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'''JAMES WYNBRANDT '''<br/> 
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Wynbrandt, James. <br/> 
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=The Mughal Period (1526-1748)=
The Mughal Empire marked a high point in the history of the sub- 
continent. While its hold over present-day Pakistan wavered, the 
empire's military campaigns, governance, trade policies, and cultural 
achievements had a large impact on the region. Mughal rule rose from 
the decay of the Delhi Sultanate, a power that never fully recovered 
from its destruction by Timur in the late 14th century. Yet, paradoxi- 
cally, it was one of Timur's great-grandsons, Babur (1483-1530), who 
led the Mughals' ascension. Today he is celebrated as the first of the 
Six Great Mughals: Babur, Humayun, Akbar, Jahangir, Shah Jahan, and 
Aurangzeb. The empire grew under an enlightened administrative sys- 
tem, mansabdari, that included policies of advancement based on abil- 
ity rather than birth, and religious tolerance for expressions of Hindu 
devotion and Shi'i ritual. It became one of the largest centralized states 
in premodern history. The empire's golden age lasted into the 18th 
century. But poor governance, military setbacks, religious intolerance, 
and European incursions ultimately brought down the empire by the 
middle of that century. Mughals would occupy the kingdom's throne for 
another century, but by then it had neither the size, the power, nor the 
glory of its former years. 
==Rise of the Mughals==
By the early 16th century what remained of the declining Delhi 
Sultanate faced threats from traditional enemies — tribal kingdoms, 
regional dynasties, and Central Asian invaders — and a new foe: the 
Europeans. These last outsiders came by sea, seeking a direct trade 
route to Southeast Asia bypassing the hazardous overland Silk Route. 
Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama, who pioneered the route around 
Africa's Cape of Good Hope, was the first; he landed near Calicut 
(present-day Kozhikode), on the southwest coast of the subcontinent, 
in 1498. In 1503 he established the first Portuguese "factory," as the 
trading posts were called, at Cochin, on the southwestern tip of India. 
In 1510 the Portuguese took possession of Goa, farther up the coast, 
and soon established a factory at Diu, in Sind. 
[[File:mughal empire.PNG |Mughal Empire|frame|500px]]

At the time, what is today's Pakistan was a patchwork of independent 
Muslim and Hindu fiefdoms. Many leaders of these small states aspired 
to regional dominance. Babur of Ferghana was among them. Babur 
founded the Mughal Empire, and his son, Humayun, spent years rees- 
tablishing its rule after rebellions splintered the kingdom in the wake of 
Babur's death. These two monarchs set the foundation upon which the 
crowning achievements of the Mughal Empire were later built. 

==Babur==
Zahir-ud-Din Muhammad — Babur of Ferghana — was a great-grandson 
of Timur, the Mongol conqueror. Babur's father was the Timurid king of 
Ferghana, a Turk-dominated region in present-day eastern Uzbekistan. 
Though raised in a Turkic culture, Babur was a Mongol. It was this once 
nomadic group that would give name to a state renowned for its wealth, 
military prowess, artistic achievement, and enlightened government: the 
Mughal Empire. Babur inherited the throne of Ferghana at age 12 upon 
his father's death. He also inherited his father's dream of reconquering 
Timur's empire and ruling from Samarkand, the capital of Ferghana. But 
enemies, including his own relatives and the Uzbek Turks, deposed and 
exiled 14-year-old Babur from Samarkand in 1497. 

Over the next few years Babur retook and lost Samarkand twice 
while building an army, and in 1504 he captured Kabul and Ghazni. 
After he realized how little income the poor area could generate, in 
1505 he proceeded through the Khyber Pass to attack what is now 
Pakistan, returning with nothing more than some livestock. 

In 1507 Babur set out from Kabul to battle the Khalji tribesmen of 
southeast Afghanistan, going as far south as Kalat in central Baluchistan. 
Now in control of the trade routes, like his forebears he switched from 
plundering caravans to taxing them. 

The Timurid's greatest adversaries were the Uzbek khans, and the 
khan in Babur's time was Muhammad Shaybani (r. 1500-10). Shaybani 
had driven the Timurids from several of their strongholds, including 
Babur from Samarkand. Babur enlisted as an ally the ruler of Persia, 
Shah Ismael (ca. 1485-1524), founder of the Shi'i Safavid dynasty, 
and their forces defeated Shaybani's at the Battle of Merv in 1510, kill- 
ing the Uzbek khan as he tried to escape. Babur led the allied forces 
to take Samarkand once more the following year. But Babur, a Shia, 
did not enjoy the support of the Sunni populace, and, after renewed 
attacks by the Uzbeks, he abandoned Samarkand again in 1514. For 
the next five years Babur confined his campaigns to Afghanistan and 
Baluchistan, but these forays had repercussions in other parts of what 
is now Pakistan, as well. 
[[File:babur.PNG |Babur founder of the Mughal dynasty, conquered and lost samarkand twice in his bid to gain his father’s throne. In this leaf from Baburnama,produced in the late 16th century,he is depicted fleeing the city in 1501-02 with two companions.(The Pierpont Morgan Library Art Resource.Ny)|frame|500px]]
Reoccupying Kandahar and Kalat, Babur drove the Mongol ruler of 
the area, Shah Beg Arghun (r. 1507-22), into Sind, where Jam Firoz, son 
of the great Samma ruler Jam Nizamuddin (d. 1509), held the throne. 
Shah Beg defeated the Samma forces, and Jam Firoz retreated to Thatta. 
Shah Beg built an island fortress at Bhakkar in the Indus River, between 
present-day Sukkur and Rohri. From here he continued his conquests 
in Sind. In 1520-21 Shah Beg conquered the Samma capital of Thatta, 
and Jam Firoz fled to Gujarat, a city in northwestern Punjab and capital 
of the Gujarat Sultanate, centered in what is today the Indian state of 
Gujarat. The Arghuns' control of Sind lasted until 1555 and restored the 
region's cultural ties to Persia. 

==Conquest of the Punjab and Delhi==
In 1519 Babur acquired muskets and artillery and set off for the sub- 
continent. He first captured the Yusufzai Fort at Bajaur, in what is today 
the North- West Frontier Province, but failed to conquer the Yusufzai, 
one of the most powerful Pashtun tribes. Most of northwest Pakistan 
was under the control of the Gakkars at the time, and Babur next staged 
a surprise attack on their bastion, Pharwala Fort, near Rawalpindi in 
Punjab. The Gakkar chief surrendered, and in return Babur recognized 
their rule of the Potwar Plateau. Thereafter the Mughals could count 
on Gakkar support for their rule. Returning to his goal to pacify the 
frontier tribes, Babur married the daughter of the Yusufzaisi's chief, but 
the tribemen remained rebellious. Changing tactics, Babur mounted 
a military campaign in the Hashtnagar region of NWFP. Campaigns 
against tribes along the tributaries of the Indus in Punjab followed, 
including an effort to eradicate Afghan nobles, many of whom had 
settled in Punjab during Lodi rule. Punjabis, whom the Afghans had 
taxed, welcomed their elimination. 

Babur's leadership and military prowess drew the attention of nobles 
seeking a regime change in Delhi. Lodi family members requested 
Babur's aid in overthrowing Ibrahim I Lodi (r. 1517-26), the sultan of 
Delhi, in part due to his policy of replacing respected military com- 
manders with young loyalists. Timur's lands had included Delhi, and 
as his direct descendant Babur considered the sultanate his birthright. 
Allying himself with various Lodi leaders, Babur assembled an army 
and in 1525 marched toward Delhi. Ibrahim Lodi advanced with an 
army of 100,000 soldiers and 100 elephants to intercept him. The 
forces met in 1526 at the First Battle of Panipat, about 30 miles north 
==Polo==
Along with many other traditions, the Mughals introduced polo 
to the subcontinent. The game originated in Central Asia 
sometime between the sixth century B.C.E. and the first century 
C.E. Its name is believed to be derived from the word pulu or phulo, 
meaning "ball" or "ballgame," respectively, in the Balti language of 
Baltistan, in what is today Pakistan-administered Kashmir. In polo 
two teams mounted on horseback try to drive a small ball through 
the opponent's goal using long-handled mallets. It is often compared 
to the traditional Afghani sport buzkashi (goat grabbing), in which 
two teams of equestrians attempt to grab the carcass of a headless 
goat and throw it into a scoring circle. 

Now often called the sport of kings, polo became the sport of 
Persian nobility, and teams might have as many as 100 horsemen. It 
was also used as a training game for cavalry, as the expert horse- 
manship required was highly adaptable to the battlefield. Babur is 
credited with establishing the game in the subcontinent. But by 
the 19th century polo had largely been forgotten, relegated to a 
few mountainous pockets in the northern subcontinent. English 
tea planters and military personnel in Manipur, Bengal, rediscov- 
ered it in the 1850s. The British developed today's rules (which 
include having four players per team and dividing the contest into 
of Delhi. Lodi had superior numbers, but Babur's forces were better 
equipped and more disciplined. On the first day of battle Ibrahim Lodi 
and 15,000 men were killed. Babur was proclaimed emperor of Delhi 
the next day. 

Babar's great-grandfather Timur had conquered Delhi and returned 
to Samarkand. Babur planned to rule from the subcontinent. He recog- 
nized that it had resources that made it an advantageous seat of power: 
an abundance of cultivatable lands, plentiful gold and silver, and large 
numbers of skilled workers in every profession and craft. 

Babur's plan to rule from Delhi provoked Rana Sanga of Mewar 
(r. 1509-27), northern India's strongest ruler and head of the Rajput 
Confederacy, to raise an army of some 210,000 soldiers to oppose 
[[File:mughal polo.PNG |Periods called chuckers) and organized polo clubs throughout the subcontinent. From there it spread to England, South America, 
and beyond Surrounded by spectators, Mughals play polo, attended by grooms with spare polo sticks. (HIP/Art Resource, NY)|frame|500px]]

Babur. In 1527, at the Battle at Khanua, near Agra, Babur defeated the 
numerically superior Rajputs, becoming the master of the northern 
subcontinent. He granted rule of Rajput territories to his followers, 
who included Rajput and Afgan nobles and Gakkar chiefs. Among his 
first acts was to construct a road from Kabul to Agra, passing through 
Lahore to ease travel in the territory. 

Throughout this time Multan had retained its independence. But 
in 1526, following a 15-month siege, the Arghun rulers of Sind con- 
quered the city, sacked it, and massacred the survivors. The remaining 
inhabitants united behind the former commander of the Multan army 
and expelled the Arghun governor, then pledged their loyalty to the 
governor of Punjab, a suzerain of Babur's. 

Meanwhile, allies of the former Delhi sultan, Ibrahim Lodi, tried to 
regain their kingdom. Under the leadership of his brother, Mahmud, 
during his brief reign as king of Bihar (r. 1528-29), Afghan chiefs of 
Bihar and Bengal, raised an army to fight Babur. The opposing forces 
met at the river Ghaghara in 1529 in Babur's last major battle. He 
emerged victorious, ending the last regional threat to his power.

==Humayun==
Babur died in 1530 at age 47. He left his Indian territories to Humayun 
(1508-56), his eldest son, and the Kabul kingdom to his youngest son, 
Kamran (1509-57). But Babur's hold over the northern regions was 
weak, and with him gone, restive rulers asserted their independence, 
among them Bahadur Shah (r. 1526-35, 1536-37), the Afghan ruler of 
Gujarat; Rajput chiefs; and Sher Khan (1486-1545). The son of a minor 
Afghan ruler, Sher Khan, who had briefly served in Babur's forces, 
assumed control of Bihar by the early 1530s. 

Determined to regain control of his inherited kingdom, Humayun 
(r. 1530-40, 1555-56) fought Bahadur Shah and the rebellious Rajputs 
in a series of skirmishes. He defeated Bahadur Shah in 1535. But Sher 
Khan led a campaign into Bengal and defeated Humayun's forces at 
Chausa on the banks of the Ganges in 1539. Taking control of Delhi, 
he proclaimed himself Sher Shah Sur. At a subsequent encounter at 
Kanauj in 1540, Humayun's troops fled before the battle even began. 
Humayun escaped to Lahore and sought protection from his brother, 
Kamran. With Sher Shah Sur in pursuit, both brothers left Lahore but 
split up after a dispute at the Jhelum River at Khushab. Kamran went 
to Kabul, and Humayun went south and joined his mother and brother 
Hindal in Sind. Here he met his future wife, Hamida Bano. Seeking 
either an alliance with the Rajput chiefs or their conquest, he and his 
new wife and followers set out across the Thar Desert to Rajasthan, 
where they received protection from the rajas of Umarkot (today's 
Tharparker District in Sind), whose territory included parts of what is 
today Rajasthan state in India. His son Jalal-ud-Din Akbar was born at 
Umarkot Fort in 1542. 

Seeking more secure refuge in his brother Kamran's domain in 
Afghanistan, Humayun led his group to Kandahar but came under 
attack there as well and once again fled, finally finding sanctuary in 
Persia. Akbar, his son, was left with an aunt in the Kabul kingdom ter- 
ritories. 

==Sher Shah Sur==
Having chased Humayun to Punjab, Sher Shah Sur (r. 1540-45) de- 
manded obeisance from the Gakkar rulers, and when they refused he 
awarded their land to thousands of Afghan tribesmen who had recently 
settled in the area and to three Baluchi chiefs: Ismael Khan, Fateh Khan, 
and Ghazi Khan. The Gakkars gathered an army to fight Sher Shah, but 
were defeated at the Fort of Rewat in Rawalpindi. 
[[File:sher sha sur.PNG | Sher Shah built the fort at Rohtas, with a three-mile circumference, to protect his kingdom from Mughal and Gakkar invaders. (Courtesy Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation)|frame|500px]]

During his brief, five-year reign Sher Shah's empire stretched from 
the Indus Valley through Bengal, and from Kashmir in the north to 
Chanderi and Benares in central India. He was more concerned about 
outside invaders than regional rebellions and considered the Mughals 
a greater threat than Chinggis Khan or Timur had been in their time. 
Balban and Ala-ud-Din Khalji had established the Delhi Sultanate as 
a bulwark against Mongol invaders. Sher Shah in turn developed his 
kingdom to defend the region against the Mughals. He built a massive 
fort at Rohtas (current-day Rohtak, in the Indian state of Haryana), 
some three miles around, to defend his kingdom's western borders from 
the Mughals and Gakkars. 

However, his successes as a ruler outshined his military victories. 
He introduced many reforms embraced by the Mughal rulers and the 
British colonial overseers who succeeded them. He effectively reorga- 
nized the state's administrative system, built a network of roads (one of 
the them, the Grand Trunk Road, extending from the Indus to eastern 
Bengal, is still in use today), stimulated commerce by overhauling the 
customs system, and promoted religious tolerance. He also established 
a professional, salaried army and introduced a system of coins, the 
rupayya, whose name is still used for coinage in Pakistan, India, and 
neighboring countries to this day. 

Sher Shah was killed in 1545 in an explosion while storming the 
Rajput hill fortress at Kalinjar in present-day Uttar Pradesh state in 
central India. On his deathbed he declared his sorrow that he had not 
destroyed Lahore, eliminating this tempting target of conquerors who 
used its spoils to continue to fuel their invasions. Some consider Sher 
Shah the last of the Delhi sultans, and perhaps the greatest. 

After Sher Shah's death, his younger son, Jalal Khan, took control as 
Islam Shah (r. 1545-53) and ruled until his death in 1553. Four more 
descendants of Sher Shah ruled the dynasty until the last among them, 
Sikander Shah Sur (r. 1555), was defeated in battle by Humayun. 

It was during the final years of the Sur dynasty that Europeans first 
took military action in the area that is now Pakistan. In 1554 the last 
of the Arghun, the family that ruled Sind, died. Two Turkish chiefs 
divided Sind between them, making Thatta and Bhakkar (near pres- 
ent-day Rohri on the Indus) their capitals. Thatta, a port strategically 
located at the apex of the Indus delta, had served as the capital of lower 
Sind since the 14th century. By this time the Portuguese had estab- 
lished trading posts along the west coast of the subcontinent. One of 
the new Turkish chiefs sought an alliance with the Portuguese against 
the other, and the Portuguese agreed to come to his assistance. But by 
the time the Portuguese sailed into the Indus and anchored, the two 
chiefs had made peace. Angered that the alliance had been called off, 
the Portuguese sacked and burned Thatta and the surrounding coun- 
tryside, slaughtering many. 

==Humayun's Return==
Humayun, now in Persia, persuaded the shah of Persia to back him, as 
Humayun's father Babur had done with the shah's predecessor. With the 
shah's support, Humayun attacked and took Kandahar and Kabul from 
his brother, Kamran. Akbar, Humayun's son, was in his uncle's custody 
at the time of the attack, and Kamran exposed Akbar at the walls of 
Kabul Fort during the assault, trying to induce his father to stop the 
bombardment. Nonetheless Humayun took Kabul and appointed nine- 
year-old Akbar governor of Kabul. With the city secured, Humayun set 
off for the subcontinent with Akbar, still eager to reclaim his inherited 
empire from the ashes of Sher Sur's kingdom. They arrived in 1554. 

Kamran had tried to ally himself with Sher Sur's successors but 
was arrested by the Gakkars and held for Humayun's disposal. On 
Humayun's orders he was blinded and sent on a pilgrimage to Mecca 
to contemplate his sins. Humayim conquered Rohtas Fort without a 
fight, as the Afghan governor and garrison had fled. Humayun captured 
Lahore, then Sirhind, where he defeated Sikander Sur before claiming 
Delhi and Agra in 1555. 

Inspired by the Safavid art he had encountered while in exile in 
Persia, Humayun recruited court artists who developed the celebrated 
Mughal school of painting. He also oversaw the construction of grand 
edifices that helped define the Mughal style of architecture. But his 
enjoyment of the regained throne was brief. Humayun died in 1556 
after falling down stairs in his library. His tomb in Delhi is one of the 
finest examples of Mughal architecture in the subcontinent. Some of 
the details of his life come from memoirs of his sister, daughter of 
Babur, Gulbadan Begum. 

With the Mughal Empire's borders secure, its army powerful, and 
the framework for its administration in place, the next three emper- 
ors — Akbar, Jahangir, and Shah Jahan — would engineer and preside 
over the empire's greatest achievements. But during the reign of the last 
of the Great Mughals, Aurangzeb, the empire's power would begin to 
decline, never to recover. 
==Akbar==
Akbar the Great (r. 1556-1605) was 13 at the time of his father's death in 
1556. His guardian, Bairam Khan, proclaimed him emperor of Hindustan, 
a term used historically to refer to the Indian subcontinent. 

Sher Shah Sur's two nephews, Sikander and Adil, could not over- 
come their mutual animosity to join forces against Akbar. Adil's army 
was led by Hemu, a Hindu minister and general. Hemu conquered 
Agra in October of 1556 and conquered Delhi immediately after 
when the Mughal general Tardi Beg fled. Hemu took the title of Raja 
Vikramaditya, literally "sun of valor," borrowing the name of a legend- 
ary Hindu king. The day after Akbar learned Delhi had fallen, news 
came that Kabul was in revolt. Against the counsel of all his advisers 
except his guardian, rather than returning to Kabul to put down the 
uprising, Akbar marched on Delhi and decisively defeated Hemu's army 
at the Second Battle of Panipat in 1556. 

==Akbar's Early Years==
In 1560 Akbar took full control of the kingdom from his guardian, 
whom he sent on a pilgrimage to Mecca to eliminate any possibility of 
meddling. During the years 1561-76, Akbar reconquered Malwa and 
Gondwana (in the present-day Indian state of Maharashtra), the Rajput 
kingdoms, Gujarat, Bihar, and Bengal. This marked the end of the first 
phase of his campaigns of conquest. 
[[File:akbar early year.PNG ||frame|500px]]
Akbar instituted reforms and treated with respect Rajput rulers who 
submitted to him, allowing them to retain their power. He used inter- 
marriage between members of the ruling family and Rajput princesses to 
cement relationships. He gathered detailed records on agricultural produc- 
tion and prices in an effort to regulate the economy. For assessing taxes 
and collecting revenue he adopted the system developed for Sher Shah 
Sur by Todar Mai, a Rajput king (r. 1560-86). Revenue went mostly to 
pay military officers, who were responsible for providing for their soldiers 
and members of the court. Officers, or mansabdars, as these overseers 
were known, were rotated every three years from territories to keep them 
from becoming feudal lords. Previously the Arabic term iqta was used for 
these territorial assignments. By Akbar's reign it had been replaced by the 
Persian term jagir, as the system would henceforth be known. 

The assignment of lands to administer was prone to corruption, as 
those who made the assignments expected bribes to grant a jagir where 
productivity was high and the population was not restive. The demand 
for kickbacks created discontent among military officers. In 1574 
Akbar ended the assignment system in the provinces with the oldest 
links to the empire, including Lahore, Multan, Delhi, and Agra. These 
areas were managed as khalsa (state-controlled land) for the next five 
years. Officers in charge got cash salaries rather than a percentage of 
revenues. But the plan failed, as officers had no incentive to stimulate 
productivity, and land fell out of cultivation in these areas. Meanwhile, 
local rulers oppressed and taxed the peasants, leading to depopulation. 
In response Akbar changed the tax system. Through detailed studies of 
soil quality, water availability, and other factors for individual parcels, 
along with local market conditions, assessments were based on what 
the land was capable of producing. This spurred investment in the land 
and renewed efforts to improve its productivity.

==State and Religion==
Tolerant of other religions, in 1563 Akbar removed the tax imposed 
on those who visited Hindu shrines and in 1564 eliminated the jizya, 
the tax on non-Muslims. He attempted to have local rulers emulate his 
(opposite page) Bullocks drag siege guns uphill during Akbar's attack on Rathanbhor Fort 
in 1568. Illustration from the Akbarnama, produced ca. 1590. (Victoria & Albert Museum, 
London/Art Resource, NY) 
==The Mansabdari And Jagirdari Systems==
Akbar instituted the civil service system upon which the Mughal 
Empire's administration was based. The system had its roots 
in the Delhi Sultanate, when rulers such as Ala-ud-Din Khalji and 
Muhammad ibn Tughluq created a prototypical revenue and payroll 
plan. Sher Shah Sur reorganized it, and Akbar refined it. 

Government officers were organized in 33 levels or grades. Each 
government officer held the honorific mansabdar (because he had 
rank) or mansab, if he had sufficient rank. Royal family members typi- 
cally had exclusive rights to the very top ranks. Those with the rank 
of Commander of the Five Hundred and above held the title of emir, 
or "noble." Most officers initially received cash allowances generated 
from the khalsa, or state-controlled lands, dispensed by the royal 
treasury. Akbar believed cash payments encouraged loyalty, but the 
government found it increasingly difficult to manage enough khalsa 
lands to raise the revenue. 

Over time a growing number of officers received jagirs, assigned 
lands they administered and from which was generated income to 
pay their salaries and that of their troops as well as to meet other 
expenses. Akbar and later rulers were eager to prevent officers 
from creating fiefdoms. Thus the positions were not hereditary, and 
jagirdaris (those who administered the jagirs) were rotated to new 
assignments every few years. The system helped stabilize the empire 
by maintaining government control of property. But it also led to 
exploitation of the lands since the jagirdaris cared only to maximize 
income during their tenure. Their oppression led farmers, and later 
merchants and artisans, to flee jagirs for lands controlled by rajas 
and zamindars (lords of the land). These local rulers retained their 
hereditary positions from pre-Mughal times and were allowed to 
keep their power as long as they remained loyal and provided troops 
and tribute to the empire. Over time these independent tribal chiefs 
and kingdoms came to present a major threat to the Mughals as their 
power declined. 
nondiscriminatory practices. Though a Muslim himself, after listen- 
ing to ongoing disagreements of the ulama, or Muslim religious lead- 
ers, Akbar became disenchanted with Islamic orthodoxy, and created 
the Hall of Worship, where religious thinkers could come to discuss 
their religions. He invited Zoroastrians, Christians, Jews, Hindus, and 
Jains to explain the tenets of their faith. In 1579 he promulgated his 
Infallibility Decree, which mandated that any conflict among the ulama 
would be decided by the emperor. 

In 1580 nobles and religious leaders in Bihar and Bengal revolted, 
upset at Akbar's religious unorthodoxy and reduction of their allow- 
ances. Akbar's half-brother, Mirza Hakim (d. 1585), ruler of Kabul, 
seized the opportunity and marched on Punjab, but was unsuccess- 
ful in his effort to capture the Rohtas fort or Lahore. He retreated to 
avoid Akbar's advancing army, which had arrived at the Sutlej River. 
Akbar dispatched the great Hindu general Man Singh (1540-1614) to 
chase Mirza Hakim, while Akbar headed for Kabul, which he occupied, 
installing his sister, Bakhtunissa Begum, as governor. 

By 1582 Akbar had proclaimed himself God's representative on earth 
and the leader of a new religion, Din-i-Ilahi, the Divine Faith, which 
combined elements of Islam and Hinduism. He created new rites and 
ceremonies, some of which offended Muslims. His flirtation with 
unorthodox theosophies ended by 1590, when he was again practicing 
Islam. But his tolerance created a long-standing backlash in the Muslim 
community, which demanded that future emperors be unwavering in 
their Islamic faith. Leaders would find the most convincing way to 
demonstrate their orthodoxy was by practicing intolerance toward 
other religions as well as any unorthodox form of Islam. Thus Akbar's 
efforts to encourage tolerance and diversity drove the sociopolitical 
climate in the opposite direction.

==Akbar's Middle Years==
It was in this period that Akbar built Attock Fort at the point he crossed 
the Indus, usurping the town of Ohind's position as a major crossing 
point of the river as well as the Rohtas fort's importance as a frontier 
bastion. 

Punjab and Upper Sind, whose fortunes had declined during the years 
the jagir system was modified, were now rebounding. Multan retained 
its importance as a religious center and trade capital, while Sehwan held 
its position as a commercial hub bustling with trade and industry. 

During the years 1584-98, Akbar ruled from Lahore, which remained 
a center of commerce as well as government. Abdul Fazal (d. 1602), 
Akbar's friend and court historian, claimed the city had a thousand 
shops that made sheets and shawls alone. Akbar built a new mint to 
produce coinage for the realm and constructed a red brick wall around 
the old city. Some of its original 12 gates still stand. 

Akbar's campaigns to subjugate the frontier in Kashmir, Lower Sind, 
Baluchistan, and parts of the Deccan continued during these years. 
Much of the agricultural land in Punjab at this time was under direct 
state control. Jagirdars, as those who oversaw the jagirs were known, 
were more closely monitored here than those at the fringes of empire. 

Akbar was eager to secure the Kabul area for the Mughal Empire. 
Mirza Hakim had been ruling Kabul under his sister's nominal gover- 
norship. When he died in 1585, Akbar set out to conquer it, in part 
to keep it from falling to the Uzbek Turks, who likewise coveted the 
territory. Akbar, encamped at Attock, sent Man Singh to take over 
Kabul. Boatmen were brought from the east to ferry forces across 
the Indus. But Akbar was unable to subdue the border area, primar- 
ily due to resistance of the Afridi tribe. The Afridi and others in the 
area were adherents of the Roshanaya movement, a Sufi offshoot, 
so called for the adopted name of its founder Bayazid Ansari (ca. 
1525-82/85), who called himself Pir-i-Roshan (the enlightened one 
or pir of [Mount] Roshan). Ansari's son Jalala refused to recognize 
Mughal rule and to permit Akbar's passage through the area. Akbar 
finally forced Jalala to flee to Chitral, a town in today's NWFP, where 
he died in 1601. But his absence and death did not dampen restive- 
ness in the frontier area. 

Akbar also attempted to expand the empire northward, but his 
campaigns in 1585 to conquer the Yusufzais and Kashmir, mounted 
to take advantage of internecine fighting among Muslim sects there, 
were unsuccessful. Though the attack failed, a resulting treaty gave 
the Mughals the right to buy Kashmir's saffron crop. In 1586 Akbar 
finally conquered Kashmir, making the Mughals the sole purveyor in 
the saffron market. Profits were vast. But high tax rates imposed on the 
peasant farmers caused a rebellion in Kashmir, and the tax rates were 
rolled back. 
==Akbar's Later Years==
Following the Portuguese destruction of Thatta, the city was rebuilt. 
But renewed civil war among Turkish chiefs of Sind broke out. Sensing 
an opening, Akbar, back in Lahore from Attock, ordered the governor of 
Multan to attack lower Sind, and by 1592 the region had been annexed 
by the Mughal Empire. Baluchistan and Makran were annexed in 1594. 
The following year the shah of Persia, who had seized Kandahar after 
helping Humayun regain his empire, gave it to Akbar. All of the north- 
ern subcontinent was now under his rule, and thus in 1595 Akbar 
commenced the third and final phase of his campaigns of conquest: 
marching his forces southward to the Deccan. By 1601 almost all of the 
subcontinent was Mughal territory. 

Under Akbar security was enhanced throughout the empire, lead- 
ing to increased trade. Commerce was also stimulated by the currency 
system and mints he founded. A private banking system with letters of 
credit evolved. Goods from Kashmir and Kabul were shipped through 
Multan to Thatta's principal port of Larri Bunder. European appetite 
for dye brought Portuguese and Dutch traders to the region, and the 
manufacture of indigo dye became a major industry, enriching the 
kingdom. 

Akbar's contributions to the arts are likewise remembered. Though 
he could neither read nor write, he collected literature and art from 
around the world and commissioned buildings and monuments. These 
edifices range from the tomb of his father, Humayun, in Delhi, consid- 
ered the first great Mughal monument, to the entire city of Fatehpur 
Sikri (City of Victory), which served as his capital from 1569 to 1584. 
For his legacy of accomplishments in war and peace, Akbar is consid- 
ered the greatest Mughal ruler. 
==Jahangir==
Akbar's sole surviving son, Salim, had rebelled against him and tried to 
set up a kingdom of his own in the Deccan. Akbar nonetheless anointed 
him as his successor, and Salim ascended to the throne upon Akbar's 
death in October 1605. He took the title Jahangir (r. 1605-27). Jahangir 
had spent his formative years around Lahore, his father's capital for 
much of his reign. His companion as a youngster at home in nearby 
Sheikhupura was Abdullah Bhatti, the son of a tribal chief whom Akbar 
had executed. Akbar also killed, in a fit of rage, a woman in his harem, 
Anarkali, whom Jahangir had fallen in love with. Her tomb is in her 
eponymous bazaar in Lahore. 

Soon after Jahangir's ascension his eldest son, Prince Khusrow, tried 
wresting control of the empire by laying siege to Lahore. Somewhat 
paradoxically, Khusrow's attempted coup was supported by nobles 
angered by the disloyalty Jahangir had shown to his father in trying 
to establish an independent state in the Deccan. Jahangir came from 
Agra to battle his son, and their armies met at the Chenab River, with 
Jahangir's forces prevailing. Prince Khusrow was captured trying to flee 
the area. As punishment he was blinded and incarcerated, and 700 of 
his followers were impaled in Lahore. 

The leader of the Sikhs, Guru Arjan Dev (1563-1606), was sus- 
pected of aiding the prince, and his lands were confiscated; he and his 
sons were imprisoned. Up to that point the Sikhs had been apolitical. 
Jahangir had Arjan executed in prison, but, after his release, his son 
Guru Hargobind (1595-1644) formed a Sikh self-defense force, which 
became a longstanding opponent of the Mughal dynasty. 

Meanwhile Abdullah Bhatti, Jahangir's childhood friend, led a force 
against him to avenge his father's death. Jahangir tried negotiating a 
settlement, but when that failed, he reluctantly suppressed the uprising. 
Meanwhile, resistance by the Roshanaya movement, which had begun 
under his father's reign, continued, and Jalala's successors attacked 
Peshawar in 1613. The town of Shikarpur in upper Sind became a cen- 
ter of resistance to the Mughals. 

Jahangir's reign was a time of peace and prosperity within his king- 
dom. The Mughal style of painting reached its zenith under him. But 
agricultural production began to decline during his reign because of the 
growing corruption within the jagir system. Jahangir's rule was assisted 
by his ambitious and beautiful wife, a Persian princess he dubbed Nur 
Jehan (Light of the World). She had a large hand in administering and 
ruling the kingdom, as did her family members, including her father, 
a Persian, and her brother Asaf Khan. Jahangir's third son, Prince 
Khurram, also part of Nur Jehan's inner circle, married Asaf Khan's 
daughter, Mumtaz Mahal. In 1615 Prince Khurram conquered the last 
Rajput fortresses in Mewar. However, the state of Ahmadnagar resisted 
conquest, and during the campaign Ahmadnagar Fort, which had been 
captured during Akbar's rule, was retaken from the Mughals. Prince 
Khurram succeeded in regaining the fort and was given the title Shah 
Jahan, Lord of the World. 

Jahangir's fondness for alcohol was now affecting his health. Nur 
Jehan wanted her youngest son, Prince Shahriyar, to succeed Jahangir, 
as he would be the easiest for her to control. Signaling her intent, 
she gave the hand of her daughter, conceived in an earlier marriage, 
to Shahriyar. Shah Jahan, who was the popular choice to take over 
Jahangir's throne, revolted in 1622. But his army was defeated in 1625 
by Mahabat Khan, Nur Jehan's general. Nur Jehan, now worried about 
Mahabat's growing power, accused him of corruption. In response, 
Mahabat staged an insurrection and captured Jahangir in 1626 while 
he was en route to Kashmir. Nur rescued Jahangir, but the ruler died 
in 1627. Asaf Khan, Nur's brother, arrested her, and Shah Jahan was 
named emperor. Shahriyar was blinded and imprisoned, and Nur gave 
up statecraft, spending her time overseeing construction of her tomb. 
==European Trade==
During the Mughal era European powers established footholds in the 
subcontinent. A century after the Portuguese had successfully estab- 
lished trading posts along the west coast of India and Pakistan, the 
English, French, and Dutch, hearing of vast profits, followed suit. In 
1600, a group of London merchants formed the East India Company 
(EIC) to trade with India under a charter from Queen Elizabeth I 
(1533-1603). 

In 1615 an ambassador from England, Sir Thomas Roe (1581-1644), 
arrived at Jahangir's court. He was the second such emissary. Seven 
years earlier England's king James I (1566-1625) had sent Turki- 
speaking Captain William Hawkins with a request to Jahangir for a 
trade concession at Surat on the Gujarat coast. Though Hawkins was 
received graciously and remained for two years, the Portuguese held 
sway, and permission was denied. Roe had better luck. After three years 
in residence he won concessions for the EIC as well as permission to 
build a factory in Surat. Jahangir's largesse to the English angered the 
Portuguese, who attacked Mughal shipping in retaliation. Jahangir in 
turn arrested all Portuguese in the empire, closed their churches, and 
declared war. The Portuguese sued for peace. The English built Surat 
into a thriving trade center and sought additional outposts in other 
parts of India. 

The Dutch and French formed East India companies of their own, 
in 1602 and 1664, respectively. Most of the outposts were on the east 
coast of the subcontinent, putting them closer to the East Indies (pres- 
ent-day Indonesia) spice trade. Bengal and Bihar became economic 
centers. The Portuguese and the Dutch went on to fight for control of 
the East Indies, a war the Dutch would win. The British and French 
battled over the subcontinent, with the British finally prevailing in the 
mid- 18th century. 
==Shah Jahan==
Shah Jahan (r. 1627-57) pursued a westward expansionist policy, relo- 
cating his court to Kabul for two years in pursuit of this goal. During the 
height of Shah Jahan's reign, the Mughal Empire was the most advanced 
in the world, the leading light in commerce, culture, and architecture, 
wealthy beyond the ability to catalog its riches. Among the architectural 
works created during his reign was the Taj Mahal, the tomb of Jahan's 
beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal. But Shah Jahan's reign also marked the 
beginning of the empire's decline, signaled by rebellions in lower Sind, 
the collapse of Mughal rule in the Deccan, and a stagnating economy. 
After crippling the agricultural sector by overtaxing farmers, the 
Mughals began raising taxes on urban enterprises, traders, and artisans. 
The government entered into trading agreements with European compa- 
nies to raise revenue. With wealth becoming concentrated and revenues 
falling, the nobility sought wars as a way of expanding Mughal territory 
and gaining more revenue, but wars proved increasingly expensive and 
unsuccessful. Still, the royal court continued in its lavish ways. 

One region in which warfare did prove successful was the Deccan, 
which had slipped from the empire's grasp since Akbar's conquests of 
1595-1601. Three of the five Deccan Sultanates — Ahmadnagar, Berar, 
and Bidar — were reabsorbed into the Mughal Empire. The other two, 
Golkonda and Bijapur, became tribute-paying states. 
==Aurangzeb==
In 1657, with Shah Jahan suffering a serious illness, a battle for suc- 
cession erupted among his four sons — Aurangzeb, Shah Shuja, Murad 
Bakhsh, and Dara Shukoh — from which Aurangzeb emerged victori- 
ous. He took over Agra and imprisoned his father in Agra Fort until 
his death in 1666 at age 74. He then pursued his three brothers. Murad 
was arrested and in 1661 executed. Shah Shuja fled into the jungles 
of Burma. Dara Shukoh, the eldest, raised an army to fight Aurangzeb 
but was deserted by erstwhile allies, and in 1569 was captured and 
executed for heresy by Aurangzeb's forces. 

Aurangzeb (1618-1707) was the last of the great Mughals. Under 
his rule (r. 1658-1707) the Mughal armies led almost constant wars of 
conquest, and the empire expanded to its largest size. In 1661 the east- 
ern kingdom of Cooch was annexed by the Mughals. Portuguese pirates 
were driven from the area after the Mughals conquered the Bengal port 
of Chittagong in 1666. But the warfare almost bankrupted the empire, 
and the empire's hold on the new territories was weak. An unpopu- 
lar ruler, Aurangzeb faced rebellions by the Yusufzais near Peshawar 
(1667, 1672-76); the Sikhs in Anandpur, in what is today the Indian 
state of Punjab (beginning in 1668 and lasting for several years); and 
the Marathas, beginning in 1670. Shiva ji Bhonsle (1630-80), the leader 
of the Maratha Hindu kingdom, had risen to take over Deccan territory. 
By 1663 Shiva ji controlled Bijapur territory in the Deccan and Mughal 
territory in Ahmadnagar. The Mughals' inability to deal effectively 
with Shiva ji was emblematic of their declining fortunes. Aurangzeb 
[[File:AURANGZAB.PNG | Aurangzeb, who ruled for almost half a century, is depicted on his throne as an old man in 
this early 18th-century Mughal miniature. (Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY)|frame|500px]]
dispatched his uncle, Shaista Khan, to attack Shiva ji. The Mughals won 
the initial engagement, but Shiva ji counterattacked and expelled the 
Mughal forces from the region. Aurangzeb then ordered one of his most 
powerful generals, the Rajput Jai Singh, to carry on the fight against the 
Marathas, and the campaign was a success. Shiva ji accepted the terms 
of surrender and was placed under house arrest at the royal court in 
Agra. But Shiva ji escaped and regained power in his old territory. He 
recaptured forts and expanded his dominion to the south, forming a 
strong independent state. 

Meanwhile, Aurangzeb adopted religious policies that created schisms 
within the empire, further weakening it. A devout Sunni Muslim, he 
ended the practice of religious tolerance and tried to force the conver- 
sion of Hindus to Islam. He changed the legal system, making sharia, 
Islamic law, the law of the land. With the exception of construction of 
the Badshahi Mosque he also turned his back on the promotion of great 
works of art and architecture that had characterized Mughal rule up to 
this time. He banned singers, musicians, and dancers from his court 
and built few grand monuments or buildings. 

The English also gained stronger footholds in the subcontinent dur- 
ing this period. They received Bombay, which the Portuguese had held, 
as the wedding dowry of Catherine Henrietta of Braganza (1638-1705), 
[[File:badsha mosque.PNG | The Badshahi Mosque in Lahore is one of the few grand public buildings built during 
Aurangzeb's rule. (Courtesy Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation)|frame|500px]]
a Portuguese princess who married King Charles II (1630-85). By then 
Surat had proved vulnerable, having been sacked twice by Shiva ji (in 
1664 and 1670). The English relocated their headquarters to Bombay. 
They cleared its swamps and by 1677 created a more substantial factory. 

Sir Joshua Child, the chairman of the EIC at the time, wanted to 
strengthen Britain's position in the subcontinent. In 1685 12 English 
warships were sent to take establish and control fortifications at 
Chittagong. Mughal forces met and defeated them. In retaliation 
England blockaded several ports on the Indian west coast. They 
seized Mughal ships and kept pilgrims from making the hajj to Mecca. 
Aurangzeb ordered his forces to attack English trading posts. Several 
including Surat were taken by the Mughals. EIC representatives were 
killed. The company appealed to Aurangzeb for an end to the attacks 
and agreed to pay for the seized ships and compensate the Mughal 
ruler for other damages. In return Aurangzeb pardoned the English and 
granted them a new trading license in 1690. 

At the time, English pirates were active in the region, but the EIC did 
little to stem their activity. In 1695 English pirates seized a Mughal ship 
carrying pilgrims and trade profits. In response the Mughal governor of 
Surat arrested the local head of the EIC and put the city's English citi- 
zens under custody — in chains — to protect them from angry Muslim 
residents. On India's east coast, the English were allowed to create a 
trading post on the Hooghly River in Bengal in 1697. This became the 
city of Calcutta (present-day Kolkata), the capital of British India from 
1858 until 1912. Another major British trade center on the east coast 
was Madras (present-day Chennai). The British hired local soldiers 
they called sepoys and formed armed forces for their own protection. 
Over time local rulers asked the British to lend them the sepoy forces 
to help with security. In return for concessions and land, the British 
often agreed; they increasingly became more involved in local affairs 
and took control of more land. 

The frontier area in what is now northwest Pakistan was another 
region that tested Mughal domination. The Yusufzai had been in rebel- 
lion since the beginning of Aurangzeb's reign. In 1667 a force of 5,000 
Yusufzai mounted a series of invasions into Pakhli (present-day Hazara 
district). Mughal forces responding to the uprising soundly defeated 
the rebels. A 1672 revolt by the Satnamis of East Punjab, a fanatical 
Hindu sect, was also brutally put down. Meanwhile the Jats (not to be 
confused with the Jats of Afghanistan), an ethnic group in the northern 
subcontinent whose kingdom centered around Agra, continued causing 
havoc as they had since Akbar's reign. 
==Affairs of State==
Corruption of the administration system became endemic under 
Aurangzeb, driving more peasants from the land, lowering state income, 
and further weakening the empire. Aurangzeb tried to improve the lot of 
peasants, but his orders were often ignored by landowners and admin- 
istrators. At the same time his anti-Hindu policies, which included 
restrictions on religious practices and the desecration and destruction 
of temples, further alienated his subjects. This encouraged more anti- 
Mughal activity and helped fuel the Marathas' rebellion. Aurangzeb also 
alienated the Rajputs by trying to put them under greater state control, 
which led to a Rajput uprising. Unhappy with the way his son, Prince 
Akbar, handled the rebellions, Aurangzeb replaced him, and Prince 
Akbar was subsequently recruited by the Rajputs to lead their forces in 
revolt against Aurangzeb. But Aurangzeb tricked the Rajput forces into 
deserting Akbar. However, the war with the Rajputs continued, and 
Aurangzeb had to cede them some degree of autonomy. 

Aurangzeb tracked his rebellious son into the Deccan. Prince Akbar 
escaped pursuit, but the empire's forces remained in the Deccan for 26 
years (1681-1707), and during this time finally captured the Marathas' 
leader, Shiva ji. The Mughal army boasted 170,000 men, but the force 
was unwieldy, and its officers were more interested in pursuing leisure 
at home than engaging in foreign campaigns. Thus the army's power 
was blunted. Losses mounted in the Deccan. The conflict sapped the 
empire's strength and will, and it began to suffer setbacks in the north 
as well. The upper classes were dissatisfied because of deteriorating 
economic conditions. In 1690, Aurangzeb tried to placate the nobil- 
ity by promising them ownership of lands under their control. But the 
flight of the peasants was making land less productive, and, by 1700 the 
nobles were demanding cash rather than land, and all the local chiefs 
were in revolt. 

The Sikhs coexisted with the Mughals at the beginning of Aurangzeb's 
reign, mostly due to their own internal dissension. But after Aurangzeb 
ordered the execution of the ninth Sikh guru, Tegh Bahadur (1621-75), 
the 10th and last guru, Guru Gobind Singh Gurdwara (1666-1708), 
formed the Khalsa, the movement's military arm, in 1699. The Khalsa 
were baptized with water stirred with a dagger. Wearing "the five K's" 
was mandated: kesha, uncut hair, symbolizing spirituality; kaccha, short 
pants, signifying self-control and chastity; kangha, comb, symbolizing 
hygiene and discipline; kara, iron bangle, signifying restraint of action 
and remembrance of God; and kirpan, dagger, a symbol of dignity and 
struggles against injustice. Aurangzeb mounted a campaign of suppres- 
sion against them near the end of his reign, and Mughal forces laid siege 
to the Sikhs at Amandpur in 1704. The siege was unsuccessful, and 
the Sikhs were promised safe passage, but the Mughals and their allies 
slaughtered them once they left their fortifications. 

==Decline of the Mughals==
As Mughal power declined, small independent principalities emerged 
in the frontier area, Baluchistan, and Sind. Indeed, the Kabul-Ghazni- 
Peshawar area had never been totally under Mughal control. Aurangzeb 
had futilely spent more than a year at Hasan Abdal in the frontier area 
trying to suppress the Yusufzai and other Pashtun tribes. 

In 1695 the Ahmedzai clan established a dynasty in Kalat in central 
Baluchistan that ruled the region's nomads, primarily Baluchis and 
Brahuis. The ruler was known as the khan of Kalat, and the state as 
the Khanate. (The British later called this the Brahui Confederacy.) 
Kalat was strong enough to assert independence from the Persians and 
the sultans of Delhi who had alternately claimed control of the area in 
preceding years. Mughal efforts to conquer the area failed. Ahmedzais 
would remain khans of Kalat until Kalat agreed to join the newly inde- 
pendent Pakistan in 1948. 

Maritime commerce, which had been an important part of the 
empire's economy, was also in decline during this period. The harbor at 
Thatta and other Sind ports were filling with silt despite Mughal efforts 
under Aurangzeb and his successor to clear them. And ports in nearby 
Gujarat faced attacks by Marathas, who gained control over western 
coastal waters. 

Aurangzeb died in 1707 at the age of 80. After brief infighting 63- 
year-old Shah Alam (r. 1707-12), Aurangzeb's most capable son and the 
former governor of Kabul and Peshawar, took the throne. He assumed 
the title Bahadur Shah but ruled only five years before he died in 
Lahore. Bahadur Shah's death marked the end of the Mughal Empire's 
glory. Looting broke out in Lahore as armies of those vying for succes- 
sion converged on the city to gain control of the empire. 

Of Bahadur's four sons, Prince Azam was most admired. His three 
brothers were encouraged by a nobleman to challenge him for rule. 
Azam drowned with his elephant, and the nobleman arranged for the 
least capable of the siblings, Jahandur Shah, to take the throne so his 
backers could control the empire. Azam's son, Farukkhsiyar (1683- 
1719) defeated Jahandur with the help of two officers, the Sayyid 
brothers. When Farukkhsiyar took the throne in 1713, it was under the 
control of the Sayyid brothers. During his reign the Europeans, espe- 
cially the British, were able to get favorable treatment for their trading 
ventures by bribing officials. In 1715-16 the Mughals achieved a final 
victory in eastern Punjab over the Sikhs, who were led by Banda Singh 
Bahadur (1670-1716). Banda and thousands of Sikhs were tortured and 
killed. But Sikh unrest continued, destabilizing the kingdom and com- 
promising trade, with bands of Sikh robbers raiding the caravans. 

In 1719 the Sayyids had Farukkhsiyar incarcerated and killed. The 
Sayyids installed two subsequent puppet regents in the same year before 
Muhammad Shah (r. 1719-48), a 20-year-old grandson of Bahadur 
Shah, was named ruler. The Sayyid brothers' ruthless machinations 
caused their own deaths, which came within a year of Muhammad's 
ascension. Muhammad's rule lasted almost 30 years, marked by contin- 
ued loss of territory and power as those around him grabbed what they 
could from the disintegrating empire. 

The mid- 18th century marked the nadir of Muslim fortunes in the 
subcontinent. One of the leading reformers who attempted to halt the 
decline of Muslim rule and revive its intellectual traditions was Shah 
Waliullah (1703-62). After completing Islamic studies in Mecca in 
1734, he returned to the subcontinent and began preaching, calling 
on Muslims to return to the pure life as exemplified by the words and 
deeds of the prophet Muhammad. His most important accomplishment 
was the translation of the Qur'an into Persian. After Shah Waliullah's 
death, his son, Shah Abdul Aziz (1746-1823), continued his work with 
the help of dedicated assistants. 

As the Mughal Empire dissolved, it was kept from chaos by the able 
administration of the now-autonomous states that were taken over 
by local governors. But the weakened territory was again vulnerable 
to invasion. In 1735 the Persian king, Nadir Shah (r. 1736-47), took 
advantage of the power vacuum. He acquired European arms, which he 
used in a campaign of conquest of his neighbors to the east and former 
Mughal strongholds. He defeated Kabul and then advanced on Punjab. 
The territory submitted without resistance, but Nadir Shah plundered 
and looted Punjab nonetheless. Lahore was spared carnage after the 
rich inhabitants paid for their city's safety. Nadir Shah next conquered 
Delhi. He kept Muhammad Shah on the throne as a puppet, receiving 
in return a very rich tribute that included the famed Koh-i-noor dia- 
mond and the Peacock Throne of Shah Jahan. But Delhi was not spared 
as Lahore had been, and the city was depopulated between 1738 and 
1739. Karachi, today Pakistan's major port, was first mentioned in an 
account of Nadir Shah's officers who made use of the harbor. 

A decade after Nadir Shah's incursion, Ahmed Shah Abdali (ca. 
1723-73), an officer under Nadir, followed a similar invasion path, but 
was defeated at Sirhind, in southeast Punjab, by Muhammad Shah's son. 
The Persians retreated across the Indus. This was the last victory the 
Mughals achieved over foreign invaders. The death of Muhammad Shah 
in 1748 marked the end of Mughal power. 

Half a dozen more Mughals took the throne after Muhammad Shah, 
but they presided over an empire in name alone, continuously shrink- 
ing and losing power, under siege by regional rulers and the European 
powers that were increasingly gaining power over the subcontinent.