The Mughal Empire was founded by Babur in 1526. Babur came to India and defeated Ibrahim Lodi who was the sultan of Delhi at the First Battle of Panipat. Babur ruled India until 1530 and during his rule he both consolidated and expanded the empire to include many newer territories.

Babur was succeeded by Humayun. It was under Humayun that the Mughal Empire gained some of its distinctive features. However, the Mughal Empire attained the height of its glory--both in terms of territories and culture--under Akbar the Great--the son and successor of Humayun.

Akbar ruled India from 1556 to 1605. During his rule, he extended the Mughal Empire as far as Afghanistan and south of the Godavari River in South India. Unlike his predecessors, Akbar showed tolerance towards Hinduism and even started his own faith--Din-i-Illahi which was a fusion of Islam, Hinduism, Jainism and other faiths prevalent in India at that time. In addition, he also appointed Hindus to many strategic positions and won their confidence and respect. He also married a Hindu princess.

Akbar was succeeded by his son Salim, who later took the title "Jahangir" and came to be known so. During the reign of Jahangir, the Mughal Empire extended further and consolidated. Jahangir encouraged art and built many gardens. Mughal painting flourished during his reign and took many of his distinctive elements.

Jahangir was succeeded by Shah Jahan in 1627. Shah Jahan left behind extraordinarily beautiful architecture. Most notable of these include the Taj Mahal and Shahjahanabad--the old city of Delhi. After the death of Shah Jahan, a war of succession broke out between his sons. Dara Shikoh and Aurangazeb fought for the throne and ultimately Aurangazeb succeeded.

The reign of Aurangazeb was very chaotic because of his persecution of Hindus and Sikhs. Aurangazeb was an Islam fanatic and a bigot. During his rein, thousands of temples were destroyed and lakhs of Hindus were killed. Due to this the empire started destabilizing and after his death many of his vassals declared independence.

The successors of the empire after Aurangazeb were neither powerful nor did they have support of the people. The Mughal Empire survived until 1857. Following the First War of Independence, Bahadur Shah Zafar was reinstated as the emperor of India but his empire didn't last long. After the mutiny was crushed, Bahadur Shah Zafar was tried for leading the mutiny and jailed in Rangoon where his spent his remaining days.

In all the Mughal Empire lasted for more than 300 years. During these years, it changed the cultural landscape of India like no other. It gave India some of greatest architectural constructions ever to be built on the planet and at the same time it was during this period that Hindus and Sikhs were persecuted on a large scale. The Mughal period remains a prominent page in India's history book.

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