Transcript Slide 1
WHAT WAS MUGHAL
EMPIRE?
THE MUGHAL EMPIRE was an imperial power in the
Indian subcontinent from about 1526 to 1757 (though it
lingered for another century). The Mughal emperors were
Muslims and direct descendants of Genghis
Khan through Chagatai Khan and Timur. At the height of
their power in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, they
controlled most of the subcontinent—extending
from Bengal in the east to Balochistan in the west
,Kashmir in the north to the Kaveri basin in the south.
THE GREAT MUGHALS
THE LATER MUGHALS
The great mughals were rulers of mughal empire till
Aurangzeb.
After him came the later mughals.
There are six great mughals.
THE GREAT MUGHALS
Babur
1483 - 1526 - 1530 (47)
Humayun
1508 - 1530 - 1540 - 1556 (48)
Akbar
1542 - 1556 - 1605 (63)
Jahangir
1569 - 1605 - 1627 (58)
Shah Jahan
1592 - 1627 - 1658 - 1666 (74)
Aurangzeb
1618 - 1658 - 1707 (89)
BABUR
The first of the Great Mughals was Babur ("The Tiger"),
who invaded and conquered India in 1526. He was also a
diarist, an enthusiastic hunter and lover of gardens.
He died in the Ram Bagh gardens in Agra, and his tomb
lies in gardens bearing his name in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Babur was the great great- great grandson of the Mongol
Warlord Tamerlane.
HUMAYUN
Born in Kabul, Humayun was the eldest of Babur's sons,
and had helped his father with the conquest of India. He
ascended the throne at Agra on December 30 1530 at the
age of 23, but did not have the skills to manage the
immature empire, Afghan warlords
In 1540 he lost his empire to Afghan leader Sher Shah, but
he hung in and managed to get it back 16 years later in
1556. However, only six months later he died as a result of
falling down the steps of his library. Had he known all of
this at the time, he might not have chosen a name which
meant "the fortunate".
AKBAR
The greatest of the Mughal Emperors, Akbar, was born in exile
and ascended the throne at the age of 13 after his father's short
restoration.
In many ways Akbar was the Indian equivalent of Suleiman the
Magnificent (1494 - 1520 - 1566). He conquered massive new
territories including much of Rajasthan, created a long lasting
civil and military administrative system (called Mansabdari),
introduced standard weights and measures, tax structures and a
workable police force.
Akbar was married to at least seven wives, one of them a
Rampur Hindu princess from Jaipur. He was enormously
liberal for his time, promoting religious tolerance (and even
his own hybrid Islamic / Hindu / Christian / Zoroastrian
religion called Din - i llahi), abolishing slavery and
forbidding forced sati.
Akbar died in Agra in 1605 and is buried in Sikandra.
#9.How did Mughal attitudes and policies
toward Hindus change under Akbar?
Akbar recognized the fundamental reality that
Hindus made up a majority of the population of the
Mughal Empire.
He acted deliberately to accommodate the Hindu
majority through actions that included allowing the
Hindu princesses that he married to keep their
Hindu faith.
incorporating a substantial number of Hindus into
the political-military elite of the empire; supporting
the building of Hindu temples;
imposing a policy of toleration; deliberately
restraining the more militantly Islamic ulama;
removing the special tax on non-Muslims
promoting a state cult that drew on Islam, Hinduism,
and Zoroastrianism.
JAHANGIR
Jahangir was the eldest son of Mughal Emperor Akbar and was
declared successor to his father from an early age. Impatient for
power, however, he revolted in 1599 while Akbar was engaged
in the Deccan. Jahangir was defeated, but ultimately succeeded
his father as Emperor in 1605. The first year of Jahangir's reign
saw a rebellion organized by his eldest son Khusraw with the
assistance of the SikhGuru Arjun Dev and others. The rebellion
was soon put down; Khusraw was brought before his father in
chains. After subduing and executing nearly 2000 members of
the rebellion, and blinding his renegade son Khusraw, Jahangir
had Arjun Dev executed, causing a permanent deterioration of
relations between the imperium and the Sikhs.
SHAH
JAHAN
Shah Jahan ("Ruler of the World") inherited a near bankrupt
empire from his father Jahangir. He turned this around, in the
process becoming the best remembered of the Mughal builders,
largely because of the Taj Mahal.
Shah Jahan initially chose to rule, like his predecessors, from
the Red Fort at Agra, and it was a few miles away from here
that he built the Taj Mahal as a monument to his wife, known
as Mumtaz Mahal ("Ornament of the Palace" or "Exalted of the
Palace" depending on the translator), who died in 1631 after the
birth of their 14th child. The construction of the Taj Mahal was
begun in 1632 and it took 20,000 laborers 17 years to complete
the job.
Aurangzeb
Aurangzeb was an intolerant religious
(Muslim) zealot and kill-joy. He forbade
music, put a stop to Mughal painting and
left behind none of the architectural
wonders that earlier members of his
dynasty had produced.
The Hindus and Sikhs fared even worse,
with suppression, destruction of temples,
the reintroduction of a poll tax and public
executions.
Just a generally nasty little man as far as
most of the population were concerned,
and it is not surprising that his 50 year
reign was the beginning of the end for the
Mughal dynasty.
Badshahi Mosque in Lahore was taken by
Grandmother Paradox in 1922. The mosque,
also known as The Emperor's Mosque, was built
by Aurangzeb and completed in 1673.
#9.How did Mughal attitudes and
policies toward Hindus change under
Aurangzeb?
reversed Akbar’s policy of accommodation
by taking actions that included:
forbidding of the Hindu practice of sati
banning music and dance at court, as well as
banning gambling, drinking, prostitution, and
narcotics;
destroying some Hindu temples;
Re-imposing the special tax on non-Muslims;
posting “censors of public morals” to large
cities to enforce Islamic law.