Mughal Emperors

Nineteen men sat on the Mughal throne between 1526 and 1857. This article lists every one, in order, with reign dates and one fact exam-setters like to test.

1. Before the Mughals: Babur and the Sur Interregnum

1.1 How did the Mughal dynasty begin?

Babur founded the Mughal Empire in 1526. He won the First Battle of Panipat that year. He defeated the Delhi Sultanate’s last ruler, Ibrahim Lodi. See MedHist0013 — Babur, Humayun and Sher Shah Suri for his fuller story.

Babur ruled for only four years. He died in 1530. His son Humayun inherited a fragile, newly-won empire.

1.2 Why does the list have a 15-year gap?

Humayun lost the throne in 1540. Sher Shah Suri, an Afghan noble, defeated him in battle. Sher Shah founded the Sur dynasty, not the Mughal dynasty.

Humayun spent 15 years in exile in Persia. He returned and recaptured Delhi in 1555. He died the next year, in 1556, after a fall from his library stairs.

2. The Golden Age: Akbar to Aurangzeb

2.1 Who expanded the empire the most?

Akbar succeeded Humayun in 1556. He was only 13 years old. He ruled for 49 years, the longest reign of any Mughal emperor. See MedHist0014 — Akbar’s Empire.

Akbar expanded the empire across most of northern and central India. He is remembered for religious tolerance and administrative reform.

2.2 What did Jahangir and Shah Jahan add?

Jahangir ruled from 1605 to 1627. His reign is known for Mughal painting and the Nur Jahan court faction, covered in MedHist0017 — Mughal Court Culture and Painting.

Shah Jahan ruled from 1628 to 1658. He built the Taj Mahal. His son Aurangzeb overthrew him and kept him under house arrest until his death in 1666. See MedHist0015 — Jahangir, Shah Jahan and Dara Shikoh.

2.3 Why does the Golden Age end with Aurangzeb?

Aurangzeb ruled from 1658 to 1707. He pushed the empire to its largest territorial extent. He also drained its treasury with decades of war in the Deccan. See MedHist0016 — Aurangzeb and Mughal Administration.

Aurangzeb’s death in 1707 triggered a succession crisis. No emperor after him held the throne as securely.

3. The Later Mughals: Puppet Emperors

3.1 Who ruled in the chaos right after Aurangzeb?

Bahadur Shah I ruled from 1707 to 1712. Jahandar Shah followed, ruling barely a year before his nephew Farrukhsiyar defeated him in battle.

Farrukhsiyar ruled from 1713 to 1719. The Sayyid Brothers, his own kingmakers, deposed and executed him. This whole decline is covered in MedHist0018 — Mughal Decline After Aurangzeb.

3.2 Why did three emperors reign in a single year?

1719 saw three emperors in a row. Rafi ud-Darajat and Shah Jahan II each ruled only months. The Sayyid Brothers installed and removed them at will.

Muhammad Shah, called “Rangila,” then held the throne from 1719 to 1748. Nadir Shah’s invasion and sack of Delhi happened during his reign, in 1739.

3.3 Who were the last emperors before 1857?

Ahmad Shah Bahadur and Alamgir II followed, each ruling under six years. Shah Alam II then reigned from 1759 to 1806, the second-longest reign in the dynasty.

Shah Alam II lost the Battle of Buxar in 1764. He signed the Treaty of Allahabad in 1765, handing tax rights over Bengal to the British East India Company.

Akbar Shah II ruled from 1806 to 1837 as a British pensioner with no real power. His son Bahadur Shah II, known as Zafar, was the last Mughal emperor. The British exiled Zafar to Rangoon after the Rebellion of 1857.

4. Full List with Reign Dates

This table numbers 18 rows because it counts Mughal-line emperors only. Sher Shah Suri founded a separate dynasty during Humayun’s exile, so he sits outside the count but inside the timeline.

5. What the PYQs Keep Testing

5.1 Why do chronological-ordering questions target 1719?

Exams often ask you to arrange four or five emperors in the correct order. The 1719 cluster, Farrukhsiyar, Rafi ud-Darajat, Shah Jahan II, and Muhammad Shah, is a favourite trap because the gaps between them are so short.

5.2 Why is the last Mughal emperor so heavily tested?

Bahadur Shah II, known as Zafar, is the most-tested name on this list. Questions ask where the British captured him, the Red Fort, and where he died in exile, Rangoon, now Yangon.