The Mogul Empire's History

Mughal Empire: A Quick Overview

P.S: The years represent the reign of the different conquerors.

At its peak, the Mughal Empire was thought to dominate one-quarter of the world's economy. The vast population of about 150 million people was at the time twice that of the European continent. This enormous state has improbable origins. One year after Christopher Columbus found the new land and failed to find a faster path to India, an 11-year-old soon-to-be fugitive called Zaheer Aiden, afterward known simply as Babur; meaning the tiger, had just inherited his father's little kingdom of Fergana.

Mughal Emperor; Zaheer ud din Babur

Over the following five years, he struggled to keep his family alive. Both his paternal and maternal uncles had armies that might terminate his life. Babur was descended from the Turco Mongol commander Tamerlane on his father's side and Genghis Khan on his mother's side. Throughout his adolescence, he frequently conquered and lost control of Samarkand, the former Timurid capital, and Fergana, his home. The feeble ruins of the once-strong Timurid empire were swept aside by the Turkic Uzbeks and the Iranian Safavid Persians after decades of his disunited family murdering each other. Babur was left homeless and surrounded by foes after suffering a series of significant setbacks. He was accompanied by his mother, a few of his dead father's loyal friends, and a small number of mercenaries with questionable loyalties and little money.

Babur sought sanctuary in Afghanistan's mountains, as his great-grandfather Tamerlane had done a century before. There, he bided his time and grew his small band of supporters into an army, eventually capturing possession of Kabul, a strategically vital city, in 1504. Babur had close connections with the Safavid Persians, from whom he got his first rifles, cannons, and gunners. After losing and retaking Kabul, as well as another ultimately unsuccessful effort to recover Samarkand from the Uzbeks.

Babur shifted his focus from war-torn Central Asia to the faltering but obscenely prosperous Delhi Sultanate, a higher goal. At the Battle of Panipat, a 700-cart encircled roadblock was employed as cover by a much smaller, hesitant force that was armed with matchlock weapons and artillery. Together with nomadic horse archers, they successfully defeated a far bigger conventional Indian army that was led by 1,000 elephants. The Rajput States' alliance was crushed by Babur the next year, firmly establishing his rule over Northern India. Babur's leadership from 1526 to 1530 prevented him from living out his longtime aim of founding a powerful Empire for very long. He passed quite suddenly at the age of 47 from what was thought to be poisoning.

Humayun (1530-1540, 1555-1556) succeeded him and faced many revolts, rebellions, and attacks by his brothers. However, one of his generals eventually beat him and drove him out of the Indian subcontinent. Fareed Khan, like his father before him, built the short-lived Suri Empire (1540-1555). Humayun fled, seeking sanctuary in the mountains and desert. A younger brother refused his pardon in Kabul before escaping to Safavid Persia, where his large army had been reduced to 40 soldiers who lived by eating horse flesh cooked in their helmets.

Mughal Emperor; Humayun

When the ousted, disheveled and besieged Mughal Emperor arrived at the Persian royal court, he only had a few rupees to offer the Shahanshah as a symbolic present. He got an army of 12,000 of the Shah's best troops in exchange for this, which he used to fight his brother and seize Kabul. He decisively conquered the Suri in 1555, re-establishing the Mughal Empire. A year later, he died from his injuries sustained when he tripped and fell down a stone staircase at the library.

His son Akbar (1556-1605) is often regarded as the greatest Mughal emperor. He considerably enlarged the Empire during his near half-century rule. In a true Mongol manner, he dealt harshly and mercilessly with any downward revolt and military opposition. He is most known, though, as a patron of the arts, architects, and intellectuals of all kinds. He married women of many faiths, including a Hindu Rajput bride who remained a devout Hindu and bore him a son, Jahangir, who succeeded him as Emperor.

Mughal Emperor; Akbar

Although considered weak or decadent by many of his contemporaries, Jahangir (1605-1627) was a competent military commander. His reign was also relatively peaceful and prosperous and he continued to maintain close diplomatic relations with the Safavids Persians as his father and grandfather had done. Jahangir also married a Hindu Rajput princess, who he made Empress. After Jahangir’s death, a short civil war was fought between two of his younger sons.

Mughal Emperor; Jahangir

Shah Jahan (1628-1658) had his brothers killed by his Grand Vizier after gaining the throne. A particularly severe famine early in his rule killed 2 million people. Despite a series of rebellions and a brief war with the Safavids, his long reign was mostly calm and wealthy. Shah Jahan is primarily known for building his beloved wife's mausoleum, the Taj Mahal. Although she was only Empress for three years, she wielded significant power and prestige, including the use of the Imperial seal, which gave her edicts, decrees, and communications the complete authority of the Emperor. The reign of Shah Jahan is largely regarded as the pinnacle of Mughal glory, internal stability, and wealth. His death triggered a succession battle among his four sons, with his third eldest son Aurangzeb emerging triumphant.

Mughal Emperor; Shah Jahan

Aurangzeb (1658-1707) enlarged the Empire to its highest territorial extent, but at a high cost. Aurangzeb curtailed funds for the imperial court, the arts, academia, and almost anything else that is not military in character. Several taxes were raised or imposed. His policies fostered perpetual conflict, particularly with the Rajputs, Marathas, the Deccan Plateau, and the Sikhs of Punjab. His military camp has been compared to a huge movable capital city. Following Aurangzeb's death, another expensive civil war ensued. 

Mughal Emperor; Aurangzeb

Taking advantage of the Mughals' internal instability, the Sikhs established a state for a brief period. Following another civil war, the Mughals had the strength to reclaim lost territory from the Sikhs. While the Empire was momentarily successful in the West, the affluent area of Bengal in the East seceded in 1717. The Mughals were caught up in palace intrigue and were unable to respond effectively.

The Sayyid brothers, powerful Mughal noblemen, gained power in the Empire, deposing and replacing Emperors at whim. In only one year, 1719, four different Emperors sat on the throne in Delhi. The fourth Mohammed Shah (1719-1748) was able to collect support and overcome the Sayyid brothers, temporarily stabilizing the realm. 

Mughal Emperor; Mohammed Shah

As the subcontinent's expensive attrition battles with the Marathas and Sikhs went on, a new unexpected threat arrived: warrior Nadir Shah, founder of Persia's Afsharid dynasty. He launched a quick campaign and easily destroyed much larger Mughal forces. He attacked the Mughal capital of Delhi in March 1739, murdering many citizens and stealing the city's vast wealth. The Empire's fall was hastened as a result.

Another fresh foreign invader, the French, murdered Mohammad Shah in combat. In the years following his death, the British East India Company vanquished Bengal and used it as a springboard for operations against the Hindu-Murata Empire, which seized the Mughal Empire's southern territories. While the Afghan Durrani Empire (1747-1826), which rose to prominence following the death of Nadir Shah, took control of the north.

The remnant Mughal Empire petitioned the Afghans for aid against the fast-rising Marathas (1674-1818). This resulted in the third Battle of Panipat, in which the Marathas suffered terrible casualties and their progress was halted. The Afghans, who suffered severe fatalities as well, were forced out of the Indian subcontinent by the Sikhs.

The Marathas took Delhi in 1771 and declared themselves defenders of the monarch, who had become a captive puppet. To capture the majority of the Indian subcontinent, the British East India Company fought three battles with the Marathas. When the company took Delhi, it adopted the position of Mughal Emperor's guardian, as the Marathas had done previously.

Despite his lack of concrete power, the company leveraged the emperor's reputation and status to influence the populace. After the Indian uprising of 1857, many nobles and commoners alike acknowledged the emperor to be the sole and legitimate power in the kingdom, and the charade came to an end. Following this, the emperor was deported to Burma, where the last Mughal Emperor died in 1862. Queen Victoria replaced him as Empress of India, bringing the subcontinent's company rule to an end and ushering in the British Raj.