Babur

Born in Fergana in 1483, Babur inherited a throne at twelve and spent two decades losing it. He took Samarkand in 1496, lost his home base, then lost Samarkand again—twice more—to Uzbek rivals who ended his Timurid dreams. In 1504 he pivoted south and took Kabul. Twenty-two years later, in 1526, he defeated Ibrahim Lodi at the First Battle of Panipat and founded the Mughal Empire on the bones of the Delhi Sultanate. His victory over Rana Sanga at Khanwa a year later, won with cannons and tactics, locked down North India. He grew more tolerant as he aged, made room for other faiths, wrote poetr…