Babur

Title & tenure

1st Mughal Emperor (1526–1530)

In office: 1526 – 1530

Predecessor:

Ibrahim Lodi (Delhi Sultanate)

Successor:

Humayun

Biography

Zahir-ud-din Muhammad Babur was a Timurid prince from Fergana (in present-day Uzbekistan), a direct descendant of both Timur and Genghis Khan, who was repeatedly driven from his inherited throne of Samarkand by rival Uzbek warlords before carving out a new kingdom for himself in Kabul.

Achievements

• Founded the Mughal Empire in South Asia, ending the Delhi Sultanate
• Introduced gunpowder artillery and matchlock muskets to Indian warfare, giving his small army a decisive technological edge
• Wrote the Baburnama, one of the first autobiographies in Islamic literature, in Chagatai Turkic

Key events

• First Battle of Panipat (1526): defeated the much larger army of Ibrahim Lodi, Sultan of Delhi, using artillery and the Ottoman-style tactic of carts chained together as a defensive wall
• Battle of Khanwa (1527): defeated a powerful Rajput confederacy led by Rana Sanga, securing Mughal control of northern India

Legacy

Babur is remembered as the founder of the Mughal Empire, which would go on to rule most of the Indian subcontinent for over three centuries and leave behind some of its most celebrated architecture, art and administrative institutions.

How it ended

Died of natural causes in Agra in 1530, only four years after founding the empire, and was buried, per his wishes, in Kabul; succeeded by his son Humayun.