MUGHAL EMPIRE

Prepared By

Ms. Loona C
Dept of History

Mughal Era (1526-1858)

The Mughals ruled in India for more than 300
years ((1526 to 1858).
y
)
The Mughal Empire ruled most of India and
Pakistan.
The era of Mughal Empire is written with golden
words in
i Indian
i
history
i
as this
i was the period
i
when the phenomenon of single central ruling
power came into existence in the country.
Prior to the emergence of Mughal Empire,
Empire
different regions of the country were ruled by
many Muslim and Hindu kingdoms across the
country.
Mughal Dynasty has contributed immensely with
their culture, tradition, ethnicity and artistry to
the Indian history.
y

Mughal Influence in the Subcontinent

One of the ggreatest Mughal
g influences is that it ggave to
Indian culture new ideas in architecture. It influenced in
terms of giving elaborate designs.
L d
Landscape
gardening.
d i
Centralized government system.
Urdu language developed.
developed (Urdu = Persian + Arabic + Turkish)
Mughal cuisine was introduced.
New trade routes with Arabs and Turks.
New style of clothes and jewelry was introduced in the
subcontinent.
MughalJewelry

Great Mughal Emperor

The Great Mughal Emperors were:

Babur (1526-1530)

Jehangir (1605-1627
(1605 1627)
The Paragon of Stability

Humayun (1530-1556) Akbar (1556-1605)

The Great

Shah Jehan (1627-1658)

(1627 1658)
The Master Builder

Aurangzeb (1658
(1658-1707)
1707)

Babur (1526-1530)
The First of the Mughals
In1526,acentralAsianleadernamed
B b
BaburdefeatedIbrahimLodi,thelastsultanof
d f
d Ib hi L di h l
l
f
Delhi,attheBattleofPanipat.
BaburwasadescendantofbothTimurand
Babur
was a descendant of both Timur and
theMongolconquerorGenghisKhan.He
conqueredmuchofNorthernIndia.

ThefirstMughalEmperorBabur

Humayun (1530-1556)
AfterBaburdied,hewassucceededbyhissonHumayunin
1530 Humayun was 23 years old
1530.Humayunwas23yearsold.
Animagefromanalbum
commissionedbyShah
JahanshowsHumayun
sitting beneath a tree in
sittingbeneathatreein
hisgardeninIndia.

Akbar 1556 - 1605

Th G
The
Great

Akbar became the new Mughal ruler at the age of 14.

He built the largest army ever in the empire.
Great administrator
Best known for his tolerance .

Jehangir 1605-1628
The Paragon of Stability

MughalEmpireunder
M
h lE i
d
Akbar.

Jehangir succeeded his father Akbar in 1605.

He continued many of Akbars policies.
Freedom
F d
off worship.
hi
Continued friendship and alliance with Rajputs.
Allowed foreigners like the Portuguese and.
E li h into
English
i
India
I di for
f trade
d

Shah Jehan (1627-1658)

Th Master
The
M t Builder
B ild
Jehangirwassucceededbyhissecondson
g
y
Khurramin1628.KhurramaliasShahJahan,
wasthefifthMughalrulerofIndia.
HeexpandedhisEmpiretoKandharinthe
H
d d hi E i t K dh i th
northandconqueredmostofSouthernIndia.
TheMughalEmpireprosperedgreatlyduring
g
p p p
g
y
g
thisreign.
ShahJehanwasapatronofthearts
TheartsandcultureoftheMughalEmpireis
admiredeventoday.

TheMughal
EmperorShah
p
Jahanis
accompaniedby
histhreesons

Aurangzeb (1658-1707)
Aurengzeb was the son of Shah Jahan and was the sixth
ruler of the Mughal Empire. He was a devout Muslim.
I terms
In
t
off tenure
t
he
h matched
t h d the
th reign
i off Akbar.
Akb The
Th
vision to unite entire India was well realized during his
tenure and in terms of area captured the Mughal rule
was at its
i peak.
k
Duringhislifetime,victoriesinthesouthexpandedthe
Mughal Empiretomorethan1.25millionsquaremiles,
rulingovermorethan150millionsubjects,nearly1/4th
TheMughal
oftheworld'spopulation.
Armyunderthe
The only negative aspect was that he never trained any commandof
Prince
of his sons in administration.
Aurangzebin,
October1635.

Architecture under the Mughal

Dynasty
Art and architecture under the Mughal era was a blend of Islamic and
Persian architecture.
Mughals introduced a lot of innovative ideas when it came to
construction in the subcontinent.
White marble, red sandstone and Gemstones were used in the Mughal
architecture.
Nearly
y 400 monuments have survived a time-span
p of 132 yyears.
Used arches and domes .
Symmetry and balance stressed designs.
Used octagons a lot.

Architecture under the Mughal Dynasty

(contd)
Mughal architecture under Babur
witnessed the construction of quite a few
mosques around India.
The famous architectural groundings
that belong to Akbar are:

the fortified-palace of Agra

Fatehpur Sikri
Si i in
i Agra
A

Jahangiri Mahal, Palace in Allahabad

Fort in Ajmer
j
Jodha Bai Palace
House of Birbal and his own magnificent
tomb.
tomb

The royal planned city in Fatehpur Sikri,

situated 26 miles west of Agra, Uttar
Pradesh, had served as the political
capital of India`s Mughal Empire during
Emperor Akbar`s reign. The city is
known to have been built on the Sikri
ridge, in honour of Saint Shaikh Salim
Chisti

Architecture under the Mughal Dynasty (contd)

Shah Jahan left behind a grand legacy of structures constructed
d i his
during
hi reign.
i
His most famous building was the Taj Mahal, now a wonder of the
world, which he built out of love for his wife the empress
p
Mumtaz
Mahal.
Its structure was drawn with great care
and architects from all over the world
were called for this purpose. The
building took twenty years to complete
andd was constructed
d ffrom white
hi marble
bl
under laid with brick.
WonderofWorld

Architecture under the Mughal Dynasty (contd)

Among the other constructions of Shahjehan are
Red Fort in Delhi
- Large sections of Agra Fort
- The
Th Jama
J
M jid(G d Mosque)
Masjid(Grand
M
)
- The Wazir Khan Mosque, Lahore, Pakistan
- The Moti Masjid (Pearl Mosque), Lahore
- The Shalimar Gardens in Lahore
Sections of the Lahore Fort, Lahore
The Jahangir mausoleumhis father's tomb
He also had the Peacock Throne, Takht e Taus, made
to celebrate his rule.
rule

Mughal Art
It is very colorful and detailed.
It involved flowers and floral patterns
The Mughal empire provided a secure framework
within which artistic genius could flourish. Both
Hindu and Muslim artists collaborated to produce
some off the
th best
b t Indian
I di art.
t
The Mughal emperors were themselves patrons
of art whose intellectual ideas and cultural
outlook were expressed in the architecture.

Science and technology in Mughal Era

Mughal emperor Humayun built a personal observatory
near Delhi
Delhi.
Fathullah Shirazi a Persian-Indian
polymath and mechanical engineer
who worked for Akbar the Great in
the Mughal Empire,
Empire developed a
volley gun.

Mughal Society
The Indian economy remained as prosperous under the
Mughals as it was, because of the creation of a road
system
t andd a uniform
if
currency.
Manufactured goods and peasant-grown cash crops were
sold throughout the world
world.
Key industries included shipbuilding , textiles, and steel.
The Mughals also maintained various river fleets,
fleets which
transported soldiers over rivers and fought rebels.
Most industry
y was based in rural areas.
The Mughals also built libraries in every province.

Conclusion

It is agreed among many scholars that the Mughal

empire was the greatest, richest and most long-lasting
Muslim dynasty
y
y to rule India.

The Mughal emperors were ambitious and for the

most part able rulers.