INDIAN HISTORY - 1526 TO 1857

A Treasure of Knowledge in Highlight Form      

• Babur was born on Friday, 14 February, 1483 in Farghanah (Now Khokand in Turkistan).
• His father’s name was Umar Sheikh Mirza. He was ruler of Farghanah.
•  Umar Sheikh Mirza fourth in descent from Amir Timur. His wife Qutlugh Nigar Khanum was the second daughter of Yunus Khan, a direct descendant of Chughtai Khan, the second son Chengiz Khan.
• Umar Sheikh Mirza died on 5^th June 1494 so Babur became the ruler of Farghanah before he was 12.
• Umar Sheikh Mirza was an ambitious person so he left a number of enemies for his son.
• Babur’s uncles, bother paternal and maternal did not have good terms with Umar Sheikh Mirza. Babur faced tough challenges early in his career to survive.
• In 1494 Babur’s uncle Ahmad Mirza died.
• Babur wanted to capture Samarqand, the ancestral home of the Timurid.
• In 1496 Babur made his first attempt to capture Samarqand but failed.
• In 1497 he succeeded in capturing Samarqand but could hold it only for 100 hundred days.
• A rebellion in Farghanah made him quit Samarqand but he returned to find that he had lost Farghanah as well.
• Within a year he was a homeless wanderer.
• . In 1498 he recaptured Farghanah only to lose it in 1500.
• Dring 1500-01 he reoccupied Samarqand but was defeated and driven out after eight months by one of his most impeccable enemies, Shaibani Khan ( or Shah Beg), the Uzbek leader.
• he once again became a fugitive, and after many hardships and frustrations he won the kingdom of Kabul and Ghazni in October, 1504.
• In 1507 he adopted the title of Padshah after assuming the leadership of the Timurid princes who had been uprooted from the principalities by the Uzbeks and Safawis. Previously rulers in Timur’s line were called Mirza or Amir.
• In 1511 he recaptured Samarqand with the help of the Shah of Persia but he was driven out of it and finally returned to Kabul in 1513-14.
• From 1514 till 1525 he was mainly occupied in establishing his position in Kabul and from there turned to the east and south for new fields of adventure.
• It was during this period (1514-1525) that he secured the services of two Turkish artillery officers, Ustad Ali and Mustafa. They later accompanied him to India.
• In 1518 Babur captured Bajaur in two or three hours.
• From Bajaur he proceeded to Bhera on the river Jehlum. He believed that this area belonged to him because it was conquered by his ancestor Amir Timur. He sent an emissary to Sultan Ibrahim Lodi with letters to Daulat Khan Lodi demanding the restitution to him of territories which had once belonged to his ancestors.
• The messenger was detained at Lahore but the negotiations with the Afghans could not be carried through.
• Babur was soon recalled to Kabul and the garrison he had left behind at Bhera was driven away.
• In September, 1519 Babur again marched through Khyber but had to return home.
• In 1520 he went to Bhera and captured Sialkot but once again he had to return home.
• Shah Beg Arghun, the ruler of Qandahar, was serious problem for Babur.
• Babur captured Qandahar in 1522 and appointed his son Kamran as governor there.
• He was invited by Daulat Khan Lodi to help him in dethroning Ibrahim Lodi.
• Babur accepted the invitation, marched into the Punjab and captured Lahore. Dipalpur was captured soon in 1524.
• Daulat Khan and Alam Khan tried to dethrone Ibrahim on their own but were defeated.  
• Daulat Khan requested Babur to reinstate him as governor of Lahore. Babur refused and instead offered him Jullundhar and Sultanpur. Daulat Khan declined to accept this offer therefore Babur gave these territories to Dilawar Khan, son of Daulat Khan.
• Dipalpur was given to Alam Khan.
• On Babur’s return to Kabul Daulat Khan captured Sultanpur from Dilawar Khan and Dipalpur from Alam Khan. Alam Khan fled to Kabul.
• Early in December 1525 Babur launched his final assault against the Afghan rulers in India. Daulat Khan again submitted to him. His life was spared but his territories were confiscated.
• On Feb. 26, 1526 Babur’s eldest son, Humayun, defeated and dispersed an advanced division of Ibrahim’s army near HisarFiruzah.
• After another skirmish with the Afghans Babur reached Panipat on April 12, 1526.
• Ibrahim came out to meet Babur with an army of 100,000. According to Babur himself his army was 12000 strong.  The two armies remained facing each other for over a week. Babur wanted Ibrahim to move out and attack. Babur succeeded in provoking Ibrahim to do so by annoying him with skirmishes. Ibrahim made a frontal attack on April 21. By the midday the Afghan army had been completely beaten and broken.
• Ibrahim was advised during the battle to escape but he rejected the suggestion and died fighting in the thick of the battle.
• Babur then marched to Delhi, rested for two nights on the bank of Jumna and entered the city and visited the tombs of the great saints there on April 24, 1526.
• A diwan and shiqqdar were appointed in the city and on April 27 khutbah was read in his name.
• Humayun was sent to Agra which he occupied.
• The ladies of the Lodi family were well taken care of.
• Babur was given a title of qalandar because of his open hand generosity.
• The Rajput leader Rana Sanga had been carefully watching the scenario playing tricks with both Ibrahim and Babur. When Babur finally decided to stay on in Agra, Rana realized that he had to fight Babur to rule India.
• Raja Sangram Singh was the first to start hostilities by laying siege to Bayana then held by an Afghan, Nizam Khan.  Nizam Khan submitted to Babur in return for military assistance which was immediately given.
• Babur moved south and came upon the army of Rajputs on March 16, 1527 at Kanwaha, 20 miles from Agra.  The army of the Rajputs was 8 times larger then that of Babur but they were utterly defeated by the sunset.
• The battle of Kanwaha completely broke the confederacy of the Rajputs. Babur stopped drinking wine after this battle.
• Babur now adopted the title of ghazi.
• Babur then turned to Chanderi near Bhopal. It was held by Medini Rao who refused to submit. It was attacked and captured.
• On Feb. 2, 1528 Babur moved against the Afghans who had advanced from Bihar. He crossed the Ganges and on March 13 defeated the insurgents.
• He returned to Agra but had to hurry back to fight the Afghans who had received assistance from Nusrat Shah of Bengal.
• In the summer of 1530 Humayun fell seriously ill which worried Babur a lot. He prayed that his life be taken instead of his son’s. Very strangely Humayun recovered but Babur fell ill and died on December 26, 1530.
• He was buried in Aram Bagh opposite the present site of the Taj Mahal according to his own will.
• Later on his body was taken to Kabul and buried on a hill-side.
• He laid out gardens, built aqueducts, bridges and buildings. In Agra 600 persons worked on his palaces and 1491 stone cutters were employed in Agra, Sikri, Dholpur, Gwalior and Koil
• His son Kamran laid out a garden at Lahore and built a baradari on the banks of the river Ravi.
• Two buildings built by Babur still survive; one in Panipat built in 1526 and other in Awadh in 1530.
• Babur was an accomplished Persian poet and master of his language Turki. Besides Baburnamah he has left a diwan; mubin, a treatise on Muslim law in Turki, a treatise on prosody and a metrical translation of Khawajah Ubaidullah’s walidiyya-risalah. 
• He introduced a new script khatti-i-Baburi.
• Babur had left four sons; Humayun, Kamran, Hindal and Askari.
• Humayun was nominated as successor. There was a failed attempt in favor of Mahdi Khawajah, Babur’s son-in-law but Humayun ascended the throne at Agra on December 30, 1530.
• Humayun had worked as governor of Badakhshan at the age of 12.
• Humayun led the right wing of the army at the battle of Kanwaha.
• On accession he confirmed his brother Kamran in Kabul and Qandahar, Askari got Sambhal (Rohailkhand) and Hindal was given Mewat.

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