The Mughals


 
 
Concept Explanation
 

The Mughals

India in the 16th century CE presented a picture of political disunity and dissarray. The Delhi Sultanate  had shrunk in Size and power , with several regions breaking free from its control. The governor of Punjab , Daulat Khan Lodi , had declared his independence from the Delhi Sultanate ; so  had the governors  of Bengal , Sind,Multan and Jaunpur. The rulers of Mewar, Gujrat and khandesh no longer owed allegiance to the Delhi Sultanate.

 The Delhi Sultan had shrunk in size and power, with several regions breading free from its control. The governor of Punjab, Daulat Khan Lodi, had declared hid independence from the Delhi Sultanate and so the other leaders. The rulers no longer owed allegiance of the Delhi sultanate.

Who were the Mughals? The Mughals were the last powerful descendants of the Mongal. Under the inspired leadership of Babur, they took advantage of the absence of a strong center power to invade India and establish Mughal rule in Delhi. From there mother’s side they were descendants of Genghis khan (died 1227), ruler of the Mongol tribes, china and central Asia. From their father’s side they were the successors of Timur (died 1404), the ruler of Iran, Iraq and modern-day turkey. Mughal Empire in India lasted from the 16th century to mid-19th century (for about 250 years). Mughals expanded their empire to cover almost the whole of the Indian subcontinent and left a permanent mark on the society, culture, art and architecture of India.

  • Establishment of the mughal Empire: The mughal empire in India was one of the biggest empire in the history of the subcontinent. Controlling such a huge territory, with so many people of different cultural backgrounds as their subjects was not an easy task for the mughal rulers. However, the systems of administration and governance that were laid down by them,especially those introduced by Akbar, created an empire that not only stood strong for more than three centuries, but also one which welcomed the diversity of the land. The political, cultural and social heritage left behind by the mughals is one that is still alive today.
  • The Mughals traced their ancestry to two great rulers: Ghenghiz khan, on their maternal side, and  to Timur, on their paternal side. In the three centuries that they ruled over the subcontinent, not only did they expand the boundaries of their empire down till the Bijapur and Golconda kingdoms in the Deccan, but they also took medieval India to the heights of cultural achievements. 
  • Sources:  There are numerous sources that have been used to study that Mughal period. Some of these include:

  • Coins from the period.
  • Buildings and monuments, such as the Red Fort in new Dehli, the Taj  Mahal in Agra and the tombs of the various kings such as Humayun's Tomb in new Delhi.
  • Account written by foreign travellers, merchants, missionaries and ambassadors who visited the empire and wrote extensively about the Mughal rulers. One of the most famous works is that of Francois Barnier, a French traveller, who wrote travels in the Mughal Empire. Another famous European traveller was sir Thomas Roe who wrote an interesting account of Mughal court called journal of the Mughal Empire. 
  • Court chronicles and official biographies such as the Akbatnama and the Ain-i-Akbari written by Abul Fuzl, the Padshahnama written by Abdul Hamid Lahori, and memories such as Babur's Tuzuk-i-Baburi provide information about the personal lives of the kings, the Mughal court and the system of administration and governance in the Mughal empire. 
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