The Mughal Empire is conventionally said to have been founded in 1526 by
Ibrahim Lodi, in the First Battle of Panipat, and to sweep down the plains of North India. The Mughal imperial structure, however, is sometimes dated to 1600, to the rule of Babur's grandson, Akbar.[15] This imperial structure lasted until 1720, until shortly after the death of the last major emperor, Aurangzeb,[16][17] during whose reign the empire also achieved its maximum geographical extent. By 1760, the emperor de facto ruled the region around Old Delhi only. The empire was formally dissolved by the British Raj after the Indian Rebellion of 1857
.
Although the Mughal Empire was created and sustained by military warfare,[18][19][20] it did not vigorously suppress the cultures and peoples it came to rule; rather it equalized and placated them through new administrative practices,[21][22] and diverse ruling elites, leading to more efficient, centralised, and standardized rule.[23] The base of the empire's collective wealth was agricultural taxes, instituted by the third Mughal emperor, Akbar.[24][25] These taxes, which amounted to well over half the output of a peasant cultivator,[26] were paid in the well-regulated silver currency,[23] and caused peasants and artisans to enter larger markets.[27]
Political scientist J. C. Sharman describes the Mughal Empire as an Asian great power which dwarfed contemporary European states in population, wealth and military power.
Shalamar Gardens, and the Taj Mahal, which is described as "the jewel of Muslim art in India, and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage."[33]
Name
The closest to an official name for the empire was
Mughal" was used for the emperor, and by extension, the empire as a whole.[38]
The Mughal designation for their own dynasty was Gurkani (Gūrkāniyān), a reference to their descent from the Turkic conqueror
Indologists.[43] In Marshall Hodgson's view, the dynasty should be called Timurid/Timuri or Indo-Timuri.[41]
in 1526. Before the battle, Babur sought divine favour by abjuring liquor, breaking the wine vessels and pouring the wine down a well.
However, by this time Lodi's empire was already crumbling, and it was the Rajput Confederacy which was the strongest power of Northern India under the capable rule of Rana Sanga of Mewar. He defeated Babur in the Battle of Bayana.[47] However, in the decisive Battle of Khanwa which was fought near Agra, the Timurid forces of Babur defeated the Rajput army of Sanga. This battle was one of the most decisive and historic battles in Indian history, as it sealed the fate of Northern India for the next two centuries.
After the battle, the centre of Mughal power became Agra instead of Kabul. The preoccupation with wars and military campaigns, however, did not allow the new emperor to consolidate the gains he had made in India.[48] The instability of the empire became evident under his son, Humayun (reigned 1530–1556), who was forced into exile in Persia by rebels. The Sur Empire (1540–1555), founded by Sher Shah Suri (reigned 1540–1545), briefly interrupted Mughal rule.[44] Humayun's exile in Persia established diplomatic ties between the Safavid and Mughal Courts, and led to increasing Persian cultural influence in the later restored Mughal Empire.[citation needed] Humayun's triumphant return from Persia in 1555 restored Mughal rule in some parts of India, but he died in an accident the next year.[44]
Din-i-Ilahi, with strong characteristics of a ruler cult.[44] He left his son an internally stable state, which was in the midst of its golden age, but before long signs of political weakness would emerge.[44]
Sikh guru Arjan, whose execution was the first of many conflicts between the Mughal empire and the Sikh community.[57][58][59]
Shah Jahan (reigned 1628–1658) was born to Jahangir and his wife Jagat Gosain, a Rajput princess.[52] His reign ushered in the golden age of Mughal architecture.[60] During the reign of Shah Jahan, the splendour of the Mughal court reached its peak, as exemplified by the Taj Mahal. The cost of maintaining the court, however, began to exceed the revenue coming in.[44] His reign was called as "The Golden Age of Mughal Architecture". Shah Jahan extended the Mughal empire to the Deccan by ending the Nizam Shahi dynasty and forcing the Adil Shahis and Qutb Shahis to pay tribute.[61]
Sayyid Brothers, became the de facto sovereigns of the empire.[70][71]
During the reign of
Sack of Delhi and shattered the remnants of Mughal power and prestige. Many of the empire's elites now sought to control their affairs and broke away to form independent kingdoms.[75] But, according to Sugata Bose and Ayesha Jalal, the Mughal Emperor continued to be the highest manifestation of sovereignty. Not only the Muslim gentry, but the Maratha, Hindu, and Sikh leaders took part in ceremonial acknowledgements of the emperor as the sovereign of India.[76]
Meanwhile, some regional polities within the increasingly fragmented Mughal Empire, involved themselves and the state in global conflicts, leading only to defeat and loss of territory during the
Bengal War
.
The Mughal Emperor
Empress of India
.
Causes of decline
Historians have offered numerous explanations for the rapid collapse of the Mughal Empire between 1707 and 1720, after a century of growth and prosperity. As the Mughals were visibly unassailable across 17th century, external threat sprang out from several sectors, such as from the sea, as the innoculous European trading companies, such as
British East Indies Company, racing to get permission from the Mughal rulers to establish trades and factories in India.[80] In fiscal terms, the throne lost the revenues needed to pay its chief officers, the emirs (nobles) and their entourages. The emperor lost authority, as the widely scattered imperial officers lost confidence in the central authorities, and made their deals with local men of influence. The imperial army bogged down in long, futile wars against the more aggressive Marathas, and lost its fighting spirit. Finally came a series of violent political feuds over control of the throne. After the execution of Emperor Farrukhsiyar in 1719, local Mughal successor states took power in region after region.[81]
Contemporary chroniclers bewailed the decay they witnessed, a theme picked up by the first British historians who wanted to underscore the need for a British-led rejuvenation.[82]
Modern views on the decline
Since the 1970s historians have taken multiple approaches to the decline, with little consensus on which factor was dominant. The psychological interpretations emphasise depravity in high places, excessive luxury, and increasingly narrow views that left the rulers unprepared for an external challenge. A Marxist school (led by
British East Indies Company, racing to get permission from the Mughal rulers to establish trades and factories in India.[80]
Karen Leonard has focused on the failure of the regime to work with Hindu bankers, whose financial support was increasingly needed; the bankers then helped the Maratha and the British.[84] In a religious interpretation, some scholars argue that the Hindu powers revolted against the rule of a Muslim dynasty.[85] Finally, other scholars argue that the very prosperity of the Empire inspired the provinces to achieve a high degree of independence, thus weakening the imperial court.[86]
nominal wages, and then textile prices, which led to India losing a share of the world textile market to Britain even before it had superior factory technology.[88] Indian textiles, however, still maintained a competitive advantage over British textiles up until the 19th century.[89]
The empire was divided into Subah (provinces), each of which was headed by a provincial governor called a subadar. The structure of the central government was mirrored at the provincial level; each suba had its own bakhshi, sadr as-sudr, and finance minister that reported directly to the central government rather than the subahdar. Subas were subdivided into administrative units known as sarkars, which were further divided into groups of villages known as parganas. Mughal government in the pargana consisted of a Muslim judge and local tax collector.[78][90]Parganas were the basic administrative unit of the Mughal empire.[93]
Mughal administrative divisions were not static. Territories were often rearranged and reconstituted for better administrative control, and to extend cultivation. For example, a sarkar could turn into a subah, and Parganas were often transferred between sarkars. The hierarchy of division was ambiguous sometimes, as a territory could fall under multiple overlapping jurisdictions. Administrative divisions were also vague in their geography – the Mughal state did not have enough resources or authority to undertake detailed land surveys, and hence the geographical limits of these divisions were not formalised and maps were not created. The Mughals instead recorded detailed statistics about each division, to assess the territory's capacity for revenue, based on simpler land surveys.[94]
Capitals
The Mughals had multiple imperial capitals, established throughout their rule. These were the cities of
The imperial camp, used for military expeditions and royal tours, also served as a kind of mobile, "de facto" administrative capital. From the time of Akbar, Mughal camps were huge in scale, accompanied by numerous personages associated with the royal court, as well as soldiers and labourers. All administration and governance were carried out within them. The Mughal Emperors spent a significant portion of their ruling period within these camps.[98]
After Aurangzeb, the Mughal capital definitively became the walled city of
The Mughal Empire's legal system was context-specific and evolved throughout the empire's rule. Being a Muslim state, the empire employed fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) and therefore the fundamental institutions of Islamic law such as those of the qadi (judge), mufti (jurisconsult), and muhtasib (censor and market supervisor) were well-established in the Mughal Empire. However, the dispensation of justice also depended on other factors, such as administrative rules, local customs, and political convenience. This was due to Persianate influences on Mughal ideology, and that the Mughal Empire governed a non-Muslim majority.[100] Scholar Mouez Khalfaoui notes that legal institutions in the Mughal Empire systemically suffered from the corruption of local judges.[101]
Legal ideology
The Mughal Empire followed the Sunni
Hanafi system of jurisprudence. In its early years, the empire relied on Hanafi legal references inherited from its predecessor, the Delhi Sultanate. These included the al-Hidayah (the best guidance) and the Fatawa al-Tatarkhaniyya (religious decisions of the Emire Tatarkhan). During the Mughal Empire's peak, the Fatawa 'Alamgiri was commissioned by Emperor Aurangzeb. This compendium of Hanafi law sought to serve as a central reference for the Mughal state that dealt with the specifics of the South Asian context.[101]
The Mughal Empire also drew on Persian notions of kingship. Particularly, this meant that the Mughal emperor was considered the supreme authority on legal affairs.[100]
Courts of law
Various kinds of courts existed in the Mughal Empire. One such court was that of the qadi. The Mughal qadi was responsible for dispensing justice; this included settling disputes, judging people for crimes, and dealing with inheritances and orphans. The qadi also had additional importance in documents, as the seal of the qadi was required to validate deeds and tax records. Qadis did not constitute a single position, but made up a hierarchy. For example, the most basic kind was the pargana (district) qadi. More prestigious positions were those of the qadi al-quddat (judge of judges) who accompanied the mobile imperial camp, and the qadi-yi lashkar (judge of the army).[100]Qadis were usually appointed by the emperor or the sadr-us-sudr (chief of charities).[100][102] The jurisdiction of the qadi was availed by Muslims and non-Muslims alike.[103]
The
jagirdar (local tax collector) was another kind of official approach, especially for high-stakes cases. Subjects of the Mughal Empire also took their grievances to the courts of superior officials who held more authority and punitive power than the local qadi. Such officials included the kotwal (local police), the faujdar (an officer controlling multiple districts and troops of soldiers), and the most powerful, the subahdar (provincial governor). In some cases, the emperor dispensed justice directly.[100] Jahangir was known to have installed a "chain of justice" in the Agra Fort that any aggrieved subject could shake to get the attention of the emperor and bypass the inefficacy of officials.[104]
Self-regulating tribunals operating at the community or village level were common, but sparse documentation of them exists. For example, it is unclear how
panchayats (village councils) operated in the Mughal era.[100]
The economy in the Indian Subcontinent during the Mughal era performed just as it did in ancient times, though now it would face the stress of extensive regional tensions.[105] The Mughal economy was large and prosperous.[106][107] India was producing 24.5% of the world's manufacturing output up until 1750.[108][107] India's economy has been described as a form of proto-industrialization, like that of 18th-century Western Europe prior to the Industrial Revolution.[109]
Modern historians and researchers generally agreed that The Mughal empire economic policy character is resembling Laissez-faire system in dealing with tradings and bullions, to achieve the economic ends.[110][111][112][113]
The Mughals were responsible for building an extensive road system, creating a uniform currency, and the unification of the country.[11]: 185–204 The empire had an extensive road network, which was vital to the economic infrastructure, built by a public works department set up by the Mughals which designed, constructed and maintained roads linking towns and cities across the empire, making trade easier to conduct.[106]
The main base of the empire's collective wealth was agricultural taxes, instituted by the third Mughal emperor, Akbar.[24][25] These taxes, which amounted to well over half the output of a peasant cultivator,[26] were paid in the well-regulated silver currency,[23] and caused peasants and artisans to enter larger markets.[27]
Coinage
The Mughals adopted and standardised the rupee (rupiya, or silver) and dam (copper) currencies introduced by Sur Emperor Sher Shah Suri during his brief rule.[114] The currency was initially 48 dams to a single rupee in the beginning of Akbar's reign, before it later became 38 dams to a rupee in the 1580s, with the dam's value rising further in the 17th century as a result of new industrial uses for copper, such as in bronze cannons and brass utensils. The dam was initially the most common coin in Akbar's time, before being replaced by the rupee as the most common coin in succeeding reigns.[11] The dam's value was later worth 30 to a rupee towards the end of Jahangir's reign, and then 16 to a rupee by the 1660s.[115] The Mughals minted coins with high purity, never dropping below 96%, and without debasement until the 1720s.[116]
Despite India having its stocks of gold and silver, the Mughals produced minimal gold of their own but mostly minted coins from imported bullion, as a result of the empire's strong export-driven economy, with global demand for Indian agricultural and industrial products drawing a steady stream of precious metals into India.[11] Around 80% of Mughal India's imports were bullion, mostly silver,[117] with major sources of imported bullion including the New World and Japan,[116] which in turn imported large quantities of textiles and silk from the Bengal Subah province.[11]
Labour
The historian Shireen Moosvi estimates that in terms of contributions to the Mughal economy, in the late 16th century, the primary sector contributed 52%, the secondary sector 18% and the tertiary sector 29%; the secondary sector contributed a higher percentage than in early 20th-century
British India, where the secondary sector only contributed 11% to the economy.[118] In terms of the urban-rural divide, 18% of Mughal India's labour force were urban and 82% were rural, contributing 52% and 48% to the economy, respectively.[119]
According to Stephen Broadberry and Bishnupriya Gupta, grain wages in India were comparable to England in the 16th and 17th centuries, but diverged in the 18th century when they fell to 20-40% of England's wages.[120][121] This, however, is disputed by Parthasarathi and Sivramkrishna. Parthasarathi cites his estimates that grain wages for weaving and spinning in mid-18th century Bengal and South India were comparable to Britain.[122] Similarly, Sivramkrishna analyzed agricultural surveys conducted in Mysore by Francis Buchanan during 1800–1801, arrived at estimates using a "subsistence basket" that aggregated millet income could be almost five times subsistence level, while corresponding rice income was three times that much.[123] That could be comparable to advance part of Europe.[124] Due to the scarcity of data, however, more research is needed before drawing any conclusion.[125][126]
According to Moosvi, Mughal India had a per-capita income, in terms of wheat, 1.24% higher in the late 16th century than British India did in the early 20th century.[127] This income, however, would have to be revised downwards if manufactured goods, like clothing, would be considered. Compared to food per capita, expenditure on clothing was much smaller though, so relative income between 1595 and 1596 should be comparable to 1901–1910.[128] However, in a system where wealth was hoarded by elites, wages were depressed for manual labour.[129] In Mughal India, there was a generally tolerant attitude towards manual labourers, with some religious cults in northern India proudly asserting a high status for manual labour. While slavery also existed, it was limited largely to household servants.[129]
Agriculture
Indian agricultural production increased under the Mughal Empire.[106] A variety of crops were grown, including food crops such as wheat, rice, and barley, and non-food cash crops such as cotton, indigo and opium. By the mid-17th century, Indian cultivators began to extensively grow two new crops from the Americas, maize and tobacco.[106]
The Mughal administration emphasised agrarian reform, which began under the non-Mughal emperor Sher Shah Suri, the work of which Akbar adopted and furthered with more reforms. The civil administration was organised hierarchically based on merit, with promotions based on performance.[130] The Mughal government funded the building of irrigation systems across the empire, which produced much higher crop yields and increased the net revenue base, leading to increased agricultural production.[106]
A major Mughal reform introduced by Akbar was a new land revenue system called zabt. He replaced the
sugar cane, tree crops, and opium, providing state incentives to grow cash crops, in addition to rising market demand.[11] Under the zabt system, the Mughals also conducted extensive cadastral surveying to assess the area of land under plough cultivation, with the Mughal state encouraging greater land cultivation by offering tax-free periods to those who brought new land under cultivation.[116] The expansion of agriculture and cultivation continued under later Mughal emperors including Aurangzeb, whose 1665 firman edict stated: "the entire elevated attention and desires of the Emperor are devoted to the increase in the population and cultivation of the Empire and the welfare of the whole peasantry and the entire people."[131]
Mughal agriculture was in some ways advanced compared to European agriculture at the time, exemplified by the common use of the
British India.[135] The increased agricultural productivity led to lower food prices. In turn, this benefited the Indian textile industry. Compared to Britain, the price of grain was about one-half in South India and one-third in Bengal, in terms of silver coinage. This resulted in lower silver coin prices for Indian textiles, giving them a price advantage in global markets.[136]
Industrial manufacturing
Up until 1750, India produced about 25% of the world's industrial output.
metalware, and foods such as sugar, oils and butter.[106] The growth of manufacturing industries in the Indian subcontinent during the Mughal era in the 17th–18th centuries has been referred to as a form of proto-industrialization, similar to 18th-century Western Europe before the Industrial Revolution.[109]
In
woollens, unprocessed metals and a few luxury items. The trade imbalance caused Europeans to export large quantities of gold and silver to Mughal India to pay for South Asian imports.[106] Indian goods, especially those from Bengal, were also exported in large quantities to other Asian markets, such as Indonesia and Japan.[11]
The largest manufacturing industry in the Mughal Empire was textile manufacturing, particularly cotton textile manufacturing, which included the production of piece goods, calicos, and muslins, available unbleached and in a variety of colours. The cotton textile industry was responsible for a large part of the empire's international trade.[106] India had a 25% share of the global textile trade in the early 18th century.[138] Indian cotton textiles were the most important manufactured goods in world trade in the 18th century, consumed across the world from the Americas to Japan.[139] By the early 18th century, Mughal Indian textiles were clothing people across the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, Europe, the Americas, Africa, and the Middle East.[88] The most important centre of cotton production was the Bengal province, particularly around its capital city of Dhaka.[140]
Bengal accounted for more than 50% of textiles and around 80% of silks imported by the Dutch from Asia,[137] Bengali silk and cotton textiles were exported in large quantities to Europe, Indonesia, and Japan,[11]: 202 and Bengali muslin textiles from Dhaka were sold in Central Asia, where they were known as "Dhaka textiles".[140] Indian textiles dominated the Indian Ocean trade for centuries, were sold in the Atlantic Ocean trade, and had a 38% share of the West African trade in the early 18th century, while Indian calicos were a major force in Europe, and Indian textiles accounted for 20% of total English trade with Southern Europe in the early 18th century.[87]
The
worm gear roller cotton gin, which was invented in India during the early Delhi Sultanate era of the 13th–14th centuries, came into use in the Mughal Empire sometime around the 16th century,[134] and is still used in India through to the present day.[141] Another innovation, the incorporation of the crank handle in the cotton gin, first appeared in India sometime during the late Delhi Sultanate or the early Mughal Empire.[142] The production of cotton, which may have largely been spun in the villages and then taken to towns in the form of yarn to be woven into cloth textiles, was advanced by the diffusion of the spinning wheel across India shortly before the Mughal era, lowering the costs of yarn and helping to increase demand for cotton. The diffusion of the spinning wheel and the incorporation of the worm gear and crank handle into the roller cotton gin led to greatly expanded Indian cotton textile production during the Mughal era.[143]
Once, the Mughal emperor Akbar asked his courtiers, which was the most beautiful flower. Some said rose, from whose petals were distilled the precious
ittar, others, the lotus, glory of every Indian village. But Birbal said, "The cotton boll". There was a scornful laughter and Akbar asked for an explanation. Birbal said, "Your Majesty, from the cotton boll, comes the fine fabric prized by merchants across the seas that has made your empire famous throughout the world. The perfume of your fame far exceeds the scent of roses and jasmine. That is why I say the cotton boll is the most beautiful flower.[144]
The Bengal Subah province was especially prosperous from the time of its takeover by the Mughals in 1590 until the British East India Company seized control in 1757.
C. A. Bayly wrote that it was probably the Mughal Empire's wealthiest province.[146] Domestically, much of India depended on Bengali products such as rice, silks and cotton textiles. Overseas, Europeans depended on Bengali products such as cotton textiles, silks, and opium; Bengal accounted for 40% of Dutch imports from Asia, for example, including more than 50% of textiles and around 80% of silks.[137] From Bengal, saltpetre was also shipped to Europe, opium was sold in Indonesia, raw silk was exported to Japan and the Netherlands, and cotton and silk textiles were exported to Europe, Indonesia and Japan.[11]
Akbar played a key role in establishing Bengal as a leading economic centre, as he began transforming many of the jungles there into farms. As soon as he conquered the region, he brought tools and men to clear jungles to expand cultivation and brought
New Year and Autumn festivals.[citation needed] The province was a leading producer of grains, salt, fruits, liquors and wines, precious metals and ornaments.[149] After Akbar, there are notable contributive factor during the era of Aurangzeb, as Siddiqui M. Azizuddin Hussein from Jamia Millia Islamia and Maulana Azad National Urdu University, has viewed that aside from religious and legal context, Fatawa 'Alamgiri codex has provided direct contribution to the Proto-industrialization in Bengal Subah.[150]
After 150 years of rule by Mughal
Armenian community dominated banking and shipping in major cities and towns. The Europeans regarded Bengal as the richest place for trade.[149] By the late 18th century, the British
displaced the Mughal ruling class in Bengal.
Shipbuilding industry
Mughal India had a large shipbuilding industry, which was also largely centred in the Bengal province. Economic historian Indrajit Ray estimates the shipbuilding output of Bengal during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries at 223,250 tons annually, compared with 23,061 tons produced in nineteen colonies in North America from 1769 to 1771.[151] He also assesses ship repairing as very advanced in Bengal.[151]
An important innovation in shipbuilding was the introduction of a
seaworthiness and navigation for European ships during the Industrial Revolution.[152]
India's population growth accelerated under the Mughal Empire, with an unprecedented economic and demographic upsurge which boosted the Indian population by 60%
Indian history before the Mughal era.[107][153] By the time of Aurangzeb's reign, there were a total of 455,698 villages in the Mughal Empire.[155]
The following table gives population estimates for the Mughal Empire, compared to the total population of South Asia including the regions of modern India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, and compared to the world population:
According to Irfan Habib Cities and towns boomed under the Mughal Empire, which had a relatively high degree of urbanization for its time, with 15% of its population living in urban centres.
British India in the 19th century;[157] the level of urbanization in Europe did not reach 15% until the 19th century.[158]
Under Akbar's reign in 1600, the Mughal Empire's urban population was up to 17 million people, 15% of the empire's total population. This was larger than the entire urban population in Europe at the time, and even a century later in 1700, the urban population of England, Scotland and Wales did not exceed 13% of its total population,[155] while British India had an urban population that was under 13% of its total population in 1800 and 9% in 1881, a decline from the earlier Mughal era.[159] By 1700, Mughal India had an urban population of 23 million people, larger than British India's urban population of 22.3 million in 1871.[160]
Those estimates were criticised by Tim Dyson, who consider them exaggerations. According to Dyson urbanization of the Mughal empire was less than 9%.[161]
Cities acted as markets for the sale of goods, and provided homes for a variety of merchants, traders, shopkeepers, artisans, moneylenders, weavers, craftspeople, officials, and religious figures.[106] However, several cities were military and political centres, rather than manufacturing or commerce centres.[165]
The Mughal Empire was definitive in the early-modern and modern periods of South Asian history, with its legacy in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan seen in cultural contributions such as:
Centralised imperial rule that consolidated the smaller polities of South Asia.[167]
The Mughal artistic tradition, mainly expressed in painted miniatures, as well as small luxury objects, was eclectic, borrowing from Iranian, Indian, Chinese and Renaissance European stylistic and thematic elements.[179] Mughal emperors often took in Iranian bookbinders, illustrators, painters and calligraphers from the Safavid court due to the commonalities of their Timurid styles, and due to the Mughal affinity for Iranian art and calligraphy.[180] Miniatures commissioned by the Mughal emperors initially focused on large projects illustrating books with eventful historical scenes and court life, but later included more single images for albums, with portraits and animal paintings displaying a profound appreciation for the serenity and beauty of the natural world.[181] For example, Emperor Jahangir commissioned brilliant artists such as Ustad Mansur to realistically portray unusual flora and fauna throughout the empire.
The literary works Akbar and Jahangir ordered to be illustrated ranged from epics like the
Farhang-i-Jahangiri
, a Persian dictionary compiled during the Mughal era.
Indo-Persian political culture, to unite their diverse empire.[188] Persian had a profound impact on the languages of South Asia; one such language, today known as Urdu, developed in the imperial capital of Delhi in the late Mughal era. It began to be used as a literary language in the Mughal court from the reign of Shah Alam II, who described it as the language of his dastans (prose romances) and replaced Persian as the informal language of the Muslim elite.[189][190] According to Mir Taqi Mir, "Urdu was the language of Hindustan by the authority of the King."[191][192]
mounted archers on both wings. Babur used this formation at the First Battle of Panipat in 1526, where the Afghan and Rajput forces loyal to the Delhi Sultanate, though superior in numbers but without the gunpowder weapons, were defeated. The decisive victory of the Timurid forces is one reason opponents rarely met Mughal princes in pitched battles throughout the empire's history.[195] In India, guns made of bronze were recovered from Calicut (1504) and Diu (1533).[196]
Fathullah Shirazi (c. 1582), a Persian polymath and mechanical engineer who worked for Akbar, developed an early multi-gun shot. As opposed to the polybolos and repeating crossbows used earlier in ancient Greece and China, respectively, Shirazi's rapid-firing gun had multiple gun barrels that fired hand cannons loaded with gunpowder. It may be considered a version of a volley gun.[197]
By the 17th century, Indians were manufacturing a diverse variety of firearms; large guns in particular, became visible in
In the sixteenth century, Akbar was the first to initiate and use metal cylinder rockets known as bans, particularly against war elephants, during the Battle of Sanbal.[199] In 1657, the Mughal Army used rockets during the Siege of Bidar.[200] Prince Aurangzeb's forces discharged rockets and grenades while scaling the walls. Sidi Marjan was mortally wounded when a rocket struck his large gunpowder depot, and after twenty-seven days of hard fighting, Bidar was captured by the Mughals.[200]
The Indian war rockets ... were formidable weapons before such rockets were used in Europe. They had bam-boo rods, a rocket body lashed to the rod and iron points. They were directed at the target and fired by lighting the fuse, but the trajectory was rather erratic. The use of mines and counter-mines with explosive charges of gunpowder is mentioned for the times of Akbar and Jahangir.
Science
A new curriculum for the madrasas which stressed the importance of uloom-i-muqalat (Rational Sciences) and introduced new subjects such as geometry, medicine, philosophy, and mathematics. The new curriculum produced a series of eminent scholars, engineers and architects.[201][202]
While there appears to have been little concern for
Hindu astronomy, where Islamic observational instruments were combined with Hindu computational techniques.[203][204]
During the decline of the Mughal Empire, the Hindu king
Zij-i-Sultani. The instruments he used were influenced by Islamic astronomy, while the computational techniques were derived from Hindu astronomy.[203][204]
The society within Mughal empire operated the Karkhanas, which functioned as workshops for craftsmen. These Karkhanas were producing arms, ammunition, and also various items for the court and emperor's need such as clothes, shawls, turbans, jewelry, gold and silverware, perfumes, medicines, carpets, beddings, tents, and for the imperial stable-harnesses for the horses in irons, copper and other metals.[206][207][208]
Another aspects of remarkable invention in Mughal India is the
metallurgists to be technically impossible to produce hollow metal globes without any seams.[209]
A 17th-century celestial globe was also made by Diya’ ad-din Muhammad in Lahore, 1668 (now in Pakistan).[210] It is now housed at the National Museum of Scotland.
^The title (Mirza) descends to all the sons of the family, without exception. In the royal family, it is placed after the name instead of before it, thus, Abbas Mirza and Hosfiein Mirza. Mirza is a civil title, and Khan is a military one. The title of Khan is creative, but not hereditary.[5]
. We have seen that there is considerable uncertainty about the size of India's population c.1595. Serious assessments vary from 116 to 145 million (with an average of 125 million). However, the true figure could even be outside of this range. Accordingly, while it seems likely that the population grew over the seventeenth century, it is unlikely that we will ever have a good idea of its size in 1707.
from the original on 22 September 2023, retrieved 9 August 2017 Quote: "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 interests and futures of all concerned were in India, not in ancestral homelands in the Middle East or Central Asia. Furthermore, the Mughal Empire emerged from the Indian historical experience. It was the end product of a millennium of Muslim conquest, colonization, and state-building in the Indian subcontinent."
from the original on 22 September 2023, retrieved 15 July 2019 Quote: "The realm so defined and governed was a vast territory of some 750,000 square miles [1,900,000 km2], ranging from the frontier with Central Asia in northern Afghanistan to the northern uplands of the Deccan plateau, and from the Indus basin on the west to the Assamese highlands in the east."
, retrieved 15 July 2019 Quote: "Babur then adroitly gave the Ottomans his promise not to attack them in return for their military aid, which he received in the form of the newest of battlefield inventions, the matchlock gun and cast cannons, as well as instructors to train his men to use them."
from the original on 22 September 2023, retrieved 15 July 2019 Quote: "Another possible date for the beginning of the Mughal regime was 1600 when the institutions that defined the regime were set firmly in place and when the heartland of the empire was defined; both of these were the accomplishment of Babur's grandson Akbar."
from the original on 22 September 2023, retrieved 15 July 2019 Quote: "The imperial career of the Mughal house is conventionally reckoned to have ended in 1707 when the emperor Aurangzeb, a fifth-generation descendant of Babur, died. His fifty-year reign began in 1658 with the Mughal state seeming as strong as ever or even stronger. But in Aurangzeb's later years the state was brought to the brink of destruction, over which it toppled within a decade and a half after his death; by 1720 imperial Mughal rule was largely finished and an epoch of two imperial centuries had closed."
from the original on 22 September 2023, retrieved 1 July 2019 Quote: "By the latter date (1720) the essential structure of the centralized state was disintegrated beyond repair."
from the original on 22 September 2023, retrieved 15 July 2019 Quote: "The vaunting of such progenitors pointed up the central character of the Mughal regime as a warrior state: it was born in war and it was sustained by war until the eighteenth century, when warfare destroyed it."
Quote: "The Mughal state was geared for war, and succeeded while it won its battles. It controlled territory partly through its network of strongholds, from its fortified capitals in Agra, Delhi or Lahore, which defined its heartlands, to the converted and expanded forts of Rajasthan and the Deccan. The emperor's will was frequently enforced in battle. Hundreds of army scouts were an important source of information. But the empire's administrative structure too was defined by and directed at war. Local military checkpoints or thanas kept order. Directly appointed imperial military and civil commanders (faujdars) controlled the cavalry and infantry, or the administration, in each region. The peasantry in turn were often armed, able to provide supporters for regional powers, and liable to rebellion on their account: continual pacification was required of the rulers."
from the original on 22 September 2023, retrieved 15 July 2019 Quote: "With Safavid and Ottoman aid, the Mughals would soon join these two powers in a triumvirate of warrior-driven, expansionist, and both militarily and bureaucratically efficient early modern states, now often called "gunpowder empires" due to their common proficiency is using such weapons to conquer lands they sought to control."
from the original on 22 September 2023, retrieved 15 July 2019 Quote: "The Mughal empire was based in the interior of a large land-mass and derived the vast majority of its revenues from agriculture."
from the original on 22 September 2023, retrieved 15 July 2019 Quote: "... well over half of the output from the fields in his realm, after the costs of production had been met, is estimated to have been taken from the peasant producers by way of official taxes and unofficial exactions. Moreover, payments were exacted in money, and this required a well-regulated silver currency."
from the original on 22 September 2023, retrieved 15 July 2019 Quote: "His stipulation that land taxes be paid in cash forced peasants into market networks, where they could obtain the necessary money, while the standardization of imperial currency made the exchange of goods for money easier."
from the original on 22 September 2023, retrieved 15 July 2019 Quote: "Above all, the long period of relative peace ushered in by Akbar's power, and maintained by his successors, contributed to India's economic expansion."
from the original on 22 September 2023, retrieved 15 July 2019 Quote: "As the European presence in India grew, their demands for Indian goods and trading rights increased, thus bringing even greater wealth to the already flush Indian courts."
from the original on 22 September 2023, retrieved 15 July 2019 Quote: "The elite spent more and more money on luxury goods and sumptuous lifestyles, and the rulers built entire new capital cities at times."
from the original on 22 September 2023, retrieved 15 July 2019 Quote: "All these factors resulted in greater patronage of the arts, including textiles, paintings, architecture, jewellery, and weapons to meet the ceremonial requirements of kings and princes."
^ abCentre, UNESCO World Heritage. "Taj Mahal". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Archived from the original on 1 February 2018. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
. In India the dynasty always called itself Gurkani, after Temür's title Gurkân, the Persianized form of the Mongolian kürägän, 'son-in-law,' a title he assumed after his marriage to a Genghisid princess.
^John Walbridge. God and Logic in Islam: The Caliphate of Reason. p. 165. Persianate Mogul Empire.
from the original on 22 September 2023. Retrieved 16 June 2022. From Babur's memoirs we learn that Sanga's successes against the Mughal advance guard commanded by Abdul Aziz, and other forces at Bayana, ... severely demoralised the fighting spirit of Babur's troops encamped near Sikri.
from the original on 3 April 2023. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
^Muhammad Yasin (1958). A Social History of Islamic India, 1605–1748. Upper India Publishing House. p. 18. Archived from the original on 3 April 2023. Retrieved 27 March 2023. became virtual rulers and 'de facto' sovereigns when they began to make and unmake emperors. They had developed a sort of common brotherhood among themselves
^Pagadi, Setu Madhavarao (1970). "Maratha-Nizam Relations : Nizam-Ul-Mulk's Letters". Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute. 51 (1/4): 94. The Mughal court was hostile to Nizam-ul-Mulk..... Nizam did not interfere with the Maratha activities in Malwa and Gujarat.....Nizam-ul-Mulk considered the Maratha army...
. Even more disturbing was the fact that the assertion of independence had spread to other part of the empire too, and the governors of Hyderabad, Bengal and Awadh soon established independent kingdoms as well.
from the original on 13 December 2021, retrieved 13 December 2021
^ abKhalfaoui, Mouez. "Mughal Empire and Law". Oxford Islamic Studies Online. Archived from the original on 13 December 2021. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
. Wrestling in modern India is a synthesis of two different traditions: the Persian form of the art brought into South Asia by the Moguls, and an indigenous Hindu form.
^Charles T. Evans. "The Gunpowder Empires". Northern Virginia Community College. Archived from the original on 26 May 2011. Retrieved 28 December 2010.
Faruqui, Munis D. (2005), "The Forgotten Prince: Mirza Hakim and the Formation of the Mughal Empire in India", Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, 48 (4): 487–523,
Habib, Irfan. Atlas of the Mughal Empire: Political and Economic Maps (1982).
Markovits, Claude, ed. (2004) [First published 1994 as Histoire de l'Inde Moderne]. A History of Modern India, 1480–1950 (2nd ed.). London: Anthem Press.
Parodi, Laura E. (2021). "Kabul, a Forgotten Mughal Capital: Gardens, City, and Court at the Turn of the Sixteenth Century". Muqarnas Online. 38 (1): 113–153.
Heesterman, J.C. (2004), "The Social Dynamics of the Mughal Empire: A Brief Introduction", Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, 47 (3): 292–297,
Hiro, Dilip, ed, Journal of Emperor Babur (Penguin Classics 2007)
The Baburnama: Memoirs of Babur, Prince and Emperor ed. by W.M. Thackston Jr. (2002); this was the first autobiography in Islamic literature
Jackson, A.V. et al., eds. History of India (1907) v. 9. Historic accounts of India by foreign travellers, classic, oriental, and occidental, by A.V.W. Jackson online edition
The History of India, as Told by Its Own Historians. The Muhammadan Period; published by London Trubner Company 1867–1877. (Online Copy at Packard Humanities Institute
– Other Persian Texts in Translation; historical books: Author List and Title List)