The rise and fall of the Mughal Empire - Stephanie Honchell Smith 

Fun fact, they actually never called themselves "Mughals" but Gurkaniya, a term which evokes their connection as sons in law to Genghis Khan

“Look back over the past, with its changing empires that rose and fell, and you can foresee the future too.” ― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

Babur means "tiger", so that image on the sword was a great touch. For anyone interested in the story of the dynasty, I highly recommend "Empire of the Moghul" by Alex Rutherford.

I wish they taught us this type of history in high school, but according to American schools “world history” is only limited to European history.

You missed the fact that near the end of Aurangzeb's reign, the Mughal state did one huge mistake: decided to limit rights for the majority non-muslim people, even trying to implement the Jiziya tax during the crisis. Obviously, the hindus and the sikhs were furious and so they rebelled, with one of them being the Maratha Empire, which by the start of 19th century, fontrolled most of the sub-continent. And there was also many invasions by the persians and afghans which resulted in the sack of Delhi by the iranian emperor, Nader Shah (aka the Napoleon of Iran)

As someone from Uttarakhand, traveling to the plains opens up a whole different world. It is not as peaceful and serene as the hills with their many temples and forests but is still very impressive.

I'm from Uzbekistan, Babur's original homeland. I was named after him actually

The interesting thing is that a lot of Turkic words are identical to the Indian language. I know all languages have a root, but this connection of Indo-Central Asia is very surprising.

The other religions: intellectual debates 🍻 👌🏻🍷 Portuguese Jesuit: No debate, only convert 😤 📖✝️

" Subha Ke Takht Nasheen, Sham ko mujrim tehre. Hum ne pal bhar mein naseebo'n ko badalte dekha hai" (In the morning I was enthroned, In the evening I was reduced to a prisoner. I have seen destiny turn in the fraction of a second) . This heart-rendering couplet by the last Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar not only summarizes the individual downfall of an Emperor , but also the end of a great dynasty. This illustrates how empires rise and fall and glory which seems eternal, fades in a second.

One of the key events in the Fall was the brutal sack of Delhi by the Turkic conqueror Nader Shah in 1739. The Peacock Throne was even taken (and later destroyed after Nader's death).

Wealth and prosperity never stays, it comes and goes, and comes again, India is proof of that.

Being a descendant of both genghis khan and tamerlane is crazy

I like how Ted-Ed talks about the history of every empires

Ottoman gunpowder aid to Timurid prince Babur was a turning point which enabled his conquest of Northern India paving way for the rise of the Mughal Empire

I surprised they didn’t mention the reign of Akbar’s father, Humayun (it would have been a hilarious side note).

It is still amazing to learn about Central Asia's underrated history while they had great empires and conquerors

Babur was born in the city of Andijan, which is now part of modern-day Uzbekistan

I am from Central Asia and it’s interesting to learn about its historical connection with India

In india we learnt the Mughal Empire for a year in class 9. Very nicely put in this short video

I am from comilla city of Bangladesh 🇧🇩 and the area where I live name is "Mughaltuli" means "Mughal locality". There is a Mughal architectural mosque near my house.

They say punctual is good but being early in RU-vid is sad as there are no comments to read

You should make a video about Chola Dynasty

Mughal Empire was a great empire, under its rule India prospered. You should've mentioned the Marathas, who played a huge role in tumbling down the mughals. Huge battles for domination of subcontinent were fought in what came to be known as Mughal-Maratha war, in which Marathas won against the Mighty Mughals. By 1757 they reached delhi, and by 1758 reached peshawar. The Mughal empire was split into regional kingdoms, with the Nizam of Hyderabad, Nawab of Oudh and Nawab of Bengal quick to assert the nominal independence of their lands. And then the British east India company's conquests of India started from battle of Plassey fought against Nawab of Bengal who was assisted by French and French east India company. The British victory was made possible by the defection of Mir Jafar, who was Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah's commander in chief.

The Maratha empire brough an end to the Turko Moghuls, not the British. After Aurangzebs death the Maratha expansion began and they took over large parts of India, sacked Delhi and installed a puppet Moghul on the throne. By 1720 the Turko Moghuls shrank to a size smaller than todays' Rajasthan. Western historians have very methodically undermentioned this fact.

Not just Mahabharata, Akbar also commisioned miniature paintings of Ramayana, Harivamsa, and translations of Yoga-Vasishta. His descendants who were of mixed Rajput and Mughal lineage (especially Shah Jahan who was 3/4 Rajput) even commissioned translations from Sanskrit into Braj Bhasha at times, instead of courtly Persian. Shah Jahan even ordered a copy of 1000 braj bhasha poems for his dhrupad singers, the name was SahasRas, originally penned by a poet of the Gwalior Court. However the last main mughal, Aurangzeb wasn't this appreciative of Indian culture (despite having indian ancestry), and was a religious fanatic. Aurangzeb usurped the throne from his Elder brother Dara Shikoh, who is known for penning a book "meeting of the two seas" or "majma ul bahrain" which explores the commonalities of Hinduism and Islam

Wow you just skipped Aurangzeb's rule which was one of the longest(48 yrs compared to Akbar's 49 yrs rule) and also the role of Marathas and Sikhs in bringing down Mughal empire entirely.

People often overlook that the British Empire followed a series of other competing & warring empires who tried to conquer India.

Please make a video on Sikh Empire…. The Reign of Maharaja(great king) Ranjit Singh!

Do Benin Empire next. The world needs to know of other ancient civilizations in Africa asides Egypt 😅

At the height of their power (under Aurangzeb), the Mughals ruled a vast empire comprising the land between present day Pakistan in the west to Bangladesh in the east. From Jammu and Kashmir in the north to Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh in the south.

Conversion from company rule to colonial rule broke me

Please do one in Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj ❤

As an Indian I am kind of interested in Mughal History I was coming up with concepts thinking that the revolt of 1857 would be a stalemate and the Mughals would just occupy North India and the British would occupy a few in the North and South Its just a concept its just a theory People often tease the Mughals cuz they were the baddies in India They dont know that Aurangzeb was the ONLY baddie not the others But the best part is that as the British arrived along with other Europeans they became the defenders of India and other kingdoms cuz the British wanted to achieve their Manifest Destiny We know that Akbar treated people of other faiths and Religions equally not for love but for stability Also Bahadur Shah Zafar said this about the Hindus and Muslims in India: “Khuda, the Hindus and Muslims of India are my children. Please keep them safe and don’t let them suffer for my deeds at the hands of the British.” Thats kinda sweet for a Mughal Emperor to say Anyways um thats all.Everyone has their own opinion on Mughals...but I dont speak up I dont care what they think of the Mughals

Thanks, need this for my final in a couple days

Ted Ed coming in clutch just in time for my AP world history exam

Disappointed at the lack of mention of the Sikhs and Marathis who were both instrumental in the decline of Mughal power. It's like talking about the decline of the European empires without mentioning the countless wars for independence of their colonial states.

TED-Eds videos are so engaging thanks to the animation and creativity

Bobur was born in Andijan, current Uzbekistan.

The descendants of Timur who ruled in India called themselves Chaghtai Turks and looked down upon the Mughals or Mongols as half - barbarians . Rise and Fall of the Mughal Empire, Vol 1., Ram Prasad Tripathi Central Book Depot, 1960 p.1

it's fascinating how the most powerful empire at a time was defeated 17 times by a small kingdom in the northeastern part of India, THE AHOM EMPIRE!

The tiger reflection from Babur's sword because his name is the Farsi word for tiger, subtle details like that is why I absolutely love TED

Awesome work Ted ed I loved it excellent animation and good information hope you can do it to other Indian empires like Chola Pandyas and Vijayanagar too

Conveniently skipped over Aurangzeb

Lesser known facts: Even after the empire crumbled to Agra and Delhi, many Indian princely states such as Wodeyars, Arcot, Travancore etc payed tribute to Mughal Empire, they sent letters to the Emperor whenever there's a succession. Having the acknowledgement of Mughals was a matter of legitimacy to these rulers. Raja Ram Mohan Roy visited England as an ambassador of the Mughal Court. In 1700, when most part of the country was ruled by Mughals, India had a 24.4 per cent world GDP share, higher than entire Europe's 23.3 percent.

How is it possible that the best videos only come out when I am trying to study? 😂😂😂

The amount of times I've read the word Mughal in my books...

Babur was a great general, poet, people-loving ruler. he was from a place called Andijan in present-day Uzbekistan. Babur is the great ancestor of our Uzbeks. We are proud to be compatriots with Babur as our ancestor

NurJahan, what a name! Light of the world.

Turko-mogolic people, we were conquerors and great warriors. The nomadic people from Central Asia conquered India, China, Anatoly and Big Chunks of Europe.We need to remember, who we are and remember our great history.

Babur was the Great Turkish leader who had original roots in Central Asia (modern Uzbekistan). So those claiming him as a mughal are absolutely wrong.

Quite a good timing for the video, considering the fact the Central Government had recently decided to omit mention of Mughals in the history syllabus.

Thank you, TED-Ed! 💕

wow there are some pretty great stories coming out of India from that time period. that Tiger-slaying Queen, for example, was fascinating

Always nice to see the brilliant creator behind Rags Animations handling the visuals again.

(Almost) The whole syllabus of Class - 8 History, India in 5 minutes.

I am so jealous that they had a pool full of lemonade. It would be really nice to have one of my own. But it's best advised to wear swim goggles before diving in.

@04:20 Bengal was the wealthiest province when British Colonials took over, and when they left, Bengal was so poor they had to face famine and millions of innocent people died of hunger. Strange.

The animation is amazing

What about a history of the British empire? From the Roman colonization to the end of their influence?

How wisely they ignored the Marathas and their roles in overthrowing mughals

I love India from Iraq. They are kind and very skilled in the arts. Thank you for giving advice on how to fix some technical problems.

You should make a video about the Vijayanagar Empire of India!

A lot of fun facts in the comments. Here's another one: The boss-lady at 3:20, Nur Jahan, her name means "the light of the world".

4:14 That is Not the flag of the British East India Company. That symbol comes from The Pirates of the Caribbean movies.

Well , as Indian , I appreciate the current Good days and we can learn a lot from our history. How our cities got looted and burned to ground under greedy leaders in past. Then european killed millions of people in India but that what makes us not only powerful but humble too. I hope India grow more and more for goodwill of Peoples.

Bobur was born Fergana in Uzbekistan 🇺🇿 he is generation of Amir Temur

Mughals nowadays have become a sensitive topic in India, they're used for votebank politics, because they were Muslim rulers and majority of India is Hindu

Recently watched a movie about this guy that you're talking about, and the actor who had the role was... (what's his name?) Hrithik Roshan. I was really glad to learn some facts about the real guy!

Could you make a video with more detail about babur and other rulers

Great pronunciation!

Interesting stuff you wont find in Indian education system anymore

I understand you had a lot to unpack. But humayun bare minimum deserved a mention And Aurangzeb's tyranny was ultimately what began the downfall

Nostalgia. I read about Mughals when I was in school. Thank you Ted ed for covering Indian history and animation is pretty good too. 🥰.

As a Pakistani i remember learning about the Mughal empire throughout 6th and 7th standard and i still don't remember anything this video gave me nostalgia 😭😂

You forgot one of the main points, in the late 1600s and early 1700s, the Marathas conquered a lot of Mughal territory and dominated India.

I love the animation

The Mughals (1526-1858) lost control of India in the 1700s, but many of the local rulers who replaced them were also Turks, at least until the British took over. Chase, K. (2003). Conclusion. In Firearms: A Global History to 1700 (pp. 197-210). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

They skipped the chad Aurengzeb

The pronounciation of Aurangzeb was beautiful, I almost had to replay it

I love your videos Ted-ed !

The way she ignored about Autangzeb ( The most cruel Mughal ) to whitewash the Horrors of Mughal era 👏👏👏

It's Called Baburid empire here in Uzbekistan, we celebrate Babur's birthday as a holiday. He is considered to be one of our national heroes

Very interesting! Thanks for the fantastic edutainment! Ted-Ed rules

it feels great to know that , they are telling the story of Mughal empire...even tho that's not the ideal story I've read in my school... btw even tho I'm a bangali i didn't know this much... I guess my school sucks...Nawab Sirajuddaulawas the last sultan of Mughal empire ... the one who died in a war of Bangla and British..... oooo yea, Bangla in the sweetest language in the world... fun fact

Wow, interesting to see the downfall of Mughals being explained without the role of Marathas in it. When the Mughal empire seemed to be at its peak, a 19 year old boy, Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj started plotting its downfall from a relatively very small city of Pune. From his birth in 1630, within the next 77 years, the Marathas, had Aurangzeb crying to see the Mughal empire crumble in front of his eyes while he was lying on his deathbed. The real cause of decline of Mughals lay here, and also in other fights given by Sikhs, Ahoms and Kings like Maharaj Chatrasaal.

Short Answer to thumbnail: Invaders

the comments section ought to be equally interesting 👀🍿🍿🍿

I was half-asleep when I noticed my notifications and I thought the guy in the thumbnail is Robin Hood

Excellent

Strange to see the minor detail, of Jesuit priests unhappy in thier failure to convert Akbar, being mentioned while much of the atrocities of Aurangzeb ignored. In today's India it is the history mainly from Aurangzeb's time that lives in people's pshyche.

Since TedEd has clearly attempted to paint a romanticised portrait of one of the most consequential phase of the Middle-Eastern Islamic Colonization of India, the Mughal Era, I try to put things into perspective by portraying the other side which according to historian Will Durant was the most brutal period of human history. 1.) The so called Peasant friendly rich Mughals is nothing short of embarrassing. Francois Bernier, the European traveller and royal physician during Shah Jahan, described the deplorable economic conditions of the populace who often absconded their homes to live in the forests as the Mughal tax collectors took everything that they could for the royal coffers while the peasantry lived in abject poverty. Bernier described India as a land where the aristocracy was extremely wealthy while the people were hardly able to survive. Bernier's descriptions even influenced Karl Marx who propounded his idea of Asiatic mode of production where the oriental empires confiscated the entire surplus produce of the peasants leaving them with nothing. The Mughal wealth was accumulated on the toiling backs of native Hindu peasantry. 2.) The fiction of religious tolerant Mughals is absolutely preposterous. Mughals destroyed Hindu temples in thousands including some of the most sacred ones in Ayodhya and Benaras. Even the first mosque of Delhi was built with the ruins of 27 Hindu and Jain temples. Aurangzeb banned the public display of hindu festivals and reimposed the jaziya tax that the mohemmadan law prescribes for infidels in an islamic state. While Akbar was slightly better than the other evils, he was not at all a hero for the Islamic scholars of the age such as Sirhindi who was the first to propound the distinct nature of the two races of Hindus and Mohemmadans. No wonder in present day Pakistan, while Akbar is ridiculed for his somewhat tolerant attitude; Aurangzeb is hailed as a hero and champion of Islam. 3.) The seeds sown by Sirhindi soon germinated when another tall Islamic Scholar by the name Shah Waliuallah Dehalwi witnessed the gradual decline of the Mughal state after Aurangzeb. Haunted by the fact that state power was now being shifted to the hands of Hindu Marathas, he wrote letters to Ahmad Shah Abdali to invade India and raise the Islamic flag high. Dehalwi studied hadith with Abdul Wahab, the founder of Wahabism, at hejaz and hence became the founding father of the Wahabi movement in India which aimed at reestablishing the Islamic state in India which ultimately culminated in the partition of India and the forming of Pakistan. Pop culture and Bollywood may try whatever it can, these facts about the dark ages of Islamic Colonization will stand firm.

appreciate your effort on pronunciation

Interesting 😮

Mughal brought prosperity to INDIA is ... **equivalent of saying that Americans brought prosperity to Afghanistan and Iraq.**

This is like saying Christopher Columbus discovering America was the Greatest thing to happen to the American Natives because it brought trade and prosperity to the region.

Revolt o'1857 didn't aim to restore Mughal rule. It was just independence - for the princely states

This video completely ignored Humayun, the son of Babur, who literally rose like a phoenix after losing to the Afghan ruler Sher Shah Suri. Ironically, he died after falling from his library. Despite their atrocities in India, their history is interesting as heck.

Its a joke that Mughals bought Architecture to India. Just check out the Architecture from where they came from it was not even comparable whether it be Central asia or west asia

For a short history not bad but I'd say we were missing some key details like the islamization of the nation under Aurangzeb which led to massive revolt from Hindu majorities and the shah jahans reign when the company first entered , Also how It wasn't internal power struggle from princely states because like tipu sultan many wanted the British out long before official colonialism took place and even then official colonialism did not control all of India only massive major wealthy parts of the land while rulers of other states were still dynasties and free to rule to extents