What was the history of Mughal Emperor Babur ?

In the diwan-i-khas Akbar deals mainly with affairs of state. To satisfy another personal interest, in comparative religion, he builds a special ibabat-khana ('house of worship'). Here he listens to arguments between Muslims, Hindus, Jains, Zorastrians, Jews and Christians.

The ferocity with which they all attack each other prompts him to devise a generalized religion of his own (in which a certain aura of divinity rubs off on himself).

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The Christians involved in these debates are three Jesuits who arrive from Goa in 1580. As the first Europeans at the Moghul court, they are a portent for the future.

Akbar is succeeded in 1605 by his eldest and only surviving son, Jahangir. Two other sons have died of drink, and Jahangir's effectiveness as a ruler is limited by his own addiction to both alcohol and opium. But the empire is now stable enough for him to preside over it for twenty-two years without much danger of upheaval.

Instead he is able to indulge his curiosity about the natural world (which he records in a diary as vivid as that of his great-grandfather Babur)

his love of painting. Under his keen eye the imperial studio brings the Moghul miniature to a peak of perfection, maintained also during the reign of his son Shah Jahan.

Moghul miniatures: 16th - 17th century

Professional Indian artists learn too from these Persian masters.

Humayun and the young Akbar take lessons in drawing.

When Humayun wins his way back into India, in 1555, he brings with him two Persian artists from the school of Bihzad. Humayun

From this blend of traditions there emerges the very distinctive Moghul school of painting.

Full-bodied and realistic compared to the more fanciful and decorative Persian school.

n 1494, the Emir of Ferghana died suddenly, and 11-year-old Babur ascended his father's throne. His seat was anything but secure, however, with numerous uncles and cousins plotting to replace him.

Evidently aware that a good offense is the best defense, the young emir set out to expand his holdings. By 1497, he had conquered the famous Silk Road oasis city of Samarkand.

While he was thus engaged, however, his uncles and other nobles rose in rebellion back in Andijan. When Babur turned to defend his base, he once again lost control of Samarkand.

the determined young emir had regained both cities by 1501, but the Uzbek ruler Shaibani Khan challenged him over Samarkand, and dealt Babur's forces a crushing defeat. This marked the end of Babur's rule in what is now Uzbekistan.

The battle that followed, now called the First Battle of Panipat, marked the fall of the Delhi Sultanate. With superior tactics and firepower, Babur crushed Lodi's army, killing the sultan and 20,000 of his men. Lodi's fall signaled the beginning of the Mughal Empire (also known as the Timurid Empire) in India.

Rajput Wars

Babur had overcome his fellow Muslims in the Delhi Sultanate (and of course, most were happy to acknowledge his rule),

the mainly-Hindu Rajput princes were not so easily conquered. Unlike his ancestor, Timur, Babur was dedicated to the idea of building a permanent empire in India

he was no mere raider. He decided to build his capital at Agra. The Rajputs, however, put up a spirited defense against this new, Muslim, would-be overlord from the north.

Knowing that the Mughal army was weakened after the Battle of Panipat, the princes of Rajputana gathered an army even larger than Lodi's had been and went to war behind Rana Sangam of Mewar.

. In March of 1527, at the Battle of Khanwa, Babur's army managed to deal the Rajputs a huge defeat. The Rajputs were undaunted, however, and battles and skirmishes continued all over the northern and eastern sections of Babur's empire for the next several years.

Death of Babur

In the autumn of 1530, Babur fell ill. His brother-in-law conspired with some of the Mughal court nobles to seize the throne after Babur's death, by-passing Humayun, Babur's eldest son and appointed heir.