Mughal or Mogul , Muslim empire in India, 1526-1857. The dynasty was founded by Babur , a Turkish chieftain who had his base in Afghanistan. Babur's invasion of India culminated in the battle of Panipat (1526) and the occupation of Delhi and Agra. Babur was succeeded by his son, Humayun , who soon lost the empire to the Afghan Sher Khan. Akbar , the son of Humayun and the greatest of the Mughal emperors, reestablished Mughal power in India. At the time of Akbar's death (1605), the empire occupied a vast territory from Afghanistan E to Orissa and S to the Deccan Plateau. Mughal expansion continued under Akbar's son Jahangir and under his grandson Shah Jahan , who built many architectural marvels at Delhi and at Agra (including the Taj Mahal). Aurangzeb , expanded Mughal territory to its greatest extent, but at the same time the empire suffered the blows of major Hindu revolts. The most serious of these was the Maratha uprising. Weakened by the Maratha wars, dynastic struggles, and invasions by Persian and Afghan rulers, the empire came to an effective end as the British established control of India in the late 18th and early 19th cent. However, the British maintained puppet emperors until 1857. Many features of the Mughal administrative system were adopted by Great Britain in ruling India, but the most lasting achievements of the Mughals were in art and architecture.
MUGHAL EMPERORS:-
BABUR:
Babur [Turk.,=lion], 1483-1530, founder of the Mughal empire of India. His full name was Zahir ud-Din Muhammad. A descendant of Timur (Tamerlane) and of Jenghiz Khan, he succeeded (1494) to the principality of Fergana in central Asia. His early life was spent in an ultimately unsuccessful struggle to retain his inheritance and to recover Samarkand (Timur's capital) from the Uzbeks. In 1504, however, he captured Kabul and established a kingdom in Afghanistan. After the failure of his final attempt (1512) on Samarkand, Babur began raids southward into India. In 1525, responding to an invitation from the governor of the Punjab to overthrow the sultan of Delhi, Babur launched an invasion. Although his force was small, he defeated the sultan at Panipat in 1526 and captured Agra and Delhi. He finally conquered nearly all of N India. Babur was also a distinguished poet. His autobiography, The Baburnama (tr. by A. S. Beveridge, 1922, and by W. M. Thackston, 1996), is his most important work. His son Humayun succeeded him. Babur's name is also transliterated Baber and Babar.
HUMAYUN
Humayun or Homayun , 1507-56, second Mughal emperor of India (1530-56), son and successor of Babur . In 1535, pressed by enemy incursions into Rajasthan, Humayun defeated the formidable Bahadur Shah of Gujarat. However military opposition, particularly that of Sher Khan in Bihar, grew in strength. Sher Khan overran Bengal in 1537, and Humayun was routed at Chausa in 1539 and crushingly defeated at Kanauj in 1540. Humayun fled to Sind and finally obtained shelter from Shah Tahmasp of Persia in 1544. After the death of Sher Khan's son, Humayun, with Persian support, invaded (1555) India and reestablished Mughal authority. He died soon after, and his son Akbar became emperor.
AKBAR
Akbar , 1542-1605, Mughal emperor of India (1556-1605); son of Humayun , grandson of Babur . He succeeded to the throne under a regent, Bairam Khan, who rendered loyal service in expanding and consolidating the Mughal domains before he was summarily dismissed (1560) by the young king. Akbar, however, continued the policy of conquest. A magnetic personality and an outstanding general, he gradually enlarged his empire to include Afghanistan, Baluchistan, and nearly all of the Indian peninsula north of the Godavari River. To unify the vast state, he established a uniform system of administration throughout his empire and adopted a policy of conciliating the conquered chieftains. Having defeated the Rajputs, the most militant of the Hindu rulers, he allied himself with them, giving their chiefs high positions in his army and government; he twice married Rajput princesses. Although he was himself illiterate, Akbar's courts at Delhi, Agra, and Fatehpur Sikri were centers of the arts, letters, and learning. He was much impressed with Persian culture, and because of him the later Mughal empire bore an indelible Persian stamp. Apparently disillusioned with orthodox Islam and hoping to bring about religious unity within his empire, he promulgated (1582) the Din-i-Ilahi [divine faith], an eclectic creed derived from Islam, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, and Christianity. A simple, monotheistic cult, tolerant in outlook, it centered on Akbar as prophet, but had an influence outside the court. Akbar, generally considered the greatest of the Mughal emperors, was succeeded by his son Jahangir
JAHANGIR
Jahangir or Jehangir , 1569-1627, Mughal emperor of India (1605-27), son of Akbar . He continued his father's policy of expansion. The Rajput principality of Mewar (Udaipur) capitulated in 1614. In the Deccan, Ahmadnagar was taken in 1616 and half of its kingdom annexed. In the northwest, however, the Persian ruler, Shah Abbas , retook (1622) Kandahar. In 1611, Jahangir married a Persian widow, Nur Jahan, and she and her relatives soon dominated politics, while Jahangir devoted himself to cultivation of the arts, especially miniature painting. He welcomed foreign visitors to his court, granting trading privileges first to the Portuguese and then to the British East India Company. Civil strife and court intrigues marked the last years of Jahangir's reign. Shah Jahan, his son, succeeded him.
SHAH JEHAN
Shah Jahan or Shah Jehan , 1592-1666, Mughal emperor of India (1628-58), son and successor of Jahangir . His full name was Khurram Shihab-ud-din Muhammad. He rebelled against his father in 1622 but was pardoned and succeeded to the throne in 1628. In the course of his long reign he conquered most of the Deccan and temporarily (1638-49) recovered Kandahar from the Persians. Shah Jahan's reign is considered the golden age of Mughal art and architecture . Among the buildings he erected were the unsurpassed Taj Mahal and the Pearl Mosque, both at Agra, and the new city at Delhi , which he made his capital. Literature also flourished at his magnificent court. Shah Jahan fell seriously ill in 1657, and this led to a war of succession among his sons. In 1658 he was deposed and imprisoned for the rest of his life by his son Aurangzeb
AURANGZEB
Aurangzeb or Aurangzib , 1618-1707, Mughal emperor of India (1658-1707), son and successor of Shah Jahan . He served (1636-44, 1653-58) as viceroy of the Deccan but was constantly at odds with his father and his eldest brother, Dara Shikoh, the heir apparent. When Shah Jahan fell ill in 1658, Aurangzeb seized the opportunity to fight and defeat Dara and two other brothers in a battle for succession. He imprisoned his father for life and ascended the throne at Agra with the reign title Alamgir [world-shaker]. A scholarly, austere man, devoted to Islam, he persecuted the Hindus, destroying their temples and monuments. He executed the guru of the Sikhs (see Sikhism ) when he refused to embrace Islam. Although the Mughal empire reached its greatest extent under Aurangzeb, it was also fatally weakened by revolts of the Sikhs, Rajputs, and Jats in the north and the rebellion of the Marathas in the Deccan. From 1682, Aurangzeb concentrated all his energies on crushing the Marathas, but his costly campaigns were only temporarily successful and further weakened his authority in the north. The Mughal empire fell apart soon after his death.
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