The Mughal Empire was a Muslim-ruled empire that controlled much of the Indian subcontinent for over three centuries. It was founded by Babur, a Central Asian prince of Turkic and Mongol descent, who defeated the sultan of Delhi at the first Battle of Panipat in 1526. His grandson Akbar expanded and organised the empire and promoted tolerance among religions, and his successors Jahangir and Shah Jahan, who built the Taj Mahal, presided over a brilliant court culture. The empire reached its greatest extent under Aurangzeb, who died in 1707. Afterwards it weakened because of wars, regional revolts and the sack of Delhi by Nader Shah in 1739. The British East India Company gradually took control, and the last emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar, was deposed after the rebellion of 1857.
Before and after
- 24 December 1524Death of Vasco da Gama
- 1525Birth of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
- from 1525 to 1947Prussia
- 1525Birth of Pieter Brueghel the Elder
- from 1526 to 1857Mughal Empire
- from 1526 to 1568Habsburg–Ottoman wars in Hungary
- from 1526 to 1791Ottoman–Habsburg Wars
- from 29 August 1526 to 12 November 1918Habsburg monarchy
- from 11 November 1526 to 16 August 1570Eastern Hungarian Kingdom
More in Civilizations & archaeology
- from 1501 to 1736Safavid dynasty
- from 1520 to 1600Mannerism
- from 1543 to 1687Scientific Revolution
- from 1613 to 1762House of Romanov
- June 1644The Manchus take Beijing and found Qing rule
- 1748Excavations begin at Pompeii
The era
This moment belongs to the Early modern world (1500 CE to 1760 CE), voyages, printing and new ideas. You can also browse everything in the 16th century.