Founder of the Mughal Empire

Babur, the founder of the largest dynasty India has ever seen-- the Mughals, was born on February 14, 1483 . Considered as one of the finest Mughal emperors, Babur succeeded in securing the dynasty's position in Delhi after a series of sultanates failed to consolidate their seats and his empire went on to rule for over 300 years in India. He passed away on December 26 in 1530. He was 48.

10 facts about the Mughal emperor Babur

1. His actual name was Zahir-ud-din Muhammad Babur. His name is derived from the Persian word 'Babr', which means Tiger.

2. He was the eldest son of Umar Sheikh Mirza, a direct descendant of Turk-Mongol conqueror Timur, also known as Tamurlane. His mother was a direct descendant of Asia's conqueror Genghis Khan.
3. He ascended the throne of Fergana (now in Uzbekistan) in 1495, at the age of 12. In 1504, he conquered Kabul, which was an important citadel in Central Asia.

4. Babur was invited by Daulat Khan Lodi, a rebel of the Lodi dynasty, in 1524, to invade North India and fight the dynasty and their enemies in Rajputana. Rajputana was ruled by a Hindu Rajput confederacy, led by Mewar king Rana Sanga.

5. In 1526, Babur won the Battle of Panipat against Ibrahim Lodi, the Lodi king. He captured Delhi and founded the greatest dynasty of North India -- the Mughal Empire.

6. He also defeated Rana Sanga, who considered Babur as a foreign invader, in the Battle of Khanwa. Rajputana became a subjugated ally of the Mughals since then.

7. There is confusion about Babur's ethnicity. Being a descendant of Timur, he considered himself as a Timurid of Turk. However, Uzbek history suggests that Babur was an ethnic Uzbek.

8. Babur claimed to be very strong and physically fit. He also claimed to have swum across every major river he encountered, including twice across the Ganges River. "I swam across the river Ganges for amusement. I counted my strokes, and found that I swam over in thirty-three strokes. I then took breath, and swam back to the other. side. I had crossed by swimming every river I had met, except only the Ganges," he noted, according to Medieval India from the Mohammedan Conquest to the Reign of Akbar the Great, written by Stanley Lane-Poole .

9. Babur was well-known for his oratory and literary skills. Although a religious person, Babur indulged in drinking. He once said, quoting a contemporary poet, "I am drunk, officer. Punish me when I am sober."

10. Till date, he is considered a national hero in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. He wrote his autobiography, Baburnama, in Chaghatai Turkic. It was translated to Persian during the reign of his grandson Akbar.

Early Life
Zahir-ud-din Muhammad, nicknamed "Babur" or "Lion," was born into the Timurid royal family in Andijan, now in Uzbekistan, on February 14, 1483. His father Umar Sheikh Mirza was the Emir of Ferghana; his mother Qutlaq Nigar Khanum was the daughter of Moghuli King Yunus Khan.

Profile of Akbar

By the time of Babur's birth, the remaining Mongol descendants in western Central Asia had intermarried with Turkic and Persian peoples and assimilated into the local culture. They were strongly influenced by Persia (using Farsi as their official court language), and they had converted to Islam. Most favored the mystic Sufism-infused style of Sunni Islam.

Taking the Throne
In 1494, the Emir of Ferghana died suddenly and 11-year-old Babur ascended his father's throne. His seat was anything but secure, however, with numerous uncles and cousins plotting to replace him.

Evidently aware that a good offense is the best defense, the young emir set out to expand his holdings. By 1497, he had conquered the famous Silk Road oasis city of Samarkand. While he was thus engaged, however, his uncles and other nobles rose in rebellion back in Andijan. When Babur turned to defend his base, he once again lost control of Samarkand.

The determined young emir had regained both cities by 1501, but the Uzbek ruler Shaibani Khan challenged him over Samarkand and dealt Babur's forces a crushing defeat. This marked the end of Babur's rule in what is now Uzbekistan.

Exile in Afghanistan

For three years, the homeless prince wandered Central Asia, trying to attract followers to help him retake his father's throne. Finally, in 1504, he and his small army turned to the southeast, marching over the snow-bound Hindu Kush mountains into Afghanistan. Babur, now 21 years old, besieged and conquered Kabul, establishing a base for his new kingdom.

Ever optimistic, Babur would ally himself with the rulers of Herat and Persia and try to take back Fergana in 1510 to 1511. Once more, however, the Uzbeks utterly defeated the Mughul army, driving them back to Afghanistan. Thwarted, Babur began to look south once more.

Invitation to Replace Lodi
In 1521, a perfect opportunity for southern expansion presented itself to Babur. The sultan of the Delhi Sultanate, Ibrahim Lodi, was hated and reviled by his citizens. He had shaken up the military and court ranks by installing his own followers in place of the old guard and ruled the lower classes with an arbitrary and tyrannical style. After just four years of Lodi's rule, the Afghan nobility was so fed up with him that they invited the Timurid Babur to come to the Delhi Sultanate and depose him.

Naturally, Babur was quite happy to comply. He gathered an army and launched a siege on Kandahar. The Kandahar Citadel held out for much longer than Babur had anticipated. As the siege dragged on, however, important nobles and military men from the Delhi Sultanate such as Ibrahim Lodi's uncle, Alam Khan, and the governor of Punjab allied themselves with Babur.

First Battle of Panipat

Five years after his initial invitation to the subcontinent, Babur finally launched an all-out assault on the Delhi Sultanate and Ibrahim Lodi in April 1526. On the plains of Punjab, Babur's army of 24,000—mostly cavalry—rode out against Sultan Ibrahim, who had 100,000 men and 1,000 war elephants. Although Babur appeared to be terribly outmatched, he had something that Lodi did not—guns.

The battle that followed, now known as the First Battle of Panipat, marked the fall of the Delhi Sultanate. With superior tactics and firepower, Babur crushed Lodi's army, killing the sultan and 20,000 of his men. Lodi's fall signaled the beginning of the Mughal Empire (also known as the Timurid Empire) in India.

Rajput Wars

Babur had overcome his fellow Muslims in the Delhi Sultanate (and of course, most were happy to acknowledge his rule), but the mainly-Hindu Rajput princes were not so easily conquered. Unlike his ancestor Timur, Babur was dedicated to the idea of building a permanent empire in India—he was no mere raider. He decided to build his capital at Agra. The Rajputs, however, put up a spirited defense against this new Muslim and would-be overlord from the north.

Knowing that the Mughal army had been weakened at the Battle of Panipat, the princes of Rajputana gathered an army even larger than Lodi's and went to war behind Rana Sangam of Mewar. In March 1527 at the Battle of Khanwa, Babur's army managed to deal the Rajputs a huge defeat. The Rajputs were undaunted, however, and battles and skirmishes continued all over the northern and eastern sections of Babur's empire for the next several years.

Death
In the autumn of 1530, Babur fell ill. His brother-in-law conspired with some of the Mughal court nobles to seize the throne after Babur's death, bypassing Humayun, Babur's eldest son and appointed heir. Humayun hurried to Agra to defend his claim to the throne but soon fell gravely ill himself. According to legend, Babur cried out to God to spare Humayun's life, offering his own in return.

On December 26, 1530, Babur died at the age of 47. Humayun, 22 years old, inherited a rickety empire, beset by internal and external enemies. Like his father, Humayun would lose power and be forced into exile, only to return and stake his claim to India. By the end of his life, he had consolidated and expanded the empire, which would reach its height under his son Akbar the Great.