Editing Babur (section)

== Formation of the Mughal Empire ==
{{Main|Lodi dynasty|Delhi Sultanate|Siege of Kabul (1504)}}
[[File:Babar 936.jpg|thumb|Babur's coin, based on [[Bahlol Lodhi]]'s standard, [[Agra Fort|Qila Agra]], [[anno Hegirae|AH]] 936|170x170px]]

Babur still wanted to escape from the Uzbeks, and he chose India as a refuge instead of [[Badakhshan]], which was to the north of Kabul. He wrote, "In the presence of such power and potency, we had to think of some place for ourselves and, at this crisis and in the crack of time there was, put a wider space between us and the strong foeman."{{sfn|Eraly|2007|pp=27–29}} After his third loss of Samarkand, Babur gave full attention to the conquest of North India, launching a campaign; he reached the [[Chenab River]], now in [[Pakistan]], in 1519.<ref name="VDM0" /> Until 1524, his aim was to only expand his rule to [[Punjab region|Punjab]], mainly to fulfill the legacy of his ancestor Timur, since it used to be part of his empire.{{sfn|Eraly|2007|pp=27–29}} At the time parts of North India were part of the Delhi Sultanate, ruled by Ibrahim Lodi of the Lodi dynasty, but the sultanate was crumbling and there were many defectors. Babur received invitations from Daulat Khan Lodi, Governor of Punjab and Ala-ud-Din, uncle of Ibrahim.<ref name="RSCHMI">{{cite book |last=Chaurasia |first=Radhey Shyam |title=History of medieval India : from 1000 A.D. to 1707 A.D. |year=2002 |publisher=Atlantic Publ. |location=New Delhi |isbn=81-269-0123-3 |pages=89–90 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8XnaL7zPXPUC&q=babur%20receiving%20invitations%20from%20Daulat%20Khan%20Lodi&pg=PA89}}</ref> He sent an ambassador to Ibrahim, claiming himself the rightful heir to the throne, but the ambassador was detained at [[Lahore]], Punjab, and released months later.<ref name="VDM0" />

[[File:Babur at Mughal Dastarkhan, 1590 CE.jpg|thumb|Babur at Mughal Dastarkhan in 1507 in a painting from {{circa|1590}}]]
Babur started for Lahore in 1524 but found that Daulat Khan Lodi had been driven out by forces sent by Ibrahim Lodi.<ref>{{cite book |last=Chandra |first=Satish |year=2009 |title=Medieval India:From Sultanat to the Mughals |volume=2 |location=New Delhi |publisher=Har-Anand |page=27 |isbn=978-81-241-1268-7}}</ref> When Babur arrived at Lahore, the Lodi army marched out and his army was routed. In response, Babur burned Lahore for two days, then marched to Dibalpur, placing Alam Khan, another rebel uncle of Lodi, as governor.<ref>{{harvtxt|Chandra|2009|pp=27–28}}</ref> Alam Khan was quickly overthrown and fled to Kabul. In response, Babur supplied Alam Khan with troops who later joined up with Daulat Khan Lodi, and together with about 30,000 troops, they besieged Ibrahim Lodi at Delhi.<ref name="autogenerated1">{{harvtxt|Chandra|2009|p=28}}</ref> The sultan easily defeated and drove off Alam's army, and Babur realised that he would not allow him to occupy the Punjab.<ref name="autogenerated1" />

=== First Battle of Panipat ===
{{Main|First Battle of Panipat}}
[[File:1526-First Battle of Panipat-Ibrahim Lodhi and Babur.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Mughal artillery and troops in action during the [[Battle of Panipat (1526)]]]]

In November 1525, Babur got news at [[Peshawar]] that Daulat Khan Lodi had switched sides, and Babur drove out Ala-ud-Din. Babur then marched onto Lahore to confront Daulat Khan Lodi, only to see Daulat's army melt away at their approach.<ref name="VDM0" /> Daulat surrendered and was pardoned. Thus within three weeks of crossing the [[Indus River]] Babur had become the master of Punjab.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Babur | title=Bābur, Mughal emperor |access-date=2023-11-19 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230220132730/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Babur | archive-date=2023-02-20 | url-status=live}}</ref>

Babur marched on to Delhi via [[Sirhind-Fategarh|Sirhind]]. He reached [[Panipat]] on 20 April 1526 and there met Ibrahim Lodi's numerically superior army of about 100,000 soldiers and 100 elephants.<ref name="VDM0" /><ref name="RSCHMI" /> In the battle that began on the following day, Babur used the tactic of ''Tulugma'', encircling Ibrahim Lodi's army and forcing it to face artillery fire directly, as well as frightening its war elephants.<ref name="RSCHMI" /> Ibrahim Lodi died during the battle, thus ending the Lodi dynasty.<ref name="VDM0" />

Babur wrote in his memoirs about his victory:

{{Blockquote|By the grace of the Almighty God, this difficult task was made easy to me and that mighty army, in the space of a half a day was laid in dust.<ref name="VDM0" />}}

After the battle, Babur occupied Delhi, Gwalior and Agra, took the throne of Lodi, and laid the foundation for the eventual rise of Mughal rule in India. However, before he became North India's ruler, he had to fend off challengers, such as Rana Sanga.<ref name="VDM1">{{harvtxt|Mahajan|2007|p=438}}</ref>

Many of Babur's men allegedly wanted to leave India due to its warm climate, but Babur motivated them to stay and expand his empire.{{Citation needed|date=May 2024}}

=== Battle of Khanwa ===
{{Main|Battle of Khanwa}}
[[File:Babur visiting the Urvah valley in Gwalior 1.jpg|thumb|upright|Babur encounters the Jain Colossal at the [[Siddhachal Caves|Urvahi valley]] in [[Gwalior]] in 1527. He ordered them to be destroyed<ref>"Gwalior Fort: Rock Sculptures", A Cunningham, ''Archaeological Survey of India'', pp. 364–70</ref>]]

The Battle of Khanwa was fought between Babur and the [[Rajput]] ruler of [[Mewar]], [[Rana Sanga]] on 16 March 1527. Rana Sanga wanted to overthrow Babur, whom he considered to be a foreigner ruling in India, and also to extend the Rajput territories by annexing Delhi and [[Agra]]. He was supported by Afghan chiefs who felt Babur had been deceptive by refusing to fulfil promises made to them. Upon receiving news of Rana Sangha's advance towards Agra, Babur after annexing Gwalior and Bayana took a defensive position at [[Khanwa]] (currently in the Indian state of [[Rajasthan]]), from where he hoped to launch a counterattack later. According to K.V. Krishna Rao, Babur won the battle because of his "superior generalship" and modern tactics; the battle was one of the first in India that featured cannons and muskets. Rao also notes that Rana Sanga faced "treachery" when the Hindu chief [[Silhadi]] joined Babur's army with a garrison of 6,000 soldiers.<ref name="Rao">{{cite book |first=K. V. Krishna |last=Rao |title=Prepare Or Perish: A Study of National Security |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G7xPaJomYsEC&pg=PA453 |isbn=978-81-7212-001-6 |publisher=Lancer Publishers |page=453 |year=1991 |access-date=7 October 2020 |archive-date=5 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240205161458/https://books.google.com/books?id=G7xPaJomYsEC&pg=PA453#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Battle of Chanderi ===
The [[Battle of Chanderi]] took place the year after the Battle of Khanwa. On receiving news that Rana Sanga had made preparations to renew the conflict with him, Babur decided to isolate the Rana by defeating one of his staunchest allies, [[Medini Rai]], who was the ruler of Malwa.<ref name="Lane-Poole">{{cite book |last=Lane-Poole |first=Stanley |author-link=Stanley Lane-Poole |year=1899 |title=Babar |url=https://archive.org/details/babar035008mbp |pages=182–83 |publisher=The Clarendon Press}}</ref><ref name="Chandra">{{cite book |last=Chandra |first=Satish |author-link=Satish Chandra (historian) |year=1999 |title=Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals |volume=2 |edition=1st |location=New Delhi |publisher=Har-Anand Publications |page=36 |oclc=36806798}}</ref>

Upon reaching Chanderi, on 20 January 1528,<ref name="Lane-Poole" /> Babur offered Shamsabad to Medini Rao in exchange for Chanderi as a peace overture, but the offer was rejected.<ref name="Chandra" /> The outer fortress of Chanderi was taken by Babur's army at night, and the next morning the upper fort was captured. Babur himself expressed surprise that the upper fort had fallen within an hour of the final assault.<ref name = "Lane-Poole" /> Seeing no hope of victory, Medini Rai organized a ''[[jauhar]]'', during which women and children within the fortress [[Self-immolation|immolated themselves]].<ref name="Lane-Poole"/><ref name="Chandra" /> A small number of soldiers also collected in Medini Rao's house and killed each other in collective suicide. This sacrifice does not seem to have impressed Babur, who did not express a word of admiration for the enemy in his autobiography.<ref name="Lane-Poole" />