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Description
POD: Husain Mirza of Herat did not die early, and he with his relative Babur defeated the Uzbeks and consolidated the last Timurid holdings in Afghanistan. Seeing the changing tides in Central Asia, the Ottoman Sultan Selim I turned to Babur and
Husain, who forced a secret alliance with the Ottomans to carve up the Shia Safavid Empire. Right when the Safavid Shah Ismail I was preparing his conquest of Central Asia, the two Timurids attacked. The inhabitants of Eastern Iran, particularly
Khorasan, was sympathetics to the Sunni cause, and made their invasion easier. The Ottomans also moved in to Iraq. Husain died some time later, and his cause was fully taken over by Babur, who with the help from some Central Asian troops, defeated
Ismail's armies in the east. The Safavids gradually crumbled, with some remnants still holding out in Tabriz and Fars. Babur's swiftness got him the lion's share of the conquest, which is most of Greater Persia.

Babur acknowledged Selim as his suzerain, and returned to his conquests, defending his realm from some Uzbek incursions. However, he has greater ambitions. In 1520, Selim invaded the Mamluk Sultanate. Although he was already known for his brutality
in his massacre of Shias during his invasion of Iraq, his campaign against the Mamluks was particularly infamous for his treatment of villages and prisoners. In Cairo, the puppet Abbasid caliph Al-Mutawakkil III, fearing for the safety of him and his
family if the Selim captures it, fled the sultanate. It is still debated on whether it was invited or not, but he eventually made his way to Babur's realm. Babur knows what he has on hands, a trump card against the Ottomans, and Selim knew too, seeing
as he ordered Al-Mutawakkil be sent to Istanbul, but Babur refused, claiming to act at the behalf of the caliphate against the tyrant Selim. Enraged, Selim proclaimed himself caliph, in the virtue of controlling the holy cities of Mekka and Medina.

Thus began the rivalry of the Ottoman and the Neo-Timurid (Mughal) empires. Babur eventually married the niece of the Abbasid caliph, and the title of caliph was passed on to Babur's son with her, Abul-Nasir, officially making it the Timurid Caliphate.
The whole Muslim world was defined by this conflict, with other states declaring their allegiance to either one of the two caliphates. They also competed in spreading their sphere of influence, with the Timurids dominating on land, and the Ottomans at
sea, with them encroaching on the Timurid's turf in India with their conquest of Portuguese Daman and Diu. The year is 1603, and the rivalry does not seem to be ending anytime soon.

Description
POD: Husain Mirza of Herat did not die early, and he with his relative Babur defeated the Uzbeks and consolidated the last Timurid holdings in Afghanistan. Seeing the changing tides in Central Asia, the Ottoman Sultan Selim I turned to Babur and
Husain, who forced a secret alliance with the Ottomans to carve up the Shia Safavid Empire. Right when the Safavid Shah Ismail I was preparing his conquest of Central Asia, the two Timurids attacked. The inhabitants of Eastern Iran, particularly
Khorasan, was sympathetics to the Sunni cause, and made their invasion easier. The Ottomans also moved in to Iraq. Husain died some time later, and his cause was fully taken over by Babur, who with the help from some Central Asian troops, defeated
Ismail's armies in the east. The Safavids gradually crumbled, with some remnants still holding out in Tabriz and Fars. Babur's swiftness got him the lion's share of the conquest, which is most of Greater Persia.

Babur acknowledged Selim as his suzerain, and returned to his conquests, defending his realm from some Uzbek incursions. However, he has greater ambitions. In 1520, Selim invaded the Mamluk Sultanate. Although he was already known for his brutality
in his massacre of Shias during his invasion of Iraq, his campaign against the Mamluks was particularly infamous for his treatment of villages and prisoners. In Cairo, the puppet Abbasid caliph Al-Mutawakkil III, fearing for the safety of him and his
family if the Selim captures it, fled the sultanate. It is still debated on whether it was invited or not, but he eventually made his way to Babur's realm. Babur knows what he has on hands, a trump card against the Ottomans, and Selim knew too, seeing
as he ordered Al-Mutawakkil be sent to Istanbul, but Babur refused, claiming to act at the behalf of the caliphate against the tyrant Selim. Enraged, Selim proclaimed himself caliph, in the virtue of controlling the holy cities of Mekka and Medina.

Thus began the rivalry of the Ottoman and the Neo-Timurid (Mughal) empires. Babur eventually married the niece of the Abbasid caliph, and the title of caliph was passed on to Babur's son with her, Abul-Nasir, officially making it the Timurid Caliphate.
The whole Muslim world was defined by this conflict, with other states declaring their allegiance to either one of the two caliphates. They also competed in spreading their sphere of influence, with the Timurids dominating on land, and the Ottomans at
sea, with them encroaching on the Timurid's turf in India with their conquest of Portuguese Daman and Diu. The year is 1603, and the rivalry does not seem to be ending anytime soon.