Zahir-ud-din Muhammad Babur (1483 – 1530) is famous as the founder of the mighty Mughal empire, which controlled the destiny of India for more than three centuries. A military adventurer with vision and audacity, he clawed his way up from the position of king of a remote and small kingdom to that of the monarch of a mighty realm very far from his homeland. He was no mere soldier, but a man of imagination, a scholar, and a writer of no mean merit. His autobiography, Baburnama, is considered a literary classic.
Babur was a descendent of two legendary conquerors – Timur-i-lang and Genghis Khan. His father, Omar Shaik, was the king of Farghana (in modern Turkey), a little mountain kingdom. He believed that he had a claim on Samarkhand, the famous city which had once been ruled by Timur. He passed on to Babur his dream of winning the lost city.
Babur was only twelve when he lost his father and was crowned the king. He had a difficult time, with many
enemies waiting to snatch the kingdom from him. However, he managed to foil their attempts. Having strengthened his position, he thought of expanding his kingdom by annexing Samarkhand.
In 1497, Babur attacked and conquered Samarkhand, realising his childhood dream. However, his victory was shortlived. During his absence, Farghana was seized by some of his own nobles in a rebellion. As he went to recover it, his troops deserted him, and he ended up losing both Samarkhand and Farghana.
Eventually, he managed to recover both the kingdoms. But once again, misfortune was around the corner. In 1501, his enemy, the Uzbek ruler Shaibani Khan, defeated him and drove him out of Samarkhand. For the next three years, he was a homeless wanderer.
At last, in 1504, Babur gathered some troops, and besieged and captured the strong city of Kabul. He thus gained a new and wealthy kingdom, and re-established his fortunes. Over the next few years, he made some
attempts to recover his lost kingdoms, but failed.
Finally, he gave up all hopes of recovering Samarkhand.He then turned his attention to the prosperous land of India, which was then ruled by the formidable Sultan Ibrahim Lodi. His chance came when some of Ibrahim Lodi’s kinsmen requested his help to overthrow the Sultan. He mobilised his forces and arrived in India with his eldest son, Humayun.
Babur conquered the Punjab without much difficulty. He then marched upon Delhi. The two armies met on the plains of Panipat. Here, on April 20, 1526 was fought the decisive battle that has gone down in history as the First Battle of Panipat. In theory, the two armies appeared ill-matched, as Lodi’s army was considerably larger. However, Babur was an able commander ; moreover, he possessed firearms that the
Indians were unfamiliar with. Twenty thousand men of Ibrahim Lodi’s army, including Lodi himself, were slain. It was a great victory for Babur, and he was now the unchallenged monarch of Delhi. On April 27, 1526, he was anointed the Padishah of Kabul and Delhi.
But Babur’s troubles were not yet over; he had one more formidable enemy left in the valiant Rana Sanga of Mewar. In 1527, the forces of Babur met those of Rana Sanga in the battlefield of Khanwa near Agra. Although Rana Sanga initially had the upper hand, the tide turned in Babur’s favour when the Rana’s commander treacherously entered into a deal with him. The Rana’s army was defeated, and Babur was now the master of northern India.
However, Babur did not have much time to enjoy the fruits of his victory or to set the affairs of state in order. He died in 1530, at the relatively young age of 47.
There is no doubt that Babur was a worthy ruler who laid the foundations of the Mughal empire in India. Though not as great as his grandson Akbar who consolidated the empire, he definitely qualifies as one of the greatest Mughal emperors, whose magnetic leadership spurred his succeeding generations on to greater heights.
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