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The Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire, also known as Mogul, rebellion against the
Timurid or Hindustan empire is considered one sultan, and then made
of the classic periods of India’s long and amazing plans for an attack on
history. In 1526, Zahir-ud-Din Muhammad Delhi. The decisive
Babur, a man with Mongol heritage from central encounter with the sultan,
Asia, established a foothold in the Indian subcon- Ibrahim Lodi, took place
tinent which was to last for more than three on the historic battlefield
centuries. of Panipat on April 21,
In India, the Mughal Empire was one of the 1526. It is probable that
greatest empires ever. The Mughal Empire ruled Babur had fewer than
hundreds of millions of people. India became 12,000 men, in contrast Babur
united under one rule and had very prosperous to at least 100,000 in the
cultural and political years during the Mughal army of the sultan, but he had the decisive
rule. There were many Muslim and Hindu advantages of fine artillery and disciplined, well-
kingdoms split all throughout India until the led troops. The sultan had nothing and before
founders of the Mughal Empire came. There evening he and 15,000 of his soldiers were dead,
were some men such as Babar, grandson to the and the road was open to Delhi and Agra. After
Great Asian conqueror Tamerlane and the Babur had taken these, he swept on to capture
conqueror Genghis Khan from the northern the other great centers of North India—Gwalior,
region of Ganges river valley, who decided to Kanauj and Jaunpur. His strongest opposition
take over Khyber and eventually all of India. came from the famous Rana Sanga, the Rajput
BABUR (1526-1530) ruler of Mewar, who had collected a great force
of Hindu chieftains and a few Muslim nobles.
Babur had established himself in Kabul, in 1504.
After he had been driven out of Farghana by the The two armies met at Khanua, a village near
westward movement of the Uzbegs and when he Agra, on March 16, 1527. Although, the Rana
found that he was prevented from expansion was a far better leader than the sultan, his brav-
towards Persia by the rise of a new dynasty there, ery was no match for Babur’s superior tactics and
he turned his attention to India. There the revival modern weapons. Rana Sanga’s defeat meant
the end of Rajput hopes for a restoration of
of Hindu power and the virtual independence of
Hindu power; also it freed Babur’s army for
the Muslim governors provided him with an
mopping-up operations against the Afghan
opportunity to attack the sultanate with the
supporters of the sultan in the outlying provinces.
assurance that he would not be met by any
united resistance. In 1525, he captured Lahore, By 1529, he was master of the Gangetic plain as
the capital of Punjab, whose ruler was in virtual far as Patna in Bihar, but he died in the following
year before he could complete the conquest of
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