Inside the tomb, believed to be Babur's, in the garden.
Although the additions of the screens by Shah Jahan contained references to Babur, Salome Zajadacz-Hastenrath, in her article "A Note on Babur's Lost Funerary and Enclosure at Kabul"[5] suggests that Shah Jahan's work transformed Bagh-e Babur into a graveyard. She states that a "mosque was built on the thirteenth terrace, the terrace nearest to Mecca; the next, the fourteenth terrace, was to contain the funerary enclosure of Babur's tomb and the tombs of some of his male relatives."[6] This transformation towards a proper graveyard, with an enclosure around Babur's tomb, points towards the importance of Babur. By enclosing Babur's tomb, Shah Jahan separates the tomb of the Emperor from others.
The only hint of the design lies in an 1832 sketch and short description by Charles Masson, a British soldier, which was published in 1842, the year the tomb was destroyed by an earthquake. One description of the tomb praised it, "although obviously-in a poor state of preservation, reveals fine workmanship in stone carving: high walls with lavish jali-work and relief decoration." Mason described the tomb as being "accompanied by many monuments of similar nature, commemorative of his relatives, and they are surrounded by an enclosure of white marble, curiously and elegantly carved... No person superintends them, and great liberty has been taken with the stones employed in the enclosing walls." Mason's sketch and Mason's description gives us the only modern view of how extravagant the tomb was.
Bagh-e Babur has changed drastically from the Mughal impression of the space to the present. Throughout the years outside influences have shaped the use of the site. For example, the Aga Khan Historic Cities Programme describes how by 1880, Amir Abdur Rahman Khan constructed a pavilion and a residence for his wife, Bibi Halima. In 1933, the space was converted into a public recreation space with pools and fountains becoming the central focal point. A modern greenhouse and swimming pool were added in the late 1970s. Although the enclosure of the Babur's tomb is no longer present, Bagh-e Babur still remains a major historically important site in Kabul.