Originally Babar was the ruler of Fergana. In the first Battle of Panipat fought on 21April, 1526 between Babur and Lodhi Emperor Ibrahim Lodhi in which victory of Babur over the Lodhi laid the foundation of Mughal Empire in India. In 1527 Babur defeated Rana Sanga in the Battle of Khanwa. Afghans under Muhammad Lodhi were defeated by Babur at the Battle of Ghaghara in 1529. Babur died at Agra in 1530 but according to his will his body was taken to Kabul and buried there. Babur was a prolific writer as well as poet has written his autobiography Tuzuk-i- Baburi in Chaghatay Turki.
Humayun-
Humayun was the eldest son of Babur. Sher Shah Suri an ambitious ruler of Bengal had fought Humayun in the Battle of Chausa in 1539 in which Humayun was defeated and Mughal force was almost destroyed. In the beginning Humayun was helped by the ruler of Amarkot Rana Virsal where Hamida Banu gave birth to Akbar in 1542. Humayun finally got shelter in the court of Emperor Shah Tahmasp of Persia. Humayun reconquered his Indian empire with the help of Shah of Iran in 1555 by defeating Afghans. He died in 1556. Humayun was passionately devoted to the study of astronomy, loved painting and wrote Persian poetry.
Akbar [1556-1605]-
Akbar was born at Amarkot in 1542.At the age of 14 he became the emperor after the death of his father Humayun. Bairam Khan was the regent up to 1560. In 1556 second Battle of Panipat was fought between the Hemu and Mughals which Mughals won under the generalship of Bairam Khan. Raja Bharmal the King of Amber married his eldest daughter to Akbar and subsequently Raja Bhagwan Das and Man Singh were inducted into the Imperial Mughal service. Almost all Rajput states were subjugated and they submitted to Akbar but the Rana of Mewar continued to defy Mughal suzerainty.
In the battle of Haldighati in 1576, Rana Partap was defeated by the Mughals under Man Singh. In 1562 Akbar discontinued the practice of enslaving the defeated soldiers in the battles. In 1563 pilgrimage tax was abolished. In 1564 the discriminatory jaziya tax was abolished. In 1575 Ibadatkhana was built at Fetahpur Sekri for religious discussions. Initially only Sunni were allowed later all religious groups such as Shias, Hindus, Christians and Zoroastrians were allowed to participate. In 1579 Akbar read the Khutba composed by Faizi in his own name. In September 1579 Mahzar was proclaimed by Akbar which made him the Imam-i-Adil. In 1582 Din-i-Illahi or Tauhid-i-IIahi was started by Akbar which is considered by some historians a new religion started by Akbar. Akbar died in 1605.He was buried at Sikandra.
Jahangir alias Salim [1605-1627]-
Prince Salim ascended the throne in 1605.He assumed the title of Jahangir. He issued 12 ordinances after becoming emperor. In 1611 he married Mehrunnissa who was later on called Nur Jahan, her father Gyas Beg was given the title of Itmaduddaulah. During Jahangir’s time relations with Rajput of Mewar improved and Amar Singh submitted in 1615 to the Mughal. The practice of enrolling Marathas into the Mughal army and nobility was started. In 1606 Jahangir’s son Khusru revolted but defeated and imprisoned. Guru Arjun Dev 5th Guru of Sikhs was beheaded on the charge of blessing Khusru. In 1625 Mahabat Khan imprisoned Jahangir and Nurjahan. Jahangir wrote Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri in Persian. During his time painting reached to its zenith in Mughal court. Jahangir died in 1627 at Bhimbar in Kashmir. He is buried at Dilkush garden in Lahore.
Saha Jahan [1628-1658]-
Prince Khurram succeeded Jahangir and adopted the title of Shah Jahan in 1627. In 1607 Jahangir had granted him a Mansab of 800 zat. In 1632 Portuguese were defeated by him near Hugli. In 1612 Shahjahan married Anjumand Bano Begum who later became famous as Mumtaz Mahal. In 1636 Ahmadnagar was annexed by Shahjahan. His reign is described by French traveler Bernier and Tavernier and the Italian traveler Manucci. In 1638 Ali Mardan Khan the Persian governor of Kandahar surrendered the port to the Mughal government of Kabul. Bundelas under Jujhar Singh rebelled during the Shahjahan reign. In the end of his reign there was a bloody war of succession among his sons in which Aurangzeb become successful due to Shahjahan; favour to Dara Shikoh to the throne. Aurangzeb imprisoned Shahjahan at Agra Fort and he died in captivity in 1666.He was buried besides his wife’s grave in Taj Mahal.
Aurangzeb [1658-1707]-
Aurangzeb ruled for almost 50 years. During his long reign the Mughal Empire reached its territorial climax. At its height it stretched from Kashmir in the north to Jinji in the south and from the Hindukush in the west to Chittagong in the east. But much of the Aurangzeb’s time was spent in trying to put down revolts in different parts of the empire. Aurangzeb sent his army to the Deccan to curtail the rising Maratha power and to prevent them from overpowering the kingdoms of Bijapur and Golconda.
Decline of Mughal Empire-
Aurangzeb’s death in 1706 set off the rapid decline of the Mughal Empire. His successors were weak and increasingly became mere tools in the hands of the nobles. Taking advantage of this the Rajputs, Sikhs and the Afghans openly defied the authority of Mughal emperor. Even more disturbing was the fact that the assertion of independence had spread to other parts of the empire. The governors of Hyderabad, Bengal and Avadh established independent kingdoms and the Marathas reorganized under a new system of government that of the Brahman ministers the Peshwas. They were gradually extending their control towards north India. At the time of foreign invasions such as those of Nadir Shah (1729) and Ahmad Shah Abdali (1747-61) further weakened the empire. The rising power of the Marathas was temporarily checked by their defeat at the hands of Ahmad Shah Abdali in the third battle of Panipat in 1761. The Mughals were now reduced to the area around Delhi. They continued to rule in name until 1857.Real political power was shifted to the hands of the new kingdoms.
Reasons of decline-
Although the Mughal Empire began breaking up in the 18th century, the causes of its decline can be traced back much earlier. Aurangzeb’s long reign of constant and uninterrupted fighting was not only a big drain on the exchequer but it also led to the negligence of administration. Politically he made number of mistakes which undermined the strength of the Mughal Empire. The empire was also met with financial troubles. There was neither enough money nor jagirs to assign to various officers. This led to rivalry among the nobles for the possessing the existing jagirs. They tried to extort the maximum income from their jagirs at the cost of the peasantry. Attempts were made to transform existing offices and jagirs into hereditary ones. The officers invariably reduced their expenditure by not maintaining their full quota of troops thus weakening the empire’s armed strength. The condition of the peasant had also gradually worsened. Higher revenue demands, a greater level of exploitation by jagirdars because of frequent transfers tried to extract as much as possible during their tenure as Jagirdar. The practice of farming the land revenue to the highest bidder after the death of Aurangzeb increased peasant discontentment. The rebellions of the Satnamis, Jats, and the Sikhs were indicative of this. The Zamindars too became rebellious and withheld revenue. The Mughal Empire might have continued to exist for a long time if its administration and armed power had not broken down.
Mansabdari system in Mughal Period-
Akbar organized the nobility and his army by means of the Mansabdari system. Every officer was assigned a rank valued in terms of a certain number of mounted soldiers. The ranks normally given to top officers and nobles were valued from 10 to 5000 later raised to 7000.The ranks were divided into two: zat and sawar. Zat means personal where by the status and salary of the individual was fixed. Out of this salary in addition to meeting his own personal expenses, he had to maintain a stipulated quota of horses, elephants, camels, mules and carts. The other rank indicated the number of cavalrymen (sawar) a mansabdar was required to maintain. For every sawar, a mansabdar was paid at a rate of Rs 240 per annum over and above his salary. A person was required to maintain as many sawars as his zat rank was placed in the first category of that rank; if he maintained less than half then in the third category. Thus there were three categories in every rank. No one could have a higher quota of sawars than his zat rank. The Mansab was not hereditary. The sawar rank was distinguished by two special features: For every 10 cavalrymen the mansabdar had to maintain 20 horses and a provision was made that the contingents of the nobles should be mixed ones that is drawn from all the groups- Mughal, Pathan, Hindustani and Rajput. This was intended to weaken the spirit of tribal and ethnic exclusiveness. The mansabdars were assigned a jagir in lieu of cash payment. Few modifications were made in this system from time to time but the basic structure remained same as long as the Empire held together. The number of mansabdars rose from 2069 at the time of Jahangir’s accession in 1605 to 8000 in 1637 during Shah Jahan’s reign and to 11,546 during the latter half of the Aurangzeb’s reign.
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