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Period: 1526 to 1530
Emperor Babur
Babur was the founder and the first emperor of the Mughal Empire. Bābur was a military adventurer of genius and an empire builder of good fortune, with an engaging personality. He was a brilliant general, in 1526 he led 12,000 troops to victory against an army of 100,000 commanded by a sultan of Delhi. -
Period: 1530 to 1540
Emperor Humayun's
Humayun was the second emperor of Humayun who succeeded after Babur. He had lost most of the territory his father gained. -
Period: 1556 to
Emperor Akbar
He is Babur's grandson and he took over after Humayun's death. Military power was the root of Akbar's strength. He turned enemies allies and was an aggressive kings so people would respect him. He unified a land of over 100 million people with his combination of military power and political wisdom. -
Period: to
Jahangir
Jahāngīr accepted the influence of his Persian wife, Mehr al-Nesāʾ her father, Iʿtimād al-Dawlah; and her brother Āṣaf Khan. Together with Prince Khurram, that clique dominated politics until 1622. Jahāngīr’s declining years were darkened by a breach between Nūr Jahān and Prince Khurram, who rebelled openly between 1622 and 1625. In 1626 Jahāngīr was temporarily placed under duress by Mahābat Khan, another rival of Nūr Jahān’s group. Jahāngīr died while traveling from Kashmir to Lahore. -
Period: to
Shahryar (de facto)
After the death of his father Jahangir on 28 October 1627, Shahryar, as Nur Jahan desired, ascended to the Mughal throne, but for only three months. Since he was in Lahore at the time, he immediately took over the imperial treasury and distributed over 70 lakh rupees among old and new noblemen to secure his throne... Meanwhile, on the death of the Emperor, Mirza Baisinghar, son of the late Prince Daniyal, fled to Lahore and joined Shahryar. -
Period: to
Shah Jahan
Shah Jahān’s reign was notable for successes against the Deccan states. By 1636 Ahmadnagar had been annexed and Golconda and Vijayapura (Bijapur) forced to become tributaries. Mughal power was also temporarily extended in the northwest. In 1638 the Persian governor of Kandahār, ʿAlī Mardān Khan, surrendered that fortress to the Mughals.In September 1657 Shah Jahān fell ill. Aurangzeb, declared himself emperor in 1658 and strictly confined Shah Jahān in Agra Fort until his death. -
Period: to
Aurangzeb
Akbar’s recipe for conquest: defeat one’s enemies, reconcile them, and place them in imperial service. Thus, Shivaji was defeated, called to Agra for reconciliation (1666), and given an imperial rank. The plan broke down, however; Shivaji fled to the Deccan and died, in 1680, as the ruler of an independent Maratha kingdom.After about 1680, Aurangzeb’s reign underwent a change of both attitude and policy. The pious ruler of an Islamic state replaced the seasoned statesman of a mixed kingdom. -
Period: to
Muhammad Azam Shah (titular)
Aurangzeb ruled as a militant orthodox Sunni Muslim he put through increasingly puritanical ordinances that were vigorously enforced by muḥtasibs, or censors of morals. The Muslim confession of faith was removed lest it be defiled by unbelievers, and it was forbidden to salute in the Hindu fashion. In addition, Hindu idols, temples, and shrines were often destroyed. Aurangzeb maintained the empire for nearly half a century and in fact extended it in the south as far as Tanjore and Trichinopoly. -
Period: to
Bahadur Shah I
After being persecuted for eight years under the rule of the powerful emperors Aurangzeb and Shah Jahān, he was appointed governor of Kabul in 1699 by his father. When his father died, Prince Muʿaẓẓam killed his two brothers to become master of the empire. During his short reign as Bahādur Shah I, he encountered opposition from the Marathas and the Rajputs, and in 1710–12 he drove the followers of the Sikh religion into the hills of the Punjab, subduing leader, Banda Singh Bahadur. -
Period: to
Jahandar Shah
He chose a wife Lal Kunwar who was a mere dancing girl before her elevation to the position of Queen Consort.Together they shocked the Mughal Empire and were even opposed by Aurangzeb's surviving daughter Zinat-un-Nissa. His authority was rejected by the third Nawab of the Carnatic, who killed De Singh of Orchha, primarily due to the Nawab's belief that he was the righteous commander of the Gingee Fort.To further strengthen his authority, Jahandar Shah sent gifts to the Ottoman Sultan Ahmad III. -
Period: to
Farrukhsiyar
The Mughal emperor after he murdered Jahandar Shah. He was easily swayed by his advisers, he lacked the ability, knowledge and character to rule independently. Farrukhsiyar had given Mir Jumla III the power to sign documents on his behalf. Syed Hussain fought Farrukhsiyar; after a night-long battle, he was deposed in 1719. The Sayyid brothers placed Rafi ud-Darajat on the throne. Farrukhsiyar was imprisoned, he was served bitter, salty food and deprived of water. In 1719 he was strangled. -
Period: to
Rafi ud-Darajat
As Rafi ud-Darajat owed his throne to the Syed Brothers they took full advantage of this. They wanted him to be a puppet ruler and so took steps to curtail his power. Before dying, Rafi ud-Darajat requested that his elder brother be enthroned. Accordingly, on 6 June 1719, after a reign of 3 months and six days, he was dethroned. Two days later his brother, was enthroned. Rafi ud-Darajat died of Tuberculosis or was murdered at Agra in 1719. His remains were interred near the shrine of Sufi. -
Period: to
Shah Jahan II
Just like his younger brother, Shah Jahan II was chosen by the kingmaker Sayyid brothers and yielded no power. Other than the insertion of his name in the coins and in the khutbah, no changes took place after his ascension. Syed Hassan Ali Khan Barha decided what Shah Jahan II should wear, what he should eat and when he should visit the Diwan-i-Aam. Shah Jahan II suffered from tuberculosis. He was physically and mentally unfit to perform the duties of a ruler. He died in 1719 at Bidyapur. -
Period: to
Muhammad Shah
In 1720 the assassination of Ḥusayn Alī and the defeat of Abdullāh at the battle of Hasanpur liberated Muḥammad Shah from effective Sayyid control. In 1721 he married the daughter of Farrukh-Siyar. The provinces steadily slipped out of imperial control: Sādāt Khan, the nawab of Oudh, became practically independent there; the Afghan Rohilla tribesmen made themselves masters of Rohilkhand. -
Period: to
Ahmad Shah Bahadur
Even though cannons and sharpshooters were loaded upon the elephants. The Emperor was defeated at Sikandarabad by the Maratha Confederacy. According to the Marathas, 8000 warriors were captured. And the imperial household was humiliated "Sikandarabad Incident" is considered to be the last raid conducted by the emperor against the Maratha Confederacy. The weak but influential Ahmad Shah Bahadur maintained correspondence from distant loyal vassals. -
Period: to
Alamgir II
After the emergence of Alamgir II the Mughal Empire had impulsively began to re-centralize, particularly when many Nawabs sought the gratification of the Mughal Emperor and his co-ordination regarding their resistance to the Maratha. This development was clearly unwelcome by Imad-ul-Mulk who sought to strengthen his authoritarianism with the undaunted support of the Marathas. -
Period: to
Shah Jahan III (titular)
Also known as Muhi-ul-millat was Mughal Emperor briefly. He was the son of Muhi-us-sunnat, the eldest son of Muhammad Kam Bakhsh who was the youngest son of Aurangzeb. He was placed on the Mughal throne in December 1759 as a result of the intricacies in Delhi with the help of Imad-ul-Mulk. He was later deposed by Maratha Sardars. -
Period: to
Shah Alam II
Shah Alam faced invasions, mainly by the Emir of Afghanistan, Ahmed Shah Abdali, which led to the Third Battle of Panipat between the Maratha Empire, who maintained suzerainty over Mughal affairs in Delhi and the Afghans led by Abdali. Shah Alam II was considered the only and rightful emperor, but he wasn't able to return to Delhi until 1772, under the protection of the Maratha general Mahadaji Shinde. He also fought against the British East India Company at the Battle of Buxar. -
Period: to
Jahan Shah IV (titular)
Mahmud Shah Bahadur was the son of a former Mughal Emperor, Ahmad Shah Bahadur. He himself became emperor for a brief period in 1788 as a puppet of Ghulam Qadir, after Shah Alam II had been deposed and blinded. He was allegedly put to death in 1790 by order of Shah Alam II, supposedly for usurping his authority in 1788. He left behind two daughters. -
Period: to
Akbar II
Emperor Akbar II presided over an empire titularly large but in effect limited to the Red Fort in Delhi alone. The cultural life of Delhi as a whole flourished during his reign. However, his attitude towards East India Company officials, especially Lord Hastings, to whom he refused to grant an audience on terms other than those of subject and sovereign, although honourable to him, increasingly frustrated the British, who regarded him as merely their pensioner. -
Period: to
Bahadur Shah Zafar
Bahadur Shah Zafar presided over a Mughal Empire that only ruled the city Delhi and also known as the king of Delhi to Palam. The Maratha Empire had brought an end to the Mughal Empire in the Deccan in the 18th century and the regions of India under Mughal rule had either been absorbed by the Marathas or declared independence and turned into smaller kingdoms. The Marathas installed Shah Alam II in the throne in 1772.