Mogul Shah Jahan had the Taj Mahal in Agra, India, built in memory of Mumtaz Mahal, his favorite wife. She died bearing his 14th child. The mausoleum, which is inlaid with precious and semiprecious jewels, took 22 years to finish and is considered by many to be one of the most beautiful buildings in the world.
India's Mogul Empire (A.D. 1523 to 1857) had its start with Babur, a central Asian descended from
Mongol leader Genghis Khan and Timur (the Lame), a Turkic conquerer. Babur was a Mogul, a name Indians used to describe people descended from Turks and Mongols.
Babur conquered Delhi and the central part of northern India in 1523, but it was his grandson, Akbar, who created the dynasty that controlled more than half of India and lasted nearly two centuries.
Akbar reigned over 150 million people in what is now India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. His kingdom was wealthier than that of England's Queen Elizabeth I, who ruled at the same time.
A benevolent and successful ruler, Akbar organized India into well-administered provinces, districts, and villages, and eased the tax burden on the large peasant population.
Though himself a Muslim, Akbar allowed his subjects to worship as they pleased. He stocked his government with Hindus and invited visits from scholars of different faiths. Art, literature, and music were encouraged.
The empire was a melting pot of Arab, Persian, and Indian cultures, and this was evident in the diverse architecture of the period, full of marble structures with domes, arches, and minarets. The most famous example is the Taj Mahal, a mausoleum built by Shah Jahan for his favorite wife.
After Akbar's death in 1605, later rulers increased the scope of the Mogul empire but drained its monies. Aurangzeb (ruler from 1658 to 1707) fired Hindu workers and taxed non-Muslims. Rebellions flared.
In the 1700s European powers battled for Indian riches, and the Mogul Empire was reduced to a small kingdom. In 1803 the Mogul emperor accepted British protection, and the dynasty was virtually finished.
