Zahir Muhammad And The Mughal Empire

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Prior to the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, European power was centralized in the authority of the Roman Catholic Church. In Western Europe, everyone considered themselves to be a Catholic, even if some people did not care to devote to it on a personal level. Those who enforced the traditions and sacraments of the Church—the pope, cardinals, priests—were able to abuse their power to gain more power and wealth. The various theological teachings of the Church created a life of burden for the commoners, who were generally illiterate and uneducated. The commoners, mostly peasants, had a hard time living joyous lives because the Church did not nourish their spiritual needs. However, certain intellectual men had relatable experiences and great …show more content…

Zahir Muhammad, a supposed important Mongol descent, developed an empire that would eventually include most of subcontinent India. Zahir founded the Mughal Dynasty and was able to conquer just about all of India. However, the most influential ruler of the Mughal Empire was Zahir’s grandson, Akbar. After murdering the commander of the Mughal army, Akbar decided to centralize the government. Although he was a devout Muslim, he was fascinated with different religions and philosophies. He decided that the empire would embrace all religions and have his imperial court be seated with Hindus, Christians, Zoroastrian people, Jains, and Sikhs. He made sure there would be religious tolerance between all his people by putting attention to himself as the “divine faith” ruler. Through his rule, the Mughal Empire became wealthy from foreign trade with European nations. They created one of the current wonders of the world—the Taj Mahal. His successor, Aurangzeb, allowed the empire to reach its peak in power and geography. However, he dismissed Akbar’s religious tolerance policy. As a result, the Muslims had all power, and tensions quickly rose among the other faiths. Several revolts took place as the Hindu temples were replaced with mosques and taxes were imposed on Hindu subjects. Eventually the British settled into India to form a trade route between India and Britain. Because the Mughals did not focus on advancing their technologies, the British were able to take over the trade market, which severely weakened the Mughal

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