The Mughal (Babur) Empire (1526–1857)

Zahir ad-Din Muhammad Babur was born in 1483 in Andijan, in the Fergana valley of today's Uzbekistan; on his father's side he descended from Timur. Unable to hold power at home, he turned to Kabul and then to India, and in 1526 his victory at Panipat laid the foundation of a new empire in Delhi.

Babur was also a great writer: his "Baburnama", written in Chagatai Turkic, is regarded as one of the first autobiographies in world literature. His grandson Akbar extended the empire over most of India, and Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal in Agra for his wife Mumtaz Mahal.

From the 18th century the empire weakened, and in 1857 its last ruler, Bahadur Shah II, was deposed by the British. Mughal architecture, miniature painting and garden design live on in the culture of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.