Overview of The Early Great Mughals
A Brief Outline of the Reigns of Babar, Humayun and Akbar
Mughal rule reached its territorial height under Aurangzeb, the last of the “Great Mughals”, and then gradually declined as European powers made more and more inroads into the affairs of the subcontinent.
Opulence and Squalour
The era is remembered chiefly for the luxurious lifestyles led by the privileged elite; the Mughal rulers had few or no contemporaries when it came to measurements of wealth. The arts flourished greatly, often reflecting a Persian heritage, while the poor were abused, systematically exploited and often the victims of corruption.
The last Mughal emperor was Bahadur Shah II, a feeble king ruling nominally from Delhi who was eventually exiled to Burma by the British for his alleged complicity in the 1857 uprising.
The first three Great Mughals were concerned mainly with establishing their rule over Hindustan and in the cases of Babar and Humayun, fighting to keep the newly conquered lands. Under the enlightened rule of Akbar, Mughal rule over much of the subcontinent was cemented.
Babar
Reigned 1526-1530
Descended from both Timur and Chingiz Khan, Babar originally ruled the small principality of Ferghana, in present day eastern Uzbekistan. Loosing his kingdom after a failed attempt to conquer Samarkand, he spent years in the wilds of Central Asia until acceding to the throne of Kabul.
Lured by tales of the riches and prosperity of the lands east of the Indus river, in 1525 with an army of just twelve thousand men he crossed the Indus into Hindustan and at Panipat, north of Delhi, defeated the army of the Lodi ruler.
Now the emperor of substantial tracts of Hindustan, Babar established himself at the Lodi capital, Agra. Mughal rule in India had begun. Babar reigned over his newly acquired kingdom for just four years however, and died in 1530.
Humayun
Reigned 1530-1540 / 1555-1556
Although Babar had defeated many of the enemies of the Mughals, his son Humayun was repeatedly harassed by Afghans on the borders of his empire. Eventually ousted in 1540, he fled first to the deserts of western India and then to refuge under the Shah of Persia.
It was with Persian help that Humayun seized Afghanistan, and then in 1555 retook Delhi, bringing much of Hindustan back under Mughal suzerainty.
Unlike his father, Humayun lacked ruthlessness and cunning, (essential qualities for a ruler to possess at the time), and instead was devoted to the various pleasures offering themselves to a royal lifestyle. One of these, astronomy, would prove fatal; Humayun’s reign came to an end in 1556 when he died after falling down the steps of the royal observatory.
Akbar
Reigned 1556-1605
Akbar’s reign heralded the opening of a glorious chapter in Indian history. The arts flourished, territory was added to the empire and such enlightened governance had not been seen since the days of Asoka in the third century BC.
Dismissing the regent who had ruled during his late teens, in 1560 Akbar took to the field and after several successive campaigns, enlarged his kingdom greatly, making conquests to the south roughly as far the Godavari river.
His vigour and fearlessness in battle were matched by a powerful intellect (although he had refused to learn to read when young and would remain illiterate) and a rare sense of justice that extended to all his subjects.
In 1564 he abolished the jizya tax imposed on non-Muslims, and also banned the slaughter of cows, pandering to the majority of his subjects who were Hindu. Akbar was a devout Muslim, but with an insatiable curiosity as to how other religions worked. He regularly summoned to his court Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and Jains, and held long discussions with each, even once attending a mass conducted by Jesuit missionaries.
In the same vein, in 1582 he founded the Din Ilahi (Divine Faith), an elite discussion group open to men of every faith which held religious tolerance as its main cornerstone, and in striking contrast to religious proclamations being made in contemporary Europe, Akbar believed: “No one should be interfered with on account of his religion. Anyone should be allowed to go over to any religion he pleased.”
Slavery was common practice at the time, and Akbar tried to: ”forbid the restriction of personal liberty and the selling of slaves” according to Abul Fazl, a courtier.
In his later years, Akbar’s health suffered, and he faced a rebellion by his son Jahangir. He died in 1605 at the age of sixty three.
Sources
"The Mughal World - India's Tainted Paradise" - Abraham Eraly
"Glimpses of World History" - Jawaharlal Nehru
Cambridge Encyclopedia of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka
"India a History" - John Keay
Further Reading
"The Mughal Throne" - Abraham Eraly
Cambridge History of India: Vol iv: The Mughal Period
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