Babur (Babar)
1483 - 1530
Founder of the Mughal Empire in India
Babur, a descendant of
Genghis Khan and
Tamerlane, was born in an area called Farghana in what is now
Afghanistan. In his early life
Babur tried unsuccesfully to conquer
Samarkand (which had been ruled by his ancestor
Tamerlane from
1369 -
1405) . In
1505 he was forced to flee over the Hindukush mountains to
Afghanistan where he increased his following and made himself
master of
Kabul.
He assembled an
army then laid claim to
Punjab because
Tamerlane had conquered it years before. He defeated the Sultan of Delhi in the battle of Panipat (
1525) and assumed the title of Emperor of Hindustan, thus establishing the rule of the Mughals (a term derived from the word
mongol) that lasted until the 18th century.