand kharwār* or loads of rice to the government. May 30th 1519
For reasons unknown Bibi Mubaraka remained childless, even though oral tradition of the Yusufzai women says that she gave birth to a child that did not live or was killed shortly after birth.
Rahmat Khani mentions that Bibi Mubaraka was a favorite of Babur and the court fearing that the Yusufzai were getting too powerful at court they poisoned her womb by mixing something into her drink.
Hafiz Muhammad also mentions that Bibi Mubarika bore no child, and
he attributes this misfortune to the envy of other wives who administered drugs to deprive her of motherhood and weaken her husband's affection.
Bibi Mubaraka was an important household member even though she had no children of her own. It seems Humayun held her in high esteem too. For Hamayun she was important enough that he called her in to witness a proclamation about his brother Hindal. On another occasion Gulbadan writes of Humayun showing displeasure and chastising Kamran for not having shown enough respect and honor to her.
Babur was fond of gardens and seems to have spent as much time planning and constructing gardens as he did his military expeditions. It is said that his longing for his native Fergana, the small kingdom (present-day Uzbekistan) which he was driven out of when he was 13, Babar tried to recreate his memories of its beauty wherever he went. Designing and constructing his gardens in different parts of his growing empire, he introduced new plants and fruits. Baghe-Babur (Babur’s garden) is spread roughly over 27 acres (11 hectares) in south eastern Kabul and is supposed to have been his favorite garden of all. Historians believe it to have been created between 1504 -1525 It was his wish to be buried there.
When Babur died in 1530, his three sons fought over the throne. Bibi Mubaraka waited till she could convince Humayun to go ahead and fulfill his father’s wishes. It is said she escorted his remains to Kabul and that Sher Shah Suri kept true to his word and provided an escort. Like childless women her name just disappears after this and there is no mention of her, of where and when she died or where she is buried.
Bibi Mubarika lived through Humayun’s reign and she died early in
Akbar's reign. If Akbar started his reign in 1556 and if we assume that
Bibi Mubaraka was 14-15years old (common marriage age for Yusufzai Pakhtun girls) it may be assumed that she lived a good 50 years. Yet
this is all that has been mentioned of her.
A brother of Mubarika, named Mir Jamal, accomapanied Babar to Hindustan in 1525, and rose to high office under Humayun and Akbar. Hindal had a favourite follower of this name who passed, on his death, into Akbar's service. He may well be the Yusufzai.
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citations and references
Khulasat al Ansab: sarah da Pashto Tarjume
by Ḥafiẓ Raḥmat Khan; Muḥammad Navaz Thahir/ Publisher: Peshawar: Pashtu Academy, Peshawar Yusufzai [1973] /OCLC: 49839655
Humayun-nama chapters 6, 7, 27, 29, 36 37 and 46
Humayun-Namah chapter 37
Humayun-Namah chapter 46
http://persian.packhum.org/persian//index.jspserv=pf&file=07701010&ct=63
Hafiz Muhammad (l.c.) says that Mubārika was much beloved by Bābar, and this is borne out by the fact that she was one of the small and select party of ladies who were the first to join him in India. She went there, it is safe to infer, with Maham and Gul-badan in 1529.
She bore no child, and this misfortune Hafiz Muhammad attributes to the envy of other wives who administered drugs to deprive her of motherhood and weaken her husband's affection.
Humayun-Namah chapter 36
Ruby Lal :Domesticity and Power in the early Moghul world page 118