Revision as of 17:22, 7 June 2006 view sourceTajik (talk | contribs)11,859 edits wrong info removed; Babur was NOT Berlas on his mother's side, but through his father, because Timur was a Berlas Mongol: see Encyclopaedia Britannica!← Previous edit | Latest revision as of 05:54, 7 January 2025 view source RevolutionaryPatriot (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users3,360 edits fixed link | ||
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{{Short description|Mughal emperor from 1526 to 1530}} | |||
:''This article is about the founder of the Mughal Empire. For the Pakistani cruise missile, see ]'' | |||
{{About|the first Mughal Emperor|the male given name|Babar|the amphipod crustacean|Babr|other uses|Babur (disambiguation)}} | |||
{{pp-semi-indef|small=yes}} | |||
{{Use Indian English|date= July 2016}} | |||
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}} | |||
{{Infobox royalty | |||
| image = Babur of India.jpg | |||
| alt = Babur | |||
| name = Babur | |||
| title = ]<ref>{{cite book |last=Dale |first=Stephen F. |title=Babur |year=2018 |page=154}}</ref> | |||
| caption = Idealized portrait of Babur, early 17th century | |||
| succession = ] (]) | |||
| reign = {{nowrap|21 April 1526 – 26 December 1530}} | |||
| predecessor = ] (as ]) | |||
| successor = ] | |||
| succession1 = ] | |||
| reign1 = October 1504<ref name="u914">{{cite web | last=Avali | first=Raghu | title=The Conquest of Kabul (1504) | website= Indian History for Everyone | date=2023-12-17 | url=https://www.indianhistoryforeveryone.org/blog-1-1/the-conquest-of-kabul-1504 | access-date=2024-07-12}}</ref> – 21 April 1526 | |||
| predecessor1 = Mukin Begh | |||
| successor1 = ''Himself as the ]'' | |||
| succession2 = ] | |||
| reign2 = 10 June 1494 – February 1497 | |||
| successor2 = ] | |||
| predecessor2 = ] | |||
| succession3 = ] | |||
| reign3 = November 1496 – February 1497 | |||
| predecessor3 = ] | |||
| successor3 = ] | |||
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1483|2|14|df=y}} | |||
| birth_place = ], ] | |||
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1530|12|26|1483|2|14}} | |||
| death_place = ], ] | |||
| burial_place = ], ], Afghanistan | |||
| spouse = {{Marriage|]|1506}} | |||
| spouse-type = Consort | |||
| spouses = {{plainlist| | |||
* {{Marriage|]|August 1499|1503|end=divorced}} | |||
* {{Marriage|]|1504|1506-07|end=died}} | |||
* {{Marriage|]|1507|1509|end=died}} | |||
* {{Marriage|]|30 January 1519}} | |||
}} | |||
| spouses-type = Wives <br /> '']'' | |||
| issue = {{plainlist| | |||
*] | |||
*] | |||
*] | |||
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*] | |||
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*]}} | |||
| issue-link = #Issue | |||
| issue-pipe = more... | |||
| full name = Zahīr ud-Dīn Muhammad Bābur | |||
| posthumous name = Firdaws Makani (Dwelling in Paradise) | |||
| house = ] | |||
| dynasty = ] | |||
| father = ] | |||
| mother = ] | |||
| signature = Detail of Babur's dynastic seal, from a Mughal land grant dating from August 1527.jpg | |||
| signature_type = Seal | |||
| religion = ]<ref>{{cite book |last=Christine |first=Isom-Verhaaren |title=Allies with the Infidel |year=2013 |publisher=I.B. Tauris |page=58}}</ref> | |||
}} | |||
{{Campaignbox Babur}} | |||
'''Babur''' ({{IPA|fa|βɑː.βuɾ|lang}}; 14 February 1483{{spaced ndash}}26 December 1530; born '''Zahīr ud-Dīn Muhammad''') was the founder of the ] in the ]. He was a descendant of ] and ] through his father and mother respectively.<ref>{{cite book |last=Baumer |first=Christoph |author-link=Christoph Baumer |title=The History of Central Asia: The Age of Islam and the Mongols |year=2018 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |page=47}}</ref><ref name="Ẓahīr-al-Dīn Moḥammad Bābor">{{iranica|babor-zahir-al-din|Ẓahīr-al-Dīn Moḥammad Bābor|quote=Bābor, Ẓahīr-al-Dīn Moḥammad son of Umar Sheikh Mirza, (6 Moḥarram 886-6 Jomādā I 937/14 February 1483 – 26 December 1530), ] 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 ] 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 ] results.}}</ref><ref name="Robert L. Canfield 1991 p.20">{{cite book |last=Canfield |first=Robert L. |title=Turko-Persia in historical perspective |year=1991 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=20 |quote=The Mughals-Persianized Turks who invaded from Central Asia and claimed descent from both Timur and Genghis – strengthened the Persianate culture of Muslim India.}}</ref> He was also given the ] of ''Firdaws Makani'' ('Dwelling in Paradise').<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jahangir |first=Emperor Of Hindustan |title=The Jahangirnama : memoirs of Jahangir, Emperor of India |publisher=Washington, D.C. : Freer Gallery of Art, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution ; New York : Oxford University Press |year=1999 |isbn=9780195127188 |pages=6 |translator-last=Thackston |translator-first=W. M.}}</ref> | |||
{| cellpadding=3px cellspacing=0px class="toccolours" style="float:right; border:1px #CCCCCC solid; margin:5px" | |||
|+ <big>'''Babur'''</big> | |||
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|align=left style="border-top:1px #CCCCCC solid"|'''Birth name:'''||style="border-top:1px #CCCCCC solid"|Zahir-ud-din Mohammad Babur | |||
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|align=left style="border-top:1px #CCCCCC solid"|'''Title:'''||style="border-top:1px #CCCCCC solid"|] of ]<br /> | |||
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|align=left style="border-top:1px #CCCCCC solid"|'''Death:'''||style="border-top:1px #CCCCCC solid"|], ] | |||
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|align=left style="border-top:1px #CCCCCC solid"|'''Succeeded by:'''||style="border-top:1px #CCCCCC solid"|] | |||
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|align=left style="border-top:1px #CCCCCC solid"|'''Marriage:'''||style="border-top:1px #CCCCCC solid"| | |||
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|align=left style="border-top:1px #CCCCCC solid"|'''Children:'''||style="border-top:1px #CCCCCC solid"| | |||
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Born in ] in the ] (now in ]), Babur was the eldest son of ] (1456–1494, governor of ] from 1469 to 1494) and a great-great-great-grandson of Timur (1336–1405). Babur ascended the throne of Fergana in its capital ] in 1494 at the age of twelve and faced rebellion. He conquered ] 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 the ] prince ] defeated him and founded the ]. | |||
'''Zahiruddin Babur''', or ''Zahir-ud-din Mohammad Babur'' (], ] – ], ]) (]: ظﮩیرالدین محمد بابر, also spelled ''Zahiriddin, Muhammad, Bobur, Baber, Babar, etc.'') was a ] Emperor from ] who founded the ] dynasty of ]. He was a direct descendant of ], and believed himself to be a descendant also of ] through his mother. Following a series of set-backs he succeeded in laying the basis for one of the most important empires in Indian history, the ]. | |||
In 1504, he conquered ], which was under the putative rule of Abdur Razaq Mirza, the infant heir of ]. Babur formed a partnership with the ] ] and reconquered parts of ], including Samarkand, only to again lose it and the other newly conquered lands to the ]. | |||
==Background== | |||
After losing Samarkand for the third time, Babur turned his attention to India and employed aid from the neighbouring Safavid and ] empires.<ref name="Gilbert2017">{{citation|last=Gilbert|first=Marc Jason|title=South Asia in World History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1dhKDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA75|year=2017|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-066137-3|pages=75–|access-date=11 June 2021|archive-date=22 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230922031915/https://books.google.com/books?id=1dhKDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA75|url-status=live}} 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."</ref> He defeated ], the ], at the ] in 1526 and founded the Mughal Empire. Before the defeat of Lodi at Delhi, the Sultanate of Delhi had been a spent force, long in a state of decline. | |||
He was born on ], ] in the town of ], in the ] which is in modern ]. He was the eldest son of Omar Sheikh Mirza (also spelled as Umar Shaykh Mirza or Umar Shaikh Mirza), ruler of the Fergana Valley - who he described as "short and stout, round-bearded and fleshy faced", and his wife ]. Although Babur hailed from the ] tribe which was of Mongol origin, his tribe had embraced ] and ] culture<ref>F. Lehmann, "Zaher ud-Din Babor - Founder of Mughal empire", ], p. 320(-323): ''"... His origin, milieu, training, and culture were steeped in Persian culture and so Babor was largely responsible for the fostering of this culture by his descendants, the Mughals of India, and for the expansion of Persian cultural infleunce in the Indian subcontinent, with brilliant literary, artistic, and historiographical results ..."'', Online Edition, ()</ref><ref>The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, "Timurids", Online Edition 2005, ()</ref> (see ], ]), converted to ] and resided in a region known as ]. His mother tongue was ] and he was equally at home in Persian, the two ''linguae francae'' of the Timurid elite<ref>], "Iran; History of Iran; Timurids and Turkmen", Online Edition 2005/6, ()</ref>; he wrote his famous memoirs, the '']'', in the former language, that of his birthplace. | |||
The rival adjacent ] under the rule of ] had become the most powerful native power in ].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bhatnagar |first=V. S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=plFuAAAAMAAJ |title=Life and Times of Sawai Jai Singh, 1688–1743 |year=1974 |publisher=Impex India |language=en |page=6 |quote=From 1326, Mewar's grand recovery commenced under Lakha, and later under Kumbha and most notably under Sanga, till it became one of the greatest powers in northern India during the first quarter of sixteenth century.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Sarda |first=Har Bilas |url=http://archive.org/details/maharanasangahin00sardrich |title=Maharana Sanga; the Hindupat, the last great leader of the Rajput race |date= 1918|publisher=Ajmer, Scottish Mission Industries |others=University of California Libraries |pages=01–03 |quote=Babur, the founder of the Turk power in India, says in his Memoirs that Rana Sanga was the most powerful sovereign in Hindustan when he invaded it, and that he attained his present high eminence by his own valour and sword. Eighty thousand horse, 7 Rajas of the highest rank, 9 Raos and 104 chieftains bearing the titles of Rawal and Rawat, with 500 war elephants, followed him into the field. The princes of Marwar and Amber (Jodhpur and Jaipur) did him homage, and the Raos of Gwalior, Ajmer, Sikri, Raisen, Kalpi, Chanderi, Boondi, Gagroon, Rampura and Abu served him as tributaries or held of him in chief.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Sharma |first=G. N. |url=http://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.10571 |title=Mewar and the mughal emperors |date=1954 |pages=8–45 |quote=Before describing his early power, it is worthwhile to say a word or two concerning the personality and the previous history of the man (Rana Sanga) who was destined to be the acknowledged leader of Hindu India of the first half of the 16th century.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Chandra |first=Satish |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0Rm9MC4DDrcC |title=Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals Part - II |date=2005 |publisher=Har-Anand Publications |isbn=978-81-241-1066-9 |pages=25–40 |language=en}}</ref> Sanga unified several ] clans for the first time after ] and advanced on Babur with a grand coalition of 80,000-100,000 Rajputs, engaging Babur in the ]. Babur arrived at Khanwa with 40,000-50,000 soldiers. Nonetheless, Sanga suffered a major defeat due to Babur's skillful troop positioning and use of ], specifically ]s and small ]s.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dale |first1=Stephen F. |title=Babur |date=3 May 2018 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-108-47007-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tLxsDwAAQBAJ&q=babur |language=en}}</ref> | |||
:''Andijanis are all Turks; everyone in town or bazar knows Turki. The speech of the people resembles the literary language; hence the writings of Mir 'Ali-sher Nawa'i, though he was bred and grew up in Hin (Herat), are one with their dialect. Good looks are common amongst them. The famous musician, Khwaja Yusuf, was an Andijani.''<ref>Wheeler M. Thackston, The Baburnama: Memoirs of Babur, Prince and Emperor- Chapter 1 Description of Fergana</ref> '''Baburnama''' | |||
] | |||
The Battle of Khanwa 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 North India.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Majumdar |first1=R.C. |last2=Raychaudhuri |first2=H.C. |last3=Datta |first3=Kalikinkar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MyIWMwEACAAJ |title=An Advanced History of India |year=1950 |edition=2nd |publisher=Macmillan & Company |page=419 |quote="The battle of khanua was one of the most decisive battles in Indian history certainly more than that of Panipat as Lodhi empire was already crumbling and Mewar had emerged as major power in northern India. Thus, Its at Khanua the fate of India was sealed for next two centuries" |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Chaurasia |first=Radheyshyam |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8XnaL7zPXPUC |title=History of Medieval India: From 1000 A.D. to 1707 A.D. |date=2002 |publisher=Atlantic Publishers & Dist |isbn=978-81-269-0123-4 |page=161 |quote="The battle of Kanwaha was more important in its result even than the first battle of panipat. While the former made Babur ruler of Delhi alone the later made him King of hindustan. As a result of his success, the Mughal empire was established firmly in India. The sovereignty of India now passed from Rajputs to Mughals" |language=en}}</ref>{{sfn|Wink|2012|p=27|ps=: "The victory of Mughals at khanua can be seen as a landmark event in Mughal conquest of North India as the battle turned out to be more historic and eventful than one fought near Panipat. It made Babur undisputed master of North India while smashing Rajput powers. After the victory at khanua, the centre of Mughal power became Agra instead of Kabul and continue to remain till downfall of the Empire after Aalamgir's death.}} | |||
Hence Babur drew much of his support from the Turkic and to a lesser degree Iranian peoples of Central Asia, his army was diverse in its ethnic makeup, including '']'' or ''Sarts'', as they were called by Babur)<ref>''"Bābornāma"'', translated by Daniel C. Waugh, ], ''Departments Web Server'', 1998, ()</ref>, ], and ] as well as Barlas and Chaghatayid Turco-Mongols from Central Asia <ref>Many of whom later settled in the districts around Delhi and Agra: Maria Eva Subtelny "The Symbiosis of Turk and Tajik" in B.F. Manz (Ed.) ''Central Asia in Historical Perspective'' (Boulder, Colorado & Oxford) 1994 p58 Note 34</ref>. Babur's army also included ] fighters, a militant religious order of ] '']'' from Persia who later became one of the most influential groups in the Mughal court. | |||
Religiously, Babur started his life as a staunch ], but he underwent significant evolution. Babur became more tolerant as he conquered new territories and grew older, allowing other religions to peacefully coexist in his empire and at his court.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hamès |first=Constant |year=1987 |title=Babur Le Livre de Babur |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/assr_0335-5985_1987_num_63_2_2432_t1_0222_0000_2 |journal=] |volume=63 |issue=2 |pages=222–223 |access-date=9 August 2023 |archive-date=10 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810230349/https://www.persee.fr/doc/assr_0335-5985_1987_num_63_2_2432_t1_0222_0000_2 |url-status=live}}</ref> He also displayed a certain attraction to theology, poetry, ], history, and ]—disciplines he promoted at his court—earning him a frequent association with representatives of the ].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Babur |title=Le livre de Babur: le Babur-nama de Zahiruddin Muhammad Babur |last2=Bacqué-Grammont |first2=Jean-Louis |last3=Taha Hussein-Okada |first3=Amina |date=2022 |publisher=les Belles lettres |isbn=978-2-251-45370-5 |series=Série indienne |location=Paris}}</ref> His religious and philosophical stances are characterized as ].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Dale |first=Stephen Frederic |year=1990 |title=Steppe Humanism: The Autobiographical Writings of Zahir al-Din Muhammad Babur, 1483–1530 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0020743800033171/type/journal_article |journal=International Journal of Middle East Studies |language=en |volume=22 |issue=1 |pages=37–58 |doi=10.1017/S0020743800033171 |s2cid=161867251 |issn=0020-7438}}</ref> | |||
Babur is said to have been extremely strong and physically fit. Allegedly, he could carry two men, one on each of his shoulders, and then climb slopes on the run, just for exercise. Legend holds that Babur swam across every major ] in ], again for exercise. | |||
Babur married several times. Notable among his children are ], ], ], ], and the author ]. | |||
The name, 'Babur', is a nickname, derived from the Indo-European word for ]. According to Babur's cousin Mirza Muhammad Haidar "At that time the Chaghatai (''Mongol tribes descended from Genghis Khan's second son, ]'') were very rude and uncultured, and not refined as they are now; thus they found (''his given name'') Zahir-ud-din Muhammad difficult to pronounce, and for this reason gave him the name of (Babur)." <ref>Elias & Denison Ross (Ed. & Trans.) ''Ta'rikh-e Rashidi'' (London) 1898 p173</ref> | |||
Babur died in 1530 in ] and Humayun succeeded him. Babur was first buried in Agra but, as per his wishes, his remains were moved to Kabul and reburied.<ref name="Necipoğlu" /> He ranks as a national hero in ] and ]. Many of his poems have become popular folk songs. He wrote the '']'' in ]; it was translated into Persian during the reign (1556–1605) of his grandson, the emperor ]. | |||
==Military career== | |||
When only eleven years of age, Babur succeeded his father as ruler of Fergana in 1494. His uncles were relentless in their attempts to dislodge him from this position. Babur, thus, spent a major portion of his life shelterless and in exile aided only by friends and peasants. In ], Babur attacked and gained possession of the Uzbek city of ]. While he was winning that city, a rebellion amongst nobles back home robbed him of ]. As he was marching to recover it, his troops deserted him; he lost ] as well as Fergana. Babur did manage to regain both cities within a relatively brief period. In ], however, he was again defeated, this time by his most formidable enemy, ], ] of the ]s; ], his lifelong obsession, was lost again. Escaping with a small band of followers from Fergana, for three years Babur concentrated on building up a strong army, recruiting widely amongst the Tajiks of ] in particular. In ], he was able to cross the snowy ] mountains and capture ]. With this move, he gained a wealthy new kingdom and re-established his fortunes and assumed the title Padshah. In the following year, Babur united with ] of ], a fellow Timurid, against the usurper Muhammad Shaybani. The death of Husayn Bayqarah in ] put paid to that venture, but Babur occupied his ally's city of ] and spent a year there, enjoying the pleasures of that city and becoming further acquainted with the great poet ], who encouraged the use of Chagatai as a literary language, which may have influenced Babur in his decision to use it for his memoirs. | |||
A brewing rebellion finally induced him to return to Kabul from Herat. He prevailed on that occasion, 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, capturing Kabul again and regaining the allegiance of the rebels. Muhammad Shaybani died in ], and Babur used this opportunity to attempt to reconquer his ancestral Timurid territories. He received considerable aid from Shah ], ] ruler of ]. However, the Shah's help was not free. Shah Ismail gave Babur's sister, Khanzada - widow of the now deceased Shaybani, to him for his protection, along with a large wealth of luxury goods. In return for these gifts and military assistance, the Shah's conditions stated that Babur adopt the dress and the outward customs of a ]. The Shah's Persia had become the bastion of Shia Islam, and he claimed descent from ], the seventh ]. Coins were to be struck in Ismail's name, and the ] at the Mosque was also to be read in his name. In effect, Babur was supposed to be holding Samarkand as a vassal territority for the Persian Shah, though in Kabul, coins and the Khutba would remain in Babur's name. | |||
With this assistance, Babur marched on Bukhara, where his army were apparently treated as liberators, Babur having greater legitimacy as a Timurid, unlike the Uzbegs. Towns and villages are said to have emptied in order to greet him, and aid and feed his army. At this point Babur dismissed his Persian aide, believing them no longer required. In October ] Babur made a triumphant re-entry into ], his ten year absence ended. Bazaars were drapped in gold, and again villages and towns emptied to greet the liberator. Dressed as a Shia, Babur stood out starkly amongst the masses of Sunnis who had thronged to greet him. | |||
The original belief was that this show of Shi'ism was a ploy to garner Persian help which would soon be dropped. While it was indeed a ploy, Babur did not think it wise to drop the charade. His cousin, Haidar, wrote that Babur was still too fearful of the Uzbegs to dismiss the Persian aid. Though Babur did not persecute the Sunni community, to please the Persian Shah, he did not drop the show of collaboration with the Shia either, resulting in popular disapproval and the re-conquering of the city by the Uzbegs eight months later. | |||
{{anchor|Etymology|Word}} | |||
==Conquest of north India== | |||
] | |||
Writing in retrospect, Babur suggested his failure in attaining Samarkand was the greatest gift Allah bestowed him. Babur had now resigned all hopes of recovering ], and although he dreaded an invasion from the Uzbeks to his West, his attention increasingly turned towards ] and its lands in the east. | |||
== Name == | |||
Babur claimed to be the true and rightful Monarch of the lands of the ]. Babur believed himself the rightful heir to the throne of Timur, and it was Timur who had originally left ] in charge of his vassal in the Punjab, who became the leader, or Sultan, of the ], founding the Sayyid dynasty. | |||
''Ẓahīr-ud-Dīn'' is Arabic for "Defender of the Faith" (of ]), and '']'' honours the ]. The name was chosen for Babur by the ] saint ], who was the spiritual master of his father.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Noshahi |first=Arif |title=خواجہ احرار |publisher=پورب اکیڈمی |year=2005 |location=Lahore, Pakistan}}</ref> 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,{{sfn|Eraly|2007|pp=18–20}} also variously spelled '''Baber''',{{sfnp|''EB''|1878}} '''Babar''',{{sfnp|''EB''|1911}} and '''Bābor'''.<ref name="Ẓahīr-al-Dīn Moḥammad Bābor" /> The name is generally taken in reference to the ] word ''babur'' ({{Wikt-lang|fa|ببر}}), meaning "tiger" or "panther".<ref name="Dale2004" />{{sfnp|''EB''|1878}}<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Babur |title=Le livre de Babur: le Babur-nama de Zahiruddin Muhammad Babur |last2=Bacqué-Grammont |first2=Jean-Louis |last3=Taha Hussein-Okada |first3=Amina |date=2022 |publisher=les Belles lettres |isbn=978-2-251-45370-5 |series=Série indienne |location=Paris |pages=3}}</ref> The word repeatedly appears in ]'s '']'' and was borrowed into the ] of Central Asia.{{sfnp|''EB''|1911}}<ref>Thumb, Albert, ''Handbuch des Sanskrit, mit Texten und Glossar'', German original, ed. C. Winter, 1953, {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231127152316/https://books.google.com/books?id=_kMeAAAAIAAJ&q=babr%20sanskrit |date=27 November 2023 }}</ref> | |||
The Sayyid dynasty, however, had been ousted by ], a ] ], and Babur wanted it returned to the Timurids. Indeed, while actively building up the troop numbers for an invasion of the ] he sent a request to Ibrahim; "I sent him a ] and asked for the countries which from old had depended on the Turk", the 'countries' referred to were the lands of the ]. | |||
== Background == | |||
Following the unsurprising reluctance of Ibrahim to accept the terms of this "offer", and though in no hurry to launch an actual invasion, Babur made several preliminary incursions and also seized ] - an essental strategic city if he was to fight off attacks on Kabul from the West while he was occupied in India. The siege of Kandahar, however, lasted far longer than anticipated, and it was only almost three years later that Kandahar, and its Citadel (backed by enormous natural features) were taken, and that minor assaults in India recommenced. However, during this series of skirmishes and battles an opportunity for a more extended expedition presented itself. It was an attack on the ] stronghold of Pharwala in ] that led to the beginning of the end for Ibrahim Lodhi. | |||
] | |||
] | |||
Babur's memoirs form the main source for details of his life. They are known as the '']'' and were written in ], his ],<ref name="Babur Nama">{{cite book |title=Babur Nama: Journal of Emperor Babur |year=2006 |publisher=] India |location=Mumbai |isbn=978-0-14-400149-1 |page=xviii |last=Hiro |first=Dilip |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VW2HJL689wgC}}</ref> though, according to Dale, "his Turkic prose is highly Persianized in its sentence structure, morphology or word formation and vocabulary."<ref name="Dale2004">{{cite book |first=Stephen Frederic |last=Dale |title=The garden of the eight paradises: Bābur and the culture of Empire in Central Asia, Afghanistan and India (1483–1530) |publisher=Brill |year=2004 |pages=15, 150 |isbn=90-04-13707-6}}</ref> ''Baburnama'' was translated into Persian during the rule of Babur's grandson Akbar.<ref name="Babur Nama" /> | |||
Babur was born on 14 February 1483 in the city of ], ], contemporary Uzbekistan. He was the eldest son of ],<ref>{{cite web |quote=On the occasion of the birth of Babar Padishah (the son of Omar Shaikh) |url=http://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/texts/rash1.html |title=Mirza Muhammad Haidar |work=Silk Road Seattle |publisher=] |access-date=7 November 2006 |archive-date=16 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150416044122/http://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/texts/rash1.html |url-status=live }}</ref> ruler of the Fergana Valley, the son of ] (and grandson of ], who was himself son of ]) and his wife ], daughter of ], the ruler of ] (a descendant of ]).<ref>{{cite book|author1=Babur|title=Babur Nama|publisher=Penguin Books|isbn=978-0-14-400149-1|page=vii|year=2006}}</ref> | |||
Somewhere between 1508 and 1519 the memoirs of Babur are missing, and during these years Shah ] suffered a reasonably large defeat when his large cavalry-based army was obliterated at the ] by the ]'s new weapon, the gun. Both Shah Ismail and Babur, it appears, were swift in acquiring this new technology for themselves. Somewhere during these years Babur introduced guns, which at this date were ]s, into his army, and allowed an ], Ustad Ali, to train his troops, who were then known as Matchlockmen, in their use. Babur's memoirs give accounts of battles where the opposition forces mocked his troops, never having seen a gun before, because of the noise they made and the way there were no arrows, spears, etc that appeared to come from the weapon when fired. | |||
Babur hailed from the ] tribe, which was of ] origin and had embraced the ]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Babur |title=Bābur (Mughal emperor) |website=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=29 August 2016 |archive-date=5 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230305124145/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Babur |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Iranica" /> They had also converted to Islam centuries earlier and resided in ] and ]. | |||
These guns allowed small armies to make large gains on enemy territory. Small parties of skirmishers who had been despatched simply to test enemy positions and tactics were making inroads into India. Babur, however, had survived two revolts, one in Kandahar and another in Kabul, and was carefull to pacify the local population after victories, following local traditions and aiding widows and orphans. | |||
Aside from the Chaghatai language, Babur was equally fluent in ], the ] of the Timurid elite.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Iran/The-Timurids-and-Turkmen |title=Iran: The Timurids and Turkmen |website=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=29 August 2016 |archive-date=18 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230618001818/https://www.britannica.com/place/Iran/The-Timurids-and-Turkmen |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
=== The final battle with Ibrahim Lodhi === | |||
Some of Babur's relatives, such as his uncles ] and Ahmad Khan, continued to identify as Mongols, and allowed him to use their Mongol troops to help recover his fortunes in the turbulent years that followed.<ref>{{cite book |last=Dale |first=Stephen F. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xyluDwAAQBAJ&dq=dughlat+kashgar+mongol&pg=PA33 |page=35 |title=Babur:Timurid Prince and Mughal Emperor, 1483-1530 |year=2018 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9781316996379}}</ref> | |||
However, while the Timurids were united, the Lodhi armies were far from unified. | |||
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 ]s, ], ], ], as well as Barlas and Chaghatayid Turko-Mongols from Central Asia.<ref>{{cite book |title=Central Asia in Historical Perspective |last=Manz |first=Beatrice Forbes |chapter=The Symbiosis of Turk and Tajik |publisher=Boulder, Colorado & Oxford |year=1994 |page=58 |isbn=0-8133-3638-4}}</ref> | |||
] was widely detested, even amongst his nobles, and indeed it was several of his ] nobles who were to invite Babur's intervention. | |||
Babur assembled a 12,000-man army, and advanced into ]. This number actually increased as Babur advanced when members of the local population joined the invading armies. The first major clash between the two sides was fought in late February 1526. Babur's son, ] (then aged 17), led the Timurid army into battle against the first of Ibrahim's advance parties. Humayun's victory was harder fought than the previous skirmishes, but it was still a decisive victory. Over one hundred ] were captured along with around eight ]. However, unlike after previous battles these prisoners were not bonded or freed, rather by way of decree from Humayun, they were shot. In His memoirs Babur recorded the incident as "Ustad Ali-quli and the matchlockmen were ordered to shoot all the prisoners, by way of example, this had been Humayun's first affair, his first experience of battle; it was an excellent omen!". This is, perhaps, the earliest example of ]. | |||
== Ruler of Central Asia == | |||
] advanced against him with 100,000 soldiers and 100 elephants and though Babur's army had grown, it was still less than half the size of his opponents, possibly as few as 25,000 men. This was to be their main engagement, the ], and was fought on ], ]. ] was slain and his army was routed; Babur quickly took possession of both ] and ] - That very day Babur ordered Humayun to ride forward to Agra (Ibrahim's former capital) and secure its national treasures and resources from looting. Here Humayun found the family of the Raja of Gwalior, the Raja himself having died at Panipat, sheltering from the invaders, fearing the dreadful nature of the 'Mongols' from the stories that preceded their arrival. After guaranteeing their safety they gave their new ruler a famous jewel, then the largest known diamond in the world - the ] or 'Mountain of Light'. This was presented in hopes that the family would remain a part of Indian nobility, and wheter it was because of the gift or not, the family did remain a noble family though now serving the Timurids. | |||
=== As ruler of Fergana === | |||
Babur, meanwhile, marched onward to Delhi itself, reaching it three days after the battle. He celebrated his arrival with a festival on the ], and remained there at least until Friday (]), when Muslim congregational prayers were said and he heard the ], (sermon), read in his name in the ] of that time, a sign of the assumption of sovereignty. He then marched on to Agra to rejoin Humayun. Upon arrival Babur was presented with the Koh-i-Noor, and Babur reports that "I just gave it back to him", adding, "its value would provide two and a half days' food for the whole world". | |||
In 1494, eleven-year-old Babur became the ruler of Fergana, in present-day Uzbekistan, after Umar Sheikh Mirza died "while ] in an ill-constructed ] that toppled into the ] below the palace".<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Babur, the first Moghul emperor: Wine and tulips in Kabul |url=http://www.economist.com/node/17723207 |magazine=The Economist |date=16 December 2010 |pages=80–82 |access-date=12 June 2015 |archive-date=15 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170115140216/http://www.economist.com/node/17723207 |url-status=live }}</ref> 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.{{sfn|Eraly|2007|pp=18–20}} 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.<ref>{{cite book|title=Domesticity and Power in the Early Mughal World |last=Lal |first=Ruby |isbn=0-521-85022-3 |year=2005 |page=69 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |quote=It was over these possessions, provinces controlled by uncles, or cousins of varying degrees, that Babur fought with close and distant relatives for much of his life.}}</ref> Babur was able to secure his throne mainly because of help from his maternal grandmother, ], although there was also some luck involved.{{sfn|Eraly|2007|pp=18–20}} | |||
Most territories around his kingdom were ruled by his relatives, who were descendants of either Timur or Genghis Khan, and were constantly in conflict.{{sfn|Eraly|2007|pp=18–20}} At that time, rival princes were fighting over the city of Samarkand to the west, which was ruled by his paternal cousin.{{sfn|Eraly|2007|pp=6-7}} Babur had a great ambition to capture the city.{{sfn|Eraly|2007|pp=6-7}} In 1497, he ] for seven months before eventually gaining control over it.<ref name="Afghanistan">{{cite book |last=Ewans |first=Martin |year=2002 |title=Afghanistan: A Short History of Its People and Politics |url=https://archive.org/details/afghanistan00mart |url-access=registration |publisher=HarperCollins |pages=–27 |isbn=0-06-050508-7 |quote=Babur, while still in his teens, conceived the ambition of conquering Samarkand. In 1497, after a seven months' siege, he took the city, but his supporters gradually deserted him and Ferghana was taken from him in his absence. Within a few months he was compelled to retire from Samarkand ... Eventually he retook Samarkand, but was again forced out, this time by an Usbek leader, Shaibani Khan ... Babur decided in 1504 to trek over the Hindu Kush to Kabul, where the current ruler promptly retreated to Kandahar and left him in undisputed control of the city.}}</ref> He was fifteen years old and for him the campaign was a huge achievement.{{sfn|Eraly|2007|pp=18–20}} Babur was able to hold the city despite desertions in his army, but he later fell seriously ill.{{sfn|Eraly|2007|pp=6-7}} Meanwhile, a rebellion back home, approximately {{convert|350|km|mi}} away, amongst nobles who favoured his brother, robbed him of Fergana.<ref name="Afghanistan" /> As he was marching to recover it, he lost Samarkand to a rival prince, leaving him with neither.{{sfn|Eraly|2007|pp=18–20}} 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.{{sfn|Eraly|2007|pp=18–20}} | |||
===Battles with Rajputs=== | |||
]]] | |||
Although master of Delhi and Agra, Babur records in his memoirs that he had sleepless nights because of continuing worries over ], the ] ruler of ]. | |||
The Rajputs had, prior to Babur's intervention, succeeded in conquering some of territory of the Sultanate. They ruled an area directly to the South-West of Babur's new dominions, commonly known as "]". It was not a unified kingdom, but rather a confederacy of ], under the informal ] of Rana Sanga, head of the senior Rajput dynasty. | |||
For three years, Babur concentrated on building a strong army, recruiting widely amongst the Tajiks of ] in particular. In 1500–1501, he again laid ], and indeed he took the city briefly, but he was in turn besieged by his most formidable rival, ], ] of the Uzbeks.<ref name="Afghanistan" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/texts/babur/babur1.html |quote=After being driven out of Samarkand in 1501 by the Uzbek Shaibanids ... |title=The Memoirs of Babur |access-date=8 November 2006 |work=Silk Road Seattle |publisher=] |archive-date=21 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191021154433/https://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/texts/babur/babur1.html |url-status=live }}</ref> 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.<ref name="VDM0">{{cite book|last=Mahajan|first=V.D.|title=History of medieval India|year=2007|publisher=S Chand|location=New Delhi|isbn=978-81-219-0364-6|edition=10th|pages=428–29}}</ref>{{sfn|Eraly|2007|pp=21–23}} He finally went to ], 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!"{{sfn|Eraly|2007|pp=21–23}} 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. | |||
The Rajputs had possibly heard word of the heavy casualties inflicted by Lodhi on Babur's forces, and believed that they could capture Delhi, and possibly all ], bringing it back into Hindu Rajput hands for the first time in almost three hundred and fifty years when ] defeated the Rajput ] King ] in ]. | |||
=== At Kabul === | |||
Furthermore, the Rajputs were well aware that there was dissent within the ranks of Babur's army. The hot Indian summer was upon them, and many troops wanted to return home to the cooler climes of ]. The Rajputs' reputation for ] preceded them, and their superior numbers no doubt further contributed to the desire of Babur's army to retreat. Babur resolved to make this an extended battle, and decided to push further into India, into lands never previously claimed by the Timurids. He needed his troops to take the battle to the Rajputs. | |||
]. Dated 1507/8]] | |||
Kabul was ruled by Babur's paternal uncle ], who died leaving only an infant as heir.{{sfn|Eraly|2007|pp=21–23}} 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 ] mountains and ] from the remaining Arghunids, who were forced to retreat to ].<ref name="Afghanistan" /> With this move, he gained a new kingdom, re-established his fortunes and would remain its ruler until 1526.<ref name="VDM0" /> 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 ].{{sfn|Eraly|2007|pp=21–23}} | |||
] | |||
Despite the unwillingness of his troops to engage in further warfare, Babur was convinced he could overcome the Rajputs and gain complete control over Hindustan. He made great ] of the fact that for the first time he was to battle non-muslims, the '']''. He had his men line up and swear on the ] that none would "think of turning his face from his foe, or withdraw from this deadly encounter so long as life is not rent from his body". He also began to refer to himself as a '']'', or "Holy Warrior", a title used by Timur when he fought in India. | |||
In the same year, Babur united with ] of ], a fellow Timurid and distant relative, against their common enemy, the Uzbek Shaybani.<ref name="perspect">{{cite book |title=Perspectives on Persian Painting: Illustrations to Amir Khusrau's Khamsah |last=Brend |first=Barbara |year=2002 |isbn=0-7007-1467-7 |publisher=Routledge (UK) |page=188 }}</ref> However, this venture did not take place because Husayn Mirza died in 1506 and his two sons were reluctant to go to war.{{sfn|Eraly|2007|pp=21–23}} 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,{{sfn|Eraly|2007|pp=24–26}} he marvelled at the intellectual abundance there, which he stated was "filled with learned and matched men".<ref>{{cite book |title=The Sewing Circles of Herat: A Personal Voyage Through Afghanistan |last=Lamb |first=Christina |page= |isbn=0-06-050527-3 |publisher=HarperCollins |year= 2004 |url=https://archive.org/details/sewingcirclesofh00chri/page/153 }}</ref> He became acquainted with the work of the Chagatai poet ], who encouraged the use of ] as a ]. Nava'i's proficiency with the language, which he is credited with founding,<ref>{{cite book |title=Mehmed the Conqueror and His Time |last=Hickmann |first=William C. |year= 1992 |isbn=0-691-01078-1 |page=473 |publisher=Princeton University Press |quote=Eastern Turk Mir Ali Shir Neva'i (1441–1501), founder of the Chagatai literary language}}</ref> 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;<ref name="perspect" /> it later was overrun by Shaybani and the Mirzas fled.{{sfn|Eraly|2007|pp=24–26}} | |||
The two armies fought each other forty miles west of Agra at Khanwa. In a possibly apocryphal tale referred to in Tod's ''Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan'', Babur is supposed to have sent about 1,500 choice cavalry as an advance guard to attack Sanga. These were heavily defeated by Sanga's Rajputs. Babur then wanted to discuss peace terms. Sanga sent his general ] (Shiladitya) to the parley. Babur is said to have won over this general by promising him an independent kingdom. Silhadi came back and reported that Babur did not want peace and preferred to fight. The ] began on ], ] and, as Tod puts it, "While the issue was still doubtful" Silhadi and his army left the field. Whatever the truth of this tale, it seems plausible that a treacherous ] who led the vanguard of Sanga's army at Khanwa went over to Babur, causing Sanga to retreat and costing him a likely victory. Within a year he was dead, probably poisoned by one of his own ministers, and a major rival to Babur had been removed <ref>James Tod ''Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan'' (3rd Ed., Oxford) 1920, Vol.I pp355-7</ref>. In return for the payment of regular tribute Babur allowed the Rajput princes to remain in control over their principalities, and maintain their customs and traditions. | |||
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.{{sfn|Eraly|2007|pp=24–26}} He thus assumed the title of '']'' (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.{{sfn|Eraly|2007|pp=24–26}} 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 ], Shah of ] Safavid Persia, in 1510.<ref>{{cite book |title=Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of World Religions |last=Doniger |first=Wendy |isbn=0-87779-044-2 |date= 1999 |page= |publisher=Merriam-Webster |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780877790440/page/539 }}</ref> | |||
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.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Islamic World in Ascendancy: From the Arab Conquests to the Siege in Vienna |last=Sicker |first=Martin |isbn=0-275-96892-8 |year= 2000 |page=189 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |quote=Ismail was quite prepared to lend his support to the displaced Timurid prince, Zahir ad-Din Babur, who offered to accept Safavid suzerainty in return for help in regaining control of Transoxiana.}}</ref> 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.<ref name="VDM0" />{{sfn|Eraly|2007|pp=24–26}} Shah Ismail reunited Babur with his sister ], who had been imprisoned by and forced to marry the recently deceased Shaybani.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Erdogan |first=Eralp |date=July 2014 |title=Babür İmparatorluğu'nun Kuruluş Safhasında Şah İsmail ile Babür İttifakı |url=http://www.historystudies.net/dergi/tar20151234f99.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.historystudies.net/dergi/tar20151234f99.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |journal= History Studies: International Journal of History|volume=6 |issue=4 |pages=31–39 |doi=10.9737/historyS1150 |doi-broken-date=21 November 2024 |language=tr}}</ref> 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.{{sfn|Eraly|2007|pp=24–26}} Babur began to modernise and train his army despite it being, for him, relatively peaceful times.{{sfn|Eraly|2007|pp=27–29}} | |||
===Consolidation=== | |||
== Foreign relations == | |||
Babur was now the undisputed ruler of Hindustan (a term which at that time referred to North-Western India and the Gangetic Plain), and he began a period of further expansion. Each of the nobles or '']'' he appointed was granted leave to set up his own army, or militia, and, to facilitate Babur's expansionist aims, many were granted lands yet to be conquered as ], freeing Babur from many of the problems involved in raising troops. Meanwhile he granted his own sons the provinces furthest away from his new centre of operations: Kamran was given control over Kandahar, Askari was to control ] and Humayun was to govern ], perhaps the most remote province of Babur's expanding empire. | |||
]]] | |||
Determined to conquer the Uzbeks and recapture his ancestral homeland, Babur was wary of their allies the ], and made no attempt to establish formal diplomatic relations with them. He did, however, employ the ] commander ] and several other Ottomans.<ref name=Farooqi2008>{{cite book |last=Farooqi |first=Naimur Rahman |year=2008 |title=Mughal-Ottoman relations: a study of political & diplomatic relations between Mughal India and the Ottoman Empire, 1556–1748 |pages=13–14 |oclc=20894584}}</ref> From them, he adopted the tactic of using matchlocks and cannons in the field (rather than only in ]s), which gave him an important advantage in India.{{sfn|Eraly|2007|pp=27–29}} | |||
Babur also continuously used new technology to improve his army, with the help of Ustad Ali. Aside from the guns Babur and Ali tested new types of ]ry, such as ]s, which Babur recalls was capable of firing a large rock almost a mile (although, he records, its initial test did leave eight innocent bystanders dead). Alongside this, they developed ] which exploded on impact. The army's organisation was also maintained with great discipline, and according to Babur it received regular inspections. | |||
== Formation of the Mughal Empire == | |||
=== Beautifying India === | |||
{{Main|Lodi dynasty|Delhi Sultanate|Siege of Kabul (1504)}} | |||
], pre-1992. The Mosque is believed to have been commissioned by Babur]] | |||
]'s standard, ], ] 936|170x170px]] | |||
Babur travelled the country, taking in much of the land and its scenery, and began building a series of structures which mixed the pre-existing Hindu intricacies of carved detail with the traditional grand Muslim designs used by Persians and Turks. He described with awe the buildings in Chanderi, a village carved from rock, and the palace of ] in ] describing them as "wonderful buildings, entirely hewn from stone". He, was, however, digusted by the ] "idols" carved into the rock face below the fortress at Gwalior. "These idols are shown quite naked without even covering for the privities... I ordered them to be destroyed". Fortunately, the statues were not destroyed entirely, rather the faces and genitalia of the offending pieces were removed. (Modern sculptors have restored the faces). | |||
Babur still wanted to escape from the Uzbeks, and he chose India as a refuge instead of ], 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."{{sfn|Eraly|2007|pp=27–29}} After his third loss of Samarkand, Babur gave full attention to the conquest of North India, launching a campaign; he reached the ], now in ], in 1519.<ref name="VDM0" /> Until 1524, his aim was to only expand his rule to ], mainly to fulfill the legacy of his ancestor Timur, since it used to be part of his empire.{{sfn|Eraly|2007|pp=27–29}} 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.<ref name="RSCHMI">{{cite book |last=Chaurasia |first=Radhey Shyam |title=History of medieval India : from 1000 A.D. to 1707 A.D. |year=2002 |publisher=Atlantic Publ. |location=New Delhi |isbn=81-269-0123-3 |pages=89–90 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8XnaL7zPXPUC&q=babur%20receiving%20invitations%20from%20Daulat%20Khan%20Lodi&pg=PA89}}</ref> He sent an ambassador to Ibrahim, claiming himself the rightful heir to the throne, but the ambassador was detained at ], Punjab, and released months later.<ref name="VDM0" /> | |||
To remind himself of the lands he had left behind Babur began a process of creating exquisite gardens in every palace and province, where he would often sit shaded from the fierce Indian sun. He tried as far as was possible to recreate the gardens of Kabul, which he believed were the most beautiful in the world, and in one of which he would eventually be buried. "In that charmless and disorderly Hindustan plots of garden were laid out with order and symmetry". Almost thirty pages of Babur's memoirs are taken up describing the ] of his Hindustan. | |||
] | |||
===Lavish lifestyle and final major battle=== | |||
Babur started for Lahore in 1524 but found that Daulat Khan Lodi had been driven out by forces sent by Ibrahim Lodi.<ref>{{cite book |last=Chandra |first=Satish |year=2009 |title=Medieval India:From Sultanat to the Mughals |volume=2 |location=New Delhi |publisher=Har-Anand |page=27 |isbn=978-81-241-1268-7}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{harvtxt|Chandra|2009|pp=27–28}}</ref> 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.<ref name="autogenerated1">{{harvtxt|Chandra|2009|p=28}}</ref> The sultan easily defeated and drove off Alam's army, and Babur realised that he would not allow him to occupy the Punjab.<ref name="autogenerated1" /> | |||
=== First Battle of Panipat === | |||
Late in ] Babur celebrated a great festival, or ''tamasha''. All nobles from the different regions of his Empire were gathered, along with any noble who claimed descent from ] or ]. This was a celebration of his Khanal, ] lineage, and when guests were sat in a semi-circle the furthest from Babur (Who was, naturally, at the centre) was seated over 100 metres from him. The huge banquet involved giving presents and watching animal fights, wrestling, dancing and acrobatics. Guests presented Babur with tribute of gold and silver, and were in turn presented with Sword-Belts and cloaks of honour ('']s''). The guests even included ]s, (who under ] had ousted the Timurids from Central Asia and were now the occupiers of ]), and a group of peasants from ] who were now being rewarded for befriending and aiding Babur before he was a leader. | |||
{{Main|First Battle of Panipat}} | |||
]]] | |||
In November 1525 Babur got news at ] 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.<ref name="VDM0" /> Daulat surrendered and was pardoned. Thus within three weeks of crossing the ] Babur had become the master of Punjab.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Babur | title=Bābur, Mughal emperor |access-date=2023-11-19 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230220132730/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Babur | archive-date=2023-02-20 | url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
After the Festival, many of the other gifts given to Babur were sent to Kabul, "to adorn the ladies" of his family. Babur was far too generous concerning wealth, and by the time of his death the Empire's coffers were almost empty; troops were even ordered to return a third of their income back to the treasury. Baburs extravagance did not go unnoticed. He was a heavy drinker and took ], perhaps as a means of alleviating the various illnesses he suffered from; he was known to cough up blood, he had numerous boils on his person, suffered from ] and also bled fluid from his ears. These substances were supposeldy strictly forbidden by the orthodox doctrines of Islam, although in the ''Babur-nama'' Babur does write without censure of relatives in ] who indulged in strong liquor. Nevertheless, Babur, who had fought as a warrior for Islam was now indulging in the forbidden ('']''). | |||
Babur marched on to Delhi via ]. He reached ] on 20 April 1526 and there met Ibrahim Lodi's numerically superior army of about 100,000 soldiers and 100 elephants.<ref name="VDM0" /><ref name="RSCHMI" /> 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.<ref name="RSCHMI" /> Ibrahim Lodi died during the battle, thus ending the Lodi dynasty.<ref name="VDM0" /> | |||
On ], ], Babur defeated Mahmud Lodhi, Ibrahim's brother, who led an army of those disaffected with his rule, at the ], thus crushing the last remnant of resistance in ]. | |||
Babur wrote in his memoirs about his victory: | |||
==Last days== | |||
{{Blockquote|By the grace of the Almighty God, this difficult task was made easy to me and that mighty army, in the space of a half a day was laid in dust.<ref name="VDM0" />}} | |||
After Babur fell seriously ill, Humayun was told of a plot by the senior nobles of Babur's court to bypass the leader's sons and appoint ], Babur's sister's husband, as his successor. He rushed to Agra and arrived there to see his father was well enough again, although Mahdi Khwaja had lost all hope of becoming ruler after arrogantly exceeding his authority during Babur's illness. Upon his arrival in Agra it was Humayun himself who fell ill, and was close to dying. | |||
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.<ref name="VDM1">{{harvtxt|Mahajan|2007|p=438}}</ref> | |||
Babur is said to have circled the sick-bed, crying to God to take his life and not his son's. The traditions that follow this tell that Babur soon fell ill with a fever and Humayun began to get better again. This is not accurate, as there are months separating the recovery of Humayun and the death of Babur, and Babur's final illness was a rather sudden affair. His last words apparently being to his Humayun; "Do nothing against your brothers, even though they may deserve it". | |||
Many of Babur's men allegedly wanted to leave India due to its warm climate, but Babur motivated them to stay and expand his empire.{{Citation needed|date=May 2024}} | |||
He died at the age of 48, and was succeeded by his eldest son, ]. Though he wished to be buried in his favourite garden in Kabul, a city he had always loved, he was first buried in a ] in his capital of ]. Roughly nine years later his wishes were fulfilled by ] and Babur was buried in a beautiful garden (''Bagh'') in ], now in ]. The inscription on his tomb reads: "Agar Pardis ru-ye zamin hast, hamin ast, wa hamin ast, wa hamin ast" ("If there is a paradise on earth, it is this, oh it is this, oh it is this" in ]). | |||
=== Battle of Khanwa === | |||
Babur's legacy was a mixed one. The ] ], ], wrote a series of complaints against Babur in the ], claiming Babur "terrified Hindustan" and was a "messenger of death". He also claimed that women with braided hair "were shaved with scissors, and their throats were choked with dust" and that "The order was given to the soldiers, who dishonored them, and carried them away." However, by contemporary standards he was particularly liberal, allowing freedom of religion and not interfering with local customs. <ref>Thackston (Trans. & Ed.) ''The Baburnama'' (New York) 2002</ref><ref> Elias & Denison Ross ''Ta'rikh-e Rashidi''.</ref><ref>Gascoigne, B: ''The Great Moghuls'' (1987 Edition) p24.</ref> Indeed further Sikh texts mention that Babur was blessed by Guru Nanak Dev Ji. His ] of enemies instead of outright destruction may have allowed them to regroup and re-attack, but it was far-sighted and allowed him to rule a large empire without too much social upheaval. He also wrote or dicated his extraordinary memoirs, one of the great monuments of ] literature, and oversaw the beginnings of an artistic and architectural legacy which fused indigenous traditions with those from Iran and Central Asia (such as the domed tomb, the original model for which was the ] in Samarkand). Ultimately this would result in the Mughal empire leaving India with some of the most breathtaking architecture in the world, including ], the ], the ], and many other buildings. | |||
{{Main|Battle of Khanwa}} | |||
] in ] in 1527. He ordered them to be destroyed<ref>"Gwalior Fort: Rock Sculptures", A Cunningham, ''Archaeological Survey of India'', pp. 364–70</ref>]] | |||
The Battle of Khanwa was fought between Babur and the ] ruler of ], ] on 16 March 1527. Rana Sanga wanted to overthrow Babur, whom he considered to be a foreigner ruling in India, and also to extend the Rajput territories by annexing Delhi and ]. 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 ] (currently in the Indian state of ]), 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 ] joined Babur's army with a garrison of 6,000 soldiers.<ref name="Rao">{{cite book |first=K. V. Krishna |last=Rao |title=Prepare Or Perish: A Study of National Security |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G7xPaJomYsEC&pg=PA453 |isbn=978-81-7212-001-6 |publisher=Lancer Publishers |page=453 |year=1991 |access-date=7 October 2020 |archive-date=5 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240205161458/https://books.google.com/books?id=G7xPaJomYsEC&pg=PA453#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
==Notes and citations== | |||
<references/> | |||
Babur recognised Sanga's skill in leadership, calling him one of the two greatest non-Muslim Indian kings of the time, the other being ] of ].{{sfn|Wink|2012|pp=157–58|ps=. "Reflecting on challenges he faced in India in his memoris Babur described Rana Sanga as one of the two greatest infidel king of India along with Deva Raya of South. who had grown so great by his audacity and sword and whose territory was so large that it covered significant portion of North-Western India"}} | |||
==References== | |||
* ] | |||
* ''The Babur-nama. Memoirs of Babur, Prince and Emperor''. Translated, Edited and annotated by Wheeler M. Thackston (New York) 2002 | |||
* Mirza Muhammad Haidar Dughlat ''Ta'rikh-e Rashidi'' Trans. & Ed. Elias & Denison Ross (London) 1898. | |||
* ''Cambridge History of India'', Vol. III & IV, "Turks and Afghan" and "The Mughal Period". (Cambridge) 1928 | |||
* Muzaffar Alam & Sanjay Subrahmanyan (Eds.) ''The Mughal State 1526-1750'' (Delhi) 1998 | |||
* William Irvine ''The army of the Indian Moghuls''. (London) 1902. (''Last revised 1985'') | |||
* Bamber Gasgoigne ''The Great Moghuls'' (London) 1971. (''Last revised 1987'') | |||
* Jos Gommans ''Mughal Warfare'' (London) 2002 | |||
* Peter Jackson ''The Delhi Sultanate. A Political and Military History'' (Cambridge) 1999 | |||
* John F. Richards ''The Mughal Empire'' (Cambridge) 1993 | |||
* James Tod ''Annals & Antiquities of Rajasthan'' (Oxford) 1920 Ed. Wm Crooke (3rd Edition) | |||
=== Battle of Chanderi === | |||
==External links== | |||
The ] 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, ], who was the ruler of Malwa.<ref name="Lane-Poole">{{cite book |last=Lane-Poole |first=Stanley |author-link=Stanley Lane-Poole |year=1899 |title=Babar |url=https://archive.org/details/babar035008mbp |pages=182–83 |publisher=The Clarendon Press}}</ref><ref name="Chandra">{{cite book |last=Chandra |first=Satish |author-link=Satish Chandra (historian) |year=1999 |title=Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals |volume=2 |edition=1st |location=New Delhi |publisher=Har-Anand Publications |page=36 |oclc=36806798}}</ref> | |||
* | |||
* | |||
* | |||
* <!-- Can someone tell me about the Copyright status here?--> | |||
* ]: | |||
* Political Protest by Guru Nanak Dev | |||
* | |||
Upon reaching Chanderi, on 20 January 1528,<ref name="Lane-Poole" /> Babur offered Shamsabad to Medini Rao in exchange for Chanderi as a peace overture, but the offer was rejected.<ref name="Chandra" /> 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.<ref name = "Lane-Poole" /> Seeing no hope of victory, Medini Rai organized a '']'', during which women and children within the fortress ].<ref name="Lane-Poole"/><ref name="Chandra" /> 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.<ref name="Lane-Poole" /> | |||
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{{succession box|title=]|before= None |after=]|years=1526–1530}} | |||
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==Religious policy== | |||
Babur defeated and killed ], the last Sultan of the ], in 1526. Babur ruled for 4 years and was succeeded by his son ] whose reign was temporarily usurped by the ]. During their 30-year rule, religious violence continued in India. Records of the violence and trauma, from Sikh-Muslim perspective, include those recorded in ] literature of the 16th century.<ref name=johnhinnells>{{cite book |last1=Hinnells |first1=John |last2=King |first2=Richard |title=Religion and Violence in South Asia: Theory and Practice |year=2006 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-37291-6 |pages=101–114}}</ref> The violence of Babur in the 1520s was witnessed by ], who commented upon it in four hymns.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}} 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.<ref name=johnhinnells/> According to Babur's autobiography, '']'', 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.<ref>{{cite book |editor-last1=Elliot |editor-first1=H. M. |editor-link1=Henry Miers Elliot |editor-last2=Dowson |editor-first2=John |editor-link2=John Dowson |translator-last1=Leyden |translator-first1=John |translator-link1=John Leyden |translator-last2=Erskine |translator-first2=William |translator-link2=William Erskine (historian) |year=1872 |chapter=Tuzak-i Babari |trans-chapter=The Autobiography of Babur |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924073036745/page/n285/mode/1up |title=The History of India, as Told by Its Own Historians |title-link=The History of India, as Told by Its Own Historians |volume=IV |location=London |publisher=Trübner and Co. |pages=272, 275}}</ref> In Babur's secret will, in the year 935AH, 1529 AD, to Humayun, Babur adivses Humayun to administer justice according to the ways of every religion, avoid sacrifice of the cow, not to ruin the temples and shrines of any law obeying community, overlook the dissensions of the ] and the ].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Prasad |first=Rajendra |title=India Divided |publisher=] |edition=3rd |pages=38-39}}</ref> | |||
== 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 ].{{sfn|Eraly|2007|pp=21–23}} 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 ] in ].<ref>{{cite book |last=Elliot |first=Henry Miers |editor=John Dowson |title=The History of India, as Told by Its Own Historians |chapter=The Muhammadan Period |chapter-url=http://persian.packhum.org/persian//pf?file=80201014&ct=56 |access-date=2 April 2008 |date=1867–1877 |publisher=Trubner |location=London |quote=... and on the same journey, he swam twice across the Ganges, as he said he had done with every other river he had met with. |archive-date=22 June 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080622122152/http://persian.packhum.org/persian/pf?file=80201014&ct=56 |url-status=dead }}</ref> | |||
Babur did not initially know ]; however, his Turkic poetry indicates that he picked up some of its vocabulary later in life.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rahman |first=Tariq |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/731974235 |title=From Hindi to Urdu : a social and political history |year=2011 |location=Karachi |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=73–74 |isbn=978-0-19-906313-0|oclc=731974235 }}</ref> | |||
Unlike his father, he had ] tendencies and did not have any great interest in women. In his first marriage, he was "bashful" towards ], later losing his affection for her.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://persian.packhum.org/persian/main?url=pf%3Ffile%3D03501050%26ct%3D0 |title=Memoirs of Zehīr-ed-Dīn Muhammed Bābur Emperor of Hindustan, Written by himself, in the Chaghatāi Tūrki |others=Translated by John Leyden and William Erskine, Annotated and Revised by Lucas King |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1921 |chapter=The Memoirs of Babur, Volume 1, chpt. 71 |chapter-url=http://persian.packhum.org/persian/main?url=pf%3Ffile%3D03501051%26ct%3D70%26rqs%3D187%26rqs%3D196 |quote=Āisha Sultan Begum, the daughter of Sultan Ahmed Mirza, to whom I had been betrothed in the lifetime of my father and uncle, having arrived in ], I now married her, in the month of Shābān. In the first period of my being a married man, though I had no small affection for her, yet, from modesty and bashfulness, I went to her only once in ten, fifteen, or twenty days. My affection afterwards declined, and my shyness increased; in so much, that my mother the Khanum, used to fall upon me and scold me with great fury, sending me off like a criminal to visit her once in a month or forty days. |access-date=2 April 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081205161213/http://persian.packhum.org/persian/main?url=pf%3Ffile%3D03501050%26ct%3D0 |archive-date=5 December 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Babur showed similar shyness in his interactions with ], a boy in his camp with whom he had an infatuation around this time, recounting that: {{Blockquote|"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?"<ref>{{cite book |last1=Babur |first1=Emperor of Hindustan |last2=Beveridge |first2=Annette Susannah |title=The Babur-nama in English (Memoirs of Babur) |date=1922 |publisher=London, Luzac |page=120 |url=https://archive.org/details/baburnamainengli01babuuoft/page/120/mode/2up}}</ref><ref>{{harvtxt|Babur, Emperor of Hindustan|2002|p=89}}</ref>}} | |||
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, {{circa|1498–99}}. The couple had one daughter, ], 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.<ref name="Babur's wives and children">{{cite book |title=Babur Nama:Journal of Emperor Babur |publisher=Penguin |page=362 |isbn=978-0-14-400149-1 |author=Babur |edition=2006 |editor-last=Hiro |editor-first=Dilip |chapter=Babur's wives and children |year=2006}}</ref>{{sfn|Eraly|2007|pp=27–29}} In 1504, Babur married Zaynab Sultan Begum, who died childless within two years. In the period 1506–08, Babur married four women, ] (in 1506), ], Gulrukh Begum and Dildar Begum.<ref name="Babur's wives and children" /> Babur had four children by Maham Begum, of whom only one survived infancy. This was his eldest son and heir, ]. Masuma Sultan Begum died during childbirth; the year of her death is disputed (either 1508 or 1519). Gulrukh bore Babur two sons, ] and ], and Dildar Begum was the mother of Babur's youngest son, ].<ref name="Babur's wives and children" /> Babur later married ], a ] woman of the ] tribe. Gulnar Aghacha and Nargul Aghacha were two ] given to Babur as gifts by Tahmasp Shah Safavi, the Shah of Persia. They became "recognized ladies of the royal household."<ref name="Babur's wives and children" /> | |||
During his rule in Kabul, when there was a time of relative peace, Babur pursued his interests in literature, art, music and gardening.{{sfn|Eraly|2007|pp=27–29}} 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 ].{{sfn|Eraly|2007|pp=24–26}} 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 ]); I swore the oath and regret that."<ref>Pope, Hugh (2005). ''Sons of the Conquerors'', Overlook Duckworth, pp. 234–35.</ref> | |||
Babur was opposed to the blind obedience towards the ] and customs that were influential in Turco-Mongol society:<blockquote>"Previously our ancestors had shown unusual respect for the Chingizid code ({{lang|mn-Latn|törah}}). They did not violate this code sitting and rising at councils and court, at feasts and dinners. Chingez 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."</blockquote>Making clear that to him, the categorical text (i.e. the ]) had displaced Genghis Khan's '']'' in moral and legal matters.<ref>{{Cite book |last=F. Dale |first=Stephen |title=THE GARDEN OF THE EIGHT PARADISES: Babur and the Culture of Empire in Central Asia, Afghanistan and India (1483-1530) |publisher=Brill |year=2004 |pages=171}}</ref> | |||
== 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.<ref name="Eraly">{{cite book |first=Abraham |last=Eraly |title=Emperors of the Peacock Throne: The Saga of the Great Moghuls |year=1997 |page=29 |publisher=Penguin Books Limited}}</ref> | |||
During his 47-year life, Babur left a rich literary and scientific heritage. He authored his famous memoir the ], as well as beautiful lyrical works or ], treatises on Muslim jurisprudence (Mubayyin), poetics (Aruz risolasi), music, and a special ], known as ''khatt-i Baburi''.<ref>{{cite book |first=Abraham |last=Eraly |title=Emperors of the Peacock Throne: The Saga of the Great Moghuls |year=1997 |page=30 |publisher=Penguin Books Limited}}</ref><ref>Hasanov, S. (1981). Bobirning "Aruz risolasi" asari (in Uzbek). pp. 1-4. Uzbekistan: Fan.</ref><ref>Schimmel, A. (2004). The Empire of the Great Mughals: History, Art and Culture. p. 26. India: Reaktion Books.</ref><ref>Eraly, A. (2000). Last Spring: The Lives and Times of Great Mughals. pp. 30-41. India: Penguin Books Limited.</ref> | |||
Babur's Bāburnāma is a collection of memoirs, written in the ] and later translated into ], the usual literary language of the Mughal court, during the rule of emperor ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.poemhunter.com/abdur-rahim-khankhana/biography/poet-33381/|title=Biography of Abdur Rahim Khankhana|access-date= 2006-10-28|url-status=dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060117163845/http://www.poemhunter.com/abdur-rahim-khankhana/biography/poet-33381/ |archive-date = 2006-01-17}}</ref> However, Babur's Turkic prose in Bāburnāma is already highly ] in its sentence structure, vocabulary, and morphology,<ref>{{cite book |first=Stephen Frederic |last=Dale |title=The garden of the eight paradises: Bābur and the culture of Empire in Central Asia, Afghanistan and India (1483–1530) |publisher=Brill |year=2004 |pages=15,150 |isbn=90-04-13707-6 }}</ref> and also consists of several phrases and minor poems in Persian. | |||
Babur wrote most of his poems in Chagatai Turkic, known to him as ''Türki'', but he also composed in Persian. However, he was mostly praised for his literary works written in Turkic, which drew comparison with the poetry of ].<ref name="Eraly"/> | |||
The following ] is an example of Babur's poetry written in Turkic, composed in the aftermath of his famous victory in North India to celebrate his ] status.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Balabanlilar |first1=Lisa |title=Imperial Identity in the Mughal Empire. Memory and Dynastic Politics in Early Modern South and Central Asia |date=2015 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-0-857-72081-8 |pages=42–43}}</ref> | |||
{{col-begin}} | |||
{{col-break}} | |||
<poem> | |||
{{lang|chg|Islam ichin avara-i yazi buldim, | |||
Kuffar u hind harbsazi buldim | |||
Jazm aylab idim uzni shahid olmaqqa, | |||
Amminna' lillahi ki gazi buldim}}</poem> | |||
{{col-break}} | |||
<poem> | |||
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.</poem> | |||
{{col-end}} | |||
== Family == | |||
{{unreferenced section|date=February 2020}} | |||
=== Consorts === | |||
*] ({{Abbr|m.|marriage}} 1499; {{Abbr|div.|divorced}} 1503), daughter of ] — First wife of Babur | |||
*] ({{Abbr|m.|marriage}} 1504; {{Abbr|d.|death}} 1506–07), daughter of ] | |||
*] ({{Abbr|m.|marriage}} 1506) — Babur's chief and favourite consort | |||
*] ({{Abbr|m.|marriage}} 1507; {{Abbr|d.|death}} 1508), daughter of ] and half-sister of ] | |||
*] ({{Abbr|m.|marriage}} 1519), ] of the ] tribe | |||
*Gulrukh Begum (not to be confused with Babur's daughter ], who was also known as Gulbarg Begum) | |||
*Dildar Begum | |||
*Gulnar Aghacha, ] concubine | |||
*Nargul Aghacha, ] concubine | |||
The identity of the mother of one of Babur's daughters, ] is disputed. Gulrukh's mother may have been the daughter of ] 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 ] or the works of ], 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: | |||
*] ({{Abbr|b.|birth}} 1508; {{Abbr|d.|death}} 1556) — with ] — succeeded Babur as the second ] | |||
*] ({{Abbr|b.|birth}} 1512; {{Abbr|d.|death}} 1557) — with Gulrukh Begum | |||
*] ({{Abbr|b.|birth}} 1518; {{Abbr|d.|death}} 1557) — with Gulrukh Begum | |||
*] ({{Abbr|b.|birth}} 1519; {{Abbr|d.|death}} 1551) — with Dildar Begum | |||
*Ahmad Mirza ({{Abbr|d.|death}} young) — with Gulrukh Begum | |||
*Shahrukh Mirza ({{Abbr|d.|death}} young) — with Gulrukh Begum | |||
*Barbul Mirza ({{Abbr|d.|death}} infancy) — with ] | |||
*Alwar Mirza ({{Abbr|d.|death}} young) — with Dildar Begum | |||
*Faruq Mirza ({{Abbr|d.|death}} infancy) — with ] | |||
The daughters of Babur were: | |||
*] Begum ({{Abbr|b.|birth}} & {{Abbr|d.|death}} 1501) — with ] | |||
*Aisan Daulat Begum ({{Abbr|d.|death}} infancy) — with ] | |||
*Mehr Jahan Begum ({{Abbr|d.|death}} infancy) — with ] | |||
*] ({{Abbr|b.|birth}} 1508) — with ] — Married to ]. | |||
*Gulzar Begum ({{Abbr|d.|death}} infancy) — with 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 ], wife of ] and later the Mughal Emperor ]. | |||
*] ({{Abbr|b.|birth}} {{circa|1523}} – {{Abbr|d.|death}} 1603) — with Dildar Begum — Married Khizr Khwaja Khan, son of her father's cousin ] of ], son of ] of ], the maternal uncle of Emperor Babur. | |||
*] ({{Abbr|b.|birth}} {{circa|1515}} – {{Abbr|d.|death}} 1557) — with Dildar Begum — Married firstly in 1530 to Sultan Tukhta Bugha Khan, son of ] of ], 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 ] of ], the maternal uncle of Emperor Babur. | |||
== Death and legacy == | |||
]|thumb]] | |||
Babur died in Agra at the age of 47 on {{OldStyleDate|5 January|1531|26 December 1530}} and was succeeded by his eldest son, Humayun. He was first buried in Chauburji, ].<ref name="Rangan">{{cite news |last1=Datta |first1=Rangan |title=Agra beyond the Taj: Exploring tombs and gardens on the left bank of Yamuna |url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/my-kolkata/places/agra-beyond-the-taj-exploring-tombs-and-gardens-on-the-left-bank-of-yamuna/cid/2031729 |access-date=18 July 2024 |agency=My Kolkata |publisher=The Telegraph |date=5 July 2024}}</ref><ref name="Jagaran">{{cite news |last1=Goel |first1=Shrishti |title=Did you know Mughal emperor Babur's body was kept at this place for 6 months before being buried in Kabul? |url=https://english.jagran.com/india/did-you-know-mughal-emperor-baburs-body-was-kept-at-this-place-for-6-months-before-being-buried-in-kabul-10020153 |access-date=18 July 2024 |work=Dainik Jagaran |date=20 November 2020}}</ref> Later as per his wishes, his mortal remains were moved to Kabul and reburied in ] in Kabul sometime between 1539 and 1544.<ref name="Necipoğlu">{{citation |last=Necipoğlu |first=Gülru |title=Muqarnas: An Annual on the Visual Culture of the Islamic World |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s6MN2T9cXNEC&pg=PA135 |year=1997 |publisher=Brill |isbn=90-04-10872-6 |page=135 |access-date=8 February 2019 |archive-date=5 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240205161343/https://books.google.com/books?id=s6MN2T9cXNEC&pg=PA135#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="VDM1"/> | |||
], Andijan, Uzbekistan in 2012]] | |||
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 ] ethos in the Indian subcontinent.<ref name="Ẓahīr-al-Dīn Moḥammad Bābor" /><ref name="Robert L. Canfield 1991 p.20" /> He emerged in his own telling as a ] inheritor, leaving signs of Islamic, artistic literary, and social aspects in India.<ref>{{cite book |first=Stephen Frederic |last=Dale |title=The garden of the eight paradises: Bābur and the culture of Empire in Central Asia, Afghanistan and India (1483–1530) |publisher=Brill |year=2004 |page=216|isbn=90-04-13707-6 }}</ref><ref>{{New Cambridge History of Islam|volume=3}}</ref> | |||
For example, F. Lehmann states in the '']'': | |||
{{Blockquote|His origin, milieu, training, and culture were steeped in Persian culture and so Babur was largely responsible for the fostering of this culture by his descendants, the Mughals of India, and for the expansion of Persian cultural influence in the Indian subcontinent, with brilliant literary, artistic, and historiographical results.<ref name="Iranica">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Lehmann |first=F. |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/babor-zahir-al-din |title=Memoirs of Zehīr-ed-Dīn Muhammed Bābur |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Iranica |access-date=2 April 2008 |archive-date=17 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171117020020/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/babor-zahir-al-din |url-status=live}}</ref>}}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.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |editor-first=A. M. |editor-last=Prokhorov |encyclopedia=Great Soviet Encyclopedia |title=Babur |url=http://bse-soviet-encyclopedia.info/%D0%91%D0%BE%D0%BB%D1%8C%D1%88%D0%B0%D1%8F_%D0%A1%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B5%D1%82%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%8F_%D1%8D%D0%BD%D1%86%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%BF%D0%B5%D0%B4%D0%B8%D1%8F/54583/%D0%91%D0%B0%D0%B1%D1%83%D1%80 |access-date=16 September 2013 |language=ru |year=1969–1978 |publisher=Soviet Encyclopedia |location=Moscow |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130916175254/http://bse-soviet-encyclopedia.info/%D0%91%D0%BE%D0%BB%D1%8C%D1%88%D0%B0%D1%8F_%D0%A1%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B5%D1%82%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%8F_%D1%8D%D0%BD%D1%86%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%BF%D0%B5%D0%B4%D0%B8%D1%8F/54583/%D0%91%D0%B0%D0%B1%D1%83%D1%80 |archive-date=16 September 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |editor-first=Ibrohim |editor-last=Muminov |encyclopedia=Uzbek Soviet Encyclopedia |title=Bobur |language=uz |year=1972 |volume=2 |location=Tashkent |pages=287–95}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Bobur |first=Zahiriddin Muhammad |title=Boburnoma |year=1989 |publisher=Yulduzcha |location=Tashkent |page=3 |editor=A'zam Oʻktam |language=uz |chapter=About This Edition}}</ref> At the same time, during the Soviet Union Uzbek scholars were censored for idealising and praising Babur and other historical figures such as ].<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Fierman |editor-first=William |title=Soviet Central Asia |year=1991 |publisher=Westview Press |location=Boulder, Colorado |isbn=978-0-8133-7907-4 |page= |url=https://archive.org/details/sovietcentralasi00fier/page/147}}</ref> | |||
]|176x176px]]Babur is considered a national hero in Uzbekistan.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.uzbekistan.or.kr/bbs/board.php?bo_table=news&wr_id=878 |title=Grandeur and Eternity: Zahiriddin Muhammad Bobur in Minds of People Forever |work=Embassy of Uzbekistan in Korea. |date=22 February 2011 |access-date=14 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130522171617/http://www.uzbekistan.or.kr/bbs/board.php?bo_table=news&wr_id=878 |archive-date=22 May 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref> On 14 February 2008, stamps in his name were issued in the country to commemorate his 525th birth anniversary.<ref>{{cite web |title=The country's history on postage miniatures |url=http://old.ut.uz/eng/kaleidoscope/the_countrys_history_on_postage_miniatures.mgr |publisher=Uzbekistan Today |access-date=12 June 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150614180708/https://old.ut.uz/eng/kaleidoscope/the_countrys_history_on_postage_miniatures.mgr |archive-date=14 June 2015}}</ref> Many of Babur's poems have become popular Uzbek folk songs, especially by ].<ref>{{cite news |title=Sherali Joʻrayev: We Haven't Stopped. We Still Exist |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/uzbek/news/story/2007/04/070412_sherali_juraev_60.shtml |date=13 April 2007 |work=]'s Uzbek Service |language=uz |access-date=8 October 2013 |archive-date=5 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240205161345/https://www.bbc.com/uzbek/news/story/2007/04/070412_sherali_juraev_60 |url-status=live}}</ref> Some sources claim that Babur is a national hero in ] too.<ref>{{cite book |last=Wang |first=Zhihong |title=Dust in the Wind: Retracing Dharma Master Xuanzang's Western Pilgrimage |publisher= |page=121}}</ref> In October 2005, Pakistan developed the ], named in his honour. | |||
'']'', an Indian film about the emperor directed by ] was released in 1944. The 1960 Indian biographical film ''Babar'' by ] covered the emperor's life with ] in the lead role.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rangoonwalla |first1=Firoze |last2=Das |first2=Vishwanath |title=Indian Filmography: Silent & Hindi Films, 1897–1969 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=26dZAAAAMAAJ |year=1970 |publisher=J. Udeshi |page=370 |access-date=8 February 2021 |archive-date=5 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240205161451/https://books.google.com/books?id=26dZAAAAMAAJ |url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
One of the enduring features of Babur's life was that he left behind the lively and well-written autobiography known as ''Baburnama''.<ref name="baburnama">{{cite book |title=The Baburnama: Memoirs of Babur, Prince and Emperor |publisher=Modern Library |isbn=0-375-76137-3 |year=2002 |author=Babur, Emperor of Hindustan |others=translated, edited and annotated by W. M. Thackston |url=https://archive.org/details/babarinizam00babu}}</ref> Quoting ], ] writes: | |||
{{Blockquote|His autobiography is one of those priceless records which are for all time, and is fit to rank with the confessions of ] and ], and the memoirs of ] and ]. In Asia it stands almost alone.}}<ref>{{harvtxt|Lane-Poole|1899|pp=12–13}}</ref> | |||
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."<ref name="sen2">{{Cite book |last=Sen |first=Sailendra Nath |year=2013 |title=A Textbook of Medieval Indian History |publisher=Primus Books |page=151 |isbn=978-93-80607-34-4}}</ref>] | |||
=== Babri Masjid === | |||
{{POV section|date=January 2024}} | |||
{{Main|Babri Masjid}} | |||
{{See also|Demolition of the Babri Masjid}}]The Babri Masjid ("Babur's Mosque") in ], was constructed by ] (commander of the Babur), according to the mosque's inscriptions, in 1528–29 (935 ]). On 6 December 1992, Babri Masjid was demolished by a large group of activists of the ] and ]. | |||
In 2003 the ] ordered the ] (ASI) to conduct a more in-depth study and an ] to ascertain the type of structure beneath the mosque.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Ratnagar |first=Shereen |date=April 2004 |title=Archaeology at the Heart of a Political Confrontation: The Case of Ayodhya |url=https://www.asia-europe.uni-heidelberg.de/fileadmin/Documents/Professorships/Visual_and_Media_Anthropology/ForUS/381044.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.asia-europe.uni-heidelberg.de/fileadmin/Documents/Professorships/Visual_and_Media_Anthropology/ForUS/381044.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |journal=Current Anthropology |volume=45 |issue=2 |pages=239–59 |doi=10.1086/381044 |s2cid=149773944}}</ref> The excavation was conducted from 12 March 2003 to 7 August 2003, resulting in 1360 discoveries.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/aug/22ayo.htm |title=ASI submits report on Ayodhya excavation |work=Rediff.com |agency=Press Trust of India |date=22 August 2003 |access-date=20 June 2012 |archive-date=26 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121026011030/http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/aug/22ayo.htm |url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
The summary of the ASI report indicated the presence of a 10th-century temple under the mosque.<ref name="trib">{{cite news |url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2003/20030826/main6.htm |last=Suryamurthy |first=R |title=ASI findings may not resolve title dispute |newspaper=The Tribune |date=26 August 2003 |access-date=27 October 2016 |archive-date=11 April 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090411193402/http://www.tribuneindia.com/2003/20030826/main6.htm |url-status=live}}</ref><ref> ''The Week'' (India), from ]</ref> 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 ] period (second-first century BCE) and the ] period. During the early ] (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.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/aug/25ayo1.htm |title=Proof of temple found at Ayodhya: ASI report |work=Rediff.com |agency=Press Trust of India |date=25 August 2003 |access-date=20 June 2012 |archive-date=25 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225023956/http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/aug/25ayo1.htm%20 |url-status=live}}</ref> Archaeologist ], the only ] member in the team of people surveying the excavation, also confirmed individually that there existed a temple like structure before the Babri Masjid was constructed over it.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/ram-temple-existed-before-babri-mosque-in-ayodhya-archaeologist-kk-muhammed/articleshow/71391712.cms |title=Ram temple existed before Babri mosque in Ayodhya: Archaeologist KK Muhammed |last=Shekhar |first=Kumar Shakti |work=The Times of India |access-date=7 November 2019 |archive-date=18 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230118221506/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/ram-temple-existed-before-babri-mosque-in-ayodhya-archaeologist-kk-muhammed/articleshow/71391712.cms |url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
Several archaeologists disputed ASI findings.{{sfn|Srivastava|2003}} According to archaeologist Supriya Verma and Jaya Menon, who observed the excavations on behalf of the Sunni Waqf Board, "the ] was operating with a preconceived notion of discovering the remains of a temple beneath the demolished mosque, even selectively altering the evidence to suit its hypothesis." this allegation particularly focused on the "pillar bases" central to the claim of a temple, which Verma and Menon alleged were irregularly shaped, irregularly spaced and largely the result of selective excavation, rather than representing genuine evidence of pillars.<ref>Supriya Verma, Menon Shiv Sunni (2010), {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126215531/https://www.epw.in/journal/2010/50/verdict-ayodhya-special-issues/was-there-temple-under-babri-masjid-reading|date=26 January 2021}}, ''Economic & Political Weekly''</ref> | |||
The ] of 2019 granted the entire disputed land to the Hindus for construction of a temple, stating that Hindus continue 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.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/ayodhya-verdict-ruins-dont-always-indicate-demolition-observes-sc/article29938243.ece |title=Ayodhya verdict {{!}} Ruins don't always indicate demolition, observes Supreme Court |last=Rajagopal |first=Krishnadas |date=10 November 2019 |work=The Hindu |access-date=24 November 2019 |issn=0971-751X |archive-date=12 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191112003600/https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/ayodhya-verdict-ruins-dont-always-indicate-demolition-observes-sc/article29938243.ece |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/highlights-of-the-ayodhya-verdict/article29929685.ece |title=Highlights of the Ayodhya verdict |date=9 November 2019 |work=The Hindu |access-date=24 November 2019 |issn=0971-751X |archive-date=20 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191220005358/https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/highlights-of-the-ayodhya-verdict/article29929685.ece |url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
==Citations== | |||
{{reflist}} | |||
=== References === | |||
* {{cite EB9 |mode=cs2 |wstitle=Baber |volume=3 |ref={{harvid|''EB''|1878}} |page=179}} | |||
* {{cite EB1911 |mode=cs2 |wstitle=Baber |volume=3 |ref={{harvid|''EB''|1911}} |page=92}} | |||
* {{citation |title=Cambridge History of India |url=https://archive.org/details/cambridgehistory035492mbp |volume=III |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1928}} | |||
* {{citation |title=Cambridge History of India |volume=IV |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1937}} | |||
* {{citation |first=Abraham |last=Eraly |author-link=Abraham Eraly |title=Emperors of the Peacock Throne: The Saga of the Great Moghuls |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h7kPQs8llvkC |year=2007 |publisher=Penguin Books Limited |isbn=978-93-5118-093-7}} | |||
* {{cite news |last=Srivastava |first=Sushil |author-link=Sushil Srivastava |title=The ASI Report – a review |newspaper=Frontline |date=25 October 2003 |url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/the-asi-report-a-review/article797088.ece |access-date=2014-12-27 |archive-date=20 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131220182615/http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/the-asi-report-a-review/article797088.ece |url-status=live }} | |||
==Books== | |||
* {{Cite book |title=The Mughal State, 1526–1750 |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-19-563905-6 |editor-last=Alam |editor-first=Muzaffar |editor-link=Muzaffar Alam |editor-last2=Subrahmanyan |editor-first2=Sanjay |editor-link2=Sanjay Subrahmanyam}} | |||
* {{Cite book |last=Thackston |first=W. M. Jr. |title=The Baburnama: Memoirs of Babur, Prince and Emperor |publisher=Modern Library |year=2002 |isbn=9780375761379 |location=New York}} | |||
* {{Cite book |last=Balabanlilar |first=Lisa |title=Imperial Identity in the Mughal Empire: Memory and Dynastic Politics in Early Modern South and Central Asia |publisher=I.B. Tauris |year=2012 |location=London}} | |||
* {{cite book |author-link=Bamber Gascoigne |last=Gascoigne |first=Bamber |others=Photographs by Christina Gascoigne |title=The Great Moghuls |location=London |orig-year=1971 |year=1987 |publisher=Random House |isbn=978-0224024747 |url=https://archive.org/details/greatmoghuls00gasc/}} | |||
* {{cite book |last=Gommans |first=J. L. L. |title=Mughal Warfare |location=London |publisher=Routledge |year=2002 |isbn=9780415239899}} | |||
* {{cite book |last=Gordon |first=Stewart |title=When Asia was the World: Traveling Merchants, Scholars, Warriors, and Monks who created the "Riches of the East" |publisher=Da Capo Press |location=Cambridge, MA |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-306-81556-0}} | |||
* {{Cite book |last=Hasan |first=Mohibbul |title=Babur: Founder of the Mughal Empire in India |date=1985 |publisher=Manohar Publications |location=New Delhi}} | |||
* {{cite book |author-link=William Irvine (historian) |last=Irvine |first=William |title=The Army of the Indian Moghuls: Its Organization and Administration |location=London |year=1902 |publisher=Brill |url=https://archive.org/details/armyofindianmogh00irvirich/}} | |||
* {{cite book |author-link=Peter Jackson (historian) |last=Jackson |first=Peter |title=The Delhi Sultanate. A Political and Military History |publisher=Cambridge |year=1999}} | |||
* {{cite book |author-link=John F. Richards |last=Richards |first=John F. |title=The Mughal Empire |publisher=Cambridge |year=1993}} | |||
* {{Cite book |last=Wink |first=Andre |author-link=Andre Wink |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zhu9DwAAQBAJ |title=Akbar |date=2012 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-1-78074-209-0 |language=en}} | |||
* {{Cite book |last=Radhey Shyam Chaurasia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8XnaL7zPXPUC |title=History of Medieval India: From 1000 A.D. to 1707 A.D. |date=2002 |publisher=Atlantic Publishers & Dist |isbn=978-81-269-0123-4 |language=en}} | |||
== External links == | |||
{{Wikiquote}} | |||
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* {{Gutenberg author | id=42838}} | |||
* {{Internet Archive author}} | |||
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Latest revision as of 05:54, 7 January 2025
Mughal emperor from 1526 to 1530 This article is about the first Mughal Emperor. For the male given name, see Babar. For the amphipod crustacean, see Babr. For other uses, see Babur (disambiguation).
Babur | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ghazi | |||||||||
Idealized portrait of Babur, early 17th century | |||||||||
Mughal Emperor (Padishah) | |||||||||
Reign | 21 April 1526 – 26 December 1530 | ||||||||
Predecessor | Ibrahim Lodi (as Sultan of Delhi) | ||||||||
Successor | Humayun | ||||||||
Emir of Kabul | |||||||||
Reign | October 1504 – 21 April 1526 | ||||||||
Predecessor | Mukin Begh | ||||||||
Successor | Himself as the Mughal Emperor | ||||||||
Emir of Fergana | |||||||||
Reign | 10 June 1494 – February 1497 | ||||||||
Predecessor | Umar Shaikh Mirza II | ||||||||
Successor | Jahangir Mirza II | ||||||||
Emir of Samarkand | |||||||||
Reign | November 1496 – February 1497 | ||||||||
Predecessor | Baysonqor Mirza | ||||||||
Successor | Ali Mirza | ||||||||
Born | (1483-02-14)14 February 1483 Andijan, Timurid Empire | ||||||||
Died | 26 December 1530(1530-12-26) (aged 47) Agra, Mughal Empire | ||||||||
Burial | Gardens of Babur, Kabul, Afghanistan | ||||||||
Consort |
Maham Begum (m. 1506) | ||||||||
Wives more... |
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Issue more... | |||||||||
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House | House of Babur | ||||||||
Dynasty | Timurid dynasty | ||||||||
Father | Umar Shaikh Mirza II | ||||||||
Mother | Qutlugh Nigar Khanum | ||||||||
Religion | Sunni Islam | ||||||||
Seal |
Babur (Persian: [βɑː.βuɾ]; 14 February 1483 – 26 December 1530; born Zahīr ud-Dīn Muhammad) was the founder of the Mughal Empire in the Indian subcontinent. He was a descendant of Timur and Genghis Khan through his father and mother respectively. He was also given the posthumous name of Firdaws Makani ('Dwelling in Paradise').
Born in Andijan in the Fergana Valley (now in Uzbekistan), Babur was the eldest son of Umar Shaikh Mirza II (1456–1494, governor of Fergana from 1469 to 1494) and a great-great-great-grandson of Timur (1336–1405). Babur ascended the throne of Fergana in its capital Akhsikath in 1494 at the age of twelve and faced rebellion. He conquered Samarkand 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 the Uzbek prince Muhammad Shaybani defeated him and founded the Khanate of Bukhara.
In 1504, he conquered Kabul, which was under the putative rule of Abdur Razaq Mirza, the infant heir of Ulugh Beg II. Babur formed a partnership with the Safavid emperor Ismail I and reconquered parts of Turkestan, including Samarkand, only to again lose it and the other newly conquered lands to the Shaybanids.
After losing Samarkand for the third time, Babur turned his attention to India and employed aid from the neighbouring Safavid and Ottoman empires. He defeated Ibrahim Lodi, the Sultan of Delhi, at the First Battle of Panipat in 1526 and founded the Mughal Empire. Before the defeat of Lodi at Delhi, the Sultanate of Delhi had been a spent force, long in a state of decline.
The rival adjacent Kingdom of Mewar under the rule of Rana Sanga had become the most powerful native power in North India. Sanga unified several Rajput clans for the first time after Prithviraj Chauhan and advanced on Babur with a grand coalition of 80,000-100,000 Rajputs, engaging Babur in the Battle of Khanwa. Babur arrived at Khanwa with 40,000-50,000 soldiers. Nonetheless, Sanga suffered a major defeat due to Babur's skillful troop positioning and use of gunpowder, specifically matchlocks and small cannons.
The Battle of Khanwa 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 North India.
Religiously, Babur started his life as a staunch Sunni Muslim, but he underwent significant evolution. Babur became more tolerant as he conquered new territories and grew older, allowing other religions to peacefully coexist in his empire and at his court. He also displayed a certain attraction to theology, poetry, geography, history, and biology—disciplines he promoted at his court—earning him a frequent association with representatives of the Timurid Renaissance. His religious and philosophical stances are characterized as humanistic.
Babur married several times. Notable among his children are Humayun, Kamran Mirza, Hindal Mirza, Masuma Sultan Begum, and the author Gulbadan Begum.
Babur died in 1530 in Agra 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 and Kyrgyzstan. Many of his poems have become popular folk songs. He wrote the Baburnama in Chaghatai Turkic; it was translated into Persian during the reign (1556–1605) of his grandson, the emperor Akbar.
Name
Ẓahīr-ud-Dīn is Arabic for "Defender of the Faith" (of Islam), and Muhammad honours the Islamic prophet. The name was chosen for Babur by the Sufi saint Khwaja Ahrar, 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 word babur (ببر), meaning "tiger" or "panther". The word repeatedly appears in Ferdowsi's Shahnameh and was borrowed into the Turkic languages of Central Asia.
Background
Babur's memoirs form the main source for details of his life. They are known as the Baburnama and were written in Chagatai, his first language, 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, Fergana Valley, contemporary Uzbekistan. He was the eldest son of Umar Shaikh Mirza II, ruler of the Fergana Valley, the son of Abū Saʿīd Mirza (and grandson of Miran Shah, who was himself son of Timur) and his wife Qutlugh Nigar Khanum, daughter of Yunus Khan, the ruler of Moghulistan (a descendant of Genghis Khan).
Babur hailed from the Barlas tribe, which was of Mongol origin and had embraced the Turco-Persian tradition They had also converted to Islam centuries earlier and resided in Turkestan and Khorasan.
Aside from the Chaghatai language, Babur was equally fluent in Classical Persian, the lingua franca of the Timurid elite.
Some of Babur's relatives, such as his uncles Mahmud Khan (Moghul Khan) and Ahmad Khan, continued to identify as Mongols, and allowed him to use their Mongol troops to help recover his fortunes in the turbulent years that followed.
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 Sarts, Tajiks, ethnic Afghans, Arabs, 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 350 kilometres (220 mi) 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 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 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, 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, 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 mountains and capture Kabul from the remaining Arghunids, who were forced to retreat to Kandahar. 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.
In the same year, Babur united with Sultan Husayn Mirza Bayqarah of Herat, 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. 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 (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, Shah of Shia 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
Determined to conquer the Uzbeks and recapture his ancestral homeland, Babur was wary of their allies the Ottomans, and made no attempt to establish formal diplomatic relations with them. He did, however, employ the matchlock commander Mustafa Rumi and several other Ottomans. From them, he adopted the tactic of using matchlocks and cannons in the field (rather than only in sieges), which gave him an important advantage in India.
Formation of the Mughal Empire
Main articles: Lodi dynasty, Delhi Sultanate, and Siege of Kabul (1504)Babur still wanted to escape from the Uzbeks, and he chose India as a refuge instead of Badakhshan, 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, now in Pakistan, in 1519. Until 1524, his aim was to only expand his rule to Punjab, 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, 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
Main article: First Battle of PanipatIn November 1525 Babur got news at Peshawar 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 Babur had become the master of Punjab.
Babur marched on to Delhi via Sirhind. He reached Panipat 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:
By the grace of the Almighty God, this difficult task was made easy to me and that mighty army, in the space of a half a day was laid in dust.
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.
Many of Babur's men allegedly wanted to leave India due to its warm climate, but Babur motivated them to stay and expand his empire.
Battle of Khanwa
Main article: Battle of KhanwaThe Battle of Khanwa was fought between Babur and the Rajput ruler of Mewar, Rana Sanga on 16 March 1527. Rana Sanga wanted to overthrow Babur, whom he considered to be a foreigner ruling in India, and also to extend the Rajput territories by annexing Delhi and Agra. 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), 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 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 of Vijayanagara.
Battle of Chanderi
The Battle of Chanderi 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, 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, the last Sultan of the Lodi dynasty, in 1526. Babur ruled for 4 years and was succeeded by his son Humayun whose reign was temporarily usurped by the Suri dynasty. 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 literature of the 16th century. The violence of Babur in the 1520s was witnessed by Guru Nanak, 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, 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. In Babur's secret will, in the year 935AH, 1529 AD, to Humayun, Babur adivses Humayun to administer justice according to the ways of every religion, avoid sacrifice of the cow, not to ruin the temples and shrines of any law obeying community, overlook the dissensions of the Shias and the Sunnis.
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. 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 in North India.
Babur did not initially know Old Hindi; however, his Turkic poetry indicates that he picked up some of its vocabulary later in life.
Unlike his father, he had ascetic tendencies and did not have any great interest in women. In his first marriage, he was "bashful" towards Aisha Sultan Begum, 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, c. 1498–99. The couple had one daughter, Fakhr-un-Nissa, 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 (in 1506), Masuma Sultan Begum, 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. 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, and Dildar Begum was the mother of Babur's youngest son, Hindal. Babur later married Mubaraka Yusufzai, a Pashtun woman of the Yusufzai 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. 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); 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 (törah). They did not violate this code sitting and rising at councils and court, at feasts and dinners. Chingez 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, known as khatt-i Baburi.
Babur's Bāburnāma is a collection of memoirs, written in the Chagatai language and later translated into Persian, the usual literary language of the Mughal court, during the rule of emperor Akbar. However, Babur's Turkic prose in Bāburnāma is already highly Persianized 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, known to him as Türki, but he also composed in Persian. However, he was mostly praised for his literary works written in Turkic, which drew comparison with the poetry of Ali-Shir Nava'i.
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.
Islam ichin avara-i yazi buldim, |
I am become a desert wanderer for Islam,
|
Family
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Consorts
- Aisha Sultan Begum (m. 1499; div. 1503), daughter of Sultan Ahmed Mirza — First wife of Babur
- Zainab Sultan Begum (m. 1504; d. 1506–07), daughter of Sultan Mahmud Mirza
- Maham Begum (m. 1506) — Babur's chief and favourite consort
- Masuma Sultan Begum (m. 1507; d. 1508), daughter of Sultan Ahmed Mirza and half-sister of Aisha Sultan Begum
- Bibi Mubarika (m. 1519), Pashtun of the Yusufzai 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 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 or the works of Gulbadan Begum, 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 (b. 1508; d. 1556) — with Maham Begum — succeeded Babur as the second Mughal Emperor
- Kamran Mirza (b. 1512; d. 1557) — with Gulrukh Begum
- Askari Mirza (b. 1518; d. 1557) — with Gulrukh Begum
- Hindal Mirza (b. 1519; d. 1551) — with Dildar Begum
- Ahmad Mirza (d. young) — with Gulrukh Begum
- Shahrukh Mirza (d. young) — with Gulrukh Begum
- Barbul Mirza (d. infancy) — with Maham Begum
- Alwar Mirza (d. young) — with Dildar Begum
- Faruq Mirza (d. infancy) — with Maham Begum
The daughters of Babur were:
- Fakhr-un-Nissa Begum (b. & d. 1501) — with Aisha Sultan Begum
- Aisan Daulat Begum (d. infancy) — with Maham Begum
- Mehr Jahan Begum (d. infancy) — with Maham Begum
- Masuma Sultan Begum (b. 1508) — with Masuma Sultan Begum — Married to Muhammad Zaman Mirza.
- Gulzar Begum (d. 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, wife of Bairam Khan and later the Mughal Emperor Akbar.
- Gulbadan Begum (b. c. 1523 – d. 1603) — with Dildar Begum — Married Khizr Khwaja Khan, son of her father's cousin Aiman Khwajah Sultan of Moghulistan, son of Ahmad Alaq of Moghulistan, the maternal uncle of Emperor Babur.
- Gulchehra Begum (b. c. 1515 – d. 1557) — with Dildar Begum — Married firstly in 1530 to Sultan Tukhta Bugha Khan, son of Ahmad Alaq of Moghulistan, 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 of Moghulistan, the maternal uncle of Emperor Babur.
Death and legacy
Babur died in Agra at the age of 47 on 5 January [O.S. 26 December 1530] 1531 and was succeeded by his eldest son, Humayun. He was first buried in Chauburji, Agra. Later as per his wishes, his mortal remains were moved to Kabul and reburied in Bagh-e Babur 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 ethos in the Indian subcontinent. He emerged in his own telling as a Timurid Renaissance inheritor, leaving signs of Islamic, artistic literary, and social aspects in India.
For example, F. Lehmann states in the Encyclopædia Iranica:
His origin, milieu, training, and culture were steeped in Persian culture and so Babur was largely responsible for the fostering of this culture by his descendants, the Mughals of India, and for the expansion of Persian cultural influence in the Indian subcontinent, with brilliant literary, artistic, and historiographical results.
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.
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 Joʻrayev. Some sources claim that Babur is a national hero in Kyrgyzstan too. In October 2005, Pakistan developed the Babur Cruise Missile, named in his honour.
Shahenshah Babar, an Indian film about the emperor directed by Wajahat Mirza was released in 1944. The 1960 Indian biographical film Babar by Hemen Gupta covered the emperor's life with Gajanan Jagirdar 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 writes:
His autobiography is one of those priceless records which are for all time, and is fit to rank with the confessions of St. Augustine and Rousseau, and the memoirs of Gibbon and Newton. In Asia it stands almost alone.
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
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The Babri Masjid ("Babur's Mosque") in Ayodhya, was constructed by Mir Baqi (commander of the Babur), according to the mosque's inscriptions, in 1528–29 (935 AH). On 6 December 1992, Babri Masjid was demolished by a large group of activists of the Vishva Hindu Parishad and allied organisations.
In 2003 the Allahabad High Court ordered the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to conduct a more in-depth study and an excavation to ascertain the type of structure beneath the mosque. 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 period (second-first century BCE) and the Kushan period. During the early medieval period (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, the only Muslim member in the team of people surveying the excavation, also confirmed individually that there existed a temple like structure before the Babri Masjid was constructed over it.
Several archaeologists disputed ASI findings. According to archaeologist Supriya Verma and Jaya Menon, who observed the excavations on behalf of the Sunni Waqf Board, "the ASI was operating with a preconceived notion of discovering the remains of a temple beneath the demolished mosque, even selectively altering the evidence to suit its hypothesis." this allegation particularly focused on the "pillar bases" central to the claim of a temple, which Verma and Menon alleged were irregularly shaped, irregularly spaced and largely the result of selective excavation, rather than representing genuine evidence of pillars.
The Supreme Court judgement of 2019 granted the entire disputed land to the Hindus for construction of a temple, stating that Hindus continue 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
- Dale, Stephen F. (2018). Babur. p. 154.
- Avali, Raghu (17 December 2023). "The Conquest of Kabul (1504)". Indian History for Everyone. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
- Christine, Isom-Verhaaren (2013). Allies with the Infidel. I.B. Tauris. p. 58.
- Baumer, Christoph (2018). The History of Central Asia: The Age of Islam and the Mongols. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 47.
- ^ "Ẓahīr-al-Dīn Moḥammad Bābor" at Encyclopædia Iranica
- ^ 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.
- Jahangir, Emperor Of Hindustan (1999). The Jahangirnama : memoirs of Jahangir, Emperor of India. Translated by Thackston, W. M. Washington, D.C. : Freer Gallery of Art, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution ; New York : Oxford University Press. p. 6. ISBN 9780195127188.
- Gilbert, Marc Jason (2017), South Asia in World History, Oxford University Press, pp. 75–, ISBN 978-0-19-066137-3, archived from the original on 22 September 2023, retrieved 11 June 2021 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."
- Bhatnagar, V. S. (1974). Life and Times of Sawai Jai Singh, 1688–1743. Impex India. p. 6.
From 1326, Mewar's grand recovery commenced under Lakha, and later under Kumbha and most notably under Sanga, till it became one of the greatest powers in northern India during the first quarter of sixteenth century.
- Sarda, Har Bilas (1918). Maharana Sanga; the Hindupat, the last great leader of the Rajput race. University of California Libraries. Ajmer, Scottish Mission Industries. pp. 01–03.
Babur, the founder of the Turk power in India, says in his Memoirs that Rana Sanga was the most powerful sovereign in Hindustan when he invaded it, and that he attained his present high eminence by his own valour and sword. Eighty thousand horse, 7 Rajas of the highest rank, 9 Raos and 104 chieftains bearing the titles of Rawal and Rawat, with 500 war elephants, followed him into the field. The princes of Marwar and Amber (Jodhpur and Jaipur) did him homage, and the Raos of Gwalior, Ajmer, Sikri, Raisen, Kalpi, Chanderi, Boondi, Gagroon, Rampura and Abu served him as tributaries or held of him in chief.
- Sharma, G. N. (1954). Mewar and the mughal emperors. pp. 8–45.
Before describing his early power, it is worthwhile to say a word or two concerning the personality and the previous history of the man (Rana Sanga) who was destined to be the acknowledged leader of Hindu India of the first half of the 16th century.
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The battle of khanua was one of the most decisive battles in Indian history certainly more than that of Panipat as Lodhi empire was already crumbling and Mewar had emerged as major power in northern India. Thus, Its at Khanua the fate of India was sealed for next two centuries
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The battle of Kanwaha was more important in its result even than the first battle of panipat. While the former made Babur ruler of Delhi alone the later made him King of hindustan. As a result of his success, the Mughal empire was established firmly in India. The sovereignty of India now passed from Rajputs to Mughals
- Wink 2012, p. 27: "The victory of Mughals at khanua can be seen as a landmark event in Mughal conquest of North India as the battle turned out to be more historic and eventful than one fought near Panipat. It made Babur undisputed master of North India while smashing Rajput powers. After the victory at khanua, the centre of Mughal power became Agra instead of Kabul and continue to remain till downfall of the Empire after Aalamgir's death.
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On the occasion of the birth of Babar Padishah (the son of Omar Shaikh)
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It was over these possessions, provinces controlled by uncles, or cousins of varying degrees, that Babur fought with close and distant relatives for much of his life.
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Babur, while still in his teens, conceived the ambition of conquering Samarkand. In 1497, after a seven months' siege, he took the city, but his supporters gradually deserted him and Ferghana was taken from him in his absence. Within a few months he was compelled to retire from Samarkand ... Eventually he retook Samarkand, but was again forced out, this time by an Usbek leader, Shaibani Khan ... Babur decided in 1504 to trek over the Hindu Kush to Kabul, where the current ruler promptly retreated to Kandahar and left him in undisputed control of the city.
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After being driven out of Samarkand in 1501 by the Uzbek Shaibanids ...
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Eastern Turk Mir Ali Shir Neva'i (1441–1501), founder of the Chagatai literary language
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Ismail was quite prepared to lend his support to the displaced Timurid prince, Zahir ad-Din Babur, who offered to accept Safavid suzerainty in return for help in regaining control of Transoxiana.
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... and on the same journey, he swam twice across the Ganges, as he said he had done with every other river he had met with.
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Āisha Sultan Begum, the daughter of Sultan Ahmed Mirza, to whom I had been betrothed in the lifetime of my father and uncle, having arrived in Khujand, I now married her, in the month of Shābān. In the first period of my being a married man, though I had no small affection for her, yet, from modesty and bashfulness, I went to her only once in ten, fifteen, or twenty days. My affection afterwards declined, and my shyness increased; in so much, that my mother the Khanum, used to fall upon me and scold me with great fury, sending me off like a criminal to visit her once in a month or forty days.
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Books
- Alam, Muzaffar; Subrahmanyan, Sanjay, eds. (1998). The Mughal State, 1526–1750. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-563905-6.
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- Gascoigne, Bamber (1987) . The Great Moghuls. Photographs by Christina Gascoigne. London: Random House. ISBN 978-0224024747.
- Gommans, J. L. L. (2002). Mughal Warfare. London: Routledge. ISBN 9780415239899.
- Gordon, Stewart (2008). When Asia was the World: Traveling Merchants, Scholars, Warriors, and Monks who created the "Riches of the East". Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press. ISBN 978-0-306-81556-0.
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External links
Babur Timurid dynastyBorn: 14 February 1483 Died: 26 December 1530 | ||
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