[2] Gulbadan's recollection of Babur is brief, but she gives a refreshing account of Humayun's household and provides a rare material regarding his confrontation with her half-brother, Kamran Mirza.
Gulbadan Begum[3] was about eight years old at the time of her father's death in 1530 and was brought up by her older half-brother, Humayun.
She wielded great influence and respect in the imperial household and was much loved both by Akbar and his mother, Hamida Banu Begum.
Along with several other royal women, Gulbadan Begum undertook a pilgrimage to Mecca and returned home seven years later in 1582.
With only his pregnant wife Hamida Banu Begum, one female attendant, and a few loyal supporters, Humayun fled to Lahore and then Kabul.
Two years after Humayun reestablished the empire, Gulbadan accompanied other Mughal women of the harem back to Agra at the behest of Akbar, who had begun his rule after Humayan died in a fall.
It was fashionable for the Mughals to engage writers to document their own reigns (Akbar's own history, Akbarnama, was written by the well-known Persian scholar Abul Fazl).
What she produced not only chronicles the trials and tribulations of Humayun's rule, but also gives us a glimpse of life in the Mughal harem.
There has been suspicion that Gulbadan wrote the Humayun-Nama in her native language of Turkic rather than Persian, and that the book available today is a translation.
At this time when his Majesty Firdaus-Makani passed from this perishable world to the everlasting home, I, this lowly one, was eight years old, so it may well be that I do not remember much.
Instead, she stayed behind in Kabul until she was brought back to Agra by Akbar, two years after Humayun died in a tragic accident in 1556.
Gulbadan Begum lived in Agra and then in Sikri for a short while, but mostly in Lahore or with the Court for the rest of her life, except for a period of seven years when she undertook a pilgrimage to Mecca.
The Mughal Court even up to the early years of Shah Jahan's reign was never a confined thing, but a travelling grand encampment and there is no doubt that Gulbadan Banu Begum, like most Mughal ladies, hated the confines living in buildings and no doubt, wholeheartedly agreed with the verses of Jahanara Begum, the daughter of Shah Jahan, that the rot of the empire would set in when the Mughals confined themselves to closed houses.
From her account it is also apparent that she was an astute observer, well-versed with the intricacies of warfare and the intrigues of royal deal making.
Soon after his exile, Humayun had seen and fallen in love with a 13-year-old girl named Hamida Banu the niece of Shah Husain Mirza.
Gulbadan Begum described the details of this incident and the marriage of Humayun and Hamida Banu with glee, and a hint of mischievousness in her manuscript.
Her younger days were spent in the typical style of the peripatetic Mughal family, wandering between Kabul, Agra and Lahore.
If Gulbadan Begum wrote about the death of Humayun, when he tumbled down the steps in Purana Qila in Delhi, it has been lost.
Though they were of royal birth, the women of the harem were hardy and prepared to face hardships, especially since their lives were so intimately intertwined with the men and their fortunes.
Akbar had provided for safe passage of his aunt on her Hajj and sent a noble as escort with several ladies in attendance.
As she lay with closed eyes, Hamida Banu Begum spoke to her by the long-used name of affection, "Jiu!"
Akbar helped to carry her bier some distance, and for her soul's repose made lavish gifts and did good works.
He will have joined in the silent prayer for her soul before committal of her body to the earth, and if no son were there, he, as a near kinsman, may have answered the Imam's injunction to resignation: "It is the will of God."
Yet, the little-known account of Gulbadan Begum is an important document for historians, with its window into a woman’s perspective from inside the Mughal harem.