The Mughal Empire – NDA History Notes

When Babur defeated Ibrahim Lodi at Panipat in 1526 CE, he did not simply replace one ruler with another. He began something entirely new, a dynasty that would govern most of the Indian subcontinent for nearly two centuries and leave behind a cultural legacy that still defines how the world imagines India. The Mughal Empire was not just a political achievement. It was a civilisational one. Its architecture, its painting, its literature, its administration, and its philosophy of governance all shaped India in ways that lasted long after the empire itself had declined.

Six emperors defined the character of the empire. Babur founded it. Humayun nearly lost it. Akbar made it great. Jahangir refined it. Shah Jahan adorned it. Aurangzeb strained it until it broke.

Between Humayun and Akbar came one of the most remarkable figures in Indian administrative history: Sher Shah Suri, who is not a Mughal at all but whose reforms shaped Mughal governance profoundly. His road, his coin, and his revenue system outlasted his short reign and became the foundations on which the Mughal state was built.

NDA has tested this chapter heavily. The Ain-i-Akbari and who wrote it, the role of Abul Fazl, the Mughal school of painting and its founders, the title Zarrin Kalam, the Badshah Nama and its author, the Khilat, Francois Bernier’s role at court, the Mansabdari system and the zat, Gulbadan Begum as the author of the Humayun Nama, Jahandar Shah’s defeat by Farrukhsiyar, and the meaning of upari have all appeared in past papers.

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1. Babur — The Founder

Zahir-ud-din Muhammad Babur was a prince of Central Asian origin. On his father’s side he was descended from Timur — the great Central Asian conqueror who had sacked Delhi in 1398 CE. On his mother’s side he was descended from Genghis Khan — the Mongol world conqueror. Babur had lost his own kingdom in Central Asia to rival powers and eventually established himself at Kabul in present-day Afghanistan. From Kabul, he looked eastward toward the rich plains of India.

India in the early 16th century was politically fragmented. The Lodi dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate was weak and unpopular. Several of Ibrahim Lodi’s own Afghan nobles had grown tired of his harsh and inflexible rule. One of them — Daulat Khan Lodi — invited Babur to invade.

Key Battles of Babur

Battle	Year	Against	Outcome
First Battle of Panipat	1526 CE	Ibrahim Lodi (last Delhi Sultanate ruler)	Babur won using artillery and tulugma tactics. Delhi Sultanate ended. Mughal Empire began.
Battle of Khanwa	1527 CE	Rana Sanga — Rajput confederacy	Babur won. Rajput political power in north India broken.
Battle of Ghaghra	1529 CE	Afghan chiefs of Bihar and Bengal	Babur won. Consolidated Mughal control over the Gangetic plains.

The Tulugma Tactics

At Panipat, Babur used two decisive military advantages. The first was artillery — gunpowder weapons that the Lodi forces could not match. The second was the tulugma — a flanking tactic in which fast-moving cavalry units swept around the sides of the enemy formation and attacked from behind. The combination of artillery fire from the front and cavalry attack from the flanks created panic and confusion in Ibrahim Lodi’s army.

The Baburnama

Babur was not only a soldier but also a gifted writer. He wrote his autobiography in Chagatai Turkish, a memoir known as the Baburnama (also called Tuzuk-i-Baburi). It is one of the most remarkable personal documents of the medieval world, frank, observant, and deeply personal. Babur describes battles, landscapes, fruits, flowers, and the grief of missing his homeland with equal vividness. The Baburnama is one of the primary sources for the early Mughal period.

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2. Humayun and Sher Shah Suri

Nasir-ud-din Humayun succeeded Babur in 1530 CE. He was a man of genuine talent, a scholar, an astronomer, and a sensitive ruler, but he lacked the decisiveness that the early Mughal state needed.

The Defeat by Sher Shah Suri

The most powerful challenge to Humayun came from Sher Shah Suri — an Afghan chief who had risen to control Bihar and Bengal. At the Battle of Chausa in 1539 CE, Humayun barely escaped with his life. At the Battle of Kanauj (also called the Battle of Bilgram) in 1540 CE, Sher Shah defeated Humayun decisively. Humayun was driven out of India and fled westward, spending years in exile in Persia and Sindh.

Sher Shah Suri — The Reformer

Sher Shah Suri ruled India from 1540 to 1545 CE, just five years. In that short time, he introduced administrative and economic reforms of extraordinary importance. Many of these reforms were later adopted and expanded by the Mughal Empire under Akbar.

The Rupiya — Sher Shah introduced a standardised silver coin called the rupiya (rupee). It had a fixed weight and purity and became the basis of Indian currency. The rupee survived the Mughal period, the British colonial period, and continues as the currency of India today.

The Grand Trunk Road — Sher Shah rebuilt and extended the ancient road connecting Bengal in the east to the northwestern frontier — a distance of over 2,500 kilometres. He planted trees along both sides for shade, dug wells at regular intervals for water, and built sarais (rest houses) every few kilometres. These sarais served as accommodation for travellers, as relay points for the dak (postal) system, and as outposts for security and administration. The Grand Trunk Road still exists today as National Highway 1/2.

Patta and Qabuliyat — Sher Shah introduced a systematic revenue settlement. Every peasant received a patta — a written deed specifying the amount of land they were cultivating and the amount of revenue they owed the state. The peasant signed or acknowledged a qabuliyat — a written acceptance of these terms. This system gave peasants clarity and legal protection, and gave the state accurate records of its revenue base. It was the foundation on which Todar Mal later built the Dahsala system.

Reform	Detail
Rupiya (Rupee)	Standardised silver coin. Basis of Indian currency.
Grand Trunk Road	Bengal to northwestern frontier. Trees, wells, sarais at intervals.
Sarais	Rest houses along the road. Accommodation and dak relay stations.
Patta	Written deed to peasant specifying land and revenue obligations.
Qabuliyat	Peasant’s written acceptance of the patta terms.

Humayun’s Return and Death

After Sher Shah’s death in 1545 CE, the Sur empire quickly fragmented. Humayun returned to India in 1555 CE with Persian support, reconquered Delhi and Agra, but died in January 1556 CE after falling down the steps of his library — Sher Mandal — in Delhi. His son Akbar, aged just thirteen, inherited a fragile and contested empire.

The Humayun Nama

The primary source for Humayun’s life and personality is the Humayun Nama — written by his sister Gulbadan Begum. [NDA 2018-I] Gulbadan Begum was a princess of the Mughal royal family who witnessed many of the events she described. The Humayun Nama is one of the few major historical texts of the Mughal period written by a woman, and it gives a perspective on court life that the official court histories do not.

The Humayun Nama was written by Gulbadan Begum — Humayun’s own sister — not a court historian. [NDA 2018-I]

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3. Akbar — Accession and Expansion

Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar became emperor at the age of thirteen in 1556 CE. The empire was far from secure. Under the regency of Bairam Khan — Humayun’s most trusted general — Akbar’s forces met the Hindu general Hemu (who had declared himself Vikramaditya and briefly captured Delhi) at the Second Battle of Panipat in 1556 CE. Hemu was defeated and killed. Akbar’s hold on Delhi and Agra was restored.

Over the following four decades, Akbar built the Mughal Empire into the largest and most powerful state in Indian history. He conquered Rajputana, Gujarat (1572 CE), Bengal (1576 CE), Kashmir (1586 CE), Sindh (1591 CE), and parts of the Deccan. At his death in 1605 CE, the Mughal Empire covered most of the Indian subcontinent.

The Battle of Haldighati (1576 CE)

Not all Rajput rulers accepted Mughal authority. The most famous holdout was Maharana Pratap — the ruler of Mewar in present-day Rajasthan. At the Battle of Haldighati in 1576 CE, Akbar’s forces — led by Man Singh of Amber — fought Maharana Pratap’s Rajput army in a narrow mountain pass. The battle was fierce but inconclusive. Maharana Pratap escaped and continued his resistance from the forests and hills of Mewar for the rest of his life. He never submitted to Mughal authority. He is remembered as one of the great symbols of Rajput pride and resistance.

[Image Suggestion: Map of the Mughal Empire at its height under Akbar and Aurangzeb, showing territorial expansion from the northwest across the Gangetic plains into the Deccan]

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4. Akbar’s Rajput Policy and the Mansabdari System

Akbar’s political genius lay not just in military conquest but in his ability to build a stable empire by incorporating powerful groups rather than simply subjugating them.

The Rajput Policy

Rather than treating the Rajputs as conquered enemies, Akbar offered them partnership. He arranged marriages between Mughal princes and Rajput princesses — creating family ties that bound the Rajput kingdoms to the Mughal court. He gave Rajput nobles high positions in the Mughal military and administration. This policy converted the most formidable military force in northern India from a potential enemy into a pillar of Mughal power.

The Mansabdari System

The Mansabdari system was the central administrative and military ranking system of the Mughal Empire. Every officer in the Mughal service, whether military or civilian, held a rank called a mansab. The word mansab means rank or position.

Every mansab had two components.

The zat was the personal rank of the officer. It determined his position in the imperial hierarchy and his salary. [NDA 2023-I] A higher zat meant a higher position and a larger salary.

The sawar was the cavalry rank. It determined the number of horsemen the officer was required to maintain and bring to the emperor’s service when called upon.

Component	Meaning	Determines
Zat	Personal rank	Position in hierarchy and salary [NDA 2023-I]
Sawar	Cavalry rank	Number of horsemen to maintain

The mansabdari system was non-hereditary. A mansab was not automatically passed from father to son. It was assigned by the emperor and could be raised, lowered, or revoked at any time. This kept all mansabdars dependent on imperial favour and prevented the development of an entrenched hereditary aristocracy.

Mansabdars were paid either in cash from the treasury or through a jagir — a revenue territory assigned to the mansabdar from which he collected revenue equivalent to his salary. The jagir was the Mughal equivalent of the Delhi Sultanate’s iqta.

The Term Upari

The term upari was a category of tenancy under Maratha rule — referring to temporary or non-occupancy tenants on Maratha-administered land. It was NOT a Mughal administrative or tenure category. [NDA 2024-I]

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5. Todar Mal’s Dahsala Revenue System

The revenue system of the Mughal Empire reached its most sophisticated form under Akbar’s finance minister Todar Mal. Building on Sher Shah Suri’s patta-qabuliyat framework, Todar Mal introduced the Dahsala system — also called the Zabt system.

The word dahsala means ten years. Under this system, Todar Mal collected data on the average produce of each crop and the average price of each crop across each region over the previous ten years. From this data, he calculated a reliable average yield and average price for each area. The land revenue was then fixed as a fraction of this average, typically one-third, expressed in cash rather than in grain.

This system had three important advantages. It was scientific — based on measured data rather than arbitrary estimates. It was predictable — peasants knew in advance exactly how much they owed. And it was cash-based — which encouraged the development of markets and monetised the rural economy.

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6. Din-i-Ilahi and Sulh-i-Kul

Akbar was deeply interested in religion, not as a matter of orthodoxy but as a philosophical inquiry. He built a special house of worship at Fatehpur Sikri called the Ibadat Khana (House of Worship) where he invited scholars, priests, and philosophers of different faiths, Sunni Muslims, Shia Muslims, Hindu scholars, Jain monks, Zoroastrian priests, and Jesuit Christian missionaries, to debate their beliefs in his presence.

From these debates, Akbar developed a philosophical position he called Sulh-i-Kul — meaning peace with all or universal peace. This was not simply tolerance. It was an active principle that all religious paths had value and that the state should treat all religions equally.

In 1582 CE, Akbar formally announced a personal religious synthesis called Din-i-Ilahi (Divine Faith). It drew elements from Islam, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Jainism. Din-i-Ilahi attracted very few followers, reportedly no more than eighteen disciples, all from Akbar’s close courtiers. It had no lasting religious impact and died with Akbar in 1605 CE. It was never a formal religion with temples, clergy, or scripture.

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7. Akbar’s Court — Abul Fazl, the Ain-i-Akbari, and the Navaratnas

Akbar’s court was one of the most brilliant in the history of the world. It gathered together exceptional talent in music, literature, art, administration, and philosophy.

Abul Fazl and the Akbarnama

Abul Fazl was not simply a historian. He was Akbar’s closest intellectual companion and the man who shaped, represented, and articulated the ideas associated with Akbar’s reign. Akbar found Abul Fazl uniquely suitable as an adviser and spokesman, and this suitability is precisely what explains Abul Fazl’s central role at court. [NDA 2019-I] He was killed in 1602 CE on the orders of Prince Salim (later Jahangir).

Abul Fazl wrote the Akbarnama — a comprehensive three-volume history of Akbar’s reign. All three volumes were written by Abul Fazl. [NDA 2013-I]

Volume	Content
First	History of Timur’s dynasty and Akbar’s ancestors
Second	Chronological events of Akbar’s reign
Third — Ain-i-Akbari	Administrative and cultural encyclopedia of Mughal India under Akbar

The Ain-i-Akbari is the third book of the Akbarnama — not a separate independent work. [NDA 2013-I] Akbar did not write any part of it. The claim that the Ain-i-Akbari was later revised by Sadullah Khan on the orders of Shah Jahan is incorrect — the Ain-i-Akbari was not revised after Akbar’s reign. [NDA 2021-I]

The Akbarnama and the Baburnama are the best known illustrated Mughal official works. [NDA 2013-I]

IMPORTANT All three books of the Akbarnama were written by Abul Fazl — NOT by Akbar. The Ain-i-Akbari is the third book of the Akbarnama. The claim that it was revised by Sadullah Khan under Shah Jahan is false. [NDA 2013-I, NDA 2021-I]

The Navaratnas

Akbar’s court was famous for its Navaratnas — the nine gems who adorned his court with exceptional talent across different fields.

Navaratna	Field
Abul Fazl	History, philosophy, administration
Faizi (Abul Fazl’s brother)	Persian poetry
Tansen	Music
Birbal	Wit, wisdom, administration
Todar Mal	Revenue administration
Abdur Rahim Khan-i-Khana	Poetry, military command
Man Singh	Military command
Mulla Do Pyaza	Wisdom and counsel
Hakim Humam	Medicine

Tansen was one of the greatest musicians in Indian history. His original name was Ramtanu Pande. He is considered the greatest musician of the Mughal period and is credited with composing many ragas and establishing the North Indian classical music tradition in its recognisable form.

Muhammad Husayn — Zarrin Kalam

Among the calligraphers of Akbar’s court, the most celebrated was Muhammad Husayn. He was honoured with the title Zarrin Kalam — meaning the Golden Pen — in recognition of his extraordinary skill in the art of calligraphy. [NDA 2017-I] Zarrin Kalam is a calligraphy title, not a painting or music title.

Mughal Painting Under Akbar

Mughal paintings of Akbar’s time were mostly confined to book illustrations and portraits. [NDA 2011-II] The Mughal school of painting was established by two Persian masters brought to India: Mir Sayyid Ali of Herat and Khwaja Abdus Samad — who formed the nucleus of the school, fusing non-Islamic Persian miniature traditions with Islamic artistic elements. [NDA 2011-II]

The most ambitious painting project of Akbar’s reign was the Hamzanama — an illustrated manuscript of the adventures of Hamza (uncle of the Prophet Muhammad). It involved approximately 1,400 illustrations produced over about fifteen years.

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8. Fatehpur Sikri

In 1569 CE, Akbar began construction of an entirely new capital city near Agra. He named it Fatehpur Sikri — the City of Victory. It served as the imperial capital for about fourteen years before being largely abandoned, possibly due to water supply problems.

Monument	Significance
Buland Darwaza	Built to commemorate Akbar’s Gujarat victory. One of the tallest gateways in the world.
Diwan-i-Khas	Hall of Private Audience. Contains a famous single central pillar with a throne platform connected to four walkways.
Diwan-i-Aam	Hall of Public Audience where the emperor heard petitions from ordinary subjects.
Panch Mahal	A five-storey open pillared pavilion. Used for recreation and viewing.
Jodha Bai’s Palace	Residence of Akbar’s Rajput wife. Blends Hindu and Islamic architectural elements.

[Image Suggestion: The Buland Darwaza at Fatehpur Sikri — showing its immense scale and Indo-Islamic architectural style, built to commemorate Akbar’s Gujarat victory]

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9. Jahangir

Nur-ud-din Muhammad Jahangir — meaning World Conqueror — succeeded Akbar in 1605 CE. He was deeply interested in art and nature. Under his patronage, the Mughal school of painting reached new heights of naturalism. Portraits and studies of animals and birds from his reign are among the finest works in Indian art history.

Jahangir introduced the Chain of Justice (Zanjir-i-Adl) — a golden chain hung outside the Agra Fort that any subject could pull to appeal directly to the emperor.

In 1606 CE, Jahangir ordered the execution of the fifth Sikh Guru, Guru Arjan Dev. Guru Arjan had given shelter to Jahangir’s rebel son Prince Khusrau. His execution deepened the Mughal-Sikh conflict and prompted his successor, Guru Hargobind, to adopt a more militaristic stance.

Jahangir wrote his own autobiography — the Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri (also called Jahangirnama) — in Persian. In his later years, real power at court was held by his empress Nur Jahan — a woman of exceptional intelligence and political ability who issued farmans and had coins struck in her name.

In 1615 CE, Sir Thomas Roe arrived as the first British ambassador to the Mughal court, sent by King James I of England, to obtain trading rights for the English East India Company.

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10. Shah Jahan — Architecture and Court

Shah Jahan (ruled 1628–1658 CE) is remembered above all as the builder of the most beautiful buildings in Indian history. His reign represents the absolute peak of Mughal artistic and architectural achievement.

The Great Monuments

The Taj Mahal — built in Agra between 1631 and 1653 CE in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal who died in childbirth. Built entirely of white marble. Designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983.

The Red Fort (Lal Qila) in Delhi — built between 1639 and 1648 CE. It served as the main residence of the Mughal emperors for nearly two centuries.

The Jama Masjid in Delhi — the largest mosque in India, built between 1644 and 1656 CE. Can accommodate approximately 25,000 worshippers.

The Peacock Throne

Shah Jahan commissioned the Peacock Throne (Takht-i-Taus) — an extraordinarily ornate golden throne encrusted with precious gems including diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and pearls. It was one of the most valuable objects ever created and became the symbol of Mughal imperial power.

The Badshah Nama

The official court history of Shah Jahan’s reign is the Badshah Nama (Chronicle of the Emperor). It was written by Abdul Hamid Lahori. [NDA 2017-I] The Badshah Nama was later gifted to King George by the Nawab of Awadh in 1799. [NDA 2018-I] It is now preserved in the Royal Library at Windsor Castle.

The Badshah Nama was not written by Abul Fazl. Abul Fazl died in 1602 CE, decades before Shah Jahan’s reign began. The author of the Badshah Nama was Abdul Hamid Lahori. [NDA 2017-I]

The Khilat

The Khilat was a ceremonial award given to meritorious men at the Mughal court. [NDA 2018-I] It took the form of a robe of honour — specifically a robe that had once been worn by the Emperor himself. Receiving the Emperor’s own robe was the highest form of personal honour the court could bestow. The Khilat was not a medal, a land grant, or a cash award. It was the Emperor’s own robe.

Francois Bernier and Dara Shukoh

Francois Bernier was a French physician who served at the Mughal court during Shah Jahan’s reign. He was the physician to Prince Dara Shukoh — Shah Jahan’s eldest and favourite son. [NDA 2015-II] Bernier later wrote the Travels in the Mogul Empire — an important European source for the Mughal period. He argued that there was no private property in land in Mughal India. All land belonged ultimately to the emperor.

Francois Bernier was the physician to Prince Dara Shukoh — not to Shah Jahan himself or to Aurangzeb. [NDA 2015-II]

Dara Shukoh

Dara Shukoh was Shah Jahan’s favourite son and his chosen successor. He was a scholar of remarkable breadth, deeply interested in comparative religion and mysticism. He wrote Majma-ul-Bahrain (The Mingling of Two Oceans) — a philosophical work exploring the parallels between Islamic Sufism and Hindu Vedanta philosophy. He also translated the Upanishads into Persian. He was defeated and killed by his brother Aurangzeb in 1659 CE.

★ IMPORTANT Three Shah Jahan period traps: (1) The Badshah Nama was written by Abdul Hamid Lahori — NOT Abul Fazl. [NDA 2017-I] (2) It was gifted to King George by the Nawab of Awadh in 1799. [NDA 2018-I] (3) Francois Bernier was physician to Prince Dara Shukoh — NOT to Shah Jahan or Aurangzeb. [NDA 2015-II]

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11. Aurangzeb — The Last Great Mughal

Aurangzeb (ruled 1658–1707 CE) was the sixth and last of the great Mughal emperors. He was a man of iron personal discipline, deeply devout, austere in his personal habits, and tireless in his administrative work. But his reign saw the reversal of many of Akbar’s most important policies, and his decisions set the Mughal Empire on a course of decline from which it never recovered.

Religious Policies

Aurangzeb was a strict Sunni Muslim who believed the state should be governed according to Islamic law. He reimposed the jizya — the tax on non-Muslims that Akbar had abolished. He ordered the destruction of Hindu temples in areas of political rebellion. He restricted certain Hindu festivals and practices. These policies alienated large sections of the population — particularly the Hindus, the Rajputs, and the Sikhs, who had been partners in Mughal rule since Akbar’s time.

The Fatawa-i-Alamgiri

Aurangzeb supervised the compilation of the Fatawa-i-Alamgiri — a massive and comprehensive codification of Islamic law according to the Hanafi school of jurisprudence. It ran to dozens of volumes and was the most thorough compilation of Islamic legal opinion ever produced. It remains an important reference text in Islamic law today.

The Execution of Guru Tegh Bahadur

In 1675 CE, Aurangzeb ordered the execution of the ninth Sikh Guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur, in Delhi. Guru Tegh Bahadur had refused to convert to Islam and had championed the right of Kashmiri Hindus to practise their faith. His execution was a turning point in Mughal-Sikh relations. His son and successor, Guru Gobind Singh, transformed the Sikh community into the militarised brotherhood of the Khalsa.

The Deccan Campaigns

Aurangzeb spent the last three decades of his reign in the Deccan, fighting the Marathas and attempting to conquer the independent Deccan sultanates of Bijapur and Golconda. He succeeded in conquering both sultanates but could not crush the Marathas. The Maratha guerrilla resistance proved impossible to defeat in conventional warfare. The Deccan campaigns drained the Mughal treasury, exhausted the army, and kept Aurangzeb away from the rest of the empire for decades. When Aurangzeb died in 1707 CE, aged nearly ninety. The empire he left behind was financially ruined and politically fragmented.

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12. The Decline of the Mughal Empire

The death of Aurangzeb in 1707 CE unleashed a rapid and irreversible fragmentation of the Mughal Empire. The causes were both structural and personal.

The Jagirdari Crisis

The most important structural cause of decline was the jagirdari crisis. Over the course of the 17th century, the number of mansabdars requiring jagirs grew faster than the available jagir land. There were simply not enough revenue territories to satisfy all the claims. Mansabdars competed fiercely for the limited jagirs available. Many received jagirs worth far less than their entitled salary. This created financial strain, noble discontent, and factional conflict at court that weakened imperial authority.

The Later Mughals — Jahandar Shah and Farrukhsiyar

After Aurangzeb’s death, the throne passed rapidly through a series of weak emperors. Jahandar Shah came to power in 1712 CE but his reign ended quickly. In January 1713 CE, he was defeated at Agra by his nephew Farrukhsiyar and subsequently executed. [NDA 2014-II]

Farrukhsiyar was Jahandar Shah’s nephew — not his son. [NDA 2014-II]

Nadir Shah’s Invasion — 1739 CE

The most catastrophic blow to the declining Mughal Empire was the invasion of Nadir Shah — the Persian ruler — in 1739 CE. Nadir Shah’s army defeated the Mughals at the Battle of Karnal and marched into Delhi. What followed was one of the worst massacres in Indian history, the Qatl-i-Am (General Massacre) in which tens of thousands of Delhi’s residents were killed in a single day.

Nadir Shah then looted the city systematically. He carried away both the Peacock Throne (Takht-i-Taus) and the Koh-i-Noor diamond — one of the most famous gems in the world. Neither ever returned to India.

After Nadir Shah left, the Mughal emperor was reduced to a nominal figurehead. The Mughal Empire continued as a political fiction for another century, until the last Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar, was deposed and exiled by the British after the Revolt of 1857.

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