Mustafa Rumi

Mustafa Rumi was an Ottoman general who served the Mughal Empire under Babur. At the Battle of Panipat and Battle of Khanwa, he commanded the Matchlock gun infantry. His role in these battles as commander of rifle troops was a vital one, as it was the riflemen and the cannons under Ustad Ali Quli and Mustafa Rumi that won the day.

Introduction of Mustafa Rumi to Babur

Babur's early relations with the Ottomans were poor because the Ottoman Sultan Selim I provided Babur's rival Ubaydullah Khan with powerful matchlocks and cannons.[1] In 1507, when ordered to accept Selim I as his rightful suzerain, Babur refused and gathered Qizilbash servicemen in order to counter the forces of Ubaydullah Khan during the Battle of Ghazdewan in 1512. In 1513, Selim I reconciled with Babur (fearing that he would join the Safavids), dispatched Ustad Ali Quli and Mustafa Rumi, and many other Ottoman Turks, in order to assist Babur in his conquests; this particular assistance proved to be the basis of future Mughal-Ottoman relations.[1] From them, he also adopted the tactic of using matchlocks and cannons in field (rather than only in sieges), which would give him an important advantage in India.[2]

References
  1. Farooqi, Naimur Rahman (2008). Mughal-Ottoman relations: a study of political & diplomatic relations between Mughal India and the Ottoman Empire, 1556-1748. Retrieved 2014-03-25.
  2. Eraly, Abraham (2007), Emperors Of The Peacock Throne: The Saga of the Great Moghuls, Penguin Books Limited, pp. 27–29, ISBN 978-93-5118-093-7


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