The Mughal Empire in India was founded by Zahiruddin Muhammad Babur, a descendant of the Mongol conqueror Genghis Khan and the Turkic conqueror Timur (also known as Tamerlane). Babur was born in 1483 in the Fergana Valley (now in Uzbekistan) and ascended the throne of Fergana at the age of 12. After losing control of Samarkand and Fergana to the Uzbeks, Babur turned his attention to India, employing aid from the neighboring Safavid and Ottoman empires.
In 1526, Babur defeated the Sultan of Delhi, Ibrahim Lodi, at the First Battle of Panipat and founded the Mughal Empire. He then went on to defeat the Rajput confederacy under Rana Sanga of Mewar at the Battle of Khanua in 1527. By 1529, Babur had secured his dominions from Kandahar to the borders of Bengal, with a southern limit marked by the Rajput desert and the forts of Ranthambhor, Gwalior, and Chanderi.
The Mughal Empire was notable for its more than two centuries of effective rule over much of India. The work of consolidating the empire was performed by Babur’s grandson, Akbar the Great.
Akbar was able to extend the empire in all directions and controlled almost the entire Indian subcontinent north of the Godavari River.
He created a new ruling elite loyal to him, implemented a modern administration, and encouraged cultural developments.
The Mughal Empire began to decline after the death of Aurangzeb in 1707. By 1760, the empire was reduced to the region in and around Old Delhi. The empire was formally dissolved by the British Raj after the Indian Rebellion of 1857.
Babur is rightly considered the founder of the Mughal Empire, even though the work of consolidating the empire was performed by his grandson Akbar. The Mughal dynasty was notable for its more than two centuries of effective rule over much of India and for the ability of its rulers, who through seven generations maintained a record of unusual talent.
Babur’s prose memoirs, the Bābur-nāmeh, have become a renowned autobiography, portraying a ruler unusually magnanimous for his age, cultured, and witty, with an adventurous spirit and an acute eye for natural beauty.