In the foothills of the snow-peaked Hindu Kush mountains and the fertile alluvial plains of the Kabul River basin, Zahir-ud-Din Muhammad (“Defender of the Faith”) commonly known by his nickname “Babur” (believed to be derived from Babr – Persian for “tiger”) – a young Uzbek prince exiled from his native Fergana region in present-day Uzbekistan – laid the foundations of an empire that subsequently became known as the Mughal dynasty: one of the greatest dynasties in world history. From humble beginnings in the outpost city of Kabul, at its height the Mughal dynasty stretched from Balkh in northern Afghanistan to the Deccan in India, with its kings ruling over an estimated 150 million subjects for a period of more than three and a half centuries.

Source

From The Significance of Bagh-e Babur in Heritage of the Mughal World (Philip Jodidio, editor)