Babur

At Kabul

                    

Kabul was ruled by Ulugh Begh Mirza of the Arghun Dynasty who died leaving only an infant as heir.^[25] Thus, the city was claimed by Mukin Begh, who had a strong opposition from the local populace; they wanted this usurper to be dethroned. In 1504, by using the whole situation to his own advantage, Babur was able to cross the snowy Hindu Kush mountains and capture Kabul;^[23] the remaining Arghunids were forced to retreat to Kandahar. With this move, he gained a new kingdom, re-established his fortunes and would remain its ruler until 1526.^[26] In 1505, because of the low revenue his new mountain kingdom generated, Babur undertook his first expedition to India and had written before in his memoirs, "My desire for Hindustan had been constant. It was in the month of Shaban, the Sun being in Aquarius, that we rode out of Kabul for Hindustan"; it was a brief raid across the Khyber Pass.^[25]

In the same year, Babur united with Sultan Husayn Mirza Bayqarah of Herat, a fellow Timurid and distant relative, against their common enemy, the Uzbek Shaybani.^[27] However, this venture did not take place because Husayn Mirza died in 1506 and his two sons were reluctant to go to war.^[25] Babur instead stayed at Herat after being invited by the two Mirza brothers. It was then the cultural capital of the eastern Muslim world. Though he was disgusted by the vices and luxuries of the city,^[28] he marvelled at the intellectual abundance there, which he stated was "filled with learned and matched men".^[29] He became acquainted with the work of the Chagatai poet Mir Ali Shir Nava'i, who encouraged the use of Chagatai as a literary language. Nava'i's proficiency with the language, which he is credited with founding,^[30] may have influenced Babur in his decision to use it for his memoirs. He spend two months there before being forced to leave due to diminishing resources;^[27] it later was overrun by Shaybani and the Mirzas fled.^[28]

Babur became the only reigning ruler of the Timurid dynasty after the loss of Herat, and many princes sought refuge from him at Kabul because of Shaybani's invasion in the west.^[28] He thus assumed the title of Padshah (emperor) among the Timurids—though this tile was insignificant since most of his ancestral lands were taken, Kabul itself was in danger and Shaybani continued to be a threat.^[28] He prevailed during a potential rebellion in Kabul, but two years later a revolt among some of his leading generals drove him out of Kabul. Escaping with very few companions, Babur soon returned to the city, capturing Kabul again and regaining the allegiance of the rebels. Meanwhile, Shaybani was defeated and killed by Ismail I, Shah of Shia Safavid Persia, in 1510.^[31]

Babur and the remaining Timurids used this opportunity to reconquer their ancestral territories. Over the following few years, Babur and Shah Ismail would form a partnership in an attempt to take over parts of Central Asia. In return for Ismail's assistance, Babur permitted the Safavids to act as a suzerain over him and his followers.^[32] Thus, in 1513, after leaving his brother Nasir Mirza to rule Kabul, he managed to get Samarkand for the third time and Bokhara but lost both again to the Uzbeks.^[26][28] Shah Ismail reunited Babur with his sister Khānzāda, who had been imprisoned by and forced to marry the recently deceased Shaybani.^{[citation needed]} He returned to Kabul after three years in 1514. The following 11 years of his rule mainly involved dealing with relatively insignificant rebellions from Afghan tribes, his nobles and relatives, in addition to conducting raids across the eastern mountains.^[28] Babur began to modernise and train his army despite it being, for him, relatively peaceful times.^[33]