Mughal Empire

The Mughal Empire (Urdu: مغلیہ سلطنت, Persian: دولتِ مغل),Also called Hindustan historically^[1][11] was a Muslim empire, in South Asia which existed from 1526 to 1858.^[12] When it was biggest it ruled most of the Indian subcontinent, including what is now Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India and Pakistan.^[13] Between 1526 and 1707, it contributed to 24% of the world's GDP.^[14] It was the world's largest economy and was known for its architecture.^[15][16]

Mughal Empire Hindustan[1][2] مغلیہ سلطنت (Urdu) دولتِ مغل (Persian)
1526–1858
The empire at its greatest extent in c. 1700 under Aurangzeb
Capital	Agra (1526–1530; 1560–1571; 1598–1648) Delhi (1530–1540; 1554–1556; 1639–1857) Lahore (1586–1598)[3] Fatehpur Sikri (1571–1585)
Official languages	Persian (official and court language)[4] Hindustani (Official status and court language)[5]
Religion	Sunni Islam (Official)
Government	Monarchy
Emperor[a]
• 1526–1530 (first)	Babur
• 1837–1857 (last)	Bahadur Shah II
Vakil-i-Mutlaq
• 1526–1540 (first)	Mir Khalifa
• 1795–1818 (last)	Daulat Rao Sindhia
Grand Vizier
• 1526–1540 (first)	Mir Khalifa
• 1775–1797 (last)	Asaf-ud-Daula
Establishment
• Founding	1526
• Fall	1858
Area
1690[7][8]	4,000,000 km2 (1,500,000 sq mi)
Population
• 1595	125,000,000[9]
• 1700	158,000,000[10]
Preceded by Succeeded by Delhi Sultanate Sur Empire Maratha Empire Nizam of Hyderabad Carnatic Sultanate British Raj
Today part of	India Pakistan Bangladesh Afghanistan

The Mughal emperors were Mongols in origin.^[17] Though they later settled in India and became Indianized, They ruled for India and expanded the boundaries of India.^[12][18][19] Babur of the Timurid dynasty founded the Mughal Empire (and Mughal dynasty) in 1526 and ruled until 1530. He was followed by Humayun (1530–1540) and (1555–1556), Akbar (1556–1605), Jahangir (1605–1627), Shah Jahan (1628–1658), and Aurangzeb (1658–1707) and several other minor rulers until Bahadur Shah Zafar II (1837–1857). After the death of Aurangzeb, the Mughal Empire became weak. It continued until 1857–58. By that time, South Asia had become under the British Raj.

The Mughal Empire was established by Muslim rulers who came from the present-day Uzbekistan after defeating the Delhi sultanate. The Mughal rule in India saw the region into a united Indian state.^[20] which was administered under a single ruler. This hadn't happened since the Delhi Sultanate, Guptas and Mauryans. During the Mughal period, art and architecture became important.^[21]

Empire expansion

The Mughal Empire reached across much of the Indian subcontinent during period of Aurangzeb. By the death of Akbar, the third Mughal ruler, the Mughal Empire extended from Afghanistan to the Bay of Bengal and southward to what is now Gujarat state and the northern Deccan region of India.^[22]

Notes

1. The title (Mirza) descends to all the sons of the family, without exception. In the royal family it is placed after the name instead of before it, thus, Abbas Mirza and Hosfiein Mirza. Mirza is a civil title, and Khan is a military one. The title of Khan is creative, but not hereditary.^[6]