History

The Mughal Legacy:

The Golden Age of Northern India, 1526-1858

The greatest flourishing of northern Indian culture, art, and imperial strength undoubtedly took place during the reign of the Mughal monarchs of the 16th and 17th centuries. The Mughals were Central Asian descendents of the great Mongol warriors Ghengis Khan and Timur (Tamerlane), whose hordes of cavalry swept across the Eurasian steppe in the 13th and 14th centuries, conquering everything between Beijing and Budapest. But by the turn of the 16th century, the great Mongol empire has splintered; the many royal descendents of Ghengis and Timur fought over the territorial scraps and did their best to hold on to their own minor sultanates.
One of these sultans, Babur, was not satisfied with his small kingdom of Ferghana (now in modern-day Kyrgystan and eastern Uzbekistan), and he tried and tried again to permanently reconquer Timur's greatest prize, Samarkand. He never succeeded. So instead, Babur turned his attention south to the sultanate of Delhi in northern India, which had been ruled successively by five dynasties of muslim warriors from Afghanistan since the late 12th century. As history would show, Babur's campaign against the Delhi sultanate catalyzed the foundation of one of the greatest dynasties in the history of south Asia: the Mughal Empire.
To learn more about the Mughals and their accomplishments, please select from the following six monarchs who as a whole represent the zenith of Mughal power and culture.

• Babur (1526-1530) and the rise of the Mughals.
• Humayun (1530-1556, but deposed 1540-1555)
• Akbar "The Great" (1556-1605)
• Jehangir (1605-1627)
• Shah Jehan (1627-1658)
• Aurangzeb (1658-1707) and the decline of the Mughals.

Babur: The First of the Mughals

(1526-1530) Zahiruddin Muhammad Babur Mirza, the Timurid ruler of Ferghana, saw his royal lineage as the key to future greatness. His mother was a descendent of the greatest of the Mongol warriors, Ghengis Khan, while his father carried the blood of the legendary Timur the Lame (Tamerlane), who conquered and ruled the ancient city of Samarkand. While Babur would never expand his own land holdings to even a fraction of that of Ghengis' (his empire was the largest the world has ever known), Timur served as an excellent role-model, for he usurped a more modest, though still impressive kingdom including the lands of present-day Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Pakistan. Babur made three valiant attempts on Samarkand, but his sieges were ultimately futile, for each time he captured the city, he was unable to hold it for long. Ever determined to get a slice of his ancestral territorial pie, he chose the sultanate of Delhi as his next target. From his base of operations in Kabul, Babur tried to commandeer Delhi through sheer will of his pedigree. Over a century earlier, Timur had raided Delhi and managed to place a new dynasty, the Sayyids, on the throne of the sultanate. Therefore, as a direct descendent of Timur, Babur convinced himself that he could claim the throne as his right. But the Turkish sultan of Delhi, Ibrahim Lodi, refused to give in so easily, for his family had thrown the Sayyids out of Delhi several generations back, and he would not recognize Babur's claim. This left Babur with little choice but to invade and hope his forces could defeat the well-entrenched defenders of Delhi.
It turned out to be a cakewalk. In 1526, Babur's forces crushed Ibrahim Lodi's army, largely due to Babur's access to artillery and gunpowder, both of which were in short supply on Lodi's side. After completing a mop-up campaign against several regional Hindu armies (including a formidable force of Rajputs from the west), Babur had the Delhi sultanate to himself, with no serious challengers. In doing so, Babur laid the groundwork for his own dynasty of Mongol warriors, known to the contemporary Persian world as Mughals.
Babur, unfortunately, never got the chance to take full advantage of his fledgling empire. He died suddenly in 1530, leaving the throne to his son, Humayun. He also left behind a handwritten memoir, penned in his native Chaghatay Turkish, that recounted almost 40 years of his adventures, ideas and opinions. This document, the Baburnama, is one of the earliest known autobiographical works in the Islamic world, and is perhaps the most detailed account of central Asian life of that period.
Babur's Architectural Legacy:
Madhi Masjid, Delhi
Shaikh Yusuf Qattal's Tomb, Delhi (1527)
Rambagh, Agra

Humayun: The Luckless Leader

(1530-1556, but deposed 1540-1555) The stars always seemed to be against poor Humayun, who nearly lost the Mughal empire before it had barely begun. An intelligent man with a reputation for indecision and absentmindedness, Humayun was overthrown in 1540 by Sher Khan, a rival sultan from Bengal. Helpless, Humayun lived in exile in Persia, spending his years as an ascetic, trying to figure out just what had gone wrong in the first place. Sher Khan, the new ruler of Delhi, eventually died and passed the kingdom to his son Islam Shah. Humayun saw this transition as a chance to reassert his claim to the throne. He invaded northern India, and by 1555, recaptured his lost sultanate. The Mughal dynasty would live on. It would not, however, live on much longer through Humayun himself, who only a year later died tragically by tripping down the steps of his library. The restoration and growth of the empire would be left to his young son, Akbar.
Humayun's Architectural Legacy:
Jamali Kamali Mosque and Tomb, Delhi (1528-36)
Imam Zamin's Tomb, Delhi (1537)
Hasan Khan's Tomb, Sasaram (c. 1535)
Sher Shah's Tomb, Sasaram (c. 1540)
Purana Qila, Delhi (c. 1530-45)
Qala-i-Kuhna Masjid, Delhi (1541)
Sher Mandal, Delhi (c. 1541)
Gate of Sher Shah's Wall, Delhi (1540s)
Salimgarh, Delhi (1546)
Isa Khan's Mosque and Tomb, Delhi (1547)
Sabz Burj, Nila Gumbad, Delhi
Bu Halima's Garden, Delhi

Akbar the Great: Shah of Shahs

(1556-1605) Fortunately for him, Akbar did not inherit the luckless habits of his father, Humayun. Instead, the young monarch began what was to be the greatest reign of the Mughal dynasty. A powerful and brave character in his own right, tales of his superhuman strength and cunning warrior's mind preceded Akbar wherever he went. Such notoriety undoubtedly helped him expand the empire, as he conquered nearly all of modern-day northern India and Pakistan, and successfully converted independent states such as Gujerat and Rajasthan into vassal satrapies. Beyond his ability as an effective conqueror, Akbar was a keen administrator who developed a centralized federal government that delegated tasks to powerful bureaucracies. But above all, he is perhaps best known for recognizing the importance of tolerance, which was paramount to his dynasty's longterm viability. A ruling class of Muslims could only last so long if its Hindu subjects lacked the opportunities and respect necessary for their own success. Therefore, Akbar removed the tax on Hindus, despite the traditional mandate in Islam to tithe non-believers, and invited scores of religious scholars, including Hindus, Jews, and Christians, to debate him personally in his private chambers, often late into the night. Akbar's wives were also of different religious backgrounds - each marriage was thus a strategic union that would allow the adherents of India's many faiths to feel that they too were apart of the royal household.
Over time, Akbar's fascination with religion grew to almost an obsession when he fashioned his own faith, called Din Ilahi. Din Ilahi was an eclectic mix of the other religions Akbar had studied during those late-night theological debates. He borrowed what he saw as the best components of each and blended them into the melange that became Din Ilahi. The new faith, however, never caught on among the Hindus and Muslims outside of his court, but despite this failure, Akbar continued to support religious tolerance among his people.
Finally, Akbar was the most mobile of the Mughals - every decade or so, it seemed, he moved the capital of the empire from one city to another. Nine years into his reign, Akbar established a new capital at Agra, where he built the marvelous Agra Fort. But by the 1570s, he moved it again, 40 miles west of Agra, to a new capital called Fatehpur Sikri. A local mystic, Salim Chisti, had successfully prophesized the birth of Akbar's first male son in 1569, so in honor of Chisti, Akbar built a mosque and eventually the new capital by the site of the home of the holy man. Fatehpur Sikri was the architectural gem of his reign, but after less than 20 years there, Akbar packed his bags again and moved far north to Lahore, to present-day Pakistan. But again, the time at this capital was fleeting, and eventually Akbar resettled in Agra.
Akbar died in 1605, nearly 50 years after his ascension to the throne, and was buried outside of Agra at Sikandra. The throne was then assumed by his son Jehangir.
Akbar's Architectural Legacy:
Humayun's Tomb, Delhi (1560s)
Arab Sarai, Delhi (1560s)
Khair-ul Manazil Masjid, Delhi (1561)
Adham Khan's Tomb, Delhi (c. 1562)
Dargah of Nizam-ud-din, Delhi (1562-?)
Ataga Khan's Tomb, Delhi (1566)
Afsarwala Mosque and Tomb, Delhi (1566)
Agra Fort, including Amar Singh Gate and Jehangiri Mahal, Agra (1565-70)
Ajmer Fort and Pavilion, Ajmer (1570-2)
Lahore Fort and Palace, Lahore
Jama Masjid, Fatehpur Sikri (1571)
Shaikh Salim Chishti's Tomb, Fatehpur Sikri (1571-80)
Islam Khan's Tomb, Fatehpur Sikri
Palace, Fatehpur Sikri (1571-85)
Buland Darwaza, Fatehpur Sikri (1575-6)
Allahabad Fort and Palace, Allahabad (1583)
Muhammad Ghaus's Tomb, Gwalior
Hari Parbat Fort, Srinagar (1586)
Nasim Bagh, Srinagar
Barber's Tomb, Delhi (1590)

Jehangir: The Paragon of Stability

(1605-1627) Compared to his legendary father Akbar, Jehangir was neither a stellar monarch nor adventurous warrior; he was, however, quite competent in maintaining the status quo, and for over 20 years, he did just that. Dividing his time mostly between Lahore and Agra Jehangir whittled away the years, maintaining the central administration, supporting the arts, and occasionally expanding the borders of the empire, though only marginally. He is probably best known for being the father of Shah Jehan, the ever-constructing sultan who built the most famous landmark in India, the one and only Taj Mahal. Jehangir's Architectural Legacy:
Akbar's Tomb, Sikandra (1605-12)
Anarkali's Tomb, Lahore (1615)
Buildings in Lahore Fort, including Moti Masjid and Bari Khwabgah, Lahore
Sheikhupura complex, Lahore
Shalimar Bagh, Srinagar (1619)
Nishat Bagh, Pathar Masjid, Srinagar
Khusrau's Tomb, Allahabad (c. 1621)
Itimad-ud-daulah's Tomb, Agra (1622-8)
Chaunsath Khamba, Delhi (1623)
Khan-i-Khanan's Tomb, Delhi (c. 1626)
Jehangir's Tomb, Lahore (1627)

Shah Jehan: The Master Builder

(1627-1658) While his grandfather Akbar is best known for developing the Mughal empire, it is Shah Jehan who is remembered as the sultan who spent his time literally building it. Shah Jehan was a patron of the arts, and a lover of all things big: big mosques, big forts, big gemstones. He commissioned hundreds of paintings and engravings for his palaces, many of which survive to this day.
The most enduring of Shah Jehan's creations were his massive construction projects. Employing a mix of Persian palatial sophistication and local Hindu engineering know-how, Shah Jehan defined the architectural style recognized the world over as 'Mughal.' The Red Fort and the Jama Masjid, both in Delhi, stand out as towering achievements of both civil engineering and art. Yet above all else, we remember Shah Jehan today for the Taj Mahal, the massive white marble mausoleum constructed for his wife Mumtaz Mahal along the bank of the Jamuna River in Agra.
Mumtaz Mahal died during childbirth soon after Shah Jehan ascended to the throne. Grief-stricken, Shah Jehan decided to built the Taj Mahal as a tribute and final resting place for her. It took over a decade to build and it nearly bankrupted the empire, but Shah Jehan had his monument for the ages. He continued to spend lavishly, beginning new construction projects and revamping old ones (including the Agra Fort, first built by Akbar two generations earlier). He even commissioned the creation of a brilliant gold throne encased in hundreds of precious gems - the Peacock Throne, a symbol of Mughal royalty until it was stolen and co-opted by the Persians a century later.
But despite his successes as a patron of art and architecture, Shah Jehan was unable to gauge the discontent among his own court. A power struggle among his sons ensued, and eventually, the ruthless prince Aurangzeb deposed Shah Jehan in a coup d'etat in 1658. Shah Jehan was imprisoned in the Octagonal Tower of the Agra Fort (a beautiful addition to the fort that he himself had constructed) and would remain there until his death, eight years later, in 1666. He was then buried next to his wife, Mumtaz Mahal, in the Taj Mahal, two kilometers down river from the fort.
Shah Jehan's Architectural Legacy:
Anar Sagar Pavilions, Ajmer
Palaces in Agra Fort, including Anguri Bagh, Khas Mahal, Diwan-i-Khas, and Diwan-i-Am, Agra (1627-38)
Taj Mahal, Agra (1631-52)
Black Pavilion (Shalimar Bagh), Srinagar (1630)
Wazir Khan's Mosque, Lahore (1634)
Shalimar Bagh, Lahore (1637)
Palaces in Lahore Fort, including Chati Khwabgah, Diwan-i-Am, and Mussaman Burj, Lahore
Asaf Khan's Tomb, Lahore (c. 1641)
Shahjehanabad, Delhi (1638-48)
Red Fort and Palace, Delhi (1639-48)
Chini ka Rauza, Agra (c. 1639)
Jama Masjid, Agra (1648)
Jama Masjid, Delhi (1650-6)
Fatehpuri Masjid, Delhi (1650)
Moti Masjid (Agra Fort), Agra (1654)

Aurangzeb: The Intolerant

(1658-1707)

By most accounts, Aurangzeb was a warrior with an axe to grind. Much less tolerant of other religions than his great-grandfather Akbar, Aurangzeb spent much of his time making enemies with the Hindus of northern India. He removed the tax-free status that Akbar had granted the Hindus, destroyed their temples, and crushed their vassal states that had previously enjoyed semi-independent status.

Aurangzeb was a conqueror from the start, having deposed his father Shah Jehan and mercilessly executed his brother, Crown Prince Dara Shukoh. And for the next 49 years, he pushed his kingdom's territory to its high water mark, expanding into the far south of India through the Deccan plain. But not unlike the empire of his renown ancestor Ghengis Khan, Aurangzeb was unable to maintain this overbloated domain. The vastness of the empire strained its army, its bureaucracy, and its economy, and when Aurangzeb died in 1707, the empire was near the point of implosion. His successor and son, Bahadur Shah, was so old by the time Aurangzed died, he only managed to live a few more years before passing on the throne again. But at this point in time, the government had become so weak, the empire became an easy target of invasion and explotation, first by the Persians, and then by the British.

With the ascension of the British Raj in India, the Mughals' time as absolute monarchs was near an end. In 1803, Raj forces captured both Delhi and Agra, and the Mughals themselves became vassals of the British. By 1858, they had burnt themselves out - the last Moghul Sultan, Bahadur Shah II, sided against the British during the Sepoy Mutiny, and when the British regained control, Bahadur Shah II was exiled, his monarchy abolished, and his heirs executed. The glory that was once the Mughal empire was now but a faint memory.

Aurangzeb's Architectural Legacy:

Moti Masjid (Delhi Fort), Delhi (1659)
Burj-i-Shamali (Delhi Fort), Delhi
Badshahi Mosque, Lahore (1674)
Bibi ka Maqbara, Aurangabad (1678)
Zinat-ul-Masjid, Delhi (1710)
Safdar Jang's Tomb, Delhi (1753-4)
Zafar Mahal, Hira Mahal (Delhi Fort), Delhi (1842)
Gate to Zafar Mahal (Mehrauli), Delhi (c. 1850)