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Precursors to the Mughal Restoration

Type Event Region India Time 1540–1550

In the 1540s the Mughal Empire was nearly destroyed in India; Humayun went into exile in Persia, but his heir Akbar was born in 1542, and with Safavi…

Timeline

  1. 1540–1542Northern India · IndiaAfter the defeat of 1540, the Mughal administrative and military system in India collapsed; some nobles defected to the Sur Empire, while others followed Humayun into exile. The empire nominally survived, but its actual control was nearly zero.
  2. c. 1542Umerkot · SindhAkbar was born in 1542 while on the road in exile, ensuring the Mughal imperial line still had a legitimate heir at its lowest ebb. This event provided the political legitimacy for the later revival under Akbar the Great.
  3. 1544–1550Kandahar · AfghanistanWith Safavid military assistance, Humayun recovered Kandahar around 1545, rebuilding a field army and a supply base. From the late 1540s to the early 1550s, the Mughals gradually restored their capacity for offensive warfare, preparing militarily for the return to Delhi in 1555.

Sources