The Mughal Empire was one of the world's great empires in the sixteenth and seventeenth century. A single government was able to bring almost all of the continents under one rule. The Mughal period was a time when Hindu-Islamic civilization flourished. For the Indians, the Mughal period was a time when people lived side by side in harmony. The first permanent political presence of Islam in India was known as the Delhi-Sultanate. Qutb-ud-Din was the founder. He built a victory tower called the Qutb Minar. Islamic control spread across Northern India but the control was divided into kingdoms. This was the condition that the Mughals found the subcontinent in when they came. The founder of the Islam Empire was Babur- he belonged to a group of people called Timur/Tamerlame. He established a capital in Samarkand. Battle of Panipat- Babur's army has the advantage of Cannons. After the battle ends, he sets himself up as emperor. When he died, his son Humayun became emperor. Humayun was rebuilding his military strength and mounted an invasion back into India to recapture Delhi. But, after everything, he died climbing the stairs in his library/castle.
Akbar
His thirteen-year-old son Akbar succeeded Humayun. Akbar struggled to consolidate an empire; he had to do quite a bit of military campaigning. He also created and carefully cultivated alliances with other kingdoms. In those days, the way to solidify an alliance was through marriage. In addition to personal rule, the empire had a large very developed bureaucracy. During his reign, he standardized and rationalized regiments of the bureaucracy. Every official in the empire had a military rank. He had an important approach to religion. He was a Muslim ruling a Hindu population. He wanted to abolish the jizya. Akbar adopted Hindu dress and hairstyle. Din-I-LLahi- term that means religion of God. Another contribution was that Akbar built his own capital called Fetehbur Sikri. Akbar died in 1605, succeeded by Salem.
The Diwan-i-Aam was a hall of public audience, and the Diwan-i-khas was a private audience. Shah Jahan is most famous for his building projects, the most famous being the Taj Masjid. It was a tomb for his favorite wife who died while delivering his fourteenth child.
Decline of the Empire
Aurangzeb was an orthodox, mostly. He wanted to clean up the empire. Aurangzeb's biggest rival was a man named Shivaji.
Read about Japan and Ch.20 Islamic Empires and the Safavid
Islamic Empires, I: The Ottomans
Expansion of Empire
This empire was a major force in world history and a major force in European history. It is an empire that included the old Byzantine Empire. Suleiman the Magnificent made the life of Charles V so miserable. The Janissaries were like the special forces of the
Sultan armies. They were individuals taken from Christian families at the age of about 5 and reared to be fighting machines. They weren't allowed to marry or own property. Ottoman expansion suddenly stops in the early seventeenth century. There was a crisis in leadership after Suleiman. Then, in the 1650s they stage a comeback. The Viziers were similar to prime ministers. The Koprulus became a dynasty of Grand Viziers. John Sobieski was king of Poland.