The first Mughal emperor was Babur: 1526- 1530
- Indian society was divided into two distinct categories in the beginning of the 16th century: Hindus and Muslims
- The subcontinent was moving towards cooperation between hindus and Muslims. Muslims were dominant
- Hindus were divided into castes, women had rights, caste distinctions were rigid.
- General prosperity, main source of income was agriculture
- Weak military, leading to Turkic invasion. Large army but little training. Based on feudalism, no uniformity.
- Descendant of Timur and Gengis Khan.
- He inherited Fergana at the age of 11
- Samarkand fascinated him but his attempt at it failed and he lost Fergana too.
- He rose again with the help of Shah Ismail of Persia
- He led expeditions to India. 1st one was in 1519 January. 2nd one was in September of 1519. 3rd one was in 1520. 4th one was in 1524 in which he occupied Lahore. Last one was in 1526., battle of Panipat against Ibrahim Lodi.
- Lodis military was completely shattered
- This was the foundation of the Mughal Empire
- 29th April 1526- Babur became emperor if India.
- 1527- conflict with Rajputs.
- 1529- Afghans were met by Babur at battle of Gogra near Patna with Mohammad Lodi the younger brother of Ibrahim Lodi
- Babur’s life was struggling for glory
- He was born a leader, maintained discipline, strong empire builder,
- Indian possessions reached from the Himalayas to the Gwalyas in the south and from Khyber pass to Bengal
- Babur was focused only on conquests
- He could write Persian and Turkish
Humayun- emperor in 1530
Afghans
- Eldest son of Babur.
- Had three brothers: Kamran, Asghari, and Kamdal
- Born in Kabul in 1508
- His father made him learn Persian, Arabic, and Turkish as a boy
- He was trained in military
- Age 20 he was governor of Batakhasha
- He took part in his father’s campaigns and battles
- In 1529 he left the place where he was governor without his father’s permission and returned to Agra
- Babur nominated Humayun as his successor in 1530
- Humayun was addicted to opium
- Babur’s nobles did not like this and formed a conspiracy to place Mehdi Khawaja on the throne but this did not materialize
- Law of primogeniture was not followed so a war of succession took place
- Humayun’s brother desired the throne
- Babur was interested in conquest only
- Mughal army was not a national army
- Mughals, Persians, Afghans, and Turks, and Uzbeks were all the army
- Humayun’s cousins also wanted the throne
Afghans
- Sher Shah khan Suri was very ambitious
- Mughal authority was threatened by the growth of Gujrat under Bahadur Shah
- Political wisdom, diplomatic skill, and military genius was required in a leader but Humayun lacked all these skills
- He wasted his time in pleasures and failed to win the hearts of the people and soldiers
- Battle of Kanauj took place in 1540. Humayun was defeated and he returned to Agra but was chased Sher Shah Suri to Lahore
- Sher Shah occupied Delhi and Agra
- He founded the Sur dynasty of which he was the ruler
- He died in 1545
- His son Islam Shah ruled till 1553
- Sur dynasty started decaying after his death
- A civil war took place
- Humayun took advantage of this
- Humayun spent 15 years in exile
- Behram Khan helped him come back
- He forgave his brothers again and again he risked his life on the battle field
- His most prominent trait was perseverance
Akbar
- Son of Humayun
- Born in Sindh on 15 October 1542
- He spent his childhood in uncertainty as Humayun was in exile
- He stayed in the house of a Rajput chief
- His education was arranged by his father after his restoration but Akbar was more interested in sports
- In 1551 he was governor of Ghazni
- Humayun died in 1556 as a result from a fall off a staircase in his library
- Akbar became the 3rd Mughal emperor in 1556
- His greatest rival was Hemu the Indian prime minister
- The second battle of Panipat was in favor of Akbar
- Behram Khan was Akbar’s guardian from 1556-1560
- He was dismissed by Akbar in 1560
- He wanted to take the government into his own hands
- This happened 2 years after Behram Khan was dismissed
- Jahangir
- Born in 1569
- Akbar married his mother, a Rajput a princess in 1562
- All of Akbar’s sons died in his youth
- Akbar wanted an heir who could inherit his kingdom
- With the blessings of a saint a son was born called Sultan Selim
- His other sons Murad and Danial died in their youth from over drinking
- Selim knew Persian, Turkish, Arabic, and Hindi
- In 1585 Selim was elevated in rank to contain 12000 men
- He married Raja Bhagwandas’s daughter
- He was anxious to grasp sovereign rule and revolted in 1599
- After his accession to his thrones, he tried to win the hearts to the people by following the steps
- He issued an ordinance to be uniformly implemented all over his kingdom
- Regulations about robbery and theft
- Free inheritance of property of deceased
- Prohibition of sale of wine and all kinds of intoxicating liquids
- Banned physical punishments
- Prohibition of forcible seizure of property.
- Building hospitals and appointment of physicians to treat people.
- No torturous treatment of prisoners
- Prince Khusrau was popular within the capital
- He was Saleem/Jahangir’s eldest son
- He was confined the fort of Agra because he was too popular.
- He escaped and revolted in 1606
- He was blinded and imprisoned in the fort of Agra
- He died in confinement in 1622
- Jahangir’s Marriage to Noor Jehan was an important event in the history of the world.
- Noor Jehan’s original name was Mehrunissa
- She was a daughter of a Persian noble named Mirza Riaz Baig
- At the time of marriage Noor Jehan was a widow and she had a daughter
- Jehangir was highly educated and cultured prince
- He mastered Turkish, Arabic and Persian
- Jehangir died on October 28, 1627
- He was buried in a garden in Shahdara near Lahore.
Shah Jehan 1627-1658
- Jehangir had four sons: Khusrao, Pervaiz, Khurram and Sherhyar
- Khurram is Shah Jahan
- Shah Jehan was Jagat, a Rajput princess.
- He was born on 5th January 1592.
- He was the favorite of his grandfather, Akbar.
- Prince Khusrao was put to death by Shah Jehan
- Jehangir died in 1628
- In February 1628, Shah Jehan ascended to the throne in Agra
- Shah Jehan in Lahore imprisoned Noor Jehan.
- She died in 1645
- In 1629, Khan Jehan Lodi’s rebellion took place.
Aurangzeb 1658-1707
- He was the last Mughal emperor
- He ruled for 50 years,
- He ascended to the throne in July of 1658
- He assumed the title of Alamgir
- Aurangzeb is the most fanatic Muslim who adopted the most harsh measures against his non Muslim subjects
- In April, Aurangzeb re-imposed ‘Jizya’, which Akbar abolished in 1564.
- His policies created discontent amongst certain groups
- His distractions with the problems in the rest of his reigned proved to be one of the main reasons of fall of Mughal Empire.