A critical biography of Zahīr al-Din Muhammad Bābur, the founder, in 1526, of the Timurid-Mughal Empire of India, offering

This book contains a large variety of primary sources from all areas of the world. It retains a global emphasis. Each section has a study section provided at the end.

In addition to current definitions, provides an historical treatment to words and idioms included.

"Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám and Salámán and Absál" from Omar Khayyám. Persian philosopher, mathematician, astronomer and poet (1048-1131).

The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám by Edward Fitzgerald is the translation of skeptical, hedonistic verse attributed to Omar Khayyám. Omar Khayyám was a Persian poet, mathematician, philosopher and astronomer. Born in Nishapur in North eastern Iran he went to Samarkand to get his education. Khayyám wrote "The Treatise on Demonstration of Problems of Algebra" one of the most important work of early Algebra.

'The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ, Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line, Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it.' In the 'rub--aacute--;iy--aacute--;t' (short epigrammatic poems) of the medieval Persian poet, mathematician, and philosopher Omar Khayy--aacute--;m, Edward FitzGerald saw an unflinching challenge to the illusions and consolations of mankind in every age. His version of Omar is neither a translation nor an independent poem; sceptical of divine providence and insistent on the pleasure of the passing moment, its 'Orientalism' offers FitzGerald a powerful and distinctive voice, in whose accents a whole Victorian generation comes to life. Although the poem's vision is bleak, it is conveyed in some of the most beautiful and haunting images in English poetry - and some of the sharpest-edged. The poem sold no copies at all on its appearance in 1859, yet when it was 'discovered' two years later its first readers and admirers included Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Swinburne, and Ruskin. By the end of the century it was one of the best-known poems in the English language. Daniel Karlin's richly annotated edition does justice to the scope and complexity of FitzGerald's lyrical meditation on 'human death and fate'.

The book presents the text of Edward FitzGerald's three main versions of the Rub iy t of Omar Khayy m, together with non-technical commentary on the origins, role and influence of the poem, including the story of its publication. The commentary also addresses the many spin-offs the poem has generated in the fields of art and music, as well as its message and its worldwide influence during the 150 years since its first appearance.