A feast for Babur hosted by his half-brother Jahangir Mirza in Ghazni in May 1505, from a Babur-nama (Memoirs of Babur) c. 1589; outer margins added c. mid-1900s Basavana (Indian, active c. 1560–1600) and Madhav Khurd (Indian, active late 1500s) India, Mughal, 16th century Opaque watercolor with gold on paper, double-sided: text on verso Page: 28 x 18.1 cm (11 x 7 1/8 in.) Gift in honor of Madeline Neves Clapp; Gift of Mrs. Henry White Cannon by exchange; Bequest of Louise T. Cooper; Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund; From the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection 2013.300 DID YOU KNOW? A manager directs servers to bring spoons and lay out the buffet table. DESCRIPTION Twenty-one years before his conquest of Delhi, Babur took control of territories in Afghanistan, including the cities of Kabul and Ghazni. His half-brother, who controlled the region around Ghazni, ordered that a party be thrown in honor of Babur’s arrival from the north. Drinking parties and feasts in lavish movable tent settings, where gifts were exchanged, alliances forged, and relationships cemented, were as important to the building of the empire as the battles. INSCRIPTION verso: Persian text, in nasta‘liq script: . . . presented many gifts. In that year most of the rivers had become very swollen, to the extent that the Dih-i Ya‘qub River could not be forded. I brought the boat I had made at the lake and floated it in the waters of Dih-i Ya‘qub opposite Kamri and all the people crossed by boat. For this reason we went through the Sajavand pass and straight through crossing the river at Kamri by boat. We arrived at Kabul in the month of Dh’ul-Hijja [May 1505]. A few days earlier, Sayyid Yusuf Beyg had died of colic. At Kush Gunbad, Nasir Mirza had requested leave and remained behind to get provisions for his retinue from his own domain, saying he would follow in two or three days. Once he had left us he sent his entire army to the Nur valley on account of a minor act of disobedience by the people of the Nur valley. [Given] its rice fields and the location of its citadel on the peak of the mountain as . . . INSCRIPTION recto: Persian inscription in bottom margin, in nasta‘liq script: the work of Basavana / [ . . . ] / Madhav Khurd EXHIBITION HISTORY The Cleveland Museum of Art (7/31/2016-10/23/2016); Art and Stories from Mughal India, cat. 13, p. 142-45.