Transcript Ancient India: The Mogul Empire

Moguls from central Asia, related to the Turks,
conquered the Indus plain
 Akbar was made ruler at 13 in 1556
 At 19 he led the army and over 43 years they
expanded the Mogul empire (he almost never
lost a battle!)
 Created a money system
 Taxed farmers based on land
 Had irrigation and canals built to increase water
supply to farmers
 Unified Hindus for period of unity and power

 At
20, Akbar married the daughter of Hindu
leader
 He put her father and other Hindus in the
Muslim government
 He let Hindus build more temples again
 He took away the extra tax on Hindus
 Akbar had a building in his palace where
people from any religion could talk (he liked
to listen to their debates)
 He
had a huge library with books from other
empires and continents
 He was illiterate but had someone read to
him every day
 He loved arts and music and crafts and had
many huge forts and new palaces designed
and built
 Akbar died in 1605 at 63 years of age and left
behind one of the richest and most powerful
empires in the world
 Emperor
of“ the World”
 Akbar’s grandson, Shah Jahan, ruled from
1628-1658
 He expanded the Mogul empire
 Spent a huge amount of money on building
beautiful things and buildings (his throne
cost twice as much to build as the palace it
sat in!)
Shah Jahan had the Taj Mahal built in honor of
his wife (died in 1631)
 His wife was named Mumtaz Mahal
 It took 20 years to build
 Was one of the most expensive buildings built
under
 Is over looked by the Agra or Red Fort built by
Akbar
 It’s considered to be one of the most beautiful
buildings in the world
 Made of white marble with passages from the
Koran (to honour the beliefs of Islam)

 Shah
Jahan could afford to build theTaj
Mahal because of trade with Asia, Africa, and
Europe
 Silk and spices were traded to eager
merchants from Netherlands, Portugal, and
England
 He
was the grandson of Babur who founded
the Mogul dynasty
 Akbar is considered as the greatest Mogul
emperor
 He was only 13 when he was named the
emperor following the death of his father
 He married the daughter of a Hindu leader
Akbar was a carpenter, artist, blacksmith,
emperor, inventor, animal trainer, etc, etc.
 The day Akbar died, the Mogul empire
covered almost 1 million square kilometres
He was the fifth Mogul ruler
 While he was young, he was a favorite of Akbar.
 He succeeded to the throne on his father’s death
 He is considered one of the best Moguls, his
reign is considered as the Golden Age of the
Moguls
 He made great monuments, his greatest is the
Taj Mahal made as the tomb of his dead wife.
 On his death, the Mogul empire spanned about
9/10 the size of India today

 People:
Akbar, Shah Jahan, and Mumtaz
Mahal
 Places: Agra, and Taj Mahal
 The
End!