The Mughal Empire (1526–1857)
The Mughal Empire was founded by Zahiruddin Muhammad Babur, a Timurid prince from Ferghana, when he defeated Ibrahim Lodi at the First Battle of Panipat on 21 April 1526. Babur's compact, gunpowder army — using field artillery and Tulghuma tactics — annihilated a vastly larger Lodi force, beginning a dynasty that would rule most of the subcontinent for three centuries.
A Persianised form of Mongol, applied to the descendants of Timur and Genghis Khan. The dynasty itself preferred to be called "Gurkani" (sons-in-law of Genghis), but the term "Mughal" stuck in South Asian usage.
The Great Mughals
The first six emperors — Babur, Humayun, Akbar, Jahangir, Shah Jahan, Aurangzeb — are conventionally called the Great Mughals.
| Emperor | Reign | Notable for |
|---|---|---|
| Babur | 1526–1530 | Founder; wrote the Baburnama |
| Humayun | 1530–40, 1555–56 | Lost throne to Sher Shah Suri; restored 1555 |
| Akbar | 1556–1605 | Imperial consolidation; Din-i-Ilahi; mansabdari |
| Jahangir | 1605–1627 | Art, justice; Nur Jahan's influence |
| Shah Jahan | 1628–1658 | Taj Mahal, Red Fort, Peacock Throne |
| Aurangzeb | 1658–1707 | Greatest territorial extent; orthodox revival |
The Sher Shah interregnum (1540–1555)
Humayun lost the empire to the Afghan chieftain Sher Shah Suri after the Battle of Chausa (1539) and Battle of Kanauj (1540). Sher Shah's short reign (1540–1545) was administratively brilliant: he reorganised the revenue system on a measured-land basis, built the Grand Trunk Road from Sonargaon to Peshawar, introduced the silver rupiya, and constructed a rigorous network of sarais (rest-houses). Humayun reclaimed Delhi in 1555 with Safavid help but died falling down his library stairs months later.
Akbar — the architect of empire (1556–1605)
Acceding at thirteen, Akbar the Great built the political, administrative and ideological structure of Mughal India:
- Won the Second Battle of Panipat (1556) against the Hindu general Hemu under the regent Bairam Khan.
- Abolished the jizya (1564) and the pilgrim tax.
- Created the mansabdari system — a graded bureaucracy in which every officer held a zat (personal rank) and sawar (cavalry quota).
- Implemented Todar Mal's revenue settlement (zabt / dahsala) on measured land.
- Promulgated Din-i-Ilahi (1582), a syncretic ethical creed, and the policy of Sulh-i-Kul (universal peace).
- Built Fatehpur Sikri (1571–85) as a new capital.
- 1526 — Babur founds the empire at Panipat.
- 1540 — Sher Shah Suri ousts Humayun.
- 1556 — Akbar wins Second Battle of Panipat.
- 1605 — Akbar dies; Jahangir succeeds.
- 1632–53 — Construction of the Taj Mahal at Agra.
- 1707 — Aurangzeb dies; rapid imperial decline begins.
Jahangir and Shah Jahan — the apex of culture
Jahangir (r. 1605–1627), son of Akbar, is remembered for his "chain of justice", his memoirs (Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri), and the dominant political role of his Persian queen Nur Jahan. The captive English ambassador Sir Thomas Roe reached his court (1615–18), securing the first EIC trading privileges.
Shah Jahan (r. 1628–1658) presided over the architectural zenith. Besides the Taj Mahal (built for Mumtaz Mahal, 1632–1653), he built the Red Fort of Delhi, the Jama Masjid, and shifted the capital from Agra to Shahjahanabad (1648). The famed Peacock Throne was crafted under his patronage.
Aurangzeb (r. 1658–1707) — peak and pivot
Aurangzeb seized the throne after a brutal war of succession in which his brother Dara Shukoh was executed (1659). Under him the empire reached its greatest territorial extent, swallowing Bijapur (1686) and Golconda (1687), but his orthodox policies — re-imposing jizya in 1679 — alienated Rajputs, Sikhs, Jats and Marathas. He spent his last twenty-six years bogged down in the Deccan campaigns against Shivaji and the Marathas, and died at Ahmadnagar in 1707.
Memorise the Great Mughals with "Be Happy And Just Stay Awake" — Babur, Humayun, Akbar, Jahangir, Shah Jahan, Aurangzeb. Three of them (Babur, Jahangir, Shah Jahan) wrote or commissioned major memoirs.
Decline and the later Mughals
After Aurangzeb the empire fragmented. Nadir Shah of Persia sacked Delhi in 1739, carrying off the Peacock Throne and the Kohinoor diamond. The Third Battle of Panipat (1761) saw Ahmad Shah Abdali crush the Marathas — a Pyrrhic outcome that left a power vacuum the British rapidly filled.
After the Battle of Plassey (1757) and Buxar (1764), real power moved to the East India Company; the emperor in Delhi became a pensioner. The last titular ruler, Bahadur Shah Zafar II, was deposed and exiled to Rangoon after the Revolt of 1857, formally ending the dynasty.
Legacy
The Mughals left behind a remarkable composite culture: Indo-Persian architecture, Urdu as a literary language, the mansabdari–jagirdari template that later regimes inherited, miniature painting traditions, and dynastic memory that both Indian and Pakistani national narratives still draw upon.