The Mughal Empire from Panipat (1526) to Bahadur Shah Zafar on one page. For explanations, go back to the chapter.
Scan it top to bottom in the week before Prelims. Bold entries are the facts examiners return to most often.
Timeline of Battles
| Battle | Year | Sides | Result |
|---|
| First Panipat | 1526 (21 April) | Babur vs Ibrahim Lodi | Mughal rule founded; tulughma + artillery |
| Khanwa | 1527 | Babur vs Rana Sanga | Rajput confederacy broken; Babur takes title Ghazi |
| Chanderi | 1528 | Babur vs Medini Rai | Fort taken |
| Ghaghra | 1529 | Babur vs Afghans (Mahmud Lodi) | Afghans defeated |
| Chausa | 1539 | Sher Khan vs Humayun | Humayun defeated |
| Kannauj (Bilgram) | 1540 | Sher Shah vs Humayun | Humayun flees; Sur rule |
| Second Panipat | 1556 (5 November) | Akbar / Bairam Khan vs Hemu | Mughal rule secured |
| Haldighati | 1576 | Man Singh vs Maharana Pratap | Mughal victory; Pratap escapes |
| Dharmat / Samugarh | 1658 | Aurangzeb + Murad vs imperial army / Dara | Aurangzeb wins the throne |
| Deorai | 1659 | Aurangzeb vs Dara | Dara’s final defeat |
| Jajau | 1707 | Muazzam vs Azam | Bahadur Shah I succeeds |
| Karnal | 1739 | Nadir Shah vs Muhammad Shah | Delhi sacked; Peacock Throne, Koh-i-Noor taken |
| Third Panipat | 1761 (14 January) | Abdali vs Marathas | Maratha defeat |
| Buxar | 1764 | Company vs Shah Alam II, Mir Qasim, Shuja-ud-Daula | Company victory → diwani (1765) |
Emperors and Key Facts
| Emperor | Reign | Must-know facts |
|---|
| Babur | 1526–30 | Born 1483, Fergana; Baburnama (Chagatai Turkish); charbagh; died Agra, buried Kabul |
| Humayun | 1530–40, 1555–56 | Din-panah; exile in Persia (Shah Tahmasp); Humayun-nama by Gulbadan Begum; died falling from Sher Mandal |
| Sher Shah | 1540–45 | Rupiya (~178 grains), dam; measurement, 1/3 share, patta–qabuliyat; Sonargaon road, sarais; dagh–chehra; died at Kalinjar; tomb Sasaram |
| Akbar | 1556–1605 | Born 1542, Amarkot; Bairam Khan regent; Durgavati 1564; Chittor 1568; Gujarat 1572–73; Haldighati 1576; last conquest Asirgarh 1601; tomb Sikandra |
| Jahangir | 1605–27 | Guru Arjan executed 1606; Zanjir-i-Adl; Nur Jahan 1611; Mewar submits 1615; Thomas Roe 1615–19; Kandahar lost 1622; Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri |
| Shah Jahan | 1628–58 | Ahmadnagar annexed 1633; Kandahar lost finally 1649; Taj, Red Fort, Jama Masjid, Peacock Throne; imprisoned in Agra Fort till 1666 |
| Aurangzeb | 1658–1707 | Alamgir; Purandar 1665; Tegh Bahadur 1675; jizya 1679; Bijapur 1686, Golconda 1687; Sambhaji executed 1689; died Ahmadnagar; buried Khuldabad |
Akbar’s Religious Ladder
| Year | Step |
|---|
| 1562 | End of enslavement of war prisoners; Amber marriage alliance |
| 1563 | Pilgrim tax abolished |
| 1564 | Jizya abolished |
| 1575 | Ibadat Khana, Fatehpur Sikri |
| 1579 | Mahzar (drafted by Shaikh Mubarak) |
| 1582 | Din-i-Ilahi (Tauhid-i-Ilahi) |
| Principle | Sulh-i-kul (“peace with all”), articulated by Abul Fazl |
Aurangzeb’s Revolts
| Group | Year / leader |
|---|
| Jats | 1669, Gokula; later Rajaram, Churaman |
| Satnamis | 1672, Narnaul (Haryana); sect founded 1657 by Birbhan |
| Sikhs | Tegh Bahadur executed 1675; Khalsa 1699 |
| Rajputs | Marwar 1679 (Durgadas Rathore); Prince Akbar’s revolt 1681 |
| Bundelas | Chhatrasal |
| Marathas | Shivaji (crowned 1674), Sambhaji, Rajaram, Tarabai |
Administration
| Officer / term | Meaning |
|---|
| Vakil | Prime minister; reduced after Bairam Khan |
| Wazir / Diwan | Revenue and finance |
| Mir Bakhshi | Military administration, mansabdar records (not commander-in-chief) |
| Mir Saman | Royal household, karkhanas |
| Sadr-us-Sudur | Religious grants (madad-i-maash), charity |
| Qazi-ul-Quzat | Chief justice |
| Muhtasib | Public morals |
| Subedar / Diwan (suba) | Governor / provincial revenue (reports to the centre) |
| Faujdar, Amalguzar | Sarkar: law and order, revenue |
| Shiqdar, Amil, Qanungo, Fotedar | Pargana officers |
| Muqaddam, Patwari | Village headman, accountant |
| Kotwal | City police chief |
| Subas | 12 in 1580 → 15 under Akbar; about 20–22 under Aurangzeb |
Mansabdari, Jagirs and Revenue
| Term | Detail |
|---|
| Mansabdari | Akbar, 1570s; ranks 10 to 10,000 (66 grades listed, ~33 used) |
| Zat / Sawar | Personal rank and pay / cavalry to maintain; dual rank from 1595–96 |
| Classes | Sawar = zat → 1st; ≥ half → 2nd; < half → 3rd |
| Du-aspa sih-aspa | Jahangir: more sawar without more zat |
| Month scale | Shah Jahan |
| Jagirdari crisis | Aurangzeb’s reign: too many mansabdars, too few jagirs |
| Khalisa | Crown land |
| Tankhwah / Watan jagir | Transferable / hereditary home territory |
| Dahsala (Ain-i-Dahsala) | 1580, Todar Mal: ten-year average produce and prices → cash rates per bigha; dasturs |
| Polaj / Parauti / Chachar / Banjar | Every year / fallow 1–2 yrs / 3–4 yrs / 5+ yrs |
| Batai / Kankut / Nasaq | Crop-sharing / estimate / past records |
| Coins | Rupaya, dam (40 dams = 1 rupee), mohur |
Monuments
| Monument | Builder / date | Note |
|---|
| Humayun’s Tomb | Bega Begum; 1565–72 | First garden-tomb; Mirak Mirza Ghiyas; UNESCO 1993 |
| Agra Fort | Akbar; from 1565 | UNESCO 1983 |
| Fatehpur Sikri | Akbar; from c. 1571 | Salim Chishti; UNESCO 1986 |
| Buland Darwaza | Akbar; c. 1575 | Gujarat conquest |
| Akbar’s Tomb, Sikandra | Completed by Jahangir | |
| Itimad-ud-Daulah | Nur Jahan; 1622–28 | First white-marble Mughal tomb with pietra dura; “Baby Taj” |
| Shalimar Bagh, Srinagar | Jahangir’s reign | |
| Taj Mahal | Shah Jahan; c. 1632–53 | Ustad Ahmad Lahori; Makrana marble; UNESCO 1983 |
| Red Fort, Delhi | Shah Jahan; 1639–48 | Shahjahanabad; UNESCO 2007 |
| Jama Masjid, Delhi | Shah Jahan; 1650–56 | |
| Badshahi Mosque, Lahore | Aurangzeb; 1673 | |
| Bibi ka Maqbara | Azam Shah (Aurangzeb’s reign) | “Taj of the Deccan” |
Painting, Music and Books
| Name | Fact |
|---|
| Mir Sayyid Ali, Abd al-Samad | Persian masters brought by Humayun |
| Hamzanama | Akbar’s first great project (~1,400 paintings) |
| Daswant, Basawan | Akbar’s painters |
| Mansur | Birds and animals; Nadir-ul-Asr |
| Abul Hasan | Nadir-uz-Zaman (1618) |
| Bishandas | Portraits; sent to Persia |
| Tansen | Akbar’s court musician |
| Sadarang–Adarang | Khayal, Muhammad Shah’s court |
| Akbarnama, Ain-i-Akbari | Abul Fazl |
| Muntakhab-ut-Tawarikh | Badauni (critical of Akbar) |
| Padshahnama | Abdul Hamid Lahori |
| Sirr-i-Akbar, Majma-ul-Bahrain | Dara Shikoh |
| Razmnama | Persian Mahabharata (Maktab Khana) |
| Padmavat | Malik Muhammad Jayasi (c. 1540) |
| Ramcharitmanas / Sursagar | Tulsidas / Surdas |
Later Mughals and Decline
| Fact | Detail |
|---|
| Sayyid brothers | Abdullah Khan, Husain Ali Khan; king-makers 1713–20 |
| 1717 farman | Farrukhsiyar; duty-free Bengal trade for ₹3,000 a year; “Magna Carta” of the Company |
| Muhammad Shah “Rangila” | 1719–48; Nadir Shah 1739 |
| Successor states | Hyderabad (Nizam-ul-Mulk, 1724) · Bengal (Murshid Quli Khan, 1717) · Awadh (Saadat Khan, 1722) |
| Shah Alam II | Buxar 1764; Allahabad 1765; blinded 1788; British protection 1803 |
| Akbar II | Title “Raja” to Ram Mohan Roy |
| Bahadur Shah Zafar | 1837–57; exiled to Rangoon; died 1862 |
| Historians | Sarkar (religion) · Satish Chandra (jagirdari) · Irfan Habib (agrarian) · Athar Ali (nobility) · Muzaffar Alam, Bayly (regional) |
Chhattisgarh Links
| Fact | Detail |
|---|
| Rani Durgavati | Garha-Katanga; died 24 June 1564 at Narai Nala fighting Asaf Khan |
| Kalyan Sai | Ratanpur Kalachuri king; tradition of about eight years at the Mughal court (Akbar or Jahangir — sources differ) |
| Satnamis | 1672 Narnaul revolt ≠ Guru Ghasidas’s Satnampanth (born 1756, Giraudpuri) |
| Ratanpur 1741 | Bhaskar Pant (for Raghuji I Bhonsle) ends Kalachuri independence; Bimbaji’s direct rule from 1758 |
| Administrative words | Patwari, qanungo, tehsil, kotwal: Mughal-era terms carried via Maratha and British rule |
Don’t Confuse
| This | vs | That |
|---|
| First Panipat 1526 (Ibrahim Lodi) | vs | Second Panipat 1556 (Hemu) · Third Panipat 1761 (Abdali vs Marathas) |
| Khanwa 1527 (Rana Sanga) | vs | Haldighati 1576 (Maharana Pratap) |
| Jizya abolished 1564 (Akbar) | vs | Jizya reimposed 1679 (Aurangzeb) |
| Guru Arjan 1606 (Jahangir) | vs | Guru Tegh Bahadur 1675 (Aurangzeb) · Banda Bahadur 1716 (Farrukhsiyar) |
| Mir Bakhshi (military administration) | vs | Mir Saman (household) |
| Zat (personal rank) | vs | Sawar (cavalry) |
| Itimad-ud-Daulah (“Baby Taj”, Nur Jahan) | vs | Bibi ka Maqbara (“Taj of the Deccan”, Azam Shah) |
| Mansur (Nadir-ul-Asr) | vs | Abul Hasan (Nadir-uz-Zaman) |
| Nadir Shah (Persian, 1739) | vs | Ahmad Shah Abdali (Afghan, from 1748) |
| Bahadur Shah I (1707–12) | vs | Bahadur Shah II Zafar (1837–57) |
| 1717 farman (duty-free trade) | vs | 1765 Allahabad (diwani) |
- Asirgarh (1601), not Ahmadnagar, was Akbar’s last conquest.
- Humayun’s Tomb was commissioned by his widow, not by Humayun; Akbar’s tomb was completed by Jahangir.
- The Mir Bakhshi was not the commander-in-chief.
- Kandahar was lost finally under Shah Jahan (1649), not Jahangir.
- The 1672 Satnami revolt was in Haryana, not Chhattisgarh.
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