BA'13ER, or BA'BUTt (Zohir-Eddin Mohammed), the first of the Great Moguls in India, a descendant of Timur, was b. in 1483. He was barely 12 years of age when he suc ceeded his father, Omar Sheikh 3Iirza, in the sovereignty of the countries lying between Samarcand and the Indus. With a view to the conquest of India, although constantly contending with revolts in his own dominions, he made himself master, by fraud and force, of the provinces of Kashgar, Kundez, Kandahar, and Cabul. Having thus opened the way to India, he made two or three rapid incursions into Hindustan; and finally taking advantage of the feeble government of Ibrahim Lodi, about the end of 1525, lie crossed the Attack (the Cabul branch of the Indus), quickly defeated some bodies of troops that opposed him in the Punjab; and at last, in April, 1526, on the plain of Panipat, not far from Delhi, encountered and fought a decisive battle with his enemy, whose army was far superior in numbers. The 100,000 men and 1000 elephants of sultan Ibrahim were
dispersed; Ibrahim himself fled; and B. made his entry into Delhi. In the following month, Agra, the second city of the empire, surrendered. B.'s enjoyment of empire in India was short; he died in 1530, having had to contend during the five years of his reign with numerous conspiracies and revolts. To the talents of a general and statesman, which he manifested in his conquests, his improvements of public roads, measuring of lands, adjustment of taxation, postal arrangements, etc., B. united a taste for science and art. Ile wrote, in the Tartar language, the history of his own life and conquests, which was translated into Persian by Abdul Rachim, and, more recently, from the Per sian into English. B. was succeeded on the throne of Delhi by the eldest of his four sons, Humayun, and was the founder of the B. or Great Mogul dynasty.