Post-Classical India: Delhi Sultanate and the Mughals (AKA ...



Name:Date:Post-Classical India: Delhi Sultanate and the Mughals (AKA: Mughul or Mogul)The emperors who followed after Ashoka’s death were weak. In 185bce, the last of the Mauryan rulers was killed, ending the dynasty that united most of the subcontinent during the classical period.As Indian Ocean trade expanded, Arab Muslim merchant sailors from the Middle East set up trading posts along the coast of India by the 600 CE, although they may have been there earlier. The Arabs were Muslims who practiced Islam, a monotheistic faith that is very different from Hinduism, the traditional religion of the subcontinent. About 800ce, Muslims from Central Asia first began to settle near the mouth of the Indus River in modern Pakistan; Northwest of India. Over the next several centuries, Muslim warriors moved south to conquer land on the India. The lumbering elephants used by the Indians were no match for the Muslim’s swift war horses. In addition to this military advantage the Muslim conquerors enjoyed, many Indians from lower levels of the caste system rejected their traditional beliefs because Muslims taught that all people are equal. The leaders of the Muslim warriors, called sultans, established the Delhi Sultanate and set up small kingdoms across northern India; thus establishing a Islamic minority in a majority Hindu society. The sultans wanted to spread their faith, so they destroyed many Hindu temples and placed special taxes on those Indians who kept their traditional beliefs.Another group of Muslim invaders called Mughals arrived from across the Hindu Kush in 1504. The first Mughal ruler was Babur—a name that means lion. Babur was a descendent of the Mongol leader Genghis Khan, a warrior who united several nomadic tribes to create the largest empire in history. Babur first ruled the land northeast of the subcontinent, but his uncles seized control of the kingdom while Babur and his army were fighting a foreign war. Knowing he could not return to his homeland, Babur and his army conquered Kabul, a city northeast of the peninsula. Babur and his army then defeated many small kingdoms and expanded his domain into northern India. Babur’s grandson, Akbar, ruled from 1556 to 1606. Unlike previous Muslim rulers, Akbar did not force Hindus to become Muslims. He ordered that Muslims and Hindus be treated equally. India became a prosperous nation under Akbar, and the emperors who followed him became some of the richest rulers in the history of the world. Islamic art, culture and architecture became an important part of Indian culture during the Mughal Dynasty. The Taj Mahal, in the northern Indian city of Agra, is an example of Mughal architecture. Akbar’s grandson, Shah Jahan, built the Taj Mahal as a mausoleum for his wife, who died in childbirth in 1631. A mausoleum is a large tomb. The Shah told builders he wanted a building as beautiful as his wife. Twenty thousand people worked daily for more than twenty years to complete the white marble structure.The sixth Mughal Emperor, Aurganzeb, ruled over most of the Indian subcontinent. His reign lasted for 49 years from 1658 until his death in 1707. Aurangzeb was a notable expansionist and during his reign; the Mughal Empire reached its greatest extent. He was a pious (religious) Muslim, and his policies partly abandoned the legacy of Akbar's secularism (non-religious) During his lifetime, victories in the south expanded the Mughal Empire to more than 3.2 million square kilometers and he ruled over a population estimated as being in the range of 100–150 million subjects. However, his wars led to the exhaustion of the imperial Mughal treasury and death of approximately 4.6 million people, mostly civilians. He was a strong and effective ruler, but with his death the great period of the Mughal Empire came to an end, and central control of the sub-continent declined rapidly.Answer in complete sentences1. Who were the Mughals?2. How did Akbar treat Hindus? Why would he be considered a secular ruler?3. What were positive and negative effects of Aurangzeb’s rule over Indian? ................
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