The Turkish ruler who attacked India in 1398 with the main aim of plundering its wealth was:

Timur, also known as Timur Lang (Timur the Lame) or Tamerlane, attacked India in 1398, mainly to plunder its wealth.

About Timur:

• He was born in 1336 near Samarkand (in present-day Uzbekistan), and died in 1405.
• He was a Turco-Mongol conqueror, and founded the Timurid empire, with its capital at Samarkand.
• He was lame in one leg because of an injury, which gave him the name "Timur Lang" (Timur the Lame).
• He conquered a vast area, including Persia, Iraq, Central Asia, parts of Russia and Anatolia.

His invasion of India:

• He crossed the Indus in September 1398.
• At the time, the Delhi Sultanate was weak, divided and ruled by a weak Sultan of the Tughlaq dynasty.
• Timur defeated the Sultan's army near Delhi in December 1398.
• He entered Delhi, and his army plundered the city for several days, and massacred thousands of people.
• He carried away a huge amount of wealth, and many skilled craftsmen, such as stone-masons and builders, to Samarkand, where they helped build monuments, including a great mosque.
• He left India in early 1399, having stayed only a few months.

Effects:

• His invasion gave a death-blow to the already declining Tughlaq dynasty.
• Delhi took a long time to recover from the destruction.
• The Delhi Sultanate broke up into many independent kingdoms.
• Before leaving, Timur appointed a governor for Multan and other areas, whose family later came to power at Delhi.

Timur's account:

His memoirs, the "Malfuzat-i-Timuri" (attributed to him), describe his invasion.

Timur and the Mughals:

• Babur, the founder of the Mughal empire, was a descendant of Timur (in the fifth generation) on his father's side.
• The Mughals called themselves "Timurids".

Why not the other options?

• ✗Babur founded the Mughal empire in 1526.
• ✗Nadir Shah invaded in 1739.
• ✗Changez (Genghis) Khan was a Mongol conqueror of the 13th century.