RAS question
Babur's autobiography 'Tuzuk-i-Baburi' (Baburnama) was originally written in which language?
Correct answer: (D) Chagatai Turkish.
Babur's autobiography, the Baburnama or Tuzuk-i-Baburi, was originally written in Chagatai Turkish.
Explanation
The Baburnama was not composed in the later court language of the Mughals; it was Babur's own memoir, written in his native Turkish dialect, Chagatai. The Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art notes that Akbar later ordered the Baburnama to be translated into Persian, the language of the Mughal court. That distinction is the heart of the question: Chagatai Turkish is the original language of composition, while Persian belongs to the later imperial translation tradition. Abdur Rahim Khan-i-Khanan was the translator during Akbar's reign, and the work stands as one of the finest autobiographies in world literature.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Arabic is wrong because Babur's native Turkish dialect, Chagatai, was the language in which he wrote the Baburnama.
- (B) Urdu is wrong because neither the original composition nor the later translation is linked to Urdu.
- (C) Persian is wrong as the original language because it was the Mughal court language into which Akbar ordered the Baburnama to be translated.
Concept
This tests medieval Indian historiography, especially the language of major Mughal texts. It recurs in RAS-style history because questions often turn on separating an original text from its later court translation.