The Mughal Family Tree

Written by

Tamanna Nangia

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

History

The Mughal dynasty was a line of Muslim rulers of Turkic-Mongol origin who reigned over much of northern India from the early 16th to the mid-18th century. Thereafter it continued as a greatly reduced and increasingly powerless entity until the mid-19th century. Evidence of the emperors’ rule endures in grand forts, literature, art, and architecture, but the empire’s politics were shaped by the dynamics of dynastic power and family affairs. As in many kingdoms, behind every Mughal emperor, there sat a line of ambitious sons, extraordinary mothers, rival siblings, and occasionally some very inconvenient relatives. Succession to the Mughal peacock throne was rarely simple. It entailed strategy, politics, and more often than not, open conflict and battles within the family. The lineage began with the dynasty’s founder, Babur, then reached the height of power with emperors such as Akbar, and slipped into gradual decline after Aurangzeb’s reign, ending with the exile of the last Mughal ruler, Bahadur Shah II, in 1857.

This family tree traces the lineage of more than three centuries of a dynasty that played a role in shaping modern India.

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