From Indus to Independence: A Trek Through Indian History: Vol VIII: A Chronicle of the Imperial Mughals

Contents: Section I: Zahir Ud-Din Babur, Firdausmakani, The Paterfamilias. 1. Background. 2. A tiger comes of age. 3. Hindustan beckons. 4. Winning a critical encounter. 5. A dynasty is established. Section II: Nasir Ud-Din Humayun, Jannat Ashiyani The Dreamer. 6. A royal inheritance. 7. Trouble brews in the east. 8. An empire is lost. 9. Interlude I: The ambitious Sher Shah Sur. 10. Interlude II: The demise of the sur dynasty. 11. The Mughal revival. 12. Hindustan regained. Section III: Jalal Ud-Din Akbar, Arsh Ashiyani, The Invincible. 13. A boy-king is inaugurated. 14. The regency years. 15. An emperor emerges. 16. The conquering emperor - setting the scene. 17. The conquering emperor - Rajputana-Triumph and tragedy. 18. The conquering emperor - the Gujarat campaign. 19. The conquering emperor - Bihar and Bengal - expanding to the east. 20. The conquering emperor annexation of Kashmir. 21. The conquering emperor the northwest and the deccan. 22. An unsavoury end. 23. The warrior-monarch. 24. The builder. 25. Mysticism, religion and reason - the religious journey. 26. Mysticism, religion and reason  - the divine faith - a universal religion. Section IV: Nur Ud-Din Jahangir The Lucky. 27. Early years – quelling a rebellion. 28. A queen rules and a prince rebels. 29. Intrigue, a coup and the death of an emperor. 30. Jahangir – an assessment. 31. The arrival of the British. Section V:  Shah Jahan Sahib Qiran, Sulayman Makani The Magnificent. 32. Early years. 33. An emperor’s ambition laid low. 34. The deccan campaigns. 35. The war of succession – background. 36. The war of succession - civil war. 37. Magnificence – while it lasted. Section Vi: Aurangzeb Alamgir, Khuld Makan, The Puritan. 38. Settling in – the first two decades. 39. Alienation of the Hindus – background. 40. Alienation of the Hindus - the Rajput war. 41. Emergence of the Marathas. 42. Shivaji carves out a kingdom. 43. The last foray into the deccan. 44. The curtain falls. Section VII: Decline and Dissolution. 45. Dissolution of the Mughal dynasty. 46. Theories of Mughal decline. Section VIII: The Mughal Ethos. 47. The nature of the Mughal conquest. 48. The Mughal quest for identity, acceptance and legitimacy. 49. The evolution of imperial succession. Section IX: The Mughal Impact. 50. Socio – cultural conditions. 51. Islam and the imperial Mughals. 52. Mughal architecture. Concluding review. The lasting Mughal influence. Bibliography. Index. 

This is the eighth volume of the series on Indian history, From Indus to Independence: A Trek through Indian History and provides a narrative of the reign of the Imperial Mughals. The period analysed in this volume, 1526–1707, covers the rule of the first six Mughal emperors who have been traditionally referred to as the ‘Great’ or ‘Imperial Mughals’. 

The Mughals invaded the sub-continent mainly because the first Mughal, Babur, a direct descendant of both Timur and Genghis Khan, was unable to craft a kingdom for himself in Central Asia after he had lost his patrimony in Fergana at a young age to his uncles. The first three emperors discussed in this book took the empire to its zenith of power, while the last two could be considered to have sown the seeds that led to its eventual weakening, degeneration and downfall.     

This book provides a detailed historical narrative of the events that transpired during the 181-years of Imperial Mughal rule. At the time of the death of Aurangzeb, the sixth Mughal, the empire encompassed almost the entire sub-continent, at least superficially. This chronicle also carries out an analysis of the successes and failures of the emperors, the role that religion played in establishing the Mughal Empire, as well as in its decline and decay. The book provides the reader with an in-depth understanding of the irrevocable and fundamental forces of history that combine to create, nourish and inevitably dismember empires.