Professional Documents
Culture Documents
org/wiki/Mughal_emperors
Mughal emperors
The Mughal emperors (or Moghul) built and ruled the Mughal Empire on the Indian subcontinent,
mainly corresponding to the modern countries of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The Mughals
Shahanshāh of Hindustan
began to rule parts of India from 1526, and by 1700 ruled most of the sub-continent. After that they declined ﺷﮩﻨﺸﺎﻩ ﮨﻨﺪﻭﺳﺘﺎﻥ
rapidly, but nominally ruled territories until the 1850s. The Mughals were a branch of the Timurid dynasty of IMPERIAL
Turco-Mongol origin from Central Asia. Their founder Babur, a Timurid prince from the Fergana Valley (in Details
modern Uzbekistan), was a direct descendant of Timur (generally known in western nations as Tamerlane)
and also affiliated with Genghis Khan through Timur's marriage to a Genghisid princess. Style His Imperial
Majesty
Many of the later Mughal emperors had significant Indian Rajput and Persian ancestry through marriage First monarch Babur
alliances as emperors were born to Rajput and Persian princesses.[1][2] Akbar, for instance, was half-Persian
Last monarch Bahadur Shah
(his mother was of Persian origin), Jahangir was half-Rajput and quarter-Persian, and Shah Jahan was three-
Zafar
quarters Rajput.[3]
Formation 20 April 1526
During the reign of Aurangzeb, the empire, as the world's largest economy, worth over 25% of global GDP, Abolition 21 September 1857
controlled nearly all of the Indian subcontinent, extending from Chittagong in the east to Kabul and
Baluchistan in the west, Kashmir in the north to the Kaveri River basin in the south.[4] Residence Agra Fort
(1526–1639)
Its population at the time has been estimated as between 110 and 150 million (a quarter of the world's Red Fort
population), over a territory of more than 4 million square kilometres (1.2 million square miles). [5] Mughal (1639–1857)
power rapidly dwindled during the 18th century and the last emperor, Bahadur Shah II, was deposed in 1857,
with the establishment of the British Raj.[6] Appointer Hereditary
Contents
Mughal Empire
List of Mughal Emperors
Family tree
See also
Genealogy of the Mughal Dynasty.
References Only principal offspring of each
Citations emperor are provided in the chart.
Sources
Further reading
External links
Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire was founded by Babur, a Timurid prince and ruler from Central Asia. Babur was a direct
descendant of the Timurid Emperor Tamerlane on his father's side, and the Mongol ruler Genghis Khan on
his mother's side.[7] Ousted from his ancestral domains in Turkistan by Sheybani Khan, the 14-year-old
Prince Babur turned to India to satisfy his ambitions. He established himself in Kabul and then pushed
steadily southward into India from Afghanistan through the Khyber Pass.[7] Babur's forces occupied much of
northern India after his victory at Panipat in 1526.[7] The preoccupation with wars and military campaigns,
however, did not allow the new emperor to consolidate the gains he had made in India. [8] The instability of
the empire became evident under his son, Humayun, who was driven into exile in Persia by rebels.[7]
Humayun's exile in Persia established diplomatic ties between the Safavid and Mughal Courts, and led to
increasing West Asian cultural influence in the Mughal court. The restoration of Mughal rule began after
Humayun's triumphant return from Persia in 1555, but he died from an accident shortly afterwards. [7]
Humayun's son, Akbar, succeeded to the throne under a regent, Bairam Khan, who helped consolidate the
Mughal Empire in India.[9]
Through warfare and diplomacy, Akbar was able to extend the empire in all directions, and controlled almost
the entire Indian subcontinent north of the Godavari river.[10] He created a new ruling elite loyal to him,
implemented a modern administration, and encouraged cultural developments. He increased trade with
European trading companies.[7] The Indian historian Abraham Eraly wrote that foreigners were often Akbar returns from war to be
impressed by the fabulous wealth of the Mughal court, but the glittering court hid darker realities, namely greeted by Salim and other sons in
that about a quarter of the empire's gross national product was owned by 655 families while the bulk of 1573
India's 120 million people lived in appalling poverty.[11] After suffering what appears to have been an epileptic
seizure in 1578 while hunting tigers, which he regarded as a religious experience, Akbar grew disenchanted
with Islam, and came to embrace a syncretistic mixture of Hinduism and Islam. [12] Akbar allowed freedom of religion at his court, and attempted
1 of 5 2/27/2021, 2:35 PM
Mughal emperors - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mughal_emperors
to resolve socio-political and cultural differences in his empire by establishing a new religion, Din-i-Ilahi, with strong characteristics of a ruler
cult.[7] He left his son an internally stable state, which was in the midst of its golden age, but before long signs of political weakness would
emerge.[7]
Akbar's son, Jahangir, "was addicted to opium, neglected the affairs of the state, and came under the influence of rival court cliques.[7] During the
reign of Jahangir's son, Shah Jahan, the splendour of the Mughal court reached its peak, as exemplified by the Taj Mahal. The cost of maintaining
the court, however, began to exceed the revenue coming in.[7]
Shah Jahan's eldest son, the liberal Dara Shikoh, became regent in 1658, as a result of his father's illness.
Dara championed a syncretistic Hindu-Muslim religion and culture. With the support of the Islamic
orthodoxy, however, a younger son of Shah Jahan, Aurangzeb, seized the throne. Aurangzeb defeated Dara in
1659 and had him executed.[7] Although Shah Jahan fully recovered from his illness, there was a succession
war for the throne between Dara and Aurangzeb. Finally, Aurangzeb succeeded the throne and kept Shah
Jahan under house arrest.
During Aurangzeb's reign, the empire gained political strength once more, and it became the world's largest
economy, over a quarter of the world GDP, but his establishment of Sharia caused huge controversies.
Aurangzeb expanded the empire to include a huge part of South Asia. At its peak the kingdom stretched to 3.2
million square kilometres, including parts of what are now India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. [13]
but after his death in 1707, "many parts of the empire were in open revolt". [7] Aurangzeb's attempts to
reconquer his family's ancestral lands in Central Asia were not successful while his successful conquest of the
Deccan region proved to be a Pyrrhic victory that cost the empire heavily in both blood and treasure. [14] A
further problem for Aurangzeb was the army had always been based upon the land-owning aristocracy of
northern India who provided the cavalry for the campaigns, and the empire had nothing equivalent to the
Janissary corps of the Ottoman Empire.[14] The long and costly conquest of the Deccan had badly dented the
"aura of success" that surrounded Aurangzeb, and from the late 17th century onwards, the aristocracy become Shah Jahan, accompanied by his
increasing unwilling to provide forces for the empire's wars as the prospect of being rewarded with land as a three sons: Dara Shikoh, Shah
result of a successful war was seen as less and less likely. [14] Furthermore, the fact that at the conclusion of Shuja and Aurangzeb, and their
the conquest of the Deccan, Aurangzeb had very selectively rewarded some of the noble families with maternal grandfather Asaf Khan IV
confiscated land in the Deccan had left those aristocrats who received no confiscated land as reward and for
whom the conquest of the Deccan had cost dearly, feeling strongly disgruntled and unwilling to participate in
further campaigns.[14] Aurangzeb's son, Shah Alam, repealed the religious policies of his father, and attempted to reform the administration.
"However, after his death in 1712, the Mughal dynasty sank into chaos and violent feuds. In the year 1719 alone, four emperors successively
ascended the throne".[7]
During the reign of Muhammad Shah, the empire began to break up, and vast tracts of central India passed from Mughal to Maratha hands.
Mughal warfare had always been based upon heavy artillery for sieges, heavy cavalry for offensive operations and light cavalry for skirmishing
and raids.[14] To control a region, the Mughals had always sought to occupy a strategic fortress in some region, which would serve as a nodal point
from which the Mughal army would emerge to take on any enemy that challenged the empire. [14] This system was not only expensive, but also
made the army somewhat inflexible as the assumption was always the enemy would retreat into a fortress to be besieged or would engage in a set-
piece decisive battle of annihilation on open ground.[14] The Hindu Marathas were expert horsemen who refused to engage in set-piece battles,
but rather engaged in campaigns of guerrilla warfare, a war of raids, ambushes and attacks upon the Mughal supply lines. [14] The Marathas were
unable to take the Mughal fortresses via storm or formal siege as they lacked the artillery, but by constantly intercepting supply columns, they
were able to starve Mughal fortresses into submission.[14] Successive Mughal commanders refused to adjust their tactics and develop an
appropriate counter-insurgency strategy, which led to the Mughals losing more and more ground to the Maratha. [14] The Indian campaign of
Nader Shah of Persia culminated with the Sack of Delhi and shattered the remnants of Mughal power and prestige, as well as drastically
accelerating its decline. Many of the empire's elites now sought to control their own affairs, and broke away to form independent kingdoms. The
Mughal Emperor, however, continued to be the highest manifestation of sovereignty. Not only the Muslim gentry, but the Maratha, Hindu, and
Sikh leaders took part in ceremonial acknowledgements of the emperor as the sovereign of India. [15]
In the next decades, the Afghans, Sikhs, and Marathas battled against each other and the Mughals, only to prove the fragmented state of the
empire. The Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II made futile attempts to reverse the Mughal decline, and ultimately had to seek the protection of
outside powers. In 1784, the Marathas under Mahadji Scindia won acknowledgement as the protectors of the emperor in Delhi, a state of affairs
that continued until after the Second Anglo-Maratha War. Thereafter, the British East India Company became the protectors of the Mughal
dynasty in Delhi.[15] After a crushed rebellion which he nominally led in 1857–58, the last Mughal, Bahadur Shah Zafar, was deposed by the
British, who then assumed formal control of a large part of the former empire, [7] marking the start of the British Raj.
2 of 5 2/27/2021, 2:35 PM
Mughal emperors - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mughal_emperors
14 February
26 December 1530
Bābur Zahir-ud-din Muhammad 1483 20 April 1526 – 26 December
(aged 47) Agra, Founded the Empire
ﺑﺎﺑﺮ ﻅﮩﻴﺮ ﺍﻟﺪﻳﻦ ﻣﺤﻤﺪ Andijan, 1530
India
Uzbekistan
15 October
27 October 1605
Akbar-i-Azam Jalal-ud-din Muhammad 1542 11 February 1556 – 27 October His mother was Persian
(aged 63) Agra,
ﺍﮐﺒﺮ ﺍﻋﻈﻢ ﺟﻼﻝ ﺍﻟﺪﻳﻦ ﻣﺤﻤﺪ ﺍﮐﺒﺮ Umerkot, 1605 Hamida Banu Begum.[16]
India
Pakistan
5 January
Shahab-ud-din Muhammad 22 January 1666 His mother was Rajput
Shah-Jahan 1592 19 January 1628 – 31 July
Khurram (aged 74) Agra, princess Jagat Gosaini.[18]
ﺷﺎﻩ ﺟﮩﺎﻥ Lahore, 1658
ﺷﮩﺎﺏ ﺍﻟﺪﻳﻦ ﻣﺤﻤﺪ ﺧﺮﻡ India Built Taj Mahal.
Pakistan
Rafi ud-Darajat Rafi ud-Darajat 1 December 6 June 1719 (aged Rise of Syed Brothers as
28 February – 6 June 1719
ﺭﻓﻴﻊ ﺍﻟﺪﺭﺟﺎﺕ ﺭﻓﻴﻊ ﺍﻟﺪﺭﺟﺎﺕ 1699 19) Agra, India power brokers.
3 of 5 2/27/2021, 2:35 PM
Mughal emperors - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mughal_emperors
18 September
Shah Jahan II Rafi ud-Daulah 6 June 1719 – 17 September
June 1696 1719 (aged 23) ----
ﺷﺎﻩ ﺟﮩﺎﻥ ﺩﻭﻡ ﺷﺎﻩ ﺟﮩﺎں ﺩﻭﻡ 1719
Agra, India
23
Ahmad Shah 1 January 1775 Mughal forces defeated by the
Ahmad Shah Bahadur December
Bahadur 29 April 1748 – 2 June 1754 (aged 49) Delhi, Marathas at the Battle of
ﺍﺣﻤﺪ ﺷﺎﻩ ﺑﮩﺎﺩﺭ 1725 Delhi,
ﺍﺣﻤﺪ ﺷﺎﻩ ﺑﮩﺎﺩﺭ India
India Sikandarabad.
22 April
28 September
Akbar Shah II Mirza Akbar 1760 19 November 1806 – 28 Titular figurehead under British
1837 (aged 77)
ﺍﮐﺒﺮ ﺷﺎﻩ ﺩﻭﻡ ﻣﻴﺮﺯﺍ ﺍﮐﺒﺮ Mukundpur, September 1837 protection.
Delhi, India
India
Note: The Mughal Emperors practised polygamy. Besides their wives, they also had a number of concubines in their harem, who produced children. This makes it difficult
to identify all the offspring of each emperor.[21]
Family tree
See also
Mughal (disambiguation)
Timurid family tree
Emblem of the Mughal Empire
Mughal-Mongol genealogy
References
4 of 5 2/27/2021, 2:35 PM
Mughal emperors - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mughal_emperors
Citations
1. Jeroen Duindam (2015), Dynasties: A Global History of Power, 13. "The great Aurangzeb is everybody's least favourite Mughal –
1300–1800, page 105 (https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=5ky2C Audrey Truschke | Aeon Essays" (https://aeon.co/essays/the-great-
gAAQBAJ&pg=PA105), Cambridge University Press aurangzeb-is-everybodys-least-favourite-mughal). Aeon. Retrieved
2. Mohammada, Malika (1 January 2007). The Foundations of the 2 August 2020.
Composite Culture in India (https://books.google.com/books?id=dw 14. D'souza, Rohan "Crisis before the Fall: Some Speculations on the
zbYvQszf4C&pg=PA300). Akkar Books. p. 300. Decline of the Ottomans, Safavids and Mughals" pages 3–30 from
ISBN 978-8-189-83318-3. Social Scientist, Volume 30, Issue # 9/10, September–October
3. Dirk Collier (2016). The Great Mughals and their India (https://book 2002 page 21.
s.google.com/books?id=40ywDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT15). Hay House. 15. Bose, Sugata; Jalal, Ayesha (2004). Modern South Asia: History,
p. 15. ISBN 9789384544980. Culture, Political Economy (2nd ed.). Routledge. p. 41.
4. Chandra, Satish. Medieval India: From Sultanate To The Mughals. ISBN 978-0-203-71253-5.
p. 202. 16. Begum, Gulbadan (1902). The History of Humayun (Humayun-
5. Richards, John F. (1 January 2016). Johnson, Gordon; Bayly, C. A. Nama). Royal Asiatic Society. pp. 237–9.
(eds.). The Mughal Empire. The New Cambridge history of India: 17. Marc Jason Gilbert (2017). South Asia in World History (https://boo
1.5. I. The Mughals and their Contemporaries. Cambridge: ks.google.com/books?id=7OQWDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA79). Oxford
Cambridge University Press. pp. 1, 190. doi:10.2277/0521251192 University Press. p. 79. ISBN 9780199760343.
(https://doi.org/10.2277%2F0521251192). ISBN 978-0521251198. 18. Emperor of Hindustan Jahangir (2010). The Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri; Or,
6. Spear 1990, pp. 147–148 Memoirs of Jahangir Translated by Alexander Rogers Edited by
7. Berndl, Klaus (2005). National Geographic Visual History of the Henry Beveridge. General Books LLC. p. 18.
World. National Geographic Society. pp. 318–320. ISBN 978-1-152-49040-6.
ISBN 978-0-7922-3695-5. 19. Mohammada, Malika (1 January 2007). The Foundations of the
8. Keay, 293–296 Composite Culture in India. Aakar Books. p. 300.
9. Keay, 309–311 ISBN 978-8-189-83318-3.
10. Keay, 311–319 20. The Honorary Secretaries, Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of
Bengal: 1871, (1871) p.97
11. Eraly, Abraham The Mughal Throne The Sage of India's Great
Emperors, London: Phonenix, 2004 page 520. 21. Dalrymple, William (2006). The Last Mughal. London: Bloomsbury
Publishing Plc. p. 44. ISBN 978-1-4088-0092-8.
12. Eraly, Abraham The Mughal Throne The Sage of India's Great
Emperors, London: Phonenix, 2004 page 191.
Sources
Keay, John, India, a History, 2000, HarperCollins, ISBN 0002557177
This article incorporates public domain material from the Library of Congress Country Studies website http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/ (http://lc
web2.loc.gov/frd/cs/). – India (http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/intoc.html) Pakistan (http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/pktoc.html)
Further reading
Majumdar, Ramesh Chandra; Pusalker, A. D.; Majumdar, A. K., eds. (1973). The History and Culture of the Indian People. VII: The Mughal
Empire. Bombay: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan.
External links
Aurangzeb, as he was according to Mughal Records (http://www.aurangzeb.info)
British India (http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/southasia/History/British/BrIndia.html)
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
5 of 5 2/27/2021, 2:35 PM