Mughal Empire

Throughout time empires have risen and fallen and taken various approaches in doing so. Some of these society were warlike, while others focused on intellectual discovery. Among these various societies were great empires like the Ottoman, the Mughal, the Spanish, and the Ming. All four of these great empire ruled at overlapping times but all eventually fell for different reasons. All had strengths and weakness and can be used as a learning opportunity for an empire that came after them. From the Ming and the Ottoman you can learn strength such as religious tolerance and government structure. On the other hand, the Mughal and the Spanish teach us the dangers of over taxing and over centralizing government. In order for an empire to successfully function they must have an accepting culture, a balanced economy, and manageable size.

People, places, and/or things come and go, changing from one thing to another or none at all. In other cases, it is just not people, places, and/or things, it can also be generations or empires. Empires are known to adopt similar traditions or beliefs from other empires. In addition, some empires have similar, but slightly different laws and/or goals. Two of the empires that were similar, but different is many ways are the Ottoman and Mughal Empires.

The Mughal Empire: Zahir al-Din, also known as Babur, was a Chagatai Turk that, unlike the Ottoman and Safavids, was just a soldier of fortune not fighting on behalf of Islam. He wanted to use his fortune to transform a glorious central Asian empire. Although, he did not succeed at that goal he then focused on India. Babur took Delhi in 1526. He did not like the land that he had conquered, it was a hot and humid climate but, Babur decided to stay. By the time of his death he had embraced most of the Indian subcontinent. The height of the Mughal power and influence came from Babur’s grandson Akbar. He gained power in Gujarat and Bengal, destroyed the Hindu kingdom of Vijayanagar in order to later expand in southern India. He was a thoughtful man who tolerated the religious differences in

Although the Ottoman and Mughal empires had two different reasons for decline, both were because of the leaders currently in power at the time. Even though Suleyman, the ruler of the Ottomans, accomplished social and cultural achievements, the empire was losing ground. Suleyman made a mistake by killing two of his sons. His third son, the incompetent Selim II, inherited the throne. Suleyman set the pattern for the future sultans to gain and hold power. It became customary for each new sultan to kill his brother. This practice produced a long line of weak sultans who eventually brought ruin on the empire. Since India was mainly a land of the Hindus, The stability of the Emperor, in this case Aurangzeb, depended on the support of the people. Without their loyalty and cooperation, stability was impossible. When Aurangzeb came into power, he departed from the tradition of religious tolerance and persecuted the other

The Mughal Empire ruled most of India and Pakistan in the 16th and 17th centuries. The empire Islam in South Asia, and caused the spread of Muslim arts and culture as well as faith. The Mughals were Muslims who ruled a country with a large

Both the Mughal and Ottoman Empire started off as military clans. Osman Bey founded the Ottoman Empire, the chief of a semi-nomadic Turkish clan that settled in Northwestern Anatolia whose goal was to convert people into ghazi’s. While the Mughal Empire was founded by Babur a Chagatai Turk who claimed descendance from both Chinggis Khan and Tamerlane whose main goal was to create a strong Asian society. Over time, both the Ottoman and Mughal Empire created strong autocratic empires that reflected steppe traditions relying on bureaucracies lead mostly by men. Despite Islamic customs women played important political and government roles in the Islamic Empires, especially the wives of the emperors. Although the wives of the Mughal and Ottoman Emperor’s had privileges, the authority they had on the empires differed. Indeed, not only was the role of women impactful on the Islamic Empires, but also trade. On one hand, the Ottoman Empire focused on foreign trade to gain knowledge and expand their influences on societies. In contrast, the Mughals concentrated on domestic trade. All Islamic Empires had strong domestic economies but over time their economies declined due to the high cost of maintaining the military and administrative system.

Zahir al-Din Muhammad Babur was a founder of India’s Mughal Empire; furthermore, he was a Chaghatai-Turkish prince and a direct descendant not only of Timur but also of Chinggis Khan (Balabanlilar 2). There was an effective centralized rule that was provided by the Mughal dynasty to the Indian subcontinent during the first half of the Mughal period (Stearns 32).

3. The Mughal and the Ottoman Empires were two of the greatest and most powerful civilizations of the ancient period. Their fame and glory in the sixteenth century represented the zenith of art, architecture, and human creativity. These eminent empires were the largest and the most influential civilizations of the Muslim world, and their splendor reached as far as Europe. The two most important rulers of these empires were Akbar the Great and Suleiman the Magnificent, under whose reign the empire reached its triumphant moments. Just as the reign of Akbar and Suleiman marked the Golden age, their deaths resulted in the slow downfall of the empires. Both the Ottoman and Mughal empires were distinctive civilizations of their time due to the local culture

During the early modern period, two great Islamic states were created. One, covered most of the Middle East, while the Balkans covered the remaining majority of India. The two major Islamic Empires, the Ottomans and the Mughals, both brought major new influences to these regions as well. The Ottoman and Mughal Empires’ influences included great political and military strength, amongst other things. During the early modern period, these two empires established very large territories and new boundaries, resembling Russia’s rule. Also similarly to Russia, both of these empires included a diverse population made up of different linguistic, ethnic, and religious groups. Both the Ottoman and Mughal Empires, while similar, followed their own, separate paths during most of the early modern period. In doing so, they avoided Western civilization and the rest of the world, for the most part. However, contact with the West did increase with time as by the late 17th to early 18th century, “a more substantial Western presence began to affect internal developments”.

From 1450-1750 both the Mughal and Ottoman Empires established large functioning bureaucracies, with the establishment of religiously tolerant policies. Political and religious climates of the Muslim Empires in 1450-1750 were tense, however religious tolerance can be seen in the Mughal and Ottoman Empires. According to the document, the military needed the support from the government and to back up political decisions. Document 5 is taken from the perspective of a missionary who lived for years in Egypt, the Ottoman Empire and a foreign employee of the Mughal emperor. In this document he talks about his experiences through both empires and describe each empire in terms of political and religious. This document give us information about how

The Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal Empires set new standards for trade, communication, and even religion, while the Qing dynasty in China brought with it prosperity and resentment. Under Ottoman rulers, the empire reached heights of expansion reminiscent of Rome while also capitalizing on their lands' geographical advantages to trade and produce goods. The Safavid Empire began with a religious revolution but suffered from economic disadvantages and political instability. The Mughal Empire eventually conquered the Indian subcontinent and advanced causes of international communication, religious tolerance, and innovations with Sikhism. Finally, although the Manchu rulers of the Qing dynasty brought many positive changes to China, their lack of loyalty from the people and policies of isolation ultimately damaged the long-term success of their rule. This period is marked with great changes, revolutions, and declines, all of which would have significant ramifications in the century to

The Ottoman and Mughal empires were two of the most successful empires to ever come together. However, in their dominance there was many similarities as well as differences. Both went through their share of struggle. Whether through political, religious, or cultural struggle the two empires had to rely on their emperors for guidance and rule.

Discuss the decline of the Mughal Empire. To what extent do you agree that the downfall of the Mughal Empire was caused by the agrarian crisis of the 17th and 18th century?

In the 1600's the English took advantage of the crumbling Mughals. In 1757, Robert Clive led an unquestionable victory against the Indian Forces at the Battle of Plassey. After that battle, the East India Company was the leading force

This makes sense when first looked at, but the “imperial overstretch” argument ignores the fact that as late as the 18th century, India was the second wealthiest society in the world. In 1526, Babur is said to have invaded India with 12,000 cavalrymen, but by the time of Shah Jahan, the imperial military reached 300,000 soldiers, of whom 200,000 were armed cavalrymen. The only way that the Mughals could support so massive a military was with an equally massive military budget. According to the economic historian Angus Maddison, India had been the largest economy in the world until it was surpassed in size by China, circa 1500, and between 1500 and 1700, the subcontinent still accounted for a full 25 percent of total world economic output.