Munaza Kazmi

My dearest reader let’s tell you the story of our ancestors, our beloved warrior Emperors, who are the living embodiment of might, and gave the history one of his masterpiece. The Epic of Mughal Saga.

The narrative of the fabulously talented dynasty began in 1483, when Zahiruddin Muhammad Babur, just 12 years old then, ascended the throne of the tiny Mughal principality of Feranga in a faraway Central Asia. Feranga was a lovely land of lush valleys and gurgling streams, and Babur loved it dearly. But the boy-king, who had the blood of Timur and Chingiz Khan coursing in his veins, was a dreamer of great dreams, where Ferenga was too small to sate his ambition. Hence, though a little boy, he set out, soon after his accession, to invade the neighboring kingdom of Samarkand, dreaming of empire and glory.

The fledgling had taken wing too soon. Not only did he fail to hold Samarkand, but soon lost Feranga as well, and for several years he had to wander about in the mountains of Central Asia, a king without a kingdom, even without a home, seeking a safe anchor somewhere, but vain. Babur wrote in his engaging memoirs, “It came very hard on me, I could not help crying a good deal. But he never lost hope, and fortune favored him eventually, bestowing on him the secure throne of Kabul.

Babur was now king again. And in Kabul his eyes turned towards, where, beyond the snow laden mountains, lay the vast fertile Indo-Gangetic Plain, renowned for its wealth, which was then ruled by the Afghan dynasty of Lodis. However, in November 1525, Babur descended from the white mountains, crossing the Indus, and swept into Hindustan. This was a perilous enterprise, for he had only a small army of just 12 thousand men, while opposing him was a mammoth Lodi army of 100 thousand men and a formidable contingent of 1000 elephants. But in a 5-hour battle fought at Panipat, about 80 kilometers north of Delhi, which his strategic plan, he entirely routed the army. Babur, at his 43 was finally an emperor.

His life was fulfilled and 4 years later Babur died, making a history. My dearest, reader if Babur can then why you can’t?

To be continued…