Ruler · 1483 to 1530

Babur

A Timurid prince from Fergana who lost his homeland, took Kabul and then won north India at Panipat in 1526. His frank memoir, the Baburnama, is one of the great autobiographies.

At a glance

Lived: 1483 to 1530
Role: Ruler
Dynasty: Mughal Emperors
Era: Three gunpowder empires
Chapter: 4. Al-Andalus and the Subcontinent

Battles

1526
First Battle of Panipat
Mughal victory. Babur's guns and cavalry beat a much larger army.

Babur's world

1683: Three gunpowder empires

Mehmed II took Constantinople in 1453. Selim I conquered Egypt in 1517 and the caliphate passed to the Ottomans. Suleiman won at Mohacs in 1526, and a second siege of Vienna failed in 1683. Further east, Safavid Iran and the Mughals of India ruled at the same time.

See the 1683 map Read chapter 4

People of the same era

Akbar Aurangzeb Alamgir Tipu Sultan Osman I Mehmed II, the Conqueror Selim I Suleiman the Magnificent Hayreddin Barbarossa

Dates for early figures are often approximate. Spotted a mistake? Tell us