The Mughal Empire, (Persian: امپراتوری مغول, self-designation Gurkānī, Persian: گوركانى, which was also the self-designation of the Timurids in Central Asia and Khorasan) was one of the largest centralized states known in pre-modern world history. It was an empire that at its greatest territorial extent ruled most of the Indian subcontinent, then known as Bharat, and parts of what is now Afghanistan and Pakistan (Balochistan), between 1526 and 1707. For nearly one hundred and seventy years, the Mughal empire remained a dynamic, centralized, complex organization. Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the dynasty and the empire itself became indisputably Indian. The empire was the end product of a millennium of Muslim conquest, colonization and state building in the Indian subcontinent. The empire was founded by the Timurid leader Babur in 1526, when he defeated Ibrahim Lodi, the last of the Delhi Sultans at the First Battle of Panipat. "Mughal" is the Persian word for "Mongol". The Mughal rulers were adherants of Islam.

The territory was largely conquered by the Pashtun Sher Shah Suri during the time of Humayun, the second Mughal ruler, but under Akbar the Great it grew considerably, and continued to grow until the end of Aurangzeb's rule. Jahangir, the son of Mughal Emperor Akbar and Rajput princess Mariam-uz-Zamani, ruled the empire from 1605–1627. In October 1627, Shah Jahan, the son of Mughal Emperor Jahangir and Rajput Princess Manmati, "succeeded to the throne", where he "inherited a vast and rich empire" in India; and "at mid-century this was perhaps the greatest empire in the world". Shah Jahan commissioned the famous Taj Mahal (between 1630–1653), in Agra as a memorial of his wife Mumtaz Mahal.

The Mughals faced stiff resistance from the Marathas, and after Aurangzeb died in 1707, the empire started to decline in actual power, giving way to the rise of the Hindu Maratha Empire. The Mughals however managed to maintain some trappings of power in India for another 150 years. In 1739 they were defeated by an army from Persia led by Nadir Shah. In 1756 an army of Ahmed Shah Abdali took Delhi again. The British Empire finally dissolved the Mughal Empire in 1857, immediately prior to which it existed only at the sufferance of the British East India Company.

On the eve of Baburs invasion, India was parcelled out among numerous mutually warring states. There was no paramount power in the country and a struggle for supremacy was going on. The Lodis attempted to establish their supremacy but they failed. Their power was confined to Delhi, Agra, the Doab, Bayana and Chander, Sind and Multan in the west, Jaunpur, Bengal and orissa in the east, formed themselves into independent principalities. In the central region arose the kingdoms of Malwa, Khandesh and Gujarat. Between the northern and the central regions lay Rajputana which silently grew in power due to the weakness of the central power.

With all this political disunion, however, there were forces of a different nature at work which were destined to have a profound influence on the future history of the country. The century before the coming of the Mughals was a period of great religious activity. We see the emergence of people like Chaitanya, Kabir, Guru Nanak and others.

The Mughal empire was founded by Zahir-ud-din Muhammad (Persian: ظﮩیرالدین محمد بابر, also spelled Zahiriddin, Muhammad, Bobur, Baber, Babar, etc.) called commonly as Babur (Tiger), a Chaghatai Turkish ruler born on 14th February, 1483. He was descended on the male side from Timur and on the distaff side from Chengiz Khan. He was a stripling of 12 when his father Sultan Umar Shaikh Mirza died. After the death of his father in 1494, he became the ruler of the small State of Ferghana, later known as Khokand, in Uzbekistan. As is with most young rulers, his uncles and cousins ganged up and usurped the throne. His great ambition in life was to capture Samarkand, the capital of Timur. It took him five years to strike back and take his kingdom. However, this was not the end, but just the start of a long battle. Between the period of 1497 to 1501, on three occasions he occupied Samarkand but each time he was ousted by his opponents. On the third occasion in 1501, he was decisively driven out of Samarkand, and had to flee from his ancestral State of Ferghana also. This had important bearings on not only Babur’s character, but filtered down into the subconscious of the entire Mughal dynasty. Right down to Shah Jahan, the Mughals never gave up the idea of a Central Asian empire.

 

He then crossed the Pamirs, establishing himself in Kabul, and launched a series of raids in India. He was busy building a kingdom for himself when the Indian princes asked him to help them get rid of Afghan chieftain Ibrahim Lodi. Had the Rajputs and Dilawar Khan known him slightly better, they would have had second thoughts about inviting him to India. It was only when he was amongst them in Delhi and showed no signs of leaving that they woke up to their gross miscalculation. Babur was a Chaghatai Turkish ruler, who invaded India several times from his capital at Kabul before winning a decisive victory. Babar invaded the Lodi-governed Punjab several times from his capital at Kabul before winning a decisive victory. Babur had written in his Tuzuk-i-Baburi, 'From the time I conquered the land of Kabul till now, I had always been bent on subduing Hindustan.' In 1526, at the battle of Panipat, only a few miles from Delhi, Babur’s small but well-trained army of 12,000 men defeated a much larger force under the command of Afghan ruler of Delhi, Sultan Ibrahim Lodi. After occupying Delhi, the victor sent his son Humayun to Agra, the Lodi capital, to seize the royal palaces and treasures. Shortly thereafter Babur joined his son and mounted his throne at Agra.

Rana Sanga, ruler of the State of Mewar in Rajasthan, who was stung by Babur’s refusal to budge from Delhi, took him to the battleground in 1527 in an attempt to take over Delhi himself. In fact Rana Sanga’s first attack was so successful that he was able to repel Babur’s advance guard. Here again that curious Rajput psychology of regarding a battle won as the end of war came into play. While Babur was making an emotional appeal to his soldiers to go to battle again, Rana Sanga was already celebrating victory. This was one of Babur’s finest moments and he displayed his formidable ability as a leader. In a passionate appeal to his soldiers, which involved his swearing off wine for the rest of his life, he said, 'With fame, even if I die, I am contented; Let fame be mine, since my body is death’s.' At the battle of Khanua, Babur led his army to victory over a confederacy of Rajput Kings headed by Rana Sanga. Babar's small army defeated the eighty thousand strong army of the Rajputs. This defeat shattered the possibility of a Rajput resurgence of power in the north. These brisk victories gave Babar, who had extraordinary military acumen, a base from which to consolidate his rule in Northern India. His guns and his long-practiced use of the enveloping tactics of Central Asian cavalry proved to be effective against the Rajputs as well as the Afghans. After the battle of Khanua, Babur stormed the fortress of Chanderi and took over it in 1528. After this he decided to supress the turbulent Afghans of the east where its ruler Nusrat Shah of Bengal had offered shelter to Afghan nobles of the erstwhile Lodi kingdom. Babur met the combined forces of Bihar and Bengal on the bank of Ghagra in 1529 and inflicted another crushing defeat on them.

Babar was more of a soldier than a politician. It has been suggested by historians that the government he set up was saifi (by the sword ) and not qalami (by the pen). Considerable parts of his empire were ruled by his ministers with full sovereignity. He was an orthodox Sunni muslim and loved architecture and music; he was also a master of Turki, his mother tongue, as well as Persian. The chronicles of his life, the Babarnama, remains widely used and is a masterpiece of that genre of literature. Babar appears not to have been enamored of Delhi and India, and in recent years his name has been mired in controversy. A mosque by the name of Babri masjid, apparently built in 1526 at his command, was destroyed on 6 December 1992 by Hindu militants. They claim that a Hindu temple, marking the site of Lord Rama's birth, was destroyed at Babar's orders, and a mosque built at that very site. For Hindu militants and chauvinists, Babar's name has become synonymous with the history of Muslim tyranny and oppression, but almost nothing in the historical record warrants this reading.

On 30th December, 1530 he passed away and was buried at Kabul. Babur bequeathed to his successors a distinguished lineage stretching back to the great central Asian conqueror Timur and also through the Chaghatai Turks back to Chengiz Khan. Though he was no architect of empire, he yet laid the first stone of the splendid fabric which his grandson Akbar completed. His permanent place rests upon his Indian conquests which opened the way for an imperial line which ruled India for almost two centuries and which not only bestowed peace but also instilled in the minds of the people a sense of unity.

Nasir-ud-din Muhammad Humayun (Persian: نصيرالدين همايون), the eldest son of Babur, succeeded him to the throne in 1530. His younger brother, Mirza Kamran, succeeded to the old provinces of Kabul and Lahore. Humayun inherited his father’s poetic and scholarly side, but was unfortunately no fighter. Humayun encountered massive difficulties in his efforts to retain and expand Babur’s conquests in India. Besides he was an opium addict to boot. The problem was accentuated by the fact that he hadn’t come to a safe and secure empire – there were many battles to be fought. His own brothers were up in arms against him, the empire needed consolidation and an administrative system had to be set up. In face of such odds, Humayun seemed to just give up.

Humayun-A Charming Person but no Warrior

To be fair to the poor fellow, he was not king material at all. Contemporary accounts describe him as an affable, charming person – excellent at making parties go, a great friend and a good companion. But definitely not a warrior. Left to himself Humayun preferred to dream away his time in an opium haze, 'while his enemies thundered at the gates'. Blood and war was distasteful to his rather erudite nature. When the call came though he did lead his army to a few successful battles. However his luck couldn’t last long. In 1540, Sher Shah Suri an extremely able Afghan noble and an acknowledged Leader of the Afghan resistance against the Mughals, finding in Humayun a weak ruler by a clever mixture of political and military strategy defeated the Mughals at Kanauj. During the next fifteen years Humayun remained in exile. His son, Akbar, was born in 1542 in Umarkot - a small fortress in North Sind - where Humayun deserted by his brother Kamran had temporarily halted during his flight to Persia. Finally in mid 1555, after the death of Sher Shah, Humayun was able to defeat the Afghans and restore Babur’s monarchy. Although he had recovered his kingdom, he was not destined to rule the same for long. In 1556, he met his tragic end by slipping from the steps of his library building from where he was hurrying down to offer prayers on hearing the azan of the moulvi at Delhi.

Akbar in full Abu-ul-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (Persian: جلال الدین محمد اکبر), was the first Mughal ruler who planned the founding of an all India empire. Akbar was born on October 15, 1542, at the Rajput Fortress of Umarkot in Sind where the Mughal Emperor Humayun and his first wife, Hamida Banu Begum were taking refuge. He spend his childhood in Kabul under the guardianship of his uncle. In 1555, he accompanied his father to claim Babur's empire in Northern India. In 1556 he ascended the throne in the name of Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar. Bairam Khan, a dominant member of Humayun's nobility, assumed the role of protector or regent for the young Akbar. The task before the young emperor and his veteran guardian was very difficult and complicated. His hold on the kingdom, only recently recovered, was very uncertain. The second battle of Panipat in 1556 sealed the fate of the Afghans. The Mughals got a decisive victory over the Afghans. During the protectorship of Bairam Khan, Akbar secured Gwalior, Ajmer and Malwa. Due to differences with Akbar, Bairam Khan resigned in 1560 and proceeded to Mecca on pilgrimage but was assassinated on the way.

Between 1560 and 1571, the first period of his mature rule, Akbar remained at Agra. From 1564 when he began his attack on Gondwana, Akbar systematically pursued a policy of expansion which did not end until the fall of Asirgarh in 1601. Though most of his wars were motivated by earth-hunger, but some of them were defensive-offensive too, like his conquest of Bengal and his wars in the North-West frontier.

Towards the end of 1564, Akbar laid the foundation of a town which he named Nagarchain (the city of repose) on the site of the village of Kakrali, seven miles to the south of Agra. It became his favourite resort where he received even ambassadors from abroad, but was deserted some years later when Fatehpur Sikri became the capital of the empire. About this time Akbar also began the restoration of Agra by building a new fort of stone to replace the old crumbling brick fort. He erected at Agra more than five hundred buildings of masonry after the beautiful designs of Bengal & Gujarat. Most of them were demolished by his grandson when he reconstructed the fort. In 1571 he decided to make Sikri his capital. The resources of his expanding empire & the artistic genius of India and Persia were employed to convert the petty, quiet hamlet into the crowded proud metropolis. From this time until 1585 when it was abandoned, Sikri, which was named Fatehpur after the conquest of Gujarat, remained the capital of Akbar's empire.

With the expansion of his kingdom Akbar realized the necessity for its consolidation. The year 1573 saw the inauguration of far reaching reforms in the administration of the empire by the introduction of the branding system (dagh), the conversion of the assignments (jagirs), into reserved lands (Khalisa) & fixing the rank (mansab) and gradation of pay of the officers of the state

As far as his Rajput policy was concerned he was of the view that without subduing or conciliating the Rajputs, his dream of an empire could not be built upon solid foundations. Further, the consolidation of the empire required a political and social synthesis which could not be achieved without Rajput co-operation. He always aimed at conciliation. Yet, he did not want to convey the impression that his aim was born, out of any weakness on his part. Those Rajput states which submitted to his suzerainty were treated generously. Those who choose to oppose him were defeated and their impregnable forts were captured. At the same time, the Rajputs were invited to share the burden of the imperial government and the wars of conquest. Those who agreed were given high positions and ranks, proportionate to their ability and status. Thus almost all the Rajput rulers of Rajasthan, with the exception of the ruler of Mewar, submitted to him.

A mystic as well as a rationalist, Akbar was sincerely religious and an earnest seeker after truth. In his eager search for truth, he imbibed a passionate love for philosophical discussions. All these led to the foundation in 1575 of the Ibadat-khana at Fatehpur Sikri where religious discussions were held every Friday evening. In 1579 Akbar took the final step when he became the Imam and the Mujtahid of the age by the famous Mahzar (Declaration) which he obtained for the utama. The next stage in the development of the religious views of Akbar came in 1582 when he promulgated the Din-i-Ilahi. It was not a religion but a socio-religious order of a brotherhood conceived and designed to cement diverse communities in the land under one faith. It was based on the principle of universal toleration (Suleh-i-Kul) and drew heavily on many good points of all other religions.

In 1605 Akbar fell it with dysentery and passed away. He was buried at Sikandra some six miles from Agra, where he had commenced to build his own mausoleum. Thus in a career of conquests spread over forty years, he successfully brought the whole of northern, western, eastern, central India and parts of Deccan within the fold of his empire. Besides conquering, he consolidated his conquests and established a uniform system of administration in all the provinces within his empire. As far as his foreign policy was concerned he had diplomatic relations with the Portuguese who had already established their authority on the western coast of India with Goa as their capital. In 1578 the Portuguese viceroy of Goa sent Antonio Cabral as ambassador to the Mughal emperor and maintained relations with them till his death. Akbar had no proper diplomatic relations with England, though some Englishmen visited his court. The object of their visit was commercial & one of them Ralph Fitch has left valuable account of this travel.

Nur-ud-din Muhammad Jahangir (Persian/Urdū: نور الدین جهانگیر; Hindī: नूरुद्दीन जहानगीर; nūruddīn jahāngīr) was a child of many prayers. He was born as Prince Muhammad Sultan Salim on 30 August 1569. He was the third and eldest surviving son (Akbar's twin sons, Hasan and Hussain, died in infancy) of Mughal Emperor Akbar. His mother was the Rajput Princess of Amber (i.e. Mariam-uz-Zamani, born Rajkumari Hira Kunwari, eldest daughter of Raja Bihari Mal or Bharmal, Raja of Amber, India). He was named Muhammad Sultan Salim after the Sheikh of Sikri, to whose humble house the Hindu Queen of Akbar and mother of Jahangir had gone for safe delivery, though Akbar always addressed his as ‘Shaikhu Baba’. He was thus the first of the Timurid Rajputs. As the child was got after many efforts, Akbar left no stone unturned to make him as much accomplished as he could be. Akbar ensured that his son received the best education possible. Salim started his studies at the age of four and was taught Persian, Turkish, Arabic, Urdū, history, arithmetic, geography and other sciences by important tutors like Abdur Rahim Khan-i-Khanan, a renowned soldier and scholar.

Salim was made a Mansabdar of ten thousand (Das-Hazari), the highest military rank of the empire, after the emperor. He commanded, independently, a regiment in Kabul campaign of 1581, when he was barely twelve. His Mansab was raised to Twelve Thousand, in 1585, at the time of his betrothal to his cousin Man Bai, daughter of Bhagwan Das of Amber. Bhagwan Das (son of Bihari Mal) was the brother of Akbar's wife Mariam-uz-Zamani nee Rajkumari Hira Kunwari. The marriage with Man Bai took place on February 13, 1585. Thereafter, Salim was allowed to marry, in quick succession, a number of accomplished girls from the aristocratic Mughal and Rajput families. One of his favourite wives was a Rajput Princess, known as Jagat Gosain, who gave birth to Prince Khurram, the future Shah Jahan, the successor of Jahangir.

Salim’s relation with his father were estranged when he came of age. His indecent eagerness to grasp power, his jealousy of Abul Fazl and Akbar’s dislike of his excesses were primarily responsible for this. A few years before his father's death, he had assumed some of the paraphernalia of royalty such as yak tails, royal seal, panja (i.e. impression of the entire hand), and imperial titles. But a reconciliation took place between father and son before Akbar's death.

In 1605 he ascended the throne in the fort of Agra and assumed the name Jahangir (Holder of the world) and the title of Nur-ud-din (light of the faith). One of Jahangir’s earliest orders was the setting up of a chain of justice made of pure gold, thirty gaz long, with sixty bells upon it. One end was attached to a battlement of the fort of Agra and the other to a stone column on the bank of the river. Anyone who failed to secure justice might pull the end outside the fort in order to draw the attention of the Emperor so that the latter might redress his grievances. Another of his important acts was issuing of the "Twelve ordinances" for the better government of the country. A careful analysis of the ordinances shows Jahangir’s genuine desire to ensure his subjects freedom of person and security of life and property.

In 1606 Prince Khusrau whose relations with his father were not cordial at all escaped from Agra on the pretext of visiting the tomb of Akbar. Jahangir followed Khusrau in person and defeated him at the battle of Bhairowal.

One of the most fascinating figures of Mughal India, around whom fact and fiction have woven a web of romance, was the famous Nur Jahan, whom Jahangir married in 1611. She was Jahangir's 18^th and the last wife, the extremely beautiful and intelligent lady. Nur Jahan married Jahangir four years after the death of her former husband Sher Afgan. There has been a lot of controversy regarding the circumstances of the death of Sher Afgan. Nur Jahan who was also known by the name of Mehr-un-Nisa soon gained ascendancy at the court. Her success raised her ambitions and in course of time her influence and active participation in state affairs increased. All her relations and connections were raised to honour and wealth.

When Jahangir came to the throne, he re-started the war with Amar Singh the king of Mewar. Finally in 1614 Prince Khurram was sent against Amar Singh and he pushed on the campaign so vigorously that the Rajputs were made to come to terms. Amar Singh acknowledged Jahangir as his over-Lord and Jahangir also treated his generously. Jahangir was addicted to wine and in his later years came more and more under the influence of his beautiful but sagacious wife, Nur Jahan. He preserved the empire built by his father except for the province of Kandahar and Quetta which were lost to the Persians.

As far as the affairs in the Deccan was concerned campaigns were carried on after Akbar’s return but consolidation could not be achieved. When Jahangir turned to the Deccan he found himself faced with the famous Malik Ambar. Malik Ambar started by recovering some of the territories lost to the Mughals in the time of Akbar. In 1616, Prince Khurram was entrusted with the job of dealing with Malik Ambar. He offered teams of peace to Malik Ambar & the latter accepted the same. After Malik Ambar’s death Deccan was open to Mughal designs.

It was during Jahangir's time that Sir Thomas Roe, the British ambassador, came to Agra and obtained the emperor's permission to establish British trading depots in Surat. Jahangir initiated the practice of leaving Agra, the capital, in the summer months to Kashmir, which was later followed by British Governors-General who moved from Calcutta to Simla in summer. In 1627, while returning from Kashmir, Jahangir died & he as buried at Shahdara (Lahore). Thus Jahangir, in spite of his shortcomings, strove honestly to maintain the integrity of his empire and to follow the principles of toleration and justice enunciated by his father. Under his enlightened patronage there was an all round progress in industry and commerce, while painting, literature and architecture also flourished during his reign.

Shahib-ud-din Muhammad Shah Jahan (also spelled Shah Jehan, Shahjehan. Persian: شاه ‌جهان), was the second son of Jahangir. His mother, Manmati was a Rajput princess. Shah Jahan ascended the throne in 1628 and assumed the title of Abul Muzaffar Shahbuddin Muhammad Sahib-i Kiran-i Sani. He married Arjumand Bano, the niece of Nur Jahan, Jahangir's favourite wife who was of Persian descent. His father-in-law, Asaf Khan, was the brother of Nur Jahan and Prime Minister of the empire at the time of the death of Jahangir. Asaf Khan cleverly manipulated affairs at the court in favour of Shah Jahan, as the Timurid throne according to the rules of Chengiz Khan belonged to the son of Khusrau, the eldest son of Jahangir, who had been blinded and executed during his father's lifetime for rebellion. His reign opened with the execution of his brothers and nephews. In the first year of his reign Shah Jahan had to face the rebellion of Jujhar Singh, son of Bir Singh Deo, the Bundela chief who was responsible for the murder of Abul Fazl. He made encroachment on the Mughal territory and showed signs of rebellion. Initially he surrendered to the Mughal army but he revolted again in 1635. Later he was pursued by the Mughal troops and killed by the Gonds.

The revolt of Khan Jahan Lodi in 1628 gave much more trouble to Shah Jahan than the Bundela rising. He entered into an alliance with the ruler of Ahmednagar and revolted. Shah Jahan realized the gravity of the situation and decided to personally supervise the operation. But ultimately in 1630 Khan Jahan had to give up & died near the fort of Kalanjar.

With Shah Jahan’s accession to the throne, the Deccan policy of the Mughals entered a new phase. Apart from political differences, the Deccan rulers had pronounced Shiahite learnings and were suspected of allegiance to the Shia rulers of Persia. The death of Malik Ambar came as a blessing to the Mughals.

In 1630 his son Fath Khan the minister of Ahmednagar put the king in confinement and later killed him. In 1631 the Mughal army laid siege on Bijapur but were compelled to raise it after twenty days for lack of provisions. Finally in 1633 the Mughals won the fort of Daulatabad & the Nizam Shahi kingdom came to an end. But Shah Jahan’s imperialistic designs could not be satisfied without crushing Bijapur and Golconda. He called upon the rulers of these countries to acknowledge his suzerainty. Abdullah Qutub Shah of Golconda formally recognized the suzerainty of Shah Jahan but the king of Bijapur was not ready to barter away his independence. But ultimately Adil Shah of Bijapur had to acknowledge the over lordship of the emperor & was allowed to retain his ancestral kingdom. Having thus settled the state affairs in the Deccan in 1636 Shah Jahan retired to Agra. Aurangzeb was appointed the Governor of The Deccan & he occupied that post for eight years (1636-44). During this period, Aurangzeb annexed Bagalna near Nasik and reduced the power of Shahji. In 1653, Aurangzeb was appointed the Governor of the Deccan for the second time. He remained in the post till 1657.

In September 1657, Shah Jahan fell ill. The physicians were not hopeful about his recovery. As soon as the news of his illness reached his sons they started making preparations for capturing the throne. In 1658 Aurangzeb took over & imprisoned his father. Ultimately in 1666 he did in captivity.

Undoubtedly, Shah Jahan was one of the greatest rulers of the Mughals. The Mughal empire reached its greatest prosperity in the reign of Shah Jahan. As a emperor he led a strenuous life. He personally supervised the minutest details of the administration and appointed men of highest ability as his minister. He was an orthodox musalman but was never unfair to his non-Muslim subjects. He considerably increased the royal retinue, the state-establishments and the magnificence of the court. He looked after his subjects as a father looks after his children and was regarded with great love and respect by the populance. In spite of this, when Aurangzeb defeated the imperial army under Dara Shikoh, the eldest son of the emperor, the people and the noblemen at Agra did not raise any voice on behalf of their aged king. The Taj Mahal, the Moti Masjid (Pearl Mosque), the Jama Masjid (Great Mosque), the Agra Fort and numerous other works of architecture and art testify to his wealth as well as his aesthetic sense. He also commissioned the celebrated Peacock throne of the Timurid Rajputs, said to be worth £60,00,000 in those days. The throne was later seized as booty by the Persian invader, Nadir Shah, who sacked Delhi in 1739. He was an excellent calligraphist. His patronage of men of letters and of artisans and craftsmen was in keeping with the traditions of his family. Poetry, music, painting, dancing, astronomy, mathematics and medicine flourished under the generous and intelligent patronage of the emperor.

Abu Muzaffar Mohi-ud-din Mohammad Aurangzeb Alamgir (Persian, ابو مظفر محی الدین محمد اورنگزیب عالمگیر) was the third son of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal. He was a very controversial figure in South Asian history, and is considered a tyrant by most Hindus, Sikhs, and other non-Muslim Indians. Unlike his predecessors, Aurangzeb was remarkably pious and zealous. Strict adherence to Islam and Sharia (Islamic law)—as he interpreted them—were the foundations of his reign. He instituted these beliefs in the empire, abandoning the religious tolerance of his predecessors. During his reign, many Hindu temples were defaced and destroyed, and many non-Muslims converted to Islam, both by inducement and by force; the jizya, a head tax on non-Muslims, was reinstated during his rule. After the capture of Agra, Aurangzeb crowned himself as emperor in Delhi on July 21, 1658 and assumed the title of Alamgir. But his formal coronation took place on June 5, 1659, after the battles of Khanwa and Deorai. After his second coronation Aurangzeb abolished the inland transit duties (rahdari) and octroi (pandari). In 1659 he issued a number of ordinances to restore the Muslim law of conduct according to the teachings of the Quran. He discontinued the practice of inscribing the Kalima on the coins and abolished the celebration of the new year’s day (nauroz). Aurangzeb’s reign of nearly half a century is divided into two equal parts of about twenty – five years each, the first of which he passed in northern India and the second in the Deccan. His whole reign remained devoted to ceaseless wars in different parts of India. In 1661, Assam was captured by the Mughal governor of Bengal, Mir Jumla. During Aurangzeb’s reign, Marathas had become very powerful under Shivaji. Aurangzeb sent Shaista Khan, governor of Bengal against Shivaji but Shivaji defeated Shaista Khan. This made Aurangzeb invite Shivaji to Agra. Shivaji was taken prisoner when he was invited to Agra. The Jats also rebelled against Aurangzeb in 1669 under the leadership of Gokul Jat. Aurangzeb also had to deal with the Sikhs and had Guru Teg Bahadur put to death. This made his son Guru Govind Singh fight the Mughals till he died in 1707. Aurangzeb’s religious policy made many enemies and the Rajputs were no exception. The Rajputs revolted against him which proved very harmful for him.

Aurangzeb set out for the Deccan in 1682 and spent 26 years of his life there. From Ahmednagar he conquered Bijapur in 1686 and besieged Golconda in 1687 and annexed it. But the Marathas never allowed Aurangzeb to rest in peace. He was not able to crush the Marathas. He died in 1707 A.D. and was buried near Daultabad near the grave of Sheikh-Jail-ul-Haq. Thus ended the life of Aurangzeb whom J.N. Sarkar described the "greatest of the Great Mughals save one". During his reign the Mughal empire reached its territorial climax, stretching from Kashmir in the north to Jinji in the South, from the Hindukush in the west to Chittagong in the east.

Aurangzeb died in 1707 and a rapid decline of the empire followed. Bahadur Shah (1707-1712) who succeeded Aurangzeb had to face a serious revolt by the Sikhs led by Banda; the Sikhs persecuted by Aurangzeb, sacked sirhind. Though Bahadur Shah defeated Banda, the later escaped from Lohagarh Fort. Jalandhar Shah (1712-1713) had a short-lived reign, being killed by Farruksiyar who ascended the throne in 1713. He was totally under the Sayyid brothers who have come to be known as `king makers’. His reign faced revolts from Rajputs, Jats and Sikhs. He was successful in his campaign against the Sikhs and executed Banda Bahadur in 1716. Farruksiyar himself was murdered by the Sayyid brothers with Maratha help in 1719. The sayyid brothers now put Muhammad Shah (1719-1798) on the throne. Ultimately these brothers were murdered by a conspiracy between the emperor and Chin Kilich Khan (Nizam-ul-Mulk). However, Chin Kilich Khan disgusted by Muhammad Shah’s incompetence; retired to the Deccan and made himself independent Hyderabad, Avadh and Bengal established independent kingdoms.