Who Was When

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Mughal Empire

South AsiaHeartland today: India and Pakistan

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Founded by Babur, a descendant of Timur, after he won at Panipat in 1526. At its widest, under Aurangzeb, it held most of the subcontinent. It lost real power through the 1700s, and the British deposed its last emperor in 1857.

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Key events

  1. Babur defeats Ibrahim Lodi at the First Battle of Panipat on 21 April, using firearms and cannon, and takes Delhi

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  2. – Akbar becomes emperor at thirteen and rules until 1605, extending the empire across much of northern, central and western India

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  3. – Akbar founds Fatehpur Sikri in red sandstone as his capital, and leaves it for the Punjab around 1585

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  4. Shah Jahan begins the Taj Mahal at Agra as a tomb for his wife Mumtaz Mahal, who died in 1631

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  5. – Aurangzeb wins the war of succession and rules until 1707; the empire reaches its greatest territorial extent

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  6. Nader Shah of Persia loots Delhi and carries off the Peacock Throne and other imperial treasures
  7. Gerard Lake's army defeats Scindia's forces at Patparganj, across the Yamuna from Delhi, on 11 September and enters the city; the emperor Shah Alam II comes under Company control
  8. East India Company troops storm Delhi on 14 September 1857 and take the city; the last emperor, Bahadur Shah II, is deposed, tried in 1858 and exiled to Rangoon