In 1504, Babur besieged

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

and took the city from the Arghuns under Mukim Beg Arghun, to become the new king of

and

Ghazni Ghazni ( prs, غزنی, ps, غزني), historically known as Ghaznain () or Ghazna (), also transliterated as Ghuznee, and anciently known as Alexandria in Opiana ( gr, Αλεξάνδρεια Ωπιανή), is a city in southeastern Afghanistan ...

regions. The territory gave him respite from his Uzbek troubles in

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

and allowed him to build his nascent kingdom into a strong and formidable power in later years, enough to be able to conquer northern

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Background

When

Abu Sa'id Mirza Abu Sa'id Mirza ( Chagatay/ fa, ابو سعید میرزا; 14248 February 1469) was the ruler of the Timurid Empire during the mid-fifteenth century. Born a minor prince of the Timurid dynasty, Abu Sa'id quickly established himself as the most ...

died, his much reduced

Timurid Empire The Timurid Empire ( chg, , fa, ), self-designated as Gurkani (Chagatai language, Chagatai: کورگن, ''Küregen''; fa, , ''Gūrkāniyān''), was a PersianateB.F. Manz, ''"Tīmūr Lang"'', in Encyclopaedia of Islam, Online Edition, 2006 Tu ...

was divided among four of his sons; *

Sultan Ahmed Mirza Sultan Ahmed Mirza was the eldest son of Abu Sa'id Mirza on whose death he became the Timurid ruler of Samarkand and Bukhara from 1469 until 1494. During his rule, he successfully repelled at least one invasion attempt by the Kara Koyunlu, and f ...

, King of Samarkand, Bukhara and Hissar (or "Hisor," not to be confused with Hissar, India) * Umar Shaikh Mirza II, King of Ferghana * Sultan Mahmud Mirza, King of Balkh *

Ulugh Beg Mirza II Ulugh Beg II also known as Ulugh Beg Kabuli (d.1502) was the Timurid ruler of Kabul and Ghazni from 1461 to 1502. Reign Born the fourth son of the Timurid Sultan Abu Sa'id Mirza, Ulugh Beg was given the cities of Kabul and Ghazni by his father, ...

, King of

and

Mirza Ulugh Beg, Babur's paternal uncle, the Timurid ruler of Kabul and Ghazni, had died in the year 1501 CE, leaving his son Abdal-Razak Mirza, who was still young, in charge of the country. But power was usurped by one of his ministers, Shirim Zikr. A conspiracy, headed by Muhammad Qasim Beg and Yunis Ali, was formed against the minister which succeeded in killing him and capturing the seat of government. However, anarchy reigned in the region and the power vacuum was filled by one Mukim Beg Arghun. He was the son of Dhul-Nun Beg Arghun and brother of Shah Beg Arghun. Mukim availing himself of this situation of things, marched without orders from the Garmsir, which he held for his father, who in turn served Sultan Husayn Mirza Bayqara and appeared suddenly before

, which opened its gates. Dhul-Nun Beg Arghun, without professing to approve of the proceedings of Mukim, sanctioned his retaining possession of his conquest. Abdal-Razak Mirza had retired among the hills, and was still making ineffectual efforts for the recovery of his capital, when Babur himself escaping the Uzbek, Shaybani Khan, entered the territories of Khusroe Shah. Shaybani Khan had conquered Samarkand and Bukhara, Ferghana and Uratippa,

Tashkent Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of 2 ...

and Shahrukhiya; Sultan Husayn Mirza Bayqara governed Khorasan; Khusroe Shah still held Hissar, Khotlan,

Kunduz , native_name_lang = prs , other_name = , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = Kunduz River valley.jpg , imagesize = 300 , image_alt = , image_caption = , image_ ...

, and

Badakhshan Badakhshan is a historical region comprising parts of modern-day north-eastern Afghanistan, eastern Tajikistan, and Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County in China. Badakhshan Province is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan. Much of historic Ba ...

; and Dhul-Nun Beg Arghun, though he acknowledged Sultan Husayn Mirza Bayqara, had almost independent power in

Kandahar Kandahar (; Kandahār, , Qandahār) is a city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on the Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city after Kabul, with a population of about 614,118. It is the c ...

and

Zamindawar Zamindawar is a historical region of Afghanistan. It is a very large and fertile valley the main sources for irrigation is the Helmand River. Zamindawar is located in the greater territory of northern Helmand and encompasses the approximate area of ...

, Farah,

Nimruz Nimruz or Nimroz (Dari: ; Balochi: ) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the southwestern part of the country. It lies to the east of the Sistan and Baluchestan Province of Iran and north of Balochistan, Pakistan, also borde ...

Helmand Helmand (Pashto/Dari: ; ), also known as Hillmand, in ancient times, as Hermand and Hethumand, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, in the south of the country. It is the largest province by area, covering area. The province contains 13 ...

, the Garmsir, and great part of

Sistan Sistān ( fa, سیستان), known in ancient times as Sakastān ( fa, سَكاستان, "the land of the Saka"), is a historical and geographical region in present-day Eastern Iran ( Sistan and Baluchestan Province) and Southern Afghanistan ( ...

, and the country south of Kandahar. During Babur's travels through Khusroe Shah's territories, the Moghuls in Khusroe's service including his brother deserted him and joined Babur. With this army he marched on Kabul and besieged the city.

Siege

{{unreferenced section, date=January 2022 Jahangir Mirza II commanded the right wing and was placed on the site of the future Chaharbagh. Nasir Mirza was commander of the left wing and was positioned near the meadows of the tomb of Qutlugh Qadam Khan. Babur with the main army halted between Haider Taki's garden and the tomb of Kul Bayezid. Negotiations began with Mukim Beg to surrender but he resorted to delaying tactics, expecting succor from his father and brother. Babur pushed forward and the siege became more severe with few engagements. Eventually Mukim Beg negotiated a surrender and was allowed to leave with his family. The region of Kabul and Ghazni were thus conquered without much severe resistance.

References

* Baburnama - Autobiography of Mughal Emperor Babur * Tarikh-i-Rashidi - A History of the Moghuls of Central Asia

Kabul 1504 History of Kabul 1504 in Asia 16th century in Afghanistan Babur