Baber, Zahir Al-Din Muhammad

Born Feb. 14, 1483; died Dec. 26, 1530. Uzbek and Indian ruler and military leader; founder of the Great Mogul state (1526) in India. Also famous as a poet and writer. Descended from the Timurid clan.

At the age of about 12, Baber inherited the throne of Fergana from his father. He waged internecine struggles with other feudal lords for many years. In 1504 he was driven from Middle Asia by Uzbek nomads; that same year he also conquered Kabul. Until 1512 he made unsuccessful efforts to recover Bukhara and Samarkand. Beginning in 1519 he launched campaigns from Kabul into northwestern India; in 1525 he undertook a campaign against Delhi. Baber was victorious in battles against the ruler of Delhi, Ibrahim Lodi, at Panipat in April 1526 and against the Rajput prince Sangram Singh at Khanua (near Sikri) in 1527. By 1529, Baber’s holdings included eastern Afghanistan, the Punjab, and the Ganges valley to the borders of Bengal.

Baber’s poems, which were written in almost conversational language, were marked by their chiseled images and aphoristic quality. His main work was the autobiography Babur-nama—the first model of this genre in Uzbek literature. It depicts events from 1493 through 1529 and vividly recreates details of the life of the feudal nobility and of the mores and customs of the era.