CAPF-AC (Assistant Commandant) Exam Study Material : History - Mughal Empire
CAPF-AC (Assistant Commandant) Exam Study Material : History - Mughal Empire
History : Mughal Empire
Babur (1484-1530)
Zahiruddin Muhammad Babur, descended from his father’s side in the 5th
generation from Timur. and through his mother in the 15th generation from
Chenghiz Khan. Reasons for his Indian expedition.
TheOttomans defeated the Safavids and the Uzbeks controlled Trans oxiana forcing
Babur’s imperial impulses towards India.
Meagre income of Kabul, Desire to emulate Timur was the cause of Babur’s
invasion to India. He was invited to attack India by Daulat Khan Lodi, Subedar
of Punjab; Ibrahim Lodi’s uncle Alamkhan Lodi and Rana Sanga.
He was successful in his 5th expedition. In the Battle of Panipat 20th April 1526. he finally defeated Ibrahim Lodhi. Babur was the first one to entitle himself as the ‘Padshah’. Some important wars by Babur are as following:-
- Battle of Panipat (1526)- Babur defeated Ibrahim Lodi
- Battle of Khanwa (1527)- Babur defeated Rana Sanga
- Battle of Chanderi(1528)- Babur defeated Medini Rai
After the Kushans, he was the first to bring Kabul and Kandahar into the Indian empire, which provided stability since it was the staging post of invasions of India. This helped in promoting trade since these towns were the starting points of caravans meant for China in the east & Mediterranean in the west. Babur
Babur’s effective use of field cannon and matchlockmen ensured the success of his much smaller force. The Lodi Sultan had failed to integrate firearms into his military machine, and thus proved unable to meet the Mughal challenge. Ibrahim Lodi along with over fifteen thousand soldiers, perished on the battlefield.
Babur, like his men, was also not too enthused about India. This can be discerned from his autobiography, the Tuzuk-i-Baburi, in which he notes that Hindustan was “a country of few charms”. But Babur was equally certain that his destiny did not lie in poverty-stricken Kabul.
Babur now solemnly declared that they were engaged in a religious war, jihad, to keep afloat the banner of Islam in a pagan land. In a dramatic gesture, he broke wine vessels and renounced drinking before the assembled troops. He also abolished tamgha (stamp duty) for Muslims.
He had left written instructions that he be buried in Kabul. For a while his body was entombed in the Aram Bagh in Agra, opposite the present site of the Taj Mahal. Sometimes between 1539 and 1544, however, his remains were transported to his final resting place in Kabul, at a site he himself had chosen.
The char baghs, the symmetrically laid out gardens with flowing waters and fountains, were introduced into India by Babur.
He was also a writer of great elegance, proficient in Persian, Arabic as well as his native Turkish. The Tuzuk-i-Baburi, besides being a refined piece of prose writing, is an invaluable source material for understanding the times in which he lived. Babur died in 1530.
केन्द्रीय सशस्त्र पुलिस बल (सहायक कमांडेंट) के लिये स्टडी किट
Study Kit for Central Armed Police Forces(AC)
Humayun (1530-40 & 1555-56)
Upon the death of Babur, Humayun succeeded his father, but as per the Timurid tradition, was forced to share power with his brothers. Thus, Mirza Sulaiman was given Badakshan. Mirza Kamaran inherited Kabul and Qandahar, while Askari and Hindal received territories to administer within India.
Humayun exhibited considerable military skills and personal valour in the campaign against Bahadur Shah and even managed to defeat him. Yet the Mughal forces withdrew without either deposing the ruler or annexing the kingdom.
In 1537. Sher Khan invaded Bengal and besieged the ruler, Mahmud Shah, at his
capital, Gaur.
Humayun marched to the aid of the Bengal ruler. But instead of relieving Gaur,
he laid seige to the Chunar fort, which had recently come into Sher Khan’s
possession. This faulty strategy facilitated Sher Khan’s eventual takeover of
Bengal.
Sher Khan further enhanced his prestige and position in the Afghan Mughal battle at Chausa in 1539, where Humayun’s forces were completely routed and Humayun himself narrowly escaped alive. Sher Khan now assumed the title of Sher Shah.
A final battle between the two forces near Kanuaj in 1540 could not tilt the
scales in favour of the Mughals. The Afghans had triumphed politically once
again and Sher Shah emerged as the new ruler of north India.
He expanded the frontiers of the empire, but lost it to the Afghan leader Sher
Shah Sur. who drove him into exile. Humayun tool: refuge in the court of the
Safavid ruler of Iran. In 1555 Humayun defeated the Surs, but died a year later.
Humayun spent the next fifteen years in exile, in search of allies to reclaim
his throne.
Disillusioned, he finally left India in 1544 for the Safavid court in Persia,
where further troubles awaited him. The ruler. Shah Tahmasp, forced him and his
followers to recant Sunni Islam and accept the Shi’i faith as the price for
shelter and help.