THE MUGHAL DYNASTY

WHAT WAS MUGHAL EMPIRE? THE MUGHAL EMPIRE was an imperial power in the Indian subcontinent from about 1526 to 1757 (though it lingered for another century). The Mughal emperors were Muslims and direct descendants of Genghis Khan through Chagatai Khan and Timur. At the height of their power in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, they controlled most of the subcontinent—extending from Bengal in the east to Balochistan in the west ,Kashmir in the north to the Kaveri basin in the south.

THE GREAT MUGHALS THE LATER MUGHALS The great mughals were rulers of mughal empire till Aurangzeb. After him came the later mughals. There are six great mughals.

THE GREAT MUGHALS Babur Humayun Akbar Jahangir Shah Jahan Aurangzeb 1483 - 1526 - 1530 (47) Humayun 1508 - 1530 - 1540 - 1556 (48) Akbar 1542 - 1556 - 1605 (63) Jahangir 1569 - 1605 - 1627 (58) Shah Jahan 1592 - 1627 - 1658 - 1666 (74) Aurangzeb 1618 - 1658 - 1707 (89)

BABUR The first of the Great Mughals was Babur ("The Tiger"), who invaded and conquered India in 1526.  He was also a diarist, an enthusiastic hunter and lover of gardens.   He died in the Ram Bagh gardens in Agra, and his tomb lies in gardens bearing his name in Kabul, Afghanistan.  Babur was the great great- great grandson of the Mongol Warlord Tamerlane.  

HUMAYUN Born in Kabul, Humayun was the eldest of Babur's sons, and had helped his father with the conquest of India.   He ascended the throne at Agra on December 30 1530 at the age of 23, but did not have the skills to manage the immature empire, Afghan warlords In 1540 he lost his empire to Afghan leader Sher Shah, but he hung in and managed to get it back 16 years later in 1556.  However, only six months later he died as a result of falling down the steps of his library.  Had he known all of this at the time, he might not have chosen a name which meant "the fortunate".

AKBAR The greatest of the Mughal Emperors, Akbar,  was born in exile and ascended the throne at the age of 13 after his father's short restoration.    In many ways Akbar was the Indian equivalent of Suleiman the Magnificent (1494 - 1520 - 1566).  He conquered massive new territories including much of Rajasthan, created a long lasting civil and military administrative system (called Mansabdari), introduced standard weights and measures, tax structures and a workable police force.

Akbar was married to at least seven wives, one of them a Rampur Hindu princess from Jaipur.  He was enormously liberal for his time, promoting religious tolerance (and even his own hybrid Islamic / Hindu / Christian / Zoroastrian religion called Din - i llahi), abolishing slavery and forbidding forced sati. Akbar died in Agra in 1605 and is buried in Sikandra.

#9.How did Mughal attitudes and policies toward Hindus change under Akbar? Akbar recognized the fundamental reality that Hindus made up a majority of the population of the Mughal Empire. He acted deliberately to accommodate the Hindu majority through actions that included allowing the Hindu princesses that he married to keep their Hindu faith. incorporating a substantial number of Hindus into the political-military elite of the empire; supporting the building of Hindu temples; imposing a policy of toleration; deliberately restraining the more militantly Islamic ulama; removing the special tax on non-Muslims promoting a state cult that drew on Islam, Hinduism, and Zoroastrianism.

JAHANGIR Jahangir was the eldest son of Mughal Emperor Akbar and was declared successor to his father from an early age. Impatient for power, however, he revolted in 1599 while Akbar was engaged in the Deccan. Jahangir was defeated, but ultimately succeeded his father as Emperor in 1605. The first year of Jahangir's reign saw a rebellion organized by his eldest son Khusraw with the assistance of the SikhGuru Arjun Dev and others. The rebellion was soon put down; Khusraw was brought before his father in chains. After subduing and executing nearly 2000 members of the rebellion, and blinding his renegade son Khusraw, Jahangir had Arjun Dev executed, causing a permanent deterioration of relations between the imperium and the Sikhs.

SHAH JAHAN Shah Jahan ("Ruler of the World") inherited a near bankrupt empire from his father Jahangir.  He turned this around, in the process becoming the best remembered of the Mughal builders, largely because of the Taj Mahal. Shah Jahan initially chose to rule, like his predecessors, from the Red Fort at Agra, and it was a few miles away from here that he built the Taj Mahal as a monument to his wife, known as Mumtaz Mahal ("Ornament of the Palace" or "Exalted of the Palace" depending on the translator), who died in 1631 after the birth of their 14th child. The construction of the Taj Mahal was begun in 1632 and it took 20,000 laborers 17 years to complete the job.

Aurangzeb Aurangzeb was an intolerant religious (Muslim) zealot and kill-joy.  He forbade music, put a stop to Mughal painting and left behind none of the architectural wonders that earlier members of his dynasty had produced.  The Hindus and Sikhs fared even worse, with suppression, destruction of temples, the reintroduction of a poll tax and public executions.  Just a generally nasty little man as far as most of the population were concerned, and it is not surprising that his 50 year reign was the beginning of the end for the Mughal dynasty. 

Badshahi Mosque in Lahore was taken by Grandmother Paradox in 1922 Badshahi Mosque in Lahore was taken by Grandmother Paradox in 1922.  The mosque, also known as The Emperor's Mosque, was built by Aurangzeb and completed in 1673. 

#9.How did Mughal attitudes and policies toward Hindus change under Aurangzeb? reversed Akbar’s policy of accommodation by taking actions that included: forbidding of the Hindu practice of sati banning music and dance at court, as well as banning gambling, drinking, prostitution, and narcotics; destroying some Hindu temples; Re-imposing the special tax on non-Muslims; posting “censors of public morals” to large cities to enforce Islamic law.