Baburnama: Translational Tones Across Languages

Begoyim Abdusattorova, Dilorom Zakhidova, Zarnigor Jabborova, Maftunabonu Zukhriddinova

and Tamila Jahongirova

Andijan State Foreign Languages Institute, Andijan, Uzbekistan

Keywords: Translation, Aphorism, Dictionary, Equivalent, Historical image.

Abstract: This article explores the analysis of the celebrated masterpiece "Baburnama" by multiple translators, shedding

light on the concerted effort by English translators to uphold its originality and artistic essence. It examines

how these translators endeavoured to maintain the work's scientific inclination alongside its artistic flair.

Particularly noteworthy is their approach to translating the proverbs within the text, wherein they strived to

find English equivalents closely aligned with their original meanings. This effort underscores the translators'

dedication to capturing the essence of the work while making it accessible to English-speaking audiences.

1 INTRODUCTION

The work of Baburnama has been studied and

translated many times by different people. The first

translation was done by John Leyden William Erskine

in 1826. In 1921, Anneta Susanna Beveridge tried to

translate Boburnoma for the second time. The most

recent translation was by Hilary Thaxton, who

published it in modern English in 1996. R. M.

Caldicott (1879), A. S. Beveridge (1921), F. Talbot

(1909), L. King (1921), W. Textonlar (1996) also

translated Baburnama into English. Among the

completed translations, J. Leyden-W. Erskine, A. S.

Beveridge and W. Texton were considered relatively

perfect and complete by scientists. Erskine's

translation was translated from Persian, and Leyden's

was translated from the original language - old Uzbek

(according to some sources, "Chigatai language").

Erskin's translation is commendable in every way, its

quality and level, his work matches the style of the

original language. In 1909, F. Talbot published the

English translation of "Baburnama". Several

publications were published based on this translation.

In 1845, an abridged version of the Leyden-Erskine

translation was published by R. M. Caldicott. In 1879,

orientalist F. Talbot published the second version of

this abridged edition. In 1921, L.U. King published

the second edition of "Baburnama" filled with

important scientific information. In this publication,

the events of the interrupted years in "Baburnama"

have been restored from other sources. According to

N. Otajanov, the English translators tried to preserve

the originality and artistic character of the work. He

also writes about the language of the translations: "In

the Leyden-Erskin translation, the style is deliberately

chosen to be understandable to an English reader. On

the contrary, Beveridge's translation is written in a

drier, scientific language. Professor Thaxton says that

A.S. Beveridge's translation is similar to the students'

work, all the words are the same as in the dictionary,

he tried to match the Turkish (Uzbek) and English

words exactly (Mamatov et al 2019). The Leyden-

Erskin translation of "Baburnama" is complex and

compared to the original, the number of words has

increased by three to four per line. Susanna

Beveridge's translation is academic in terms of its

artistic style, the translations of proverbs in it are

translated through an equivalent that is close to the

content of proverbs in English, and this is also

reflected in Leyden-Erskine. Exactly 75 years after S.

Beveridge's translation, in 1996, Professor Villiers

Thaxton published a perfect English translation of

"Baburnama" for the third time. The publication of

this translation enriched the information about the

life, work and era of Babur Mirza. V. Texton paid

more attention to the style of originality and the

harmony of proverbs. The author used proverbs and

proverbs to reveal the character of historical figures

presented in "Baburnama", emotional state, attitude

and opinion about the person describes the statement

(Bobur et al 2019). For example; used this aphorism

in relation to his servants who happened in life and

were in agony;

786

Abdusattorova, B., Zakhidova, D., Jabborova, Z., Zukhriddinova, M. and Jahongirova, T.

Baburnama: Translational Tones Across Languages.

DOI: 10.5220/0012918800003882

Paper published under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

In Proceedings of the 2nd Pamir Transboundary Conference for Sustainable Societies (PAMIR-2 2023), pages 786-788

ISBN: 978-989-758-723-8

Agar sad sol moni va-r yake roz, Biboyad raft az

in koxi dilafroz.

The aphorism has the following meaning; If you

live a hundred years and if you live only one day, you

will have to leave this palace.

Let's see how the following sentence is expressed

in the translations of J.Leyden-W.Erskine (1826),

A.S.Beveridge (1921), V.Texton(1996).Translated

by J.Leyden-W.Erskin: Should a man live a hundred,

may a thousand years, yet at last he …. .. the

translation is not finished here. In the translation of S.

Beveridge: If a man lives a hundred years or a

thousand years, at the last nothing........ The

translation is as follows; Even if a person lives for a

hundred and a thousand years, nothing has finally

reached the end of the translation here.

2 METHOD

V. Texton, the last English translator who translated

"Boburnoma" in 1996, managed to complete the idea

intended by the author, although not completely, and

was able to convey Babur's mood of pity and regret:

Be it a hundred years or one day, in the end must

depart from this noxious palace. The translations of

Leyden-Erskine and S. Beveridge used the

contrasting meaning of a hundred years or a thousand

years- a hundred years or a thousand years. One

hundred years changed to a hundred, one day- a

thousand. The second part is completed by adding

expressive meaning due to the loss of some words in

the translation. Considering the above examples, it

was found that the best option is to translate "If you

live a hundred years and if you live only one day, you

must leave this castle(Agar yuz yil va agar birgina

kun yashasang xam kongil oluvchi bu qasrdan ketish

kerak bolur)" as follows: Although a man lives one or

a hundred years, he must leave this much-admired

palace one day. Let's look at another example: In

relation to the historian scholar Muhammed Khaidar

Mirza: After his father was killed by an Uzbek, he

came to me for three or four years, and then, asking

for permission, went to Kashghar to the khan. Boz

gardad ba asli xud xama chiz, Zarri sofiyu nuqravu

arziz. It means: Everything, be it pure gold, silver, or

lead, will always return to its original state. In this

history, they say, it slipped and appeared in a good

way. In the translation of J. Leyden-W. Erskine: ….

after his father was slain by the Uzbeks he entered my

service and maintained it for three or four years; he

then took leave of me and went to Kashghar to the

Khan; but as: But as everything returns to its original

principles, Whether pure gold, silver, or tin; It is said

that he has now adopted a commendable course of life

and become reformed. Susanna Beveridge translated

as follows: He was in my service for three or four

years after the Uzbeks slew his father, then asked

leave to go Kashghar to the presence of Said Khan.

"Everything goes back to its source, Pure gold, silver,

or tin."

3 RESULT

People say he now lives lawfully and has found the

right way. If we observe the aphorisms used in classic

works, translators often use word-for-word

translation and consider it the easiest way. Because in

order to find suitable equivalents, it is necessary to

read related works and search for sources, and this

takes a lot of time. Let's look at another example from

"Baburnama": "This five-day death was bad for the

soul. The woman came to her word and pulled herself

out of the charga of neknoms. The story of this person

cannot be overstated. You can't hear this stupid

behavior anymore." In the sentence "This five-day

death was bad for the soul", the author gives an

account of the hero of the work. In the translation of

John Leyden and William Erskine: "From this over-

anxiety to preserve this transitory and mortal life, he

left a name of infamy behind him; and, from

following the suggestions of a woman, struck himself

out of the list of those who have earned for themselves

a glorious name. It's impossible to write any more of

the transactions of such a personage, and impossible

to listen any further to the recital of such and dastardly

proceedings". And Susanna Beveridge "For a matter

of this five-day mortal life, he died with a bad name;

having entered into a woman's affairs, he withdrew

himself from the circle of men of good reputation. Of

such people's doings no more should be written; of

acts so shameful, no more should be heard." Another

proverb is used in "Boburnoma", "Qopudagini

qopmasa, qariguncha qayg`urur". This proverb is

very difficult to understand in terms of content.

Because the essence of this proverb is that Babur did

not go after the enemy with the advice of Weiss

Log'ari, one of the nearby begs, and the consequence

of this situation was the reason for leaving Andijan in

the future, and this hurt Babur's tongue, and it was his

own mistake. Leyden-Erskine translated as follows:

He that does not seize what comes into his grasp.

Must indulge his regret even to old age, and repent. It

is as follows: "He who cannot hold his hand, regrets

and struggles until he is old." A.S. Beveridge in his

translation: Work must be snatched at times. Vain is

the slacker's mistimed work. Hilary Thaxton

Baburnama: Translational Tones Across Languages

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translated as follows: "If you don't seize what is at

hand you will rue it until old age". "If you can't hold

what is in your hand, you will regret it until you get

old." There are three variants and in terms of

meaning, it is strengthened in A.S. Beveridge, the

meaning is expanded in Leyden Erkin, and the

meaning is narrowed in Texton's translation.

4 DISCUSSION

Leyden Erskine translated the saying in "Baburnama"

as "A narrow place is large to the narrow-minded,"

and Hilary Thaxton as "There is no noon without

dawn." But Hilary Thaxton paid attention to the

rhyming appearance, and the meaning of the proverb

was distorted. Actually, it would be appropriate if the

phrase "no equals, never make friends" is translated

as "No equals, never make friends." The following

comments of the English orientalist Monstuart

Elphinstone about "Baburnama" and its main

character are noteworthy: "These memoirs describe

the life of the great Turkish king in detail; his personal

feelings are free from any exaggeration and veiling.

His style is simple and brave, lively and figurative. It

depicts the faces, customs, and aspirations, actions of

his contemporaries as clearly as a mirror. In this

respect, this work is the only example of a truly

historical image in Asia. Babur describes the

appearance, clothes, nature, and habits of a military

man, describes countries, their climate, nature,

economy, art, and crafts. But the bright character of

the author gives the work the most charm."

(Elphinstone has also remarked about it thus-

"Almost the only piece of real history in Asia.")

Besides, the description of Babur regarding friends

and foes, his emotional reaction to individuals and

circumstances, natural beauty of mountains, rivers,

forests, and flowers is very much absorbing which

credits his biography as a piece of literature. In

"Baburnama," Alisher Navoi used the expression

"Mizoji nozuk," and this reader comes to the

conclusion that Alisher Navoi has a sensitive nature

and his mood changes quickly.

5 CONCLUSION

In the English translation (in Leyden-Erskine): Ali

Sher Beg was celebrated for the elegance of his

manners. Lucas White King's article on the Leyden-

Erskine work describes the 1826 English translation

as "complete and attractive". In Babur's time, he says,

sharp intellect, knowledge of the works of Persian

classical writers, the art of rubaiyat and rubaikhan

were valued more than any heroism and courage.

Babur wrote Rubaiyats in very difficult times, sad

ghazals were written in dangerous and difficult times,

he composed melodies for them and rested. William

Erskine collaborated with John Leyden in

"Baburnama". (After Leyden's death, Erskine

completed the work by replacing his unfinished

translation with a new translation). In Erskine's

preface, Zahiruddin Muhammad Babur said that he

was extremely satisfied with the story he had written,

and that he sent a copy of the work from India to

Kabul at the end of his life. After Babur's death,

"Baburnama" gained a lot of attention and fame in the

palaces of Delhi and Agra, and it is also reported that

Humayun copied this book with his own hand after

his accession to the throne and before his death. The

history of Leyden-Erskine's English translation has

been a fruitful work of exploration, frustration, and

hope.

REFERENCES

Annete Susannah Beveridge. (2017). Baburnama: A

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Tilshunoslikka kirish. Toshkent: O`qituvchi.

Mamatov, A. E. (2019). Zamonaviy lingvistika. Toshkent:

Noshir.

Bobur, Z. M. (2019). Boburnoma. IJOD PRESS.

Rasulov, R. (2010). Umumiy Tilshunoslik. Toshkent.

Hasanov, S. (2011). Zahiriddin Muhammad Bobur.

Toshkent: O`zbekiston.

Safarov, Sh. (2010). Konsept hodisasi haqida/Sistem-

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Babur, L. B., Alayev, V. Kh., & Ganiev, V. H. (2005).

Babur. In Большая российская энциклопедия [Big

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Bol'shaya Rossiyskaya Entsiklopediya.

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