Page 37 - SST Class 07
P. 37

The Mughal Emperors                             5













             q   Babur                                              q   Humayun
             q   Sher Shah Suri                                     q   Akbar
             q   Jahangir                                           q   Shah Jahan
             q   Aurangzeb                                          q   Later Mughals

            Introduction                                            he had cannons, which was a new kind of

            Babur defeated Ibrahim Lodi in the battle of Panipat    weaponry and proved devastating for the enemy.
            in 1526 and invaded India. His invasion put the         With this, Babur occupied Delhi and Agra.
            Delhi Sultanate to an end. He laid the foundation of
                                                                          Info Bits
            the Mughal empire in India. The Mughals                       Info Bits
            established a strong empire and their ruling over
            India became the most important event of the             It is said that the army of Ibrahim Lodi was as
            medieval period.                                         large as nine times that of Babur.
            The first six Mughal rulers made the most impact;       Daulat Khan Lodi never expected Babur to stay
            they were—Babur, Humayun, Akbar, Jahangir, Shah         back in India, so he turned against him, but he
            Jahan and Aurangzeb.                                    was defeated by Babur. Rana Sanga challenged
                                                                    Babur, but he was also defeated at the battle of
                                   BABUR                            Khanwa  . Babur went on to annex Gwalior,
                                                                    Dholpur, Ghaghara etc. Babur did not live long
            Babur was a descendent of two great lineages—
                                                                    after his arrival in India. He died in 1530 and was
            Changiz Khan    on the mother side and Timur     on     succeeded by his son, Humayun    .
            the father side. However, he and later Mughals
            liked to be associated with Timur and not with
                                                                          Info Bits
            Changiz Khan. Babur was the ruler of a small                  Info Bits
            kingdom of Farghana      in Central Asia. He had         Babur is better known as a poet in Central Asia
            been driven out from there. He occupied Kabul in         than a ruler who started a great dynasty in India.
            1504 and set down to
            expand it further. He                                   Besides being an able general and administrator,
            wanted to annex India                                   Babur was also a poet and writer. He knew both
            to his kingdom, and                                     Turkish   and    Persian   well.   He    wrote   an
            when    Daulat    Khan                                  autobiography      named      Tazuk-i-Baburi      or
            Lodi invited him for                                    Baburnama. It can be called
            invasion, he availed                                    the first true autobiography by
            this opportunity.            Babri Masjid at Panipat    a   Muslim    ruler.   He    has
                                                                    described his life in detail.
            Babur fought with Ibrahim Lodi at Panipat in 1526
                                                                    Also, he has written about
            and defeated him. Babur had a smaller army but          Indian topography, birds, trees,
            he was a better commander who applied better
                                                                    flowers, fruits and people etc.
            tactics in the deployment of his army. Moreover,                                                Babur
                                                                                           The Mughal Emperors
                                                                                                                 37
   32   33   34   35   36   37   38   39   40   41   42