Mughal Empire

State · 1529–1858 CE · at its largest around 1700 CE

Persian-speaking emperors descended from Timur and Genghis Khan presided over a dazzling court culture: miniature painting, Akbar's debates among faiths and Shah Jahan's Taj Mahal. India's cotton and spices drew European traders, and Urdu took shape in its cities.

Its battles, in Battle View

First Battle of Panipat (1526 CE)

On its lands while it lasted

Vijayanagara Empire (1336–1646 CE): South Indian empire founded by Harihara I and Bukka Raya I in 1336, a major patron of Hindu culture and temple architecture.
Guru Nanak (1469 CE – 1539 CE): Founder of Sikhism and the first of the ten Sikh Gurus, born at Talwandi, now Nankana Sahib in Pakistan.
Babur (1483 CE – 1530 CE): Timurid prince from the Fergana Valley who took Kabul in 1504 and founded the Mughal Empire after victory at Panipat in 1526.
Sher Shah Suri (c. 1486 CE – 1545 CE): Afghan ruler who drove Humayun out of India and founded the Sur Empire, reforming coinage and administration.
Mughal Empire founded (1526–1857 CE): Empire founded by Babur that at its height ruled most of the Indian subcontinent, famed for its wealth, administration and architecture.
Akbar (1542 CE – 1605 CE): Third Mughal emperor, who expanded the empire across northern India and pursued religious tolerance and administrative reform.
Golden Temple (Harmandir Sahib) (c. 1581 CE): Holiest gurdwara of Sikhism in Amritsar, built under Guru Arjan; its upper floors were gilded in the early 19th century.
Aurangzeb (1618 CE – 1707 CE): Sixth Mughal emperor under whom the empire reached its greatest extent; his long Deccan wars strained its resources.
Shivaji (1630 CE – 1680 CE): Founder of the Maratha state who fought the Bijapur Sultanate and the Mughals and was crowned Chhatrapati at Raigad in 1674.
Taj Mahal (1632 CE): White marble mausoleum at Agra built by Shah Jahan for his wife Mumtaz Mahal, begun in 1632; the most celebrated work of Mughal architecture.
Maratha Empire (1674–1818 CE): Maratha state founded by Shivaji's coronation in 1674, which became the dominant power in India in the 18th century before defeat by the British.
Battle of Plassey (1757 CE): East India Company forces under Robert Clive defeated the Nawab of Bengal, Siraj ud-Daulah, beginning Company rule in Bengal.
Third Battle of Panipat (1761 CE): Ahmad Shah Durrani's Afghan army defeated the Marathas in one of the largest battles of the 18th century.
Indian Rebellion of 1857 (1857–1858 CE): Uprising that began with a mutiny of sepoys at Meerut and spread across northern India, leading to the end of East India Company rule.
British Raj (1858–1947 CE): After the 1857 rebellion the British Crown took direct rule of India from the East India Company, governing until independence in 1947.