MUGHAL DYNASTY

Mughal Empire

The battle of first Panipat that took place in 1526 A.D laid foundation for the Mughal rule in India. Babar, who belonged to Central Asia lost his kingdom in it. Later he conquered Kabul. From Kabul he invaded India in 1526 A.D. At that time Delhi was under the rule of Lodi dynasty . Ibrahim Lodi was the Delhi Sultan. Babar and Ibrahim Lodi fought in the first battle of Panipat. But Ibrahim Lodi was defeated by Babur and Mughal Rule established in Delhi. Babur also fought with Rajputs. Rajputs under the leadership of Rana Sangrama Simha faced Babar in the battle of Kanwa in 1527. But Rana Sanga was defeated by Babur. In 1528 Babar got victory in the battle of Chanderi with Medini Roy . In 1529 Babur defeated Afgans in the battle of Gogra. He died in 1530.

         Humayun, son of Babar, ascended the throne in 1530 A.D. But Humayun was defeated in the hands of Sher Shah in the battle of Kanauj or Belgram in 1540 and lost his empire to Sher Shah. Sher Shah ruled for a short period of five years. His successors ruled upto 1555 A.D. The lost ruler of Sur dynasty was Sikander Sur. He was defeated by Humayun in the war of Sarhind in 1555 A.D and got his lost empire. But humayun ruled for only one year i.e from 1555 to 1556. He died due to accident of falling from the steps of a library.

         After the death of Humayun Hemu occupied the throne of Delhi. Akbar with the help of Bairam Khan defeated Hemu in the battle of Second Panipat. and occupied the throne. At the time of ascending the throne he was only 14 years of age. Bairam Khan was his guardian upto 1560. Later he ruled independently without the help of Bairam Khan. He married Rajput princesses. He conquered malwa, Gondwana, Mewar, Gujrat, Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, Sind, Kashmir and Kandahar. The ruler of Mewar gave stiff ressistance. But Akbar finally succeeded him. In Deccan the ruler of Ahmad Nagar, Chand Bibi, resisted Akbar bravely . Akbar built a prayer hall which is known as Ibadat Khana in 1575 at Fatepur Sikri. He founded a new religion called Din-i-Illahi in 1582. But Akbar did not compel any one to join in this new religion. He introduced Ryotwari system. He divided the land into four categories and fixed revenue 1/3 of each category . Raja Todarmal helped the Akbar in introducing this system. In the Army Rajputs were also appointed as Mansabdars. So he developed friendly relations with Rajputs. In 1563 Akbar abolished pilgrimage tax. In 1564 he abolished Zajia. Akbar died in 1605.

         Jahangir, son of Akbar, ascended the throne in 1605. He ruled upto 1627. During his period Kandahar was lost. Sikhs in Punjab became enemies to Mughals as their Guru Arjun Singh was arrested and humiliated and died consequently . Jahangir entrusted Administration to his wife Nurjahan. Shajahan, son of Jahangir, ascended the throne in 1628 and ruled upto 1658. His original name was Khurram. He was born in 1592 and died in 1666. He captured Ahmad Nagar in 1632 and concluded an alliance with Bijapur and Golkonda in 1636. He married Arjumned Banu Begum. He built Jama Masjid, Moti Masjid and Tajmahal

  Aurangzeb ascended the throne in 1658 and ruled upto 1707. He was a Sunni Muslim. He was intolerant towards other religions. He reimposed Zaziya tax and Pilgrimage tax which were abolished by Akbar. He abolished Nauroz. He executed Sikh Guru Tej Bahadur. So, Sikhs became enemies of Mughals. The jats, Siks, Satnamies revolted against him. Rajputs were also revolted against him under the leadership of Durgadas. He gave death sentence to Sambaji. He annexed Bijapur in 1686 and Golkonda in 1687 to his empire. During his reign a separate state for Marathas was established in 1674 under the leadership of Shivaji. The Mughal empire declained after Aurangzeb. There are several reasons for the decline of Mughal empire. Some of them are: continuous wars with Marathas, Religious policy of Aurangzeb, sons of Aurangzeb were not trained to rule vast empire, weak successors of Aurangzeb, invasion of Nadir Shah in 1739, invasion of Ahmed Shah Abdali, third battle of Panipat in 1761 etc.

LIST OF ALL MUGHAL EMPERORS IN INDIAN HISTORY



01. Babur (1526-1530)
02. Humayun (1530-1540,55-56)
03. Akbar (1556-1605)
04. Jahangir (1605-1627)
05. Shah Jahan (1627-1658)
06. Aurang Zeb (1658-1707)
07. Bahadur Shah 1 (1707-1712)
08. Jahandar Shah (1712-1713)
09. Furrukhsiyar (1713-1719)
10. Rafi-ul-Darjat (1719)
11. Rafi-ud-Daulat (1719)
12. Nikusiyar (1719)
13. Muhammad Ibrahim (1720)
14. Muhammad Shah (1719-1748)
15. Ahmad Shah Bahadur (1748-54)
16. Alamgir (1754-1759)
17. Shah Jahan (1759)
18. Shah Alam (1759-1806)
19. Akbar Shah (1806-1837)
20. Bahadur Shah Zafar (1837-57)