Shihab-ud-Din Muhammad Khurram, better known by his regnal name Shah Jahan I, was the fifth emperor of the Mughal Empire, reigning from January 1628 until July 1658. Under his emperorship, the Mughals reached the peak of their architectural achievements and cultural glory.
Mir Qamar-ud-din Khan Siddiqi Bayafandi also known as Chin Qilich Qamaruddin Khan, Nizam-ul-Mulk, Asaf Jah and Nizam I, was the 1st Nizam of Hyderabad. He was married to the daughter of a Syed nobleman of Gulbarga. He began his career as a favorite of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, who made him a general. Following the death of Aurangzeb in 1707, Asaf Jah refused to favour any one of Aurangzeb's warring sons and as such remained neutral. When Aurangzeb's third son Bahadur Shah ultimately emerged victorious, Asaf Jah was rotated as governor of multiple Mughal provinces until 1714, when he was created Viceroy of the Deccan with authority over six Mughal provinces in southern India from 1714 to 1719. From 1719 onwards he was involved in combating the intrigues of the Sayyid brothers. From 1720 to 1722 he helped the new Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah eliminate the Sayyid brothers and was rewarded by being elevated to the grand viziership from 1722 to 1724.
Mirza Mu'izz-ud-Din Beg Muhammad Khan, more commonly known as Jahandar Shah, was the ninth Mughal Emperor who ruled for a brief period in 1712–1713. He was the son of Bahadur Shah, and the grandson of Alamgir (Aurangzeb). Jahandar Shah ruled for only eleven months before being deposed. In his reign, the Deccan Subah was made almost independent by Zulfiqar Khan Nusrat Jang. Jahandar Shah was deposed by the badishahgar(king-makers), and succeeded by his nephew Farrukhsiyar in 1713 CE.
Hindūstān, along with its shortened form Hind, is the Persian-language name for India, broadly the Indian subcontinent, that later became commonly used by its inhabitants in Hindi–Urdu. Since the Partition of India in 1947, Hindustan continues to be used to the present day as a historic name for the Republic of India.
Aurangabad (pronunciation is a city in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the administrative headquarters of Aurangabad district and is the largest city in the Marathwada region. Located on a hilly upland terrain in the Deccan Traps, Aurangabad is the fifth-most populous urban area in Maharashtra with a population of 1,175,116. The city is known as a major production center of cotton textile and artistic silk fabrics. Several prominent educational institutions, including Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University, are located in the city. The city is also a popular tourism hub, with tourist destinations like the Ajanta and Ellora caves lying on its outskirts, both of which have been designated as UNESCO World Heritage Sites since 1983. Other tourist attractions include the Aurangabad Caves, Devagiri Fort, Grishneshwar Temple, Jama Mosque, Bibi Ka Maqbara, Himayat Bagh, Panchakki and Salim Ali Lake. Historically, there were 52 Gates in Aurangabad, some of them extant, because of which Aurangabad is nicknamed as the "City of Gates". In 2019, the Aurangabad Industrial City became the first greenfield industrial smart city of India under the country's flagship Smart Cities Mission.
The Nizams were the rulers of Hyderabad from the 18th through the 20th century. Nizam of Hyderabad was the title of the monarch of the Hyderabad State. Nizam, shortened from Nizam-ul-Mulk, meaning Administrator of the Realm, was the title inherited by Asaf Jah I. He was the former Naib (suzerain) of the Great Mughal in the Deccan, the premier courtier of Mughal India until 1724, the founding of an independent monarchy as the "Nizam of Hyderabad".
Indo-Persian culture refers to a cultural synthesis present in the Indian subcontinent, which forms the basis of Indo-Musim culture. It is characterised by the absorption or integration of Persian aspects into the various cultures of modern-day republics of Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. The earliest introduction of Persian influence and culture to the subcontinent was by the Zoroastrian Achaemenid kingdom's conquest of India in the 5th Century CE and then almost a millennia and half later by various Muslim Turco-Persian rulers, such as the 11th-century Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi, rapidly pushed for the heavy Persianization of conquered territories in northwestern India and Pakistan, where Islamic influence was also firmly established. This socio-cultural synthesis arose steadily through the Delhi Sultanate from the 13th to 16th centuries, and the Mughal Empire from then onwards until the 19th century. Various Muslim dynasties of Turkic, local Indian and Afghan origin patronized the Persian language and contributed to the development of a Persian culture in India. The Delhi Sultanate developed their own cultural and political identity which built upon Persian and Indic languages, literature and arts, which formed the basis of an Indo-Muslim civilization.
The Masjid-i-Jehan-Numa, commonly known as the Jama Masjid of Delhi, is one of the largest mosques in India.
Mirza Muhammad Nikusiyar, also known as Timur II was a claimant to the throne of India. He had been in prison from 1681 to 1719 and initiated a war to seize the throne in 1719. He was son of rebel Muhammad Akbar, grandson of Aurangzeb and was brought up in a harem in Agra. In 1695 he was 16 was appointed subedar of Assam until 1701. In 1702 The Prince appointed Subehdar of Sindh by Aurangzeb he served until 1707.
The Battle of Khanwa was fought at Khanwa on March 16, 1527. It was fought between the invading Timurid forces of Babur and the Rajput confederacy led by Rana Sanga for suprermacy of Northern India. The battle was a major event in Medieval Indian history although Timurids won at Panipat but at the time, the sultanate at Delhi was a spent force that was long crumbling. To the contrary Mewar kingdom, under the able rule of Rana Sanga, had turned into one of the strongest powers of northern India. Therefore the battle was among the most decisive battles in the Mughal conquest of northern India.
Manjula Padmanabhan is an Indian playwright, journalist, comic strip artist, and children's book author. Her works explore science, technology, gender, and international inequalities.
Mir Ahmed Ali Khan Siddiqi Bayafandi, Nasir Jung, was the son of Nizam-ul-Mulk by his wife Saeed-un-nisa Begum. He was born 26 February 1712. He succeeded his father as the Nizam of Hyderabad State in 1748. He had taken up a title of Humayun Jah, Nizam ud-Daula, Nawab Mir Ahmad Ali Khan Siddiqi Bahadur, Nasir Jung, Nawab Subadar of the Deccan. However, he is most famously known as Nasir Jung.
Amita Kanekar is a Goa-based writer and architectural historian, whose well-received debut novel A Spoke in the Wheel was published by HarperCollins Publishers and later again by Navayana. Kanekar's second book was a guidebook to Portuguese sea fort architecture of the Deccan, while her third was another novel, Fear of Lions, published by Hachette in 2019. She also writes essays and newspaper columns on architecture, history, and politics, and also teaches architectural history and theory at the Goa College of Architecture.
Ira Trivedi is an Indian author, columnist, and yoga teacher. She writes both fiction and nonfiction, often on issues related to women and gender in India. Her works include India in Love: Marriage and Sexuality in the 21st Century, What Would You Do to Save the World?, The Great Indian Love Story, and There's No Love on Wall Street.
Intizam-ud-Daula, Ghazi Ud-Din Khan Siddiqi Bayafandi Feroze Jung II was the eldest son of Asaf Jah I Mir Qamaruddin Khan Siddiqi. He was born on 13 March 1709, his mother is Saidunisa Begum, the daughter of a Sayyid nobleman at Gulbarga. He died in Aurangabad on 16 October 1752.
Nawab Ghazanfar-Jang, Bangash Khan was the first Nawab of Farrukhabad in Uttar Pradesh, India. He was a "Bawan Hazari Sardar" in the Mughal Army. He served as governor of Malwa and Allahabad provinces of the Mughal empire. He was also viceroy of Assam from 1735-1743. Although regarded as rude and illiterate he was well regarded for his loyalty, and it is believed that had fortune sided with him he would have been able to establish a kingdom rivalling those in the Deccan or Awadh.
Kandahari Begum was the first wife of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan and the mother of his first child, Princess Parhez Banu Begum.
Khulasat-ut-Tawarikh is a Persian language chronicle written by Sujan Rai in the Mughal Empire of present-day India. It deals with the history of Hindustan, and also contains details about the contemporary Mughal Empire. The author completed the work in 1695 CE, during the reign of Aurangzeb. An insertion about Aurangzeb's death was later added to the original copy by a transcriber.
Chahar Gulshan is an 18th-century Persian language book about the history of India. It was written by Rai Chatar Man Kayath of Mughal empire in 1759 CE. It is also known as Akhbar-un Nawadir or Akhbaru-l-Nawadir.
Jagulfi was a ladies' garment of the Mughal period. It was a long ankle-length gown with a flowing skirt, fastened at neck and waist has long tight, gathered sleeves. There was an opening in between the fastened area allowing a glimpse of the bosoms. Rajput ladies also used similar royal gowns with minor alterations like a slit in the open and a petticoat below the outer garment.
