Mughal Empire’s 300-year rule in India

Hyderabad: The Mughal Period is considered one of the classic periods of India’s long history. In 1526, Zahir-ud-Din Muhammad Babur, a man with Mongol heritage from central Asia, established a foothold in the Indian subcontinent which was to last for more than three centuries. Around 1690, the Mughal Empire ruled almost the entire subcontinent of […]

Hyderabad: The Mughal Period is considered one of the classic periods of India’s long history. In 1526, Zahir-ud-Din Muhammad Babur, a man with Mongol heritage from central Asia, established a foothold in the Indian subcontinent which was to last for more than three centuries. Around 1690, the Mughal Empire ruled almost the entire subcontinent of India, controlling four million square kilometres of land and a population of about 160 million.

Founding of the empire

The young prince Babur, who was descended from Timur on his father’s side and Genghis Khan on his mother’s, finished his conquest of northern India in 1526, defeating the Delhi Sultan Ibrahim Shah Lodi at the First Battle of Panipat.
Babur established a base in Kabul, from which he turned south and conquered much of the Indian subcontinent. Babur called his dynasty ‘Timurid.’

Rules of Succession

Although each classic period Mughal ruler was the son of his predecessor, the succession was by no means one of primogeniture—the eldest did not necessarily win his father’s throne.There were often fierce battles among the princes when a ruler died.

Great Mughal rulers

Humayun

Babur’s elder son Humayun was not a very strong leader. In 1540, the Pashtun ruler Sher Shah Suri defeated the Timurids, deposing Humayun.

Akbar

When Humayun died, his 13-year-old son Akbar was crowned. He defeated the Pashtuns and brought some Hindu regions under his control. He gained control over Rajput through marriage alliances.

Akbar was an enthusiastic patron of literature, poetry, architecture, science, and painting. He became known as Akbar the Great.

Jahangir

Jahangir or Prince Salim succeeded to the throne in 1605, eight days after his father’s death. Salim ascended to the throne with the title of Nur-ud-din Muhammad Jahangir Badshah Ghazi and began his 22-year reign at the age of 36.

Shah Jahan

Jahangir was succeeded by his son, Shah Jahan. The 36-year-old Shah Jahan inherited an incredible empire in 1627.

Four years later, his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal, died during the birth of their 14th child. As an expression of his love, Shah Jahan commissioned the building of a magnificent tomb for his wife, the Taj Mahal.

The empire was ruled by many more rulers after Shah Jahan — Alamgir I (1658-1707), Muhammad Azam Shah (1707), Bahadur Shah (1707-12), Jahandar Shah (1712-13), Farrukhsiyar (1713-19), Rafi ud-Darajat (1719), Shah Jahan II (1719), Muhammad Shah (1719-48), Ahmad Shah Bahadur (1748-54), Alamgir II (1754-59), Shah Jahan III (1759-60), Shah Alam II (1760-88), Jahan Shah IV (1788), Shah Alam II (1788-1806), Akbar Shah II (1806-37), and Bahadur Shah II (1837-1857).

Decline of Mughals

Aurangzeb seized the throne and had all of his brothers executed after a protracted succession struggle in 1658. The ruthless Aurangzeb proved to be the last of the Great Mughals.

A three-year revolt by the Pashtun began in 1672. In the aftermath, the Mughals lost their authority in what is now Afghanistan, weakening the empire.

Last days of the empire

In 1757, the British East India Company took political control, marking the start of the British Raj in India. The Mughal rulers were simply puppets of the British.

In the 1857 revolt, Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar was arrested, tried for treason, and exiled to Burma. It was the end of the Mughal Dynasty.

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