Mustafa Rumi


Mustafa Rumi was a Turkish general who served the Mughal Empire. At the Battle of Khanwa, he commanded the Matchlock gun infantry. His role in the battle as commander of rifle troops was a vital one, as it was the riflemen and the cannons under Ustad Ali Quli that won the day.
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. 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 1513, Selim I reconciled with Babur, 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. From them, he also adopted the tactic of using matchlocks and cannons in field, which would give him an important advantage in India.