Overview of the Mughal Empire

The Mughal, also known as the Mogul or Moghul Empire, was a South Asian early modern empire. The Empire spanned two centuries, from the western outskirts of the Indus basin, north Afghanistan in the northwestern, and Kashmir in the north, to the uplands of modern-day Assam and Bangladesh in the east, and the Deccan plateau uplands in south India. The Mughal empire is believed to have been formed in 1526 by Babur, a warrior leader from modern-day Uzbekistan, who defeated the failing Delhi Sultanate in the First Battle of Panipat with the help of the neighbouring Safavid and Ottoman empires. In Khanua near Agra, Babur fought Sisodia ruler Rana Sanga (whom Babur referred to as the greatest Indian King of the time, alongside Krishnadevaraya). The loss of Rana Sanga was a watershed event in the Mughal conquest of northern India, and the Battle of Khanua was one of the most crucial battles in Indian history, even more so than the First Battle of Panipat.

On the other hand, the Mughal imperial structure is sometimes dated to 1600, during the reign of Babur's grandson, Akbar. This imperial structure lasted until 1720, shortly after the Empire's last major Emperor, Aurangzeb, whose reign the Empire reached its greatest geographical extent. The British Raj legally abolished the Empire during the Indian Rebellion of 1857, when it was abridged to the region in and around Old Delhi, notably during the East India Company's control in India. Although military warfare was used to establish and maintain the Mughal empire, it did not violently overpower the cultures and peoples it came to rule, instead of balancing them by instituting new administrative practices and incorporating diverse ruling elites, resulting in more efficient, centralised, and standardised rule. Agricultural levies, introduced by the third Mughal emperor, Akbar, were the foundation of the Empire's communal prosperity. These taxes, which amounted to more than half of a peasant cultivator's output, were paid in the well-regulated silver coinage, which prompted peasants and artisans to seek larger markets. India's economic progress was aided by the Empire's relative peace throughout much of the 17th century. The Mughal courts grew even wealthier as the European presence in the Indian Ocean grew, as did the demand for Indian raw and finished goods. During the supremacy of Shah Jahan, the Mughal aristocracy indulged in more ostentatious expenditure, resulting in increased patronage of painting, literary forms, textiles, and architecture. Agra Fort, Fatehpur Sikri, Red Fort, Tomb of Humayun, Lahore Fort, and the renowned Taj Mahal are among the Mughal UNESCO World History Sites in South Asia. The Taj Mahal is characterised as the "jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the globally adored masterpieces of the world's heritage."

The Chagatai Turkic prince Zahiruddin Muhammad Babur, born in Central Asia in 1483 into the reigning dynasty of the small kingdom Fargana, formed the Mughal Empire. On his father's side, he was inclined from Turkic conqueror Timurlane, while on his mother's side, he was connected to Mongol emperor Genghis Khan. After being driven out of Farghana by the westward expansion of the Uzbegs in 1504, Babur established himself in Kabul. He discovered that he couldn't expand into Persia due to the birth of a new dynasty there, he turned his focus to India. In the first combat of Panipat in 1526, Babur beat Ibrahim Lodi, the Sultan of Delhi, and established his dominion over most Northern India. His Empire was a highly developed society based on religious harmony. It was a cultural mash-up of Persian, Mongol, and Indian traditions. Business with the rest of the Islamic world was encouraged, particularly with Persia and through Persia to Europe. Babur introduced a broad-minded, confident Islam from Central Asia and outstanding ideas about civilisation, architecture, and government. He even penned The Babur Namah, a truthful, honest, and at times poetic autobiography.

Babur

Birth Name: Zahir-ud-din Muhammad

Birth: 14 February 1483

Reign: 20 April 1526 – 26 December 1530

Death: 26 December 1530 (aged 47)

Humayun

Birth Name: Nasir-ud-din Muhammad Humayun

Birth: 6 March 1508

Reign: 26 December 1530 – 17 May 1540 (9 years 4 months 21 days)

Death: 27 January 1556 (aged 47)

Akbar-i-Azam

Birth Name: Jalal-ud-din Muhammad

Birth: 14 October 1542

Reign: 27 January 1556 – 27 October 1605 (49 years 9 months)

Death: 27 October 1605 (aged 63)

Jahangir

Birth Name: Nur-ud-din Muhammad Salim

Birth: 20 September 1569

Reign: 15 October 1605 – 8 October 1627 (21 years 11 months 23 days)

Death: 28 October 1627 (aged 60)

Shah-Jahan

Birth Name: Shahab-ud-din Muhammad Khurram

Birth: 5 January 1592

Reign: 8 November 1627 – 2 August 1658 (30 years 8 months 25 days)

Death: 22 January 1666 (aged 74)

Alamgir I

Birth Name: Muhy-ud-din Muhammad Aurangzeb

Birth: 4 November 1618

Reign: 31 July 1658 – 3 March 1707 (48 years 7 months 0 days)

Death: 3 March 1707 (aged 88)

Bahadur Shah

Birth Name: Qutb-ud-Din Muhammad Mu'azzam Shah Alam

Birth: 14 October 1643

Reign: 19 June 1707 – 27 February 1712 (3 years, 253 days)

Death: 27 February 1712 (aged 68)

Jahandar Shah

Birth Name: Mu'izz-ud-Din Jahandar Shah Bahadur

Birth: 9 May 1661

Reign: 27 February 1712 – 11 February 1713 (0 years, 350 days)

Death: 12 February 1713 (aged 51)

Farrukhsiyar

Birth Name: Farrukhsiyar

Birth: 20 August 1685

Reign: 11 January 1713 – 28 February 1719 (6 years, 48 days)

Death: 29 April 1719 (aged 33)

Rafi ud-Darajat

Birth Name: Rafi ud-Darajat

Birth: 30 November 1699

Reign: 28 February – 6 June 1719 (0 years, 98 days)

Death: 9 June 1719 (aged 19)

Shah Jahan II

Birth Name: Rafi ud-Daulah

Birth: June 1696

Reign: 6 June 1719 – 19 September 1719 (0 years, 105 days)

Death: 19 September 1719 (aged 23)

Muhammad Shah

Birth Name: Roshan Akhtar Bahadur

Birth: 17 August 1702

Reign: 27 September 1719 – 26 April 1748 (28 years, 212 days)

Death: 26 April 1748 (aged 45)

Ahmad Shah Bahadur

Birth Name: Ahmad Shah Bahadur

Birth: 23 December 1725

Reign: 26 April 1748 – 2 June 1754 (6 years, 37 days)

Death: 1 January 1775 (aged 49)

Alamgir II

Birth Name: Aziz-ud-din

Birth: 6 June 1699

Reign: 2 June 1754 – 29 November 1759 (5 years, 180 days)

Death: 29 November 1759 (aged 60)

Shah Jahan III

Birth Name: Muhi-ul-millat

Birth: 1711

Reign: 10 December 1759 – 10 October 1760 (282 days)

Death: 1772 (aged 60–61)

Shah Alam II

Birth Name: Ali Gauhar

Birth: 25 June 1728

Reign: 10 October 1760 to 19 November 1806 (46 years, 330 days)

Death: November, 19, 1806 (aged 78)

Muhammad Shah Bahadur Jahan IV

Birth Name: Bidar Bakht

Birth: 1749

Reign: 31 July 1788 – 2 October 1788 (63 days)

Death: 1790 (aged 40–41)

Akbar Shah II

Birth Name: Mirza Akbar

Birth: 22 April 1760

Reign: 19 November 1806 – 28 September 1837 (30 years, 321 days)

Death: 28 September 1837 (aged 77)

Bahadur Shah II

Birth Name: Abu Zafar Sirajuddin Muhammad Bahadur Shah Zafar

Birth: 24 October 1775

Reign: 28 September 1837 – 23 September 1857 (19 years, 360 days)

Death: 7 November 1862 (aged 87)