Speaking truth to power: Exploring guru nanak’s bābar-vāṇī in light of the baburnama

Abstract

This essay offers in-depth analysis of Guru Nanak’s works, collectively known as the Bābar-vān, ī (“arrow-like utterances concerning Babur”), in the context of the memoirs of the first Mughal emperor Babur (1483–1530). It extends the number of works in the collection from a ‘fixed’ assemblage of ‘four’ to ‘nine,’ making it an open collection that dynamically responds to the specific questions raised by historians about Guru Nanak’s encounter with Babur. The resulting framework provides us with a fresh analytical gaze into the critical events related to Babur’s invasions of India and helps the novel readings of Guru Nanak’s verses shine through. It also examines how Guru Nanak’s voice of resistance was interpreted in the narratives produced by later generations. Departing from traditional views, the essay ends with a new understanding of the impact of the Bābar-vāṇī on the evolving Sikh conceptions of the relationship between spiritual and political powers.