The Mughal Empire and the Indian Subcontinent

From Babur to Akbar

The Mughal dynasty was founded in northern India by Babur after the battle of Panipat in 1526. His grandson Akbar, who reigned from 1556 to 1605, greatly expanded and consolidated the empire through warfare, administration, alliances and accommodation with important regional elites.

An imperial culture made through exchange

Mughal court culture drew on Central Asian and Persian traditions while developing in sustained interaction with the many cultures of the subcontinent. Architecture, painting, gardens, literature, food, clothing and administrative practice reflected that exchange. Monuments in Delhi and Agra make the Mughal past particularly visible to visitors today, but the empire’s influence extended far beyond monuments.

Not one uniform India

Even at the height of Mughal power, the subcontinent remained regionally diverse. Rajput courts maintained distinctive identities while entering imperial alliances; the Deccan contained powerful sultanates and later Maratha power; and southern kingdoms preserved their own political and cultural histories. It is therefore misleading to treat the Mughal Empire as simply an earlier version of the Republic of India.

Decline and afterlives

After the death of Aurangzeb in 1707, Mughal political power fragmented as regional rulers, Marathas and other states expanded. The Mughal emperor remained symbolically important long after effective imperial control had contracted. Mughal artistic and architectural vocabularies also continued in regional courts and cities, surviving political decline and interacting with growing European influence.