Mughal Empire · 1494-1530

Babur and the birth of the Mughal Empire

Babur became a king at 11, lost his homeland, took Kabul and in 1526 won northern India at Panipat. He also wrote one of the great memoirs of history. Students follow his road from Central Asia to Delhi and Agra.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
45 minutes
Ages
11–14
On the map
3 steps, AD 1504 to AD 1530
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

Babur became a king at 11, lost his homeland, took Kabul and in 1526 won northern India at Panipat. He also wrote one of the great memoirs of history. Students follow his road from Central Asia to Delhi and Agra.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Trace Babur's path from Fergana and Kabul to Delhi on the map.
  • Explain how Babur won the First Battle of Panipat in 1526.
  • Use Babur's memoir, the Baburnama, as a source on his world.
2

Explore the map

12 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 1504

From Fergana to Kabul

Open the map in 1504 and find the Fergana valley, Samarkand and Kabul. Babur lost his homeland and took Kabul that year. Why would Kabul be a good base for raids into India?

Open this view on the map
b

AD 1526

The road into India

Turn on Trade Routes and follow the Grand Trunk Road from Kabul through the Khyber Pass towards Delhi. Why did invaders so often come this way?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 1530

A new empire

Compare northern India in 1500 and in 1530 by dragging the slider. What new empire appears, and which earlier state has gone?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

14 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. Babur lost his kingdom several times as a young man. What does that tell you about his character?
  2. Why did armies from Central Asia keep entering India through the passes near Kabul?
  3. Babur used cannons and matchlock guns at Panipat. How did gunpowder weapons change warfare in India?
  4. In his memoir Babur complains about India's heat and praises its riches. Why is his memoir useful, and why is it one-sided?
  5. Babur's son Humayun lost the empire in 1540 and won it back in 1555. Why are new empires so fragile?
4

Game round

9 min

Play Rule History as Genghis Khan, Babur's ancestor on his mother's side. Let students take turns ruling. Then compare: how was Babur, who wrote poems and planted gardens, different from the Mongol conqueror he descended from?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

€19 per month unlocks every worksheet, every live lesson and the class workspace. The free lesson prints without a subscription.