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1500-1700 (India)
THE MUGHAL EMPIRE
HISTORY OF INDIA IN 1400S
 Very lush country with many cities & temples
 Hindu lower classes labored for Muslim/Hindu
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masters
Gupta Empire collapsing
1st Ottomans (Timur the Lame) conquers New
Delhi, then…
Huge clash between Hindus (India)
& Muslims (Ottomans)
 Hindus won
Delhi is destroyed and weak
BABUR
 1494 – 11 yr. old boy, BABUR, inherits
kingdom northwest of India  But
elders drove him away
 He moved south & later set groundwork for
Mughal Empire
 Strong & sensitive leader; “Renaissance Man”
 Defeated massive RAJPUT army (“sons of kings”
or Turkish warlords & moved into Delhi
 Area weak, so nomadic people invade India,
called Mughals or “Mongols” (Muslim)
AKBAR: THE GOLDEN AGE
 Grandson of Babur; aka “Great One”
 1556 – 1605: comes to power, gains
land & builds a unified Mughal Empire
– Golden Age
 He is a Muslim
AKBAR’S ACCOMPLISHMENTS,
SLIDE 1
 Rules with religious tolerance
 Abolishes special taxes on non-Muslims
 Bureaucracy of educated officials rules efficiently
 Reorganized taxes to represent % of crops (more $)
 War-like – armies are equipped with heavy artillery
 Employs some potential enemies
AKBAR’S ACCOMPLISHMENTS,
SLIDE 2
 Strongly utilized new weapons of war:
 Composite bow & arrow horse archery
 Damascus Swords
 Rockets
 War Elephants
MUGHAL COMPOSITE BOW AND
ARROW HORSE ARCHERY
Video
DAMASCUS SWORDS
Video
ROCKETS!!
Video
WAR ELEPHANTS
Video
AKBAR’S ACCOMPLISHMENTS
SLIDE 3
 Cultural diffusion – many cultures/languages
combined
 Upper class spoke Persian
 Common people spoke Hindi (Persian & local
language)
 Army people spoke Urdu (Arabic, Persian &
Hindi)
 book illustrations – miniatures were
detailed, colorful stories
 library & schools
 architecture – massive, graceful, decorated with
stonework of Hindu themes
JAHANGIR
 Akbar dies in 1605; his son rules
 aka “Grasper of the World”
 weak ruler & relied on his wife, NUR JAHEN
 Raises taxes & neglects people
 Persecutes Sikhs religion that blends
Buddhism, Hinduism, & mysticism
 Ended religious toleration
SHAH JAHAN
 Secured the throne through
assassination of all rivals
 Greatest accomplishment: built TAJ MAHAL
as a tomb for his deceased wife, Mumtaz
Mahal
 BUT country suffered because spent so much
time & money to build it  increased taxes
TAJ MAHAL VIDEO
Specs of the Taj Mahal Video
AURANGZEB
 Shah Jahan is sick so 3rd son,
AURANGZEB, takes throne
(kills brother & puts S. Jahan in prison)
 EXPANDS MUGHAL EMPIRE TO ITS
GREATEST SIZE
 BUT empire is weak because of oppression
of his people (harsh laws & destroys
temples)
EMPIRE’S DECLINE & DECAY
 Long line of weak rulers  Mughal
Emperor now only a wealthy
figurehead
 Empire no longer united because of
corruption; now a bunch of
independent states
EUROPEANS MOVE IN TO
TRADE
 Europeans (Portuguese, Dutch, French, &
English) had trading outposts set up in Mughal
Empire the whole time  Mughals were not
threatened by them
 Aurangzeb gave them port of Bombay  big
mistake , BIG important city for trade in the
future.
 TRADE: British wanted Indian
textiles, mostly COTTON & SPICES
Crash Course Video
 Summarizes the Mughal Empire’s leaders:
Akbar and Aurangzeb
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbuM0aJjV
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