In 1494, Prince Muhammad Babur ascended to the throne. He was only eleven years old, a descendant of Ghengis Khan on his mother’s side and the great-great-grandson of Tamerlane, founder of the Timurid Empire, which stretched from Ankara to Delhi (present-day Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan, part of the Indian subcontinent and as far north as southern Russia).
Lahore Fort (1566)
Agra Fort (1573)
Delhi Fort (1648)
But after Tamerlane’s death, the empire fragmented into separate states. To prove himself, Babur invaded and captured Samarkand (present-day Uzbekistan), the capital during Tamerlane’s reign, which had since fallen to another sultanate. He was only fifteen and soon lost control when the sultan’s reinforcements came. Though the Timurids weren’t restored to power, Babur’s army continued to travel south. He conquered Kabul and set his sights on Northern India. But it would be another twenty years before he defeated the sultanate of Delhi, marking the birth of the Mughal Empire (Mughal is Persian for Mongol).
Tamerlane’s legacy went beyond his royal blood. He was also a great patron of art, literature and architecture. He commissioned the building of palaces, mosques and Sufi shrines, brought in artists and craftsmen from all over his empire, and interacted with philosophers and poets, including Ibn Khaldun and Hafez. Hafez advocated for religious tolerance, a practice adopted by Tamerlane and his descendants, thereby allowing for the convergence of different cultures.
Babur’s Reign (1526-1530)
Baburnama
A century and a half later, Babur would follow in his footsteps. He had a profound love for literature, wrote beautiful poetry, traveled with a library of books, and constantly acquired new books from conquered lands. His memoirs, the Baburnama, list not only members of the royal court and nobility he encountered but also musicians and poets.
Baburnama, Entering Kabul
Baburnama, Kabul Gardens
Baburnama, Receiving a Visitor
Babur’s Dynasty
The Mughal Dynasty lasted 250 years, during which time it financed generations of architects, painters, calligraphers and artisans. Drawing from the artistic heritage of the greater Islamic world combined with deeply rooted Indian traditions, it created some of the most majestic art and architecture in the world. Its enigmatic style permeated every aspect of life and left an enduring influence.
Akbar’s Reign (1556-1605)
Kitab khanas
Upon ascending to the throne in 1556, Babur’s grandson, Akbar the Great, immediately set up a kitab khana – a library and workshop – to produce paintings and illuminated manuscripts. It ran under the direction of Abd as-Samad, one of the great Persian painters who had been brought to India to work for the royal court. They worked with the best local artists, including Kashmiri muralists, and trained apprentices to create a distinct and refined style for the Mughals.
Hamzanama
It’s believed that Akbar had dyslexia and difficulty reading, so his workshop produced a vast collection of illustrated books, including the Hamzanama, an epic Persian tale of magic, demons and heroes. The twelve-volume series took fifteen years to complete. Fascinated with Hindu mythology, he commissioned Persian translations of the Ramayana and Mahabharata. He was also interested in Christian iconography and welcomed Portuguese missionaries who had settled in nearby Goa to his court. He instructed his workshop to make copies of Biblical engravings, another distinct influence in Mughal art.
Hamzanama, Misbah the Grocer
Hamzanama, Night Attack
Hamzanama, Arrival at Antali
Humayun’s Tomb
Akbar’s first grand building project was a mausoleum for his father, who died from a fall within the first year of his second reign. Akbar had inherited Afghan and Persian architects trained in the finest Safavid traditions. Humayun’s Tomb was designed with a charbagh, a four-quadrant garden separated by waterways representing the four rivers of the Quranic version of paradise. About 150 members of the Mughal family are buried there. The vast garden tomb was unprecedented in the Islamic world at that time but was only the first of Akbar’s ambitious commissions, and even more splendid mausoleums of the court would follow.
Humayun’s Tomb (1571)
Fatehpur Sikri
In 1569, Akbar’s firstborn son was named Salim, after the Sufi saint who predicted his birth. Akbar moved the capital to Fatehpur Sikri, where the saint lived. For the next fifteen years, he built a palace complex, complete with royal residences, reception halls and places of prayer. In 1573, he conquered Gujarat, home to tribal artisans known for embroidery and woodwork. He imported expert artisans to work at Fatehpur Sikri. Salim’s mother was a princess from Rajasthan, and her palace was built to reflect her hometown. The red sandstone city was his most remarkable construction.
Panch Mahal (1573)
Jama Masjid (1574)
Bland Darwaza (Door of Victory, 1575)
Jahangir’s Reign (1605-1627)
Jahangir and the Angels
Akbar’s son and successor, Prince Salim, took the name Jahangir, Persian for “conqueror of the world.” He loved classic Persian literature and was a skilled calligrapher. Inspired by the Antwerp Polyglot Bible acquired during Akbar’s reign, Jahangir commissioned his katab khana to produce paintings adorned with European symbols and biblical scenes.
Ascension of King Solomon (1610)
Jahangir and Christ (1625, 1620)
Sufi Shaikh with Angels (1618)
Shalimar Bagh
Driven by his love for nature, he built the Shalimar Bagh, a garden resort on the picturesque banks of Dal Lake in Kashmir. It was the first imperial garden built in the Mughal Empire. Jahangir and his wife, Nur Jahan, were so enamored with the Kashmir Valley that they spent their summers there, risking dangerous mountain crossings every year.
Shalimar Bagh (1619)
Shah Jahan’s Reign (1628-1658)
Jahangir’s Tomb
As soon as he took the throne, Shah Jahan commissioned his father’s mausoleum, set in the middle of vast gardens by the River Ravi in Lahore. In Delhi, he built a new walled city near his great-grandfather Humayun’s tomb. Named after himself, Shahjahanabad contains reception halls and pleasure gardens surrounded by a massive citadel. Right outside is a Jami mosque with monumental portals. He ordered similar palaces for Agra and Lahore. He regarded architecture as representative of the power of the Mughal Empire. The pace of his building was unmatched.
Jahangir’s Tomb (1637)
Taj Mahal
And no other structure would embody the magnificence and perfection of Mughal architecture than the Taj Mahal. Built in memory of Sha Jahan’s favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died during the birth of their fourteenth child, the Taj Mahal took 20,000 workers and twelve years to complete. Four minarets with three balconies each are arranged symmetrically on the corners. Over 1,000 meters of Quranic inscriptions cover the walls.
Taj Mahal (1643)
Padshahmana
Painting also flourished during his reign. His kitab khana set to work on the Padshahmana or The Book of Emperors. Beginning with the genealogy of the dynasty, it continues with an official historical account of courtly life, military conquests and significant events. Lavish illustrations depict realistic details of palace interiors, fortresses and landscapes.
Padshahnama, Elephant Fight (1639)
Padshahnama, Battle of Shahbarghan (c 1946)
Padshahnama, Prince Khurram (1656)
Dara Shikoh
Among all his sons, Dara Shikoh was the most interested in art and literature. He studied Sanskrit and authored books on philosophy, Sufism and Muslim saints. He worked with Brahmin scholars to translate the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita and the Yoga Vasistha into Persian. He compiled a book of paintings and calligraphy with portraits of himself, other court members, holy men and nature.
Dara Shikoh Album, Tutor (1630)
Dara Shikoh Album, Jewel (1630)
Dara Shikoh Album, Lady with Narcissus (1633)
Aurangzeb’s Reign (1658-1707)
Badshahi Mosque
Although Dara Shikoh was the eldest son and heir-apparent, he was defeated by his brother, Aurangzeb, who took the throne in 1958 after their father fell ill. A great military tactician, he extended his rule to nearby Safavid territories and farther south into the Deccan, making his empire one of the largest in Indian history. Once established, he commissioned grand building projects, including Badshahi Mosque in Lahore, the largest religious structure built during the Mughal era.
Badshahi Masjid (1673)
Empire’s Decline
His empire was prosperous, and its population surpassed all of Europe combined. But continued expansion made it harder for him to rule effectively. Constant rebellions and his large army eventually took a toll on the royal treasury. He was also a devout Muslim and reimposed the jizya, a religious tax for non-Muslims, and instituted forced conversions on newly-conquered lands. His discriminatory policies began to ruin the peaceful integration of the empire, thereby weakening it for his successors.
Characteristics of the Mughal Style
Red Sandstone and White Marble
Upon Akbar’s arrival, Agra Fort was in ruins. He rebuilt it with the deep, mottled red sandstone found in the area near the city. It would become the prime material for the Lal Qilas or Red Forts erected by him and his successors.
Meanwhile, at his father’s tomb, white marble imported from Rajasthan and yellow stones were incorporated to highlight the portals and vaults. The white marble surrounded by red structures of the Taj Mahal is visually dazzling, a technical high point of the Mughal style.
Kanch Mahal, Agra (1609)
Saman Burg, Agra (1640)
Safdarjung’s Tomb, Delhi (1754)
Gardens of Paradise
The term paradise came from the Persian paradaisa, meaning enclosed garden. It’s also where the charbagh layout originated and was adopted by its Muslim conquerors to represent the four rivers proclaimed in the hadith of the Quran, which also talks of heaven and paradise on a hillside full of fruit trees and flowers – motifs seen all over Islamic art and architecture.
A Persian architect designed Humayun’s Tomb, including its complex gardens. The design was adopted throughout India even after the fall of the empire. Some were built with walkways instead of waterways separating the four gardens.
Humayun’s Tomb
Nishat Bagh, Kashmir (1633)
Shalamar Bagh, Lahore (1642)
Geometry
The numerous palaces, mosques, tombs and even the pleasure gardens of the Mughal Empire follow a strict symmetry based on mathematics and geometry. Geometry as a governing principle was applied to both architecture and art, evident in the patterned borders of paintings from the imperial kitab khanas. Specific elements hold special meanings, such as the circle, which represents the dome of heaven, and the octagon, which represents the eight gates and eight spaces of heaven, as described in the Quran.
Master architects could apply complex geometric patterns even on curved surfaces and domes, and the patterns continued to jali (window) screens, carpets and ceramics.
Akbar’s Tomb, Sikandra (1613)
Fatehpur Sikri
Itimad-ud-Daula’s Tomb, Agra (1628)
Calligraphy
Because idolatry is prohibited in Islam, calligraphy became the dominant art form, higher than illumination and painting. The Mughal emperors, especially, were bibliophiles and acquired the best calligraphers, many of whom came from generations of celebrated practitioners from Persia and Central Asia. Magnificently transcribed books were collected – either commissioned, gifted to the royal court or seized from defeated enemies. Verses in intricate calligraphy adorn all their structures.
Taj Mahal
Nastaliq Style
Wazir Khan Masjid, Pakistan (1641)
A Multitude of Cultures
The Mughals inherited a mix of Persian, Mongol and Turkic influence from the Timurid Empire. Book illustration and miniature painting can be traced back to the pre-Islamic Persianate region, absorbed Chinese influences from the Mongols, and flourished during Ottoman times. Under the Mughals, subjects took on more realistic portraiture from the European style of painting and were infused with the indigenous cultures and vibrant traditions of Indian artisans. Ancient Persian, Arabic and Hindu epics were all equally highly regarded. They were translated among the languages and carried into Mughal literature.
This confluence extended to architecture. At its height, the empire’s revenue was ten times greater than King Louis XIV’s and accounted for twenty percent of the world’s economy. No expense was spared. Master builders and designers were brought from all over the empire, and rare and lavish materials were imported from independent states. The grandeur and intricacy of Mughal structures and the diversity of their inspirations left a rich cultural heritage unique to the subcontinent.
