BABUR
Babur ascended the throne at Farghana, a
small principality in Transoxiana, in 1494 at the
age of twelve after the death of his father. The
situation in Central Asia was not stable and
Babar had to face a lot of resistance from the
nobility itself. Although he was able to capture
Samarqand but very soon he had to retreat
because of desertion of some of his nobles. He
also lost Farghana to the Uzbegs.
Thus, the early years of Babur's rule in central
Asia were tough. During this whole period he
had plans of moving towards Hindustan. And
finally from 1517 onwards he made decisive
moves towards India. A few developments in
India at that time also helped him to act on plans
of invading India.
Timurids
Babur traced his lineage from Timur the great
conqueror of Central Asia and to Chengiz Khan
the distinguished conqueror. From mother's side
he was a descendant of Mongols and from
father's side the great commander Timur. Because
of the lineage of Timur the Mughals are also
referred as Timurids.
The unstable political situation in India after
Sikandar Lodi's death convinced him of political
discontentment and disorder in the Lodi Empire.
Meanwhile there was conflict between some
Afghan chiefs with Ibrahim Lodi. Prominent
among them was Daulat Khan Lodi, the
Governor of a large part of Punjab. The Rajput
king of Mewar Rana Sanga was also asserting
his authority against Ibrahim Lodi and was
trying to increase his area of influence in north
India. Both of them sent word to Babur to invade
India. Invitations from Rana Sanga and Daulat
Khan Lodi might have encouraged Babur's
ambitions.
Babur was successful in capturing Bhira
(1519-1520), Sialkot (1520) and Lahore (1524)
in Punjab. Finally, Ibrahim Lodi and Babur's
forces met at Panipat in 1526. Babur's Soldiers
were less in number but the organization of his
army was superior. Ibrahim Lodi was defeated
in the battle of Panipat. Success at the Battle of
Panipat was a great achievement of Babur's
military tactics. Babur had an active army of only
12000 soldiers while Ibrahim's army had an
estimated strength of 100,000 soldiers. When face
to face in the battle field Babur's tactics were
unique. He effectively applied the Rumi
(Ottoman) method of warfare. He encircled
Ibrahim's army from two flanks. In the centre
his cavalry mounted attack with arrows and gun
fires by expert ottoman gunners. The trenches
and barricades provided adequate defence
against march of the enemy. The Afghan army
of Ibrahim Lodi suffered heavy causalities.
Ibrahim Lodi died in the battle field. Babur was
thus able to take control of Delhi and Agra and
got the rich treasure of Lodis. This money was
distributed among Babur's commanders and
soldiers. Victory at Panipat provided Babur a
firm ground to consolidate his conquests. But
now he was faced with a few problems:
i. His nobles and commanders were eager
to return to Central Asia because they
did not like the climate of India.
Culturally also, they felt very alienated.
ii. Rajputs were rallying around under the
leadership of Rana Sanga the king of
Mewar and wanted to expel the Mughal
forces
iii. The Afghans, though defeated at
Panipat, were still a formidable force in
eastern parts of UP, Bihar and Bengal.
They were re-grouping to reclaim their
lost powers. To begin with Babur
convinced his companions and nobles
to stay back and help in consolidating
the conquered territories. After
succeeding in this difficult task, he sent
his son Humayun to face the eastern
Afghans. Rana Sanga of Mewar
succeeded to muster support of a large
number of Rajput chiefs. Prominent
among these were Jalor, Sirohi,
Dungarpur, Amber, Merta etc. Medini
Rai of Chanderi, Hasan Khan of Mewat
and Mahmud Lodi younger son of
Sikander Lodi also joined Rana with
their forces. Possibly, Rana Sanga
expected Babur to return to Kabul.
Babur's decision to stay back must have
given a big jolt to Rana Sanga's
ambitions. Babur was also fully aware
of the fact that it would be impossible
for him to consolidate his position in
India unless he shattered Rana's power.
The forces of Babur and Rana Sanga
met at Khanwa, a place near Fatehpur
Sikri. Rana Sanga was defeated in 1527
and once again the superior military
tactics of Babur succeeded. With the
defeat of Rana the biggest challenge in
north India was shattered. Though the
Mewar Rajputs received great shock at
Khanwa, Medini Rai at Malwa was still
threatening to challenge the authority
of Babur. In spite of great valour with
which the Rajputs fought in Chanderi
(1528), Babur faced little difficulty in
overcoming Medini Rai. With his defeat,
resistance across Rajputana was
completely shattered.
But Babur had to tackle the Afghans. The
Afghans had surrendered Delhi, but they were
still powerful in the east (Bihar and parts of
Jaunpur). The success against the Afghans and
Rajputs at Panipat and Khanwa was very
significant but the resistance was still present.
However, these victories were a step forward in
the direction of the establishment of Mughal
empire. Babur died in 1530. Still the rulers of
Gujarat, Malwa and Bengal enjoyed substantial
military power and were not suppressed. It was
left to Humayun to face these regional powers.
HUMAYUN'S RETREAT AND AFGHAN
REVIVAL (1530-1540)
After the death of Babur in 1530, his son
Humayun succeeded him. The situation under
Humayun was quite desperate. The main
problems faced by Humayun were:
i. The newly conquered territories and
administration was not consolidated.
ii. Unlike Babur, Humayun did not
command the respect and esteem of
Mughal nobility.
iii. The Chaghatai nobles were not
favourably inclined towards him and
the Indian nobles, who had joined
Babur's service, deserted the Mughals
at Humayun's accession.
iv. He also confronted the hostility of the
Afghans mainly Sher Khan in Bihar on
the one hand and Bahadurshah, the
ruler of Gujarat, on the other.
v. As per the Timurid tradition Humayun
had to share power with his brothers.
The newly established Mughal empire
had two centres of power - Humayun
was in control of Delhi, Agra and
Central India, while his brother Kamran
had Afghanistan and Punjab under
him.
Humayun felt that the Afghans were a
bigger threat. He wanted to avoid a combined
opposition of Afghans from east and the west.
At that time Bahadur Shah had occupied Bhilsa,
Raisen, Ujjain and Gagron and was
consolidating his power. While Humayun was
besieging Chunar in the east, Bahadur Shah had
started expanding towards Malwa and
Rajputana. In such a situation Humayun was
forced to rush back to Agra (1532-33).
Continuing his expansionist policy, Bahadur
Shah attacked Chittor in 1534. Chittor had
strategic advantage as it could provide a strong
base. It would have helped his expansion in
Rajasthan particularly towards Ajmer, Nagor
and Ranthambhor. Humayun captured Mandu
and camped there because he thought that from
here he can block Bahadur Shah's return to
Gujarat. Humayun's long absence from Agra
resulted in rebellions in Doab and Agra and he
had to rush back. Mandu was now left under
the charge of Mirza Askari, the brother of
Humayun. During the period when Humayun
was busy in Gujarat to check Bahadurshah, Sher
Shah started consolidating himself in Bihar and
Bengal. Sher Shah wished to establish himself
as the undisputed Afghan leader. He invaded
the Bengal army and defeated them in the battle
of Surajgarh. Sher Shah could extract quite a
wealth from Bengal which helped him to raise a
bigger army. Now he started attacking Mughal
territories of Banaras and beyond. Humayun
was quite suspicious of Sher Shah's ambitions
but failed to estimate his capabilities.
