The creation of the Mughal Empire was not the result of a grand scheme, but, rather, developed on the basis of geography, time and events. Zahir-ud-Din Muhammad Babur (1483-1530), who descended from Timur and perhaps also from Ghengis Khan, was the first Mughal emperor, capturing Kabul in 1504, occupying Delhi and Agra in 1526. He came from the north, where his own father, Omar Sheikh Mirza, had been ruler of the Fergana Valley, located in modern Uzbekistan. From these lands once conquered by Alexander the Great, Babur and his men brought their own Timurid heritage as well as familiarity with the Persian-influenced architecture of Samarkand and Herat.
Source
From Relevance of the Mughal Empire Today in Heritage of the Mughal World (Philip Jodidio, editor)
Monreal, Luis. "Relevance of the Mughal Empire Today". In
Heritage of the Mughal World, edited by Philip Jodidio, 15-20. Munich: Prestel, 2015.
Prestel and the Aga Khan Trust for Culture
