History
of Sultan BABUR
Mughal Empire in India was founded by
Zahir-ud-din Muhammad Babar, a Chaghatai Turkish ruler born on 14 February 1483
in the city of Andijan, Andija Province, Fergana Valley, contemporary
Uzbekistan. He was the son of Umar Sheikh Mirza the ruler of the petty kingdom
of Farghana and inherited his father's precarious throne when he was eleven
years old. Though it was Babar's dream to rule Central Asia and capture
Samarqand, he had fierce opposition from Persians and the Afghans.
Consequently, he turned his eyes from the West to the East, from the steppes of
Central Asia to the fertile plains of Hindustan [India].
Formation
of the Mughal Empire
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 someplace 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, he aimed 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 under the rule of Ibrahim Lodi of the Lodi
dynasty, but the empire was crumbling and there were many defectors. He
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 and
released months later. Babur started for Lahore, Punjab, 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 Dipalpur, 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. He easily defeated and drove off
Alam's army and Babur realized Lodi would not allow him to occupy Punjab.
The first battle of Panipat (1526)
Hearing of the size of Ibrahim's army, Babur
secured his right flank against the city of Panipat. Prudently
Babur took up a defensive position. He based his right flank upon city walls a
ditch protected his left flank and front lay behind a line of 700 carts tied
together with rawhide ropes to break cavalry charges. Every 100 yards passages
were provided for his horsemen to ride through for attack. Those passages were
heavily defended by his archers and matchlock men.
For
8 days he waited for Sultans attack. Ibrahim marched slowly and without plans,
his officers had never seen such defenses before. Mongols have created a fort
in the middle of a plain his spy's informed him. Babur sent out his horsemen to
raid the Sultans army on 9th April. After a light engagement Mongol broke and
ran back it was a feint and it worked. Ibrahim was elated at the ease with
which his troops had repulsed best horsemen Babur had sent. Overconfident and
full of high hope he decided to attack. The next morning Sultan Ibrahim Lodi
advanced rapidly.
At
about 400 yards Babur's Cannons opened fire noise and smoke terrified Afghans
and the attack lost momentum. Seizing the movement Babur sent out his flanking
columns to envelop the Sultans army. Here Afghans met the first time the real
weapon of Mongols Turko-Mongol Bow. Its superiority as an instrument of war lay
in the fact that it was the arm of the nobles of the finest warriors. Bow in
the hand of a Turko-Mongol would shoot three times as rapidly as musket and
could kill at 200 yards. Attacked from 3 sides Afghans jammed into each other.
Elephants hearing noise of cannon at close range ran wildly out of control.
Ibrahim Lodi and about 6000 of his troops were
involved in actual fighting. Most of his army stretching behind up to a mile
never saw action. Battle ended in about 3 hours with the death of Ibrahim Lodi
who was at the forefront. And in the place where fighting had been the fiercest
dead amid the heap of Mongols slain of his sword lay the vain but courageous
Sultan Ibrahim his head was cut off and taken to Babur wrote a Mongol
historian. When Afghans fled they left 20000 dead and wounded. Thus came the
final collapse of Delhi Sultanate and paved the establishment of new Turkish
rule in India.. However, before he became North India's
ruler, he had to fend off challengers, such as Rana Sanga.
Battle
of Khanwa
The Battle was fought near on 16th
March 1527. Sangram Singh gathered a coalition of Rajputs from
the kingdoms of Rajasthan. They were joined by Muslim Rajputs from Mewat and
Afghans under Mahmud Lodi, the son of Sikandar Lodi of Delhi. This alliance
fought against Babur in the Battle of Khanwa to expel Babur from
India. At a critical moment of battle, the
defection of Silhadi and his contingent caused a split in the Rajput forces.
Rana Sanga while trying to rebuild his front was wounded and fell unconscious
from his horse. Rana's army thought their leader was dead and fled in disorder
thus allowing the Mughals to win the day. Khanwa turned into a disaster
for the Rana when Silhadi defected. the Mughal victory was decisive
and turned out to become Rana Sanga's first and last defeat.
The Battle of Khanwa demonstrated
that Rajput bravery was not enough to counter Babur's superior generalship and
organizational skills. Babur himself commented: Swordsmen though some
Hindustanis maybe most of them are ignorant and unskilled in a military move and
stand in soldierly counsel and procedure.
Rana
Sanga wanted to prepare another army and fight Babur. However, on 30 January
1528 Rana Sanga died in Chittor apparently poisoned by his own chiefs who held
his plans of renewing the fight with Babur to be suicidal.
Death
and legacy
Babur
died at the age of 47 on 5 January 1531 and was succeeded by his eldest son,
Humayun After death, his body was moved to Kabul, Afghanistan, where it lies in
Bagh-e Babur (Babur Gardens). It is generally agreed that, as a Timurid, Babur
was not only significantly influenced by the Persian culture but that his
empire also gave rise to the expansion of the Persianate ethos in the Indian
subcontinent.
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