ABSTRACT
A new age begins with the unification of India under the Great Mughals. The achievements of this dynasty, which produced a rare sequence of competent rulers, were due to a particular constellation of historical circumstances. These conditions are exemplified by the striking career of Baber, who conquered India for the Mughals. Baber had the great gift of a quick presence of mind. His fate forced him to make incessant use of this gift. The Uzbeks who swept down from central Asia to Samarkand deprived him of his ancestral kingdom. With Persian support he could briefly reclaim his patrimony. The Persian connection remained of importance to him and his successors. Coming from a borderland wedged in between the Persian empire and the horsemen of the north, he was equally impressed with Persian culture and the martial spirit of his northern adversaries. He wrote Persian poems and from the Uzbeks he learned military strategy and tactics which, later, were to help him conquer India. The rising power of the Uzbeks compelled him to go east. He left his country and conquered Afghanistan; from there he made several forays into India before he finally embarked on his great campaign, which gave rise to the Mughal empire.
