The Fragmented Landscape of 16th-Century South Asia

In the year 1500, travelers through South Asia would have encountered a land fractured into dozens of rival kingdoms—a mosaic of competing ethnic elites vying for power, prestige, and control over India’s vast resources. Yet within a single century, nearly the entire northern half of the subcontinent would be unified under one formidable empire: the Mughals. The first six emperors, known as the “Grand Mughals,” left behind some of Asia’s most breathtaking architectural wonders, from the marble splendor of the Taj Mahal to Akbar’s short-lived capital, Fatehpur Sikri (the “City of Victory”). To some historians, they epitomized Oriental despotism—rulers defined by brutal succession wars and relentless military conquests. Others highlight their dynamic engagement with India’s Sanskritic traditions. In popular imagination, they remain synonymous with unimaginable wealth, opulent palaces, and treasure vaults overflowing with gems.

The Origins of the Mughals: Between Mongol and Turkic Legacies

The dynasty founded by Babur was called “Mughal,” a Persian term for “Mongol,” though Babur himself preferred emphasizing his father’s Turkic lineage. By the 15th century, “Mongol” carried connotations of barbarism. As Babur wryly noted, “Even if all Mongols were angels, they would still be a wretched people.”

The Mughal story begins in 1483 with the birth of Zahir al-Din Babur in present-day Uzbekistan. His father, a descendant of Timur (Tamerlane), ruled Ferghana, a small but fertile region near Samarkand. Babur’s mother traced her ancestry to Genghis Khan. At just 11, Babur ascended the throne after his father’s bizarre death—crushed beneath a collapsing dovecote. His early reign was marked by instability: three failed attempts to capture Samarkand left him homeless, wandering Central Asia’s mountains with a dwindling band of followers.

Babur’s Conquest of India: A Gambit Born of Necessity

By 1504, Babur abandoned dreams of Samarkand and seized Kabul instead, gaining control of strategic trade routes. His subsequent raids into India initially aimed at plunder, but after a final failed bid for Samarkand in 1514, he turned his ambitions southward. In 1526, with just 8,000 troops, he faced the Delhi Sultanate’s Ibrahim Lodi at Panipat. Outnumbered, Babur relied on cutting-edge artillery—cannons and matchlock guns—deployed behind a barrier of chained carts. The tactic annihilated Lodi’s forces, and Babur entered Delhi as victor.

Yet India disappointed him. In his memoir, the Baburnama, he lamented the lack of “good horses, fine grapes, or even cold water,” and scorned local customs. His soldiers, longing for Afghanistan’s cool highlands, had to be persuaded to stay. “Shall we return to Kabul in wretchedness?” he demanded.

Clash with the Rajputs: The Battle of Khanwa

Babur’s next challenge came from Rana Sanga of Mewar, a Rajput leader seeking to revive a Hindu empire. At Khanwa in 1527, Babur again used his cart-barrier tactic against Sanga’s larger force. Before battle, he dramatically poured out his wine reserves, declaring a ghazi (holy warrior) jihad against the “infidel” Rajputs. Victory was brutal—Babur ordered enemy skulls piled into pyramids as a warning.

Legacy of the Grand Mughals

Babur died in 1530, just four years after founding the empire. His memoir, unlike the embellished chronicles of his successors, remains startlingly candid—chronicling battlefield terror, youthful infatuations, and even the color of his poisoned excrement. His successors, particularly Akbar, would consolidate Mughal rule through diplomacy and cultural synthesis, but Babur’s military genius laid the groundwork.

The Mughals’ legacy endures in India’s art, architecture, and even its pluralistic identity. As historian Hermann Keyserling observed, they were “the greatest rulers humanity has produced”—warriors, aesthetes, and dreamers whose empire shaped a continent.