Babur is remembered as the conqueror of India and founder of the Mughal dynasty. Born in 1483 in Andijan, present-day Uzbekistan, his full name was Zahīr ud-Dīn Muhammad Babur. His family was part of the “Mongolized Turkic” population that arose following the conquests by Genghis Khan in c. 1200 and the establishment of the mixed empire of Timur (Tamerlane) in c. 1385. Babur was a direct descendant of Timur through his father and of Genghis Khan through his mother.
When Timur died in 1405, his empire fragmented into several principalities. In 1494, when Babur was twelve, he inherited a small principality in the Fergana Valley following the unexpected death of his father. He defended himself against competitors trying to unseat him. But he also tried to conquer other parts of Uzbekistan and even of Iran to reestablish Timur’s empire. He took possession of Samarkand but lost it after only one hundred days. At one other time he lost both Samarkand and Fergana, leaving him to wander about in exile with no kingdom at all.
In 1504 Babur used his army to seize Kabul. He made it a secure, defensible, and prosperous capital and gradually extended his control over much of Afghanistan. Between 1519 and 1524, he conducted a series of increasingly bold raids into Punjab. In 1524 he captured Lahore, and in 1526 he defeated the much larger army of Sultan Ibrahim Lodi at Panipat (north of Delhi). Delhi and Agra fell within days, and after two further battles against local confederations (in 1527 at Khanwa west of Agra and in 1529 at Ghaghra on the Gangees), he ended organized resistance to Mughal rule and became the undisputed ruler of India.
When Babur died in 1530 at Agra at the age of forty-seven, he left behind an empire stretching from Kabul to the borders of Bengal. His military genius lay in combining Central Asian cavalry tactics with gunpowder technology, disciplined logistics, and personal boldness—qualities that his successors used to build into one of history’s greatest empires. The Baburnama, his memoirs, written in Chagatai Turkic, is a remarkable document that includes observations on medicine, illness, diet, and climate. He mentions extreme weather conditions, freezing winters in the mountains of Central Asia and the oppressive heat of India. He commented on India’s unfamiliar diseases and meticulously recorded the flora and fauna of the regions he traversed, describing animals like the rhinoceroses and various exotic fruits and flowers, commenting on differences in water quality influencing digestion and overall health. He lamented the absence in India of the fruits he had enjoyed in Central Asia, such as melons and grapes, which he associated with vitality and well-being. He took steps to introduce Central Asian horticulture into India, creating gardens whose fruits provided nourishment but were also beneficial to health, providing fresh air, shade, and sustenance.
Babur’s memoirs also reveal his personal experiences with illness and injury, struggles with depression and grief, drinking habits, and personal feelings. He described episodes of fever and exhaustion, as well as the lingering effects of wounds sustained in battle, alluding to the limited medical practices of his time, which relied on herbal remedies, diet, and rest. He comes across as a wise ruler who understood that the happiness of his subjects was important and that it depended on their health and the environment.