Mughal Empire

The Mughal imperial structure, however, is sometimes dated to 1600, to the rule of Babur's grandson, Akbar. This imperial structure lasted until 1720, shortly after the death of the last major emperor, Aurangzeb, during whose reign the empire also achieved its maximum geographical extent. Reduced subsequently to the region in and around Old Delhi by 1760, 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, it did not vigorously suppress the cultures and peoples it came to rule; rather, it equalised and placated them through new administrative practices, and diverse ruling elites, leading to more efficient, centralised, and standardised rule. The basis of the empire's collective wealth was agricultural taxes, implemented by the third Mughal emperor, Akbar. These taxes, which amounted to well over half the output of a peasant cultivator, were paid in the well-regulated silver currency, and allowed peasants and artisans to enter larger markets. The relative peace maintained by the empire during much of the 17th century was a factor in India's economic expansion. The burgeoning European presence in the Indian Ocean and an increasing demand for Indian raw and finished products generated much wealth for the Mughal court. There was conspicuous consumption among the Mughal elite, resulting in greater patronage of painting, literary forms, textiles, and architecture, especially during the reign of Shah Jahan. Among the Mughal UNESCO World Heritage Sites in South Asia are Agra Fort, Fatehpur Sikri, Red Fort, Humayun's Tomb, Lahore Fort, Shalamar Gardens, and the Taj Mahal, which has been described as "the jewel of Muslim art in India, and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage".

• Conventional Long Name — Mughal Empire • Era — Early modern • Status — Empire • Government Type — Monarchy • Life Span — 1526–1857 • Year Start — 1526 • Year End — 1857 • Event Start — First Battle of Panipat • Date Start — 21 April • Event End — Siege of Delhi • Date End — 21 September • Event Post — Mughal Emperor exiled to British Burma • Date Post — 7 October 1858 • Event1 — Mughal Interregnum • Date Event1 — 17 May 1540 – 22 June 1555 • Event2 — Second Battle of Panipat • Date Event2 — 5 November 1556 • Event3 — Mughal–Afghan Wars • Date Event3 — 21 April 1526 – 3 April 1752 • Event4 — Deccan wars • Date Event4 — 1680–1707 • Event6 — Nader Shah's invasion of India • Date Event6 — 1738–1740 • P1 — Delhi Sultanate • P2 — Sur Empire • S1 — British Raj • Today — * India • Pakistan • Bangladesh • Afghanistan • Image Map — Joppen1907India1700a.jpg • Map Width — 250px • Image Map Caption — The empire at its greatest extent c. 1700, under Aurangzeb • Image Map Alt — Mughal • Common Languages — See Languages of South Asia • Official Languages — Persian • Currency — Rupee, Taka, dam • Leader1 — Babur • Leader2 — Bahadur Shah II • Year Leader1 — 1526–1530 (first) • Year Leader2 — 1837–1857 (last) • Title Leader — Emperor • Title Representative — Vicegerent • Year Representative1 — 1526–1540 (first) • Representative1 — Mir Khalifa • Year Representative2 — 1794–1818 (last) • Representative2 — Daulat Rao Sindhia • Title Deputy — Grand Vizier • Deputy1 — Mir Khalifa • Year Deputy1 — 1526–1540 (first) • Deputy2 — Asaf-ud-Daula • Year Deputy2 — 1775–1797 (last) • Stat Year1 — c. 1600 • Stat Area1 — 3,200,000 • Stat Area2 — 4,000,000 • Stat Year2 — 1690 • Stat Year3 — c. 1600 • Stat Year4 — c. 1700 • Stat Pop3 — 150,000,000 • Stat Pop4 — 158,400,000 • Demonym — Mughal The Mughal Empire was an early modern empire in South Asia. At its peak, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to the highlands of present-day Assam and Bangladesh in the east, and the uplands of the Deccan Plateau in South India. The Mughal Empire is conventionally said to have been founded in 1526 by Babur, a Timurid prince hailing from Fergana Valley in Central Asia, who with the Safavid and Ottoman assistance defeated the Sultan of Delhi, Ibrahim Lodi, in the First Battle of Panipat and swept down the plains of northern India. The Mughal imperial structure, however, is sometimes dated to 1600, to the rule of Babur's grandson, Akbar. This imperial structure lasted until 1720, shortly after the death of the last major emperor, Aurangzeb, during whose reign the empire also achieved its maximum geographical extent. Reduced subsequently to the region in and around Old Delhi by 1760, 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, it did not vigorously suppress the cultures and peoples it came to rule; rather, it equalised and placated them through new administrative practices, and diverse ruling elites, leading to more efficient, centralised, and standardised rule. The basis of the empire's collective wealth was agricultural taxes, implemented by the third Mughal emperor, Akbar. These taxes, which amounted to well over half the output of a peasant cultivator, were paid in the well-regulated silver currency, and allowed peasants and artisans to enter larger markets. The relative peace maintained by the empire during much of the 17th century was a factor in India's economic expansion. The burgeoning European presence in the Indian Ocean and an increasing demand for Indian raw and finished products generated much wealth for the Mughal court. There was conspicuous consumption among the Mughal elite, resulting in greater patronage of painting, literary forms, textiles, and architecture, especially during the reign of Shah Jahan. Among the Mughal UNESCO World Heritage Sites in South Asia are Agra Fort, Fatehpur Sikri, Red Fort, Humayun's Tomb, Lahore Fort, Shalamar Gardens, and the Taj Mahal, which has been described as "the jewel of Muslim art in India, and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage".

The word Mughal (also spelled Mogul or Moghul in English) is the Indo-Persian form of Mongol. However, the Mughal dynasty's early followers were Chagatai Turks and not Mongols. The term Mughal was applied to them in India by association with the Mongols and to distinguish them from the Afghan elite who ruled the Delhi Sultanate. In the West, the terms Grand Mughal and Mughal were used for the emperor and, by extension, the empire as a whole. The term remains disputed by Indologists. In Marshall Hodgson's view, the dynasty should be called Timurid/Timuri or Indo-Timurid. The closest to an official name for the empire was Hindustan, which was documented in the Ain-i-Akbari. Mughal administrative records also refer to the empire as "dominion of Hindustan" (Wilāyat-i-Hindustān), "country of Hind" (Bilād-i-Hind), "Sultanate of al-Hind" (Salṭanat(i) al-Hindīyyah), as observed in the epitaph of Emperor Aurangzeb, or endonymous identification from emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar as "Land of Hind" (Hindostān) in Hindustani. Contemporary Chinese chronicles referred to the empire as Hindustan. The Mughal designation for their dynasty was Gurkani, a reference to their descent from the Turco-Mongol conqueror Timur, who took the title 'son-in-law' after his marriage to a Chinggisid princess.

The Mughal Empire was founded by Babur (reigned 1526–1530), a Central Asian ruler who was descended from the Turco-Mongol conqueror Timur (the founder of the Timurid Empire) on his father's side, and from Genghis Khan on his mother's side. Paternally, Babur belonged to the Turkified Barlas tribe of Mongol origin. Ousted from his ancestral domains in Central Asia, Babur turned to India to satisfy his ambitions. He established himself in Kabul and then pushed steadily southward into India from Afghanistan through the Khyber Pass. Babur's forces defeated Ibrahim Lodi, Sultan of Delhi, in the First Battle of Panipat in 1526. Through his use of firearms and cannons, he was able to shatter Ibrahim's armies despite being at a numerical disadvantage, expanding his dominion up to the mid Indo-Gangetic Plain. After the battle, the centre of Mughal power shifted to Agra. In the decisive Battle of Khanwa, fought near Agra a year later, the Timurid forces of Babur defeated the combined Rajput armies of Rana Sanga of Mewar, with his native cavalry employing traditional flanking tactics. The preoccupation with wars and military campaigns, however, did not allow the new emperor to consolidate the gains he had made in India. The instability of the empire became evident under his son, Humayun (reigned 1530–1556), who was forced into exile in Persia by the rebellious Sher Shah Suri (reigned 1540–1545). 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. 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.

• Illustration — Akbar holds a religious assembly of different faiths in the Ibadat Khana in Fatehpur Sikri. Akbar (reigned 1556–1605) was born Jalal-ud-din Muhammad in the Umarkot Fort, to Humayun and his wife Hamida Banu Begum, a Persian princess. Akbar succeeded to the throne under a regent, Bairam Khan, who helped consolidate the Mughal Empire in India. Through a series of wars, Akbar was able to extend the empire in all directions and controlled almost the entire Indian subcontinent north of the Godavari River. He created a new ruling elite loyal to him, implemented a modern administration, and encouraged cultural developments. He increased trade with European trading companies. India developed a strong and stable economy, leading to commercial expansion and economic development. Akbar allowed freedom of religion at his court and attempted to resolve socio-political and cultural differences in his empire by establishing a new religion, Din-i Ilahi, with strong characteristics of a ruler cult. 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. Jahangir (born Salim, reigned 1605–1627) was born to Akbar and his wife Mariam-uz-Zamani, an Indian princess. Salim was named after the Indian Sufi saint, Salim Chishti. He "was addicted to opium, neglected the affairs of the state, and came under the influence of rival court cliques". Jahangir distinguished himself from Akbar by making substantial efforts to gain the support of the Islamic religious establishment. One way he did this was by bestowing many more madad-i-ma'ash (tax-free personal land revenue grants given to religiously learned or spiritually worthy individuals) than Akbar had. In contrast to Akbar, Jahangir came into conflict with non-Muslim religious leaders, notably the Sikh guru Arjan, whose execution was the first of many conflicts between the Mughal Empire and the Sikh community. • Illustration — Group portrait of Mughal rulers, from Babur to Aurangzeb, with the Mughal ancestor Timur seated in the middle. On the left: Shah Jahan, Akbar and Babur, with Abu Sa'id of Samarkand and Timur's son, Miran Shah. On the right: Aurangzeb, Jahangir and Humayun, and two of Timur's other offspring Umar Shaykh and Muhammad Sultan. Created c. 1707–12. Shah Jahan (reigned 1628–1658) was born to Jahangir and his wife Jagat Gosain. His reign ushered in the golden age of Mughal architecture. 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. Shah Jahan extended the Mughal Empire to the Deccan by ending the Ahmadnagar Sultanate and forcing the Adil Shahis and Qutb Shahis to pay tribute. Shah Jahan's eldest son, the liberal Dara Shikoh, became regent in 1658, as a result of his father's illness. Dara championed a syncretistic Hindu-Muslim culture, emulating his great-grandfather Akbar. With the support of the Islamic orthodoxy, however, a younger son of Shah Jahan, Aurangzeb, seized the throne. Aurangzeb defeated Dara in 1659 and had him executed. Although Shah Jahan fully recovered from his illness, Aurangzeb kept Shah Jahan imprisoned until he died in 1666. Aurangzeb brought the empire to its greatest territorial extent, and oversaw an increase in the Islamicisation of the Mughal state. He encouraged conversion to Islam, reinstated the jizya on non-Muslims, and compiled the Fatawa 'Alamgiri, a collection of Islamic law. Aurangzeb also ordered the execution of the Sikh guru Tegh Bahadur, leading to the militarisation of the Sikh community. From the imperial perspective, conversion to Islam integrated local elites into the king's vision of a network of shared identity that would join disparate groups throughout the empire in obedience to the Mughal emperor. He led campaigns from 1682 in the Deccan, annexing its remaining Muslim powers of Bijapur and Golconda, though engaged in a prolonged conflict in the region which had a ruinous effect on the empire. The campaigns took a toll on the Mughal treasury, and Aurangzeb's absence led to a severe decline in governance, while stability and economic output in the Mughal Deccan plummeted. Aurangzeb is considered the most controversial Mughal emperor, with some historians arguing his religious conservatism and intolerance undermined the stability of Mughal society, while other historians question this, noting that he financed or patronised the building of non-Muslim institutions, employed significantly more Hindus in his imperial bureaucracy than his predecessors did, and opposed bigotry against Hindus and Shi'a Muslims.

• Illustration — Delhi under the puppet-emperor Farrukhsiyar. Effective power was held by the Sayyid Brothers. Aurangzeb's son, Bahadur Shah I, repealed the religious policies of his father and attempted to reform the administration. "However, after he died in 1712, the Mughal dynasty began to sink into chaos and violent feuds. In 1719 alone, four emperors successively ascended the throne" as figureheads under the Indian Muslim clan known as the Barha family, whose leaders, the Sayyid brothers, became the de facto sovereigns in the empire. During the reign of Muhammad Shah (reigned 1719–1748), the empire began to break up, and vast tracts of central India passed from Mughal to Maratha hands. As the Mughals tried to suppress the independence of Asaf Jah I in the Deccan, he encouraged the Marathas to invade central and northern India. The Indian campaign of Nader Shah, who had previously re-established Iranian suzerainty over most of West Asia, the Caucasus, and Central Asia, culminated with the sack of Delhi in 1739, shattering the remnants of Mughal power and prestige, and taking off all the accumulated Mughal treasury. The Mughals could no longer finance the huge armies with which they had formerly enforced their rule. Many of the empire's elites now sought to control their affairs and broke away to form independent kingdoms. But lip service continued to be paid to the Mughal Emperor as 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. 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 conflicts such as the Carnatic wars and Bengal War. • Illustration — The remnants of the empire in 1751 The Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II (1759–1806) made futile attempts to reverse the Mughal decline. Delhi was sacked by the Afghans, and when the Third Battle of Panipat was fought between the Maratha Empire and the Afghans led by Ahmad Shah Durrani in 1761, in which the Afghans were victorious, the emperor had ignominiously taken temporary refuge with the British to the east. In 1771, the Marathas recaptured Delhi from the Rohillas, and in 1784 the Marathas officially became the protectors of the emperor in Delhi, a state of affairs that continued until the Second Anglo-Maratha War. Thereafter, the British East India Company became the protectors of the Mughal dynasty in Delhi. The British East India Company took control of the former Mughal province of Bengal-Bihar in 1793 after it abolished local rule (Nizamat) that lasted until 1858, marking the beginning of the British colonial era over the Indian subcontinent. By 1857 a considerable part of former Mughal India was under the East India Company's control. After a crushing defeat in the Indian Rebellion of 1857 which he nominally led, the last Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar, was deposed on 21 September 1857 after Delhi came under siege by the British East India Company and exiled in 1858 to Rangoon, Burma. • Illustration — Portrait of Bahadur Shah Zafar

Historians have offered numerous accounts of the several factors involved in the rapid collapse of the Mughal Empire between 1707 and 1720, after a century of growth and prosperity. A succession of short-lived incompetent and weak rulers, and civil wars over the succession, created political instability at the centre. The Mughals appeared virtually unassailable during the 17th century, but, once gone, their imperial overstretch became clear, and the situation could not be recovered. The seemingly innocuous European trading companies, such as the British East India Company, played no real part in the initial decline; they were still racing to get permission from the Mughal rulers to establish trades and factories in India. 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.

• Illustration — India in 1605 and the end of emperor Akbar's reign; the map shows the different subahs, or provinces, of his administration. The Mughal Empire had a highly centralised, bureaucratic government, most of which was instituted during the rule of the third Mughal emperor, Akbar. The central government was headed by the Mughal emperor; immediately beneath him were four ministries. The finance/revenue ministry, headed by an official called a diwan, was responsible for controlling revenues from the empire's territories, calculating tax revenues, and using this information to distribute assignments. The ministry of the military (army/intelligence) was headed by an official titled mir bakhshi, who was in charge of military organisation, messenger service, and the mansabdari system. The ministry in charge of law/religious patronage was the responsibility of the sadr as-sudr, who appointed judges and managed charities and stipends. Another ministry was dedicated to the imperial household and public works, headed by the mir saman. Of these ministers, the diwan held the most importance, and typically acted as the wazir (prime minister) of the empire.

• Illustration — Ain-i-Akbari Subah, by Wilkinson, 1815 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. The Mughal government in the pargana consisted of a Muslim judge and local tax collector. Parganas were the basic administrative unit of the Mughal Empire. 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.

The Mughals had multiple imperial capitals, established throughout their rule. These were the cities of Agra, Delhi, Lahore, and Fatehpur Sikri. Power often shifted back and forth between these capitals. Sometimes this was necessitated by political and military demands, but shifts also occurred for ideological reasons (for example, Akbar's establishment of Fatehpur Sikri), or even simply because the cost of establishing a new capital was marginal. Situations where two simultaneous capitals existed happened multiple times in Mughal history. Certain cities also served as short-term, provincial capitals, as was the case with Aurangzeb's shift to Aurangabad in the Deccan. Kabul was the summer capital of Mughals from 1526 to 1681. 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. After Aurangzeb, the Mughal capital definitively became the walled city of Shahjahanabad (Old Delhi).

• Illustration — Police in Delhi under Bahadur Shah II, 1842 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. Scholar Mouez Khalfaoui notes that legal institutions in the Mughal Empire systemically suffered from the corruption of local judges.

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. 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.

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). Qadis were usually appointed by the emperor or the sadr-us-sudr (chief of charities). The jurisdiction of the qadi was availed by Muslims and non-Muslims alike. 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. 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. 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.

The Mughal economy was large and prosperous. India was producing 24.5% of the world's manufacturing output up until 1750. Mughal India's economy has been described as a form of proto-industrialisation, like that of 18th-century Western Europe before the Industrial Revolution. Modern historians and researchers generally agree that the character of the Mughal Empire's economic policy resembles the laissez-faire system in dealing with trade and billions to achieve the economic ends. The Mughals were responsible for building an extensive road system and creating a uniform currency. 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. The main base of the empire's collective wealth was agricultural taxes, instituted by the third Mughal emperor, Akbar. These taxes, which amounted to well over half the output of a peasant cultivator, were paid in the well-regulated silver currency, and caused peasants and artisans to enter larger markets. In circa 1595, Modern historians estimated the state's annual revenues of the Mughal Empire were around 99,000,000 rupees.

• Illustration — Coin of Aurangzeb, minted in Kabul, dated 1691/2 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. The Mughals minted coins with high purity, never dropping below 96%, and without debasement until the 1720s. 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.

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. 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. 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. 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. However, in a system where wealth was hoarded by elites, wages were depressed for manual labour. While slavery also existed, it was limited largely to household servants. According to one study, however, measures aimed at protecting workers' rights were carried out during the course of the Mughal Empire, with one study noting that the Mughals “emphasized the importance of fair wages and the provision of necessities for workers, reflecting the broader Islamic principles of justice and equity.”

Indian agricultural production increased under the Mughal Empire. 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. The Mughal administration emphasised the agrarian reform that began under the non-Mughal emperor Sher Shah Suri, which Akbar adopted and furthered with more reforms. The civil administration was organised hierarchically based on merit, with promotions based on performance. 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. A major Mughal reform introduced by Akbar was a new land revenue system called zabt. He replaced the tribute system, previously common in India and used by Tokugawa Japan at the time, with a monetary tax system based on a uniform currency. The revenue system was biased in favour of higher value cash crops such as cotton, indigo, sugar cane, tree crops, and opium, providing state incentives to grow cash crops, in addition to rising market demand. 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. The expansion of agriculture and cultivation continued under later Mughal emperors, including Aurangzeb. Mughal agriculture was in some ways advanced compared to European agriculture at the time, exemplified by the common use of the seed drill among Indian peasants before its adoption in Europe. Geared sugar rolling mills first appeared in Mughal India, using the principle of rollers as well as worm gearing, by the 17th century.

Mughal Karkhanas South Asia during the Mughal's rule was a very fertile ground for manufacturing technologies coveted by the Europeans before the Industrial Revolution. Up until 1750, India produced about 25% of the world's industrial output. Manufactured goods and cash crops from the Mughal Empire were sold throughout the world. 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-industrialisation, similar to 18th-century Western Europe before the Industrial Revolution. In early modern Europe, there was significant demand for products from Mughal India, particularly cotton textiles, as well as goods such as spices, peppers, indigo, silks, and saltpetre (for use in munitions). European fashion, for example, became increasingly dependent on Mughal Indian textiles and silks.

• Illustration — Muslim Lady Reclining or An Indian Girl with a Hookah, painted in Dacca, 18th century 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. The cotton textile industry was responsible for a large part of the empire's international trade. India had a 25% share of the global textile trade in the early 18th century, and it represented the most important manufactured goods in world trade in the 18th century. The most important centre of cotton production was the Bengal province, particularly around its capital city of Dhaka. The production of cotton 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.

• Illustration — Ruins of the Great Caravanserai in Dhaka 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. Historian C. A. Bayly wrote that it was probably the Mughal Empire's wealthiest province. 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. The province was a leading producer of grains, salt, fruits, liquors and wines, precious metals and ornaments. After 150 years of rule by Mughal viceroys, Bengal gained de facto independence as a dominion under Murshid Quli Khan, the first Nawab of Bengal in 1717. The Nawabs permitted European companies to set up trading posts across the region, which regarded Bengal as the richest place for trade.

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. He also assesses ship repairing as very advanced in Bengal.

India's population growth accelerated under the Mughal Empire, with an unprecedented economic and demographic upsurge which boosted the Indian population by 60% to 253% in 200 years during 1500–1700. The Indian population had a faster growth during the Mughal era than at any known point in Indian history before the Mughal era. By the time of Aurangzeb's reign, there were a total of 455,698 villages in the Mughal Empire. 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: • Year — Mughal Empire population — Total Indian population — % of South Asian population — World population — % of world population • 1500 — — — — — — • 1600 — 89 — 20 • 1700 — 99 — 23 There was a notable presence of the Jewish diaspora in the Mughal empire. The Jewish community in the empire engaged in trading jewelry and precious stones. Sarmad Kashani engaged in religious activities in the Mughal court.

According to Irfan Habib, cities and towns boomed under the Mughal Empire, which had a relatively high degree of urbanisation for its time, with 15% of its population living in urban centres. This was higher than the percentage of the urban population in contemporary Europe at the time and higher than that of British India in the 19th century; the level of urbanisation in Europe did not reach 15% until the 19th century. 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, 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. 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. Those estimates were criticised by Tim Dyson, who considers them exaggerations. According to Dyson, urbanisation of the Mughal Empire was less than 9%. The historian Nizamuddin Ahmad (1551–1621) reported that, under Akbar's reign, there were 120 large cities and 3200 townships. Several cities in India had a population between a quarter-million and half-million people, with larger cities including Agra (in Agra Subah) with up to 800,000 people, Lahore (in Lahore Subah) with up to 700,000 people, Dhaka (in Bengal Subah) with over 1 million people, and Delhi (in Delhi Subah) with over 600,000 people. 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. However, several cities were military and political centres, rather than manufacturing or commerce centres.

• Illustration — Ghulam Hamdani Mushafi, the poet first believed to have coined the name "Urdu" around 1780 AD for a language that went by a multiplicity of names before his time Generally, classical historiographies depicted the Mughal Empire's origin as a sedentarised agrarian society. However, modern historians such as André Wink, Jos J. L. Gommans, Anatoly Khazanov, Thomas J. Barfield, and others, argued the Mughals originated from nomadic culture. Pius Malekandathil argued instead that although it was true that the Mughal had their origin as nomadic civilisation, they became more sendentarised as time passed, as exemplified by their military tradition. 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: • Illustration — Mir Taqi Mir, an Urdu poet of the 18th century Mughal Empire • Illustration — The Taj Mahal in the 1870s • Centralised imperial rule that consolidated the smaller polities of South Asia. • The amalgamation of Persian art and literature with Indian art. • Illustration — Badshahi Mosque, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan • The development of Mughlai cuisine, an amalgamation of South Asian, Iranian and Central Asian culinary styles. • The development of Mughal clothing, jewellery and fashion, utilising richly decorated fabrics such as muslin, silk, brocade and velvet. • The influence of the Persian language over Old Hindi led to the development of the Hindustani language. • The introduction of sophisticated Iranian-style waterworks and horticulture through Mughal gardening. • The introduction of hammams into the Indian subcontinent. • The evolution and refinement of Mughal and Indian architecture, and, in turn, the development of later Rajput and Sikh palatial architecture. A famous Mughal landmark is the Taj Mahal. • The development of the Pehlwani style of Indian wrestling, a combination of Indian malla-yuddha and Persian varzesh-e bastani. • The construction of Maktab schools, where youth were taught the Quran and Islamic law such as the Fatawa 'Alamgiri in their indigenous languages. • The development of Hindustani classical music, and instruments such as the sitar. • Illustration — Buland Darwaza in Fatehpur Sikiri, Agra, India

The procession of marriage among the royals of the Mughal Empire was recorded with many reports of extravagant gifts. One occasion was during the marriage of a son of emperor Akbar, Salim, with the daughter of a ruler of Bijapur, Raja Bhagwant Das, where the gift presented by Bhagwant Das consisted of many horses, 100 elephants, many male and female slaves of Abyssinian, Caucasian, and native Indian origins, who brought with them various gold and silver utensils as dowry.

The Mughals made a major contribution to the Indian subcontinent with the development of their distinctive architectural style. This style was derived from earlier Indo-Islamic architecture as well as from Iranian and Central Asian architecture (particularly Timurid architecture), while incorporating further influences from Hindu architecture. Mughal architecture is distinguished, among other things, by bulbous domes, ogive arches, carefully-composed and polished façades, and the use of hard red sandstone and marble as construction materials. Furthermore, William Dalrymple mentioned that during the final days of the Mughal fall of Delhi in 1857, an ice house structure existed in Delhi. Emperor Shah Jahan has recorded establishing an ice-house in Sirmaur, north of Delhi. Many monuments were built during the Mughal era by the Muslim emperors, especially Shah Jahan, including the Taj Mahal—a UNESCO World Heritage Site considered "the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage", attracting 7–8 million unique visitors a year. The palaces, tombs, gardens and forts built by the dynasty stand today in Agra, Aurangabad, Delhi, Dhaka, Fatehpur Sikri, Jaipur, Lahore, Kabul, Sheikhupura, and many other cities of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh, such as: • Illustration — Lalbagh Fort aerial view in Dhaka, Bangladesh • India — Pakistan — Bangladesh — Afghanistan • * Taj Mahal in Agra, India * Agra Fort in Agra, India * Buland Darwaza in Agra, India * Akbar's tomb in Sikandra, India * Tomb of Mariam-uz-Zamani in Sikandra, India * Humayun's Tomb in Delhi, India * Jama Masjid in Delhi, India * Red Fort in Delhi, India * Sunder Nursery in Delhi, India * Purana Qila in Delhi, India * Sher Mandal in Delhi, India * Pinjore Gardens in Pinjore, India * Shalimar Bagh in Srinagar, India * Nishat Bagh in Srinagar, India * Chasma Shahi in Srinagar, India * Pari Mahal in Srinagar, India * Verinag Gardens in Srinagar, India * Allahabad Fort in Prayagraj, India * Shahi Bridge in Jaunpur, India * Bibi Ka Maqbara in Aurangabad, India * Kos Minar in Haryana, India * Baoli Ghaus Ali Shah in Farrukhnagar, India — * Badshahi Masjid in Lahore, Pakistan * Shalimar Gardens in Lahore, Pakistan * Lahore Fort in Lahore, Pakistan * Shahi Hammam in Lahore, Pakistan * Wazir Khan Mosque in Lahore, Pakistan * Tomb of Jahangir in Lahore, Pakistan * Tomb of Anarkali in Lahore, Pakistan * Tomb of Nur Jahan in Lahore, Pakistan * Tomb of Asif Khan in Lahore, Pakistan * Begum Shahi Mosque in Lahore, Pakistan * Akbari Sarai in Lahore, Pakistan * Hiran Minar in Sheikhpura, Pakistan * Mahabat Khan Mosque in Peshawar, Pakistan * Shahi Eid Gah Mosque in Multan, Pakistan * Mausoleum of Masum Shah in Sukkur, Pakistan * Losar Baoli in Taxila, Pakistan * Makli Necropolis in Thatta, Pakistan * Shah Jahan Mosque in Thatta, Pakistan — * Mughal Eidgah in Dhaka, Bangladesh * Lalbagh Fort in Dhaka, Bangladesh * Shahi Eidgah in Sylhet, Bangladesh * Mughal Tahakhana in Chapai Nawabganj, Bangladesh * Sat Gambuj Mosque in Dhaka, Bangladesh * Masjid-e-Siraj ud-Daulah in Chittagong, Bangladesh * Allakuri Masjid in Dhaka, Bangladesh * Chawkbazar Shahi Masjid in Dhaka, Bangladesh * Laldighi Masjid in Rangpur, Bangladesh * Khan Mohammad Mridha Masjid in Dhaka, Bangladesh * Wali Khan Masjid in Chittagong, Bangladesh * Shaista Khan Masjid, in Dhaka, Bangladesh * Musa Khan Masjid, in Dhaka, Bangladesh * Shahbaz Khan Masjid, in Dhaka, Bangladesh * Kartalab Khan Masjid in Dhaka, Bangladesh * Azimpur Masjid in Dhaka, Bangladesh * Goaldi Masjid in Sonargaon, Bangladesh * Atia Masjid in Tangail, Bangladesh * Arifail Masjid in Brahmanbaria, Bangladesh * Bazra Shahi Masjid in Noakhali, Bangladesh * Masjid Kur in Khulna, Bangladesh * Nayabad Masjid in Dinajpur, Bangladesh * Ghayebi Dighi Masjid in Sylhet, Bangladesh * Hussaini Dalan in Dhaka, Bangladesh * Bara Katra in Dhaka, Bangladesh * Hajiganj Fort in Narayanganj, Bangladesh * Idrakpur Fort in Munshiganj, Bangladesh * Choto Katra in Dhaka, Bangladesh * Sonakanda Fort in Narayanganj, Bangladesh — * Bagh-e-Babur in Kabul, Afghanistan * Shahjahani Mosque in Kabul, Afghanistan

Though the Mughals were of Turko-Mongol origin, their reign enacted the revival and height of the Persian language in the Indian subcontinent, and by the end of the 16th-century Turki (Chagatai) was understood by relatively few at court. Accompanied by literary patronage was the institutionalisation of Persian as an official and courtly language; this led to Persian reaching nearly the status of a first language for many inhabitants of Mughal India. Historian Muzaffar Alam argues that the Mughals used Persian purposefully as the vehicle of an overarching Indo-Persian political culture, to unite their diverse empire. Persian had a profound impact on the languages of South Asia; one such language, today known as Hindustani, 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 Jahan, who described it as the language of his dastans (prose romances) and replaced Persian as the informal language of the Muslim elite. According to contemporary poet Mir Taqi Mir, "Urdu was the language of Hindustan by the authority of the King."

• Illustration — Mughal matchlock rifle, 16th century Mughal India was one of the three Islamic gunpowder empires, along with the Ottoman Empire and Safavid Persia. By the time he was invited by Lodi governor of Lahore, Daulat Khan, to support his rebellion against Lodi Sultan Ibrahim Khan, Babur was familiar with gunpowder firearms and field artillery, and a method for deploying them. Babur had employed Ottoman expert Ustad Ali Quli, who showed Babur the standard Ottoman formation—artillery and firearm-equipped infantry protected by wagons in the centre and the 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. In India, guns made of bronze were recovered from Calicut (1504) and Diu (1533). 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. • Illustration — Mughal musketeer, 17th century By the 17th century, Indians were manufacturing a diverse variety of firearms; large guns, in particular, became visible in Tanjore, Dacca, Bijapur and Murshidabad.

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. In 1657, the Mughal Army used rockets during the siege of Bidar. 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. In A History of Greek Fire and Gunpowder, James Riddick Partington described Indian rockets and explosive mines: 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.

A new curriculum for the madrasas that 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.

• Illustration — Jantar Mantar in Delhi, built by Jai Singh II While there appears to have been little concern for theoretical astronomy, Mughal astronomers made advances in observational astronomy and produced some Zij treatises. Humayun built a personal observatory near Delhi. According to Sulaiman Nadvi, Jahangir and Shah Jahan intended to build observatories too, but were unable to do so. The astronomical instruments and observational techniques used at the Mughal observatories were mainly derived from Islamic astronomy. In the 17th century, the Mughal Empire saw a synthesis between Islamic and Hindu astronomy, where Islamic observational instruments were combined with Hindu computational techniques. During the decline of the Mughal Empire, the Hindu king Jai Singh II of Amber continued the work of Mughal astronomy. In the early 18th century, he built several large observatories called Yantra Mandirs, to rival Ulugh Beg's Samarkand observatory, and to improve on the earlier Hindu computations in the Siddhantas and Islamic observations in Zij-i-Sultani. The instruments he used were influenced by Islamic astronomy, while the computational techniques were derived from Hindu astronomy.

• Illustration — Celestial Globe by Muhammad Saleh Thattvi, c. 1663 The society within the 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. Another aspect of the remarkable invention in Mughal India is the lost-wax cast, hollow, seamless, celestial globe. It was invented in Kashmir by Ali Kashmiri ibn Luqman in 998 AH (1589–90 CE). Twenty other such globes were later produced in Lahore and Kashmir during the Mughal Empire. Before they were rediscovered in the 1980s, it was believed by modern metallurgists to be technically impossible to produce hollow metal globes without any seams. A 17th-century celestial globe was also made by Diya' ad-din Muhammad in Lahore, 1668 (now in Pakistan).

style="width:100%;" • Portrait — Titular Name — Birth Name — Birth — Reign — Death • 1 — Babur — Zahir al-Din Muhammad — 14 February 1483 Andijan, Uzbekistan — 20 April 1526 – 26 December 1530 — 26 December 1530 (aged 47) Agra, India • 2 — Humayun — Nasir al-Din Muhammad — 6 March 1508 Kabul, Afghanistan — 26 December 1530 – 17 May 1540 22 February 1555 – 27 January 1556 (10 years 3 months 25 days) — 27 January 1556 (aged 47) Delhi, India • 3 — Akbar — Jalal al-Din Muhammad — 15 October 1542 Umerkot, Pakistan — 11 February 1556 – 27 October 1605 (49 years 9 months 0 days) — 27 October 1605 (aged 63) Agra, India • 4 — Jahangir — Nur al-Din Muhammad — 31 August 1569 Agra, India — 3 November 1605 – 28 October 1627 (21 years 11 months 23 days) — 28 October 1627 (aged 58) Bhimber, Azad Kashmir, Pakistan • 5 — Shah Jahan — Shihab al-Din Muhammad — 5 January 1592 Lahore, Pakistan — 19 January 1628 – 31 July 1658 (30 years 8 months 25 days) — 22 January 1666 (aged 74) Agra, India • 6 — Aurangzeb Alamgir — Muhi al-Din Muhammad — 3 November 1618 Gujarat, India — 31 July 1658 – 3 March 1707 (48 years 7 months 0 days) — 3 March 1707 (aged 88) Ahmednagar, India • 7 — Azam Shah — Qutb al-Din Muhammad — 28 June 1653 Burhanpur, India — 14 March 1707 – 20 June 1707 — 20 June 1707 (aged 53) Agra, India • 8 — Bahadur Shah — Qutb al-Din Muhammad — 14 October 1643 Burhanpur, India — 19 June 1707 – 27 February 1712 (4 years, 253 days) — 27 February 1712 (aged 68) Lahore, Pakistan • 9 — Jahandar Shah — Muiz al-Din Muhammad — 9 May 1661 Deccan, India — 27 February 1712 – 11 February 1713 (0 years, 350 days) — 12 February 1713 (aged 51) Delhi, India • 10 — Farrukh Siyar — Muin al-Din Muhammad Puppet King Under the Sayyids of Barha — 20 August 1685 Aurangabad, India — 11 January 1713 – 28 February 1719 (6 years, 48 days) — 19 April 1719 (aged 33) Delhi, India • 11 — Rafi ud-Darajat — Shams al-Din Muhammad Puppet King Under the Sayyids of Barha — 1 December 1699 — 28 February 1719 – 6 June 1719 (0 years, 98 days) — 6 June 1719 (aged 19) Agra, India • 12 — Shah Jahan II — Rafi al-Din Muhammad Puppet King Under the Sayyids of Barha — 5 January 1696 — 6 June 1719 – 17 September 1719 (0 years, 105 days) — 18 September 1719 (aged 23) Agra, India • 13 — Muhammad Shah — Nasir al-Din Muhammad — 7 August 1702 Ghazni, Afghanistan — 27 September 1719 – 26 April 1748 (28 years, 212 days) — 26 April 1748 (aged 45) Delhi, India • 14 — Ahmad Shah Bahadur — Mujahid al-Din Muhammad — 23 December 1725 Delhi, India — 29 April 1748 – 2 June 1754 (6 years, 37 days) — 1 January 1775 (aged 49) Delhi, India • 15 — Alamgir II — Aziz al-Din Muhammad — 6 June 1699 Burhanpur, India — 3 June 1754 – 29 November 1759 (5 years, 180 days) — 29 November 1759 (aged 60) Kotla Fateh Shah, India • 16 — Shah Jahan III — Muhi al-Millat — 1711 — 10 December 1759 – 10 October 1760 (282 days) — 1772 (aged 60–61) • 17 — Shah Alam II — Jalal al-Din Muhammad Ali Gauhar — 25 June 1728 Delhi, India — 10 October 1760 – 31 July 1788 (27 years, 301 days) — 19 November 1806 (aged 78) Delhi, India • 18 — Jahan Shah — Bidar Bakht Mahmud Shah Bahadur Jahan Shah بیدار بخت محمود شاه بهادر جهان شاہ Puppet King Under Ghulam Qadir Rohilla — 1749 Delhi, India — 31 July 1788 – 11 October 1788 (63 days) — 1790 (aged 40–41) Delhi, India • 17 — Shah Alam II — Jalal al-Din Muhammad Ali Gauhar Puppet monarch under the Maratha Confederacy — 25 June 1728 Delhi, India — 16 October 1788 – 19 November 1806 (18 years, 339 days) — 19 November 1806 (aged 78) Delhi, India • 19 — Akbar Shah II — Muin al-Din Muhammad Puppet King under the East India Company — 22 April 1760 Mukundpur, India — 19 November 1806 – 28 September 1837 (30 years, 321 days) — 28 September 1837 (aged 77) Delhi, India • 20 — Bahadur Shah II Zafar — Abu Zafar Siraj al-Din Muhammad — 24 October 1775 Delhi, India — 28 September 1837 – 21 September 1857 (19 years, 360 days) — 7 November 1862 (aged 87) Rangoon, Myanmar

• Berinstain, V. Mughal India: Splendour of the Peacock Throne (London, 1998). • Busch, Allison. Poetry of Kings: The Classical Hindi Literature of Mughal India (2011) excerpt and text search * * • Schimmel, Annemarie. The Empire of the Great Mughals: History, Art and Culture (Reaktion 2006) *

• Elliot, Sir H.M., Edited by Dowson, John. 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) * * * * * * * * *

* • 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 *