Reviewing the Political-Mystical Relationship between Babur and Khwaja Ahmad Kasani

After the Mongols attack on the central Asia, the relationship among different Sufi groups and their contemporary rulers were dynamic and reciprocal. In that period, some of the Sufi masters wrote didactic treatises for the ruling authorities in order to strengthen their relationship. Among the other Sufi dynasties, the Naqshbandi dynasty had a close relationship with the Timurid and Uzbek dynasties. One of the most influential Naqshbandi masters, Khwaja Ahmad Kasani (d. 949 A.H.), wrote several treatises addressed to Ubayd Allah the Uzbek (d. 946 A.H.). The Baburi Treatise written by Khwaja Ahmad is an interpretation of the quatrains (rubaiyat) of Babur. In addition to the parts of Babur’s quatrains, this treatise includes descriptions and explanations about the foundations of Naqshbandi mysticism. This treatise demonstrates the political relationships between Khwaja Ahmad and his contemporary rulers.