Babur was a Turco-Mongol warrior who laid the foundation of the Mughal dynasty in the Indian subcontinent and became its first emperor. A direct descendant of the conquerors Timur (on his father’s side) and Genghis Khan (on his mother’s side), he was the eldest son of Umar Sheikh Mirza, the ruler of the Fergana Valley. After the death of his father in a freak accident when Babur was just 11, the young boy ascended the throne and faced rebellion from his own relatives. A valiant warrior from a young age, he soon embarked on military campaigns to expand his territories. However, during the course of his early campaigns, he lost control of the city of Fergana. Undeterred by this early setback, he formed an alliance with Safavid ruler Ismail I and re-conquered parts of Central Asia. Eventually, Babur turned his attention to the Indian subcontinent. He attacked the Delhi Sultanate, ruled by Ibrahim Lodi, and defeated him at the First Battle of Panipat in 1526. This victory marked the beginning of the Mughal Empire in India. Soon after, he faced opposition from Rana Sanga of Mewar, who considered Babur a foreigner and challenged him. Babur successfully defeated Rana Sanga at the Battle of Khanwa in 1527. In addition to being an ambitious ruler, Babur was also a gifted poet and a lover of nature, as evidenced by his autobiography, the Baburnama, which vividly describes his experiences, campaigns, and observations of the world around him.