26th March, 2020: Vedant Sharma
The Muslim expansion first started in 500 AD when the Roman Empire started to collapse. It emerged from the Arabian Peninsula and eventually spread till India.
The Arabian Peninsula was home to numerous tribes. Rub al Khali, also known as the Empty Quarter, was a desert in this area which was a harsh land and completely inhospitable. The Bedouin was a Nomad Tribe who lived here for thousands of years. These tribes later united under one man, who brought a new religion as per God. This man was called Prophet Mohammad.
The tribe after expansion under him, was later known as the Arab Expansion. The areas around these tribes were constantly at war with each other which influenced the thinking of the people in the tribe. This tribe were not used to forms of luxury and did not care about the type of food they would get as they were used to the desert conditions. On the East of Arabia, lies India. This is where they decided to make their way in order to establish their foothold in India.
Babur was the descendant of Tamer Lane. They came from an area called Samarkhand. He was the one who established the Mughal Empire in India. This empire ruled India for over seven hundred years. Starting from Babur, the line went on to Humayun then Akbar then Jehangir then Shah Jahan and finally Aurangzeb. Every ruler in the Mughal Empire, not only carried it forward but also added to the empire.
However, the Mughal Empire reached a Golden Age under Akbar. Jazia was a tax which was imposed on the non- muslims during this time, which was abolished by Akbar. He also gave religious tolerance to his subjects. Fatehpur Sikri, a small city in North India, was established by him. Akbar was a patron of art. He was also highly educated as he could speak multiple languages as he used to converse with different traders. He tried to create a religion called Din- E- Ilahi, where he tried to combine the religious practices of both Hindus and Muslims. However, it did not become as popular as he expected it to be.
Shah Jahan, the son of Jehangir, also took interest in art. He built the ever famous Taj Mahal in Agra. Shah Jahan had many sons which included Shah Shuja, who was an artist, Darah Sukoh and Aurangzeb, who became the next ruler.
Aurangzeb was a claim to the throne when Shah Jahan was old. Because of this, there happened to be a civil war between the sons of Shah Jahan. Aurangzeb killed all of his brothers and put Shah Jahan in jail. This is from where he could see Taj Mahal.
After Aurangzeb got the throne, he brought back all the harsh practices which were abolished, including Jazia. He also focused on the spread of Islam. However, he had to face a lot of challenges from the Marathas and other kingdoms.
The first person who came to India from England was Sir Thomas Roe. The East India Company first entered India as traders and eventually brought in canons and muskets. But Aurangzeb was a powerful king and therefore, he used to limit their authority. Once he died, the rulers which came in after him were easily enticed by the traders and let them in, proving to be less powerful.
Lord Clive also came to India and after that Arthur Wellesley came in who was the Duke of Wellington. He also defeated Tipu Sultan and Napolean.
Getting to know about the Mughal Empire, helped us in gaining more information about it. We also got to know a lot of interesting facts about it and the sequence of various events which gave us a better insight into the Empire. It also helped us in understanding the connection between the Mughal Rulers and how they used to treat the people and what kind of a king each of them were.
The Idealist 