Babur

Babur (Persian: بابر‎‎, lit. "Tiger"; 14 February 1483 – 26 December 1530), born Ẓahīr-ud-Dīn Muḥammad (Arabic: ظهیرالدین محمد‎, Zahir al-Din Muhammad), was a conqueror from Central Asia who, following a series of setbacks, finally succeeded in laying the basis for the Mughal dynasty in the Indian subcontinent and became the first Mughal emperor. He was a direct descendant of Turco-Mongol conqueror Timur (Tamurlane) from the Barlas clan, through his father, and also a descendant of Genghis Khan through his mother. He was also influenced by the Persian culture and this affected both his own actions and those of his successors, giving rise to a significant expansion of the Persianate ethos in the Indian subcontinent.

Though born as Zahiruddin Muhammad Babur, he was commonly known as Babur. He was the eldest son of Umar Sheikh Mirza. He ascended the throne of Fergana in 1495 at the age of twelve and faced rebellion from his own relatives. He conquered Samarkand two years later, only to lose the city of Fergana soon after. In his attempt to reconquer it, he lost control of Samarkand. In 1501, his attempt to recapture both cities went in vain as he was defeated by Muhammad Shaybani Khan. In 1504, he conquered Kabul, which was under the rule of the infant heir of Ulugh Begh. Babur formed a partnership with Safavid ruler Ismail I and reconquered parts of central Asia including Samarkand, only to lose Samarkand and the other newly conquered lands again to the Uzbeks.

Ibrahim Lodi

Ibrahim Lodi (Pashto: ابراهیم لودي‎, Urdu: ابراہیم لودی‎;) became the Sultan of Delhi in 1517 after the death of his father Sikandar. He was the last ruler of the Lodi dynasty, reigning for nine years between 1517 until being defeated and killed at the battle of Panipat by Babur's invading army in 1526, giving way to the emergence of the Mughal Empire in India.

Biography

Ibrahim was an ethnic Pashtun. He attained the throne upon the death of his father, Sikandar, but was not blessed with the same ruling capability. He faced a number of rebellions. The Mewar ruler Rana Sangram Singh extended his empire right up to western Uttar Pradesh and threatened to attack Agra. There was rebellion in the East also. Ibrahim Lodi also displeased the nobility when he replaced old and senior commanders by younger ones who were loyal to him. His Afghan nobility eventually invited Babur to invade India. In 1526, the Mughal forces of Babur, the king of Kabulistan (Kabul, Afghanistan), defeated Ibrahim's much larger army in the Battle of Panipat. Ibrahim was killed during the battle. It is estimated that Babur's forces numbered around 25,000–30,000 men and had between 20 to 24 pieces of field artillery. Ibrahim Lodi had around 30,000–40,000 men along with at least 100 elephants . After the end of Lodhi dynasty, the era of Mughal rule commenced .

Rana Sanga

Maharana Sangram Singh (12 April 1484 – 30 January 1528) commonly known as Rana Sanga, was Rana of Mewar and head of a powerful confederacy threatening all the non-Indian Muslim dynasties of India during the 16th century. He belonged to Sisodiya clan of Rajputs. Rana ruled between 1508 and 1528.

Rana Sanga succeeded his father, Rana Raimal, as king of Mewar in 1508. He fought against the Mughals in the Battle of Khanwa, which ended with Mughal victory, and died shortly thereafter on 30 January 1528.

He was married to Rani Karnavati who later committed Jauhar on 8 March 1535 A.D. inside Chittorgarh Fort. This was the second of the three Jauhars performed at Chittor. She was the mother of the next two Ranas, Rana Vikramaditya Singh and Udai Singh II, and grandmother of Maharana Pratap.

Succession to throne

Rana Sanga, a grandson of Kumbha, succeeded to the throne of Mewar after a prolonged power struggle against his brothers.

Conquest of Malwa

After consolidating his position in Mewar, Sanga moved his army against the neighbouring kingdom of Malwa, which was suffering from internal dissension under the rule of Mehmod Khilji. Wary of the power of Medini Rai, his Rajput wazir, the politically weak Mehmod sought outside assistance from both Sultan Ibrahim Lodi of Delhi and Bahadur Shah of Gujarat; whereas Rai, on his part, requested Sanga to come to his aid. Thus began the prolonged war between Mewar against the Muslim sultans of North India in the Battle of Gagron.

Indian subcontinent

The Indian subcontinent or the subcontinent is a southern region of Asia, mostly situated on the Indian Plate and projecting southwards into the Indian Ocean from the Himalayas. Definitions of the extent of the Indian subcontinent differ but it usually includes the core lands of India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh;Nepal, Bhutan, and Sri Lanka, and the Maldives are often included as well. The region is also called by a number of other names including South Asia, a name that is increasingly popular.

Nomenclature

The region has been variously labelled as "India" (in its pre-modern sense), the Indian subcontinent (a term in particularly common use in the British Empire and its successors) and South Asia. Though the terms "Indian subcontinent" and "South Asia" are sometimes used interchangeably, some academics hold that the term "South Asia" is the more common usage in Europe and North America. According to historians Sugata Bose and Ayesha Jalal, the Indian subcontinent has come to be known as South Asia "in more recent and neutral parlance."Indologist Ronald B. Inden argues that the usage of the term "South Asia" is becoming more widespread since it clearly distinguishes the region from East Asia.

Genghis Khan

Genghis Khan (/ˈdʒɛŋɡɪs ˈkɑːn/, often pronounced /ˈɡɛŋɡɪs ˈkɑːn/;Mongol: [tʃiŋɡɪs xaːŋ]; c. 1162 – 18 August 1227), born Temüjin, was the founder and Great Khan (emperor) of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous empire in history after his demise.

He came to power by uniting many of the nomadic tribes of Northeast Asia. After founding the Mongol Empire and being proclaimed "Genghis Khan", he started the Mongol invasions that resulted in the conquest of most of Eurasia. These included raids or invasions of the Qara Khitai, Caucasus, Khwarezmid Empire, Western Xia and Jin dynasties. These campaigns were often accompanied by wholesale massacres of the civilian populations – especially in the Khwarezmian and Xia controlled lands. By the end of his life, the Mongol Empire occupied a substantial portion of Central Asia and China.

Before Genghis Khan died, he assigned Ögedei Khan as his successor and split his empire into khanates among his sons and grandsons. He died in 1227 after defeating the Western Xia. He was buried in an unmarked grave somewhere in Mongolia at an unknown location. His descendants extended the Mongol Empire across most of Eurasia by conquering or creating vassal states out of all of modern-day China, Korea, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and substantial portions of modern Eastern Europe, Russia, and Southwest Asia. Many of these invasions repeated the earlier large-scale slaughters of local populations. As a result, Genghis Khan and his empire have a fearsome reputation in local histories.