The Great Mughal Empire

1526-1707
 Introduction
 Under the Mughals, India was the heart of a great Islamic empire
and a prolific center of Islamic culture and learning.
 Dynasty was the greatest, richest and longest lasting Muslim
dynasty to rule India.
 Mongol Descendents
 The Great Mughal Emperors were:
 Babur (1526-1530) The First of the Mughals
 Humayun (1530-1556) The Luckless Leader

 Akbar (1556-1605) The Great

 Jehangir (1605-1627) The ideal of Stability
 Shah Jehan (1627-1658) The Master Builder

 Aurangzeb (1658-1707) The Intolerant

Babur 1526 - 1530
The First of the Mughals

 Babur was a direct descendant of the Turkish Ghengis Khan

and Timur from Tamerlane.
 Defeated the Delhi Sultanate & established the Mughal Empire.
 Gunpowder, a skilled commander, trained soldiers on horses contributed to
the victory
 Gained control of the whole northern India
 Made Agra capital
 He reigned for 4 short years and died at age 47 in 1530.
 Did not enact new laws or organization in the empire due to early his
death
Humayun 1530 - 1556
The Luckless Leader

 After Babur died, he was succeeded by his son Humayun in

1530. Humayun was 23 years old.
 He was not a soldier and unlike his father, neither skilled nor a wise
leader.
 Inherited a disunited and disorganized empire.
 In 1540, Sher Shah of Bengal defeated Humayun and took over the
Mughal Empire. The Empire was lost from 1540-1545.
 He was exiled but later regained power in 1555.

 Humayun died in 1556 after falling down the steps of his library; he is
known as “the luckless one”.
Akbar 1556 - 1605
The Great

 Akbar become the new Mughal ruler at the age of 14.

 Regent and his mother ruled in his name for 4 years
 Akbar was an ambitious and noble commander
 Built the largest army ever in the empire.
 Helped to conquer nearly all of modern-day northern India and
Pakistan.
 Great administrator
 developed a centralized government
 Best known for tolerance of his subjects (especially Hindus)
 Removed poll taxes on Hindus
 Invited religious scholars to debate him in his private chambers.
 Developed his own faith call Din Ilahi.
 Din Ilahi was a mixture of the other religions Akbar had studied from those
debates.
Jehangir 1605 - 1627
The Paragon of Stability

Jehangir succeeded his father Akbar in 1605.

Opposite of his father
 Poor monarch and warrior but good at maintaining the status
quo.
He continued many of Akbar’s policies.
 Freedom of worship.
 Fair treatment of Hindus.
 Continued friendship and alliance with Rajputs.
 Allowed foreigners like the Portuguese and English into India
for trade.
Jehangir married Nur Jahan. She became the real
ruler of the empire until the death of her husband.
Jehangir Issues (specific)
Under the influence of his wife and many others,
Jehangir was not an able ruler like his father.
He loved to drink and enjoy himself.
He had to suppress many rebellions.
Important posts in the court were given to families,
friends, and especially those close to his wife, Jahan.
Shah Jehan 1627 - 1658
The Master Builder

Shah Jehan succeeded his father in 1627.

Better ruler than Jehangir.
 Restored the efficiency of government.
 Recovered territories.
 Maintained peace
 Foreign traders were allowed into India and trade increased
considerably.
The empire was expanded.
Shah Jehan was a patron of the arts
 Built many great architecture buildings including the Taj
Mahal and the Peacock Throne, a brilliant gold throne encased
in hundreds of precious gems.
 Shah Jehan
Taj Mahal
Built in honor of his wife who died during childbirth.
Took over a decade to build and it nearly bankrupted the
empire.
1657 - Shah Jehan became seriously ill and a dispute
over the succession of the throne ensued between
his three sons.
Aurangzeb deposed Shah Jehan in a coup d’etat in
1658. Shah Jehan was imprisoned in the Octagonal
Tower of the Agra Fort from which he could see the
Taj Mahal. He died in 1666 and was buried next to his
wife in the Taj Mahal.
Aurangzeb 1658 - 1707
The Intolerant

Aurangzeb ascended the throne after disposing

his father and beating out his two brothers.
Despot
 severely persecuted Hindus of Northern India.
Empire declines under his reign
 He removed the tax-free status for Hindus
 Destroyed their temples
 Crushed semi-autonomous Hindu states
Primary Interest - Promote Islam vs
tolerance
Aurangzeb
 Aurangzeb over expanded the empire and strained his resources.
 Large sums of money and manpower were lost.
 He lost the support of the Hindu people.
 The over expansion of his empire weakened his administration.
 Aurangzeb died in 1707
s son Bahadur Shah succeeded him. Bahadur was so old by the time he
ascended the throne, he only managed to live a few more years. But at this
point in time, the government was so unstable and so weak, the empire
become an easy target of invasion and exploitation, first by the Persians,
and then by the British.
 The death of Aurangzeb and the short reign of his son led to the end of
the Mughal empire and the beginning of British Rule.
 Aurangzeb’s Architectural Legacy

Taj Mahal, Agra 1631-1652 Bibi ka Maqbara, Aurangbab 1678

Shah Jehan Aurangzeb

Built nearly 50 years apart, the Taj Mahal and the Bibi la Maqbara are very
similar in architectural style. Aurangzeb’s other architectural legacy included:
• Moti Masjid (Delhi Fort), Delhi (1659)
• Buri-I-Shamali (Delhi Fort), Delhi
• Badshahi Mosque, Lahore (1674)
The Success of the Mughals
 It is agreed among many scholars that the Mughal empire was the
greatest, richest and most long-lasting Muslim dynasty to rule India.
This period of Mughal rule produced the finest and most elegant art
and architecture in the history of Muslim dynasties.
 The Mughal emperors, with few exceptions, were among the world’s
most aesthetically minded rules. Although Turkish and Persian in
background, the Mughals were not Muslim rulers of India but Indian
rulers who happened to be Muslims. This idea is most evident in
Akbar’s obsession of a utopian India for Hindus and Muslims.
 The longevity of the Mughal empire can be contributed to a number
of factors. The Mughal emperors were ambitious and for the most
part able rulers. But Akbar is perhaps the Mughal emperor
responsible for much of the prosperity and harmony achieved during
the Mughal Empire.
 Akbar the Great, as he is referred,
perceived that 3 things were needed
if his Empire was to be stable and
long-lasting.
 1. Fair rent must be fixed for the
peasant and a steady revenue for the
treasury,
 2. The land must be ruled by men
who were impartial and responsible
to himself,
 3. The Muslim must live at peace
with the Hindu.
 Akbar strove during his lifetime to
achieve these 3 things. He showed
tolerance to Hindu scholars and
women.
 By 1650, the Mughal empire had
expanded farther North and South.
 Mughal Art
 The Mughal Empire and the Great Mughals will always
be remembered as a great influence on the artistic and
cultural life of India. Their architectural style can still
be seen today such as the Taj Mahal built by Shah
Jehan and the buildings at Fatehpur Sikri.
 The remarkable flowering of art and architecture
under the Mughal Empire is due to several factors.
 The empire provided a secure framework within which
artistic genius could flourish. Both Hindu and Muslim
artists collaborated to produce some of the best Indian
art.
 The empire commanded wealth and resources that were
unparalleled in Indian history.
 The Mughal emperors were themselves patrons of art
whose intellectual ideas and cultural outlook were
expressed in the architecture.
 Summary: The Dynasty of the Great Mughals in India

• 1526-1530 Babur’s victory at Panipat in 1526 established the

Mughal Empire and ended the reign of the Delhi
Sultanate. The rise of the great Mughal Dynasty in India
began with Babur.
• 1530-1556 Humayun succeeded his father Babur and became
emperor. He was defeated and dislodged by
insurrections of nobles from the old Lodi regime. In 1540,
the Mughal domain came under control of Farid Khan Sur
(Shir Shah Sur). Humayun died at the age of 48 when he
fell down the steps of his library.
• 1556-1605 Akbar, the most sophisticated Mughal commander
and leader, was only 14 years of age when he
succeeded his father Humayun. Under Akbar's reign,
Muslims and Hindu’s received the same respect.
Summary: The Dynasty of the Great Mughals in India
 1605-1628 Jehangir succeeded his father, Akbar.
 1628-1658 Prince Khurram was 35 years old when he ascended the
throne as Shah Jehan, King of the World.
 1659-1707 In the summer of 1659, Aurangzeb held a coronation in
the Red Fort where he assumed the title of Alamgir
(World Conqueror). After a bitter struggle with his two
brothers, Aurangzeb was the victor who took the throne.
 1857 Bahadur Shah II, the last Mughal emperor, was deposed
in 1858. India was brought under the direct rule of the
British Crown. This brought the end of the Mughal Empire.
 MUGHAL COSTUMES
Clothing worn at Mughal court changed through time
and reflected both the Mughal’s Turkish and central
Asian origins and adaptations to the Indian
Subcontinent ultimately arriving at the consistent
Northern Indian court style that persisted with minor
changes well beyond the rule of the great Mughals.
When Babur arrived India he was shock to see the
people dresses in minimal clothing.
Babur and his associates wore
clothing derived from Turkish,
Persian and Central Asian
styles, including caftans or
kaftan ( a long coat), an over
coat made of sheepskin
( postin), and a turban head
wrap similar to those in
Timurid paintings from the late
fifteenth and early sixteenth
centuries. (The Timurids were
the final great dynasty to
emerge from the Central Asian
steppe.)
The nomadic early
Mughals came from a
much colder climate than
the plains of northern
India and quickly learned
that their clothing was
unsuitable for the
extreme heat of the
subcontinent.
The grooming of the early Mughals was also very
different from the styles that prevailed in India. To the
amusement of the local population, Mughal men wore
long moustaches and long, thin beards that hung from
their chins.
They kept their hair closely cropped- fashion that
continued in the court of great Mughals.
Babur’s successor Humayun and his court continued
to wear the early style of clothing introduced by his
fatrher .
Humayun, introduced a new style of turban seen in a
dynastic portrait completed for Shah Jahan about
ninety years after Humayun’s death.
SARPECH The ruler wears the taj-i-izzati
turban, a style unique toHumayun’s
court .
This unique head covering includes a
brimmed high cap with a rounded
point made of a blue fabric with a
small repeat pattern in gold.
The brim has been cut into points
that are turned up and intertwined
with multicolored stripped turban
cloth heavily decorated with gold.
Sarpech- turban ornament , made of
gold with a large red spinel or ruby
surrounded by pearls and topped
with a feather.
jewels like this large red gem were treasured possession
within mughal dynasty.
Humayun outer coat is made of red fabrics perhaps silk
or velvette, brocaded in gold.
A bit of green outlining coat;s front opening, and its
sleeves appear to be made of two layers of cloth, a
shorter outer sleeve in the same red as the outer body
of coat and a longer green- and –gold sleeve that
matches the coat’s lining.
Beneath the coat a golden yellow, long sleeved garment
with a wrapped front overlap that may tie under his
right arm in the style of the jama was worn.
JAMA : soon became a
part of the typical
Mughal court costume.
This inner garment was
held close to the body at
the waist by a bejeweled
golden belt buckle.
JAMA
STANDARD MUGHAL COURT COSTUME
The costume was adopted to the Indian climate and
through the use of elaborately woven and lavishly
embellished fabrics, contributed to the display of
imperial power at court.
The court costume – an lined outer coat(jama), trousers
(pai- jama), and a turban.
These garments were worn with a sash(patka) at the
waist, ceremonial weapons, and elaborate jewellery,
often including a turban ornament .
The term jama is generic name for coat or outer garment
and can be used for many different garments.
 Akbar wears the typical Mughal Jama
In Govardhan’s made of fine ,somewhat transparent white
paintings fabric depicted with a faint regular allover
pattern of flower sprigs of gold.
the long sleeves are close fitting and jama
has a lapped front closing that ties under
the ruler’s right arm with several lengths
of fabric that match the jama.
The inner layer of the jama front closes in
a similar way under the other arm. The
jamas full skirt extends below Akbar’s
knees.
The crumpled legs of his pai-jama created by cutting
the snug lower leg of the pai-jama longer than the
wearer’s legs and then crushing the excess fabric into
small folds around the ankle.
The waist and thigh areas of the pai-jama appear to cut
quite full and gathered around the waist, perhaps by
drawstring.
This general shape is much like the churidar style of
trouser worn in modern India .
Akbar’s pai-jama is made of silk brocaded with another
gold floral pattern, a favorite design that became
synonymous with Mughal decorative arts.
 COCKADE
Akbar wore a relatively flat red
and gold stripped turban
wrapped around his head.
One end of the turban forms a
fanlike cockade at the front.
This shape is often described
as a ‘conch shell’ and may be
derived from the Hindu Rajput
style pagri, an indigenous
turban of non Muslim design.
Akbar had two multicolored,
gold –embellished patkas at
his waist.
THREE MORE ITEMS FINISH OFF THE MALE COSTUME
The patka (shawl)
 The katzeb (sash)
 Juttis (shoes).
AKBAR AND
JAHANGIR
The patka is a handsomeTHE PATKA
garment often depicted in
illustrations of the period draping elegantly from the
shoulders of Akbar’s courtiers.
It survives today in India as the dupatta, worn by women as
a scarf with their salwar camise and Hindu men on their
wedding day.
During the reign of Akbar, the patka was a fairly wide
length of woven textile, often plain, but sometimes
embellished either with embroidered, painted, block
printed or woven designs.
 Embroidery, painting and weaving were all arts
encouraged by Akbar in his imperial workshops, it is
reasonable to assert that the embellishment of a patka was
dependent, not on technology or availability, but on the
affluence and social status of the wearer.
Other patkas found in the illustrations of Akbar’s
courts are further embellished with fringes.
They came in wide range of colours, from white to
saffron yellow to blues and greens and even (though
rarely) black.
Muslims were inclined to wrap their patkas in a variety
of styles.
KATZEB

Even more omnipresent than

the patka, was the katzeb, or
sash.
In illustrations of the period,
it is clear that the patka and
the katzeb never matched one
another, but like the patka,
the katzeb was richly
decorated in a number of
ways.
Examples of 16th century katzebs reveal that
the pallavs (edges) were rarely backed or lined by a
stabilizing fabric; therefore embroidered borders were
either uncommon or very skillfully executed. It is more
likely that the most highly embellished sashes were
of brocaded, painted or block printed textiles. .
Sashes in the reign of Akbar seem to be of two lengths,
long and short.
Labourers, servants and courtiers in a hunting party are
often shown with shorter and plainer katzebs.
Wealthy empires and the Akbar himself are depicted as
wearing longer and more abundant sashes, and in a few
cases, two sashes of contrasting colours at once .
 KATZEB/SASH
These two sashes are the
most elaborately patterned
textiles in the outfit.
Secured to his patkas were
several objects, including
an embroidered bag of red
and blue velvet, several
small objects that are
suspended by fine cords,
and most importantly, his
Katar, a ceremonial
thrusting dagger .
Generally, however, a single katzeb sufficed, and these were worn in
numerous ways.
Shorter sashes would have been roughly 2 ½ yards of fabric for a
simple tie and drape, while considerably longer sashes, wound
around the torso more than once, obviously required more, and
bespoke the status of the wearer. Findlay-Arthur estimates that “the
average Akbari katzeb measured in the region of sixteen inches to
twenty-two inches wide, possibly as much as twenty-four inches
wide for very fine and delicate fabrics, including very fine weave
cotton.”
Like the patka, the katzeb was made of various textiles. Most
present examples from the 18th century are silk, silk and cotton
mixed, and a cotton middle section with a highly decorated silk,
satin or velvet pallav.
 Given the availability of cotton in India since earliest times, all-
cotton katzebs for everyday wear must certainly have been available.
AKBARS KARTAR
 JUTTIS
Hindus and Muslims differed greatly in their approach to footwear. 
Followers of Islam wore shoes and boots habitually to protect their
feet from the heat and hazards of the Indian landscape.
Hindus, on the other hand, view feet and leather both as “unclean”. 
The making of leather goods, therefore, is and was left to the
members of the lowest castes.
As a rule, Hindus preferred to go either barefoot or in sandals
called paduka, which were made of “pure” materials such as wood or
even metal!
A rounded carved or direct decoration fits between the first and
second toe, which is how the paduka is kept on the foot.
Shoes were invariably removed before entering living areas and
temples.               
PADUKAS
The jutti was the most common
form of shoe worn by visitors to
Akbar’s court. 
They resemble more of a
slipper, having a curled toe,
no laces and often lack a
back for the heel of the foot. 
The soles are made of leather,
and the uppers are made of
either leather or fabric,
frequently embroidered with
gold and silver, especially in the
case of a Muslim wearer.
 WOMEN CLOTHING
Written description of women’s clothing are also rare.
In non Mughal description of women’s dress, the careful
reader must question exactly which women of the court the
foreign male visitors were allowed to see meet and describe.
In Akbar’s time , the royal entourage included five
thousand wives , concubines and prostitutes all living in
the women’s quarters.
The women of the royal household led complex lives.
Although the women were appropriate in the royal zanana,
they travelled with the court, observed battles from a safe
distance and participated in ceremo9nies, including
weddings, royal births and other ceremonies.
They also played powerful roles behind the scene court,
where they were often as powerful as their husbands.
 Mughal women
The early Mughal women wore clothing in Turkiush
style
 long gowns,
Trousers
 the Kartiji ( a short bodice extending to the hips
worn under the gown)
the nimtana( an outer jacket similar to vest).
 The memories of Babur’s daughter Gulbadan Begum
include description of wedding gifts to a young bride.
She received nine jackest each trimmed with jeweled
balls and four short kartiji. Also embellished with ball
trimmings.
The early Mughal women also wore tall , cone shaped
Turkish hats that were sometime decorated with a long
plume or a small veil attached to the top of the hat.
Because of the stylized depiction of women in the
paintings and lack of reliable written descriptions of
women’s clothing, exactly what royal Mughal wore ,
and when is a bit confusing.
Once the standard men’s court costume of jama,
paijama and turban was firmly established ,
illustrations of women show two types of clothing that
apparaently co existed.
Both styles are shown in “The birth of prince .”This
painting is regarded as the most reliable depiction of
Mughal women.
The painter, Bishan Das, favourite painted of Jahangir,
In the painting , the infant swaddled in white cloth and
with a faint royal radiance behind his head is most
likely Jahangir.
His mother , the Rajput princess Maryam- az- Zamani,
reclines next to him, wrapped in beatuiful embroidered
shawl and wears a jeweled band around her neatly
oiled and combed hair.
she also wears strings of pearls
around his neck and multiple
rings, many with dangling pearls,
along the outer edges of her ear.
The elderly woman sitting in the
highly decorated chair beside the
mother is probably Hamida Banu
Begum , Akhbar’s mother.
 She wore a tall, heavily
embellished , Turkish – style cap
over a fine white cloth head
covering , blue shawl around her
upper body and green trouser
legs peeping out from her robe.
MUMTAZ
The greatest contribution of Mughals to India is in the
JEWELLERY
form of jewellery designs.
Mughals were known for exquisite jewellery items made
from gold and precious stones.
 Influenced by Hindu traditions, Mughals took to wearing
stones for luck and navratnas became extremely popular.
Mughal era designs were basically extravagant jewellery
pieces made for royalty, the subjects being birds,
creepers, flowers and foliage.
colors and motifs were predominant in Mughal jewellery. 
Mughal jewellery is known for its beautiful designs,
colour combinations, arrangement, enamellings and
engraving
In fact, Mughal patronage provided the platform for the
development of existing traditions in jewellery making, as well as
the creation of innovative techniques.
 Hindu designs were gently modified to incorporate various
geometrical and floral designs. Hindu jewelry depicting scenes
from the ancient scriptures and gods formed the main themes.
But since the depiction of human figures was prohibited in Islam,
the art of engraving figures took a backseat, making way for floral
and animal designs.
The combination of crescent and stem dominated Mughal
jewellery.
Earrings had a small stem at the top of a crescent from which was
suspended a fish, which further led to a bunch of pearls.
These became a regular feature of Mughal jewellery.

 
 THE KUNDAN METHOD
The kundan method of setting stones in pure gold was
perfected by artisans in the Mughal period.
Here, the gold used for jewellery was fused at room
temperature. 
Another technique that was developed by the Mughals was
the inlaying of stones with gold.
Precious metals with hammered relief decoration and
enamelling, the incrustation of jade with patterns, with
stem-work of gold and leaves and flowers in stones, were
techniques that produced a treasure of designs.
The repetitive colour palette of green, red and white in
Mughal designs corresponds to the intensive use of
emeralds, rubies and diamonds.
 Necklace:

Enameled gold and silver

pendant at with rubies,
emeralds, natural white
sapphires and rock crystal,
strands of pearls and emerald
with two rubies. The necklace
is full with enameled golds
plagues and pendants, some
set with pendent and pearls
and green beads, the starnds
of pearls terminate in
emerald and ruby heads.
 Pendants and lockets
This pendant (taviz) is a white
nephrite jade in a pierced gold
frame, set with rubies and emeralds
in gold and with a pendant emerald,
the back inscribed and set with a
ruby in gold.
The palmette at the centre relates to
tjose found in the Iranian-
influenced decorative arts of the 16th
and early 17th centuries rather than
to the period Shah Jahan when
floral decoration became more
naturalistic. The detail is
painstaking, with the eyes of birds
being minute emeralds set in gold.
The amulet, which is bored along
the top edge, would have been the
central pendant to a necklace.
ARMLETS and ANKLETS