The Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an empire that at its greatest territorial extent ruled parts

of what is todays Afghanistan, Pakistan and most of the Indian Subcontinent, then known as Hindustan, between 1526 and 1707. The empire was founded by the Timurid leader Babur in 1526, when he defeated Ibrahim Lodi, the last of the Delhi Sultans at the First Battle of Panipat. "Mughal" is the Persian word for "Mongol". The religion of the Mughals was Islam. The territory was largely conquered by the Afghan Sher Shah Suri during the time of Humayun, the second Mughal ruler, but under Akbar it grew considerably, and continued to grow until the end of Aurangzeb's rule. Jahangir, the son of Akbar, ruled the empire between 16051627. In October 1627, Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, son of Jahangir, "succeeded to the throne", where he "inherited a vast and rich empire" in India; and "at mid-century this was perhaps the greatest empire in the world". Shah Jahan commissioned the famous Taj Mahal (between 16301653), in Agra. The Mughals faced stiff competition from the Marathas, and after Aurangzeb died in 1707, the empire started to decline in actual power, giving way to the rise of the Hindu Maratha Empire. The Mughals however managed to maintain some trappings of power in the India for another 150 years. In 1739 it was defeated by an army from Persia led by Nadir Shah. In 1756 an army of Ahmed Shah Abdali took Delhi again. The British Empire finally dissolved it in 1857, immediately prior to which it existed only at the sufferance of the British East India Company. Religion The Mughal ruling class were liberal-minded Muslims, although most of the subjects of the Empire were Hindu. Although Babur founded the Empire, the dynasty remained unstable (and was even exiled) until the reign of Akbar, who was not only of liberal disposition but also intimately acquainted, since birth, with the mores and traditions of India. Under Akbar's rule, the court abolished the jizya (the poll-tax on non-Muslims) and abandoned use of the lunar Muslim calendar in favor of a solar calendar more useful for agriculture. One of Akbar's most unusual ideas regarding religion was Din-i-Ilahi ("Faith-of-God" in English), which was an eclectic mix of Hinduism, panthiestic versions of Sufi Islam,Zoroastrianism and Christianity. It was proclaimed the state religion until his death. These actions however met with stiff opposition from the Muslim clergy. However, the orthodoxy regained influence only three generations later, with Aurangzeb, known for upholding doctrines of orthodox Islam; this last of the Great Mughals retracted nearly all the liberal policies of his forbears. The Great Mughal Emperors Emperor Babur 1526 Reign start 1530 Reign end

Humayun

1530

1540 1555 1556

Interregnum * 1540 Humayun Akbar 1556 Jahangir Shah Jahan Aurangzeb 1555 1605 1605 1627 1658

1627 1658 1707

Establishment and reign of Babur In the early 16th century, Muslim armies consisting of Mongol, Turkic, Persian, and Afghan warriors invaded India under the leadership of the Timurid prince Zahir-ud-Din-Mohammad Babur. Babur was the great-grandson of Mongol conqueror Timur Lenk (Timur the Lame, from which the Western name Tamerlane is derived), who had invaded India in 1398 before retiring to Samarkand who himself claimed descent from the Mongol ruler, Genghis Khan. Babur was driven from Samarkand by the Uzbeks and initially established his rule in Kabul in 1504. Later, taking advantage of internal discontent in the Delhi sultanate under Ibrahim Lodi, and following an invitation from Daulat Khan Lodi (governor of Punjab) and Alam Khan (uncle of the Sultan), Babur invaded India in 1526. Babur, a seasoned military commander, entered India in 1526 with his well-trained veteran army of 12,000 to meet the sultan's huge but unwieldy and disunited force of more than 100,000 men. Babur defeated the Lodi sultan decisively at the first Battle of Panipat. Employing gun carts, moveable artillery, and superior cavalry tactics, Babur achieved a resounding victory and the Sultan was killed. A year later (1527) he decisively defeated, at the battle of Khanwa, a Rajput confederacy led by Rana Sanga of Chittor. A third major battle was fought in 1529 when, at the battle of Gogra, Babur routed the joint forces of Afghans and the sultan of Bengal. Babur died in 1530 at Agra before he could consolidate his military gains. He left behind as his chief legacy a set of descendants who would fulfill his dream of establishing an empire in the Indian subcontinent. Early Sikh Gurus' perception of the Mughal Empire Babur's reign was witnessed by the first Sikh Guru Nanak Dev Ji. His Raag Asa Guru records Nanak's observations and thoughts in his poems. It says: