Mughal empire

The Mughal Story
• Babur
• Humayun
▪ Sher Shah
• Akbar
• Jahangir
• Shah Jahan
• Aurangazeb

Ẓahīr-ud-Dīn Muhammad
Bābur

Babur’s Political Background
• The scene was set for the
conflict of 3 mighty
empires in Asia: Uzbeks,
Safavids and The
Ottomans.
• Timurids were fighting
among one another.
• Babur, one of the Timurids
came to the throne at the
age of 12 (1494) and tried
to acquire Samarqand, but
in vain.
• Uzbeks pushed Babur
towards Kabul, which he
promptly conquered.

• Uzbeks came in contact with
Iranians and lost.
• Babur was installed as the
ruler of Samarqand by the
Iranian King, but treated as a
governor of an Iranian
Province
• Uzbeks recovered and threw
Babur out of Samarqand
• Before he could ask for help
from Iranians, Ottomans
overran Iran & inadvertently
made Uzbeks the masters of
Trans-Oxiana
• Babur now turns towards India

Babur’s Reasons for Invading India
• Babur was drawn to India for
its fabulous wealth.
• His forefather Timur had
carried away huge treasure
from India upon plundering
Delhi and also annexed some
parts of Punjab.
• Babur thus felt that he had a
legitimate right to these areas.
• He was afraid that Kabul would
be attacked by the Uzbeks
• The revenue from Kabul was
also meagre anyway

Babur’s Invitation from India
• Ibrahim Lodi, who was ruling
from Delhi, was attempting
to create a centralised
empire.
• This alarmed other Afghan
Chiefs and Rajputs.
• Daulat Khan (An Afghan
Chief) and Rana Sangha
(Rajput Chief), both invited
Babur to displace Ibrahim
Lodi
• Babur happily decided to
invade and conquer parts of
Punjab, and North Central
India

Battle of Panipat
• Babur and Ibrahim met at
Panipat for their fateful
battle.
• Babur used gunpowder
extensively.
• He used something called as
The Ottoman Rumi Device (a
form of a Canon)
• Ibrahim Lodi was defeated
and Babur exerted control
from Punjab to Delhi and Agra
• His place in India was still not
ensured as he had to battle
Eastern Afghans and Rana
Sangha

Was Babur welcome to stay?
• Babur and his soldiers are now
in an unknown and hostile
territory far away from home.
But he decided to stay.
• Because, only the resources in
India can quench his needs as
well as that of his begs, thought
Babur.
• Thus he decided to stay in India
even if he cannot recapture
Samarqand
• Nevertheless, his stay was not
welcome by Rana Sangha, who
expected him to leave after
defeating Ibrahim Lodi

Battle of Khanwa
• Establishment of Babur’s empire
threatened Rana Sangha.
• Sangha was supported by Afghan
generals, almost all Rajput chiefs.
• Sangha’s forces demoralised
Babur’s soldiers.
• Babur invoked Jihad (War) against
Sangha. He broke all wine jars and
abolished customs taxes on
Muslims to demonstrate his
religiosity
• Babur defeated Rana Sangha, who
wanted to revive the conflict but
stopped by his generals who
poisoned him.
• After entering into an agreement
with the Afghans, Babur returned to
Agra.
• Shortly afterwards he died.

Significance of Babur’s Entry into India
• For the 1st time since the Kushanas,
Kabul and Qandahar became an
integral part of North India
• By dominating Kabul and Qandahar,
Babur managed to give India security
from external invasions.
• Control of Kabul and Qandahar,
strengthened the foreign trade of
Indians with the Chinese and the
Mediterranean empires
• Babur smashed Lodis (Afghans) &
Rajputs, which was fundamental to
establishing an all-Indian empire
• Babur introduced a new kind of
warfare, which was a combination of
artillery and cavalry.

Significance of Babur’s Entry into India
• He also brought in cannons, and
popularised gun powder in India
• He attained the title Ghazi after
victory over Rana Sangha.
• Babur had the unique prestige of
being the descendent of 2 great
warriors: Changez Khan & Timur
• Babur re-established the prestige
of the Crown, which had ended
with the death of Feroz Shah
Tuglaq
• He introduced a new concept of
state which was based on the
strength and prestige of the
crown with absence of religious
and sectarian bigotry and careful
fostering of fine arts and culture.

More about Babur
• Babur always shared the hardships of
his soldiers, making him endearing.
• He was a stern disciplinarian
• Though he was an orthodox Sunni, he
was neither a bigot, nor led by religious
divines
• For political reasons, destruction of
temples happened during his reign
• He is well learned in Turkish, Arabic &
Persian.
• Tuzuk-i-Baburi (Babur nama) was
written in Turkish Language as
autobiography .
• Babur was a naturalist. He laid out a
number of formal gardens with running
water, thereby establishing a tradition
of gardening

Nasir-ud-din Muhammad -
Humayun

Humayun’s Political Problems
• Humayun succeeded Babur in
1530 at the age of 23
• The administration was feeble
and unconsolidated.
• Afghans had not yet been
subdued.
• There was the Timurid legacy
of partitioning the empire
with many contenders for
throne.
• Babur himself was against
partitioning the empire after
his death.

Humayun’s Political Problems
• Apart from his brothers, Humayun
faced problems with 2 contenders:
• Bahadur Shah of Gujarat, Sher Khan
of Bihar.
• Humayun managed to subdue
Bahadur Shah of Gujarat, but failed to
see the threat of Sher Khan in the
east.
• While Humayun was busy fighting in
Gujarat, Sher Khan was accumulating
power.
• Though he continued to profess
loyalty to Mughals, he systematically
planned to expel Mughals from India.

Humayun’s Defeat
• Humayun was lured into Bengal
to fight Sher Khan and was
ambushed.
• He barely escaped from Chausa
and ran for his life (1539).
• The situation became worse
after his brother Hindal
attempted to assume the
throne in Agra.
• He asked for help from Kamran,
his other brother, who refused.
• Finally, in the Battle of Kannauj,
Humayun lost is Kingdom to
Sher Khan.

Causes for Humayun’s defeat
• His inability to
understand the nature
of Afghan Power
• Afghans were dispersed
all over north India and
they could all unite
under a capable leader.
• Without winning over
the local zamindars,
Mughals were
numerically inferior.

King without a Kingdom
• He wandered around from
one place to another for the
next 2 and a half years.
• Nobody was ready to help
him
• His brothers went even
further to kill him.
• Humayun’s character
showed it best even during
the worst of times.
• Ultimately, Humayun took
shelter in the court of
Iranian King who helped
him recapture Qandahar
and Kabul

More about Humayun
• After the Breakup of the Sur
Empire, Humayun was able to
retrieve his Kingdom.
• Humayun’s life is romantic as it
went from riches to rags & then
back again to riches.
• Also, he constructed a city near
Delhi and named it Dinpanah
• Humayun died of injuries from a
fall from the 1st floor of his
library in Delhi.
• His favourite wife built his tomb.
• This building marks a new phase
of architecture in India. Buildings
with a dome of marble

Mughal Architecture – Babur &
Humayun
• Under Babur: Construction
of mosques in Panipat and
Rohilkhand
• Humayun couldn’t focus
much on architecture.
• Nevertheless, Persian style
was introduced into India.
• The city of Dinpanah was
created by Hymayun
Kabuli Bagh Mosque

Miniature Paintings – Mughal Era
• Mughal era created only
miniature paintings. They
were drawing from
Persian antecedents
• The focus shifted from
depicting the god to
glorifying the ruler and
showing his life.
• They brought the
technique of
foreshortening. Under
this technique, “objects
were drawn in a way that
they look closer & smaller
than they really are.”

• Babur did not have much time to
commission paintings, but he is
said to have patronised the
Persian artist called Bihzad
• Humayun was interested in
paintings. While he was at Shah
Abbas’s court in Persia, he
acquired the services of two
painters called Abdus Samad &
Mir Sayyid Ali who came back
with him after he won his throne
back
• These artists were responsible
for bringing Persian influence in
the Mughal paintings
• During Akbar’s reign, they
created an illustrated manuscript
called Tutinama (Tale of a
parrot).

Farid Khan Lodi - Sher
Shah Suri

Context of Sher Shah
• After the death of Ibrahim Lodi
in the war with Babur, Afghans
were confused & fragmented.
• Sher Khan emerged as a very
powerful Afghan Sardar who
had strong fundamentals in
administration.
• He emerged as the right hand
of the ruler of Bihar, controlling
all aspects of the state.
• When he rose to the throne, he
was one of the mightiest rulers
who ruled northern India in its
history

Conquest & Death
• He conquered most kingdoms in
the north. In 10 months, he
overran the entire Rajasthan.
• While he was sieging Kalinjar Fort
in Uttar Pradesh, a gun burst
severely injured him and he died
shortly afterwards
• He was succeeded by his son Islam
Shah, who took the throne in 1545.
• Islam shah was mainly occupied
with putting down rebellions.
• Rebellions and the threat of
renewed Mughal Invasion
prevented Islam Shah from
expanding his empire.

Contribution Of Sher Shah
Administration
• He divided his whole empire into 47
divisions (Sarkars) & these were again
subdivided into smaller administrative
units called ‘Parganas’.
Central department
• 4 main central departments:
1. Diwan-i-wijarat (Finance Department);
2. Diwan-i-arz (Military Department);
3. Diwan-i-insha (Royal Secretariat);
4. Diwan-i-Rasalat (Department for
religious and foreign affairs).

Administration
• Nevertheless, Sher Shah did
not want to leave much of
administration into the hands
of the governors.
• He appointed several spies
and constantly toured the
empire to know the condition
of the people.
• It is this excessive
centralisation of
administration, which later on
becomes the main cause of
the decline of Sur empire.

Land Revenue
• Sher Shah paid special attention to land
revenue system.
• He had a soft corner for the peasants
as he considered them as blameless &
helpless.
• He did not want Land revenue to be
fixed arbitrarily by middlemen.
• Sher Shah is known to have made a
systematic survey & measurement of
the entire cultivable land of his empire
using a unit called Sikandari Gaj.
• The share to the state was usually
1/3rd of the produce. Which is
followed by Akbar

Land Revenue
• The land was divided into Good,
bad and middling.
• He introduced the Patta & Kabuliyat
(or Qabuliyat) system of land deeds.
• The area sown, types of crops
cultivated and revenue share was
duly written on paper called Patta
• A deed agreement between the
peasant and the government was
drawn, and this is called Qabuliyat
system.
• This Qabuliyat system was
established to discourage Jagirdari
system.

Land Revenue
• Sher Shah also introduced direct
remittances of the taxes to the
government so that the taxpayers
are saved from any exploitation by
the middle officers.
• He also placed a survey charge of
2.5% called Jaribana and collection
charge of 5% called Muhasilans.
• He also levied a cess of 2.5% per
Bigha to guard against famines.
• Raja Todar Mal gained experience
while serving Sher Shah before
serving Akbar

Law and Order
• The most important
contribution of Sher Shah was
the re-establishment of Law &
Order across the empire
• Sher Shah dealt firmly with
robbers, dacoits and
Zamindars who refused to pay
land revenue
• Law and order was ensured
through different means in
various aspects of the
administration.

Grand Trunk Road by Sher Shah Suri

Trade and Commerce
• Sher Shah paid great attention to catalyse trade & commerce,
by improving the communication, especially the roads. He
restored/built
1. The Grand Trunk Road from Indus to Bengal
2. A road from Agra to Jodhpur and linked them with
seaports in Gujarat.
3. A road from Lahore to Multan, the staging point of
caravans going to west and central Asia
4. Agra to Multan via Burhanpur and Delhi
• These roads were lined with trees, wells and resting places

Trade and Commerce
• In his entire empire, goods paid
customs in 2 places only: Bengal &
Indus – the places of production as
well as gateways for import
• No one was allowed to levy customs
at roads, ferries, or towns elsewhere
• Duties were paid for a second time
at the time of the sale of the goods.
• He also attempted to formalize the
standards of weights and measures

Trade and Commerce
• Sher Shah directed his governors to compel
the people to treat merchants & travellers
well.
• If a merchant died, his goods will not be
seized.
• He made the local village headman
Muqaddams & Zamindars responsible for
any loss of goods of a merchant.
• They had to retrieve/produce the stolen
goods and bring the perpetrator to justice.
• If they fail, they will endure the punishment
meant for the thieves
• The same logic will apply in case of the
murder of a merchant as well.

Currency reforms
• Sher Shah introduced a new
coinage system which
remained in use throughout
Mughal era which was called
'Rupia’
• His coins were of uniform
standards
• He introduced copper coins
which were called Dam, Half
Dam and quarter Dam as per
denomination

Sarai
• Sarai was a fortified lodging or Inn for
travellers/merchants with goods, who
wants to rest on their journey.
• He built Sarais for about every 8 Kms on
the roads (1700 in all)
• Separate lodgings were built for Hindus
and Muslims.
• Brahmanas were appointed for providing
food for the Hindu Merchants and
travellers
• All Sarais had several watchmen, under the
control of a Custodian (Shahna)
• Sher Shah’s roads and Sarais were called
the arteries of the Empire.

Dak Chowkis
• It is a form of Postal System
• During the time of Alauddin Khalji, Dak
Chowkis were used for clandestine and
quick military communication
• Sikandar Lodi, improvised it by making it
a permanent institution in military &
civil use.
• Sher Shah enlarged its scope by
integrating it with the roads and Sarais.
• Spies were visiting the Sarais and kept
the emperor informed about his vast
empire.
• Sarais had separate places for Mail
horses & men

Military reforms
• Sher Shah Suri realized the need of
a strong, large and a disciplined
army.
• When the Afghans heard that he
was eagerly desirous of patronizing
their race, they entered into his
service from all directions.
• He introduced something called as
Dagh (Branding of horses) & Chera
(descriptive roll of soldiers) system
• Sher Shah revived Ala-ud-din’s
system of branding horses to
prevent fraudulent muster of horses
or their clandestine sale.

Architecture
• Sher Shah was a great builder.
• He built a tomb for himself at
Sasaram, which is regarded as
a masterpiece
• He built a new capital city near
Delhi.
• Only the old fort (Purana Qila)
& the Mosque remains
• His style of architecture is
considered as a culmination of
all the prior architectural styles
of the Delhi Sultanate

Literature
• Sher Shah Patronised
scholars and some of
the finest works in
Hindi, such as
Padmavat by Malik
Muhammad Jayasi
was written during his
reign.

Religious Policy
• Sher Shah, was not a religious bigot.
• He & his son Islam Shah did not
depend on Ulamas for running the
empire
• But he was not entirely liberal
either, as he continued the
imposition of Jizyah on nonMuslims
• His nobility was drawn mostly from
Afghans; the institutions were based
on race and tribe.
• All of this changed with the arrival
or Akbar

Akbar’s Enthronement
• Akbar born to Humayun &
Begum Hamida Banu, while they
were in exile in the year 1542.
• He was keenly interested in
learning all warfare techniques
and was totally disinterested in
reading or writing
• At the age of just 13 years he,
was conferred the title of
Shehanshah Akbar under the
guidance of Bairam Khan. (For
the 1st 5 years of rule)
• After carefully wiggling out of
Bairam Khan’s power, Akbar
managed to become the
undisputed emperor

Traits of Akbar
• Akbar showed noble
leadership qualities.
• He was unrelenting when he
had made up his mind, but he
also went out of the way, in
being generous to an
opponent who had submitted
to him.
• He had a fondness to gather
knowledge from everyone
that he met.
• His most important focus of
administration of such a vast
empire was the formulation of
the Centralized Federal
Government

Akbar’s Rajput Policy
• Akbar’s policy towards
Rajput was combined with a
broad religious toleration.
• Firstly, He abolished Jizyah.
• He entered into
matrimonial alliances with
Rajputs and gave them high
offices.
• Because of this, for four
generation, the Rajputs
served the Mughals

Akbar’s religious policy
• He was a pious Muslim but
after marrying Jodha Bai of
Amber, he abolished pilgrim
tax.
• He also abolished Jaziyah
• He is known for his
tolerance towards all the
religions
• To strengthen his belief in
the oneness of all Akbar
propounded the principal of
Din Ilahi, through which he
spread the theory of “All
Religions are Same”

Akbar’s religious policy
• Akbar was a liberal by any
means.
• In 1575, Akbar built Ibadat
Khana (House of worship) at
his new capital Fatepur Sikri
and invited scholars from all
religions like Christianity,
Hinduism, Jainism, and
Zoroastrianism.
• He did not like the intrusion
of the Muslim Ulemas in
political matters.
• In 1579, he delivered the
“Infallibility Decree” &
proclaimed his religious
powers

Akbar’s Din Ilahi
• Din Ilahi believes in one god
• It aimed at bridging the gap
that separated different
religions.
• It didn’t endorse any
philosophy but had all the
good points of every
religion.
• Akbar did not compel
anyone to join his new
religion.
• However, the new religion
proved to be a failure, after
Akbar’s death.

Akbar’s Land Revenue System
Context
• There was no Mughal land
revenue system before
Akbar. His father Humayun
and grandfather Babur did
not introduce any changes
because they were the first
conquerors of their dynasty
and remained pre-occupied
with subduing rebellions,
consolidating empires and
maintaining order.

Land Revenue System
• Raja Todar Mal, who served as a
land administrator under Sher
Shah, also served under Akbar.
• He, along with Akbar created
what was called as the Zabti or
Bandobast System or Dashala
System
• The revenue was fixed on the
average yield of land measured
on the basis of previous ten
years.
• One can argue that the land
revenue system was not an
invention as they were absorbed
from Sher Shah’s reign

How did Akbar’s differ from
Sher Shah’s?
• The differences can be found
in:
1. The Standardising of
measuring the land
2. Fixation of the state’s
share in the produce
3. Ascertaining the per
bigha produce of a unit
of land.

Measurement of Land
• The standard unit of measurement was
called as Ilahi Gaj. (29-32 inches)
• A Bigha is 3600 Ilahi Gaj
• Several Bighas made a Mahal
• Several Mahals were grouped into
Dasturs
• Land was divided into 4 types:
1. Polaj (cultivated every year),
2. Parauti (cultivated once in 2 years),
3. Chachar (cultivated once in three or
four years),
4. Banjar (once in five or more years)

Ascertaining per Bigha
produce of lands
• Akbar made a
comparative estimate of
the produce of lands and
fixed different revenues
for each of them based
on the 10-Year average
produce of those lands.

Fixing State’s Share
in Produce
• The best lands (Polaj) were
subdivided into 3 categories:
good, middle and bad.
• Average produce of these
three categories, called
Mahsul was taken as a
produce per Bigha.
• One third of this Mahsul
(average produce) was fixed
as state’s share.

Fixing State’s Share
in Produce
• The Parauti land also was liable to
pay the Polaj rate when
cultivated.
• Chachar land was allowed to pay
a concessional rate until it was
cultivated again to be liable to pay
the Polaj rate.
• Banjar lands were also not totally
neglected.
• Further, the peasants were given
option to pay either in cash or
kind, whichever was convenient
to them

Rate of Assessment
• Once the land was measured and
state’s share in produce was fixed
per Bigha of land, Akbar next
proceeded to fix the rate of
assessment.
• An aggregate of the rate of
revenues from 1570 to 1579 was
made and a decennial average was
fixed as demand of the revenue.
• This brought certainty to collections
and alleviated the problem of
peasants to great extent. This was
the so called Dahsala system or
Zabti System

Akbar’s Mansabdari System
• The ‘Mansab’ is an Arabic word
meaning rank or position or
status of a person.
• Thus Mansabdari was a system in
which the rank of a government
official was determined. Every
civil and military officer was given
a ‘mansab’.
• It was also meant for fixing the
salaries and allowances of
officers.
• The lowest grade was 10 & the
highest was 5000.
• Higher mansabs were given to
princes and Rajput rulers who
accepted the suzerainty of Akbar.

• The mansab of a Mughal
noble implied the
following:
1. Salary of the officer
2. Status of the officer
3. Number of soldiers,
horses and elephants etc.,
maintained by an officer.
• Akbar later introduced
‘Zat’ (Personal salary) and
‘Sawar’ (payment for
military contingent) in the
Mansabdari system

• There were three categories
among the mansabdars:
• Mansabdats (holding below
500 Zats)
• Amir (holding above 500 but
below 2500 Zats)
• Amir-i-umda (holding above
2500 Zats)
• The emperor was the sole
authority that conferred,
decreased, increased and
resumed the mansab.
• Mansabdari system was not
hereditary.

Mughal Coins
• The standard gold coin of the
Mughals was the Mohur of about
170 to 175 grains.
• The silver rupee which was an
adoption from Sher Shah’s
Currency
• Akbar issued both round and
square coins.
• In 1579, he issued gold coins
called Ilahi coins to propagate his
new religious creed ‘Din-i-Illahi’.
• Sahansah was the largest gold
coin.
• Jahangir showed the legend in a
couplet in the coins.
• He added the name of his beloved
wife Noorjahan in some coins

Art & Culture
• Akbar was also a great patron
for art and culture. He enjoyed
the company of poets and
singers and all types of artistic
people.
• His forts and palaces in and
around Delhi are great
masterpieces of unmatched
workmanship.
• This love for culture made him
collects his “Nine Jewels or
Navaratnas” who excelled in
their fields of art and
knowledge.
• Akbar died at the age of 63
leaving the throne to his son
Salim alias Jahangir
Navaratna of Akbar

Miniature Paintings – Akbar
• He establishment of an entire
department devoted to
paintings
• He established a formal artistic
studio called Tasvir Khana
where the artists were hired
on salary and they developed
their own styles.
• Akbar Regularly gave awards
to painters
• He also invited Indian painters
into Tasvir Khana, therefore,
Indian influence entered into
Mughal Paintings

Miniature Paintings – Akbar
• The defining features of
paintings in Akbar’s period
are the use of 3 dimensional
figures and the continued
use of foreshortening.
• Artists encouraged the use
of calligraphy in the
paintings.
• Distinguishing features of
this period was the
transformation of popular
art to the court art.
• Famous painters of this
period include: Daswant,
Basawan and Kesu

Mughal Architecture – Akbar
• He used Red
Sandstone and
introduced the Tudor
Arch (4- centered
arch)
• Prominent works:
1. Agra Fort
2. Fathepur Sikri
3. Temple of
Govind Dev
Agra Fort

Mughal Architecture – Akbar
Fathepur Sikri
• Buland Darwaza, to
commemorate Akbar’s
victory over Gujarat. It is
the largest gateway of
the world.
• Salim Chisti’s tomb
• Panch Mahal
• Jodha Bai’s Palace (Has
Hindu motifs)
Buland Darwaza

Mirza Nur-ud-din Beig Muhammad
Khan Salim

Jahangir
• He was born after much
prayers, was a spoilt child.
• He rebelled against Akbar
multiple times, before he
ascended to the throne
after his death.
• He was a notorious and
drunkard (coins found)
• When he ascended the
throne, he was mature
enough to rule the vast
territory

Jahangir
• He was able to act wisely
under the influence of his
beautiful wife Nur Jahan,
who played a tacitly
significant part in
administration
• Like his father, he was
tolerant towards Hindus and
equally tolerant towards the
Christians.
• He restored the
Mohammaden faith and
reintroduced the Hijri
Calender (Lunar calender) or
Islamic Calender

Jahangir
• Sir Thomas Roe was England's
first ambassador to the
Mughal court. He tried to
convert Jahangir to
Christianity, in vain
• He was active in redressing
the grievance of the people
and had a chain and bell
attached to the gate of his
palace in Agra, so that all who
wished to appeal to him could
ring him up.
• He was the greatest patron of
Mughal paintings among all of
its rulers
• He died in 1627 & was buried
in Lahore

Miniature Paintings – Jahangir
• Mughal paintings reached its
zenith in the period of Jahangir.
• He was a naturalist by nature and
preferred the paintings of flora
and fauna
• One of the unique trends that
developed in this period was of
decorated margins around the
paintings
• One of the most famous artist
from his period was Ustad
Mansoor
• An animal fable called Ayar-
iDanish (Touchstone of
Knowledge) was illustrated
during his reign

Mughal Architecture – Jahangir
• Akbar’s tomb,
Sikandara
• Jahangir’s tomb in
Lahore
• Moti Masjid at Lahore
• Noor Jahan undertook
the construction of
tomb of Itmad-ud-
daulah 1st Mughal
structure made
completely of white
marble.
Akbar’s tomb, Sikandara

Mirza Shahab-ud-din Baig
Muhammad Khan Khurram

Shah Jahan
• After Jahangir died, Nur
Jahan tried to make her son
the King, but Shah Jahan
managed to capture the
throne.
• He later forgave Nur Jahan
and provided her with
ample salary and comfort.
• Both Jahangir and Shah
Jahan were born of Rajput
princess.
• He was haughty and an
introvert

Shah Jahan
• Even as a prince, he was a
successful commander
• Shah Jahan has been
variously called as ‘Prince
among builders’ and
‘Engineer King’ on account
of his love for architecture.
• The French traveler
Tavernier paid a visit during
Shah Jahan’s reign.
• He calculated the cost of
the Peacock Throne of Shah
Jahan around 6.5 million
sterling.

• Unlike his father and
grandfather, shah Jahan
was more orthodox
towards religion
• He fought with the
Portuguese who had
already set up a factory in
Bengal, as they were
trying to convert people
to Christianity.
• Shah Jahan was also
faced with some revolts
during his early years on
the throne

Shah Jahan
• He married Mumtaz Mahal
and loved her with all his
heart.
• He built Taj Mahal upon her
death, which marks the
Zenith of Mughal
Architecture.
• When he got seriously ill,
his four sons engaged in war
of succession.
• While he wanted Dara Sikoh
to succeed, Aurangazeb
managed to subvert
everybody to reach the
throne

Miniature Paintings – Shah Jahan
• Unlike his father and
grandfather who liked
naturalistic depictions, Shah
Jahan liked to create artificial
elements in the paintings.
• He tried to reduce the
liveliness of the paintings and
bring in unnatural stillness
• He was inspired by the
European influence.
• He eschewed the use of
charcoal and also ordered to
increase the use of gold and
silver in the paintings.

Mughal Architecture – Shah Jahan
• Taj Mahal Features
1. Petri-dura
2. Foreshortening
3. Charbagh Style Gardens
4. Calligraphy
5. Water Fountains
6. Jaali Work
• Red fort in Delhi
• Jamma Masjid, Delhi
• Shahjahanabad City
• Moti Masjid in Agra Fort
• Diwan-i-aam (Hall of Public audience)
• Diwan-i-khas (Hall of Private
audience)

Petri-dura Charbagh Style Gardens
Jaali Work

Red fort in Delhi Jamma Masjid, Delhi

Muhi-ud-Din Muhammad -
Aurangazeb

Aurangazeb
• He was also known as
Alamgir
• Aurangazeb was an
expansionist and the last
major ruler of the Mughals
• He succeeded in ascending
to the throne by deceit and
clever planning.
• He managed to rule the
Mughal empire for almost
half a century, but he was
ceaselessly fighting many
wars.

Aurangazeb
• He was initially serving in
the Deccan region since
the age of 18 and he was
well versed in
administration
• The Mughal empire
reached its zenith under
Aurangazeb.
• He employed many
Hindus in his court but he
also detracted from the
policy of religious
tolerance practiced by his
ancestors

Aurangazeb
• Personally, he was a puritan
emperor meaning, he did
nothing which was not
allowed in Islam
• He reversed many of Akbar’s
policies towards non-
Muslims. He reintroduced the
Jizya
• He also destroyed many
Hindu temples during his
reign
• Aurangazeb also banned the
use of alcohol, gambling and
music from his empire

Aurangazeb
• In 1667, he gave
permission to the French
for setting up a factory at
Surat.
• His biggest threat came
from the Marathas under
Shivaji.
• Though the Mughal
Empire reached its
territorial heights during
Aurangzeb’s time, it was
also beginning of the end
in many ways.

Aurangazeb
• Aurangzeb died in
Ahmednagar in February
1707, while he was trying
to handle a rebellion in
Deccan
• He was succeeded by
Bahadur Shah
• Personally, Aurangzeb led
a life sketch on the virtues
of a darvish (religious
mendicant).
• He was a great scholar of
Islamic theology and
jurisprudence.

Miniature Paintings – Aurangazeb
Aurangzeb did not encourage painting
As a result, large number of Mughal court
painters started migrating to the provincial
courts in Rajasthan, and other areas

End of Mughals
• Though the Mughal
Empire reached its
territorial heights
during Aurangzeb’s
time, it was also
beginning of the end in
many ways.
• His successors were
not able to maintain
the vast empire’s
territorial integrity and
many new states were
formed out of former
Mughal vassals.

Mughal empire

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (20)

Similar to Mughal empire

Similar to Mughal empire (20)

More from SA IAS ACADEMY

More from SA IAS ACADEMY (11)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Mughal empire