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• The Mughal Empire began in 1526 and lasted for over 200 years. At its peak it covered modern day India, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
• The empire was founded by Babur, a Muslim warrior prince from Central Asia, who descended from the Mongols.
• The Mughal emperors were Muslim and most of their subjects were Hindu so it was important that the Mughal emperors supported religious tolerance.

Babur was born a prince in Central Asia. At only 12 years old he became ruler of an area called Ferghana, a city in modern day Uzbekistan. This meant at a very young age he became a successful and skilled warrior.

Some historians believe that in the early 1500s Babur was invited to India by Indian princes who wanted to overthrow their ruler. While there is not enough evidence for all historians to be sure of this we do know that by 1526, Babur had travelled south with his men and taken control of Delhi – founding the Mughal Empire.

Over the next 4 years, Babur fought many battles to take control of northern India. While he was successful in these battles, they came at a huge cost. After only 4 years Babur died of natural causes, and the Mughal Empire was left with very little money.

However, Babur did achieve many important things for the future of the Mughal Empire:

• Babur began to build a large library of books and manuscripts. This would help the Mughal Empire become an important source of knowledge.
• Babur built a grand palace in his capital city, Agra. This grand palace would be the first of many large, impressive buildings that symbolised Mughal culture.
• In 1528, Babur built a walled garden around his palace, known today as the Gardens of Babur. It is one of the oldest surviving Mughal gardens that shows how Mughal emperors brought the cultures and traditions of Central Asia down to India.

After Babur died, his son Humayun became emperor. At this time, the Mughal Empire was still growing and needed a strong military leader to protect and expand the empire.

However, Humayun was seen as a weak military ruler, due to the fact that he preferred poetry to fighting or leading his army in war. He faced many challenges from his half-brothers and was even forced into exile from 1540 - 1555.

After making an alliance with Shah Ṭahmāsp in Iran in 1544, Humayun took his new army back to India and took control of Lahore and Delhi in 1555.

Humayun then began to set up a new system that would increase the taxes from the different regions to help make the money the Mughal Empire needed to survive. Unfortunately, Humayun died the following year, in an accident falling down the stairs in front of his library, before this system could be introduced.

In 1556, Akbar took control of the Mughal Empire. At this time the empire covered the Punjab and a small area around Delhi, but by the end of his reign, Akbar had expanded the empire to cover most of modern-day India. Many historians consider his rule to be the ‘Golden Age’ of the Mughal Empire.

Akbar faced several problems when he became ruler of the Mughal Empire:

• He needed more money to maintain his empire.
• He had to prove he was a better military ruler than his father, Emperor Humayun.
• He had to figure out how he could rule a Hindu empire with a small group of Muslim leaders.

For the first 5 years, the empire was ruled by his guardian since he was only 13. However, when Akbar turned 18 he quickly began to prove himself as a strong emperor after forcing his guardian, Bairam Khan, to retire.

Timeline of Akbar’s conquests

However, Akbar did not just take over more land. He made changes to the way the empire was run so that he would be able to maintain such a large empire.

Akbar introduced a new tax system called Dahsala. He also introduced Zamindars, these were local tax collectors who worked for the emperor. The Zamindars would be important men in their local area, often Hindus. Their work meant that the emperor could collect all the money he needed without having to disturb the everyday life of his subjects.

By allowing Indian princes to keep their land and other Hindu noblemen to become Zamindars he was able to turn his Hindu enemies into allies and supporters of his empire.

To keep peace and control in his empire Akbar had to do more than offer land and jobs to Hindu nobles, he had to enforce religious tolerance through the empire.

In 1580, Akbar ended the Jizyah. This was a tax that all non-Muslims had to pay to the emperor, by ending this hated tax he won the support of many Hindus. In the same year Akbar also introduced something Sulh-I kul, which is an Arabic term that means ‘peace with all’. As a result of Sulh-I kul, all Muslims and non-Muslims had the same rights.

Although it offended some of his closest Muslim officers, he would also encourage conversations between Hindus, Parsis, Muslims and Christians at the House of Worship he built called Ibadat Khana. He even welcomed Jesuits from Europe and had conversations with them about Christianity. While Akbar never converted from Islam, he showed a strong interest in developing his knowledge about many faiths and cultures.