The Mughal Empire

The Mughals came from the famous Timurid dynasty. Babur was related to Timurlance from his mother's side.

He was also related to the great fighter Chengis Khan.

The Mughal dynasty came to india when Badur came to indian in 1526.

Their main and strong kings ruled till 1707 when Aurangzeb died.

The Mughal Empire comprised of North india under Badur's rule. Akbar had greatly extended the frontiers of the empire.

After a long time, nearly all the states of india were again under one consolidated rule.

The Mughal Empire seemed big and strong, and its glory and fame spread far and wide.

But gradually the empire became weak, through it seemed to be big and stong.

There were many reasons for the decline of the Mughal Empire. One of it was the harsh treatment that the Hindus (who formed the majority) received at the hands of Aurangzeb.

Akbar had used up a lot of money in building Fatehpur Sikri and other monuments.

Jahangir had spent a lot of money on his rich lifestyle, drinks and drugs to which he was addicted.

Shah Jahan had spent a massive amount of money on the Taj Mahal and the other monuments he had built.

The Taj Mahal proved very costly, and its maintenance was done by the money that came from the revenue from villages.

Aurangzeb had spent a lot of money on wars, especially with the Marathas.

All this left very little money in the empire's treasury. A weak financial position was a major reason of its downfall.

Moreover, Aurangzeb's harsh treatment of the Hindus made the Mughals unpopular. Many Hindus kings were angry with him.

The kings who came after Aurangzeb were not capable rulers, they were rather weak. They could not manage the huge empire.

After Aurangzeb's death when the throne passed on to his son, he was so old that he could only live for a new more years before passing on the throne again.

There were many kings who wanted to be free. Soon after 1707, these kings declared that they were not under the Mughal rule any more.

The later Mughal Emperors were not strong enough to defect these rebels.

After the death of Aurangzeb, the Mughals gradually became less important.

With the British gaining importance, the Mughal Empire became all the more weak.

Morever, there was also a lot of uncertainly about who would be the next emperor. No one in the royal family was safe because people were jealous of each other.

Whenever a king died, there would be plots to kill members of the royal family and wars for deciding which son would be the next king.

In  a single year, there were two emperors who were crowned and then dethroned.

Though the Mughal dynasty prevailed till 1857, th Mughals after Aurangzeb were weak rulers.

By 1857 many Mughal Emperors had come and gone without regaining their former glory. They kept fighting either amongst themselves or with other invaders.

Bahadur Shah Zafar was the last Mughal Emperor of India. He planned to fight against the British in the first war of India's independence in 1857.

With the Rani of Jhansi, Nana Rao, Tantia Tope, he also fought against the British.

But the British forces defeated the Indian forces, and nearly all the leaders died.

The last Mughal Emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar, was sent to Burma (now Myanmar) by the British.

He constantly asked the British to let him come back to Delhi if only to die, but they refused.

Bahadur Shah Zafar died in Rangoon (in Burma) and was buried there.

The last Mughal Emperor was just allowed to stay in the Red Fort of Delhi. He had no freedom, and he could only do what the British asked him to do.

That was the sad end of the grand Mughal dynasty which had reigned for a long time in India.