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The Mughal period refers to the era of the Mughal Empire, which dominated the Indian subcontinent from 1526 until its formal end in 1857. Founded by Babur, a Central Asian ruler descended from both Timur and Genghis Khan, the empire began with his decisive victory at the First Battle of Panipat. While Babur’s son Humayun faced early setbacks, it was his grandson, Akbar the Great, who truly laid the foundation for the empire’s vast political, administrative, and cultural power. Under Akbar’s long reign, the empire expanded significantly, and he implemented policies of religious tolerance and a centralized administrative system, which fostered a stable and prosperous state.
The empire reached its zenith under the reigns of Akbar’s successors, Jahangir and Shah Jahan. This “golden age” is particularly renowned for its spectacular contributions to art and architecture, which masterfully blended Persian, Islamic, and indigenous Indian styles. Emperor Jahangir was a great patron of Mughal miniature painting, and his court produced some of the most exquisite botanical and courtly illustrations. However, it was Shah Jahan who is most celebrated for his architectural marvels, commissioning iconic structures like the Red Fort in Delhi and, most famously, the Taj Mahal—a magnificent mausoleum that stands as a global symbol of Mughal artistic achievement. The empire reached its greatest territorial extent under the last of the “Great Mughals,” Aurangzeb, although his orthodox religious policies and costly military campaigns ultimately sowed the seeds of its decline.
Following Aurangzeb’s death in 1707, the empire began a slow but irreversible fragmentation. The later Mughal rulers were weak, and the central authority crumbled amidst internal rebellions from regional powers like the Marathas and Sikhs, as well as devastating invasions from Persia. As the empire weakened, European trading companies, particularly the British East India Company, began to exert increasing political and military influence. The last Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah II, was a mere figurehead, and his symbolic role in the Indian Rebellion of 1857 led to his exile by the British, marking the formal end of the Mughal period and the beginning of the British Raj.
