Babar Bani (or Babar Vani), meaning “Babar’s Command or Sway” refers to four banis (hymns) by Guru Nanak, the first Sikh Guru, alluding to the invasions by Emperor Babar (1483-1530), the first Mughal Emperor of India. These banis appear in the Siri Guru Granth Sahib on Ang 360, Ang 417 and Ang 722.

The title is derived from the use of this term in one of these banis: “Babarvani phiri gai kuiru na rod khai—Babar’s command or sway has spread; even the princes go without food” (SGGS, 417).

Guru Nanak witnessed the havoc created during these invasions.

Babar Bani is not a narrative of historical events, rather it is an outpouring from the soul of first Sikh Guru, who saw and was touched by scenes of human misery and cruelty perpetrated by the invaders.

The suffering of the people are rendered here in accounts of intense power and protest. The events are placed in the larger social and historical perspective of the times.

In Babar Bani, Guru Nanak reiterates his faith in God and in Divine justice, and his love for all people and compassion for their suffering shines through.

“These verses are not a historical account, but a rendering of the events as the play of Divine will and Divine justice in a setting of deep agony and trauma with its mix of sin, blood and tragedy that jolts the consciousness of the reader about the tearing effect of the conflict on the body fabric of a society.” ~ Nirmal Singh

In spite of his destructive role, Emperor Babar is seen by Guru Nanak as an unwitting instrument of Divine will. In Guru Nanak’s view, because the Lodhis (ruling family) had violated God’s laws (showing religious bigotry and harshness toward the people), they had to pay the penalty. Babar descended from Kabul as God’s chosen agent, demonstrating the absolute authority of God and the retribution which follows defiance of His laws.

Guru Nanak expresses that the Divine is absolute, and that no man may disobey Divine commands with impunity. Going against Divine order inevitably leads to suffering in the present life, and transmigration (reincarnation) in the hereafter.

Read an English Translation of Babar Bani on SikhiWiki

~Resources: “Babar Vani” (SikhiWiki) and “Decoding Babarvani this 550th” (SikhNet).