Back to 1497... Or the spirit of battle in paintings

A drummer riding a camel next to him is already announcing the start of the expedition. Another warrior is trying to hold a parasol over Babur’s head although it is almost impossible. The broken arrows in the left foreground indicate that the battle with Shaybani Khan the Uzbek has already begun. The fort is ringed with red brick walls and crenellated battlements. Various buildings, pavilions and canopies are visible inside a tomb with a vaulted roof. This is the left-hand page of a double-page composition, the right-hand page of which represents Shaybani Khan and the Uzbeks being driven toward Samarqand (also in the British Museum collection since 1921). 

The first Mughal emperor, Babur, was born in the Ferghana valley of Central Asia and was descended from one line of the Mongols. He and his allies tried several times to take control of Samarqand, but each effort was eventually rebuffed by the Uzbeks, led by Shaybani Khan. Eventually, seeking a path of less resistance, Babur conquered northern India. The depicted battle is described in the Baburnama.

This painting consists of two parts: in the foreground, the army of Babur are chasing the Uzbek soldiers who are riding away toward Samarqand, the walls of which are visible in the top right corner. The scene is full of action and colour. What is notable the costumes of the soldiers of both armies are almost identical. In the upper part, two riders engage in a conversation while a footman explains the situation to the equestrian warrior with the bow. Following his victory over the Uzbeks at Khwaja Didar and their return to Turkistan, Babur was able to complete the siege of Samarqand in 1497, after seven months.

You can learn more about the topic in the book-album “The Cultural Legacy of Uzbekistan in the Collections of Great Britain” (Volume XLVI) in the series "Сultural legacy of Uzbekistan in the world collections".

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