First Battle of Panipat, 1526, Victory for Babur, First Mugh
The first battle of Panipat took place in Northern India, and marked the beginning of the Mughal Empire. This was one of the earliest battles involving gunpowder firearms and field artillery. In 1526, the Mughal forces of Babur, the Timurid ruler of Kabulistan, defeated the much larger Indian army of Ibrahim Lodi, Sultan of Delhi. Zahir-ud-din Muhammad Babur (1483-1530) 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 (Tamerlane) through his father, and a descendant also of Genghis Khan through his mother. Babur is said to have been extremely strong and physically fit. He was greatly influenced by Persian culture and this affected both his own actions and those of his successors. Babur wrote his memoirs and these form the main source for details of his life. They are known as the Baburnama (Book of Babur or Letters of Babur) and are considered the first true autobiography in Islamic literature. In 1531 Babur fell seriously ill and died at the age of 47. Babur is considered a national hero in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan and is held in high esteem in Afghanistan
