The Mughal Empire

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Early History of the Mughals• *The Mughals are an Islamic group who

were the descendants of the Mongols, invaded and conquered India.

• The Word Mughal is the Indian word for Mongol

• 700-1000 AD the Indians prevented Mongol invasions

• 1000 AD the Sultan Mahmud destroys many Indian cities and makes Delhi a Sultan capital

• 1398 Timur the Lame destroys Delhi as an example to other Indian cities

• *Between 1100-1600 the interaction between the Hindu and Muslim societies can best be described as a period of conflict alternated with periods of religious toleration and peaceful coalition.

Timur took large parts of Northern India and other parts he looted and destroyed in a brutal fashion.

Five Great Mughal Leaders

1. Babur

2. Akbar

3. Jahangir and Nur Jahan

4. Shah Jahan

5. Aurangezeb

Babur Finds the Mughal Empire• 1492 Babur becomes king

at the age of 11

• He is a descendant of Timur the Lame and Genghis Kahn

• At first his kingdom was small and in the area of present day Uzbekistan and Tajikistan Sultan Babur’s lineage

Babur Finds The Mughal Empire

• Babur was a brilliant military strategist and understood his men

• Babur is able to win a commanding victory over the sultan of Delhi– His army was greatly

outnumbered 12,000 to 100,000

Babur’s conquest is shown as purple

Akbar the “Great One”

• Grandson of Babur• A military conqueror• Believed in war for its

own sake– always on the offensive

conquering new lands– His armies relied on heavy

artillery to take fortified cities

• He will unify a land of a 100 million people

Akbar’s conquest is shown as dark orange

The Religion of Akbar• Akbar was born a Muslim

• He believed in and practiced religious tolerance.– *He had wives who were

Christian, Hindu and Muslim (proof that he was tolerant of other religions)

– He abolished religious taxes for non-Muslims

• *He started his own religion called the "Divine Faith". – It combined

• Hinduism, • Jainism • Islam

Akbar the Great

The Golden Age of Akbar

• A mixture of many cultures– Persian is the Lingua Franca and the language of the

high court

– *Hindi was the most common vernacular language (Still the most important language in India today)

– *Urdu (from the soldiers camp) was the language of the Army- A mixture of Arabic, Persian and Hindi

The Golden Age of Akbar• Arts flourished- Example is "Miniatures" small highly detailed and

colorful paintings

• Literature-the writing of the book Akbarnamah (Book of Akbar)

• A great period of revived architecture– Akbar built the capital city of Fatehpur Sikri city– abandoned only after 15 years due to a lack of reliable water source

Palace at Fatehpur Sikri

The Reign of Janghira and Nur Jahan

• Jahangir was the the son of Akbar. He was a weak ruler, but his Persian wife was a skilled politician. Her name was Nur Jahan

Nur Jahan- A Woman of Power• The Woman

– Persian wife– Hunt tigers– Rode horses– Composed poetry– Designed clothes

• She manipulated the offices of state to insure her power– She put her father in the

position of Prime Minister of the Mugal Court

– She position Khusrau, son of Jahangir as the future emperor Nur Juhan- Wife of Janghira

The Reign of Janghira and Nur Jahan

• Nur Jahan and Jahangir did not practice religious tolerance like Akbar

• They supported only Islam

• Khusrau rebellion– Son against father– he turned to the Guru Ajun a Sikhs

for support– Khusrau is defeated and ordered

to be blinded

• *The Sikhs practiced a religion that combined beliefs of Buddhism, Hinduism and Sufism called Sikhism

– *Main goal was to build a close and loving relationship with God through meditation

Emperor Janghira receiving his two sons, Khusrau and Parviz

Shah Jahan• Grandson of Akbar

• Feared all rivals to the throne and had them assassinated

• Loved two things– beautiful buildings – Wife- Mumtaz Mahal

• Under Shah Jahan there were great famines, high taxes and war

Mumtaz Mahal• Mumtaz Mahal was the

wife of Shah Jahan

– She died at 38 giving birth to her 14th child

– Shah Jahan was heart broken

The Taj Mahal

• *Shah Jahan ordered the building of the Taj Mahal as a tomb for Mumtaz Mahal’s body• Perhaps one of the most beautiful buildings in the world

• Made of white marble and jewels • Single towering marble dome and four slender towers • Inside is a glittering garden of a thousand carved marble flowers inlaid with precious

stones• Site for the Muslim faithful today• *One of the finest examples of Mughal architecture, blending Persian, Islamic and Indian

styles

Aurangezeb

• ruled from 1658-1707

• Master military strategist

• Aggressive empire builder

• The Mughal empire expands to its greatest extent

Aurangezeb’s conquests is shown as light orange

The Reign of Aurangezeb

• Rigidly enforced Islamic law- Shari’a– no drinking, no gambling or other vices– appointed censors to police his subjects morals

• Did not practice religious tolerance – taxed non-Muslims – Hindus removed from high positions – Hindu temples destroyed

• He made too many enemies and could not hold the empire together.