The Mughal empire

1526 to 1739 CE

The Mughal empire is told in two parts. The first follows the emperors: a Timurid prince who won north India in four battles, a son who lost it to the Afghan Sher Shah and won it back, and a grandson, Akbar, who built the empire, its alliances with the Rajputs and its idea of peace with all, with Jahangir and Shah Jahan ruling it at its richest and Aurangzeb spending his last twenty six years in the Deccan. The second follows the state they built: the mansab and the jagir, the measured revenue, the trade that drew the world's silver to India's cloth, the painting and the buildings that ended in the Taj, and the long argument over why the system broke.