The Mughal Empire

The Mughal Empire

The founders of the
Moghuls were Chaghatay
Turks descended from
Timur (Timurlane).
Originating beyond the
Hindu Kush, they were
driven out of central Asia
in 1504 by the Uzbek
Turks.
Babur (1483-1530), the
founder of the Moghul
dynasty, seized Kabul and
in 1526 defeated the
Afghan king of Delhi.

The Mughal Empire

Babur's son, Humayun
(1530-1540, 1555-1556), was
unable to hold his legacy and
was driven into exile to Persia.
With the help of the Safavid
Shah, Tahmasp (1524-1576),
Humayun recaptured Delhi in
1555

The Mughal Empire

One of the greatest rulers in

Indian history was Akbar (15561605), third Mughal emperor,
generally considered the true
founder of the Mughal Empire.

He followed an aggressive
expansionist policy, and by the
time of his death, the Mughals
controlled the land from the
Himalaya Mountains to the
Godavari River in central India
and from Kashmir to the mouths
of the Brahmapatra and Ganges
Rivers.

The Mughal Empire

The Mughal Empire

Along with Delhi and

Agra, newly constructed
(1571-1586) Fatchpur
Sikri, 26 miles from
Agra, also served as an
imperial capital.
Akbar's son Jahangir
(1605-1627) did not
possess his father's
abilities but did succeed
in consolidating Moghul
rule in Bengal.

The Mughal Empire

Expansion continued
under Shah Jahan
(1627-1657), Jahangir's
son, who waged
campaigns on the
northwestern frontier of
the Hindu Kush and in
the Deccan plateau.

Shah Jahan founded a

new capital at Delhi in
1648 to supersede
Agra.

The Mughal Empire

When Shah Jahan's
wife, Mumtaz Mahal,
died delivering her
thirteenth child, he
ordered construction
of the Taj Mahal at
Agra as an enduring
monument.

The Mughal Empire

The Taj Mahal

Taj Mahal

Shah Jahan (r. 1628-1658) had a strong interest in architecture.

His most enduring monument is the Taj Mahal, the supreme
example of a garden tomb. Twenty thousand workers toiled
eighteen years to build this memorial in Agra to Shah Jahan's
favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died at age of 39 giving birth to
their thirteenth child.

With no formal procedure for

succession, Shah Jahan's two sons
struggled for power.

The victor was Aurangzeb (16591707) who executed his brother and
had himself crowned emperor in
1658.

His father was imprisoned.

Aurangzeb expanded the Moghul
Empire south to Mysore and Marathas
in the western Daccan.

Heavy-handed policies led to

rebellion of the Hindu Marathas who
were defeated but nonetheless
continued to fight.

After Aurangzeb's death they created

a confederation of almost all the
Deccan states under their leadership.

Western Powers in India

The two major powers contending for

control of weakened India were France and
Britain. The French arrived in India in the
1670s and established several trading
factories.

They captured Fort St. George at Madras in

1746, and by 1751 the French had gained
control of the Deccan and Carnatic
regions.

British Expansion in India

In the meantime, British controled Bengal by

buying off the officers of the French-supported
governor and then defeated the governor at
Plassey, north of Calcutta, in 1757. The British
gained more in the south and prevented the
arrival of French reinforcements.

The Treaty of Paris in 1763 ending the Seven

Years' War in Europe recognized British control of
much of India.

The British East India

Company

The British East India Company traded

silver, copper, zinc, and fabrics to the
Indians in return for cotton goods, silks,
sugar and opium (to be used in the trade
with China).

European factories at Madras and Calcutta

where Indian cotton goods were shipped to
the East Indies and bartered for spices
which were then sent back to England.