Zahir-ud-din Muhammad Babur (14 February 1483 26

December 1530; sometimes also spelt Baber or Babar)

was a conqueror from Central Asia who, following a
series of setbacks, finally succeeded in laying the basis
for the Mughal dynasty in the Indian Subcontinent and
became the first Mughal emperor. He was a direct
descendant of Timur, from the Barlas clan, through his
father, and also a descendant of Genghis Khan through
his mother. Culturally, he was greatly influenced by
the Persian culture and this affected both his own actions
and those of his successors, giving rise to a significant
expansion of the Persianate ethos in the Indian
subcontinent.
[2][3].
He was born as ahr-ud-Dn Muammad (Persian: ), but was more
commonly known by his nickname, Bbur ( ). He had the royal
titles Padshah and al-ultnu 'l-azam wa 'l-qn al-mukkarram pdshh-e
z.
[4]
ahr-ud-Dn Muammad ("Defender of the faith") was an Arabic name and
difficult to pronounce for the Central Asian Turko-Mongols, therefore the
name Babur was adopted.
[5]
According to Babur's cousin, Mirz Muammad Haydar:
[...] at that time the Chaghati (successors of Chagatai Khan who was son of Genghis
Khan) were very rude and uncultured (bzri), and not refined (buzurg) as they are now;
thus they found Zahir-ud-Din Muhammad difficult to pronounce, and for this reason gave
him the name of Bbar. In the public prayers and royal mandates he is always styled
'Zahir-ud-Din Bbar Muhammad,' but he is best known as Bbar Pdishh.
[6]

According to Stephen Frederic Dale, the name Babur is derived from the Persian
word babr, meaning "tiger", a word that repeatedly appears
in Firdaws's Shhnma
[7]
and had also been borrowed by the Turkic languages of
Central Asia.
[8][9]
This thesis is supported by the explanation that the Turko-Mongol
name Timur underwent a similar evolution, from the Sanskrit word cimara ("iron") via a
modified version *imr to the final Turkicized version timr, with -r replacing -r due to
need to provide vocalic support between m and r. The choice of vowel would nominally
be restricted to one of the four front vowels (e, i, , per the Ottoman vowel harmony
rule), hencebabr babr, although the rule is routinely violated for words of Persian or
Arabic derivation.
[10]

Contradicting these views, W.M. Thackston argues that the name cannot be taken
from babr and instead must be derived from a word that has evolved out of the Indo-
European word for beaver, pointing to the fact that the name is pronounced bh-bor
[11]
in
both Persian and Turkic, similar to the Russian word for beaver ( bobr).
Nasir ud-din Muhammad Humayun (Persian:
; OS 7 March 1508 AD OS 17 January
1556 AD) was the secondMughal Emperor who ruled
over territory in what is now Afghanistan, Pakistan,
and parts of northern India from 15311540 and again
from 15551556. Like his father, Babur, he lost his
kingdom early, but with Persian aid, with additional
territory. At the time of his death in 1556, the Mughal
empire spanned almost one million square kilometers.
Humayun succeeded his father in 1531, as ruler of
the Mughal territories in India. At the age of 23
Humayun was an inexperienced ruler when he came to power. His half-brother Kamran
Mirza inherited Kabul and Lahore, the more northern parts of their father's empire. Mirza
was to become a bitter rival of Humayun.
Humayun lost Mughal territories to the Pashtun noble, Sher Shah Suri, and, with
Persian(Safavid) aid, regained them 15 years later. Humayun's return from Persia was
accompanied by a large retinue of Persian noblemen and signaled an important change
in Mughal court culture. The Central Asian origins of the dynasty were largely
overshadowed by the influences of Persian art, architecture,language and literature.
There are many stone carvings and thousands of Persian manuscripts in India dating
from the time of Humayun.
Subsequently, in a very short time, Humayun was able to expand the Empire further,
leaving a substantial legacy for his son, Akbar. His peaceful personality, patience and
non-provocative methods of speech earned him the title Insn-i-Kamil (Perfect Man),
among theMughals.
[1][full citation needed]

Babur's decision to divide the territories of his empire between two of his sons was
unusual in India although it had been a common Central Asian practice since the
time of Genghis Khan. Unlike most monarchies which practised primogeniture, the
Timurids, following Genghis Khan's example, did not leave an entire kingdom to the
eldest son. Although under that system only aChingissid could claim sovereignty and
khanal authority, any male Chinggisid within a given sub-branch (such as the
Timurids) had an equal right to the throne.
[2]
While Genghis Khan's Empire had been
peacefully divided between his sons upon his death, almost every Chinggisid
succession since had resulted in fratricide.
[3][full citation needed]
Sher Shah Suri (1486 22 May 1545) (Dari/Pashto:
Fard Xn er h Sr, birth
name Farid Khan, also known as Sher Khan, "The Lion
King") was the founder of the Sur Empire in North India,
with its capital at Delhi.
[2]
An ethnic Pashtun, Sher Shah
took control of the Mughal Empire in 1540. After his
accidental death in 1545, his son Islam Shah became
his successor.
[3][4][5][6][7]
He first served as a private before
rising to become a commander in the Mughal army
under Babur and then as the governor of Bihar. In 1537,
when Babur's son Humayun was elsewhere on an
expedition, Sher Khan overran the state of Bengaland established the Sur dynasty.
[8]
A
brilliant strategist, Sher Shah proved himself a gifted administrator as well as an able
general. His reorganization of the empire laid the foundations for the later Mughal
emperors, notably Akbar the Great, son of Humayun.
[8]

During his five year rule from 1540 to 1545, he set up a new civic and military
administration, issued the first Rupiya and re-organised the postal system of India.
[9]
He
further developed Humayun's Dina-panah city and named it Shergarh and revived the
historical city of Pataliputra as Patna which had been in decline since the 7th century
CE.
[10]
He is also famously remembered for killing a fully growntiger with his bare hands
in a jungle of Bihar.
[3][8]
He extended the Grand Trunk
Road from Chittagong in Bangladesh to Kabul in Afghanistan.
Sher Shah was born as Farid Khan in the present day district of Mahendragarh in
south Haryana, earlier part of Hisar district of combined Punjab in India. As his real
name is Farid Khan but he was known as Sher Shah because he alone hunted a Lion in
his early age.His surname 'Suri' was taken from his Hometown "Sur". His grand father
Ibrahim Khan Suri was a land lord (Jagirdar) in Narnaularea and represented Delhi
rulers of that period. Mazar of Ibrahim Khan Suri still stands as a monument
in Narnaul. Tarikh-i Khan Jahan Lodi (MS. p. 151).
[1]
also confirm this fact. However, the
online Encyclopdia Britannica states that he was born in Sasaram (Bihar), in
the Rohtas district.
[3]
He was one of about eight sons of Mian Hassan Khan Suri, a
prominent figure in the government of Bahlul Khan Lodi. Sher Khan belonged to
the Pashtun Sur tribe (the Pashtuns are known asAfghans in historical Persian
language sources).
[11]
His grandfather, Ibrahim Khan Suri, was a noble adventurer who
was recruited much earlier by Sultan Bahlul Lodi of Delhi during his long contest with
the Jaunpur Sultanate.
Akbar (IPA: [kbr]; 14 October 1542 27 October
1605), also known as Akbar the Great or Akbar
I,
[6][7]
was Mughal Emperor from 1556 until his
death. He was the third and one of the greatest
rulers of the Mughal Dynasty in India. Akbar
succeeded his father,Humayun, under a
regent, Bairam Khan, who helped the young
emperor expand and consolidate Mughal domains
in India. A strong personality and a successful
general, Akbar gradually enlarged the Mughal
Empire to include nearly all of the Indian
Subcontinent north of the Godavari river. His power
and influence, however, extended over the entire country because of Mughal military,
political, cultural, and economic dominance. To unify the vast Mughal state, Akbar
established a centralised system of administration throughout his empire and adopted a
policy of conciliating conquered rulers through marriage and diplomacy. In order to
preserve peace and order in a religiously and culturally diverse empire, he adopted
policies that won him the support of his non-Muslim subjects. Eschewing tribal bonds
and Islamic state identity, Akbar strived to unite far-flung lands of his realm through
loyalty, expressed through a Persianisedculture, to himself as an emperor who had near-
divine status.
Mughal India developed a strong and stable economy, leading to commercial expansion
and greater patronage of culture. Akbar himself was a patron of art and culture. He was
fond of literature, and created a library of over 24,000 volumes written
in Sanskrit, Hindustani,Persian, Greek, Latin, Arabic and Kashmiri, staffed by many
scholars, translators, artists, calligraphers, scribes, bookbinders and readers. Holy men
of many faiths, poets, architects and artisans adorned his court from all over the world
for study and discussion. Akbar's courts at Delhi, Agra, and Fatehpur Sikri became
centers of the arts, letters, and learning. Perso-Islamic culture began to merge and blend
with indigenous Indian elements, and a distinct Indo-Persian culture emerged
characterised by Mughal style arts, painting, and architecture. Disillusioned with
orthodox Islam and perhaps hoping to bring about religious unity within his empire,
Akbar promulgated Din-i-Ilahi, a syncretic creed derived from Islam, Hinduism,
Zoroastrianism, and Christianity. A simple, monotheistic cult, tolerant in outlook, it
centered on Akbar as a prophet, for which he drew the ire of the ulema and orthodox
Muslims.
Maharana Pratap ( pronunciation (helpinfo))
or Pratap Singh (May 9, 1540 January 29,
1597) was a Hindu Rajput ruler of Mewar, a
region in north-western India in the present day
state of Rajasthan. He belonged to
the Sisodia clan of Rajputs.
[3][4]
In popular Indian
culture, Pratap is considered to exemplify
qualities like bravery and chivalry to which
Rajputs aspire, especially in context of his
opposition to In 1568 during the reign
of Maharana Udai Singh, Maharana Pratap's father, Chittor was conquered by
the Mughal Emperor Akbar after the third Jauhar at Chittor.
[citation needed]
However, Maharaja
Udai Singh and the royal family of Mewar had left before the fort was captured and
moved to the foothills of the Aravalli Range where Maharaja Udai Singh had already
founded the city of Udaipur in 1559.
[5]
The Bhatiyani Queen wanted her son Jagmal to
succeed Rana Udai Singh.
[6]
But the senior nobles wanted Pratap, the eldest son, to be
their king as was customary. During the coronation ceremony, with Rawatji and other
senior noble's help, Pratap Singh was made the king of Mewar.e Mughal emperor Akbar.

Nearly all of Pratap's fellow Rajput chiefs had meanwhile entered into the vassalage of
the Mughals. Even Pratap's own brothers, Shakti Singh andSagar Singh, served Akbar.
Indeed, many Rajput chiefs, such as Raja Man Singh of Amber (later known as
Maharaja of Jaipur) served as army commanders in Akbar's armies and as members of
his council. Akbar sent a total of six diplomatic missions to Pratap, seeking to negotiate
the same sort of peaceful alliance that he had concluded with the other Rajput chiefs.
Each time, however, Pratap politely refused to accept Akbar's suzerainty, arguing that
the Sisodia Rajputs had never accepted any foreign ruler as their overlord, nor will he. It
is worth noting that both these rulers' grandfathers, Rana Sanga and Babur, had
previously fought against each other. Thus the enmity was not only political, but was
also a bit personal.
Battle of Haldighati
On June 21, 1576 (or June 18 in other calculations), the armies of Pratap and Akbar (led
by Syed Hashim) met at Haldighati, near the town of Gogunda.
Pratap's army had a contingent of Afghan warriors led by his commander, Hakim Khan
Sur. A small army of the Bhils, whom the Rana had befriended, also joined the battle
Chand Bibi (15501599 CE), also known
as Chand Khatun or Chand Sultana,
was an Indian Muslim woman warrior. She
acted as the Regent of Bijapur (158090)
and Regent of Ahmednagar (1596
99).
[1]
Chand Bibi is best known for
defendingAhmednagar against
the Mughal forces of Emperor Akbar.
Chand Bibi was the daughter of Hussain
Nizam Shah I of Ahmednagar,
[2]
and the
sister of Burhan-ul-Mulk, the Sultan of
Ahmednagar. She knew many languages
including Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Marathi and Kannada. She played sitar, and painting
flowers was her hobby.
[3]

Bijapur Sultanate[edit]
Main article: Adil Shahi
Following an alliance policy, Chand Bibi was married to Ali Adil Shah I of the Bijapur
Sultanate.
[4]
A stepwell (bawdi) constructed near the eastern boundary of Bijapur by her
husband was named Chand Bawdi after her.
[5]

Ali Adil Shah's father, Ibrahim Adil Shah I had divided power between the Sunni nobles,
the Habshis and the Deccanis. However, Ali Adil Shah favored Shi'as.
[6]
After his death in
1580, the Shi'a nobles proclaimed his nine-year old nephew Ibrahim Adil Shah II as the
ruler.
[7]
A Deccani general called Kamal Khan sieged the power and became the regent.
Kamal Khan showed disrespect to Chand Bibi, who felt that he had ambitions to usurp
the throne. Chand Bibi plotted an attack against Kamal Khan with help from another
general, Haji Kishvar Khan.
[7]
Kamal Khan was captured while fleeing and was beheaded
in the fort.
Kishvar Khan became the second regent of Ibrhaim. In a battle against the Ahmednagar
Sultanate at Dharaseo, the Bijapur army led by him captured all the artillery and
elephants of the enemy army. After the victory, Kishvar Khan ordered other Bijapuri
generals to surrender all the captured elephants to him. The elephants were highly
valued, and the other generals took great offense. Along with Chand Bibi, they hatched
a plan to eliminate Kishvar Khan with help from General Mustafa Khan of Bankapur.
Kishvar Khan's spies informed him of the conspiracy. Kishvar Khan sent troops against
Mustafa Khan, who was captured and killed in the battle.
[7]
Chand Bibi challenged