The Mughal Empire

The reign of emperors and their contribution

-Md. Abdullah Al Zobair

The Mughal Empire is the most prominent Muslim rule for its good governance, and
contribution to architectural, cultural, administrative and many others developments.
The rise and reign of Mughal dynasty is considered by many scholars as the most
interesting episodes in Indian history. At the height of their power, Mughals ruled
almost every corner of India. The empire grew out of descendants of the Mongol
Empire who were living in Turkestan in the 15th century. They had become Muslims
and assimilated the culture of the Middle East, while keeping elements of their Far
Eastern roots.

Foundation of Mughal Empire

The Mughal Empire was founded by the Chagatai Turkic prince Zahiruddin
Muhammad Babur who was born in Central Asia in 1483 into the ruling family of small
kingdom Fargana. He was descended from the Turkic conqueror Timurlane on his
father’s side and Mongol ruler Genghis Khan on his mother’s side.

Babur had established himself in Kabul in 1504, after he had been driven out of
Farghana by the westward movement of the Uzbegs, and when he found that he was
prevented from expansion towards Persia by the rise of a new dynasty there, he turned
his attention to India. In 1526, Babur defeated Ibrahim Lodi, sultan of Delhi, in the first
battle of Panipat imposing his rule on most of Northern India.

The Empire he founded was a sophisticated civilization based on religious toleration. It

was a mixture of Persian, Mongol and Indian culture. Trade with the rest of the Islamic
world, especially Persia and through Persia to Europe, was encouraged. Babur had
great ideas about civilisation, architecture and administration and brought a broad-
minded, confident Islam from central Asia. He even wrote an autobiography, The Babur
Namah, a candid, honest and at times even poetic.

Humayun
After the death of Babur in 1530 his sin Humayun at the age of 23 reined the power. He
soon found himself fighting his enemies on two widely separated fronts. In the west,
Bahadur Shah, the ruler of Gujarat, which had been independent of Delhi for over a
century, provided shelter for his enemies; in the east, his authority was challenged by
the Afghan chieftains, under Sher Khan Sur (known as Sher Shah).
In 1539 Humayun, who had occupied Gaur, was caught in an unfamiliar territory
during the monsoon, and as he tried to withdraw his forces toward Agra, Sher Khan
blocked his communications and defeated him at Chausa on the Ganges. The two
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armies met again at Kanauj, in 1540, but the Mughal army was so demoralized that on
Sher Khan's advance they fled in panic. Humayun exiled in Persia. The death of Sher
Khan in 1554 gave Humayun an opportunity to regain his empire from the Afghans. He
finally managed to achieve the lost empire by 1555.
Akbar
Akbar came to the throne in 1556 at the age of 13 after the death of his father Humayun.
During his reign, Akbar managed to subdue almost all of India, with the remaining
areas becoming tributary states. Meanwhile, Bengal became an integral part of the
empire in 1576. Along with his military conquests, he introduced a series of reforms to
consolidate his power. Akbar practiced tolerance aimed at Hindu-Muslim unification
through the introduction of a new religion known as Din-i-Ilahi. Akbar fell ill and died
of slow poisoning on October 27, 1605.
Jahangir
Akbar’s only surviving son, Prince Salim, succeeded to the throne on November 3, 1605,
under the title of Jahangir. The extension of the Mughal dominion came practically to a
halt in his reign, and the empire suffered a serious blow in the loss of Qandahar. In spite
of vast imperial resources, no serious attempt was made to bring the great unconquered
areas of the Deccan under the empire.
Shah Jahan
The charge made against Jahangir—that he had been too slothful to extend the
empire—could not be made against his son, Prince Khurram, who ascended the throne
as Shah Jahan on February 6, 1628. Although under him the splendor and luxury of the
court reached its zenith, he revived the expansionist policy of Akbar, and widened the
frontiers of the empire to include territories that had so far escaped Mughal domination.
Aurangzeb
Emperor Shah Jahan fell seriously ill at the end of September 1657. This was a signal for
a struggle of succession to breake out among his four sons—Dara Shiko, Suja, Auranzeb
and Murad. Aurangzeb ruled over most of the Indian subcontinent during some parts
of his reign. His reign lasted for 49 years from 1658 until his death in 1707. Aurangzeb
was a notable expansionist and during his reign, the Mughal Empire temporarily
reached its greatest extent. After the death of Aurangzeb, a war of succession broke out
among his four sons that had ultimately declined the empire.

Contribution of Mughal Empire

The Mughal Empire ruled most of India and Pakistan in the 16th and 17th centuries. It
consolidated Islam in South Asia, and spread Muslim arts and culture as well as the
faith. The contribution of the Mughlas in different areas of Indian subcontinent is
discussed here.
In Administrative System
Mughals divided the central government into four ---- diwan; mir bakhshi; mir saman;
and sadr. The organization of public services was perfected during Akbar's reign, and
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was based on the mansabdari system, borrowed originally from Persia. Every important
officer of state held a mansab or an official appointment of rank and emoluments, and,
as members of an imperial cadre, was liable for service anywhere in the empire.
Provincial administration was also greatly improved under Akbar. The boundaries of
the provincial units were more definitely fixed; and a uniform administrative pattern,
with minor modifications to suit local conditions, was developed for all parts of the
empire.

In Economics
Both Akbar and Jahangir interested themselves in the foreign seaborne trade, and
Akbar himself took part in commercial activities for a time. The Mughals welcomed the
foreign trader, provided ample protection and security for his transactions, and levied a
very low custom duty. Furthermore, the expansion of local handicrafts and industry
resulted in a reservoir of exportable goods. The manufacture of cotton goods had
assumed such extensive proportions that in addition to satisfying her own needs, India
sent cloth to almost half the world: the east coast of Africa, Arabia, Egypt, Southeast
Asia, as well as Europe. Apart from silk and cotton textiles, other industries were shawl
and carpet weaving, woolen goods, pottery, leather goods, and articles made of wood.

In Education
During Akbar's reign logic, philosophy, and scholastic theology had taken on new
importance. About the same time, we notice a very considerable improvement in the
teaching of the religious sciences. Akbar's conquest of Gujarat opened up ports like
Cambay and Surat to those scholars from northern India who wished to go to the great
religious center of Hejaz for further study. The extensive study of hadith in which
Indian scholars were to distinguish themselves in the eighteenth century began because
of this contact with Arabia.
Literature: Persian was the language of Mughal intellectual life. Since the Ghaznavid
occupation of Lahore in the beginning of the eleventh century, Persian had been the
official language of the Muslim government and the literary language of the higher
classes, but with the advent of the Mughals it entered a new era.

In Culture and Architecture

The Mughal period saw an outburst of cultural activity in the fields of architecture,
painting, music and literature. The Mughals brought with them Turko-Mongol cultural
traditions which mingled the rich cultural traditions existing in the country. Akbar was
instrumental in "promulgating" the Bengali calendar in order to make tax collection
easier in Bengal. Akbar's royal astronomer Fathullah Shirazi developed the Bengali
calendar, by synthesizing the Lunar Islamic and Solar Hindu calendars. The calendar
started with the Islamic calendar value, but the Sanskrit month names were used from
the earlier version.
Architecture reached the pinnacle of its glory under the Mughals. Akbar's most
ambitious project was his new capital and the numerous buildings at Fathpur Sikri, the
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seat of the imperial court from 1569 to 1584. He built two major fortresses at Agra and
Lahore. The Lahore fort, which was built on the banks of the Ravi, at about the same
time as that at Agra, was planned and constructed on practically the same grand scale.
Jahangir was interested less in architecture than in painting and gardens. A number of
lovely gardens came into existence, such as the Shalamar Bagh and the Nishat in
Kashmir during his reign. Shah Jahan was the greatest builder amongst the Mughals.
Among the more famous of his buildings are the Pearl Mosque and the Taj Mahal at
Agra, the Red Fort and Jama Masjid at Delhi, palaces and gardens at Lahore, a beautiful
mosque at Thatta in Sind, a fort, palace, and mosque at Kabul, royal buildings in
Kashmir, and many edifices at Ajmer and Ahmadabad.

The British East India Company took control of the former Mughal province of Bengal-
Bihar in 1793 after it abolished local rule that lasted until 1858. By 1857 a considerable
part of former Mughal India was under the East India's company's control. After a
crushing defeat in the war of 1857–1858 which he nominally led, the last Mughal,
Bahadur Shah Zafar, was deposed by the British East India Company and exiled in
1858. The empire was notable for its more than two centuries of effective rule over
much of India, for the ability of its rulers, who through seven generations maintained a
record of unusual talent, and for its administrative organization.

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The author Md. Abdullah Al Zobair is a Lecturer in Political Science at Bangladesh
Islami University, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Notes
Ibn Hasan, The Central Structure of the Mughal Empire, London, 1936
Abul Fazl, Ain-i-Akbari, trans. by H. Blochmann et al., Calcutta
François Bernier, Travels in the Mogul Empire A.D. 1656–1668, trans. by A. Constable,
London, 1914
William Sleeman, Rambles and Reflections of an Indian Official, London, 1844, II
H. M. Elliot and John Dowson, The History of India as Told by Its Own Historians
London
Abdul Qadir Badauni, Muntakhab-ut-Tawarikh, trans. by G. S. A. Ranking, W. H.
Lowe, and Sir Wolseley Haig, Calcutta, II
John Ovington, A Voyage to Surat, London, 1929
W. H. Moreland in Cambridge History of India, Cambridge, 1928
Burjor Avari, Islamic Civilization in South Asia: A History of Muslim Power and
Presence in the Indian Subcontinent. Routledge, 2013
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