allhailIndia
Deity
Perhaps the most famous of all medieval dynasties in Indian history, the Mughal rule in India was also the first to comprehensively integrate the Indian subcontinent after a period of over 1200 years. Mughal culture was a unique blend of Indian, Persian, Turk and Afghan influences, the epitome of which is the Taj Mahal, at Agra ( I am still pissed it's not a Wonder in Civ3
), which could not have been built anywhere wlse but in India. Mughal rule was also notable for its changes in the revenue system of the country and the growth of all arts and culture of this country. Credit for this must go to the 7 dynamic personalities, who ruled the first 200 years of this empire with wisdom and farsight. From the dynamic Babur, to the capable, but short-lived Bahadur Shah I. Although the Mughal dynasty ended in 1857 with the exile of Bahadur Shah Zafar, by the British, the rot had set in by the death of Bahadur Shah I. So, to trace the history of one of the most glamorous ruling dynasties of the world, I'll start with the first of 7 articles on Babur. I
Babur was born as Zahiruddin Muhammad in Farghana, on 14th February, 1483, in what is now Uzbekistan. His got the name Babur, which means tiger because his grandfather found it difficult to pronounce the name of the aggressive young lad and gave him the name Babur instead. On his mother's side, he was descended from the great Ghenghis Khan and from his father's side, he was a descendant of the famous Timur. Thus the blood of two mighty, if not bloodthirsty conquerors ran in his veins.
Babur, ascended the throne at Farghana ath the age of twelve, upon his father's death. His position was precarious however, and two years later he was exiled from his own kingdom. However, Babur was'nt one to go silently into the night. He was'nt the descendant of Timur and Ghenghiz for nothing. He came back with a stunning campaign into Afghanistan and captured the famous city of Samarkhand and later, Kabul at the age of 20 gave himself the title of Padshah. However, this too was'nt to last long as he lost both Samarkhand and Kabul and once again became an exile.
However, he still had the loyalty of his troops and followers and held them together with his charisma and spirit. For five years, they raided India four times and Babur soon began seeing an opportunity to build another kingdom for himself. Although Babur had only around 10,000 men, feelers were being sent from India by some disgruntled nobles to this dashing raider to help overthrow the Delhi Sultanate..
A brief digression on the political affairs in India at that time. The Delhi Sutlanate comprised of five different dynasties which had managed to seize power one after another for close to 320 years. Beginning with the Slave dynasty of Qutubuddin Aibak, who built the famous Qutub Minar, it included the bloodthirsry Allauddin Khilji, the erratic genius Mohammed Bin Tughlaq (an article on him will appear in the near future
) and was currently in the hands of the Lodhis, the current ruler being the largely unpopular Ibrahim Lodhi. The balance of power in India was being maintained between the Afghan chiefs and the Rajputs. Only rarely would a conqueror like Allauddin manage to shift the balance either way. Now, the Afghan nobles saw an opportunity to overthrow the rather ineffectual and unpopular monarch and maybe replace him with someone more amenable to their will. Babur, though had other plans.
In order to challenge the Delhi Sultanate, the Afghan nobles, especially the governor of Punjab, asked the young upstart to challenge the Delhi Sultanate and promised assistance, secretly hoping to get rid of him once the job was done. Babur accepted and once he built up a good enough force of around 10,000 Afghan cavalry, backed up by archers and good Turkish cannons, took on the might of Ibrahim Lodhi at the First Battle of Panipat, the battle which would change the course of Indian history completely. He faced around 100,000 soldiers of the Sultanat and nearly a thousand elephants as well. However, his military genius and the Afghan cavalry ensured that the Mughals routed Ibrahim Lodhi's troops in half a day and killed the Sultan himself. However, his job was hardly done.
Although he took Delhi, more severe challenges lay ahead, least of which was the near revolt of his soldiers at the unbearable heat of India, as against the cool climate of the hills. Babur himself was under attack from all sides and his most formidable threat being theRajput chief of Mewar, Rana Sanga who had gathered a force of 210,000 men and moved against Babur. However babur, with his leadership and new-found sobriety( he gave up alcohol) fought off the Rajputs at Kanwaha and the Mughal kingdom was saved. Not only the Rajputs, but Babur managed to defeat the antagonistic Afghan chiefs and the brother of Ibrahim Lodhi, Mahmud Lodhi at the battle of Ghagra and managed to consolidate the resource rich provinces of Bengal and Bihar, by making peace with the Afghan rulers there as well.
However, Babur was not to enjoy the fruits of his success for long though. Although crowned in 1526 as the ruler of Hindustan, he survived only for another four years, passing away in December 26, 1530 and was buried in Kabul. It is said that he loved his son so dearly that when, Humayun, his son, fell ill, Babur, pleaded with Allah to take his own life and spare his son's. Miraculously, when Humayun recovered, Babur slowly fell ill and eventually died .
Babur, despite his short period of rule laid the basic foundation for Mughal rule in India. His military genius was undoubted and his bravery and leadership inspired many of his men to greater deeds. However, he was not just a conquering grunt, but also a well versed scholar of Persian, and his romantic story Babarnamah is still considered as a classic of Persian literature. He ardently missed the landscape of Afghanistan in the heat and dust of India and laid out several gardens which still survive today.
), which could not have been built anywhere wlse but in India. Mughal rule was also notable for its changes in the revenue system of the country and the growth of all arts and culture of this country. Credit for this must go to the 7 dynamic personalities, who ruled the first 200 years of this empire with wisdom and farsight. From the dynamic Babur, to the capable, but short-lived Bahadur Shah I. Although the Mughal dynasty ended in 1857 with the exile of Bahadur Shah Zafar, by the British, the rot had set in by the death of Bahadur Shah I. So, to trace the history of one of the most glamorous ruling dynasties of the world, I'll start with the first of 7 articles on Babur. I
Babur was born as Zahiruddin Muhammad in Farghana, on 14th February, 1483, in what is now Uzbekistan. His got the name Babur, which means tiger because his grandfather found it difficult to pronounce the name of the aggressive young lad and gave him the name Babur instead. On his mother's side, he was descended from the great Ghenghis Khan and from his father's side, he was a descendant of the famous Timur. Thus the blood of two mighty, if not bloodthirsty conquerors ran in his veins.
Babur, ascended the throne at Farghana ath the age of twelve, upon his father's death. His position was precarious however, and two years later he was exiled from his own kingdom. However, Babur was'nt one to go silently into the night. He was'nt the descendant of Timur and Ghenghiz for nothing. He came back with a stunning campaign into Afghanistan and captured the famous city of Samarkhand and later, Kabul at the age of 20 gave himself the title of Padshah. However, this too was'nt to last long as he lost both Samarkhand and Kabul and once again became an exile.
However, he still had the loyalty of his troops and followers and held them together with his charisma and spirit. For five years, they raided India four times and Babur soon began seeing an opportunity to build another kingdom for himself. Although Babur had only around 10,000 men, feelers were being sent from India by some disgruntled nobles to this dashing raider to help overthrow the Delhi Sultanate..
A brief digression on the political affairs in India at that time. The Delhi Sutlanate comprised of five different dynasties which had managed to seize power one after another for close to 320 years. Beginning with the Slave dynasty of Qutubuddin Aibak, who built the famous Qutub Minar, it included the bloodthirsry Allauddin Khilji, the erratic genius Mohammed Bin Tughlaq (an article on him will appear in the near future
) and was currently in the hands of the Lodhis, the current ruler being the largely unpopular Ibrahim Lodhi. The balance of power in India was being maintained between the Afghan chiefs and the Rajputs. Only rarely would a conqueror like Allauddin manage to shift the balance either way. Now, the Afghan nobles saw an opportunity to overthrow the rather ineffectual and unpopular monarch and maybe replace him with someone more amenable to their will. Babur, though had other plans.In order to challenge the Delhi Sultanate, the Afghan nobles, especially the governor of Punjab, asked the young upstart to challenge the Delhi Sultanate and promised assistance, secretly hoping to get rid of him once the job was done. Babur accepted and once he built up a good enough force of around 10,000 Afghan cavalry, backed up by archers and good Turkish cannons, took on the might of Ibrahim Lodhi at the First Battle of Panipat, the battle which would change the course of Indian history completely. He faced around 100,000 soldiers of the Sultanat and nearly a thousand elephants as well. However, his military genius and the Afghan cavalry ensured that the Mughals routed Ibrahim Lodhi's troops in half a day and killed the Sultan himself. However, his job was hardly done.
Although he took Delhi, more severe challenges lay ahead, least of which was the near revolt of his soldiers at the unbearable heat of India, as against the cool climate of the hills. Babur himself was under attack from all sides and his most formidable threat being theRajput chief of Mewar, Rana Sanga who had gathered a force of 210,000 men and moved against Babur. However babur, with his leadership and new-found sobriety( he gave up alcohol) fought off the Rajputs at Kanwaha and the Mughal kingdom was saved. Not only the Rajputs, but Babur managed to defeat the antagonistic Afghan chiefs and the brother of Ibrahim Lodhi, Mahmud Lodhi at the battle of Ghagra and managed to consolidate the resource rich provinces of Bengal and Bihar, by making peace with the Afghan rulers there as well.
However, Babur was not to enjoy the fruits of his success for long though. Although crowned in 1526 as the ruler of Hindustan, he survived only for another four years, passing away in December 26, 1530 and was buried in Kabul. It is said that he loved his son so dearly that when, Humayun, his son, fell ill, Babur, pleaded with Allah to take his own life and spare his son's. Miraculously, when Humayun recovered, Babur slowly fell ill and eventually died .
Babur, despite his short period of rule laid the basic foundation for Mughal rule in India. His military genius was undoubted and his bravery and leadership inspired many of his men to greater deeds. However, he was not just a conquering grunt, but also a well versed scholar of Persian, and his romantic story Babarnamah is still considered as a classic of Persian literature. He ardently missed the landscape of Afghanistan in the heat and dust of India and laid out several gardens which still survive today.
