History
The Mughal Empire
Foundation: Babur, Humayun and Sher Shah
Babur, Panipat 1526, Khanwa, Humayun's exile, Sher Shah Suri's reforms (rupiya, roads, revenue) and Humayun's return, for CGPSC Prelims and Mains.
Prerequisites
- The Delhi Sultanate — the Lodis were the last Sultanate dynasty; Babur’s victory at Panipat ended their rule. Knowing Sultanate institutions (iqta, sarkar, pargana) makes Sher Shah’s reforms easier to place.
- Chapter overview: The Mughal Empire — the learning path and what each page covers.
The Hook: The Word on Your Banknote
Connect
Take any note out of your wallet in Raipur or Bilaspur. Printed on it, in Devanagari, is the word rupaye (रुपये). The name goes back to the rupiya (रुपिया), a standard silver coin issued by an Afghan ruler who held Delhi for barely five years in the middle of the Mughal story: Sher Shah Suri (शेरशाह सूरी).
Between 1526 and 1556 north India changed hands four times. A prince from Central Asia won it with cannon, his son lost it to Sher Shah, and won it back only months before his own death. How did the Mughals win north India, lose it, and come back, and why did the man who interrupted them leave the longer administrative legacy?
Why it matters: Prelims asks battle–year–opponent combinations (Panipat, Khanwa, Chausa, Kannauj) and Sher Shah’s reforms. Mains GS-I asks you to assess Sher Shah as an administrator and as a forerunner of Akbar.
Babur (बाबर), 1526–1530
Who he was
| Point | Detail |
|---|---|
| Full name | Zahir-ud-din Muhammad Babur |
| Born | 1483, in Fergana (in present-day Uzbekistan) |
| Descent | Timur on his father’s side, Chengiz Khan on his mother’s side. The dynasty called itself Timurid; “Mughal” (from Mongol) is the name others used |
| Before India | Lost Fergana and Samarkand to the Uzbeks; captured Kabul in 1504 and ruled from there |
| Title | Took the title Padshah (पादशाह) in 1507, rejecting any overlord |
| Memoir | Baburnama (बाबरनामा), also called Tuzuk-i-Baburi, written in Chagatai Turkish (his mother tongue). It was translated into Persian under Akbar |
Why he came to India
- Central Asian prospects were blocked by the Uzbeks and the Safavids.
- The Lodi Sultanate under Ibrahim Lodi was divided. Daulat Khan Lodi (governor of Punjab) and Alam Khan (Ibrahim’s uncle) invited Babur. Babur himself claims in his memoir that Rana Sanga of Mewar also invited him, but this is disputed.
- Punjab had been claimed by Timur’s line since Timur’s invasion of 1398.
The four battles
| Battle | Date | Opponent | Result and significance |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Battle of Panipat | 21 April 1526 | Ibrahim Lodi | Ibrahim killed on the field. End of the Delhi Sultanate; foundation of Mughal rule. Babur used the tulughma (तुलुगमा) flanking tactic and field artillery laid out behind carts tied together (the “Ottoman” or Rumi device), with gunners Ustad Ali Quli and Mustafa |
| Battle of Khanwa | March 1527 | Rana Sanga of Mewar and allies (incl. Afghan Mahmud Lodi) | Decisive Rajput defeat. Babur declared it a jihad, gave up wine, abolished the tamgha (a trade tax) for Muslims, and took the title Ghazi |
| Battle of Chanderi | 1528 | Medini Rai (Rajput chief of Chanderi, Malwa) | Fort captured |
| Battle of Ghaghra | 1529 | Afghans of Bihar and Bengal under Mahmud Lodi | Fought near the Ghaghra–Ganga confluence. First major battle fought on both land and river |
Death: Babur died at Agra in December 1530. He was first buried at Agra (the Aram Bagh, also called Ram Bagh) and later reburied, as he had wished, in Kabul (Bagh-e Babur).
Babur's significance (Mains)
- Introduced gunpowder artillery as a decisive field weapon in north India and showed the power of mobile cavalry plus guns.
- Revived the idea of a strong, centralised monarchy after the fragmented late Sultanate. His title Padshah put the ruler above every noble, a break from the Afghan idea of the king as first among equals.
- Brought the Central Asian charbagh (चारबाग) four-quartered garden to India.
- The Baburnama is a frank, observant autobiography, valuable for its descriptions of Hindustan’s plants, animals, people and economy.
- But he ruled only four years, spent mostly fighting, and left no lasting administrative system.
Humayun (हुमायूँ), 1530–1540 and 1555–1556
Nasir-ud-din Muhammad Humayun inherited an unconsolidated empire, a Timurid custom of sharing the realm among brothers (Kamran got Kabul and Kandahar, plus Punjab), and two strong rivals: Bahadur Shah of Gujarat and the Afghans of Bihar under Sher Khan.
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1532 | Defeated Afghan chief Mahmud Lodi at Dadrah (also spelt Dauhrua) |
| 1535–36 | Campaign against Bahadur Shah of Gujarat; took Mandu and Champaner but could not hold Gujarat |
| 1539 | Battle of Chausa (near Buxar, Bihar): defeated by Sher Khan, who then crowned himself Sher Shah |
| 1540 | Battle of Kannauj (also called Bilgram): final defeat; Humayun fled |
| 1540–1555 | Exile of about 15 years. Wandered in Sindh and Rajasthan; his son Akbar was born at Amarkot (Umarkot, Sindh) in 1542; took refuge with Shah Tahmasp of Safavid Persia |
| 1545 | With Persian help, took Kandahar and later Kabul from his brother Kamran |
| 1555 | Defeated the Afghans at Machhiwara and Sirhind (Punjab); re-entered Delhi in July 1555 |
| 1556 (January) | Died after falling from the stairs of his library, the Sher Mandal, in the Purana Qila (Delhi) |
Sources on Humayun
- Humayun-nama (हुमायूँनामा) by his half-sister Gulbadan Begum, written at Akbar’s request. It is one of the few Mughal histories written by a woman.
- Humayun had founded the city Din-panah in Delhi (1533). Sher Shah later rebuilt the site, and it is known today as the Purana Qila (पुराना किला).
- Two Persian painters, Mir Sayyid Ali and Abd al-Samad (Khwaja Abdus Samad), joined Humayun from the Safavid world. They later founded the Mughal studio under Akbar (see Art and Architecture).
Why Humayun failed (Mains):
- Division of the empire with brothers (especially Kamran’s hold on Kabul and Punjab, the military recruiting base).
- Two fronts: Bahadur Shah in the west and the Afghans in the east.
- Underestimating Sher Khan, and personal lapses (long halts after victories).
- Afghan resurgence: the Afghans still saw north India as theirs after the Lodis.
The Sur Interlude: Sher Shah Suri (1540–1545)
Rise
| Point | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original name | Farid (Farid Khan), son of an Afghan jagirdar at Sasaram (Bihar) |
| Title “Sher Khan” | Traditionally from killing a tiger (sher) while in the service of the ruler of Bihar |
| Key victories | Chausa (1539) and Kannauj (1540) over Humayun |
| Death | 1545, killed by an accidental gunpowder explosion while besieging Kalinjar fort (Bundelkhand) |
| Tomb | Sasaram, Bihar, built on an island in an artificial lake |
| Successors | Islam Shah (1545–1553); then the dynasty weakened through succession fights. Hemu, minister of Adil Shah Sur, was the last major Sur-side commander |
Reforms (the core of every question)
| Area | Reform |
|---|---|
| Currency | Standard silver rupiya (रुपिया) of about 178 grains; copper dam (दाम); gold mohur. Ended the debased mixed-metal (billon) coins. The rupiya-and-dam pattern continued under the Mughals |
| Land revenue | Land was measured; produce estimated by crop and land quality; the state’s share fixed at about one-third of the produce. The cultivator received a patta (पट्टा) stating the revenue due and signed a qabuliyat (क़बूलियत) accepting it. Revenue could be paid in cash or kind |
| Roads and sarais | Restored and extended the great road from Sonargaon (Bengal) to the north-west, the basis of the later Grand Trunk Road. Other roads ran Agra–Burhanpur, Agra–Jodhpur–Chittor and Lahore–Multan. Sarais (rest houses) along the roads also served as dak-chauki (postal relay) posts |
| Administration | Empire divided into sarkars, each into parganas. In a sarkar: shiqdar-i-shiqdaran (law and order) and munsif-i-munsifan (revenue, civil disputes). In a pargana: shiqdar, amin/munsif, treasurer (fotedar) and two karkuns (clerks: one for Persian, one for Hindi) |
| Police and justice | Village headmen (muqaddams) were made responsible for crimes in their area: local collective responsibility |
| Army | Revived Alauddin Khalji’s practices: dagh (दाग़), branding of horses, and chehra (चेहरा), a descriptive roll of soldiers, to stop fraud. Direct recruitment of soldiers |
| Trade | Customs duty collected only at the point of entry and at the point of sale, removing many internal tolls |
Building: the Qila-i-Kuhna mosque in the Purana Qila, Delhi, and his tomb at Sasaram. Rohtas Fort (in present-day Pakistan) is also attributed to him.
Literature in his time: Malik Muhammad Jayasi (मलिक मुहम्मद जायसी) completed the Awadhi epic Padmavat (पद्मावत) around 1540.
Sher Shah and Akbar: continuity
Akbar built on Sher Shah’s foundations:
- Currency: the rupiya and dam continued.
- Revenue: measurement, crop rates and the patta–qabuliyat idea led to Todar Mal’s zabti / dahsala system. Raja Todar Mal had himself served Sher Shah before joining Akbar.
- Units: the sarkar and pargana remained the units below the Mughal suba.
- Army checks: dagh and chehra became part of the mansabdari system.
This is why historians often call Sher Shah a forerunner of Akbar. The difference: Sher Shah centralised intensely in his own person in a five-year reign. Akbar built institutions (suba, mansab, ministries) that outlasted him.
Second Battle of Panipat (5 November 1556)
After Humayun’s death, Hemu (हेमू), the Hindu general and minister of Adil Shah Sur, captured Agra and Delhi and took the title Raja Vikramaditya. At the Second Battle of Panipat on 5 November 1556, the young Akbar and his regent Bairam Khan defeated him; Hemu was struck in the eye by an arrow, captured and executed. This battle secured Mughal rule permanently.
Timeline at a Glance
timeline
title Foundation of Mughal rule, 1526–1556
1526 : First Panipat - Babur defeats Ibrahim Lodi
1527 : Khanwa - Babur defeats Rana Sanga
1528 : Chanderi - Medini Rai defeated
1529 : Ghaghra - Afghans defeated
1530 : Babur dies, Humayun succeeds
1539 : Chausa - Sher Khan defeats Humayun
1540 : Kannauj - Humayun flees, Sur rule begins
1545 : Sher Shah dies at Kalinjar
1555 : Humayun regains Delhi
1556 : Humayun dies, Second Panipat - Akbar defeats HemuChhattisgarh Angle
When Babur won at Panipat, the Kalachuris of Ratanpur were still ruling the Chhattisgarh plain, as they had for centuries, and the forest kingdoms of Bastar and the Gond states of the Narmada–Mahanadi uplands lay outside the reach of Delhi. Mughal power reached this region mainly through tribute and diplomacy rather than direct annexation. Read the Ratanpur story in Kalachuris of Ratanpur and Raipur.
Memory Tricks
Babur's battles: 'Please Keep Children Ghar' (26-27-28-29)
Panipat 1526 → Khanwa 1527 → Chanderi 1528 → Ghaghra 1529. One battle a year in four straight years; opponents in the same order: Ibrahim, Sanga, Medini, Mahmud (“I Saw My Mughal”).
Humayun's two defeats: 'Chausa then Kannauj, C before K'
Chausa 1539, Kannauj 1540. The alphabet order matches the date order. And “Humayun fell in life and fell in death”: fled in 1540, died falling down the stairs in 1556.
Sher Shah's reforms: 'RUPEE Road Patta'
Rupiya coin · Road (Sonargaon to the north-west) with sarais as dak posts · Patta–qabuliyat for peasants. Add dagh–chehra from Alauddin for the army.
Don’t Confuse
| This | vs | That |
|---|---|---|
| First Panipat (1526) — Babur vs Ibrahim Lodi | vs | Second Panipat (1556) — Akbar/Bairam Khan vs Hemu (Third Panipat, 1761, is Marathas vs Ahmad Shah Abdali) |
| Khanwa (1527) — vs Rana Sanga; Babur took the title Ghazi | vs | Haldighati (1576) — Akbar’s army vs Maharana Pratap (Sanga’s grandson) |
| Patta — document given to the peasant stating the revenue | vs | Qabuliyat — deed of acceptance signed by the peasant |
| Baburnama — Chagatai Turkish, by Babur | vs | Humayun-nama — Persian, by Gulbadan Begum |
| Dagh and chehra — first systematised by Alauddin Khalji | vs | Revived by Sher Shah, institutionalised by Akbar |
Common Mistakes
MCQ traps
- “Babur defeated Rana Sanga at Panipat.” False. Panipat (1526) was against Ibrahim Lodi; Sanga was defeated at Khanwa (1527).
- “Humayun lost his throne at Chausa alone.” Chausa (1539) was a defeat, but the final loss came at Kannauj (1540).
- “The Baburnama was written in Persian.” False. It was in Chagatai Turkish; Persian translations came under Akbar.
- “Sher Shah built the Grand Trunk Road from scratch.” Better: he restored and extended an ancient route (associated with the Mauryan Uttarapatha) and organised it with sarais.
- “Hemu was a Mughal general.” False. He was the minister and general of Adil Shah Sur and fought against the Mughals at Second Panipat.
Practice
All questions below are original practice questions written in CGPSC style. They are not previous-year questions.
Level 1: Foundation
- Babur’s memoir, the Baburnama, was written in ______.
- The silver coin of about 178 grains standardised by Sher Shah was called the ______.
- Humayun’s final defeat by Sher Khan, in 1540, was at ______.
Answers
- Chagatai Turkish.
- Rupiya.
- Kannauj (also called the Battle of Bilgram).
Level 2: Prelims MCQs
Q1. Consider the following statements about Sher Shah Suri:
- He fixed the state’s share of the produce at about one-third and issued pattas to cultivators.
- He introduced the dual rank of zat and sawar for his officers.
- He died during the siege of Kalinjar fort.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- (a) 1 only
- (b) 1 and 3 only
- (c) 2 and 3 only
- (d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer and explanation
(b) 1 and 3 only. Statement 1 is correct: land was measured, the share was about one-third, and the peasant got a patta and signed a qabuliyat. Statement 2 is wrong: the zat–sawar dual rank belongs to Akbar’s mansabdari system (dated to the 1590s). Statement 3 is correct: Sher Shah was killed in a gunpowder explosion at Kalinjar in 1545.
Q2. Match List I (Battle) with List II (Opponent of the Mughal side):
| List I | List II |
|---|---|
| A. First Battle of Panipat | 1. Medini Rai |
| B. Battle of Khanwa | 2. Hemu |
| C. Battle of Chanderi | 3. Ibrahim Lodi |
| D. Second Battle of Panipat | 4. Rana Sanga |
- (a) A-3, B-1, C-4, D-2
- (b) A-2, B-4, C-1, D-3
- (c) A-3, B-4, C-1, D-2
- (d) A-4, B-3, C-2, D-1
Answer and explanation
(c) A-3, B-4, C-1, D-2. Babur defeated Ibrahim Lodi at First Panipat (1526), Rana Sanga at Khanwa (1527) and Medini Rai at Chanderi (1528). Akbar’s army under Bairam Khan defeated Hemu at Second Panipat (1556).
Q3. Which one of the following is correctly matched?
- (a) Humayun-nama — Abul Fazl
- (b) Padmavat — Malik Muhammad Jayasi
- (c) Baburnama — Gulbadan Begum
- (d) Akbarnama — Badauni
Answer and explanation
(b) Padmavat — Malik Muhammad Jayasi, an Awadhi epic completed around 1540, in Sher Shah’s time. The Humayun-nama is by Gulbadan Begum, the Baburnama by Babur himself, and the Akbarnama by Abul Fazl (Badauni wrote the critical Muntakhab-ut-Tawarikh).
Q4. Arrange the following events in chronological order:
- Battle of Chausa
- Battle of Ghaghra
- Humayun’s recovery of Delhi
- Death of Sher Shah
- (a) 2, 1, 4, 3
- (b) 1, 2, 4, 3
- (c) 2, 4, 1, 3
- (d) 2, 1, 3, 4
Answer and explanation
(a) 2, 1, 4, 3. Ghaghra 1529 → Chausa 1539 → Sher Shah’s death 1545 → Humayun regains Delhi 1555.
Q5. Babur’s victory at Khanwa is significant because:
- (a) it ended the Lodi dynasty
- (b) it broke the main Rajput challenge to Mughal power in north India
- (c) it gave the Mughals control of Bengal
- (d) it was the first battle in India in which gunpowder was used
Answer and explanation
(b). Khanwa (1527) defeated the Rajput confederacy under Rana Sanga, the most serious threat after Panipat. The Lodi dynasty had already ended at Panipat (a). Bengal was not conquered then (c). Option (d) is a trap: gunpowder weapons were known in India before Babur; Babur’s novelty was their decisive use as field artillery.
Level 3: Mains Answer Writing
Q1. (60 words) Why is Sher Shah called a forerunner of Akbar?
Model answer outline
- Sher Shah’s rupiya and dam, his measurement-based revenue with patta and qabuliyat, and his sarkar–pargana units were taken over by Akbar.
- Todar Mal, Akbar’s revenue minister, had served Sher Shah.
- Dagh and chehra passed into the mansabdari system.
- Conclusion: Sher Shah supplied the tools; Akbar turned them into durable institutions.
Q2. (150–200 words) “Humayun’s failure was as much the result of circumstances as of his own weaknesses.” Discuss.
Model answer outline
- Intro: Humayun inherited a newly won, unconsolidated empire in 1530 and lost it to Sher Shah by 1540.
- Circumstances:
- Babur left no administrative system; the empire was a military occupation.
- Timurid custom of dividing the realm: Kamran held Kabul and Punjab, cutting off the recruiting base.
- Two strong rivals at once: Bahadur Shah of Gujarat and the resurgent Afghans of Bihar.
- The Afghans saw north India as their own after the Lodis and rallied around a gifted leader, Sher Khan.
- Personal weaknesses: indecision and long halts after victories (Gujarat 1535–36); underestimating Sher Khan; leniency towards disloyal brothers.
- Balance: his recovery in 1555 with Persian help shows persistence; the regained empire passed to Akbar.
- Conclusion: structural problems made defeat likely, and Humayun’s misjudgements turned them into disaster at Chausa and Kannauj.
Quick Revision Table
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Babur | Born 1483, Fergana; Timur + Chengiz descent; Kabul 1504; Padshah 1507 |
| First Panipat | 21 April 1526, vs Ibrahim Lodi; tulughma + artillery (Ustad Ali Quli, Mustafa) |
| Khanwa | 1527, vs Rana Sanga; jihad; title Ghazi |
| Chanderi / Ghaghra | 1528 vs Medini Rai / 1529 vs Afghans (Mahmud Lodi) |
| Babur’s death | Agra, 1530; buried finally in Kabul |
| Baburnama | Chagatai Turkish |
| Chausa / Kannauj | 1539 / 1540: Humayun defeated by Sher Khan |
| Akbar’s birth | 1542, Amarkot (Sindh), during Humayun’s exile |
| Humayun returns | 1555 (Machhiwara, Sirhind); dies Jan 1556 (Sher Mandal stairs) |
| Humayun-nama | Gulbadan Begum |
| Sher Shah | Farid; Sasaram; reigned 1540–45; died at Kalinjar |
| Sher Shah’s reforms | Rupiya (~178 grains), dam; measurement, 1/3 share, patta–qabuliyat; Sonargaon road; sarais; dagh–chehra |
| Padmavat | Malik Muhammad Jayasi, c. 1540 |
| Second Panipat | 5 November 1556, Akbar/Bairam Khan vs Hemu |
Key Takeaways
Key Takeaways
- Babur’s four battles (1526–1529) won north India through artillery and cavalry tactics, but he built no administration.
- Humayun lost the empire at Chausa (1539) and Kannauj (1540), partly from circumstances and partly from his own misjudgements.
- Sher Shah’s five years gave India the rupiya, a measured revenue system with patta and qabuliyat, and a road-and-sarai network.
- Akbar inherited and institutionalised these reforms, so Sher Shah is a forerunner of Akbar.
- Second Panipat (1556) against Hemu settled the Mughal–Afghan contest for good.
What’s Next
- Akbar to Aurangzeb — the empire at its height and its religious and Rajput policies
- Mughal Administration and Mansabdari — how Sher Shah’s ideas became Mughal institutions
- The Delhi Sultanate — the Lodi background and Alauddin’s market and army reforms
- Kalachuris of Ratanpur and Raipur — what Chhattisgarh looked like in the same century
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