Chapter Overview

The Mughal Empire (मुग़ल साम्राज्य) ruled north India from Babur’s victory at Panipat (1526) to the exile of Bahadur Shah Zafar (1857–58), with a Sur interlude under Sher Shah (1540–1555). At its height under Aurangzeb it covered almost the whole subcontinent. Its institutions (the suba, the mansabdari system, Todar Mal’s revenue system), its architecture (Fatehpur Sikri, the Taj Mahal) and its painting shaped everything that came after, including the Maratha and British administration of Chhattisgarh. Prelims asks exact facts (battles and years, who built what, officers and their functions); Mains asks you to evaluate Akbar’s policies, the mansabdari system and the causes of decline.

What You’ll Learn

By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:

Place Babur’s four battles, Humayun’s defeats and Sher Shah’s reforms in order, and explain why Sher Shah is called a forerunner of Akbar
Trace Akbar’s conquests, Rajput policy and religious steps to sulh-i-kul (1563–1582)
Summarise the reigns of Jahangir, Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb, the war of succession and the Deccan wars
Explain the central, provincial and local administration, mansabdari (zat and sawar), the jagir types and the dahsala revenue system
Identify the key monuments and painters of each reign and the move from red sandstone to white marble
Explain the later Mughals, Nadir Shah, the successor states, and write a multi-causal Mains answer on Mughal decline
Link the Mughal story to Chhattisgarh: Rani Durgavati (1564), the Ratanpur Kalachuris, and the Bhonsle takeover of 1741

Prerequisites

The Delhi Sultanate — the Lodis, the iqta system and Alauddin’s dagh and chehra, which the Mughals inherited
Bhakti and Sufi Movements — the religious setting of Akbar’s court and of the Sikh–Mughal conflict

Learning Path

Follow the topics in this order:

graph TD
    A["1. Foundation
Babur, Humayun, Sher Shah
1526–1556"] --> B["2. The Great Mughals
Akbar to Aurangzeb
1556–1707"]
    B --> C["3. Administration
Ministers, subas,
mansabdari, revenue"]
    C --> D["4. Art and Architecture
Buildings, painting,
music, literature"]
    D --> E["5. Later Mughals and Decline
1707–1857"]
    E --> F["6. Quick Revision"]
    F --> G["Next chapter:
Advent of Europeans"]

Topics in This Chapter

#	Topic	What it covers
1	Foundation: Babur, Humayun and Sher Shah	Panipat 1526, Khanwa, Chanderi, Ghaghra; Humayun’s defeats and exile; Sher Shah’s rupiya, revenue, roads and administration; Second Panipat 1556
2	Akbar to Aurangzeb: The Great Mughals	Akbar’s conquests, Rajput policy and sulh-i-kul; Jahangir and Nur Jahan; Shah Jahan and the war of succession; Aurangzeb’s revolts and Deccan policy
3	Mughal Administration and Mansabdari	Central ministers, subas and local officers, mansabdari (zat and sawar), jagirdari, dahsala and land classes
4	Mughal Art, Architecture, Painting and Literature	Humayun’s Tomb to the Taj, Fatehpur Sikri, UNESCO sites, Mughal painting, music, Persian and Hindi literature
5	Later Mughals and the Decline of the Empire	Bahadur Shah I to Zafar, Sayyid brothers, 1717 farman, Nadir Shah, successor states, causes and historiography of decline
—	Quick Revision	Every date, name and fact on one page

Where It Is Asked

Paper	What to expect
Prelims P-I (Part 1, India GS)	Battle–year–opponent questions, chronological ordering, “who built / who wrote”, officer–function matching (Mir Bakhshi, Sadr, Kotwal), zat–sawar, land classes, later Mughal events. Statement-based and match-the-following formats are common
Mains P-III (GS-I), History of India	Short answers (Sher Shah’s reforms, zat and sawar, sulh-i-kul, the 1717 farman) and longer analytical answers (Akbar vs Aurangzeb, mansabdari system, synthesis in Mughal architecture, causes of decline)

Exam focus

High-yield: Babur’s battles (1526–29); Chausa and Kannauj; Sher Shah’s reforms; Akbar’s religious steps (1563, 1564, 1575, 1579, 1582); Haldighati (1576); zat and sawar; dahsala (1580); Itimad-ud-Daulah vs Taj; Nadir Shah (1739); successor states.
Common mistakes: confusing Guru Arjan (Jahangir) with Guru Tegh Bahadur (Aurangzeb); calling the Mir Bakhshi commander-in-chief; Nadir Shah vs Abdali; Bahadur Shah I vs Bahadur Shah II.
Chhattisgarh angle for Mains: Rani Durgavati of Garha-Katanga (1564); the Ratanpur tradition of Kalyan Sai at the Mughal court; the 1672 Narnaul Satnamis vs Guru Ghasidas’s Satnampanth; Mughal decline and the Bhonsle conquest of Ratanpur (1741); Mughal administrative terms in today’s tehsils.

Quick Reference: The Mughal Emperors

Emperor	Reign	Remember for
Babur	1526–1530	Panipat (1526), Khanwa (1527); Baburnama (Chagatai Turkish)
Humayun	1530–40, 1555–56	Chausa (1539), Kannauj (1540); exile; Din-panah
Sher Shah Suri	1540–1545	Rupiya, patta–qabuliyat, roads and sarais; died at Kalinjar
Akbar	1556–1605	Second Panipat (1556); sulh-i-kul; jizya abolished (1564); mansabdari; dahsala (1580); Fatehpur Sikri
Jahangir	1605–1627	Nur Jahan; chain of justice; Thomas Roe; golden age of painting
Shah Jahan	1628–1658	Taj Mahal, Red Fort; Kandahar lost (1649); war of succession
Aurangzeb	1658–1707	Jizya reimposed (1679); Deccan wars; greatest extent; revolts
Later Mughals	1707–1857	Sayyid brothers; 1717 farman; Nadir Shah (1739); Buxar (1764); Zafar exiled (1858)

Start Learning

Begin with the first topic:

→ Foundation: Babur, Humayun and Sher Shah