ABOUT ME

Dr. MAHIPAL SINGH RATHORE

I teach History, Polity and

Current Affairs for UPSC CSE
7 Years of teaching Experience.
Mentor for UPSC aspirants
Follow me on @mahipalsir

For PDF and Lecture Updates,

Join Telegram channel
Pathfinder

Dr. Mahipal Rathore Sir

• Since ancient times, the silk routes (through which Europe
traded, mainly in silk, with Asia) passed through Central
Asia.

• Central Asia was inhabited by many different nomadic

tribes.

Some of them were warlike, like the Yuezhi (formed the

Kushan Empire) and Scythians (related to the Sakas).

Others were merchants, like the Sogdians (they were

Buddhists).
The fertile Ferghana valley of Central Asia, drained by the
Oxus and Jaxartes rivers, has always been the bone of
contention among the Central Asian nomadic tribes.
Ferghana Valley in
100BC (time around
the Kushan Empire)

Amu Darya = Oxus

Syr Darya = Jaxartes

Coming back to Medieval
times, where we left off in
the last lecture…
1405 – Timur’s death.
Power of Timurids declined in the 2nd half of the
15th Century.
Turmoil in post-Timurid Central Asia –

Rise of 2 major powers:

Uzbeks (looked down upon by Timurids for being

barbarians, despite Uzbeks converting to Islam) =
Sunnis.

Safavid Iran = Shia nationalists.

West Asia = Ottoman Turks (captured Constantinople

in 1453).
1494 – 12-year-old Timurid prince, Babur
– became ruler of Ferghana valley.

Soon captured Samarqand from his

uncle, in a succession war.

Uzbeks under Shaibani Khan overran

Samarkand and ousted Babur.
1504 – Babur
pushed south to
Kabul; Uzbeks came
up to Herat.
• Babur defeated Uzbeks with the help of Safavid Iran
and reinstalled at Samarkand – but as provincial
governor under the Safavids.

• Safavids faced conflict with Sunni Ottomans in the

west.

• Uzbek tribes returned to Central Asia – Babur retreats

to Kabul, once again.

Riches of India and revenue from the fertile districts of

Punjab attracted Babur.
1517 – Sultan of Delhi Sikandar Lodi died.

Ibrahim Lodi attempts to expand Delhi sultanate – conflict with

provincial governors and nobles.

Daulat Khan Lodi governor of Punjab.

Rana Saanga (Sangram Singh I)
– independent Rajput ruler of
Mewar.

Conflict with Ibrahim Lodi, and

wants to consolidate his rule over
northern India.
1518-19 – Babur conquered Bhira fort.

1520 to 1521 – Crossed the Indus and captured Bhira and

Sialkot once again.

Daulat Khan Lodi + his son Dilawar Khan = invite* Babur to

invade India and displace Ibrahim Lodi.

*DKL assumed Babur would plunder and return, leaving

him in charge.
 Babur’s Battles in Northern India
1st Panipat 1526 – Ibrahim Lodi (use of gunpowder + Ottoman
gunners and techniques gave Babur advantage despite smaller army)

Khanwa 1527 – Rana Sanga of Mewar (most important battle to win

over India – first Rajput coalition against invaders since Prithviraj
Chauhan at Tarain) – Babur assumed the title of “Ghazi” after this
victory.

Chanderi 1528 – Medini Rai.

Ghaghra 1529 – Mahmud Lodi.

These victories
brought resources to
Babur

- Territory expanded
all over the
gangetic doab
region.
1529 – Crossed Ganga near Benaras and faced the Afghan lords led by
Sultan Nusrat Shah of Bengal.

No decisive victory – Afghans in Bihar and Bengal continued to be

independent.
Zahiruddin Muhammad
Babur 1526-30
• Laid the foundation of the Mughal
Empire in India.

• For the first time since the Kushan

Empire (1st Century – Kanishka), Kabul
and Kandahar in the same kingdom as
northern India and Delhi.
Babur 1526–1530
Humayun (first reign) 1530–1540

Humayun (second reign) 1555–1556

Akbar 1556–1605
Jahangir 1605–1627
Shahryar Mirza (de facto) 1627–1628

Shah Jahan 1628–1658

Alamgir I (Aurangzeb) 1658–1707
The establishement of a
common rule of central Asia
and north India strengthened
India’s foreign trade – silk
route from China passed
through this empire.
• Babur had shown himself to be a keen builder.

• Constructed the magnificent garden of the Bagh-i Wafa in Kabul

with impressive fountains, pomegranate trees, clover
meadows, orange groves and plants brought from far and wide.

• As he established himself in India, he carried on with his

glorious garden designs – despite complaining about the
difficulties of the terrain.
“He was dismayed that water supply was
such a problem in the north of the Indian
subcontinent; ‘everywhere I looked’, he
wrote with horror, ‘was so unpleasant and
desolate’ that it was hardly worth the effort
of trying to create something special.
Eventually he steeled himself, settling on a
site near Agra: ‘although there was no really
suitable place [near the city], there was
nothing to do but work with the space we
had’.
Eventually, after considerable effort and
great expense, in ‘unpleasant and
inharmonious India’, splendid gardens were
created.”
Major achievements of Babur-

Re-established prestige of the Delhi crown for the first time since
Firuz Shah Tughlaq.

• Popularised gunpowder and artillery in India.

• Autobiography BABURNAMA (Tuzuk-i-Babari)- Chagtai Turki

language.
Flora and Fauna of India.
Frank writing without any hyperbole.
Babur’s tomb at Bagh-e-Babur,
Kabul.
Telegram Link:

For PDFs Download

Telegram Channel : Dr. Mahipal Rathore Sir