THE MOGUL EMPIRE

BABUR 1526-1530• He founded the empire in

1526 when he defeated a Delhi sultan

• His army of 12,000 defeated the sultan’s 100,000 men

• Moguls were descendants of the Mongols, Turks, Iranians and Afghans

Babur• Educated warrior• Fond of poetry• Created Persian gardens wherever

he conquered, missed cool climate of his homeland (see painting)

• Ruled North India from 1526-30• Died before the his administrative

skills in consolidating the empire were tested.

• Empire passed to his son Humayan

BABUR• He had to fight to keep order in his society• After his victory at Kanwaha on March 10,

1527 he became the absolute ruler of North India

• He spent the rest of his life trying to organize his empire and build his capital, Agra

• He died on 12/26/1530

Humayan• Alternated between

great energy and indolence

• Lost empire to rival, had to flee to Safavid empire (Persia / Iran) for help

• Son Akbar born during exile, left behind with mother and guardian

• With help of Safavids, Humayan regained the empire, 1555• Shortly thereafter, fell down stairs of his observatory, probably

under the influence of either opium or alcohol, and died (1556)• In the words of one chronicler, he “stumbled out of this life

much as he had stumbled through it”.

Humayan’s Tomb

AKBAR 1556-1605• He was Babur’s grandson

and took the throne at 13• He spent most of his reign

making and changing administrative policies

• Added many new territories to the empire and built the largest army in Mogul history

Akbar(Ruled 1556-1605)

Akbar Restrains Hawa'i, an Enraged Elephant by Basawan with Chitra c. 1590

AKBAR• He was one of the first Mogul rulers to

effectively rule the diverse ethnic make-up of the empire

• Akbar, a Muslim, appointed Hindus to high ranking positions

• He encouraged intermarriage• He accepted all religions and sects

Jahangir• Often drunken and cruel,

his later years found him often incapacitated by opium and alcohol abuse

• Married a 34 year-old Persian widow he renamed Nur Jahan (“Light of the World”). She would become one of the strongest personalities of the Mogul period

Painting commissioned by Akbar celebrating the birth of Jahangir

Jahangir• Nur Jahan was the de facto

ruler of the Mogul empire for the last half of Jahangir’s reign, due to his indolence and inebriation. She schemed to get her relatives in positions of power

• Replaced by his son Prince Khurram, who he renamed Shah Jahan (“Emperor of the World”)

SHAH JAHAN 1627-1658• Prince Khurram took

the throne at 35 and changed his name to Shah Jahan (King of the World)

• He spent most of his time trying to expand south

SHAH JAHAN• He was a competent commander with a

strict sense of justice• During his rule he built palaces, mosques

and gardens• The best known structure is the Taj Mahal• When he became sick his sons fought for

control of the empire

SHAH JAHAN• Eventually his son Aurangzeb captured the

throne and imprisoned his father at Fort Agra because he supported Dara Shukoh (an older son)

• Although it sounds harsh, most Mogul rulers killed their fathers upon succession

TAJ MAHAL

• Shah Jahan built the mausoleum for his wife Mumtaz Mahal in Agra

• It took 23 years to complete

• It is constructed of materials from India and all over Asia

What did Mumtaz Mahal* look like?• According to art historian Milo Beach, "There are

paintings that are labeled 'Mumtaz Mahal,' but they are simply generalized depictions of a Mughal beauty. There's virtually no contemporary account of her, because none of the historians would have had contact with her. . . Under Mohammed's law of "purdah," the law of the veil, women were obliged to hide their faces from public view. The only women depicted in paintings were court dancers and entertainers; it was taboo to paint royal women. . . Royal women were kept in seclusion, but that has nothing to do with the power they held. They clearly were extremely powerful. Shah Jahan's father, Jahangir, married a woman named Nur Jahan who was really the person who ran the empire for the second half of Jahangir's reign, when he became addicted to opium and alcohol. He barely functioned as an emperor, and she ran the country."

*birth name: Arjumand Banu Begum

TAJ MAHAL

• The structure is 1900’ x 1000’• There is a lot of Persian influence• While imprisoned Shah Jahan could see the

Taj from his window• Legend claims that Shah Jahan had the eyes

of the architect gouged out so nothing as beautiful could be created again.

• When he died he was buried next to his wife

The Taj from a window at Fort Agra

Aurangzeb(Ruled 1658 - 1707)

• In 1657, Shah Jahan fell seriously ill, triggering the succession battle among his sons.

• The more tolerant and scholarly son Dara Shikoh was defeated by Aurangzeb, a more pious Moslem.

• Shah Jahan recovered, but it was too late for Aurangzeb to back down. He had Shah Jahan imprisoned and the head of Dara Shikoh sent to him in jail. Shah Jahan lived out his life looking at the Taj Mahal from his prison window.

• Aurangzeb killed all his brothers and any other collateral male relatives deemed a threat.

Aurangzeb takes Shah Jahan Prisoner

Mughal Expansion Under Aurangzeb

• Aurangzeb also known as Alamgir (“World Conqueror”)

• Aurangzeb launched military campaigns that eventually added most of the Deccan and South India to the empire

• The cost of these expeditions would later weaken the empire

Cost of Aurangzeb’s Deccan Campaigns• Casualities: approximately 100,000 lives per year for the last

several decades of his attacks, often the result of capturing a Maratha fort one week, losing it the next, then recapturing it.

• A moving capital city of tents 30 miles in circumference, over 250 bazaars, 500,000 camp followers, 50,000 camels, and 30,000 elephants, all of whom had to be fed

• The Deccan was stripped of its wealth. Famine and bubonic plague took even more lives among civilians

• The anger of Hindus was raised against this Moslem king as a result of his cruelty to non-believers. Ex. the Maratha ruler Sambhaji was captured, tortured, and butchered to death

• Nearing 90, Aurangzeb finally withdrew in 1705, reading and copying the Qur’an in preparation for his death. He confessed to his son, “I came alone, and I go as a stranger. I do not know who I am, nor what I have been doing. I have sinned terribly, and I do not know what punishment awaits me.”

End of Mughal Empire

• While at the beginning of the eighteenth century the Mughal empire looked strong, it was beginning to decline and decay

• Weak rulers, regional and factional rivalries, and foreign invasion all eventually brought the empire to an end

• The incursions of the Europeans, especially the British and the French, were setting the stage for the next period of Indian history(division and British conquest)

• Last emperor sent into exile by British following Great Mutiny of 1857