Mughal Empire History | Rulers list, Rising & falling

Introduction

The Mughal Empire was also known as Mughal Sultanate-e-Hind, it was established in the year 1526 by Zahiruddin Mohammad Babur by defeating Ibrahim Lodhi. The Mughal Empire was one of the great states of India and the greatest empire of medieval India. This empire maintained its supremacy in India till the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century.

The reason for the end of the Mughal Empire was religious intolerance, not suppressing the rebellion and the power of the British people. Bahadur Shah Zafar was not a mighty Mughal emperor, that’s why the British captured him in the year 1857.

The ethnicity of the Mughal emperors was similar to that of the Mongols and the Turks because Zahiruddin Muhammad Babar was a 14 descendant of Genghis Khan and his mother was Mongol and on the other hand, his father also came from the side of Timur Lang.

The Mughals had introduced Hindi-Persian culture to India and expanded their empire to such an extent that they captured the whole of India. Countries like present-day India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Tajikistan were ruled by Mughals.

Born in 1542, Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar proved to be a great ruler in the history of India. Because Akbar used to see his people with equality and on the other hand the last powerful Mughal emperor Aurangzeb did not do this. Although the Mughals ruled even after Aurangzeb for 150 years, But they were not as powerful as their ancestors.

Information

Early History of Mughal Empire

When Babur was very young, his grandmother had gifted him a place where around the year 1500 he had established the kingdom of Umerids. And after this Babur took control of Khorasan and some areas of Sindh and the Doab. After this, he defeated Ibrahim Lodi in the First Battle of Panipat and established the Mughal Empire by ending the Delhi Sultanate.

After establishing the Mughal Empire, he had a slight threat from the Rajputs, for which Babur fought the battle of Khanwa, and apart from this Babur also defeated Rana Sanga, the king of Chittor. Although Babur’s army was very small according to the Rajputs, his army was well-disciplined and they had modern weapons such as cannons.

Babur could not rule for long and died in 1530, after which his son Humayun took over the Mughal Empire. But initially, Humayun could not handle that empire and was defeated by a Pashtun ruler Sher Shah Suri.

After the death of Sher Shah Suri in the year 1954, Humayun again won the throne of Delhi because at that time the empire of Sher Shah Suri was weak. And after this, Humayun started gathering his army and carried forward the Mughal Empire.

Once Humayun had to cross the rocky terrain with his wife due to which he left his son with his brother named Askari, name of that child was Jalaluddin Muhammad, famously known as Akbar, he was born in Umarkot and was brought up by his uncle. Since childhood, he could not learn Reading and writing but he had learned horse riding, archery, fencing, and fighting skills, etc. It’s said that Akbar had mastered shooting so much that he never missed his target.

Humayun had captured the areas around Delhi but died a few days later, having declared Akbar as his successor before his death. Akbar became the ruler at the age of about 14 or 15, but he was helped by Bahlol Khan. Akbar had won about 18 wars by the time he was 21.

In the history of India, Akbar is said to be a great ruler, he treated the Hindus and Muslims equally therefore he was highly respected by everyone. Akbar’s rule was based on secularism, he waived many taxes on Hindus, and in addition, he stopped collecting taxes on Muslims. He never used to give a position to anyone in his court based on religion, but based on ability, he used to give a position. Many Hindus were involved in his court. He used to treat people of every religion and caste softly, he also made good relations with Rajputs.

In the year 1605, Akbar’s son Jahangir started ruling and he ruled till 1627 and after that, he made his son Shah Jahan as his successor. Shah Jahan had inherited a huge empire, so he was fond of getting buildings constructed. During the reign of Shah Jahan, the Mughal Empire was the largest empire in the world, his reign has been called the Golden Age. Shah Jahan started building the Taj Mahal in the year 1630 for his wife Mumtaz Mahal, whose construction was completed in 1653. Mumtaz Mahal died while giving birth to her 14th child.

The Mughal Empire was at its peak in the year 1700 and at that time Aurangzeb Alamgir was the ruler, who occupied Punjab, the southern region of India, and the areas of Afghanistan. Aurangzeb was the last powerful ruler of the Mughal Empire

Maharana Pratap

Mughal Empire

The Mughal Empire was a powerful empire till the 17th century. But after the arrival of the British government in the year 1857, the Mughal dynasty went on weakening very rapidly. And at that time the Mughal Empire was called Timurid Empire because Babur was a descendant of Timur.

Zahiruddin Muhammad Babar, a Muslim from Uzbekistan, defeated Ibrahim Lodi in the First Battle of Panipat in the year 1526 and captured Delhi. He defeated the Rajputs and grew his empire, But unfortunately, he could not rule for long and died in the year 1530 due to serious illness.

Babur’s son Humayun had to stay away from the Mughal Empire from 1530 till 1555. Because at that time Sher Shah Suri had defeated Humayun However, in the year 1555, Humayun got his throne back and he again established the Mughal Empire. And only a few months later, Humayun died, due to which his minor 13-year-old son Jalaluddin Mohammad Akbar was declared the ruler of the Mughal Empire.

If Akbar was not the ruler, then perhaps the Mughal Empire would have remained confined to a small area, but Akbar had expanded this empire. The empire spread by Akbar was handled by his coming generations and the names of those rulers are Jahangir, Shah Jahan, and Aurangzeb, Although even after these the Mughal emperors ruled, but they were not as powerful as their ancestors like Akbar, Jahangir, Shah Jahan, Babur, Humayun, etc.

Akbar is called great because he was a secular ruler, he also provided posts to Hindus in his court. He had good relations with Rajputs and also married Rajput women. his wife’s name was Jodha Bai. Akbar never used to attack, he used to adopt diplomacy first, if any emperor agreed with diplomacy, he would let him rule. And some Rajput rulers did not accept Akbar’s diplomacy, then Akbar used to attack them, And later the conquered kingdom was returned to the same king whom he defeated but Akbar used to collect tax. He respected all religions but Aurangzeb was the opposite of Akbar.

Alamgir Aurangzeb had focused on expanding the empire further in his life. He devoted his whole life to conquering the Deccan and Southern India. Aurangzeb had provoked strong resistance among Hindu Rajputs, Punjabis, and Marathas.

After Alamgir Aurangzeb, the Mughal Empire started declining and there was a considerable decline in the period of Bahadur Shah Zafar. By the 18th century, the Mughal Empire had weakened so much that Nadir Shah, the Persian invader, and Ahmad Shah Abdali of Afghanistan, plundered the Mughal capital Delhi.

In the last time of the Mughal Empire, the Marathas had to give tough competition to the Mughals and defeated them. In the year 1803, Alam Shah II was the ruler of the Mughal Empire and he was blind and he was not even as powerful as the previous Mughals, he allowed the East India Company to work in India, By that time most of the princely states had separated from the Mughal Empire. And because of this, the British also started calling the last Mughal rulers “Rulers of Delhi” instead of “Rulers of India” because they lived in Delhi.

After Alam Shah II, in 1827, almost all manners were completely over, due to which the ruler of that time Bahadur Shah Zafar II was removed from power by the British in 1857 and he was sent to Burma. Bahadur Shah Zafar II died in the year 1862 and was the last ruler of the Mughal Empire.

List of Mughal Rulers

How did the Mughals affect the Indian subcontinent

The Mughals left a mark on Indo-Islamic architecture on the Indian subcontinent. The Mughals built many grand buildings, including the Taj Mahal, Red Fort, Old Fort, Humayun’s Tomb, Apart from this, he has also built many mosques and minarets, which are now located in the capital of India, Delhi, Bangladesh, Agra, Jaipur, Lahore, Pakistan. Fatehpur Sikri of Agra was also built by Akbar the Great.

The unique art of Indo Islamic architecture can be seen in the buildings built by the Mughals. Apart from this, Indian culture and Persian tradition can also be seen in those buildings. Besides, they started many such foods and drink customs in India, which can be easily seen in the Indian kitchen even today. The Taj Mahal built by the Mughals is included in the seven wonders of the world and is said to be a symbol of love.

Before the arrival of the Mughals in India, there were small princely states, the Mughals united them all and laid the foundation of a great Mughal Empire.

The Mughals were very fond of architecture, due to which they built many such buildings which are still a tourist attraction.

The Mughals have promoted trade, for this, they had made good relations with the Arabs and the Turks.

He started making new dishes to eat which are still very famous in India like Haleem, Khichra, Korma, Biryani, etc.

Hindi was spoken in India before the arrival of the Mughals and after that Persian, Turkish, and Arabic words were added to the Hindi language. The Urdu language is spoken in India also started with the arrival of the Mughals, this language is made up of Hindi, Turkish, Persian, Arabic languages.

Many words from Arabic, Turkish and Persian are used in the Hindi language in the Indian subcontinent.

How Mughal Empire was declined

War of succession

The rulers who came after Aurangzeb started fighting with each other and they used to do all this to grab the throne of the Mughal Empire, due to which their empire weakened.

Aurangzeb’s bad policies

Aurangzeb had introduced some such policies due to which the Rajputs lost their faith in Aurangzeb. Although the rulers who came before Aurangzeb had also given respect to the Rajputs, including Akbar. But due to Aurangzeb’s bad policies, Rajputs, Sikhs, Marathas, and Jats all turned against him. For this reason, his empire started to weaken.

Weak successor

After the death of Aurangzeb, the one who was appointed his successor was not able to rule because he was not very clever, due to which he became a victim of conspiracies. The rebellions that took place during his time could not suppress them efficiently.

lack of treasury

The Mughal emperor Shah Jahan was very fond of construct building, and he also spent a lot of money on his luxury, due to which the government treasury was reduced.

Attacks

The Mughals were already weak and on the other hand, people like Nadir Shah and Ahmed Shah Abdali had attacked the Mughals and looted their treasures, due to which the empire suffered a lot.

lose control of the empire

In the last days of the Mughal Empire, many small and big princely states had taken independence from the Mughals, At that time, only Delhi was left with the Mughals and there were many other places, but the British also called them the ruler of Delhi and not India.

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