After losing his ancestral lands in Central Asia, Babur captured Kabul in the year:

After losing Ferghana and Samarkand in Central Asia, Babur captured Kabul in 1504, and made it the base of his power for the next two decades.

Background:

• Babur became the ruler of Ferghana (in present-day Uzbekistan) at a young age.
• He tried several times to capture and hold Samarkand, the famous capital of his ancestor Timur.
• He captured Samarkand in 1497 and 1500, but lost it each time, and also lost Ferghana.
• The Uzbek leader Muhammad Shaibani Khan drove him out of Central Asia.
• For a time, Babur wandered with a small band of followers.

The capture of Kabul:

• In 1504, Babur crossed the Hindu Kush mountains and captured Kabul, which was then held by an Arghun chief.
• Kabul became his capital, and he ruled it as an independent kingdom.
• He took the title "Padshah" a few years later.

His later attempts on Samarkand:

• In 1511, with the help of the Safavid ruler of Persia, Shah Ismail, he captured Samarkand for the third time, but lost it again in 1512.
• After this, he gave up his ambitions in Central Asia, and turned his attention towards India.

Babur and India:

• From Kabul, he made several raids into north-west India, beginning around 1519, when he captured Bajaur and Bhera.
• Later he defeated the Sultan of Delhi and founded the Mughal empire.

Babur and Kabul:

• Babur loved Kabul, and described its gardens, fruits and climate in his memoirs.
• He laid out many gardens there, including the "Bagh-i-Babur" (Babur's Garden).

His importance:

Kabul remained part of the Mughal empire until the 18th century.

Why not the other options?

• ✗1494 was the year Babur became ruler of Ferghana.
• ✗1512 was the year he lost Samarkand for the last time.
• ✗1519 was the year of his first raids into India.