Anne Davison - The Mughal Empire

Part ofthe In Brief: Books for BusyPeople

MAPS

Mongol Empire at the death ofGenghis Khan, 1227

Successive Dynasties of GenghisKhan

Timurid Empire,1370-1507

Genghis Khan FamilyTree

Contemporaries ofBabur

Mughal Empire at Death ofBabur, 1530

Babur Family Tree

Mughal Empire under Akbar,1605

Akbar Family Tree

Jahangir FamilyTree

Mughal Empire under Aurangzeb,1707

For some two hundred years, fromthe 16th Century to the 18th Century, aminority Islamic elite, the Mughals, ruled large swathes ofNorthern and Central India, which had a majority Hindu population.From the 18th Century onwards, the Mughal Empire wentinto decline, losing much of its power and territory to the HinduMarathas and the British East India Company. When the last Emperor,Bahadur Shah II, came to the throne in 1837, Mughal power wasconfined to the city of Delhi and he was nothing more than asymbolic figurehead for the once powerful Empire. The Britishfinally deposed Bahadur following the Indian Uprising in 1857. Thismarked the end of the Timurid Dynasty and the beginning of theBritish Raj.

The Mughal Emperors wereenthusiastic patrons of the arts and literature. Most wereaccomplished calligraphers and poets. Two Emperors, Babur andJahingir, wrote autobiographies. Under Mughal rule, magnificentmonuments and mausoleums were commissioned, incorporating bothHindu and Islamic features in a unique Indo-Islamic style ofarchitecture. Some of these monuments, for example the famous TajMahal and Humayans tomb, are now popular tourist sites. Others,particularly in Delhi, were either destroyed during the IndianUprising in 1857, or converted into military buildings by theBritish.

Much has been written about thefinal years of Mughal rule from a British perspective. This rangesfrom military accounts, British Government and East India Companydocuments as well as private diaries and letters, many of which arestill hidden away in dusty archives.

More recently, primary sourcematerial has been made available to the public with the help oftranslations and digital technology. This material includes thebiographies and autobiographies of the Emperors and also reportsand accounts of European travellers, traders and missionaries.

The aim of this book is to providean overview of this fascinating and complex history that shouldappeal to the non-academic. As with other books in the In Briefseries, this book is aimed at the general reader who wants tounderstand a particular historical topic but does not have the timeor inclination to read a heavy academic tome. With this mind,footnotes have been omitted.

While there will inevitably be gapsin a book of this size, the intention is to cover the mostsignificant events that moulded Mughal history. Should the readerbe inspired to further reading on the subject, a small selection ofthe main works that have been consulted is provided at the end ofthe text.

Where possible maps and family trees are provided whichshould help the reader follow the story. Furthermore, because thet ext contains so many namesthat may be unfamiliar, a Whos Who and Whats What is alsoprovided.

This is the seventh book in the In Brief Books for Busy People Series. All are available on Amazonat https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=anne+davison

Finally, I would like to thankthose friends and colleagues who gave of their valuable time toread through various chapters, proof read the text, and offerhelpful comments and advice.

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The word Mughal is thePersian form of Mongol, reflecting the fact that the forerunnersof the Mughal rulers of India were descendants of the Great Mongol,Genghis Khan. When Genghis died in 1227, his Empire was dividedamong his four sons, a practice that was continued by hisdescendants across Central Asia. One branch of the Mongol dynastyeventually came under the rule of Timur, also known as Tamerlane(Timur the Lame). Timur founded the Timurid Empire (1370-1507) thatstretched from todays Turkey in the West to Pakistan in theEast.

In 1483, Zahir-ud-Din Muhammad,known as Babur, was born into the House of Timur at Mawarannahr, modern Uzbekistan. On the death ofhis father, Babur inherited the region of Fergana Valley but helost his land to other male relatives. Believing he had noprospects in his homeland he decided to travel eastwards intoHindustan where, in 1526, he conquered the Sultanate ofDelhi. Babur then became the first Mughal Emperor of India,a dynasty that was referred to asthe House of Timur.

The Mughal Empire enjoyed its greatest period of expansion, power, cultural floweringand religious tolerance, during the rule of Akbar the Great(1556-1605). Following the death of the sixth Emperor Aurangzeb, in1707, the Empire went into steady decline and was finally dissolvedin 1857 in the aftermath of the Indian Uprising, orMutiny.

The reasons for thedecline of the Empire were multiple. In 1738, the Persians underNadir Shah attacked Delhi from the West while the Hindu MarathaEmpire persistently pushed into Mughal territory from the SouthEast. However, the greatest challenge to the Mughals came from thegrowing presence and influence of Europeans.

The British, Dutch and Portuguese first arrived on the Indian sub-continent astraders during the 15 th and16 th Centuries. By the 17 th Century the English East India Company was wellestablished in Calcutta and Madras. In the early years of theCompanys existence, relations between the Indian population andthe British were good, with many British men marrying Hindu andMuslim women and adopting an Indian lifestyle. However, in the18 th Century, with the rise of the Christian Evangelicalmovement in England, attitudes changed. From this point onwards theBritish increasingly advocated conversion of the native heathento Christianity. Hinduism in particular was portrayed as an evil,debauched religion.

By the midd le of the19 th Century, relations between the British officers of the EastIndia Company and the native sepoy army completely broke down. InMay 1857, Indian troops across Northern India turned against theirBritish commanders in what became known as the Indian Uprising orIndian Mutiny.

After several months of vicious fighting and atrocities committed by both sides,the British finally put down the rebellion. The Emperor wasarrested and the Mughal Empire was dissolved. The East IndiaCompany and its territories subsequently formed part of the BritishEmpire and Queen Victoria became Empress of India.

The first Chaptertraces the history of the Mongols under the leadership of GenghisKhan and Timur. If the reader is not particularly interested inMongol history, the story of the Mughal Empire can be picked up inChapter Two. However, since the Turkic Mongol inheritance is soimportant to Mughal identity, the background that is provided inChapter One provides useful reading.

C hapters two to sevencover the rule of the first six Emperors, from Babur to Aurangzeb.This is considered to be the greatest period of Mughal history. Thefinal chapter tells of the Empires slow decline, until theEmperors role was purely symbolic, with the real power being inthe hands of the British.

The history of aregion that covers several centuries presents a problem withboundaries, which can change and be porous. Place names can also beconfusing. For example, Persia is also referred to as Iran and theboundary between Persia, India and Afghanistan frequently changed.Furthermore, the spelling of names can vary. For example, Amir canalso be spelt Emir and Ferghana as Fergana or Farghana. Wherepossible, the spelling that might be more familiar to a Westernreader, has been used throughout the text.