Abu ` l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad ( 15 October 1542 -- 27 October 1605 ) , popularly known as Akbar I ( [ əkbər ] , literally `` the great '' ) and later Akbar the Great , was the third Mughal emperor , who reigned from 1556 to 1605 . Babur ( [ بابر , lit = Tiger , translit = Bābur ] 14 February 148326 December 1530 ) , born Ẓahīr-ud-Dīn Muḥammad ( [ ظهیرالدین محمد , translit = Ẓahīr ad-Dīn Muḥammad ] ) , was a conqueror from Central Asia who , following a series of setbacks , finally succeeded in laying the basis for the Mughal dynasty in the Indian subcontinent and became the first Mughal emperor .
Babur was the third Mughal emperor.