Mughal dynasty
The Mughal dynasty, or the House of Babur, was the reigning imperial family of the Indian Subcontinent and other Western Dominions of the Mughal Crown for over five centuries. At its height, the dynasty controlled over 48 territories in India, the Gangetic Plains, Afghan valleys, the Himalayan foothills of Kashmir, the Karakoram Mountains, the Deccan polities, and multiple Trans-Indus regions beyond.
The dynasty originated in the Imperial Province of the Kabul Subah as a branch of the Timurid Dynasty, the Persianate royal house that dominated Greater Iran. Mughal Emperors first ruled South Asia in the 16th century following the conquest of the then-Timurid Prince Babur, who would reign as the dynasty's first emperor. Babur's grandson, Akbar the Great, who acceded to the title of emperor 1556 at age 13, transformed the empire into a great power as one of the largest empires in history, with the dynasty itself being the richest in the world. Later commanding the world’s largest military under Emperor Aurangzeb, the family was the foremost authority in the region during the 16th and 17th centuries.
The main line of the dynasty continued to rule empire until its annexation by the British Raj in 1858. Genealogically, as Emperor Babur was a direct descendant of Timur on his father’s side and of Genghis Khan on his mother’s, the dynasty traces its familial origins to the imperial clans of the Barlas and Borjigin, which ruled the Mongol Empire and its successor states. Subsequent generations also inherited Persian and Rajput ancestry as well, since Mughal rulers formed marital alliances with prominent noble families across Iran and India.
For the majority of the family's reign, the throne of the Mughal Empire was continuously occupied by a singular emperor who functioned as the absolute head of state, government, and military. Largely secular, Mughal Court ceremonies saw not just Muslim elites but also prominent Maratha, Rajput, and Sikh leaders acknowledging the Emperor as the region's sole ruler. Later in the dynasty’s history, much of the power shifted to the office of the Grand Vizier as the empire became divided into many regional kingdoms and princely states. As a consequence, the dynasty also produced the Nawabs of Hyderabad, Delhi, Kashmir, Lahore, Lucknow, Aligarh, Dhaka, and Bengal. During this time, the family fragmented into several branches, most consequentially in the mid-18th century between its Indian and Persian-Pakistani branches following the exile of the last Mughal Emperor, Bahadur Shah II.
Name
History
The Mughal empire is conventionally said to have been founded in 1526 by Babur, a Timurid Prince, from Andijan, which is in Uzbekistan today. First establishing himself in Kabul, Afghanistan, and declaring kingship, Babur later marched towards the Indian subcontinent, ultimately taking control over a greater portion of Asia and crowning himself Emperor. The Mughal imperial structure was founded by Akbar the Great, grandson of Babur, around the 1580s which lasted until the 1740s, until shortly after the Battle of Karnal. Many of the Mughals had significant Indian and Persian ancestry through marriage alliances as they often married and were born to Persian princesses.Mughal rule was interrupted for about 16 years by the Sur Emperors during Emperor Humayun's reign, however, he resumed control of the region again in 1555. During the reigns of Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb, the dynasty reached its zenith in terms of geographical extent, economical prosperity, military might, and cultural influence. At that time, the Mughal Empire was the wealthiest empire in the world with the largest military on earth, and the Mughal Family controlled approximately 24% of the world's economy, an army of over a million soldiers, and over 160 million subjects; approximately 23% percent of the world's population.
Mughals played a great role in the flourishing of Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb. As patrons of art, culture, literature and architecture, the Dynasty oversaw the evolution of ancient Indian paintings, architecture, culture, clothing, cuisine and the Urdu language. Mughal Emperors themselves were incredibly passionate about the arts. Emperor Babur, Aurangzeb and Shah Alam II were great calligraphers, Jahangir was a great painter, Shah Jahan was a great architect while Bahadur Shah II was a great poet of Urdu. Famed Russian linguist and physicist, Vladimir Braginskiĭ, also believed that the Hikayat Aceh literature from Aceh Sultanate were influenced by Mughal dynasty historiography, as he found out the literal structure similarities of Hikayat Aceh with Mahfuzat-i-Timuri, as the former has shared the similar theme with the latter about the lifetime and exploits of the protagonist of Mahfuzat-i-Timuri, Timur. Braginskiĭ also found the similarities in structure of both Hikayat Aceh and Mahfuzat-i-Timuri with Akbarnama manuscript.
With the arrival of the British East India Company, the Dynasty's power rapidly dwindled during the 18th century, exacerbated by internal dynastic conflicts, incompatible monarchs, foreign invasions from the Persians and Afghans, as well as revolts from the Marathas, Sikh, Rajputs, and other regional nobilities. Eventually, the power of the last Mughal Emperor was reduced only to the Walled city of Delhi.
As the last Mughal Emperor, Bahadur Shah II was tried and convicted by the British East India Company before sentenced to exile in Rangoon, situated in British-controlled Burma. The imperial family was hence abolished, and the dynasty was dissolved on 21 September 1857 after the Indian Rebellion of 1857. The following year, the British government declared the establishment of the British Crown over the empire, known as British Raj.
Succession to the throne
Every male member of the dynasty was hypothetically eligible to become Emperor. Even though an heir-apparent was appointed several times in the dynasty's history, the certain processes through which imperial princes rose to the Peacock Throne, however, were very specific to each Emperor. For greater detail about these processes, the history of succession between Emperors can be divided into two eras: Era of Imperial successions and Era of Regent successions.Disputed headship of dynasty
The Mughal Emperors practiced polygamy. Besides their many wives, they also had several concubines in their harem, who produced many children that would grow to inherit incredibly diverse titles, many different surnames and enjoyed many different noble statuses. Tracing the lineages of all offsprings of each Emperor with certainty is hence incredibly difficult. However, many have claimed to be descendants of the last Mughal Emperor:- A man in India named Habeebuddin Tucy claims to be a descendant of Bahadur Shah II. His claim is not universally believed.
- Another Indian woman named Sultana Begum, who lives in the slums of Kolkata, has claimed that her late husband, Mirza Mohammad Bedar Bakht was the great-grandson of Bahadur Shah II.
- Yaqoob Ziauddin Tucy also claims to be a sixth generation descendant of Bahadur Shah II. Currently living in Hyderabad, he has been involved in numerous disputes with the Indian Government to have the properties of the erstwhile Mughals released to their legal heirs. Tucy also demands the restoration of the scholarships that supported Mughal descendants after 15 August, 1947, and were discontinued by the government in May of 2004. Additionally, Tucy demands that amount be raised to, and that the government provides economically distressed Indian Mughal descendants grants to elevate the damage done to the family after their wealth was confiscated by the Indian Government. Tucy has two sons and a younger brother, Shajeeuddin Tucy.
- Shajeeuddin Tucy was a member of the Indian Air Force. Even though his family is not recognised by the government as being of Mughal descent, he had been a state guest to Tashkent, Uzbekistan, along with his two elder brothers on one occasion. He also frequently travels to the Middle East and central Asia as part of a self-funded campaign that is not affiliated with, upon the invitation of, or supported by the governments of India, Pakistan, or any other country of the Middle East. He lives in Hyderabad along with his two sons Yaqoob Muzammiluddin Tucy and Yaqoob Mudassiruddin Tucy.