The Mughals: Babur's Road to the Taj Mahal

Babur, the future founder of the Mughal dynasty, was born on 14 February 1483 in the city of Andijan, in the Fergana Valley. In 1494, aged eleven, he became the Timurid ruler of Fergana. The city, in modern Uzbekistan, is perhaps best known as his birthplace, and it is where his long road to India begins.

Location precision: The sources name no monument; the pin marks the city of Andijan.

Samarkand was Babur's lifelong obsession. In 1497 he besieged it for seven months before he finally gained control of it, but he held it for only 100 days before it was lost again. The city had been the heart of the Timurid Empire, and losing it pushed Babur south.

Location precision: The sources describe the city, not a building; the pin marks Registan Square, the Timurid centre.

Visitor guidance: Registan Square is a historic public square in the centre of Samarkand.

In October 1504 Babur crossed the snowy Hindu Kush mountains and captured Kabul, gaining the kingdom that would carry him towards India. He redeveloped the garden here and used it as a guest house for special occasions. After his death in Agra his mortal remains were moved to Kabul and reburied in Bagh-e Babur sometime between 1539 and 1544, and a marble screen was later erected around his tomb.

On 20 April 1526 Babur reached Panipat and met the army of Ibrahim Lodi. His own force was 12,000 strong, and he lashed 700 wagons into a defensive line. The noise of cannon panicked the elephants, and Ibrahim and 20,000 of his men were killed. In 1527 Babur built the Kabuli Bagh Mosque to mark the victory, about 2 km from Panipat town.

Location precision: The exact battlefield is not given in the sources; the pin marks the Kabuli Bagh Mosque built after the victory.

Visitor guidance: Kabuli Bagh Mosque stands about 2 km from Panipat town.

After Panipat, Babur laid out his earliest Indian gardens on the banks of the river Yamuna at Agra. He named this one Bagh-i-Gul Afshan, the Flower-Scatterer Garden. It was later known as Aram Bagh and then renamed Ram Bagh. It is one of the first gardens of the dynasty that would later build the Taj Mahal a short way along the same river.

Visitor guidance: A Mughal garden on the Yamuna at Agra, near the Taj Mahal.

Babur was first buried at Chauburji in Agra after his death. Whether this ruined building is that first tomb is argued: it is considered to be the original burial place of the first Mughal emperor, but the purpose of the building and the date of its construction are a matter of contention among historians. Today it is surrounded by encroachments and is not open to tourists.

Location precision: Historians disagree on the date and purpose of the building, so its link to Babur's first tomb is uncertain.

The road ends at the Taj Mahal. Shah Jahan commissioned it in 1631 in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal, who died on 17 June that year giving birth to their 14th child. Construction started in 1632 and the mausoleum was completed in 1648. Its charbagh garden, a design inspired by Persian gardens, was introduced to India by Babur, and among its inspirations is the Gur-e Amir in Samarkand, the tomb of Timur. UNESCO listed it in 1983.

Visitor guidance: Open to visitors on the right bank of the Yamuna in Agra.