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Babur ( fa, , lit= tiger, translit= Bābur; ; 14 February 148326 December 1530), born Mīrzā Zahīr ud-Dīn Muhammad, was the founder of the
Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...
in the
Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographical region in Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian Ocean from the Himalayas. Geopolitically, it includes the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India ...
. He was a descendant of
Timur Timur ; chg, ''Aqsaq Temür'', 'Timur the Lame') or as ''Sahib-i-Qiran'' ( 'Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction'), his epithet. ( chg, ''Temür'', 'Iron'; 9 April 133617–19 February 1405), later Timūr Gurkānī ( chg, ''Temür Kür ...
and
Genghis Khan ''Chinggis Khaan'' ͡ʃʰiŋɡɪs xaːŋbr />Mongol script: ''Chinggis Qa(gh)an/ Chinggis Khagan'' , birth_name = Temüjin , successor = Tolui (as regent)Ögedei Khan , spouse = , issue = , house = Borjigin , ...
through his father and mother respectively.F. Lehmann
Ẓahīr-al-Dīn Moḥammad Bābor
In Encyclopædia Iranica. Online Ed. December 1988 (updated August 2011). "Bābor, Ẓahīr-al-Dīn Moḥammad son of Umar Sheikh Mirza, (6 Moḥarram 886-6 Jomādā I 937/14 February 1483 – 26 December 1530), Timurid prince, military genius, and literary craftsman who escaped the bloody political arena of his Central Asian birthplace to found the Mughal Empire in India. His origin, milieu, training, and education were steeped in
Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...
culture and so Bābor played significant role for the fostering of this culture by his descendants, the Mughals of India, and for the expansion of Islam in the Indian subcontinent, with brilliant literary, artistic, and
historiographical Historiography is the study of the methods of historians in developing history as an academic discipline, and by extension is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiography of a specific topic covers how historians hav ...
results."
Robert L. Canfield, Robert L. (1991). ''Turko-Persia in historical perspective'', Cambridge University Press, p. 20. "The Mughals-Persianized Turks who invaded from Central Asia and claimed descent from both Timur and Genghis – strengthened the Persianate culture of Muslim India". He was also given the
posthumous name A posthumous name is an honorary name given mostly to the notable dead in East Asian culture. It is predominantly practiced in East Asian countries such as China, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, and Thailand. Reflecting on the person's accomplishments or ...
of ''Firdaws Makani'' ('Dwelling in Paradise'). Of Chagatai Turkic origin and born in
Andijan Andijan (sometimes spelled Andijon or Andizhan in English) ( uz, Andijon / Андижон / ئەندىجان; fa, اندیجان, ''Andijân/Andīǰān''; russian: Андижан, ''Andižan'') is a city in Uzbekistan. It is the administrative, ...
in the
Fergana Valley The Fergana Valley (; ; ) in Central Asia lies mainly in eastern Uzbekistan, but also extends into southern Kyrgyzstan and northern Tajikistan. Divided into three republics of the former Soviet Union, the valley is ethnically diverse and in the ...
(in present-day
Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked co ...
), Babur was the eldest son of
Umar Sheikh Mirza Umar Shaikh Mirza II ( fa, , b. 1456 – d. 1494) was the ruler of the Fergana Valley. He was the fourth son of Abu Sa'id Mirza, the emperor of the Timurid Empire in what is now Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and eastern Iran. His first wi ...
(1456–1494, governor of
Fergana Fergana ( uz, Fargʻona/Фарғона, ), or Ferghana, is a district-level city and the capital of Fergana Region in eastern Uzbekistan. Fergana is about 420 km east of Tashkent, about 75 km west of Andijan, and less than 20 km f ...
from 1469 to 1494) and a great-great-great grandson of Timur (1336–1405). Babur ascended the throne of Fergana in its capital
Akhsikent Akhsikath (also commonly known as Aksikent or Akhsi) is an archeological site located in the Fergana Valley in Uzbekistan. A fortified city along the Syr Darya, it lies 22km to the southwest of Namangan and covers an area of 30 hectares. The oldes ...
in 1494 at the age of twelve and faced rebellion. He conquered
Samarkand fa, سمرقند , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from the top:Registan square, Shah-i-Zinda necropolis, Bibi-Khanym Mosque, view inside Shah-i-Zinda, ...
two years later, only to lose Fergana soon after. In his attempt to reconquer Fergana, he lost control of Samarkand. In 1501, his attempt to recapture both the regions failed when
Muhammad Shaybani Khan Muhammad Shaybani Khan ( uz, Muhammad Shayboniy, also known as Abul-Fath Shaybani Khan or Shayabak Khan or Shahi Beg Khan, originally named "Shibägh", which means " wormwood" or "obsidian") (c. 1451 – 2 December 1510), was an Uzbek leader ...
defeated him. In 1504 he conquered
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. Acc ...
, which was under the putative rule of Abdur Razaq Mirza, the infant heir of
Ulugh Beg 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, ...
. Babur formed a partnership with the
Safavid Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often consid ...
ruler
Ismail I Ismail I ( fa, اسماعیل, Esmāʿīl, ; July 17, 1487 – May 23, 1524), also known as Shah Ismail (), was the founder of the Safavid dynasty of Iran, ruling as its King of Kings ('' Shahanshah'') from 1501 to 1524. His reign is often ...
and reconquered parts of
Turkistan Turkestan, also spelled Turkistan ( fa, ترکستان, Torkestân, lit=Land of the Turks), is a historical region in Central Asia corresponding to the regions of Transoxiana and Xinjiang. Overview Known as Turan to the Persians, western Turk ...
, including Samarkand, only to again lose it and the other newly conquered lands to the Sheybanids. After losing Samarkand for the third time, Babur turned his attention to India and employed aid from the neighbouring
Safavid Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often consid ...
and Ottoman empires. Quote: "Babur then adroitly gave the Ottomans his promise not to attack them in return for their military aid, which he received in the form of the newest of battlefield inventions, the matchlock gun and cast cannons, as well as instructors to train his men to use them." He defeated
Ibrahim Lodi Ibrahim Khan Lodi (or Lodhi) (Pashto: ابراهیم خان لودي), (1480 – 21 April 1526) was the last Sultan of the Delhi Sultanate, who became Sultan in 1517 after the death of his father Sikandar Khan Lodi. He was the last ruler of th ...
, Sultan of
Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
, at the First Battle of Panipat in 1526 CE and founded the Mughal Empire. At the time, the sultanate at Delhi was a spent force that was long crumbling. The
Mewar kingdom Kingdom of Mewar, sometimes known as Udaipur State, was ruled by the Sisodia dynasty. It was an independent kingdom in Rajputana region of India. It was established around the 7th century as minor rulers of the Nagada-Ahar region of Udaipur an ...
, under the able rule of
Rana Sanga Sangram Singh I (IAST: Rāṇā Saṅgrāma Siṃha; c. 1482 – 1528 CE), popularly known as Rana Sanga or Maharana Sanga, was an Indian ruler from the Sisodia dynasty. He ruled Mewar, the traditional territory of Guhilas (Sisodias) in presen ...
, had turned into one of the strongest powers of
northern India North India is a loosely defined region consisting of the northern part of India. The dominant geographical features of North India are the Indo-Gangetic Plain and the Himalayas, which demarcate the region from the Tibetan Plateau and Central ...
. Sanga unified several Rajput clans for the first time after
Prithviraj Chauhan Prithviraja III (IAST: Pṛthvī-rāja; reign. – 1192 CE), popularly known as Prithviraj Chauhan or Rai Pithora, was a king from the Chauhan (Chahamana) dynasty who ruled the territory of Sapadalaksha, with his capital at Ajmer in present- ...
and advanced on Babur with a grand coalition of 100,000 Rajputs. However, Sanga suffered a major defeat in the
Battle of Khanwa The Battle of Khanwa was fought at Khanwa on March 16, 1527. It was fought between the invading Timurid forces of Babur and the Rajput confederacy led by Rana Sanga for suprermacy of Northern India. The battle was a major event in Medieva ...
due to Babur's skillful positioning of troops and modern tactics and firepower. The Battle of Khanua was one of the most decisive battles in Indian history, more so than the First Battle of Panipat, as the defeat of Rana Sanga was a watershed event in the Mughal conquest of northern India. Babur married several times. Notable among his sons are
Humayun Nasir-ud-Din Muhammad ( fa, ) (; 6 March 1508 – 27 January 1556), better known by his regnal name, Humāyūn; (), was the second emperor of the Mughal Empire, who ruled over territory in what is now Eastern Afghanistan, Pakistan, Northern ...
,
Kamran Mirza Kamran Mirza ( fa, ) (1512 – 5 October 1557) was the second son of Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire and the first Mughal Emperor. Kamran Mirza was born in Kabul to Babur's wife Gulrukh Begum. He was half-brother to Babur's eldest s ...
and
Hindal Mirza Abu'l-Nasir Muhammad (4 March 1519 – 20 November 1551), better known by the sobriquet Hindal ( Chagatai: "Taker of India"), was a Mughal prince and the youngest son of Emperor Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire and the first Mughal e ...
. Babur died in 1530 in
Agra Agra (, ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital New Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is ...
and Humayun succeeded him. Babur was first buried in Agra but, as per his wishes, his remains were moved to Kabul and reburied. He ranks as a national hero in
Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked co ...
and
Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the east ...
. Many of his poems have become popular folk songs. He wrote the ''
Baburnama The ''Bāburnāma'' ( chg, ; literally: ''"History of Babur"'' or ''"Letters of Babur"''; alternatively known as ''Tuzk-e Babri'') is the memoirs of Ẓahīr-ud-Dīn Muhammad Bābur (1483–1530), founder of the Mughal Empire and a great-great ...
'' in Chaghatai Turkic; it was translated into Persian during the reign (1556–1605) of his grandson, the Emperor
Akbar Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (25 October 1542 – 27 October 1605), popularly known as Akbar the Great ( fa, ), and also as Akbar I (), was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Hum ...
.


Name

''Ẓahīr-ud-Dīn'' is
Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walte ...
for "Defender of the Faith" (of
Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...
), and ''
Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد;  570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monot ...
'' honours the
Islamic prophet Prophets in Islam ( ar, الأنبياء في الإسلام, translit=al-ʾAnbiyāʾ fī al-ʾIslām) are individuals in Islam who are believed to spread God's message on Earth and to serve as models of ideal human behaviour. Some prophets ar ...
. The name was chosen for Babur by the
Sufi Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, ...
saint
Khwaja Ahrar Nassiruddin Ubaidullah Ahrar (1404-1490 AD) (in Persian: ناصرالدین عبیدالله احرار) more popularly known as Khwaja Ahrar (in Persian: خواجه احرار) was a Hanafi Maturidi member of the Golden Chain of the Naqshban ...
, who was the spiritual master of his father. The difficulty of pronouncing the name for his Central Asian Turco-Mongol army may have been responsible for the greater popularity of his nickname Babur, also variously spelled Baber, Babar, and Bābor. The name is generally taken in reference to the
Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
word ''babur'' (), meaning "tiger". The word repeatedly appears in
Ferdowsi Abul-Qâsem Ferdowsi Tusi ( fa, ; 940 – 1019/1025 CE), also Firdawsi or Ferdowsi (), was a Persians, Persian poet and the author of ''Shahnameh'' ("Book of Kings"), which is one of the world's longest epic poetry, epic poems created by a sin ...
's ''
Shahnameh The ''Shahnameh'' or ''Shahnama'' ( fa, شاهنامه, Šāhnāme, lit=The Book of Kings, ) is a long epic poem written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi between c. 977 and 1010 CE and is the national epic of Greater Iran. Consisting of some 50, ...
'' and was borrowed into the
Turkic languages The Turkic languages are a language family of over 35 documented languages, spoken by the Turkic peoples of Eurasia from Eastern Europe and Southern Europe to Central Asia, East Asia, North Asia (Siberia), and Western Asia. The Turkic languag ...
of Central Asia.


Background

Babur's memoirs form the main source for details of his life. They are known as the ''
Baburnama The ''Bāburnāma'' ( chg, ; literally: ''"History of Babur"'' or ''"Letters of Babur"''; alternatively known as ''Tuzk-e Babri'') is the memoirs of Ẓahīr-ud-Dīn Muhammad Bābur (1483–1530), founder of the Mughal Empire and a great-great ...
'' and were written in Chaghatai Turkic, his mother-tongue, though, according to Dale, "his Turkic prose is highly Persianized in its sentence structure, morphology or word formation and vocabulary." ''Baburnama'' was translated into Persian during the rule of Babur's grandson Akbar. Babur was born on 14 February 1483 in the city of
Andijan Andijan (sometimes spelled Andijon or Andizhan in English) ( uz, Andijon / Андижон / ئەندىجان; fa, اندیجان, ''Andijân/Andīǰān''; russian: Андижан, ''Andižan'') is a city in Uzbekistan. It is the administrative, ...
,
Fergana Valley The Fergana Valley (; ; ) in Central Asia lies mainly in eastern Uzbekistan, but also extends into southern Kyrgyzstan and northern Tajikistan. Divided into three republics of the former Soviet Union, the valley is ethnically diverse and in the ...
, contemporary Uzbekistan. He was the eldest son of
Umar Sheikh Mirza Umar Shaikh Mirza II ( fa, , b. 1456 – d. 1494) was the ruler of the Fergana Valley. He was the fourth son of Abu Sa'id Mirza, the emperor of the Timurid Empire in what is now Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and eastern Iran. His first wi ...
, ruler of the Fergana Valley, the son of Abū Saʿīd Mirza (and grandson of
Miran Shah Mirza Jalal-ud-din Miran Shah Beg (1366 – 20 April 1408), commonly known as Miran Shah ( fa, میران شاہ), was a son of the Central Asian conqueror Timur, founder of the Timurid Empire. During his father's reign, Miran Shah was init ...
, who was himself son of
Timur Timur ; chg, ''Aqsaq Temür'', 'Timur the Lame') or as ''Sahib-i-Qiran'' ( 'Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction'), his epithet. ( chg, ''Temür'', 'Iron'; 9 April 133617–19 February 1405), later Timūr Gurkānī ( chg, ''Temür Kür ...
) and his wife
Qutlugh Nigar Khanum Qutlugh Nigar Khanum (''also spelled Kutlak Nigar Khanum''; d. 1505) was the first wife and chief consort of Umar Shaikh Mirza II, the ruler of Ferghana Valley. She was a princess of Moghulistan by birth and was a daughter of Yunus Khan, the Great ...
, daughter of
Yunus Khan Yunus Khan (b. 1416 – d. 1487) ( ug, يونس خان}), was Khan of Moghulistan from 1462 until his death in 1487. He is identified by many historians with Ḥājjī `Ali (, Pinyin: ''Hazhi Ali'') ( ug, ھاجى علي}), of the contempor ...
, the ruler of
Moghulistan Moghulistan (from fa, , ''Moghulestân'', mn, Моголистан), also called the Moghul Khanate or the Eastern Chagatai Khanate (), was a Mongol breakaway khanate of the Chagatai Khanate and a historical geographic area north of the Ten ...
(a descendant of
Genghis Khan ''Chinggis Khaan'' ͡ʃʰiŋɡɪs xaːŋbr />Mongol script: ''Chinggis Qa(gh)an/ Chinggis Khagan'' , birth_name = Temüjin , successor = Tolui (as regent)Ögedei Khan , spouse = , issue = , house = Borjigin , ...
). Babur hailed from the
Barlas The Barlas ( mn, Barulās, script=Latn;Grupper, S. M. ‘A Barulas Family Narrative in the Yuan Shih: Some Neglected Prosopographical and Institutional Sources on Timurid Origins.’ Archivum Eurasiae Medii Aevi 8 (1992–94): 11–97 Chagatay/ ...
tribe, which was of
Mongol The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal member of ...
origin and had embraced Turkic and Persian culture. They had also converted to Islam centuries earlier and resided in
Turkestan Turkestan, also spelled Turkistan ( fa, ترکستان, Torkestân, lit=Land of the Turks), is a historical region in Central Asia corresponding to the regions of Transoxiana and Xinjiang. Overview Known as Turan to the Persians, western Turk ...
and
Khorasan Khorasan may refer to: * Greater Khorasan, a historical region which lies mostly in modern-day northern/northwestern Afghanistan, northeastern Iran, southern Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan * Khorasan Province, a pre-2004 province of Ira ...
. Aside from the Chaghatai language, Babur was equally fluent in Persian, the ''
lingua franca A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, vehicular language, or link language, is a language systematically used to make communication possible between groups ...
'' of the Timurid elite. Hence, Babur, though nominally a Mongol (or ''Moghul'' in Persian language), drew much of his support from the local Turkic and Iranian people of Central Asia, and his army was diverse in its ethnic makeup. It included
Persians The Persians are an Iranian ethnic group who comprise over half of the population of Iran. They share a common cultural system and are native speakers of the Persian language as well as of the languages that are closely related to Persian. ...
(known to Babur as "
Sart Sart is a name for the settled inhabitants of Central Asia which has had shifting meanings over the centuries. Origin There are several theories about the origin of the term. It may be derived from the Sanskrit ''sārthavāha'' "merchant, tra ...
s" and "
Tajiks Tajiks ( fa, تاجيک، تاجک, ''Tājīk, Tājek''; tg, Тоҷик) are a Persian-speaking Iranian ethnic group native to Central Asia, living primarily in Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Tajiks are the largest ethnicity in Taji ...
"),
ethnic Afghans Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically re ...
,
Arabs The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, No ...
, as well as Barlas and Chaghatayid Turko-Mongols from Central Asia.


Ruler of Central Asia


As ruler of Fergana

In 1494, eleven-year-old Babur became the ruler of Fergana, in present-day Uzbekistan, after Umar Sheikh Mirza died "while tending pigeons in an ill-constructed dovecote that toppled into the ravine below the palace". During this time, two of his uncles from the neighbouring kingdoms, who were hostile to his father, and a group of nobles who wanted his younger brother Jahangir to be the ruler, threatened his succession to the throne. His uncles were relentless in their attempts to dislodge him from this position as well as from many of his other territorial possessions to come. Babur was able to secure his throne mainly because of help from his maternal grandmother, Aisan Daulat Begum, although there was also some luck involved. Most territories around his kingdom were ruled by his relatives, who were descendants of either Timur or Genghis Khan, and were constantly in conflict. At that time, rival princes were fighting over the city of Samarkand to the west, which was ruled by his paternal cousin. Babur had a great ambition to capture the city. In 1497, he besieged Samarkand for seven months before eventually gaining control over it. He was fifteen years old and for him the campaign was a huge achievement. Babur was able to hold the city despite desertions in his army, but he later fell seriously ill. Meanwhile, a rebellion back home, approximately away, amongst nobles who favoured his brother, robbed him of Fergana. As he was marching to recover it, he lost Samarkand to a rival prince, leaving him with neither. He had held Samarkand for 100 days, and he considered this defeat as his biggest loss, obsessing over it even later in his life after his conquests in India. For three years, Babur concentrated on building a strong army, recruiting widely amongst the Tajiks of
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 ...
in particular. In 1500–1501, he again laid siege to Samarkand, and indeed he took the city briefly, but he was in turn besieged by his most formidable rival, Muhammad Shaybani,
Khan Khan may refer to: *Khan (inn), from Persian, a caravanserai or resting-place for a travelling caravan *Khan (surname), including a list of people with the name *Khan (title), a royal title for a ruler in Mongol and Turkic languages and used by ...
of the Uzbeks. The situation became such that Babar was compelled to give his sister, Khanzada, to Shaybani in marriage as part of the peace settlement. Only after this were Babur and his troops allowed to depart the city in safety. Samarkand, his lifelong obsession, was thus lost again. He then tried to reclaim Fergana, but lost the battle there also and, escaping with a small band of followers, he wandered the mountains of central Asia and took refuge with hill tribes. By 1502, he had resigned all hopes of recovering Fergana; he was left with nothing and was forced to try his luck elsewhere. He finally went to
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 ...
, which was ruled by his maternal uncle, but he found himself less than welcome there. Babur wrote, "During my stay in Tashkent, I endured much poverty and humiliation. No country, or hope of one!" Thus, during the ten years since becoming the ruler of Fergana, Babur suffered many short-lived victories and was without shelter and in exile, aided by friends and peasants.


At Kabul

Kabul was ruled by Babur's paternal uncle
Ulugh Beg 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, ...
, who died leaving only an infant as heir. The city was then claimed by Mukin Begh, who was considered to be a usurper and was opposed by the local populace. In 1504, Babur was able to cross the snowy
Hindu Kush The Hindu Kush is an mountain range in Central and South Asia to the west of the Himalayas. It stretches from central and western Afghanistan, Quote: "The Hindu Kush mountains run along the Afghan border with the North-West Frontier Provinc ...
mountains and capture Kabul from the remaining Arghunids, who were forced to retreat to
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 ...
. With this move, he gained a new kingdom, re-established his fortunes and would remain its ruler until 1526. In 1505, because of the low revenue generated by his new mountain kingdom, Babur began his first expedition to India; in his memoirs, he wrote, "My desire for Hindustan had been constant. It was in the month of Shaban, the Sun being in Aquarius, that we rode out of Kabul for Hindustan". It was a brief raid across the
Khyber Pass The Khyber Pass (خیبر درہ) is a mountain pass in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, on the border with the Nangarhar Province of Afghanistan. It connects the town of Landi Kotal to the Valley of Peshawar at Jamrud by traversing ...
. In the same year, Babur united with Sultan Husayn Mirza Bayqarah of
Herat Herāt (; Persian: ) is an oasis city and the third-largest city of Afghanistan. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 574,276, and serves as the capital of Herat Province, situated south of the Paropamisus Mountains (''Selseleh-ye Safē ...
, a fellow Timurid and distant relative, against their common enemy, the Uzbek Shaybani. However, this venture did not take place because Husayn Mirza died in 1506 and his two sons were reluctant to go to war. Babur instead stayed at Herat after being invited by the two Mirza brothers. It was then the cultural capital of the eastern Muslim world. Though he was disgusted by the vices and luxuries of the city, he marvelled at the intellectual abundance there, which he stated was "filled with learned and matched men". He became acquainted with the work of the Chagatai poet Mir Ali Shir Nava'i, who encouraged the use of Chagatai as a
literary language A literary language is the form (register) of a language used in written literature, which can be either a nonstandard dialect or a standardized variety of the language. Literary language sometimes is noticeably different from the spoken langua ...
. Nava'i's proficiency with the language, which he is credited with founding, may have influenced Babur in his decision to use it for his memoirs. He spent two months there before being forced to leave because of diminishing resources; it later was overrun by Shaybani and the Mirzas fled. Babur became the only reigning ruler of the Timurid dynasty after the loss of Herat, and many princes sought refuge with him at Kabul because of Shaybani's invasion in the west. He thus assumed the title of ''
Padshah Padishah ( fa, پادشاه; ; from Persian: r Old Persian: *">Old_Persian.html" ;"title="r Old Persian">r Old Persian: * 'master', and ''shāh'', 'king'), sometimes Romanization of Persian, romanised as padeshah or padshah ( fa, پادشاه; ...
'' (emperor) among the Timurids—though this title was insignificant since most of his ancestral lands were taken, Kabul itself was in danger and Shaybani continued to be a threat. Babur prevailed during a potential rebellion in Kabul, but two years later a revolt among some of his leading generals drove him out of Kabul. Escaping with very few companions, Babur soon returned to the city, capturing Kabul again and regaining the allegiance of the rebels. Meanwhile, Shaybani was defeated and killed by
Ismail I Ismail I ( fa, اسماعیل, Esmāʿīl, ; July 17, 1487 – May 23, 1524), also known as Shah Ismail (), was the founder of the Safavid dynasty of Iran, ruling as its King of Kings ('' Shahanshah'') from 1501 to 1524. His reign is often ...
, Shah of
Shia Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, most n ...
Safavid Persia, in 1510. Babur and the remaining Timurids used this opportunity to reconquer their ancestral territories. Over the following few years, Babur and Shah Ismail formed a partnership in an attempt to take over parts of Central Asia. In return for Ismail's assistance, Babur permitted the Safavids to act as a suzerain over him and his followers. Thus, in 1513, after leaving his brother Nasir Mirza to rule Kabul, he managed to take Samarkand for the third time; he also took Bokhara but lost both again to the Uzbeks. Shah Ismail reunited Babur with his sister Khānzāda, who had been imprisoned by and forced to marry the recently deceased Shaybani. Babur returned to Kabul after three years in 1514. The following 11 years of his rule mainly involved dealing with relatively insignificant rebellions from Afghan tribes, his nobles and relatives, in addition to conducting raids across the eastern mountains. Babur began to modernise and train his army despite it being, for him, relatively peaceful times.


Foreign relations

The
Safavid Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often consid ...
army led by Najm-e Sani massacred civilians in Central Asia and then sought the assistance of Babur, who advised the Safavids to withdraw. The Safavids, however, refused and were defeated during the
Battle of Ghazdewan The Battle of Ghazdewan occurred near the city of Ghijduvan, what is now Uzbekistan in November 1512 AD between Safavid army and Uzbek army. Prelude After Babur's defeat at the Battle of Kul Malek, he requested assistance from Biram Khan ...
by the warlord Ubaydullah Khan. Babur's early relations with the
Ottomans The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...
were poor because the Ottoman
Sultan Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it c ...
Selim I provided his rival Ubaydullah Khan with powerful
matchlock A matchlock or firelock is a historical type of firearm wherein the gunpowder is ignited by a burning piece of rope that is touched to the gunpowder by a mechanism that the musketeer activates by pulling a lever or trigger with his finger. Before ...
s and
cannon A cannon is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder during ...
s. In 1507, when ordered to accept Selim I as his rightful
suzerain Suzerainty () is the rights and obligations of a person, state or other polity who controls the foreign policy and relations of a tributary state, while allowing the tributary state to have internal autonomy. While the subordinate party is calle ...
, Babur refused and gathered
Qizilbash Qizilbash or Kizilbash ( az, Qızılbaş; ota, قزيل باش; fa, قزلباش, Qezelbāš; tr, Kızılbaş, lit=Red head ) were a diverse array of mainly Turkoman Shia militant groups that flourished in Iranian Azerbaijan, Anatolia, th ...
servicemen in order to counter the forces of Ubaydullah Khan during the Battle of Ghazdewan. In 1513, Selim I reconciled with Babur (fearing that he would join the Safavids), dispatched Ustad Ali Quli the artilleryman and Mustafa Rumi the matchlock marksman, and many other Ottoman Turks, in order to assist Babur in his conquests; this particular assistance proved to be the basis of future Mughal-Ottoman relations. From them, he also adopted the tactic of using matchlocks and cannons in field (rather than only in
siege A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characteriz ...
s), which would give him an important advantage in India.


Formation of the Mughal Empire

Babur still wanted to escape from the Uzbeks, and he chose India as a refuge instead of
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 ...
, which was to the north of Kabul. He wrote, "In the presence of such power and potency, we had to think of some place for ourselves and, at this crisis and in the crack of time there was, put a wider space between us and the strong foeman." After his third loss of Samarkand, Babur gave full attention to the conquest of North India, launching a campaign; he reached the
Chenab River The Chenab River () is a major river that flows in India and Pakistan, and is one of the 5 major rivers of the Punjab region. It is formed by the union of two headwaters, Chandra and Bhaga, which rise in the upper Himalayas in the Lahaul regi ...
, now in
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
, in 1519. Until 1524, his aim was to only expand his rule to
Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprisin ...
, mainly to fulfill the legacy of his ancestor Timur, since it used to be part of his empire. At the time parts of North India were part of the Delhi Sultanate, ruled by Ibrahim Lodi of the Lodi dynasty, but the sultanate was crumbling and there were many defectors. Babur received invitations from Daulat Khan Lodi, Governor of Punjab and Ala-ud-Din, uncle of Ibrahim. He sent an ambassador to Ibrahim, claiming himself the rightful heir to the throne, but the ambassador was detained at
Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city ...
, Punjab, and released months later. Babur started for Lahore in 1524 but found that Daulat Khan Lodi had been driven out by forces sent by Ibrahim Lodi. When Babur arrived at Lahore, the Lodi army marched out and his army was routed. In response, Babur burned Lahore for two days, then marched to Dibalpur, placing Alam Khan, another rebel uncle of Lodi, as governor. Alam Khan was quickly overthrown and fled to Kabul. In response, Babur supplied Alam Khan with troops who later joined up with Daulat Khan Lodi, and together with about 30,000 troops, they besieged Ibrahim Lodi at Delhi. The sultan easily defeated and drove off Alam's army, and Babur realised that he would not allow him to occupy the Punjab.


First battle of Panipat

In November 1525 Babur got news at
Peshawar Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...
that Daulat Khan Lodi had switched sides, and Babur drove out Ala-ud-Din. Babur then marched onto Lahore to confront Daulat Khan Lodi, only to see Daulat's army melt away at their approach. Daulat surrendered and was pardoned. Thus within three weeks of crossing the
Indus River The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kashmir ...
Babur had become the master of Punjab. Babur marched on to Delhi via Sirhind. He reached
Panipat Panipat () is a historic city in Haryana, India. It is 95 km north of Delhi and 169 km south of Chandigarh on NH-1. The three major battles fought in 1526, 1556 and 1761 took place near the city. The city is famous in India as the "C ...
on 20 April 1526 and there met Ibrahim Lodi's numerically superior army of about 100,000 soldiers and 100 elephants. In the battle that began on the following day, Babur used the tactic of ''Tulugma'', encircling Ibrahim Lodi's army and forcing it to face artillery fire directly, as well as frightening its war elephants. Ibrahim Lodi died during the battle, thus ending the Lodi dynasty. Babur wrote in his memoirs about his victory: After the battle, Babur occupied Delhi and Agra, took the throne of Lodi, and laid the foundation for the eventual rise of Mughal rule in India. However, before he became North India's ruler, he had to fend off challengers, such as Rana Sanga.


Battle of Khanwa

The Battle of Khanwa was fought between Babur and the
Rajput Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...
ruler of
Mewar Mewar or Mewad is a region in the south-central part of Rajasthan state of India. It includes the present-day districts of Bhilwara, Chittorgarh, Pratapgarh, Rajsamand, Udaipur, Pirawa Tehsil of Jhalawar District of Rajasthan, Neemuch and ...
,
Rana Sanga Sangram Singh I (IAST: Rāṇā Saṅgrāma Siṃha; c. 1482 – 1528 CE), popularly known as Rana Sanga or Maharana Sanga, was an Indian ruler from the Sisodia dynasty. He ruled Mewar, the traditional territory of Guhilas (Sisodias) in presen ...
on 16 March 1527.
Rana Sanga Sangram Singh I (IAST: Rāṇā Saṅgrāma Siṃha; c. 1482 – 1528 CE), popularly known as Rana Sanga or Maharana Sanga, was an Indian ruler from the Sisodia dynasty. He ruled Mewar, the traditional territory of Guhilas (Sisodias) in presen ...
wanted to overthrow Babur, whom he considered to be a foreigner ruling in India, and also to extend the Rajput territories by annexing
Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
and
Agra Agra (, ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital New Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is ...
. He was supported by Afghan chiefs who felt Babur had been deceptive by refusing to fulfil promises made to them. Upon receiving news of Rana Sangha's advance towards Agra, Babur took a defensive position at Khanwa (currently in the Indian state of
Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...
), from where he hoped to launch a counterattack later. According to K.V. Krishna Rao, Babur won the battle because of his "superior generalship" and modern tactics; the battle was one of the first in India that featured cannons and muskets. Rao also notes that Rana Sanga faced "treachery" when the Hindu chief
Silhadi Raja Shiladitya, also called Silhadi Tomar (died 1532), was a Ror chieftain of northeast Malwa in the early decades of 16th century India. He recruited Sanga of Mewar as an ally and Sanga helped him and Medini Rai in various battles and in conq ...
joined Babur's army with a garrison of 6,000 soldiers. Babur recognised Sanga's skill in leadership, calling him one of the two greatest non-Muslim Indian kings of the time, the other being
Krishnadevaraya Krishnadevaraya (17 January 1471 – 17 October 1529) was an emperor of the Vijayanagara Empire, also known as the Karnata Empire, reigning from 1509 to 1529. He was the third monarch of the Tuluva dynasty, and is considered to be one of the g ...
of
Vijayanagara Vijayanagara () was the capital city of the historic Vijayanagara Empire. Located on the banks of the Tungabhadra River, it spread over a large area and included the modern era Group of Monuments at Hampi site in Vijayanagara district, Bellar ...
.


Battle of Chanderi

The
Battle of Chanderi The Battle of Chanderi or Siege of Chanderi took place in the aftermath of the Battle of Khanwa in which the Mughal Emperor Babur (transliteration: Bābar) had defeated the Rajput Confederacy and firmly establish Mughal rule while crushing re ...
took place the year after the Battle of Khanwa. On receiving news that Rana Sanga had made preparations to renew the conflict with him, Babur decided to isolate the Rana by defeating one of his staunchest allies,
Medini Rai Medini Rai Parihar or Medini Rao (died 1528) was a vassal of Sisodia king Rana Sanga. He ruled much of the Malwa under the lordship of Rana Sanga, who helped him in defeating Sultan of Malwa and conquering Malwa, Chanderi was his capital. He bel ...
, who was the ruler of Malwa. Upon reaching Chanderi, on 20 January 1528, Babur offered Shamsabad to Medini Rao in exchange for Chanderi as a peace overture, but the offer was rejected. The outer fortress of Chanderi was taken by Babur's army at night, and the next morning the upper fort was captured. Babur himself expressed surprise that the upper fort had fallen within an hour of the final assault. Seeing no hope of victory, Medini Rai organized a '' jauhar'', during which women and children within the fortress immolated themselves. A small number of soldiers also collected in Medini Rao's house and killed each other in collective suicide. This sacrifice does not seem to have impressed Babur, who did not express a word of admiration for the enemy in his autobiography.


Religious policy

Babur defeated and killed
Ibrahim Lodi Ibrahim Khan Lodi (or Lodhi) (Pashto: ابراهیم خان لودي), (1480 – 21 April 1526) was the last Sultan of the Delhi Sultanate, who became Sultan in 1517 after the death of his father Sikandar Khan Lodi. He was the last ruler of th ...
, the last Sultan of the
Lodi dynasty The Lodi dynasty ( ps, لودي سلسله; fa, سلسله لودی) was an Afghan dynasty that ruled the Delhi Sultanate from 1451 to 1526. It was the fifth and final dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate, and was founded by Bahlul Khan Lodi when he ...
, in 1526. Babur ruled for 4 years and was succeeded by his son
Humayun Nasir-ud-Din Muhammad ( fa, ) (; 6 March 1508 – 27 January 1556), better known by his regnal name, Humāyūn; (), was the second emperor of the Mughal Empire, who ruled over territory in what is now Eastern Afghanistan, Pakistan, Northern ...
whose reign was temporarily usurped by the
Suri dynasty The Sur Empire ( ps, د سرو امپراتورۍ, dë sru amparāturəi; fa, امپراطوری سور, emperâturi sur) was an Afghan dynasty which ruled a large territory in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent for nearly 16 yea ...
. During their 30-year rule, religious violence continued in India. Records of the violence and trauma, from Sikh-Muslim perspective, include those recorded in
Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism (Sikhi), a monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ...
literature of the 16th century.John Hinnells and Richard King (2006), ''Religion and Violence in South Asia: Theory and Practice'', , pp. 101–14 The violence of Babur in the 1520s was witnessed by
Guru Nanak Gurū Nānak (15 April 1469 – 22 September 1539; Gurmukhi: ਗੁਰੂ ਨਾਨਕ; pronunciation: , ), also referred to as ('father Nānak'), was the founder of Sikhism and is the first of the ten Sikh Gurus. His birth is celebrated wor ...
, who commented upon it in four hymns. Historians suggest the early Mughal period of religious violence contributed to introspection and then the transformation in Sikhism from pacifism to militancy for self-defense. According to Babur's autobiography, ''
Baburnama The ''Bāburnāma'' ( chg, ; literally: ''"History of Babur"'' or ''"Letters of Babur"''; alternatively known as ''Tuzk-e Babri'') is the memoirs of Ẓahīr-ud-Dīn Muhammad Bābur (1483–1530), founder of the Mughal Empire and a great-great ...
'', his campaign in northwest India targeted Hindus and Sikhs as well as apostates (non-Sunni sects of Islam), and an immense number were killed, with Muslim camps building "towers of skulls of the infidels" on hillocks.


Personal life and relationships

There are no descriptions about Babur's physical appearance, except from the paintings in the translation of the ''Baburnama'' prepared during the reign of
Akbar Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (25 October 1542 – 27 October 1605), popularly known as Akbar the Great ( fa, ), and also as Akbar I (), was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Hum ...
. In his autobiography, Babur claimed to be strong and physically fit, and that he had swum across every major river he encountered, including twice across the
Ganges River The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...
in
North India North India is a loosely defined region consisting of the northern part of India. The dominant geographical features of North India are the Indo-Gangetic Plain and the Himalayas, which demarcate the region from the Tibetan Plateau and Central ...
. Babur did not initially know old Hindustani; however, his Turkic poetry indicates that he picked up some of its vocabulary later in life. Unlike his father, he had
ascetic Asceticism (; from the el, ἄσκησις, áskesis, exercise', 'training) is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from sensual pleasures, often for the purpose of pursuing spiritual goals. Ascetics may withdraw from the world for their p ...
tendencies and did not have any great interest in women. In his first marriage, he was "bashful" towards
Aisha Sultan Begum Aisha Sultan Begum was Queen consort of Ferghana Valley and Samarkand as the first wife of Emperor Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire and the first Mughal emperor. Aisha was a first cousin of her husband and was a Timurid princess by bir ...
, later losing his affection for her. Babur showed similar shyness in his interactions with Baburi, a boy in his camp with whom he had an infatuation around this time, recounting that: "Occasionally Baburi came to me, but I was so bashful that I could not look him in the face, much less converse freely with him. In my excitement and agitation I could not thank him for coming, much less complain of his leaving. Who could bear to demand the ceremonies of fealty?" However, Babur acquired several more wives and concubines over the years, and as required for a prince, he was able to ensure the continuity of his line. Babur's first wife, Aisha Sultan Begum, was his paternal cousin, the daughter of Sultan Ahmad Mirza, his father's brother. She was an infant when betrothed to Babur, who was himself five years old. They married eleven years later, . The couple had one daughter,
Fakhr-un-Nissa Fakhr-un-Nissa (died 1501) was a Mughal princess as the eldest child of the first Mughal Emperor Babur and his Empress consort Aisha Sultan Begum. Fakhr-un-Nissa was born in 1501 in Samarkand fa, سمرقند , native_name_lang = , set ...
, who died within a year in 1500. Three years later, after Babur's first defeat at Fergana, Aisha left him and returned to her father's household. In 1504, Babur married Zaynab Sultan Begum, who died childless within two years. In the period 1506–08, Babur married four women,
Maham Begum Maham Begum or Mahim Begum (d. 16 April 1534) was the Empress consort of the Mughal Empire from 20 April 1526 to 26 December 1530 as the third wife and chief consort of Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire and the first Mughal emperor. She wa ...
(in 1506),
Masuma Sultan Begum Masuma Sultan Begum ( ) was the Queen consort of Ferghana Valley and Samarkand as the fourth wife of Emperor Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire and the first Mughal emperor. Masuma was a first cousin of her husband and was a Timurid prince ...
, Gulrukh Begum and Dildar Begum. Babur had four children by Maham Begum, of whom only one survived infancy. This was his eldest son and heir,
Humayun Nasir-ud-Din Muhammad ( fa, ) (; 6 March 1508 – 27 January 1556), better known by his regnal name, Humāyūn; (), was the second emperor of the Mughal Empire, who ruled over territory in what is now Eastern Afghanistan, Pakistan, Northern ...
. Masuma Sultan Begum died during childbirth; the year of her death is disputed (either 1508 or 1519). Gulrukh bore Babur two sons, Kamran and
Askari An askari (from Somali, Swahili and Arabic , , meaning "soldier" or "military", which also means "police" in the Somali language) was a local soldier serving in the armies of the European colonial powers in Africa, particularly in the African G ...
, and Dildar Begum was the mother of Babur's youngest son, Hindal. Babur later married Mubaraka Yusufzai, a
Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically r ...
woman of the
Yusufzai The Yusufzai or Yousafzai ( ps, یوسفزی, ), also referred to as the Esapzai (, ) are one of the largest tribes of ethnic Pashtuns. They are natively based in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, to which they migrated to from Suliman mountains du ...
tribe. Gulnar Aghacha and Nargul Aghacha were two Circassian slaves given to Babur as gifts by Tahmasp Shah Safavi, the Shah of Persia. They became "recognized ladies of the royal household." During his rule in Kabul, when there was a time of relative peace, Babur pursued his interests in literature, art, music and gardening. Previously, he never drank alcohol and avoided it when he was in Herat. In Kabul, he first tasted it at the age of thirty. He then began to drink regularly, host wine parties and consume preparations made from
opium Opium (or poppy tears, scientific name: ''Lachryma papaveris'') is dried latex obtained from the seed capsules of the opium poppy '' Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid morphine, whic ...
. Though religion had a central place in his life, Babur also approvingly quoted a line of poetry by one of his contemporaries: "I am drunk, officer. Punish me when I am sober". He quit drinking for health reasons before the Battle of Khanwa, just two years before his death, and demanded that his court do the same. But he did not stop chewing narcotic preparations, and did not lose his sense of irony. He wrote, "Everyone regrets drinking and swears an oath (of
abstinence Abstinence is a self-enforced restraint from indulging in bodily activities that are widely experienced as giving pleasure. Most frequently, the term refers to sexual abstinence, but it can also mean abstinence from alcohol, drugs, food, etc. B ...
); I swore the oath and regret that." Babur was opposed to the blind obedience towards the Chinggisid laws and customs that were influential in Turco-Mongol society:
"Previously our ancestors had shown unusual respect for the Chingizid code (). They did not violate this code sitting and rising at councils and court, at feasts and dinners. oweverChingez Khan’s code is not a ''nass qati'' (categorical text) that a person must follow. Whenever one leaves a good custom, it should be followed. If ancestors leave a bad custom, however it is necessary to substitute a good one."
Making clear that to him, the categorical text (i.e. the Quran) had displaced Genghis Khan's ''Yassa'' in moral and legal matters.


Poetry

Babur was an acclaimed writer, who had a profound love for literature. His library was one of his most beloved possessions that he always carried around with him, and books were one of the treasures he searched for in new conquered lands. In his memoirs, when he listed sovereigns and nobles of a conquered land, he also mentioned poets, musicians and other educated people. During his 47-year life, Babur left a rich literary and scientific heritage. He authored his famous memoir the Bāburnāma, as well as beautiful lyrical works or ''ghazals'', treatises on Muslim jurisprudence (Mubayyin), poetics (Aruz risolasi), music, and a special
calligraphy Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...
, known as ''khatt-i Baburi''. Babur's Bāburnāma is a collection of memoirs, written in the
Chagatai language Chagatai (چغتای, ''Čaġatāy''), also known as ''Turki'', Eastern Turkic, or Chagatai Turkic (''Čaġatāy türkīsi''), is an extinct Turkic literary language that was once widely spoken across Central Asia and remained the shared litera ...
and later translated into
Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
, the usual literary language of the Mughal court, during the rule of emperor
Akbar Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (25 October 1542 – 27 October 1605), popularly known as Akbar the Great ( fa, ), and also as Akbar I (), was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Hum ...
. However, Babur's Turkic prose in Bāburnāma is already highly
Persianized Persianization () or Persification (; fa, پارسی‌سازی), is a sociological process of cultural change in which a non- Persian society becomes "Persianate", meaning it either directly adopts or becomes strongly influenced by the Persian ...
in its sentence structure, vocabulary, and morphology, and also consists of several phrases and minor poems in Persian. Babur wrote most of his poems in
Chagatai Turkic Chagatai (چغتای, ''Čaġatāy''), also known as ''Turki'', Eastern Turkic, or Chagatai Turkic (''Čaġatāy türkīsi''), is an extinct Turkic literary language that was once widely spoken across Central Asia and remained the shared literar ...
, known to him as ''Türki'', but he also composed in
Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
. However, he was mostly praised for his literary works written in Turkic, which drew comparison with the poetry of
Ali-Shir Nava'i 'Ali-Shir Nava'i (9 February 1441 – 3 January 1501), also known as Nizām-al-Din ʿAli-Shir Herawī ( Chagatai: نظام الدین علی شیر نوایی, fa, نظام‌الدین علی‌شیر نوایی) was a Timurid poet, writer ...
. The following ruba'i is an example of Babur's poetry written in Turkic, composed in the aftermath of his famous victory in North India to celebrate his ghazi status. I am become a desert wanderer for Islam, Having joined battle with infidels and Hindus I readied myself to become a martyr, God be thanked I am become a ghazi.


Family


Consorts

*
Aisha Sultan Begum Aisha Sultan Begum was Queen consort of Ferghana Valley and Samarkand as the first wife of Emperor Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire and the first Mughal emperor. Aisha was a first cousin of her husband and was a Timurid princess by bir ...
( 1499; 1503), daughter of
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 fa ...
— First wife of Babur *
Zainab Sultan Begum Zainab Sultan Begum was Queen consort of Ferghana Valley and Kabul as the second wife of Emperor Babur. She like two of his other wives Aisha Sultan Begum and Masuma Sultan Begum was a direct cousin of the Babur. She was one of the first Mughal c ...
( 1504; 1506–07), daughter of
Sultan Mahmud Mirza Sultan Mahmud Mirza ( 1453 – January 1495) was a prince of Timurid branch of Transoxiana, son of Abu Sa'id Mirza. Biography His father gave him the government of Hisar and Termez in 1459 (according to Babur Astarabad), but lost to Sultan Husa ...
*
Maham Begum Maham Begum or Mahim Begum (d. 16 April 1534) was the Empress consort of the Mughal Empire from 20 April 1526 to 26 December 1530 as the third wife and chief consort of Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire and the first Mughal emperor. She wa ...
( 1506) — Babur's chief and favourite consort *
Masuma Sultan Begum Masuma Sultan Begum ( ) was the Queen consort of Ferghana Valley and Samarkand as the fourth wife of Emperor Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire and the first Mughal emperor. Masuma was a first cousin of her husband and was a Timurid prince ...
( 1507; 1509), daughter of
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 fa ...
and half-sister of
Aisha Sultan Begum Aisha Sultan Begum was Queen consort of Ferghana Valley and Samarkand as the first wife of Emperor Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire and the first Mughal emperor. Aisha was a first cousin of her husband and was a Timurid princess by bir ...
*
Bibi Mubarika Bibi Mubarika Yusufzai ( ps, بيبي مبارکه یوسفزۍ;) was the Empress consort of the Mughal Empire. She was the fifth wife of Emperor Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire and the first Mughal emperor. She is frequently mentioned in ...
( 1519),
Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically r ...
of the
Yusufzai The Yusufzai or Yousafzai ( ps, یوسفزی, ), also referred to as the Esapzai (, ) are one of the largest tribes of ethnic Pashtuns. They are natively based in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, to which they migrated to from Suliman mountains du ...
tribe *Gulrukh Begum (not to be confused with Babur's daughter Gulrukh Begum, who was also known as Gulbarg Begum) *Dildar Begum *Gulnar Aghacha, Circassian concubine *Nargul Aghacha, Circassian concubine The identity of the mother of one of Babur's daughters, Gulrukh Begum is disputed. Gulrukh's mother may have been the daughter of
Sultan Mahmud Mirza Sultan Mahmud Mirza ( 1453 – January 1495) was a prince of Timurid branch of Transoxiana, son of Abu Sa'id Mirza. Biography His father gave him the government of Hisar and Termez in 1459 (according to Babur Astarabad), but lost to Sultan Husa ...
by his wife Pasha Begum who is referred to as Saliha Sultan Begum in certain secondary sources, however this name is not mentioned in the
Baburnama The ''Bāburnāma'' ( chg, ; literally: ''"History of Babur"'' or ''"Letters of Babur"''; alternatively known as ''Tuzk-e Babri'') is the memoirs of Ẓahīr-ud-Dīn Muhammad Bābur (1483–1530), founder of the Mughal Empire and a great-great ...
or the works of
Gulbadan Begum Gulbadan Begum ( 1523 – 7 February 1603) was a Mughal princess and the daughter of Emperor Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire. She is best known as the author of ''Humayun-Nama'', the account of the life of her half-brother, Empero ...
, which casts doubt on her existence. This woman may never have existed at all or she may even be the same woman as Dildar Begum.


Issue

The sons of Babur were: *
Humayun Nasir-ud-Din Muhammad ( fa, ) (; 6 March 1508 – 27 January 1556), better known by his regnal name, Humāyūn; (), was the second emperor of the Mughal Empire, who ruled over territory in what is now Eastern Afghanistan, Pakistan, Northern ...
( 1508; 1556) — with
Maham Begum Maham Begum or Mahim Begum (d. 16 April 1534) was the Empress consort of the Mughal Empire from 20 April 1526 to 26 December 1530 as the third wife and chief consort of Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire and the first Mughal emperor. She wa ...
— succeeded Babur as the second
Mughal Emperor The Mughal emperors ( fa, , Pādishāhān) were the supreme heads of state of the Mughal Empire on the Indian subcontinent, mainly corresponding to the modern countries of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The Mughal rulers styled t ...
*
Kamran Mirza Kamran Mirza ( fa, ) (1512 – 5 October 1557) was the second son of Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire and the first Mughal Emperor. Kamran Mirza was born in Kabul to Babur's wife Gulrukh Begum. He was half-brother to Babur's eldest s ...
( 1512; 1557) — with Gulrukh Begum *
Askari Mirza Muhammad Askari Mirza, sometimes known simply as Askari (1516 – 5 October 1557DELHI (Mughal Empire) http://members.iinet.net.au/~royalty/ips/families/mughal.html ) was a son of Babur Mirza, the founder of the Mughal dynasty and Gulrukh Begum. ...
( 1518; 1557) — with Gulrukh Begum *
Hindal Mirza Abu'l-Nasir Muhammad (4 March 1519 – 20 November 1551), better known by the sobriquet Hindal ( Chagatai: "Taker of India"), was a Mughal prince and the youngest son of Emperor Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire and the first Mughal e ...
( 1519; 1551) — with Dildar Begum *Ahmad Mirza ( young) — with Gulrukh Begum *Shahrukh Mirza ( young) — with Gulrukh Begum *Barbul Mirza ( infancy) — with
Maham Begum Maham Begum or Mahim Begum (d. 16 April 1534) was the Empress consort of the Mughal Empire from 20 April 1526 to 26 December 1530 as the third wife and chief consort of Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire and the first Mughal emperor. She wa ...
*Alwar Mirza ( young) — with Dildar Begum *Faruq Mirza ( infancy) — with
Maham Begum Maham Begum or Mahim Begum (d. 16 April 1534) was the Empress consort of the Mughal Empire from 20 April 1526 to 26 December 1530 as the third wife and chief consort of Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire and the first Mughal emperor. She wa ...
The daughters of Babur were: *
Fakhr-un-Nissa Fakhr-un-Nissa (died 1501) was a Mughal princess as the eldest child of the first Mughal Emperor Babur and his Empress consort Aisha Sultan Begum. Fakhr-un-Nissa was born in 1501 in Samarkand fa, سمرقند , native_name_lang = , set ...
Begum ( & 1501) — with
Aisha Sultan Begum Aisha Sultan Begum was Queen consort of Ferghana Valley and Samarkand as the first wife of Emperor Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire and the first Mughal emperor. Aisha was a first cousin of her husband and was a Timurid princess by bir ...
*Aisan Daulat Begum ( infancy) — with
Maham Begum Maham Begum or Mahim Begum (d. 16 April 1534) was the Empress consort of the Mughal Empire from 20 April 1526 to 26 December 1530 as the third wife and chief consort of Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire and the first Mughal emperor. She wa ...
*Mehr Jahan Begum ( infancy) — with
Maham Begum Maham Begum or Mahim Begum (d. 16 April 1534) was the Empress consort of the Mughal Empire from 20 April 1526 to 26 December 1530 as the third wife and chief consort of Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire and the first Mughal emperor. She wa ...
*
Masuma Sultan Begum Masuma Sultan Begum ( ) was the Queen consort of Ferghana Valley and Samarkand as the fourth wife of Emperor Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire and the first Mughal emperor. Masuma was a first cousin of her husband and was a Timurid prince ...
( 1508) — with
Masuma Sultan Begum Masuma Sultan Begum ( ) was the Queen consort of Ferghana Valley and Samarkand as the fourth wife of Emperor Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire and the first Mughal emperor. Masuma was a first cousin of her husband and was a Timurid prince ...
— Married to
Muhammad Zaman Mirza Muhammad Zaman Mirza (1496–1539) was a Timurid prince, and general to Mughal Emperors Babur and Humayun. He claimed himself as the ruler of Gujarat in 1537 but did not gain actual control. Early life Muhammad Zaman Mirza was the son of Badi' ...
. *Gulzar Begum ( infancy) — with Gulrukh Begum * Gulrukh Begum (Gulbarg Begum) — Identity of mother is disputed, may have been Dildar Begum or Saliha Sultan Begum — Married to Nuruddin Muhammad Mirza, son of Khwaja Hasan Naqshbandi, with whom she had
Salima Sultan Begum Salima Sultan Begum (23 February 1539 – 2 January 1613) was the third wife and chief consort of the Mughal emperor Akbar, and the granddaughter of Babur. Salima was the daughter of Akbar's paternal aunt, Gulrukh Begum, and her husband, the Vi ...
, wife of
Bairam Khan Muhammad Bairam Khan(Persianمحمد بیرام خان) (18 January 150131 January 1561), commonly known as Bairam Khan or Bayram Khan was an important military commander, and later commander-in-chief of the Mughal army, a powerful statesman a ...
and later the Mughal Emperor
Akbar Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (25 October 1542 – 27 October 1605), popularly known as Akbar the Great ( fa, ), and also as Akbar I (), was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Hum ...
. *
Gulbadan Begum Gulbadan Begum ( 1523 – 7 February 1603) was a Mughal princess and the daughter of Emperor Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire. She is best known as the author of ''Humayun-Nama'', the account of the life of her half-brother, Empero ...
( – 1603) — with Dildar Begum — Married Khizr Khwaja Khan, son of her father's cousin Aiman Khwajah Sultan of
Moghulistan Moghulistan (from fa, , ''Moghulestân'', mn, Моголистан), also called the Moghul Khanate or the Eastern Chagatai Khanate (), was a Mongol breakaway khanate of the Chagatai Khanate and a historical geographic area north of the Ten ...
, son of
Ahmad Alaq Ahmad Alaq ( ug, أحمد; died 1503) was the Khan of Eastern Moghulistan ( Uyghurstan) from 1487 to 1503. He was the second son of Yunus Khan. His mother was Shah Begum, fourth daughter of Badakhshan prince Lali. Ahmad Alaq was a direct male- ...
of
Moghulistan Moghulistan (from fa, , ''Moghulestân'', mn, Моголистан), also called the Moghul Khanate or the Eastern Chagatai Khanate (), was a Mongol breakaway khanate of the Chagatai Khanate and a historical geographic area north of the Ten ...
, the maternal uncle of Emperor Babur. *
Gulchehra Begum Gulchehara Begum (also known as GulChihra or GulShara; c. 1515–1557) was a Mughal princess, daughter of Emperor Zāhir ud-Dīn Mohammad Babur of India, and sister of Emperor Humayun. Later, her nephew, Prince Jalal-ud-Din Mohammed ascended ...
( – 1557) — with Dildar Begum — Married firstly in 1530 to Sultan Tukhta Bugha Khan, son of
Ahmad Alaq Ahmad Alaq ( ug, أحمد; died 1503) was the Khan of Eastern Moghulistan ( Uyghurstan) from 1487 to 1503. He was the second son of Yunus Khan. His mother was Shah Begum, fourth daughter of Badakhshan prince Lali. Ahmad Alaq was a direct male- ...
of
Moghulistan Moghulistan (from fa, , ''Moghulestân'', mn, Моголистан), also called the Moghul Khanate or the Eastern Chagatai Khanate (), was a Mongol breakaway khanate of the Chagatai Khanate and a historical geographic area north of the Ten ...
, the maternal uncle of Emperor Babur. Married secondly to Abbas Sultan Uzbeg. *Gulrang Begum — with Dildar Begum — Married in 1530 to Isan Timur Sultan, ninth son of
Ahmad Alaq Ahmad Alaq ( ug, أحمد; died 1503) was the Khan of Eastern Moghulistan ( Uyghurstan) from 1487 to 1503. He was the second son of Yunus Khan. His mother was Shah Begum, fourth daughter of Badakhshan prince Lali. Ahmad Alaq was a direct male- ...
of
Moghulistan Moghulistan (from fa, , ''Moghulestân'', mn, Моголистан), also called the Moghul Khanate or the Eastern Chagatai Khanate (), was a Mongol breakaway khanate of the Chagatai Khanate and a historical geographic area north of the Ten ...
, the maternal uncle of Emperor Babur.


Death and legacy

Babur died in Agra at the age of 47 on and was succeeded by his eldest son, Humayun. He was first buried in Agra but, as per his wishes, his mortal remains were moved to Kabul and reburied in
Bagh-e Babur The Garden of Babur (locally called Bagh-e Babur; fa, باغ بابر, ''bāġ-e bābur'') is a historic park in Kabul, Afghanistan, and also has the tomb of the first Mughal emperor Babur. The garden is thought to have been developed around 152 ...
in Kabul sometime between 1539 and 1544. It is generally agreed that, as a Timurid, Babur was not only significantly influenced by the Persian culture, but also that his empire gave rise to the expansion of the
Persianate A Persianate society is a society that is based on or strongly influenced by the Persian language, culture, literature, art and/or identity. The term "Persianate" is a neologism credited to Marshall Hodgson. In his 1974 book, ''The Venture of ...
ethos in the Indian subcontinent. He emerged in his own telling as a
Timurid Renaissance The Timurid Renaissance was a historical period in Asian and Islamic history spanning the late 14th, the 15th, and the early 16th centuries. Following the gradual downturn of the Islamic Golden Age, the Timurid Empire, based in Central Asia rul ...
inheritor, leaving signs of Islamic, artistic literary, and social aspects in India. For example, F. Lehmann states in the ''
Encyclopædia Iranica ''Encyclopædia Iranica'' is a project whose goal is to create a comprehensive and authoritative English language encyclopedia about the history, culture, and civilization of Iranian peoples from prehistory to modern times. Scope The ''Encyc ...
'': Although all applications of modern Central Asian ethnicities to people of Babur's time are anachronistic, Soviet and Uzbek sources regard Babur as an ethnic Uzbek. At the same time, during the Soviet Union Uzbek scholars were censored for idealising and praising Babur and other historical figures such as
Ali-Shir Nava'i 'Ali-Shir Nava'i (9 February 1441 – 3 January 1501), also known as Nizām-al-Din ʿAli-Shir Herawī ( Chagatai: نظام الدین علی شیر نوایی, fa, نظام‌الدین علی‌شیر نوایی) was a Timurid poet, writer ...
. Babur is considered a national hero in Uzbekistan. On 14 February 2008, stamps in his name were issued in the country to commemorate his 525th birth anniversary. Many of Babur's poems have become popular Uzbek folk songs, especially by Sherali Jo'rayev. Some sources claim that Babur is a national hero in
Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the east ...
too. In October 2005, Pakistan developed the Babur Cruise Missile, named in his honour. ''
Shahenshah Babar ''Shahenshah Babar'' is a 1944 Indian Hindi-language film directed by Wajahat Mirza. It is based on the life of the Mughal emperor Babur Babur ( fa, , lit= tiger, translit= Bābur; ; 14 February 148326 December 1530), born Mīrzā Zahīr ...
'', an Indian film about the emperor directed by
Wajahat Mirza Wajahat Hussain Mirza Changezi ( hi, वजाहत मिर्ज़ा; 20 April 1908 – 4 August 1990) was an Indian screenwriter and film director who penned the dialogues of some of the most successful films in India during the 1950s an ...
was released in 1944. The 1960 Indian biographical film ''Babar'' by
Hemen Gupta Hemen Gupta was an Indian film director, producer and screenwriter in Hindi language films and Bengali language films. Early life Hemen Gupta was born on 21 March 1914, in Rajmahal, Jharhand, India. His father, Purnanand Gupta, worked in the ...
covered the emperor's life with
Gajanan Jagirdar Gajanan Jagirdar (2 April 1907 – 13 August 1988) was a veteran Indian film director, screenwriter and actor. He worked in Hindi Cinema, also called Bollywood, as well as Marathi cinema. The period of 1942 to 1947, saw his rise as a film direct ...
in the lead role. One of the enduring features of Babur's life was that he left behind the lively and well-written autobiography known as ''Baburnama''. Quoting Henry Beveridge,
Stanley Lane-Poole Stanley Edward Lane-Poole (18 December 1854 – 29 December 1931) was a British orientalist and archaeologist. Poole was from a famous orientalist family as his paternal grandmother Sophia Lane Poole, uncle Reginald Stuart Poole and great-uncle ...
writes: In his own words, "The cream of my testimony is this, do nothing against your brothers even though they may deserve it." Also, "The new year, the spring, the wine and the beloved are joyful. Babur make merry, for the world will not be there for you a second time."


Babri Masjid

The
Babri Masjid Babri Masjid (IAST: Bābarī Masjid; meaning ''Mosque of Babur'') was a mosque in Ayodhya, India, at a site believed by many Hindus to be the birthplace of Hindu deity Rama. It has been a focus of dispute between the Hindu and Muslim communi ...
("Babur's Mosque") in
Ayodhya Ayodhya (; ) is a city situated on the banks of holy river Saryu in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Ayodhya, also known as Saketa, is an ancient city of India, the birthplace of Rama and setting of the great epic Ramayana. Ayodhya wa ...
is said to have been constructed on the orders of
Mir Baqi Baqi Tashqandi, also known as Mir Baqi, was a Mughal commander (''beg'') originally from Tashkent (in modern Uzbekistan) during the reign of the first Mughal emperor Babur. He is widely believed to have been made the governor of the province of ...
, one of the commanders of his army. In 2003 the
Allahabad High Court Allahabad High Court, also known as High Court of Judicature at Allahabad is the high court based in Prayagraj that has jurisdiction over the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It was established on 17 March 1866, making it one of the oldest high ...
ordered the
Archaeological Survey of India The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is an Indian government agency that is responsible for archaeological research and the conservation and preservation of cultural historical monuments in the country. It was founded in 1861 by Alexander ...
(ASI) to conduct a more in-depth study and an excavation to ascertain the type of structure beneath the
mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers (sujud) are performed, in ...
. The excavation was conducted from 12 March 2003 to 7 August 2003, resulting in 1360 discoveries. The summary of the ASI report indicated the presence of a 10th-century temple under the mosque. The ASI team said that, human activity at the site dates back to the 13th century BCE. The next few layers date back to the
Shunga is a type of Japanese erotic art typically executed as a kind of ukiyo-e, often in woodblock print format. While rare, there are also extant erotic painted handscrolls which predate ukiyo-e. Translated literally, the Japanese word ''shunga' ...
period (second-first century BCE) and the
Kushan The Kushan Empire ( grc, Βασιλεία Κοσσανῶν; xbc, Κυϸανο, ; sa, कुषाण वंश; Brahmi: , '; BHS: ; xpr, 𐭊𐭅𐭔𐭍 𐭇𐭔𐭕𐭓, ; zh, 貴霜 ) was a syncretic empire, formed by the Yuezhi, ...
period. During the early
medieval period In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
(11–12th century CE), a huge but short-lived structure of nearly 50 metres north–south orientation was constructed. On the remains of this structure, another massive structure was constructed: this structure had at least three structural phases and three successive floors attached with it. The report concluded that it was over the top of this construction that the disputed structure was constructed during the early 16th century. Archaeologist
KK Muhammed Karingamannu Kuzhiyil Muhammed (born 1 July 1952) is an Indian archaeologist. He was the Regional Director (North) of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). He was honored with India's fourth highest civilian honor Padma Shri in 2019 by Pr ...
, the only
Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...
member in the team of people surveying the excavation, also confirmed individually that there existed a
temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temple ...
like structure before the Babri Masjid was constructed over it. The
Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
judgement Judgement (or US spelling judgment) is also known as ''adjudication'', which means the evaluation of evidence to make a decision. Judgement is also the ability to make considered decisions. The term has at least five distinct uses. Aristotle s ...
of 2019 granted the entire disputed land to the Hindus for construction of a temple, stating that hindus continues to worship at the site and continued to hold the land outside the yard. It also held that there is nothing to prove that the structure, which was present before the construction of the mosque, was demolished for the purpose of building mosque or was already in ruins.


Citations


References

* * * * *


Books

* * Thackston Jr., W.M., ''The Baburnama,'' (New York) 2010. * * Gascoigne, Bamber ''The Great Moghuls'' (London) 1971. (''Last revised 1987'') * Gommans, Jos ''Mughal Warfare'' (London) 2002 * Gordon, Stewart. ''When Asia was the World: Traveling Merchants, Scholars, Warriors, and Monks who created the "Riches of the East"'' Da Capo Press, Perseus Books, 2008. . * * Irvine, William ''The Army of the Indian Moghuls''. (London) 1902. (''Last revised 1985'') * Jackson, Peter ''The Delhi Sultanate. A Political and Military History'' (Cambridge) 1999 * Richards, John F. ''The Mughal Empire'' (Cambridge) 1993 * *


External links

* * * {{Authority control 1483 births 1530 deaths People from Andijan 1530 in India Timurid dynasty Indian people of Turkic descent 16th-century Indian monarchs 15th-century Indian monarchs Turkic rulers Indian Sunni Muslims Muslim monarchs Mughal emperors 16th-century Indian Muslims Turkic culture Founding monarchs 15th-century Turkic people 16th-century Turkic people