The Mughal Empire - Quiz

Sher Shah Suri (1486-22 May 1545) was the founder of the Sur Empire in North India, with its capital at Delhi. An ethnic Pashtun, Sher Shah took control of the Mughal Empire in 1540. After his accidental death in 1545, his son Islam Shah became his successor. He first served as a private before rising to become a commander in the Mughal army under Babur and then the governor of Bihar. In 1537, when Babur's son Humayun was elsewhere on an expedition, Sher Shah overran the state of Bengal and established the Sur dynasty. A brilliant strategist, Sher Shah proved himself as a gifted administrator as well as a capable general. His reorganization of the empire laid the foundations for the later Mughal emperors, notably Akbar, son of Humayun.

During his five-year rule from 1540 to 1545, he set up a new civic and military administration, issued the first Rupiya and re-organized the postal system of India. He further developed Humayun's Dina-Panah city and named it Shergarh and revived the historical city of Pataliputra, which had been in decline since the 7th century CE, as Patna. He constructed the Grand Trunk Road from Chittagong in the frontiers of the province of Bengal in northeast India to Kabul in Afghanistan in the far northwest of the country.

Jahangir died on the way back from Kashmir near Sarai Saadabad in 1627. To preserve his body, the entrails were removed and buried in the Baghsar Fort, Kashmir. The body was then transferred to Lahore to be buried in Shahdara Bagh, a suburb of Lahore, Punjab. He was succeeded by his third son, Prince Khurram, who took the title of Shah Jahan. Jahangir's elegant mausoleum is located in the Shahdara locale of Lahore and is a popular tourist attraction.

Muhi-ud-Din Muhammad (3 November 1618 - 3 March 1707), commonly known by the sobriquet Aurangzeb (meaning "Ornament of the Throne") or by his regnal title Alamgir (Persian: "Conqueror of the World"), was the sixth, and widely considered the last effective Mughal emperor. His reign lasted for 49 years from 1658 until his death in 1707.

Aurangzeb was a notable expansionist and during his reign, the Mughal Empire reached its greatest extent, ruling over nearly all of the Indian subcontinent. During his lifetime, victories in the south expanded the Mughal Empire to 4 million square kilometres, and he ruled over a population estimated to be over 158 million subjects, with an annual yearly revenue of $450 million (more than ten times that of his contemporary Louis XIV of France), or £38,624,680 (2,879,469,894 rupees) in 1690. Under his reign, India surpassed China to become the world's largest economy, worth over $90 billion, nearly a quarter of world GDP in 1700.

Aurangzeb is considered one of India's most controversial kings. Some historians argue that his policies abandoned his predecessors' legacy of pluralism and religious tolerance, citing his destruction of Hindu temples and execution of a Sikh guru, while other historians question this, arguing that his destruction of temples has been exaggerated and were politically motivated, and noting that he built more temples than he destroyed, also destroyed Islamic mosques, paid for the maintenance of temples, employed significantly more Hindus in his imperial bureaucracy than his predecessors did, and opposed bigotry against Hindus and Shia Muslims.

Before the First Battle of Panipat, Babur sought divine favour by abjuring liquor, breaking the wine vessels, and pouring the wine down a well.

Akbar is credited with instituting new administrative practices and diverse ruling elites, which helped to equalize and placate the cultures and peoples the Mughal Empire came to rule.

The greater wealth in the Mughal courts resulting from the burgeoning European presence in the Indian Ocean led to more conspicuous consumption among the Mughal elite.

Agricultural taxes instituted by Akbar formed the base of the Mughal Empire's collective wealth.

The Mysorean rockets were upgraded versions of Mughal rockets used during the Siege of Jinji by the progeny of the Nawab of Arcot.

Akbar was the first to initiate and use metal cylinder rockets known as bans during the Battle of Sanbal.

Sake Dean Mahomed learned much of Mughal chemistry and understood the techniques used to produce various alkali and soaps to produce shampoo.