The Mughal Empire

Done by Reza

Humayun (1530-40 AND 1555-56)

• After Babur's death, his son Humayun, succeeded to the throne in 1530 A.D. Babur had left a vast empire extending from Badakhsan in central Asia to Bihar in India. But he had no

Humayuns Difficulties:

• The Afghan and the Rajput kings in India regarded Mughals as foreigners and wanted to drive them out of India.

• The vast empire had not yet been consolidated.

• The collection of land revenue had not been systematised. So the finances of the state were poor.

• Humayun’s ambitious brothers

Humayun’s wars• Humayun succeeded in conquering the

provinces of Gujarat and Malwa. He attacked the Mugal army at Chausa in 1539 AD. And defeated them.

• Humayun was troubled by Farid who became the ruler of Bengal and Bihar and assumed the title of Sher Shah. Farid defeated Humayan in the battle of Kannauj. The kingdom which Babur had acquired was lost. Humayun had to leave Sind and go to Persia.

• The Persian Shah welcomed him and

Humayuns wars (cont.)

• Humayun took advantage of this opportunity and he marched towards India and captured Lahore.

• In July 1555 AD, Humayun occupied Delhi and Agra by defeated SikanderSuri, the rebel governor of Punjab.

• After 15 years, Humayun succeeded in regaining his kingdom.

• Humayun could not live long after this success.

• Only seven months later, he died on 24th

Sher shah suri (1540-45 A.D.)

• Sher Shah was the son of a noble (a jagirdar) of Jaunpur in Bihar. His real name is Farid.

• He was an ambitious general. He aimed at driving the Mughals out of India to re-establish Aghan power.

• He defeated Humayun two times, once at Chausa in 1539 AD and another time at Kannaujin 1540 AD.

• A brave warrior and a successful general, SherShah died of an accidental explosion of

Sher Shah’s Administration

• Sher Shah was a brilliant administrator. He introduced many reforms and innovations in the administration of the country. Some of these are mentioned below:-

• 1) He paid to his army (both soldiers and the officers) salaries in cash regularly.

• 2) For the general welfare of the people, Sher Shah built many roads.

• 3) He introduced gold, silver and copper coins known as Tanka or Rupia.

• 4) He started the new postal system by using horses

• 5) He divided the empire into 47 provinces

Akbar’s Accession 1556 AD

• Humayun died suddenly due to an accidental fall from the stairs of his library in 1556 AD. At that time, Akbar was at Kalanaur, in District Gurdaspurof Punjab.

• He was crowned there in a simple ceremony at the tender age of 13 years and 4 months.

Expansion of the Empire by Akbar

• In 1556 Akbar’s guardian Bairam Khan defeated Hemu in the second Battle of Panipat. Agra, Gwalior and Delhi fell into the hands of Mughals.

• In 1564 Akbar attacked Gondwana and captured it.

• Akbar also expanded his empire by keeping good relations with the Rajputs.

• In 1572 he conquered Gujarat. • Akbar next extended his empire towards

the North-West of India. In a series of campaigns, he conquered Kabul, Kashmir, Kandhar, Lower Sindh and the Eastern

The Deccan Campaign (1591-1601 AD)

Akbar’s first move was against Ahmednagar. The kingdom was bravely defended by Chand Bibi and only some part of it was annexed by the Mughals. In 1601, Akbar invaded Khandesh and captured the famous forts of Burhanpurand Asirgarh.