Foundation

of Mughal
Empire
Agenda
 Introduction
 Babur : Founder of Mughal Empire
 Conquest of Babur
 Significance of Babur’s Advent
Introduction
The Mughal Empire (1526 -1540 , 1555-1707) was one of the largest
empires of the Indian Subcontinent.
It was founded by Babur in 1526 and continued to expand until the
beginning of the eighteenth century.
During the period preceding Mughal India, the region was governed
by the Delhi Sultanate – a generation of Muslim leaders.
Thus , the history of pre Mughal India already had a conflict between
Muslim governors and Hindu residents.
During the rule of Akbar the Great, this struggle between the two
religions was softened, the emperor tried to establish tried to establish a
state with a level of religious freedom.
Babur : The Founder Of The
Mughal Empire (1526-1530)
Babur is the founder of Mughal Empire.
He was a descendant of Timur (on his father’s side ) and Genghis Khan (on his
Mother’s side) .
His original name was Zahir-ud-din Muhammad Babur.
In 1494 at the age of 11, Babur became the ruler of Farghana ( at present in
Uzbekistan) succeding Umar Shaikh Mirza, his father.
Daulat Khan, the most powerful noble of Punjab, who was discontented with
Ibrahim Lodhi, invited Babur to invade india.
He undertook four expeditions to India in order to conquer it between the
years 1519 and 1523.
Military Conquest Of Babur
1. Battle of Panipat, Haryana :1526
- Between Babur and Ibrahim Lodhi (Ruler of Delhi Sultanate, Lodhi
dynasty.
2. Battle of Khanwa , Rajasthan : 1527
. - Between Babur and Rana Sanga ( Maharana of Mewar)
3. Battle of chanderi, Madhya Pradesh : 1528
. - Between Babur and Medini Rai ( Rajput leader of eastern – Malwa)
4. Battle of Ghagra, 1529
. - Between Babur and Muhammad Lodhi ( Brother of Ibrahim Lodhi ).
 Battle of Panipat , Haryana : 1526
.1. The first battle of Panipat was fought in 1526 between Babur and
Ibrahim Lodhi.
2. Reason : The battle was the result of policies of Ibrahim Lodhi which
 resulted in nobility turning against him and rebelling .
3. Ibrahim Lodhi’s attitude towards his officials and nobility was
 . resented.
4. He also crushed and put to death nobility who rebelled against
him.
5. Thus Daulat Khan invited Babur to fight against him.
6. Hence the first battle of panipat fought. It result s in the Babur
declaring him as “Emperor of Hindustan” on April 27 th 1526.
To be continued…

The Military Force :

1. Babur’s forces number around 15,000 menu with 20 to 24 pieces of
field artillery.
2. The fighting force of Ibrahim Lodhi was around 30,000 to 40,000
menu to total , along with at least 1000 war elephants.
3. Babur’s army used guns which proved to be decisive in the
battlefield but the Sultan lacked any field artillery.
4. Moreover, the sound of the cannons used by Babur’s army
frightened Lodi’s elephant, causing them to trample Lodhi’s own
men.
To be continued…
Babur’s Tactics :
1. The weapons were not all, it was Babur’s tactics of Tulughma and
Araba that led him to victory .
Tulughma :
it was a tactic of dividing the whole army into small units and
placing them on the left , right and centre flanks.
. Araba :
it meant carts tht were positioned in a large number in rows facing
the enemies and tied to each other with ropes.
3. Behind the Araba, cannons were places which could be fired
without any fear of being hit as they were shielded by the bullock
carts which were held in place due to the hide ropes holding them
together.
To be continued…
Result :
.1. The Mughal Forces of Babur, the Timurid ruler of Kabulistan,
defeated the much larger ruling army of Ibrahim Lodhi, Sultan of
. Delhi.
. The victory enabled Babur to lay the foundation for the Indian
. Mughal Empire.
2. Ibrahim Lodhi died on the field of battle.

NOTE :
This was one of the earliest battle’s involving gunpowder firearms and field
Artillery.
Battle of Khanwa, Rajasthan : 1527
1. The battle of Khanw a happened 40 km or 60 km w est of Agra between Babur of Mughal Empire and the Rajput King Rana
. Sanga Of Mew ar on 16th March, in 1527.

. Reason :
A. Ambitious of Babur and Rana Sanga :
- Both had very high ambitious of name and fame. Both had an eye on the whole of India. Each wanted
. to become supreme power.
. B. Charge of breach of faith :
- Both accuesd each other of breach of faith. From the records it is not clear whether any agreement
was made between the two when Babur invaded India. Babur’s accusation was that Rana Sanga was
the rulers of India invite him to attack India but he rendered no help to him in the battle of Panipat.
. Rana sanga, on the other hand accused Babur of not accepting his claim on Kalpi, Dhaulpur and
. Agra.
- T hat is the reason after the war of Panipat, the king instantly announced the major w ar against the
. Mughal Emperor Babur.
2. Maharana Sangram Singh w as the ultimate name of Rana Sanga.
3. He w as considered as one of the great historical leaders in india, w ho fought the battle of Khanw a against the Mughal
. Emperor Babur .
To be continued…

Result :

Babur won the battle of Khanwa just because of his

strong strategy and tactics. Although Rajput has had a
large number of army forces in his team . Rana Sanga was
defeated in the war. Babur’s victory consolidated new
Mughal Dynasty in India..
Battle Of Chanderi, Madhya
Pradesh: 1528
1. The battle of Chanderi was faught between Mughal Emperor
Babur and Medini Rai , Rajput ruler of Malwa and an ally of Rana
Sanga.
2. The battle took place during January 1528 AD.
Reason :
The main reason of the battle was that Babur offered Shamsabad
. to Medini Rai in exchange of Chanderi , but the offer was rejected
by Rai.
To be continued…

Result :
In spite of the brave Rajput defence, the battle was over within a day
of the Mughal attack, with the Fort falling only within an hour.
As a custom , Medini Rai organised ‘Jauhar ‘ and many women,
children and even soldiers committed suicide to escape capture.
However, Babur was disgusted by this act and he ordered a tower of
skulls to be built or erected in order to mark his victory and also to
terrorize ememies,
This was a rather a aghast ( filled with sudden horror ) event that
eventually converted the image of Sultan tyrannical ( unjustly cruel )
And he could never won the heart of his people. Nevertheless it left a
black spot on his character.
Battle of Ghagra , 1529

1. Although the battle of Khanwa had established Babur as the undisputed

emperor of Delhi, he had yet to fight the remaining Afghan chiefs. The
prominent among them was Muhammad Lodhi , who was the younger brother
of Ibrahim Lodhi.
2. The battle of Ghaghra was fought between Sultan Mahmud Lodhi ( Afghan)
and Babur ( Founder of Mughal Empire) on 6 th May 1529.
3. Muhammad Lodhi was aided by the Sultan of Bengal Nusrat Shah. Babur
again turned victorious and it consolidated his power in India.

Note :
4. It was the first battle that was fought on the land as well as on the
. banks of the river.
5. The Mughal Dynasty in India was established properly through the
Battle of Ghaghra.
Significance of Babur’s Advent
into India :
1. Babur introduced a new mode of warfare in india. Although gun
powder was known in india earlier, Babur showed what a skilled
combination of artillery and cavalry could achieve. His victories led to
rapid popularization of gunpowder and artillery in india. Since artillery
was expensive, it favoured those rulers who had large resources at
their command ; Hence the era of small kingdoms ended.
2. By his new military methods as well as by his personal conduct, Babur
re-established the prestige of the Crown which has been eroded since
the death of Firuz Tughalq.
3. Babur had the prestige of being a descendant of two of the most
famous warriors of Asia, Changez and Timur. None of his nobles could,
therefore, claim a status of equality with him, or aspire to his throne.
The challenge to hiss position, if any, could come only from a Timurid
Prince.
To be continued…

4. Babur endeared himself to his begs by his personal qualities. He

. was always prepared to share the hardships with his soldiers. Once,
at the height of winter, Babur was returning to Kabul. The snow was
. so deep that horses would sink into it and parties of soldiers had to
. trample the snow that the horses could pass. Without hesitation,
. Babur joined in the back-breaking task. Following Babur’s example,
his begs also joined in the task.
5. Babur was a fond of wine. At the same time , he was a Stern
. . disciplinarian and a hars taskmaster. He took good care of his begs
. , and was prepared to excuse many of their faults as long they were not disloyal.
6. He was prepared to adopt the same attitude towards his Afghan and Indian nobles
Howev er, he did have a steak of cruelty, probably inherited from his ancestors, for he
made towers of skulls from the heads of hisopponent on a number of occasions.
To be continued…

7. These, and other instances of personal cruelty, have to be seen in the

context of harsh time in which Babur lived.
8. An , orthodox Sunni, Babur was not bigoted or led by the religious
divines.
9. At the time when there was a bitter sectarian feud ( communal fight)
between the Shias and the Sunnis in Iran and Turant, his court was free
from theological and sectarian conflicts. He declared the battle
against Sangas a jihad and assumed the title of Ghazi after the victory,
but the reason were clearly political.
10. Though his reign was a period of war, only a few instances can be
found of destruction of temples. There is no evidence that the
mosques built at Sambhal and Ayodhya by the local governors were
built by breaking the Hindu temples there. Perhaps, they only repaired
existing mosquoes, and put in an inscription in honour of Babur.
To be continued…

11. Babur was deeply learned in Persian and Arabic, and is regarded as
on of the two most famous writers in the Turkish language which was his
mother tongue. As a prose writer, he had no equal, and his famous
memoirs, the Tuzuk-i-baburi, is considered one of the classics of world
literature.
12. His other works include masnavi and the Turkish translation of a well-
known Sufi work. He was in touch with the famous poets and artists of
the time and describes tier works in his memoirs.
13. He was a keen naturalist, and has described the flora and fauna of
India in considerable detial.
14. He laid out a number of formal gardens with running water thereby
establishing a tradition of building gardens. Babur introduced a new
concept of the state which was to based on thee strength and
prestige of the Crown, absence of religious and sectarian bigotry, and
the careful fostering of culture and the fine arts. He thus provided a
precedent and a direction for his successors.
Thanks