Babur was the founder of this great dynasty. His line was followed by direct descendants, starting with his son Humayun whose reign started in 1530; Akbar reigned from 1556 to 1605, Jahangir 1605 to 1627, Shah Jahan 1627 to 1658 and Aurangzeb 1658 to 1707. Although the power of the Moghul rule declined fairly rapidly after Aurangzeb, the grand lifestyle continued and magnificent tables with yet more innovative dishes found their way into the vast and wealthy palaces of the nizams of Hyderabad, the nawabs of Lucknow, the nobles of Lahore, the Rajput rulers and into the stately homes of the Pandits of Kashmir. The survival of a unique bland of Persian and Indian ingredients and methods was ensured, bringing to our tables dishes redolent of the days of the great Moghuls.

They were dishes that were aromatically marinated in masalas of ginger and onion, tinged with nutmeg, mace, cloves and cinnamon; dishes of rich sauces combining a perfect balance of a range of spices, yoghurt and cream, almonds and pistachios, the base to receive morsels of chicken of meat cooked in ghee; vegetable dishes with the nutty flavour of poppy seeds and sweetened with honey; extravagant rice dishes, biryanis and pilaus, each grain separate and full of flavour, garnished with cardamom and strands of saffron; silky-smooth, ice-cold desserts flavoured with essence of roses, decked with tissue-thin sheets of real gold or silver and decorated with a scattering of rose petals; drinks squeezed from fresh fruits. All were prepared to please the eye as well as the palate.

Babur was a Chaghati Turk with the blood of both Ghengis Khan and Timur in his veins. He was scholarly, a poet, sensitive to the fine things in life and, as were all the Moghul rulers, a lover of gardens in the Persian style – as today's visitor to Lahore and Kashmir can testify. He surrounded himself with Turkish and Persian intellectuals who, like himself, were as adept with pen and brush as they were at wielding the sword. He had seen the cultural achievements at his ancestors' capitals at Samarkand and Heart and he would clearly love to have taken those capitals – but it was not to be, so he turned his attention first to Kabul and then expanded down into northern India to enjoy its legendary spoils.

Babur was meticulous in keeping a journal which leaves us with a record of his Indian campaigns, and of life in the tented encampments – set up to a regulated plan with quarters for the women, the guards, the chiefs and nobles, the kitchens and out-houses. The tents themselves were luxurious, lined with carpets and fine fabrics. Babur's first impressions of his new land express disappointment, perhaps because he was unfamiliar with the countryside and homesick for the cooler climate of Kabul. He thought Hindustan a country of few charms.

Of social intercourse, paying and receiving visits there are none; in handicraft and work there is no symmetry, method or quality; there are no good horses, no ice or cold water, no good bread or cooked food in the bazaars, no hot baths, no colleges, no candles, torches or candlesticks … Except their large rivers and their standing waters which flow in ravines and hollows … there are no running waters in their gardens or residences … These residences have no charm, air, regularity or symmetry. He does concede, however, that, 'Pleasant things in Hindustan are that it is a large country and has masses of gold and silver … and endless workmen of every kind.'