Journal of General Turkish History Research

Abstract

The political power of Turkish rulers, before and after Islam, is of divine origin. In addition, the sovereignty in the ancient Turks was based on the Oghuz Han lineage, whose dominance was of divine origin. In short, the source of legitimacy of political power is divine power and lineage. Since Timur and some of his successors were not descended from the Oghuz lineage, they placed a descendant of Genghis Khan on the throne. Babur, who was descended from Timur of Turkish origin paternal side and Genghis of Mongolian origin on maternal side, did not embrace the law of Genghis like his Timurid ancestors. He viewed most of the Mongols as marauding, uncultured, barbaric, and unreliable warriors. Although he was Mongolian by his mother, he did not speak Mongolian. Babur learned Turkish as his mother tongue and developed his skills in using this language. Babur, who acquired a solid consciousness of Turkishness, wrote his famous work called Baburnama in Turkish. In this work, he clearly sees himself, his army and his state as Turkish. After the death od his father, Omar Sheikh Mirza, he became the ruler of Fergana at the age of eleven. Babur's sensitivity to Turkishness resulted in his possessing Timur, who was his ancestor from the paternal side, and his heritage. Babur wanted to take the Timurid heritage of Samarkand, which he had admired since his childhood. For this reason, he repeatedly fought for the dominance of Samarkand. Babur, in order to get the support of the people of the city against the Uzbek khan Shaybani, reminded them of the services of Timur and his successors to this city and their legacy here. On this occasion, he put forth that he saw the Timurid heritage as the source of legitimacy for his claim to domination in Samarkand. Babur captured the city in 1500 with the support of the people. Shaybani soon took the city back and allowed Babur to leave after the peace was made. With the help of his uncles, Babur marched on the Fergana region, which he had left to his brother Cihangir. But he was unsuccessful in the face of the Shaybani invading the region, and he went to Kabul and captured this place. He did not remain silent when Shaybani Khan threatened the Timurid State based in Herat. He warned the Timurid Dynasty of this danger and took action. However, he could not prevent the collapse of the Timurid State. These attempts of Babur reflect his belief that he embraced the Timurid heritage. Babur became the ruler of Samarkand for the last time in 1513, with the military support of Shah Ismail, on the condition of accepting Shiism and approving the Safavid patronage. The population of Samarkand, mostly Sunni, did not recognize the Safavid and Shiite patronage. They came under Sunni Uzbek rule again. Babur, who had to withdraw to Kabul, turned to India in the following years. He claimed that some provinces in the north of the continent since his ancestor Timur’s expedition to India are under the control of his sons, namely Turks, and considers these as his own property. Therefore, he sees Turkishness and Timurid heritage as the source of legitimacy for his political goals. Babur mentions the rumors by the people that he could take provinces (provinces around the Delhi) belonging to the Turk through a peace envoy. With these words, he actually puts forward the claim that the people see these provinces as the property of the Timurid Dynasty of Turkish origin. For this reason, Babur sent an envoy to the sultan of Delhi Ibrahim Ludi and demanded the aforementioned provinces. Therefore, here it is seen that Babur once again benefited from his Turkish and Timurid heritage to achieve his political goals.