RAIDERS FROM THE NORTH - ALEX RUTHERFORD

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Uzbekistan, 1496 CE.

"Zahir-ud-din Muhammad, otherwise known as Babur or 'the Tiger' was already showing an unhealthy interest in the disturbed affairs of the Panjab, which province bordered his Afghan kingdom..." - India, John Keay 

This is the origin-story of the Mughal Empire; how the agency of one man single-handedly established one of the wealthiest and most successful empire building dynasties of Indian and world history. 

Babur (as he is fondly known) was a princeling who lost his father to an earthquake and then his Central Asian throne of Ferghana to scheming and warring cousins. These cousins were Babur’s fellow descendants of Timur from whom he claimed descent on his mother’s side. (Note: though Babur was also a descendant of Genghis Khan, the lineage that he traced down from Timur was more prestigious to him and the world he lived in). He was then relegated to a nomadic life as a vagrant adventurer. In his autobiography, Babur looks back to his wandering years and writes that he would not recommend an itinerant life - probably remembering misadventures that will entertain the reader centuries later. 

His journey takes him from Ferghana (his ancestral throne) through Afghanistan to India where he establishes the Mughal Empire after defeating Sultan Ibrahim Lodhi of the Delhi Sultanate at the Battle of Panipat with a vastly outnumbered army. This was the age where gunpowder was being introduced on the battle-field and Babur exploited the new technology to cement his position with just one victory. However the victory at Panipat cannot be attributed to firepower alone; Babur’s army was experienced and was able to adapt to the situation at the field on the day of the battle. His military tactics would rival Hannibal’s (though this time the elephants were on the other side). 

There are many books written about the Mughals and several about Babur alone, starting with his autobiography. The Baburnama is one of the most widely acclaimed royal autobiographies, and is still being translated and printed 500 years later. There are numerous biographies of Babur, and books about the Mughal Empire and all other them start with Babur.

Raiders from the North is a romanticised version of history, and enthusiastically written by a duo with credentials. Alex Rutherford is the pen name for the author-couple Michael & Diana Preston - academics at Oxford (and minor adventurers according to their profile). Though RFTN is not the best historical fiction, it is one of the finest works of fiction which tackle Indian history. The creative licence is believable and will fit facts, timelines and technologies of the day. The writing may be graphic and dramatized, but it draws a nice contrast to the Baburnama, which can come across as dry to the casual reader (Note: scholars seem to enjoy the Baburnama as very lively reading for a historical document).