Que – Briefly describe the achievements of Babur in India.
Ans-
Zaheeruddin Muhammad Babur, who founded the Mughal dynasty in North India, was a descendant of two great conquerors of Central Asia (related to Genghis Khan from the mother’s side and Timur from the father’s side). In his blood was a mixture of the lineage of the two conquerors. At the age of 12, after taking over the rule of Fargana, his mind was not satisfied with this small state, after taking control of Samarkand and Kabul, other states of his country, he turned towards India. The invasion of India by Babur is an important event in Indian history. Its attack changed the map of India. The Mughal dynasty ruled India for about 200 years. His reign has been praised by all the historians. He was generally successful as a conqueror and empire builder. Historians have the following opinion regarding him which throws light on his achievements-
According to Dr. Smith, “Babur was the most intelligent king among all the emperors of Asia of his era and held an important and high position among all the emperors.” Havel has written about him, “With his charming, handsome personality and artistic nature”.
Dr. Ishwari Prasad has described Babur as a person of high quality among all the rulers of medieval history. According to him, “Babur was a very important figure in the entire medieval history. As a warrior prince and scholar, he was one of the greatest rulers of medieval history.,
Babur was a great conqueror, but not an empire builder. The above question has two aspects. The first aspect of this is that Babur was a great conqueror and the second aspect is that he was neither an able empire builder nor a ruler. To understand both these statements, it would be necessary to see the life and works of Babur.
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As the Conquerer
Conquest of the Punjab – Babur the king of Kabul led serious expeditions to Hindustan But it was not until the close of 1525 that he seriously embarked upon he task of conquering our country. With a large force that he possessed, he marched towards the Punjab, Daulat Khan Lodhi offered resistance, but he was ultimately defeated. Thus Punjab was conquered by Babur. Daulat Khan was pardoned and given some jagir for his maintenance.
First Battle of Panipat( April 1526) – Babur later marched towards Delhi in order to fight against Sultan Ibrahim Lodhi. At the historic field of Panipat, the Mughals and the Afghans came face to face. Ibrahim’s army consisted of about one lakh soldiers while Babur’s forces were nearly 25,000. Even though his army was outnumbered but his cavalry and artillery led by Ustad Ali and Mustafa gave victory to Babur. Thousands of Afghans including Sultan Ibrahim Lodhi were killed in you the field. Thus the Afghans suffered a crushing defeat.
Occupation of Delhi and Agra- After the victory of Panipat, Babur sent forces under Humayun to capture Agra and he himself preceded towards Delhi to take its possession. Babur occupied Delhi very easily, then he went to Agra, which Humayun had already occupied it. Babur bestowed jagirs, grants and gifts upon all his soldiers, as well as his friends and relatives to win their faith and cooperation.
Conquests of neighbouring Afghan Territories-
The victory at Panipat and the occupation of Delhi and Agra did not make Babur the master of the whole of India. There were a large number of Afghan chiefs in the territories of Sambhal, Biyana, Mewat, Dholpur, Gwalior, Rapri, Etawah, Kalpi, Kannauj and Bihar who had asserted independence in their respective territories and had fortified their strongholds. Babur encouraged his soldiers with his speech and they in return expressed their determination. Babur directed his officials to march in various directions to conquer the territories of Sambhal, Rapri, Etawah, Kannauj and Dholpur were conquered.
Battle of Kanwah (March 1527) –
The most formidable rival of Babur was Rana Sangram Singh, the Rajput chieftain of Mewar who had organised a confederacy of the Rajput chiefs and was determined to revive Hindu Padshahi in India. The Rajputs and the Mughals came face to face at Kanwah a village a few miles from Sikri. Rana Sangram Singh was the leader of the Rajput and Afghan chiefs. Babur’s plan of the battle was almost the same as that of the battle of Panipat. Babur fought against the Rajputs and defeated them. This gave a blow to Rajput confederacy.
Capture of Chanderi (January 1528)-
There was no doubt the Rajputs had suffered a miserable defeat at Kanwah but still they were not completely crushed. Medni Rao of Chanderi was a powerful Rajput chief who by virtue of his strength played the the role of King maker in Malwa. In January 1528 Babur personally marched towards Chanderi with a large force. Medini Rao shut himself up in the fort with 5000 men. Babur with full determination attacked the fort of Chanderi. The Rajiputs offered tough resistance, the Rajput women even performed Jauhar. Still the fort was captured by Babur on January 29, 1528. Soon after this Rana Sangram Singh died and his death gave a fatal blow to Rajput power. Having captured Chanderi Babur proceeded to subdue the rebellious Afghan chiefs..
Battle of Ghagra (May 1529) –
Mahmud Lodhi the brother of late Ibrahim had become the master of Bihar and the adjoining territories towards the east. Babur sent his son Askari with a large force against him and soon afterwards followed himself. On his way Babur procured the submission of many Afghan chiefs. Disserted by many of his supporters and feeling himself too weak, Mahmud took shelter with Nusrat Shah of Bengal. Babur now marched towards Bengal and on 6th of My 1529 he inflicted a crushing defeat upon the Afghans at the battle of Ghagra. After this Babur concluded a treaty with Nusrat Shah by which each party agreed to respect the sovereignty of the other. Nusrat Shah also promised not to give shelter to the enemies of Babur.
Thus Babur conquered quite a a large portion of Hindustan extending from the Indus to Bihar and from Himalayas to Gwalior and Chanderi. He ruled over it, administered it and thereby laid the foundation of the Mughal empire. But unfortunately Babur could not get time to take the roots of the empire deep into the soil of our country for the inevitable death took him away on 26th December, 1530.
As an Empire Builder
Babur was a great empire-builder. He came from abroad and shattered the power of Afghans and Rajputs in India and established an empire. In fact, it was Babur who laid the foundation of the Mughal dynasty in India. It is said that Babur was not the real builder of the Mughal Empire. This should be considered. If after the expulsion of his son Humayun, the entire empire was forever in the hands of the Mughals. If he had left for India, he would not have been remembered in the history of India, but he was fortunate that a boy like Akbar was born as his grandson, who laid such a deep and strong foundation of the Mughal Empire that it flourished for more than two hundred years. Keep on flourishing. That’s why many historians consider Akbar to be the real founder of the Mughal Empire in India. There is some truth in this statement, yet we cannot reduce the importance of Babur. It was he who laid the first stone of the foundation of the Mughal Empire in India. That’s why his place in Indian history will remain as a conqueror and the person who laid the foundation stone of Empire.
As Ruler
It is often said about Babur that he did not have administrative talent and was not a skilled politician either. There is an element of truth in this statement as well. He lacked creative intelligence in the field of administration. Everywhere, he continued the old dilapidated and conservative governance institutions and did not try to put into practice the time-friendly and new governance system in their place. He was unfit to do so. The administration of the Delhi Sultanate had collapsed due to the invasion of the Mughals. But Babur did not try to establish a good governance system in its place. One thing we should never forget in this regard is that the conditions were not favorable for this type of reform. Making any kind of change at this time was not free from danger and there was a possibility of fierce rebellion. Babur ruled India for four years. In these four years, he had to be trapped in continuous war. The situation in India at that time was extremely dire and unrest was spread all around. Therefore, the biggest need of that time was that by establishing peace and order in the country, faith should be created in the hearts of the people so that their fear could be dispelled. Therefore, Babur tried to establish peace and order in his kingdom. In his vast empire, which extended from Badakhshan to the western border of Bihar, he made arrangements to protect the life and property of his subjects from robbers. He had got the roads secured in the main parts of his area for easy movement. He also took care that the local officials should not oppress the people. His court was not only the center of culture, but also the center of strict discipline. As a ruler, he took great care of the welfare of his subjects and tried his best to protect them from external aggression and internal disturbance.
Babur’s biggest contribution as a ruler is that he gave pride and respect to the Rajpad. People were not only terrified of Babur, but they also used to respect him. People believed in him as a leader and loved him as a ruler. In times of war, Babur was a stern man, but in times of peace he was the protector and protector of his subjects.
Babur had another specialty. He did not capitalize the entire power of the state in his own hands, but he used to do all the work with the advice and help of his ministers. He trusted his ministers and gave complete freedom to work, but the officials had to do their work with great honesty and responsibility. The officer who acted carelessly was punished. Babur was always alert whether his work was being conducted smoothly or not.
#Achievements of Babur UPSC