THE MUGHAL EMPIRE ('In Brief' Books for Busy People Book 7)

Shah Jahan commissioned many other great works of Mughal architecture, including the Red Fort and the Jama Masjid, which is one of the largest mosques in India. Most of these great buildings were constructed in an area that was known at the time as Shahjahanabad (city of Shah Jahan). Today the area is known as Old Delhi.

Humayun also gained from his period in Persia where he was introduced to Persian cultural and military life that not only enabled him to retake Delhi but also contribute to the cultural life of India. His agreement to accept Shi’a Islam as opposed to the Sunni tradition was most likely purely pragmatic in order to secure the help offered by Shah Ta

The Governor of the Company at the time was Sir Josiah Child who was often criticised for running the Company as if it was his own private business. True to form, he interfered with the delicate negotiations that were taking place in Bengal. This angered Aurangzeb and the relationship between the Mughals and the East India Company completely broke

Two years later he turned his attention towards Mughal India. After conquering Kandahar in 1738, Nadir Shah swept through the Khyber Pass with his cavalry of 150,000 and easily defeated a Mughal army numbering around 1.5 million. His next move was towards Delhi, seat of the Mughal throne. He managed to capture the Mughal Emperor, Muhammad Shah, and

Believing that the pregnancy of Akbar’s Hindu wife Mariam-uz-Zamani was an answer to prayer, she was sent to the Shaykh’s house in the town of Sikri, in the vicinity of Agra, for her confinement. In thanksgiving for the safe delivery of a son, who was to be the future Jahangir, Akbar commissioned the building of a great city at Sikri. It became kno

The spark that ignited the flame was a small incident relating to the introduction of a new model of rifle, the Enfield P-53. The new rifle used paper cartridges that were pre-greased. Before being inserted into the barrel, it was necessary for the sepoy to bite the end of the cartridge in order to release the powder. Rumours began to spread that t

By the middle of the 18th Century, the Carnatic region, approximately today’s Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and southern Andhra Pradesh, came under the rule of Nizam-ul-Mulk of Hyderabad. During the early period of his early reign he was loyal to Aurangzeb, but following the latter’s death in 1707, he broke away and ruled the Carnatic region as an

The comparative ease with which the East India Company was able to seize power was partly due to the increasing weakness of the Emperors. However, their task was also made easier because so many small Sultanates and Kingdoms were prepared to collaborate with the British in exchange for favours and protection.

After acceding to the Mughal throne in 1556, he gained the title Akbar the Great, which literally means Great the Great.