The Mughal Empire (Persian: ????? ????, Shahan-e Mogul; Urdu: ????? ?????

; self-
designation: ???????, Gurkani),[2][3] or Mogul (also Moghul) Empire in former En
glish usage, was an Indian imperial power that ruled a large portion of the Indi
an subcontinent which began in 1526, invaded and ruled most of South Asia by the
late 17th and early 18th centuries and ended in the mid-19th century.[4]
The Mughal Emperors were descendants of the Timurids, and at the height of their
power around 1700, they controlled most of the Indian Subcontinent extending from
Bengal in the east to Balochistan in the west, Kashmir in the north to the Kave
ri basin in the south.[5] Its population at that time has been estimated as betw
een 110 and 150 million, over a territory of over 3.2 million square kilometres
(1.2 million square miles).[1]
The "classic period" of the Empire started in 1556 with the accession of Jalalud
din Mohammad Akbar, better known as Akbar the Great. It ended with the death and
defeat of Emperor Aurangzeb in 1707 by the rising Hindu Maratha Empire ,[6] alt
hough the dynasty continued for another 150 years. During this period, the Empir
e was marked by a highly centralized administration connecting the different reg
ions. All the significant monuments of the Mughals, their most visible legacy, d
ate to this period which was characterised by the expansion of Persian cultural
influence in the Indian subcontinent, with brilliant literary, artistic, and arc
hitectural results.
Following 1725 the empire declined rapidly, weakened by wars of succession, agra
rian crises fueling local revolts, the growth of religious intolerance, the rise
of the Maratha, Durrani, and Sikh empires and finally British colonialism. The
last king, Bahadur Zafar Shah II, whose rule was restricted to the city of Delhi
, was imprisoned and exiled by the British after the Indian Rebellion of 1857.
The name Mughal is derived from the original homelands of the Timurids, the Cent
ral Asian steppes once conquered by Genghis Khan and hence known as Moghulistan,
"Land of Mongols". Although early Mughals spoke the Chagatai language and maint
ained Turko-Mongol practices, they were essentially Persianized.[7] They transfe
rred the Persian literature and culture[7] to India, thus forming the base for t
he Indo-Persian culture.[7]
The Mughal Empire was the dominant power in the Indi
an subcontinent between the mid-16th century and the early 18th century. Founded
in 1526, it officially survived until 1858, when it was supplanted by the Briti
sh Raj. The dynasty is sometimes referred to as the Timurid dynasty as Babur was
descended from Timur.
The Mughal dynasty was founded when Babur, hailing from Ferghana (Modern Uzbekis
tan), invaded parts of northern India and defeated Ibrahim Shah Lodhi, the ruler
of Delhi, at the First Battle of Panipat in 1526. The Mughal Empire superseded
the Delhi Sultanate as rulers of northern India. In time, the state thus founded
by Babur far exceeded the bounds of the Delhi Sultanate, eventually encompassin
g a major portion of India and earning the appellation of Empire. A brief interr
egnum (1540 1555) during the reign of Babur's son, Humayun, saw the rise of the Af
ghan Suri Dynasty under Sher Shah Suri, a competent and efficient ruler in his o
wn right, and Hindu king Hem Chandra Vikramaditya, also called Hemu. However, Sh
er Shah's untimely death and the military incompetence of his successors enabled
Humayun to regain his throne in 1555. However, Humayun died a few months later,
and was succeeded by his son, the 13-year-old Akbar the Great.
The greatest portions of Mughal expansion was accomplished during the reign of A
kbar (1556 1605). The empire was maintained as the dominant force of the present-d
ay Indian subcontinent for a hundred years further by his successors Jahangir, S
hah Jahan, and Aurangzeb. The first six emperors, who enjoyed power both de jure
and de facto, are usually referred to by just one name, a title adopted upon hi
s accession by each Emperor. The relevant title is bolded in the list below.
Akbar the Great initiated certain important policies, such as religious liberali
sm (abolition of the jizya tax), inclusion of Hindus in the affairs of the empir
e, and political alliance/marriage with the Hindu Rajput caste, that were innova
tive for his milieu; he also adopted some policies of Sher Shah Suri, such as th
e division of the empire into sarkar Rajs, in his administration of the empire.
These policies, which undoubtedly served to maintain the power and stability of
the empire, as the Hindu populace had shown resistance to the Islamic conquest i
n its years in the Indian subcontinent. These were preserved by his two immediat
e successors but were discarded by Aurangzeb, who followed a more strict interpr
etation of Islam and followed a stricter policy of intolerance to the practice o
f religions than his own. Furthermore, Aurangzeb spent nearly his entire career
seeking to expand his realm into the Deccan and south India, Assam in the east;
this venture sapped the resources of the empire while provoking strong resistanc
e from the Marathas, Rajputs, Sikhs of Punjab, Ahoms of Assam. Ahoms in Assam su
ccessfully resisted the Mughal invasions, the last battle being the Battle of Sa
raighat. It is interesting to note in this regard that while the Mughals ruled I
ndia for a nearly three hundred years they never ruled the complete geographical
extent of the Indian subcontinent. The power was mostly centred around Delhi, w
hich was for historical reasons considered a strategic stronghold, but there alw
ays existed strong independent Hindu kingdoms which maintained their sovereignty
and offered stiff resistance to Mughal expansion.
Decline

Sikh and Maratha states gained territory after Mughal empire's decline. Map show
ing territories in 1700 and 1792
After the emperor Aurangzeb's death in 1707, the empire fell into decline. Begin
ning with Bahadur Shah I, the Mughal Emperors progressively declined in power an
d became figureheads, being initially controlled by sundry courtiers and later b
y various rising warlords. In the 18th century, the Empire suffered the depredat
ions of invaders like Nadir Shah of Persia and Ahmed Shah Abdali of Afghanistan,
who repeatedly sacked Delhi, the Mughal capital. The greater portion of the emp
ire's territories in India passed to the Marathas, who sacked Delhi reducing the
once powerful and mighty empire to just a lone city before falling to the Briti
sh. Other adversaries included Sikh Empire and Hyderabad Nizams. In 1804, the bl
ind and powerless Shah Alam II formally accepted the protection of the British E
ast India Company. The British had already begun to refer to the weakened Empero
r as "King of Delhi", rather than "Emperor of India". The once glorious and migh
ty Mughal army was disbanded in 1805 by the British; only the guards of the Red
Fort were spared to serve with the King Of Delhi, which avoided the uncomfortabl
e implication that British sovereignty was outranked by the Indian monarch. None
theless, for a few decades afterward the BEIC continued to rule the areas under
its control as the nominal servants of the emperor and in his name. In 1857, eve
n these courtesies were disposed. After some rebels in the Sepoy Rebellion decla
red their allegiance to Shah Alam's descendant, Bahadur Shah Zafar (mostly symbo
lically, as he was just a figurehead for the purpose of rebellion), the British
decided to abolish the institution altogether. They deposed the last Mughal Empe
ror in 1857 and exiled him to Burma, where he died in 1862. Thus the Mughal dyna
sty came to an end, which formed a momentous chapter in the history of India.
There are still many Mughals living in the Indian Subcontinent. The term Mughal
in the current socio-political context also does not have decisive meaning, as t
he blood lines of the original Mughals are now mixed with the other muslim popul
ations of India and have South-Asian identities which are stronger than any orig
inal Turkic or Mongoloid origins.