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Babur, Akbar and the Taj Mahal to Aurangzeb, the Marathas and the empire's long decline.

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Mughal Empire · 1526–1857 AD
Babur to Aurangzeb

The Mughal Empire

From Babur's victory at Panipat and Akbar's building of a tolerant, unified empire, through the golden age of art and the Taj Mahal under Shah Jahan, to the vast conquests and hardening orthodoxy of Aurangzeb, the rise of the Marathas and the plunder of Delhi by Nadir Shah. Slide across three centuries in which a Central Asian dynasty ruled almost all of India, forged a brilliant Indo-Islamic culture, and then slowly lost its empire to rebels and rising European power.

1526 AD
The Founding
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1526 AD

The Founding
  • Military

    Babur wins at Panipat

    Babur, founder of the Mughal empire
    Via Wikimedia Commons

    With cannon and cavalry, Babur destroys the Lodi army at Panipat and founds the Mughal empire.

8 milestones

Meanwhile

Around 1526 AD

Full Chronicle

The Mughal Empire

From Babur's victory at Panipat and Akbar's building of a tolerant, unified empire, through the golden age of art and the Taj Mahal under Shah Jahan, to the vast conquests and hardening orthodoxy of Aurangzeb, the rise of the Marathas and the plunder of Delhi by Nadir Shah. Slide across three centuries in which a Central Asian dynasty ruled almost all of India, forged a brilliant Indo-Islamic culture, and then slowly lost its empire to rebels and rising European power.

  1. The Founding

    • Babur wins at Panipat

      With cannon and cavalry, Babur destroys the Lodi army at Panipat and founds the Mughal empire.

  2. Akbar the Great

    • Akbar builds the empire

      Coming to the throne as a boy, Akbar conquers and consolidates an empire across northern India.

  3. Akbar the Great

    • Akbar's peace of all faiths

      Akbar abolishes the tax on non-Muslims and pursues a policy of tolerance and religious dialogue.

  4. The Golden Age

    • Shah Jahan and the Taj Mahal

      Shah Jahan begins the Taj Mahal, the marble tomb for his wife that crowns the Mughal golden age of art.

  5. Aurangzeb

    • Aurangzeb's vast and rigid empire

      Aurangzeb pushes the empire to its greatest extent but strains it with war and religious severity.

  6. The Maratha Challenge

    • Shivaji and the Marathas

      The Maratha leader Shivaji carves out a Hindu kingdom in the west, defying the might of the Mughals.

  7. The Decline

    • Nadir Shah sacks Delhi

      The Persian conqueror Nadir Shah storms Delhi and carries off its treasures, exposing Mughal weakness.

  8. The Shadow of Empire

    • The empire fades to a shadow

      As the British win Bengal, the Mughal emperor becomes a pensioner, reigning in name over a lost empire.