Mughal Emperors

In 1526 Babur defeated the last Lodi Sultane Ibrahim Lodi in the Battle of Panipath¹ and founded the rule of Great Mughal Emperors (April 21, 1526 - June 20, 1858). Though it was not an achievement for Muslims in the sense of conquest but was a mere change in the question of ruling. The great six Mughal rulers ruled an empire which exceeded the area of many of the ancient states. Though Babur had a short lived reign, died on December 26, 1530, actually his role as a founder was unparallel.

Humayun², the dearest son of Babur, ascended to the power on December 26, 1530, after the death of the great founder of the Mughal Empire. His reign was interrupted by Sher Shah Suri³ in 1540 and he regained it 1555 some days before his death in 1556.

Humayun’s thirteen years old son Akbar⁴ ascended to the monarch after his death from falling from the stairs of his library. Akbar ruled about half a century and concluded as Akbar the great in history. During his reign he introduced Din-i-Ilahi5 and Ain-i-Akbari6 was compiled by Abul Fazal⁷.

Jahangir, the prince of Akbar from a Rajput princess from Amber⁸, reigned from 15 October 1605 – 8 November 1627 after the death of his great father Akber the great. Jahangir loved his prince Khurram later Shahjahan most and kept him busy in various operations in Bengal and Kashmir. His wife Noor Jehan⁹ had a worldwide fame for her beauty.

Shahjahan¹⁰, the prince of builders, took power on 8 November 1627. He reigned till 2 August 1658 but died on 22 January 1666 at the age of 74. He built the Taj Mehel¹¹ after the name of his wife Arjuman Banu widely known as Mumtaj Mehel¹², Red fort of Delhi¹³, Delhi Jama Masjid¹⁴ and many other architectural buildings. In his last years of life he was confined at Agra fort near Taj Mehel where his beloved wife was rested.

Aurangzeb¹⁵, the last of the great Mughal Emperors, took the power on 31 July 1658 and remained as a monarch till his death on 3 March 1707. Virtually, at the time of his death the curtain of the Mughal Empire was shattered down though it survived till the exile of its last titular Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar¹⁶ on 7 November 1862. Aurangzeb was wrongly depicted as an aggressive Emperor by most of the jealous Hindu historians. But the reality was that he was a pious man and kind to the people of all the religions of his empire. He granted many estates to the welfare of the holy places of different religions. He cut short many types of tax burden which deteriorated the significant revenue income. Actually, he was such a great man for whom any kind of sin was improbable. He lived his life by copying the holy Quran and sewing the cap. Beyond all the debate, he was somehow correctly portrayed somewhere by the famous historian Sir Jadhu Nath Sarker¹⁷.