Editing Babur (section)

== Ruler of Central Asia ==

=== As ruler of Fergana ===
In 1494, eleven-year-old Babur became the ruler of Fergana, in present-day Uzbekistan, after Umar Sheikh Mirza died "while [[Pigeon keeping|tending pigeons]] in an ill-constructed [[dovecote]] that toppled into the [[ravine]] below the palace".<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Babur, the first Moghul emperor: Wine and tulips in Kabul |url=http://www.economist.com/node/17723207 |magazine=The Economist |date=16 December 2010 |pages=80–82 |access-date=12 June 2015 |archive-date=15 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170115140216/http://www.economist.com/node/17723207 |url-status=live }}</ref> During this time, two of his uncles from the neighbouring kingdoms, who were hostile to his father, and a group of nobles who wanted his younger brother Jahangir to be the ruler, threatened his succession to the throne.{{sfn|Eraly|2007|pp=18–20}} His uncles were relentless in their attempts to dislodge him from this position as well as from many of his other territorial possessions to come.<ref>{{cite book|title=Domesticity and Power in the Early Mughal World |last=Lal |first=Ruby |isbn=0-521-85022-3 |year=2005 |page=69 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |quote=It was over these possessions, provinces controlled by uncles, or cousins of varying degrees, that Babur fought with close and distant relatives for much of his life.}}</ref> Babur was able to secure his throne mainly because of help from his maternal grandmother, [[Aisan Daulat Begum]], although there was also some luck involved.{{sfn|Eraly|2007|pp=18–20}}

Most territories around his kingdom were ruled by his relatives, who were descendants of either Timur or Genghis Khan, and were constantly in conflict.{{sfn|Eraly|2007|pp=18–20}} At that time, rival princes were fighting over the city of Samarkand to the west, which was ruled by his paternal cousin.{{sfn|Eraly|2007|pp=6-7}} Babur had a great ambition to capture the city.{{sfn|Eraly|2007|pp=6-7}} In 1497, he [[Siege of Samarkand (1497)|besieged Samarkand]] for seven months before eventually gaining control over it.<ref name="Afghanistan">{{cite book |last=Ewans |first=Martin |year=2002 |title=Afghanistan: A Short History of Its People and Politics |url=https://archive.org/details/afghanistan00mart |url-access=registration |publisher=HarperCollins |pages=[https://archive.org/details/afghanistan00mart/page/26 26]–27 |isbn=0-06-050508-7 |quote=Babur, while still in his teens, conceived the ambition of conquering Samarkand. In 1497, after a seven months' siege, he took the city, but his supporters gradually deserted him and Ferghana was taken from him in his absence. Within a few months he was compelled to retire from Samarkand&nbsp;... Eventually he retook Samarkand, but was again forced out, this time by an Usbek leader, Shaibani Khan&nbsp;... Babur decided in 1504 to trek over the Hindu Kush to Kabul, where the current ruler promptly retreated to Kandahar and left him in undisputed control of the city.}}</ref> He was fifteen years old and for him the campaign was a huge achievement.{{sfn|Eraly|2007|pp=18–20}} Babur was able to hold the city despite desertions in his army, but he later fell seriously ill.{{sfn|Eraly|2007|pp=6-7}} Meanwhile, a rebellion back home, approximately {{convert|350|km|mi}} away, amongst nobles who favoured his brother, robbed him of Fergana.<ref name="Afghanistan" /> As he was marching to recover it, he lost Samarkand to a rival prince, leaving him with neither.{{sfn|Eraly|2007|pp=18–20}} He had held Samarkand for 100 days, and he considered this defeat as his biggest loss, obsessing over it even later in his life after his conquests in India.{{sfn|Eraly|2007|pp=18–20}}

For three years, Babur concentrated on building a strong army, recruiting widely amongst the Tajiks of [[Badakhshan]] in particular. In 1500–1501, he again laid [[Siege of Samarkand (1501)|siege to Samarkand]], and indeed he took the city briefly, but he was in turn besieged by his most formidable rival, [[Muhammad Shaybani]], [[Khan (title)|Khan]] of the Uzbeks.<ref name="Afghanistan" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/texts/babur/babur1.html |quote=After being driven out of Samarkand in 1501 by the Uzbek Shaibanids&nbsp;... |title=The Memoirs of Babur |access-date=8 November 2006 |work=Silk Road Seattle |publisher=[[University of Washington]] |archive-date=21 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191021154433/https://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/texts/babur/babur1.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The situation became such that Babar was compelled to give his sister, Khanzada, to Shaybani in marriage as part of the peace settlement. Only after this were Babur and his troops allowed to depart the city in safety. Samarkand, his lifelong obsession, was thus lost again. He then tried to reclaim Fergana, but lost the battle there also and, escaping with a small band of followers, he wandered the mountains of central Asia and took refuge with hill tribes. By 1502, he had resigned all hopes of recovering Fergana; he was left with nothing and was forced to try his luck elsewhere.<ref name="VDM0">{{cite book|last=Mahajan|first=V.D.|title=History of medieval India|year=2007|publisher=S Chand|location=New Delhi|isbn=978-81-219-0364-6|edition=10th|pages=428–29}}</ref>{{sfn|Eraly|2007|pp=21–23}} He finally went to [[Tashkent]], which was ruled by his maternal uncle, but he found himself less than welcome there. Babur wrote, "During my stay in Tashkent, I endured much poverty and humiliation. No country, or hope of one!"{{sfn|Eraly|2007|pp=21–23}} Thus, during the ten years since becoming the ruler of Fergana, Babur suffered many short-lived victories and was without shelter and in exile, aided by friends and peasants.

=== At Kabul ===
[[File:Coin of Babur, as ruler of Kabul.jpg|thumb|right|Coin minted by Babur during his time as ruler of [[Kabul]]. Dated 1507/8]]
Kabul was ruled by Babur's paternal uncle [[Ulugh Beg II]], who died leaving only an infant as heir.{{sfn|Eraly|2007|pp=21–23}} The city was then claimed by Mukin Begh, who was considered to be a usurper and was opposed by the local populace. In 1504, Babur was able to cross the snowy [[Hindu Kush]] mountains and [[Siege of Kabul (1504)|capture Kabul]] from the remaining Arghunids, who were forced to retreat to [[Kandahar]].<ref name="Afghanistan" /> With this move, he gained a new kingdom, re-established his fortunes and would remain its ruler until 1526.<ref name="VDM0" /> In 1505, because of the low revenue generated by his new mountain kingdom, Babur began his first expedition to India; in his memoirs, he wrote, "My desire for Hindustan had been constant. It was in the month of Shaban, the Sun being in Aquarius, that we rode out of Kabul for Hindustan". It was a brief raid across the [[Khyber Pass]].{{sfn|Eraly|2007|pp=21–23}}

[[File:Babur Marches from Kabul to Hindustan in 1507.JPG|thumb|left|Babur leaves for Hindustan from Kabul]]

In the same year, Babur united with [[Sultan Husayn Mirza Bayqarah]] of [[Herat]], a fellow Timurid and distant relative, against their common enemy, the Uzbek Shaybani.<ref name="perspect">{{cite book |title=Perspectives on Persian Painting: Illustrations to Amir Khusrau's Khamsah |last=Brend |first=Barbara |year=2002 |isbn=0-7007-1467-7 |publisher=Routledge (UK) |page=188 }}</ref> However, this venture did not take place because Husayn Mirza died in 1506 and his two sons were reluctant to go to war.{{sfn|Eraly|2007|pp=21–23}} Babur instead stayed at Herat after being invited by the two Mirza brothers. It was then the cultural capital of the eastern Muslim world. Though he was disgusted by the vices and luxuries of the city,{{sfn|Eraly|2007|pp=24–26}} he marvelled at the intellectual abundance there, which he stated was "filled with learned and matched men".<ref>{{cite book |title=The Sewing Circles of Herat: A Personal Voyage Through Afghanistan |last=Lamb |first=Christina |page=[https://archive.org/details/sewingcirclesofh00chri/page/153 153] |isbn=0-06-050527-3 |publisher=HarperCollins |year= 2004 |url=https://archive.org/details/sewingcirclesofh00chri/page/153 }}</ref> He became acquainted with the work of the Chagatai poet [[Mir Ali Shir Nava'i]], who encouraged the use of [[Chagatai language|Chagatai]] as a [[literary language]]. Nava'i's proficiency with the language, which he is credited with founding,<ref>{{cite book |title=Mehmed the Conqueror and His Time |last=Hickmann |first=William C. |year= 1992 |isbn=0-691-01078-1 |page=473 |publisher=Princeton University Press |quote=Eastern Turk Mir Ali Shir Neva'i (1441–1501), founder of the Chagatai literary language}}</ref> may have influenced Babur in his decision to use it for his memoirs. He spent two months there before being forced to leave because of diminishing resources;<ref name="perspect" /> it later was overrun by Shaybani and the Mirzas fled.{{sfn|Eraly|2007|pp=24–26}}
Babur became the only reigning ruler of the Timurid dynasty after the loss of Herat, and many princes sought refuge with him at Kabul because of Shaybani's invasion in the west.{{sfn|Eraly|2007|pp=24–26}} He thus assumed the title of ''[[Padshah]]'' (emperor) among the Timurids—though this title was insignificant since most of his ancestral lands were taken, Kabul itself was in danger and Shaybani continued to be a threat.{{sfn|Eraly|2007|pp=24–26}} Babur prevailed during a potential rebellion in Kabul, but two years later a revolt among some of his leading generals drove him out of Kabul. Escaping with very few companions, Babur soon returned to the city, capturing Kabul again and regaining the allegiance of the rebels. Meanwhile, Shaybani was defeated and killed by [[Ismail I]], Shah of [[Shia]] Safavid Persia, in 1510.<ref>{{cite book |title=Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of World Religions |last=Doniger |first=Wendy |isbn=0-87779-044-2 |date= 1999 |page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780877790440/page/539 539] |publisher=Merriam-Webster |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780877790440/page/539 }}</ref>

Babur and the remaining Timurids used this opportunity to reconquer their ancestral territories. Over the following few years, Babur and Shah Ismail formed a partnership in an attempt to take over parts of Central Asia. In return for Ismail's assistance, Babur permitted the Safavids to act as a suzerain over him and his followers.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Islamic World in Ascendancy: From the Arab Conquests to the Siege in Vienna |last=Sicker |first=Martin |isbn=0-275-96892-8 |year= 2000 |page=189 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |quote=Ismail was quite prepared to lend his support to the displaced Timurid prince, Zahir ad-Din Babur, who offered to accept Safavid suzerainty in return for help in regaining control of Transoxiana.}}</ref> Thus, in 1513, after leaving his brother Nasir Mirza to rule Kabul, he managed to take Samarkand for the third time; he also took Bokhara but lost both again to the Uzbeks.<ref name="VDM0" />{{sfn|Eraly|2007|pp=24–26}} Shah Ismail reunited Babur with his sister [[Khanzada Begum|Khānzāda]], who had been imprisoned by and forced to marry the recently deceased Shaybani.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Erdogan |first=Eralp |date=July 2014 |title=Babür İmparatorluğu'nun Kuruluş Safhasında Şah İsmail ile Babür İttifakı |url=http://www.historystudies.net/dergi/tar20151234f99.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.historystudies.net/dergi/tar20151234f99.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |journal= History Studies: International Journal of History|volume=6 |issue=4 |pages=31–39 |doi=10.9737/historyS1150 |doi-broken-date=21 November 2024 |language=tr}}</ref> Babur returned to Kabul after three years in 1514. The following 11 years of his rule mainly involved dealing with relatively insignificant rebellions from Afghan tribes, his nobles and relatives, in addition to conducting raids across the eastern mountains.{{sfn|Eraly|2007|pp=24–26}} Babur began to modernise and train his army despite it being, for him, relatively peaceful times.{{sfn|Eraly|2007|pp=27–29}}