The Mughal Empire is conventionally said to have been founded in 1526 byBabur, a ruler from what is todayUzbekistan, who employed aid from the neighboringSafavid andOttoman Empires[10] to defeat thesultan of Delhi,Ibrahim Lodi, in theFirst Battle of Panipat and to sweep down the plains ofNorth India. The Mughal imperial structure, however, is sometimes dated to 1600, to the rule of Babur's grandson,Akbar.[11] This imperial structure lasted until 1720, shortly after the death of the last major emperor,Aurangzeb,[12][13] 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 theBritish Raj after theIndian Rebellion of 1857.
Although the Mughal Empire was created and sustained by military warfare,[14][15][16] it did not vigorously suppress the cultures and peoples it came to rule; rather, it equalised and placated them through new administrative practices,[17][18] and diverse ruling elites, leading to more efficient, centralised, and standardised rule.[19] The basis of the empire's collective wealth was agricultural taxes, instituted by the third Mughal emperor, Akbar.[20][21] These taxes, which amounted to well over half the output of a peasant cultivator,[22] were paid in the well-regulated silver currency,[19] and caused peasants and artisans to enter larger markets.[23]
The relative peace maintained by the empire during much of the 17th century was a factor in India's economic expansion.[24] 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.[25] There was more conspicuous consumption among the Mughal elite,[26] resulting in greater patronage ofpainting, literary forms, textiles, andarchitecture, especially during the reign ofShah Jahan.[27] Among the MughalUNESCO World Heritage Sites in South Asia are:Agra Fort,Fatehpur Sikri,Red Fort,Humayun's Tomb,Lahore Fort,Shalamar Gardens, and theTaj Mahal, which is described as "the jewel of Muslim art in India, and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage".[28]
Name
The closest to an official name for the empire wasHindustan, which was documented in theAin-i-Akbari.[29] Mughal administrative records also refer to the empire as "dominion of Hindustan" (Wilāyat-i-Hindustān),[30] "country of Hind" (Bilād-i-Hind), "Sultanate of Al-Hind" (Salṭanat(i) al-Hindīyyah) as observed in the epitaph of EmperorAurangzeb[31] or endonymous identification from emperorBahadur Shah Zafar as "Land of Hind" (Hindostān) inHindustani.[32][33] Contemporary Chinese chronicles referred to the empire asHindustan (Héndūsītǎn).[34] In the west, the term "Mughal" was used for the emperor, and by extension, the empire as a whole.[35]
The Mughal designation for their dynasty wasGurkani (Gūrkāniyān), a reference to their descent from the Turco-Mongol conquerorTimur who took the titleGūrkān 'son-in-law' after his marriage to aChinggisid princess.[36] The wordMughal (also spelledMogul[37] orMoghul in English) is the Indo-Persian form ofMongol. The Mughal dynasty's early followers were Chagatai Turks and not Mongols.[38][39] The termMughal was applied to them in India by association with the Mongols and to distinguish them from the Afghan elite which ruled the Delhi Sultanate.[38] The term remains disputed byIndologists.[40] InMarshall Hodgson's view, the dynasty should be calledTimurid/Timuri orIndo-Timurid.[38]
India in 1525 just before the onset of Mughal rule
The Mughal Empire was founded by Babur (reigned 1526–1530), a Central Asian ruler who was descended from thePersianisedTurco-Mongol conquerorTimur (the founder of theTimurid Empire) on his father's side, and fromGenghis Khan on his mother's side.[41] Paternally, Babur belonged to theTurkicisedBarlas tribe ofMongol origin.[42] Ousted from his ancestral domains in Central Asia, Babur turned to India to satisfy his ambitions.[43] He established himself inKabul and then pushed steadily southward into India fromAfghanistan through theKhyber Pass.[41] Babur's forces defeatedIbrahim Lodi,Sultan of Delhi, in theFirst 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,[44][45] expanding his dominion up to the midIndo-Gangetic Plain.[46] After the battle, the centre of Mughal power shifted toAgra.[44] In the decisiveBattle of Khanwa, fought near Agra a year later, the Timurid forces of Babur defeated the combinedRajput armies ofRana Sanga ofMewar, with his native cavalry employing traditional flanking tactics.[44][45]
The preoccupation with wars and military campaigns, however, did not allow the new emperor to consolidate the gains he had made in India.[47] The instability of the empire became evident under his son,Humayun (reigned 1530–1556), who was forced into exile in Persia by the rebelliousSher Shah Suri (reigned 1540–1545).[41] Humayun's exile in Persia established diplomatic ties between theSafavid and Mughal courts and led to increasing Persian cultural influence in the later restored Mughal Empire.[48] 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.[49]
Akbar holds a religious assembly of different faiths in theIbadat Khana in Fatehpur Sikri.
Akbar (reigned 1556–1605) was born Jalal-ud-din Muhammad[50] in theUmarkot Fort,[51] to Humayun and his wifeHamida Banu Begum, aPersian princess.[52] Akbar succeeded to the throne under a regent,Bairam Khan, who helped consolidate the Mughal Empire in India.[53] Through warfare, Akbar was able to extend the empire in all directions and controlled almost the entire Indian subcontinent north of theGodavari River.[54] He created a new ruling elite loyal to him, implemented a modern administration, and encouraged cultural developments. He increased trade with European trading companies.[41] India developed a strong and stable economy, leading to commercial expansion and economic development.[citation needed] 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.[41] 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.[41]
Jahangir (born Salim,[55] reigned 1605–1627) was born to Akbar and his wifeMariam-uz-Zamani, an Indian princess.[56] Salim was named after the Indian Sufi saint,Salim Chishti.[57][58] He "was addicted to opium, neglected the affairs of the state, and came under the influence of rival court cliques".[41] 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 moremadad-i-ma'ash (tax-free personal land revenue grants given to religiously learned or spiritually worthy individuals) than Akbar had.[59] In contrast to Akbar, Jahangir came into conflict with non-Muslim religious leaders, notably theSikh guruArjan, whose execution was the first of many conflicts between the Mughal Empire and the Sikh community.[60][61][62]
Shah Jahan (reigned 1628–1658) was born to Jahangir and his wifeJagat Gosain.[55] His reign ushered in the golden age ofMughal architecture.[63] During the reign of Shah Jahan, the splendour of the Mughal court reached its peak, as exemplified by theTaj Mahal. The cost of maintaining the court, however, began to exceed the revenue coming in.[41] Shah Jahan extended the Mughal Empire to theDeccan by ending theAhmadnagar Sultanate and forcing theAdil Shahis andQutb Shahis to pay tribute.[64]
Shah Jahan's eldest son, the liberalDara Shikoh, became regent in 1658, as a result of his father's illness.[41] Dara championed a syncretistic Hindu-Muslim culture, emulating his great-grandfather Akbar.[65] With the support of the Islamic orthodoxy, however, a younger son of Shah Jahan,Aurangzeb (r. 1658–1707), seized the throne. Aurangzeb defeated Dara in 1659 and had him executed.[41] Although Shah Jahan fully recovered from his illness, Aurangzeb kept Shah Jahan imprisoned until he died in 1666.[66] Aurangzeb brought the empire to its greatest territorial extent,[67] and oversaw an increase in the Islamicisation of the Mughal state. He encouraged conversion to Islam, reinstated thejizya on non-Muslims, and compiled theFatawa 'Alamgiri, a collection of Islamic law. Aurangzeb also ordered the execution of the Sikh guruTegh Bahadur, leading to the militarisation of the Sikh community.[68][61][62] 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.[69] He led campaigns from 1682 in the Deccan,[70] annexing its remaining Muslim powers of Bijapur and Golconda,[71][70] though engaged in aprolonged conflict in the region which had a ruinous effect on the empire.[72] 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.[72]
Aurangzeb is considered the most controversial Mughal emperor,[73] with some historians arguing his religious conservatism and intolerance undermined the stability of Mughal society,[41] while other historians question this, noting that he financed or patronised the building of non-Muslim institutions,[74] employed significantly moreHindus in his imperial bureaucracy than his predecessors did, and opposed bigotry against Hindus andShia Muslims.[75]
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",[41] as figureheads under the rule of a brotherhood of nobles belonging to theIndian Muslim caste known as theSadaat-e-Bara, whose leaders, theSayyid Brothers, became the de facto sovereigns of the empire.[76][77]
During the reign ofMuhammad Shah (reigned 1719–1748), the empire began to break up, and vast tracts of central India passed from Mughal toMaratha hands. As the Mughals tried to suppress the independence ofNizam-ul-Mulk, Asaf Jah I in the Deccan, he encouraged the Marathas to invade central and northern India.[78][79][80] TheIndian campaign ofNader Shah, who had previously reestablishedIraniansuzerainty over most of West Asia, the Caucasus, and Central Asia, culminated with theSack of Delhi 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.[81] 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.[82]
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 theCarnatic wars andBengal War.[citation needed]
The remnants of the empire in 1751
The Mughal EmperorShah Alam II (1759–1806) made futile attempts to reverse the Mughal decline.Delhi was sacked by the Afghans, and when theThird Battle of Panipat was fought between the Maratha Empire and theAfghans (led byAhmad 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 Marathasrecaptured Delhi from theRohillas, and in 1784 the Marathas officially became the protectors of the emperor in Delhi,[83] a state of affairs that continued until theSecond Anglo-Maratha War. Thereafter, theBritish East India Company became the protectors of the Mughal dynasty in Delhi.[82] 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 theIndian Rebellion of 1857 which he nominally led, the last Mughal emperor,Bahadur Shah Zafar, was deposed by the British East India Company and exiled in 1858 toRangoon, Burma.[84]
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, theirimperial overstretch became clear, and the situation could not be recovered. The seemingly innocuous European trading companies, such as theBritish East Indies 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.[85]
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 aggressiveMarathas, and lost its fighting spirit. Finally came a series of violent political feuds over control of the throne. After the execution ofEmperor Farrukhsiyar in 1719, local Mughal successor states took power in region after region.[86]
India in 1605 and the end of emperor Akbar's reign; the map shows the differentsubahs, 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.[87][70] The central government was headed by the Mughal emperor; immediately beneath him were four ministries. The finance/revenue ministry, headed by an official called adiwan, 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 titledmir bakhshi, who was in charge of military organisation, messenger service, and themansabdari system. The ministry in charge of law/religious patronage was the responsibility of thesadr as-sudr, who appointed judges and managed charities and stipends. Another ministry was dedicated to the imperial household and public works, headed by themir saman. Of these ministers, thediwan held the most importance, and typically acted as thewazir (prime minister) of the empire.[84][87][88]
Administrative divisions
The empire was divided intoSubah (provinces), each of which was headed by a provincial governor called asubadar. The structure of the central government was mirrored at the provincial level; eachsuba had its ownbakhshi,sadr as-sudr, and finance minister that reported directly to the central government rather than thesubahdar.Subas were subdivided into administrative units known assarkars, which were further divided into groups of villages known asparganas. The Mughal government in thepargana consisted of a Muslim judge and local tax collector.[84][87]Parganas were the basic administrative unit of the Mughal Empire.[89]
Mughal administrative divisions were not static. Territories were often rearranged and reconstituted for better administrative control, and to extend cultivation. For example, asarkar could turn into asubah, andParganas were often transferred betweensarkars. 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.[90]
Capitals
The Mughals had multiple imperial capitals, established throughout their rule. These were the cities ofAgra,Delhi,Lahore, andFatehpur Sikri. Power often shifted back and forth between these capitals.[91] 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.[92] 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 toAurangabad in theDeccan.[91]Kabul was thesummer capital of Mughals from 1526 to 1681.[93]
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.[94]
After Aurangzeb, the Mughal capital definitively became the walled city ofShahjahanabad (Old Delhi).[95]
Law
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 employedfiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) and therefore the fundamental institutions of Islamic law such as those of theqadi (judge),mufti (jurisconsult), andmuhtasib (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 the fact that the Mughal Empire governed a non-Muslim majority.[96] Scholar Mouez Khalfaoui notes that legal institutions in the Mughal Empire systemically suffered from the corruption of local judges.[97]
Legal ideology
The Mughal Empire followed the SunniHanafi system of jurisprudence. In its early years, the empire relied on Hanafi legal references inherited from its predecessor, the Delhi Sultanate. These included theal-Hidayah (the best guidance) and theFatawa al-Tatarkhaniyya (religious decisions of the Emire Tatarkhan). During the Mughal Empire's peak, theFatawa '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.[97]
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.[96]
Courts of law
Various kinds of courts existed in the Mughal Empire. One such court was that of theqadi. The Mughalqadi was responsible for dispensing justice; this included settling disputes, judging people for crimes, and dealing with inheritances and orphans. Theqadi also had additional importance in documents, as the seal of theqadi 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 thepargana (district)qadi. More prestigious positions were those of theqadi al-quddat (judge of judges) who accompanied the mobile imperial camp, and theqadi-yi lashkar (judge of the army).[96]Qadis were usually appointed by the emperor or thesadr-us-sudr (chief of charities).[96][98] The jurisdiction of theqadi was availed by Muslims and non-Muslims alike.[99]
Thejagirdar (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 localqadi. Such officials included thekotwal (local police), thefaujdar (an officer controlling multiple districts and troops of soldiers), and the most powerful, thesubahdar (provincial governor). In some cases, the emperor dispensed justice directly.[96] Jahangir was known to have installed a "chain of justice" in theAgra Fort that any aggrieved subject could shake to get the attention of the emperor and bypass the inefficacy of officials.[100]
Self-regulating tribunals operating at the community or village level were common, but sparse documentation of them exists. For example, it is unclear howpanchayats (village councils) operated in the Mughal era.[96]
The Mughal economy was large and prosperous.[101][102] India was producing 24.5% of the world's manufacturing output up until 1750.[103][102] Mughal India's economy has been described as a form ofproto-industrialisation, like that of 18th-century Western Europe before theIndustrial Revolution.[104]
Modern historians and researchers generally agree that the character of the Mughal Empire's economic policy resembles thelaissez-faire system in dealing with trade and billions to achieve the economic ends.[105][106][107][108]
The Mughals were responsible for building an extensive road system and creating a uniform currency.[109] The empire had an extensive road network, which was vital to the economic infrastructure, built by apublic 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.[101]
The main base of the empire's collective wealth was agricultural taxes, instituted by the third Mughal emperor, Akbar.[20][21] These taxes, which amounted to well over half the output of a peasant cultivator,[22] were paid in the well-regulated silver currency,[19] and caused peasants and artisans to enter larger markets.[23] In circa 1595, Modern historians estimated the state's annual revenues of the Mughal Empire were around 99,000,000 rupees.[110]
The Mughals adopted and standardised therupee (rupiya, or silver) anddam (copper) currencies introduced bySur EmperorSher Shah Suri during his brief rule.[111] The Mughals minted coins with high purity, never dropping below 96%, and withoutdebasement until the 1720s.[112]
Despite India having its stocks of gold and silver, the Mughals produced minimal gold of their own but mostly minted coins from importedbullion, as a result of the empire's strong export-driven economy, with global demand for Indian agricultural and industrial products drawing a steady stream ofprecious metals into India.[113]
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-centuryBritish India, where the secondary sector only contributed 11% to the economy.[114] 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.[115]
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.[116] 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.[117] However, in a system where wealth was hoarded by elites, wages were depressed formanual labour.[118] Whileslavery also existed, it was limited largely to household servants.[118]
Agriculture
Indian agricultural production increased under the Mughal Empire.[101] A variety of crops were grown, including food crops such as wheat, rice, andbarley, and non-foodcash crops such as cotton,indigo andopium. By the mid-17th century, Indian cultivators began to extensively grow two new crops from the Americas, maize and tobacco.[101]
The Mughal administration emphasised theagrarian 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.[119] The Mughal government funded the building ofirrigation systems across the empire, which produced much highercrop yields and increased the net revenue base, leading to increased agricultural production.[101]
A major Mughal reform introduced by Akbar was a new land revenue system calledzabt. He replaced thetribute system, previously common in India and used byTokugawa Japan at the time, with a monetary tax system based on a uniform currency.[112] 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.[113] Under thezabt system, the Mughals also conducted extensivecadastral surveying to assess the area of land underplough cultivation, with the Mughal state encouraging greater land cultivation by offering tax-free periods to those who brought new land under cultivation.[112] The expansion of agriculture and cultivation continued under later Mughal emperors, including Aurangzeb.[120]
Mughal agriculture was in some ways advanced compared to European agriculture at the time, exemplified by the common use of theseed drill among Indian peasants before its adoption in Europe.[121] Geared sugarrolling mills first appeared in Mughal India, using the principle of rollers as well asworm gearing, by the 17th century.[122]
Industrial manufacturing
South Asia during the Mughal's rule was a very fertile ground for manufacturing technologies coveted by the Europeans before theIndustrial Revolution.[123] Up until 1750, India produced about 25% of the world's industrial output.[124]
Manufactured goods and cash crops from the Mughal Empire were sold throughout the world.[101] 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 ofproto-industrialisation, similar to 18th-century Western Europe before the Industrial Revolution.[104]
Inearly modern Europe, there was significant demand for products from Mughal India, particularly cotton textiles, as well as goods such as spices, peppers,indigo, silks, andsaltpetre (for use inmunitions).[101]European fashion, for example, became increasingly dependent on Mughal Indian textiles and silks.[125]
Muslim Lady Reclining or An Indian Girl with a Hookah, painted in Dacca, 18th century.
The largest manufacturing industry in the Mughal Empire wastextile manufacturing, particularly cotton textile manufacturing, which included the production ofpiece goods,calicos, andmuslins. The cottontextile industry was responsible for a large part of the empire's international trade.[101] India had a 25% share of the global textile trade in the early 18th century,[126] and it represented the most important manufactured goods in world trade in the 18th century.[127] The most important centre of cotton production was the Bengal province, particularly around its capital city ofDhaka.[128]
The production of cotton was advanced by the diffusion of thespinning wheel across India shortly before the Mughal era, lowering the costs of yarn and helping to increase demand for cotton. The diffusion of thespinning wheel and the incorporation of theworm gear andcrank handle into the rollercotton gin led to greatly expanded Indian cotton textile production during the Mughal era.[129]
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.[130] HistorianC. A. Bayly wrote that it was probably the Mughal Empire's wealthiest province.[131] 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.[125] The province was a leading producer of grains, salt, fruits, liquors and wines, precious metals and ornaments.[132]
After 150 years of rule by Mughalviceroys, Bengal gained de facto independence as a dominion underMurshid Quli Khan, the firstNawab of Bengal in 1717.[133] The Nawabs permitted European companies to set up trading posts across the region, which regarded Bengal as the richest place for trade.[132]
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.[134] He also assesses ship repairing as very advanced in Bengal.[134]
India's population growth accelerated under the Mughal Empire, with an unprecedented economic and demographic upsurge which boosted the Indian population by 60%[135] to 253% in 200 years during 1500–1700.[136] The Indian population had a faster growth during the Mughal era than at any known point inIndian history before the Mughal era.[102][135] By the time of Aurangzeb's reign, there were a total of 455,698 villages in the Mughal Empire.[137]
The following table gives population estimates for the Mughal Empire, compared to the total population of South Asia including the regions of modernIndia,Pakistan, andBangladesh, and compared to theworld population:
There was a notable presence ofjewish diaspora in the Mughal empire. The Jewish community during mainly engaged in the trading of jewelry and precious stones,[139] while some likeSarmad Kashani also engaged in religious activities within the Mughal court.[140]
Urbanisation
According toIrfan 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.[141] This was higher than the percentage of the urban population in contemporary Europe at the time and higher than that ofBritish India in the 19th century;[141] the level of urbanisation in Europe did not reach 15% until the 19th century.[142]
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,[137] 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.[143] 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.[144]
Those estimates were criticised byTim Dyson, who considers them exaggerations. According to Dyson, urbanisation of the Mughal Empire was less than 9%.[145]
The historianNizamuddin Ahmad (1551–1621) reported that, under Akbar's reign, there were 120 large cities and 3200 townships.[141] Several cities in India had a population between a quarter-million and half-million people,[141] with larger cities includingAgra (inAgra Subah) with up to 800,000 people,Lahore (inLahore Subah) with up to 700,000 people,[146]Dhaka (inBengal Subah) with over 1 million people,[147] and Delhi (inDelhi Subah) with over 600,000 people.[148]
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.[101] However, several cities were military and political centres, rather than manufacturing or commerce centres.[149]
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.[150]
Generally, classical historiographies depicted the Mughal Empire's origin as a sedentarised agrarian society. However, modern historians such asAndré Wink,Jos J. L. Gommans,Anatoly Khazanov, Thomas J. Barfield, and others, argued the Mughals originated from nomadic culture.[151]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.[152] 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:
Mir Taqi Mir, an Urdu poet of the 18th century Mughal EmpireThe Taj Mahal in the 1870s
Centralised imperial rule that consolidated the smaller polities of South Asia.[153]
The introduction of sophisticated Iranian-style waterworks and horticulture throughMughal gardening.[156]
The introduction ofTurkish baths into the Indian subcontinent.
The evolution and refinement ofMughal andIndian architecture, and, in turn, the development of later Rajput and Sikh palatial architecture. A famous Mughal landmark is theTaj Mahal.
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 emperorAkbar,Salim, with the daughter of a ruler ofBijapur,Raja Bhagwant Das, where the gift presented by Bhagwant Das consisted of many horses, 100 elephants, many male and female slaves ofAbyssinian, Caucasian, and native Indian origins, who brought with them various gold and silver utensils asdowry.[160]
Furthermore,William Dalrymple mentioned that during the final days of the Mughalfall of Delhi in 1857, anice house structure existed in Delhi.[164] Emperor Shah Jahan has recorded establishing an ice-house inSirmaur, north of Delhi.[165]
Many monuments were built during the Mughal era by the Muslim emperors, especiallyShah Jahan, including theTaj Mahal—aUNESCO World Heritage Site considered "the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage",[28] attracting 7–8 million unique visitors a year. The palaces, tombs,gardens and forts built by the dynasty stand today inAgra,Aurangabad,Delhi,Dhaka,Fatehpur Sikri,Jaipur,Lahore,Kabul,Sheikhupura, and many other cities of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh,[166] such as:
Finial in the form of a parrot, Mughal Empire, 17th century
TheMughal 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.[167] 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.[168] 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.[169] For example, Emperor Jahangir commissioned brilliant artists such asUstad 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 theRazmnama (a Persian translation of the Hindu epic, theMahabharata) to historical memoirs or biographies of the dynasty such as theBaburnama andAkbarnama, andTuzk-e-Jahangiri. Richly finished albums (muraqqa) decorated with calligraphy and artistic scenes were mounted onto pages with decorative borders and then bound with covers of stamped and gilded or painted and lacquered leather.[170] Aurangzeb (1658–1707) was never an enthusiastic patron of painting, largely for religious reasons, and took a turn away from the pomp and ceremonial of the court around 1668, after which he probably commissioned no more paintings.[171]
Folio fromFarhang-i-Jahangiri, a Persian dictionary compiled during the Mughal era.
Though the Mughals were ofTurko-Mongol origin, their reign enacted the revival and height of thePersian language in the Indian subcontinent, and by the end of the 16th-century Turki (Chagatai) was understood by relatively few at court.[172] 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.[173][174] HistorianMuzaffar Alam argues that the Mughals used Persian purposefully as the vehicle of an overarchingIndo-Persian political culture, to unite their diverse empire.[175] Persian had a profound impact on the languages of South Asia; one such language, today known asHindustani, 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 ofShah Jahan, who described it as the language of hisdastans (prose romances) and replaced Persian as the informal language of the Muslim elite.[176][177] According to contemporary poetMir Taqi Mir, "Urdu was the language of Hindustan by the authority of the King."[178][179]
By the 17th century, Indians were manufacturing a diverse variety of firearms; large guns, in particular, became visible inTanjore,Dacca,Bijapur andMurshidabad.[185]
Rocketry and explosives
In the sixteenth century,Akbar was the first to initiate and use metal cylinderrockets known asbans, particularly againstwar elephants, during the battle of Sanbal.[186][187] In 1657, theMughal Army used rockets during thesiege of Bidar.[188] Prince Aurangzeb's forces discharged rockets andgrenades 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.[188]
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 andJahangir.
Science
A new curriculum for themadrasas that stressed the importance ofuloom-i-muqalat (Rational Sciences) and introduced new subjects such asgeometry, medicine, philosophy, and mathematics. The new curriculum produced a series of eminent scholars, engineers and architects.[189][190]
During the decline of the Mughal Empire, the Hindu kingJai Singh II of Amber continued the work of Mughalastronomy. In the early 18th century, he built several large observatories calledYantra Mandirs, to rivalUlugh Beg'sSamarkandobservatory, and to improve on the earlier Hindu computations in theSiddhantas and Islamic observations inZij-i-Sultani. The instruments he used were influenced by Islamic astronomy, while the computational techniques were derived from Hindu astronomy.[191][192]
The society within the Mughal Empire operated theKarkhanas, 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.[194][195][196]
Another aspect of the remarkable invention in Mughal India is thelost-wax cast, hollow, seamless,celestial globe. It was invented inKashmir by Ali Kashmiri ibn Luqman in 998AH (1589–90 CE). Twenty other suchglobes were later produced inLahore and Kashmir during the Mughal Empire. Before they were rediscovered in the 1980s, it was believed by modernmetallurgists to be technically impossible to produce hollow metal globes without anyseams.[197]A 17th-century celestial globe was also made by Diya' ad-din Muhammad in Lahore, 1668 (now in Pakistan).[198]
^Dyson, Tim (2018).A Population History of India: From the First Modern People to the Present Day. Oxford University Press. pp. 70–71.ISBN978-0-19-256430-6.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 even 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.
^Stein 2010, pp. 159–. 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."
^Gilbert, Marc Jason (2017),South Asia in World History, Oxford University Press, p. 62,ISBN978-0-19-066137-3, retrieved15 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."
^Stein 2010, pp. 159–. Quote: "Another possible date for the beginning of the Mughal regime is 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."
^Stein 2010, pp. 159–. 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."
^Richards 1995, p. xv. Quote: "By the latter date (1720) the essential structure of the centralized state was disintegrated beyond repair."
^Stein 2010, pp. 159–. 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."
^Robb 2011, pp. 108–. 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 be 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."
^Gilbert, Marc Jason (2017),South Asia in World History, Oxford University Press, pp. 75–,ISBN978-0-19-066137-3,archived from the original on 22 September 2023, retrieved15 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."
^abStein 2010, pp. 164–. Quote: "The resource base of Akbar's new order was land revenue"
^abAsher & Talbot 2006, pp. 158–. Quote: "The Mughal empire was based in the interior of a large land mass and derived the vast majority of its revenues from agriculture."
^abStein 2010, pp. 164–. 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."
^abAsher & Talbot 2006, pp. 152–. 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."
^Asher & Talbot 2006, pp. 152–. 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."
^Asher & Talbot 2006, pp. 186–. 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."
^Asher & Talbot 2006, pp. 186–. Quote: "The elite spent more and more money on luxury goods and sumptuous lifestyles, and the rulers built entire new capital cities at times."
^Asher & Talbot 2006, pp. 186–. 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. Retrieved7 May 2020.
^Hardy, P. (1979). "Modern European and Muslim Explanations of Conversion to Islam in South Asia: A Preliminary Survey of the Literature". In Levtzion, Nehemia (ed.).Conversion to Islam. Holmes & Meier. p. 69.ISBN978-0-8419-0343-2.Archived from the original on 3 April 2023. Retrieved19 March 2023.
^Jahangir, Emperor of Hindustan (1999).The Jahangirnama: Memoirs of Jahangir, Emperor of India. Translated byThackston, Wheeler M. Oxford University Press. p. 65.ISBN978-0-19-512718-8.
^Faruqui, Munis D. (2012).The Princes of the Mughal Empire, 1504–1719. Cambridge University Press. pp. 268–269.ISBN978-1-107-02217-1.
^Mehta, Jaswant Lal (1984) [First published 1981].Advanced Study in the History of Medieval India. Vol. II (2nd ed.). Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd. p. 59.ISBN978-81-207-1015-3.OCLC1008395679.
^abcBurton-Page, J.; Islam, Riazul; Athar Ali, M.; Moosvi, Shireen; Moreland, W. H.; Bosworth, C. E.; Schimmel, Annemarie; Koch, Ebba; Hall, Margaret (24 April 2012),"Mug̲h̲als",Encyclopaedia of Islam (2nd ed.), Brill,doi:10.1163/1573-3912_islam_com_0778,archived from the original on 31 March 2022, retrieved31 March 2022
^Copeland, Ian; Mabbett, Ian; Roy, Asim; Brittlebank, Kate; Bowles, Adam (2012).A History of State and Religion in India. London and New York: Routledge. pp. 118, 119, 154.ISBN978-0-415-58066-3.(p. 154) Even Aurengzeb, stereotyped in the popular imagination a staunch Islamic revivalist with deep anti-Hindu inclinations, was, as we demonstrated in Chapter 5, as much a sponsor of temples as a destroyer of them, and, when required, a patron of Brahmans besides (p. 119) ... the same applied to the issue of temple destruction. ... such acts of this nature occurred during the era of the Sultanate were carried out for reasons of political expediency, not as a result of religious zeal, and this was also the case under the Mughals. Even Aurengzeb, infamous in the old historiography as a destroyer of temples actually built many more temples than he destroyed. (p. 118) Like most rulers on the subcontinent, the Mughals patronised both Muslim and non-Muslim institutions. They financed the building of mosques and the funding of temples alike.
^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. Retrieved27 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...
^Parthasarathi, Prasannan (2011),Why Europe Grew Rich and Asia Did Not: Global Economic Divergence, 1600–1850, Cambridge University Press, p. 2,ISBN978-1-139-49889-0
^Roy, Tirthankar (November 2011). "Where is Bengal? Situating an Indian Region in the Early Modern World Economy".Past & Present (213):115–146.doi:10.1093/pastj/gtr009.
^Andrew Lambert and narrator Stephen Kemble (6 November 2008).Ancient Discoveries: Ancient Tank Tech. History Channel.Mughal Emperor Akbar ... in this battle a rocket hits one of the elephants and the inevitable happens, he stampedes, the other elephants stampede, a very large Gujarati army is defeated by a much smaller Mughal army
^abGhulam Yazdani (1995).Bidar: Its History and Monuments (1 ed.). Motilal Banarsidass. p. 15.ISBN8120810716.
^Khan, Nasir Raza. Art and Architectural Traditions of India and Iran: Commonality and Diversity. Routledge, 2022.
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,doi:10.1163/156852005774918813,JSTOR25165118, on Akbar and his brother
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.doi:10.1163/22118993-00381P05.S2CID245040517.
Habib, Irfan.Atlas of the Mughal Empire: Political and Economic Maps (1982).
Habib, Irfan.Agrarian System of Mughal India (1963, revised edition 1999).
J. C. Sharman (2019).Empires of the Weak: The Real Story of European Expansion and the Creation of the New World Order. Princeton University Press.ISBN978-0691182797.
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,doi:10.1163/1568520041974729,JSTOR25165051
Khan, Iqtidar Alam (1976), "The Middle Classes in the Mughal Empire",Social Scientist,5 (1):28–49,doi:10.2307/3516601,JSTOR3516601
Masanori Sato (佐藤正哲); Nariaki Nakazato (中里成章); Tsukasa Mizushima (水島司) (1998).ムガル帝国から英領インドへ [From the Mughal Empire to British India]. 世界の歴史14 (in Japanese). 中央公論社.
second publishmentムガル帝国から英領インドへ [From the Mughal Empire to British India]. Chuokoron-Shinsha World History 14. 2009.
Rothermund, Dietmar.An Economic History of India: From Pre-Colonial Times to 1991 (1993)
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
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