A feast for Babur hosted by his half-brother Jahangir Mirza in Ghazni in May 1505, from a Babur-nama (Memoirs of Babur)

Twenty-one years before his conquest of Delhi, Babur took control of territories in Afghanistan, including the cities of Kabul and Ghazni. His half-brother, who controlled the region around Ghazni, ordered that a party be thrown in honor of Babur’s arrival from the north. Drinking parties and feasts in lavish movable tent settings, where gifts were exchanged, alliances forged, and relationships cemented, were as important to the building of the empire as the battles.