distant relative, Shaibani Khan Uzbek. Reduced to a mere fugitive, Babur
soon took Kabul from one of his uncles. He had also developed an interest in
the conquest of India and launched four expeditions between 1519 and 1523.
Towards the end of 1525 Babur left Kabul to conquer India. Daulat Khan
Lodhi, the Lodhi governor of Lahore, surrendered to Babur after some initial
resistance. His victory over the Afghans under Ibrahim Lodhi in the first
battle of Panipat (1526) laid the foundation of the Mughal dynasty in India.
Then his subsequent victories over the Rajputs under the leadership of Rana
Sanga of Mewar in the battle of Khanwa near Agra (1527), and the Afghans
under Muhammad Lodhi in the battle of Ghagara in Bihar (1529)
consolidated the Mughal power in India. Though Babur died at Agra in 1530,
his dead body was taken to Kabul several years later and buried in the terrace
of a garden. According to his will no dome or other structure surmounted his
grave. The Tuzuk-i-Baburi, his memoirs in the Chaghatay-Turki (his mother
tongue), frankly confesses his own failures and are free from inhibitions.
Babur was a devoted follower of the famous Naqshbandiya Sufi Khwaja
Ubaidullah Ahrar.
Humayun (1530–40)
This eldest son of Babur had three half—brothers Kamran, Askari and
Hindal. Following the Turko-Mongol custom, Humayun divided the empire
among his half-brothers, with Kamran receiving Kabul and Badakhshan.
When he was busy tackling the Afghans in the east, he received the alarming
news that Bahadur Shah of Gujarat was moving against the Mughal frontiers.
Humayun hastily made a treaty with the rising Afghan leader Sher Khan Sur,
leaving him in full control of the area east of Banaras.
    Marching towards Malwa, Humayun seized Mandu. Then, displaying
remarkable heroism, he stormed Champaner and Ahmadabad as well. Though
Humayun appointed Askari the viceroy of Gujarat, the latter’s lack of tact
and inexperience alienated his nobles. So when Bahadur marched to
Ahmadabad, Askari fled to Agra. Both Gujarat and Malwa had now passed
out of Mughal control. In the meanwhile Sher Khan had become a formidable
rival.
    When Humayun came to know Sher Khan’s Bengal conquests, he opened