Babur's masterpiece, the Battle of Qandahar, 1507
Babur, the first Timurid Emperor of India, was one of the most fascinating figures of history, despite his impressive heritage from Timur and Genghis Khan, he himself was not a natural military leader. It would not be wrong to say that he was not the easiest stuff from which conquerors were made. A cultivated prince of refined tastes, though not inactive, Babur was often impulsive and lacking somewhat in guile on the battelfield.
But for all his lackings, he had an open and eager mind, capable of self critique. Babur's contemplation and ability to accurately reflect was his greatest strength. Babur learnt from his defeats, understanding how his army's lack of adequate organization often led to it clumsily falling in enemy's traps.
In 1507, Babur was again nearly undone due to his rashness. He underestimated the numbers of his enemy and ended up being surprised near Qandahar by over 4000-7000 Mongol Arghunid cavalry while himself having only a 1000 horsemen.
Babur saw the odds against him, however, instead of panicking, he used the experience of his previous defeats to make a viable battle plan. He divided his 1000 men in small troops of 10 and 50, and instead of the standard 4 division (Centre, Vanguard, Sides) formation, he created a much more complicated one with the centre itself being divided in 4 parts; the close, left arm, right arm and the advance. The reason was that Babur observed the rough terrain, and immediately realized that small units would be far more effective here than large formations, the latter would only get disrupted and lose momentum.
Babur also concentrated his strength on his centre and right, leaving his left undermanned. The reason for this was that his left was defended by an irrigation canal that would make the enemy advance difficult. When the Arghunid Mongols attacked, despite their numbers, their large formation proved clumsy due to the rough terrain, and the Mongol right could not break Babur's weak left that was defended by the irrigation canal. Meanwhile Babur led his centre to attack the Mongol centre, forcing the Mongols to commit the reserves to contain the central attack. Meanwhile on the Right, Babur's right managed managed to outflank and break the Mongol left. Soon the Arghunid army was routed, and Babur won Qandahar.
The battle showed a great improvement in a commander who had some 6 years ago left Samarqand's fortificaitons, not waiting for reinforcements, just because he feld that the day was auspicious. The young Babur had commanded his army carelessly, allowing a large gap to form in his line, which the Uzbeks poured through and broke Babur's army. The battle in 1507 showed how Babur had applied the lessons he learnt in his defeat.
At Panipat and Khanwa, facing traditional cavalry armies, Babur had the advantage of technology against his opponents, however, in the instance at Qandahar in 1507, Babur faced a larger host using the same tools that his enemy had. Babur's own Turco-Mongol cavalry and the Arghunid Mongol cavalry used similar techniques. However, here the difference was Babur himself, his ability to think clearly, plan and execute it to perfection. While he was never a gifted commander, his natural intelligence meant that Babur learned from experience, and what instinct denied him, he snatched with his own powers of reflection and analysis through experience.
The early 16th century was a time of military prodigies in Asia, Shah Ismail of Persia, Kunwar Prithviraja Sisodia and his younger brother, Rana Sanga of Mewar, and Krishnadevaraya of Vijayanagara, all were great military commanders from a young age, they were what one may call 'natural geniuses', often managing to pull off spectacular tactics and plans. However, this period was also a time of rapidly changing warfare to which a lot of these great commanders would fall prey. Shah Ismail would fall to the Ottoman guns of Sultan Selim, a once defeated and fugitive prince similar to Babur, the latter in turn would defeat Rana Sanga with the same artillery tactics. It would seem that Babur and Selim, spending their early careers in struggle and adversity, were far better placed to ultimately break the auras of invincibility of the likes of Shah Ismail and Rana Sanga, both of whom in their own way epitomised the old way of war.
Sources: The Mughal Empire at War by Andrew De La Garza