Chapter 7: Section 3 The Mughal Empire

India’s Geography India falls into three distinct geographic regions: The Himalayas: the highest mountains in the world and a perfect natural barrier to foreign invasion The fertile plains of Northern India: includes the Brahmaputra, Ganges, and Indus rivers and includes some of the richest farmland in the world The Deccan (southern plateau): separated from the north by the Vindhya mountains; terrain is mountainous and contains numerous rivers Geographic regions of India led political divisions Sultan Mahmud captured several Indian cities and set up a new government Both Hindu and Muslim states wanted to control the rich agricultural land near the Ganges and Indus rivers

Founders of the Mughal Empire The greatest of the Muslim states was the Sultanate of Delhi Conquered by a Muslim Turk named Babur and established the Mughal Empire Related to Genghis Khan on his mother’s side His empire was called the Mughal, from the Persian-Indian word for Mongol A wise and kind leader and well-educated Wrote about the Indian world he had conquered- its people, animals, landscapes, and customs Babur’s grandson, Akbar reigned for 49 years and is remembered as the greatest Mughal emperor Empire expanded during his rule which started when he was only 13 years old Greatest political accomplishments were bringing Hindus into the government of the empire and reforming the empire’s unfair tax system Divided the empire into provinces and set up a civil service system to manage its lands Had a great deal of power, but was limited by the power of the nobles, of the cities, and of the army Developed his own religion for the state Conflicts between religions prompted him to find a new combination of all the relgions known to him

Inheritors of the Empire The Mughal Empire continued to grow in size and splendor as Akbar’s successors followed his policies Akbar’s eldest son Jahangir inherited the throne Continued to expand the empire and sponsored the repair and rebuilding of schools and monasteries Married a Persian woman named Mehrunissa, meaning “Light of the World” During these years, some upper class women studied the arts and sciences; although most women generally concentrated on the domestic world, including spinning and weaving Jahangir’s son, Shah Jahan is known as the largest Mughal spender and builder Poured huge amounts of money into construction projects in Delhi, which he named the capital Brought Mughal laws into closer agreement with some aspects of Muslim law The empire’s income doubled Had the Taj Mahal built- reflects the Mughal style of architecture

End of the Empire Shrinking resources, loss of control, and growing disorder reduced the Mughal Empire in size The last ruler reinstated the jizya, the tax on non-Muslims Also prohibited the building of new Hindu temples causing many Hindus to rebel Successive rulers continued to lose land, but the final blow came from European invaders drawn to its pepper, spices, and fine cotton textiles In the 1700s, a trading company from Great Britain took over the government of an Indian province and forced the last Mughal emperor from the throne in 1858