Babur (14 February 1483-26 December 1530), born Zahr ud-Dīn Muhammad, was the founder and Padishah of the Mughal Empire from 20 April 1526 to 26 December 1530, preceding Humayun. A descendant of Timur, Babur was driven from his home kingdom of Ferghana by the Shaybanids, prompting him to invade and conquer Afghanistan in 1504 before invading India in 1519. He founded a powerful empire in northern India after defeating the Afghans at the First Battle of Panipat in 1526, and he also conquered the Rajput kingdom of Mewar after the Battle of Khanwa. Babur established a dynasty which ruled over Delhi until 1857, and he also left behind the Babri Masjid mosque, which was finished in 1529 and demolished by a Hindu nationalist mob in 1992.
Biography[]
A direct descendant of the great Turco-Mongol conqueror Timur, Babur was originally the ruler of the small kingdom of Ferghana, lying to the east of Samarkand. Early in life, he was driven into exile and became the leader of a rootless warrior band in search of a territory to rule. In 1504, he captured Kabul, but for a long time the focus of his ambitions remained the reconquest of Ferghana and possession of Samarkand. It was not until 1519 that, frustrated in his campaigns in Central Asia, Babur turned south to invade India. Exploratory raids soon revealed that Ibrahim Lodi, the sultan of Delhi, was likely to prove a vulnerable opponent. In 1526, aided by his son, Humayun, Babur defeated Ibrahim at the First Battle of Panipat and took over his sultanate. He used this as a base for extending his rule farther across northern India.
At the time, the army of the Rajput confederacy, under the command of Rana Sanga, was the most formidable enemy in Babur's path. In March 1527, Babur defeated Rana's cavalry and war elephants at Khanwa. He then took the Rajput fortress of Malwa after a siege, the defenders choosing to commit mass suicide rather than surrender. Babur's final victory was over a Bengali army in May 1529, whom he prevented from crossing the Ghaghra River. All his victories in India were achieved against superior numbers through rapid maneuver, discipline, and the intelligent use of artillery.