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In 1648, Shah Jehan, the fifth Mughal emperor, built the Taj Mahal -- one of India's greatest landmarks -- to honor his wife.
Credit: Hulton Archive, Reuters |
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Islam came to India in the 10th century when the Ghaznavids, a Turkic tribe, annexed the area now known as Punjab. By 1200, Muslim warlords had conquered much of northern India, and by 1206 had founded the Delhi Sultanate with its capital at Delhi. During the next 300 years, the Delhi Sultanate subdued Hindu kingdoms as far south as Tamil Nadu and Bengal.
In 1526, Babur, a descendent of the Mongol warrior Tamerlane, founded the Mughal Empire. Babur's son, Humayun, conquered the Delhi Sultanate and his grandson, Akbar, extended Islamic rule over most of the Indian sub-continent. The Mughals pacified their non-Muslim subjects by extending religious tolerance and administrative opportunity. Mughal domains reached their furthest extent under Aurangzeb (1618-1707). With Aurangzeb's death in 1707, the empire's political unity crumbled, but the Mughal impact on India proved lasting. By 1858, when Great Britain formally ended the Mughal reign, some areas of India -- such as Punjab and Bengal -- had lived under Muslim rule for centuries, developing sizeable Muslim populations through conversion and intermarriage.
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