The Mughal Empire in India

Early History of the Mughals 1000- after 300 years of clashes, Turks invade India Delhi becomes capital of Turkish warlords Sultans treated Hindus as conquered people

Babur Founds an Empire Babur- 11 year old Inherited Uzbekistan and Tajikistan- taken away by elders Babur goes south and builds an army- takes India and sets stage for Mughal empire

Babur Founds an Empire Babur leads 12,000 troops and defeats over 100,000 troops of the sultan of Dehli Takes over India

Akbar Takes Over Babur’s grandson 13 when he takes over Strong military- heavy artillery Smart- appoints potential enemies and captured people as officers in his military, creating allies Unifies a land of over 100 million people

Akbar’s Rule Religious freedom Married a Hindu princess, cuts taxes on Hindus, hires Jesuit to tutor his son Anyone could rise to high office in the government Introduces a graduated income tax Based on percentage of peasant’s crops Because it was fair and affordable, more people paid it

Blended Cultures Akbar’s court spoke Persian Commoners spoke Hindi (most of India speaks this today) Army spoke Urdu (now official language of Pakistan) Arts expanded greatly with outside influence

Jahangir “Grasper of the World” Wife, Nur Jahan, actually did most of the ruling Ruled with iron fist Sees son Khusrau as key to future power

Khusrau Rebels Rebels against father- Nur Jahan moves to next son Khusrau turns to Sikhs for shelter- nonviolent religious group similar to Hinduism and Sufism (Islamic mysticism)

Jahangir’s Response Pushes Islam but tries to stay tolerant of other religions Sikh leader, Guru Arjun, shelters Khusrau Arjun is arrested and tortured to death Ends religious tolerance shown by Jahangir

Shah Jahan Assassinated all his possible rivals Loved 2 things- Architecture and his wife, Mumtaz Mahal Mahal died in 1631 while giving birth to her 14th child Jahan has the Taj Mahal built as a tomb for her

Shah Jahan The country suffers while he builds these great monuments Famine hits Farmers need roads, tools and irrigation, but get taxes instead

Shah Jahan Falls sick in 1657 His 4 sons scramble for power 3rd son, Aurangzeb, kills his older brother and has his father put in prison Shah Jahan dies later in prison Find a mirror in his room angled so he could see the reflection of the Taj Mahal

Aurangzeb’s Reign Expanded Mughal empire to its greatest size Oppressed his people by strictly enforcing Islamic laws Outlawed drinking, gambling, appointed censors to make sure people prayed Returned tax on Hindus and removed them from positions in his government

Hindus Rebel Aurangzeb defeats them but never completely His number of enemies continued to increase the longer he ruled

The Empire’s Decline Aurangzeb drained the empire of its resources As the central state weakened, local lords grew Mughal empire became a figurehead rather than actual ruler European traders start moving in and developing power