List of Mughal Emperors of India

If we see the list of Mughal emperors of India, the period of their rule can be divided into two phases. The first phase is from 1526 to 1707. It was the golden period of Mughal empire in India starting from Babur to Aurangzeb. The second phase is from 1707 to 1857. In this later Mughals phase, only namesake kings ruled the Mughal empire. Timur is an ancestor of Mughal rulers and Babur is the founder of Mughal Empire in India.

Mughal Emperors List (1526-1857)

The following list shows both six Great Mughal emperors and the namesake later Mughal emperors.

Sl. No.	Name of the Emperor	Period of Reign
1	Babur	1526-1530
2	Humayun	1530-1540 and 1555-1556
3	Akbar	1556-1605
4	Jahangir	1605-1627
5	Shah Jahan	1628-1658
6	Aurangzeb	1658-1707
7	Muhammad Azam Shah	March 1707 - June 1707
8	Bahadur Shah I or Shah Alam I	1707-1712
9	Jahandar Shah	1712-1713
10	Farrukhsiyar	1713-1719
11	Rafi ud-Darajat	February 1719 - June 1719
12	Shah Jahan II or Rafi ud-Daulah	June 1719 - September 1719
13	Muhammad Shah or Sada Rangila	1719-1748
14	Ahmad Shah Bahadur	1748-1754
15	Alamgir II	1754-1759
16	Shah Jahan III	1759-1760
17	Shah Alam II	1760 - July 1788 and October 1788 - 1806
18	Mahmud Shah Bahadur Shah Jahan IV	July 1788 - October 1788
19	Akbar II (1806-1837)	1806-1837
20	Bahadur Shah II	1837-1857

List of Mughal Emperors from Babur to Aurangzeb

During the first phase from 1526 to 1707, six great Mughal rulers ruled India. This Mughal Empire rulers list includes Babur, Humayun, Akbar, Jahangir, Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb.

Babur (1526-1530)

• Timur had Samarkand (Uzbekistan) as his capital. Over a period, Timurid Empire got divided into small Principalities, namely Samarkand, Herat, Kabul and Fergana (Babur belongs to this Principality).
  
  
• In 1494, Babur became the king of Fergana. As he had a dream of conquering Samarkand, he achieved it in his third attempt. During this time, his cousin occupied Fergana. But Babur left Fergana to him. The original king of Samarkand recaptured it again.
  
  
• Babur then conquered Kabul and ruled from there for 20 years. But Kabul was economically very backward. By this time, two kings from India invited Babur to conquer India.
  
  The kings, who invited Babur to invade India, were Rana Sangram Singh of Mewar and Daulat Khan Lodi, who was the governor of Punjab under Lodi dynasty.
  
  
• The meaning of Babur is tiger. Babur was born in 1483 AD. Real name of Babur is Zahir-ud-din Muhammad and he is the son of Umar Sheikh Mirza. Autobiography of Babur, Tuzuk-i-Baburi (or Baburnama) is believed to be one of the best autobiographies.
  
  Babur is known as prince among the autobiographers. Baburnama is written in 3 chapters, namely (i) Memories of Fergana, (ii) Memories of Kabul and (iii) Exclusively on India.
  
  
• He was in India for 4 years. In every year, he fought a battle
  
  
  • The first Battle of Panipat was fought between him and Ibrahim Lodi in 1526. Ibrahim Lodi was killed and hence Babur established Mughal empire and became the first Mughal Emperor in India.
    
    
  • The Battle of Khanwa was fought in the year 1527 in which Rana Sangram Singh was defeated. Babur declared jihad to fight against Rana Sangram Singh.
    
    
  • In 1528, in the Battle of Chanderi (Madhya Pradesh), he defeated a Rajput king Medini Rai (friend of Rana Sangram).
    
    
  • In 1529, in the Battle of Ghagra or Gogra, Nusrat Shah (son-in-law of Ibrahim Lodi and belonging to Ilyas Shahi dynasty) of Bengal was defeated.
  
  
• On his way to Kabul, Babur died in 1530. The Tomb of Babur is located at Kabul.
  
  
• Persian was the court language of Mughals. But Babur's mother tongue was Chagatai Turkish.

Humayun (1530-1540) & (1555-1556)

• The real name of Humayun is Nasir-ud-din Muhammad. In 1540, Humayun was defeated by Sher Shah of Sur dynasty. For 15 years, he took asylum here and there.
  
  In 1556, he died in an accidental fall from his library. It was his sister Gulbadan Begum, who wrote Humayunama, his biography.
  
  
• Karnavati, widow of Rana Sanga (Sangram Singh) sent a Rakhi to Humayun seeking help during the war with Bahadur Shah of Gujarat. Thus, on the Raksha Bandhan day, she is being remembered.
  
  
• Humayun and Sher Shah Suri fought three battles
  
  
  • In 1538, in the Battle of Chunar, Sher Shah was defeated. In this battle between Humayun and Sher Shah Suri, Humayun made a blunder by pardoning Sher Shah.
    
    
  • In 1539, in the Battle of Chausa (Bengal), Humayun was defeated and managed to escape and reached the capital Agra.
    
    
  • In 1540, in the Battle of Kannauj (or Bilgram), Humayun was defeated and was dethroned by Sher Shah. Sher Shah became the king of North and East India and ruled for 15 years.
  
  
• Initially, Humayun was given shelter by the Rajput king of Amarkot named Rana Parshad. During this time, Akbar was born in 1542 in Amarkot to Hamida Banu Begum.
  
  By this time, Sher Shah came to know about Humayun and warned Rajputs. Then, Humayun reached Iran, where Safavid dynasty was ruling. King Shah Tahmasp gave shelter to Humayun.
  
  He stayed there for more than one decade. With the help of the military of that king, on the condition that Kandahar will be given to the Iranian king, Humayun attacked India.
  
  In the Battle of Sirhind, Sikandar Suri was defeated and Humayun got the kingdom again. In 1556, he fell down from the first floor of his library (Sher Mandal) and died.

Akbar (1556-1605)

• Real name of Akbar is Jalal-ud-din Muhammad. Three historians were there in his court, namely (i) Abul Fazl, who wrote Akbarnama and Ain-i-Akbari, (ii) Abdul Qadir Badauni, who wrote Muntakhab-ut-Tawarikh and a chapter in Tarikh-e-Alfi and (iii) Nizam-ud-din Ahmad, who wrote Tabaqat-e-Akbari.
  
  
• In 1555, Akbar was appointed as governor of Punjab region under the regency of Bairam Khan. When Humayun died, Akbar and Bairam Khan were at Kalanaur (Punjab), where Akbar got coronated. Before, both of them reached Delhi and Agra, a king called Hemu captured Delhi and Agra.
  
  Hemu was the general and prime minister of sultan of Bihar, named Muhammad Adil Shah. By this time, Muhammad Adil Shah of Sur dynasty was ruling Bihar region of the disintegrated Sur Empire.
  
  
• Hemu took the title of Vikramajit or Vikramaditya and ruled for 100 days. In 1556, second Battle of Panipat was fought between Akbar and Hemu.
  
  Hemu was defeated and Akbar came to power. During 1556-60, Bairam Khan was the de facto authority. He was called "Khan Baba" by Akbar.
  
  
• Rajput Policy of Akbar - High positions were given to Rajputs in the Mughal administration. Kachwaha ruler Bharmal (F/O Harkha Bai) has acquired 5000 Mansabs and as usual the king of Kachwaha. Mann Singh of Kachwaha has acquired 7000 Mansabs.

Jahangir (1605-1627)

• Real name of Jahangir is Salim, who wrote Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri (Memories of Jahangir), his autobiography in Persian.
  
  
• During the reign of Jahangir, Khusrau(eldest son of Jahangir) rebelled against him. Guru Arjan Dev gave shelter to Khusrau.
  
  Jahangir captured both of them. Khusrau was blinded by Jahangir and he was put into the prison. Guru Arjan Dev was put to death.
  
  
• He made 12 ordinances (laws) for the welfare of the people like Banning of intoxicating drinks (manufacturing & consumption), Abolition of various taxes (abwabs), Release of political prisoners, Ban of Animal killings for two days (Sunday and Thursday) in a week, Starting of hospitals for the poor and the animals, Installation of Zanjeer-e-Adal (Bell of justice, 30 meters long chain) at Agra Fort so that anyone can pull the chain to seek justice, etc.
  
  
• The king of England James I sent two diplomats one after the other to the court of Jahangir, namely Captain Hawkins (between 1608 and 1611) and Sir Thomas Roe (between 1615 and 1619). They came for concessions for English East India Company.
  
  
• Nur Jahan (Beauty of the World) -
  
  
  • She was the most powerful woman in Mughal Empire. Original name of Nur Jahan was Mehr-un-nissa (Iranian Lady).
    
    Jahangir married Nur Jahan in the year 1611. She had a daughter named Ladli Begum with her first husband Sher Afgan Khan (Mughal officer of Bengal).
    
    
  • She took the title of Padshah Begum. She even minted coins by her name and almost ruled the kingdom. Farmanas were also issued by Nur Jahan.
    
    
  • Jahangir gave higher positions to her kith and kin. Father of Noor Jahan, Itmad-ud-Daula was given the PM post from a petty officer.
    
    She built the tomb of Itmad-ud-Daula at Agra. Her brother, Asaf Khan, became Mir-i-Saman (incharge of Royal Karkhanas).
  
  
• Military Achievements - There were wars with Mewar and Ahmadnagar kingdoms
  
  
  • Mewar - Amar Singh son of Rana Pratap Singh was defeated. Amar Singh accepted the suzerainty of Mughals and Amar Singh's son was employed in Mughal administration.
    
    
  • Ahmadnagar - Malik Ambar, PM and de facto authority, recaptured the Ahmadnagar's territories, which were previously captured by Akbar.
    
    A war was fought and Ambar Malik was defeated at Balaghat. A treaty was concluded to give back the territories that were recaptured.

Shah Jahan (1628-1658)

• Real name of Shah Jahan is Khurram. Historian Abdul Hamid Lahori, who wrote Padshahnama, gives the history about Shah Jahan in the book.
  
  
• Battles fought by Shah Jahan in Deccan -
  
  
  • In 1633, Ahmadnagar was conquered and became part of Mughal empire.
    
    
  • In 1636, both Bijapur and Golconda became subordinates (Kidmati) to Mughals without any war. Even on the coins of Golconda, the name of Shah Jahan was written.
  
  
• Wars of Succession - In the last days of Shah Jahan, 4 sons fought with one another
  
  
  • Dara Shikoh - He was the eldest and favourite son of Shah Jahan. He was a great scholar and an intellectual. Dara Shikoh translated Upanishads (52 Upanishads out of 108) into Persian under the title Sirr-e-Akbar.
    
    He also translated Bhagavad Gita and Yoga Vasishta into Persian. He wrote number of books in Persian language like that of Majma-ul-Bahrain. He was working for Hindu-Muslim unity.
    
    
  • Aurangzeb - He was the most conservative among the four sons. He was functioning as governor of Deccan.
    
    
  • Murad - He was the governor of Gujarat and Malwa.
    
    
  • Shah Shuja - He was functioning as governor of Bengal.
  
  

  In 1658, there were two wars among the four brothers, namely Battle of Dharmat (Madhya Pradesh) and Battle of Samugarh. In both the battles, Dara Shikoh was defeated and later got killed. Even Murad and Shah Shuja were killed. In 1658, Aurangzeb imprisoned his father and came to power.

• It was Shah Jahan, who shifted the capital from Agra to Delhi after building the Red Fort in his last days.

Aurangzeb ((1658-1707)

• His official name is Alamgir and Aurangzeb is his original name.
  
  
• During his reign, all historians were removed and banned from his court. Yet, few historians wrote about Aurangzeb.
  
  
  • Ishwar Das Nagar wrote Futuhat-i-Alamgiri (Victories of Alamgir)
  • Muhammad Kazim wrote "Alamgir Nama"
  • Muhammad Saqi Mustaid Khan wrote Maasir-e-Alamgiri
  • Bhimsen (in Deccan) wrote Nuskha-i-Dilkusha. It deals with Aurangzeb in Deccan.
  • Khafi Khan (original name - Muhammad Hashim) wrote books in secrecy as Aurangzeb banned historical books. He wrote Muntakhab-ul-Lubab.
  
  
• Aurangzeb's rule can be divided into two phases. During 1658-1680, he ruled with Delhi as capital and during 1681-1707 with Aurangabad as capital. Khirki was the old name of Aurangabad and it was built by Malik Ambar.
  
  
• Tomb of Aurangzeb is found in Khuldabad, about 5km from Ellora.

Extra Information

1. Who wrote Humayun Nama, the biography of Humayun?
   
   
   1. Gulbadan Begum
   
   
   2. Abul Fazl
   
   
   3. Ladli Begum
   
   
   4. Abdul Qadir Badauni
   
   Answer
   
   Ans: A
   
   
   
2. In the six great Mughal emperors list, who is known by his real name?
   
   
   1. Babur
   
   
   2. Akbar
   
   
   3. Shah Jahan
   
   
   4. Aurangzeb
   
   Answer
   
   Ans: D