Writing a biography of Zahir al-Dm Muhammad Babur has meant relying on generations of scholars, the help of contemporaries and the kindness and tolerance of friends. This biography would not have been possible first of all, were it not for the publication of scholarly editions and translations of Babur’s remarkable auto biography. Three works in particular have been especially important. They are: the critical edition compiled by Professor E. J. Mano of Kyoto University, the first English translation of Babur’s original Turk! text by Annette Susannah Beveridge, the self-taught, late Victorian scholar, and the edited Turkish translation of Re§itRahmeti Arat. Beyond these textual foundations I am especially indebted to the scholarship of a group of late Soviet-era scholars, in particular A. Azimdzhanova, I. V. Stebleva, O . D . Chekhovich and Elena A. Davidovich. I first read Babur’s poetry in Azimdzhanova’s and Stebleva’s Russian translations, and I have greatly benefited from the numismatic and social-economic studies of Davidovich and Chekhovich. Regarding the Timurids in particular, I have been educated by the scholarship and conversations with Beatrice F. Manz, Jo-Ann Gross, Jurgen Paul and Maria E. Subtlety. I have also made repeated use of Wheeler M. Thaxton's valuable translations of Babur’s text and that of Babur’s Mongol cousin, Haydar Mirza Dughlat Over the course of many years I have been especially fortunate to benefit from the expertise of several scholars, especially Thomas T. Allen, Cornell H. Fleischer and Peter B. Golden, who all have patiently contributed to the knowledge of someone trained prima riley in Indo-Islamic studies. I have had innumerable conversations about Central Asia with Tom Allen, who also has generously sup plied me with dozens of references and/or articles and books that reflect his own encyclopedic knowledge of Mongol and post-Mongol Central Asia. I first began studying Turkish with Cornell Fleischer,who also, early in my work, presented me with a splendid copy of Art's Turkish translation of Babur’s autobiography. In many conversations and in his writings Peter Golden has shared his own exceptional knowledge of Turks and Turkish history. Professor Dona Staley, the scholarly Middle East Librarian at Ohio State University, has also generously supported this work with her own expertise.