Mughal Empire at its Zenith

Introduction

The Mughal Empire reached its apogee around 1690 CE during the reign of Emperor Aurangzeb (r. 1658-1707), representing the culmination of over 160 years of Timurid-Mughal expansion across the Indian subcontinent. At this historical juncture, the empire encompassed approximately 4 million square kilometers—stretching from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in modern-day Afghanistan and Pakistan in the west, to the highlands of Assam and Bengal in the east, and from the Himalayan foothills of Kashmir in the north to the Deccan Plateau in peninsular India. This territorial configuration represented the largest unified political entity to govern the Indian subcontinent since the ancient Mauryan Empire, and the most economically prosperous empire of its time globally.

This map captures a pivotal moment in Indian history when the Mughal administrative apparatus, refined through successive generations of emperors from Babur through Aurangzeb, had achieved maximum territorial integration. The empire’s population of approximately 158 million people by 1700 CE constituted roughly one-quarter of the world’s population, while its economy is estimated to have represented between 24-25% of global GDP. However, this territorial zenith also marked the beginning of imperial overextension, as the prolonged Deccan campaigns (1680-1707) to subjugate the independent Sultanates and Maratha confederacy would drain imperial resources and create conditions for subsequent fragmentation.

The significance of mapping the Mughal Empire at this particular moment lies in understanding both the achievements and limitations of early modern Indian state-building. The sophisticated administrative system, combining Persian bureaucratic traditions with Indian revenue practices, created a framework that would influence governance structures well into the British colonial period and beyond.

Historical Context

The territorial configuration visible on this 1690 map resulted from cumulative conquests and administrative consolidation spanning nearly seven generations of Mughal rule. The empire’s foundation was laid by Babur (r. 1526-1530), a descendant of both Timur and Genghis Khan, who defeated Ibrahim Lodi at the First Battle of Panipat on April 21, 1526, establishing Mughal rule over the Delhi Sultanate’s territories. Babur’s initial conquests secured the Indo-Gangetic heartland from the Punjab to Bihar, though his successors would face the challenge of consolidating this inheritance.

After a brief interregnum when Sher Shah Suri displaced Humayun (1540-1555), the empire was restored and dramatically expanded under Akbar the Great (r. 1556-1605). Akbar’s military campaigns incorporated Gujarat (1573), Bengal (1576), Kashmir (1586), and large portions of the Deccan through the conquest of Khandesh (1601) and Ahmadnagar. More importantly, Akbar established the administrative foundations—the mansabdari system, standardized revenue collection through the zabti system, and religious tolerance policies—that would enable effective governance of this vast territory.

Shah Jahan (r. 1628-1658) continued expansion in the Deccan and secured the northwest frontier, though his reign is better remembered for architectural achievements like the Taj Mahal than territorial conquests. The critical expansion depicted in the 1690 map occurred under Aurangzeb, whose 49-year reign witnessed relentless campaigning, particularly in the Deccan. Between 1680 and 1707, Aurangzeb personally led campaigns that resulted in the conquest of Bijapur (1686) and Golconda (1687), bringing the entire Deccan under nominal Mughal control for the first time.

However, this maximum territorial extent came at enormous cost. The Deccan campaigns required maintaining massive armies in hostile terrain far from the empire’s economic heartland. Aurangzeb’s departure from Akbar’s religious tolerance—including the reimposition of the jizya tax on non-Muslims in 1679—alienated crucial Hindu constituencies, while prolonged warfare against the Maratha confederacy led by Shivaji and his successors created a persistent insurgency that drained resources without achieving conclusive victory.

Territorial Extent and Boundaries

Northern Frontiers

The northern boundaries of the Mughal Empire in 1690 were defined primarily by the formidable barrier of the Himalayan mountain ranges. In the northwest, the empire’s authority extended into the Kabul region and portions of modern Afghanistan, controlling strategic passes like the Khyber Pass that connected the subcontinent to Central Asia. Kashmir, fully incorporated by Akbar in 1586, formed the northernmost extent of direct Mughal administration, its valleys providing both strategic depth and important trade connections to Central Asian routes.

The northern frontier also included the sub-Himalayan territories of the Punjab, which constituted one of the empire’s most prosperous agricultural regions. The five rivers of the Punjab—Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej—provided irrigation for extensive cultivation, while the region’s strategic location made it a crucial buffer against potential invasions from Central Asia and Persia.

Eastern Boundaries

The empire’s eastern extent in 1690 reached into Bengal and Assam, though control in these regions was often contested. The Bengal Subah, with its capital at Dacca (Dhaka), represented one of the empire’s wealthiest provinces, producing high-quality textiles, rice, and serving as a major maritime trading hub. The Mughal conquest of Bengal was consolidated under Akbar in 1576, and by 1690, the province had become integral to imperial finances.

Beyond Bengal proper, Mughal authority extended nominally into Assam, though the Ahom kingdom maintained effective independence despite periodic Mughal campaigns. The eastern frontier was characterized by dense forests, numerous rivers including the Brahmaputra, and difficult terrain that limited the projection of centralized power. This region remained a zone of contested sovereignty throughout the period.

Southern Frontiers

The southern boundaries marked on this map represent Aurangzeb’s conquests in the Deccan—the culmination of decades of intermittent warfare. By 1690, the Mughal Empire had absorbed the Sultanates of Bijapur and Golconda, extending direct imperial control to approximately 16-17 degrees north latitude in peninsular India. The Deccan Plateau, with its distinct geography of elevated terrain, seasonal rivers like the Godavari and Krishna, and fortress-studded landscape, posed unique administrative and military challenges.

However, Mughal control in the southern Deccan remained more theoretical than practical in many areas. The Maratha confederacy, operating from strongholds in the Western Ghats and employing guerrilla tactics, contested Mughal authority throughout this period. Numerous independent or semi-independent poligars (local chieftains) in Tamil Nadu and other southern regions acknowledged Mughal suzerainty nominally while maintaining practical autonomy.

Western Boundaries

The western frontier of the empire in 1690 extended to the Indus River Basin, incorporating Sindh and parts of Baluchistan. The Thar Desert formed a natural boundary between Mughal territories and the independent Rajput states, though most major Rajput kingdoms had by this time entered into subsidiary alliances with the empire. Gujarat, conquered by Akbar in 1573, served as the empire’s premier maritime province, with Surat functioning as the principal port for international trade.

The western coast also included the Konkan region along the Western Ghats, though Maratha naval forces and the Portuguese possession of Goa complicated complete Mughal control of the coastline. The Arabian Sea littoral was crucial for trade with the Persian Gulf, Arabian Peninsula, and eventually European trading companies.

Disputed and Transitional Zones

Several regions marked on the 1690 map represented zones of contested or transitional authority. Rajputana (modern Rajasthan) consisted of numerous princely states that maintained internal autonomy while acknowledging Mughal paramountcy and providing military contingents. The degree of actual Mughal control varied considerably—Amber (Jaipur) and Jodhpur maintained close alliance, while Mewar remained more independent.

Similarly, in the Deccan, despite formal conquest, many areas remained under the control of Maratha sardars, regional zamindars, or local poligars who paid tribute irregularly if at all. The gap between theoretical sovereignty as depicted on maps and practical administrative control was particularly pronounced in newly conquered southern territories.

Administrative Structure

The Mughal Empire’s ability to govern its vast territories rested upon a sophisticated administrative framework that combined Persian bureaucratic traditions with indigenous Indian practices. By 1690, this system had evolved into a complex hierarchy balancing centralization with regional autonomy.

Provincial Organization

The empire was divided into subahs (provinces), numbering approximately 21 major provinces by the late 17th century. Each subah was governed by a subahdar (governor), typically a high-ranking mansabdar (military-administrative officer) appointed directly by the emperor. Major subahs in 1690 included:

Kabul Subah: Covering Afghanistan and the northwest frontier
Lahore Subah: The prosperous Punjab region
Delhi Subah: The imperial heartland around the capital
Agra Subah: The former capital region
Awadh Subah: The central Gangetic plain
Allahabad Subah: Eastern Gangetic territories
Bihar Subah: The middle Ganges valley
Bengal Subah: The wealthy eastern province
Malwa Subah: Central India
Gujarat Subah: The western maritime province
Khandesh Subah: Linking northern India to the Deccan
Berar Subah: Eastern Deccan territories
Ahmadnagar Subah: Portions of the former sultanate
Bijapur Subah: Recently conquered Deccan territory
Golconda (Hyderabad) Subah: The southeastern Deccan

Each subah was further subdivided into sarkars (districts) and parganas (sub-districts), creating multiple administrative layers. The subahdar was responsible for maintaining order, collecting revenue, and providing military forces to the imperial army when required.

The Mansabdari System

Central to Mughal administration was the mansabdari system, refined under Akbar and maintained through Aurangzeb’s reign. Mansabdars were ranked according to their zat (personal rank) and sawar (cavalry command), with positions ranging from commanders of ten to commanders of ten thousand. These officers formed the empire’s military and administrative elite, drawing salaries (or more commonly, revenue assignments called jagirs) commensurate with their rank.

By 1690, the mansabdari system encompassed thousands of officers, creating a service nobility drawn from diverse backgrounds—Central Asian Turkic families, Iranian nobles, Indian Muslims, Rajput clans, and even some Hindu Marathas. This diversity was intentional, preventing the consolidation of power by any single ethnic or religious group. However, Aurangzeb’s policies showed increasing preference for Muslim nobles, creating tensions that would contribute to later instability.

Revenue Administration

The empire’s economic foundation rested on agricultural taxation, with the revenue system evolving significantly from Akbar’s reforms. The zabti system, implemented in core provinces, involved detailed land surveys, crop assessments, and standardized tax rates (typically one-third of estimated produce). Persian-speaking revenue officials maintained extensive records of land holdings, cultivation patterns, and tax obligations.

In frontier regions and recently conquered territories, the empire often relied on revenue farming, where contractors (jagirdars or zamindars) collected taxes in exchange for a negotiated sum paid to the imperial treasury. This system was more flexible but also more prone to exploitation of peasants and revenue shortfalls for the state.

Bengal, Gujarat, and other commercially developed provinces also generated substantial revenue from customs duties, trade taxes, and urban levies. The major ports—Surat, Dacca, Hooghly—were crucial revenue sources, with the empire taxing both domestic and international trade.

Capital Cities and Administrative Centers

The Mughal Empire’s administrative geography was characterized by multiple capital cities serving different functions. By 1690, Shahjahanabad (Delhi), built by Shah Jahan and completed in 1648, served as the principal imperial capital. The Red Fort housed the imperial court, while the city’s population exceeded 400,000, making it one of South Asia’s largest urban centers.

However, Aurangzeb’s prolonged Deccan campaigns meant the imperial court spent decades in the south, with Aurangabad serving as a temporary capital. This mobility of the imperial administration reflected the peripatetic nature of Mughal governance, where the emperor’s camp (urdu) functioned as a mobile capital, complete with administrative departments, treasury, workshops, and bazaars.

Other important administrative centers included:

Agra: Former capital, remaining a major administrative and commercial hub
Lahore: Provincial capital and second city of the empire
Dacca: Capital of the wealthy Bengal Subah
Ahmedabad: Major city of Gujarat
Surat: Premier port and commercial center

Judicial Administration

The Mughal judicial system combined Islamic law (sharia) for Muslims with customary law for Hindus and other communities. Qazis (judges) in major cities administered justice according to Hanafi Islamic jurisprudence, while local disputes often followed customary practices. The emperor served as the ultimate court of appeal, dispensing justice in public audiences (jharoka darshan).

Infrastructure and Communications

The Mughal Empire’s ability to maintain administrative control over its vast territories depended critically upon infrastructure networks that facilitated troop movement, commercial exchange, and communication.

Road Networks

The empire inherited and expanded upon ancient road systems dating to the Mauryan period. By 1690, a network of major highways connected the principal cities and provinces. The most important routes included:

The Grand Trunk Road: This ancient highway, significantly improved under Sher Shah Suri and maintained by the Mughals, connected Kabul and Peshawar in the northwest through Lahore, Delhi, and Agra to Dacca in Bengal—a distance exceeding 2,500 kilometers. Regular serais (caravanserais) provided accommodation, with standardized distances between them facilitating travel.

North-South Routes: Multiple roads connected the Gangetic heartland to the Deccan, passing through Malwa and crossing the Narmada and Tapti rivers. These routes became particularly important during the Deccan campaigns, though maintaining them through difficult terrain proved challenging.

Coastal Routes: Along both the eastern and western coasts, roads connected port cities and facilitated maritime trade. However, these were generally less developed than interior routes due to monsoon flooding and riverine obstacles.

Roads were typically unpaved but maintained to allow passage of armies, merchant caravans, and the imperial postal system. Major rivers were crossed by boat bridges or ferry systems, with some permanent stone bridges constructed at strategic locations.

Postal and Communication Systems

The Mughal Empire maintained an efficient postal system (daak chowki) that enabled relatively rapid communication across vast distances. Mounted couriers, stationed at regular intervals (typically 5-10 kilometers apart), could relay messages from Delhi to distant provinces within days or weeks rather than months. This system served both administrative communication and intelligence gathering.

The imperial court also employed news-writers (waqia-navis) stationed in provincial capitals and major cities, who regularly dispatched reports on local events, political developments, and potential threats. This intelligence network helped the central administration monitor distant provinces and respond to emerging challenges.

Maritime Capabilities

While the Mughal Empire was primarily a land-based power, maritime trade was crucial to its economy by 1690. Major ports—Surat on the western coast and Dacca-Hooghly in Bengal—served as gateways for international commerce. The empire, however, maintained only limited naval capabilities, focusing instead on collecting customs revenues and providing protection to merchant vessels through licenses (cartazes).

The lack of a strong imperial navy would prove a strategic weakness as European trading companies—Portuguese, Dutch, English, and French—established fortified factories and gradually expanded their maritime dominance in the Indian Ocean. By 1690, these European powers controlled several coastal enclaves, presaging future challenges to Mughal sovereignty.

Urban Infrastructure

Major cities featured sophisticated infrastructure including fortifications, water supply systems, covered bazaars, and monumental architecture. Delhi’s Shahjahanabad included the Red Fort, Jama Masjid (one of India’s largest mosques), and planned residential quarters. Persian-style chaharbagh gardens, public baths, and civic amenities characterized major urban centers.

Water management was particularly sophisticated, with the empire investing in wells, step-wells, canals, and aqueducts. The Taj Mahal’s gardens at Agra exemplified Mughal hydraulic engineering, while extensive irrigation works in Punjab and other agricultural regions increased productivity.

Economic Geography

The Mughal Empire’s status as one of the world’s wealthiest polities in 1690 rested upon sophisticated economic geography combining agricultural production, manufacturing excellence, and extensive trade networks.

Agricultural Regions and Production

The empire’s economic foundation was agriculture, with the fertile Indo-Gangetic Plain serving as the primary granary. The Doab (land between the Ganges and Yamuna) produced wheat, rice, sugarcane, and other cash crops. Punjab’s five rivers supported intensive cultivation of wheat, making it one of the empire’s most productive regions. Bengal produced rice, silk, and high-quality cotton, while also serving as a major textile manufacturing center.

The Deccan Plateau, though less fertile than the northern plains, produced cotton, pulses, and supported extensive pastoral activities. Gujarat specialized in cotton cultivation and textile production. Different climatic zones enabled the empire to produce diverse crops—from the temperate agriculture of Kashmir to the tropical products of coastal regions.

Revenue assessments from the period suggest total agricultural production supported a population of 150-160 million people while generating substantial surplus for urban populations, the imperial court, and export trade. The empire’s sophisticated revenue system enabled extraction of approximately one-third of agricultural produce, though actual collection varied by region and period.

Manufacturing and Artisanal Production

Mughal India was renowned globally for manufactured goods, particularly textiles. Bengal produced fine muslin that was virtually transparent—so fine that contemporary accounts described it as “woven air.” Gujarat specialized in various cotton textiles and calico printing. Other regions produced specific specialties:

Kashmiri shawls: Fine wool textiles highly prized across Asia
Banaras silk: Luxury fabrics with gold and silver thread work
Deccan steel: High-quality metal work from Golconda and other centers
Precious metalwork: Gold and silver items from numerous urban workshops
Gemstone cutting: Diamond and other precious stone processing, particularly in Golconda

These manufacturing centers weren’t merely local markets but produced for empire-wide and international consumption. Mughal manufacturing excellence attracted European merchants seeking Indian textiles, which would dominate global markets until the Industrial Revolution.

Trade Networks and Commercial Centers

The Mughal Empire in 1690 sat at the center of extensive trading networks connecting East Asia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and increasingly, Europe.

Internal Trade: A complex network of market towns, periodic fairs, and permanent urban bazaars facilitated internal commerce. Merchants moved goods along the Grand Trunk Road and other highways, paying tolls and customs at provincial boundaries but generally benefiting from imperial protection. Standardized currencies—the silver rupee and copper dams—facilitated commercial transactions across the empire.

Maritime Trade: The empire’s ports handled enormous trade volumes. Surat, the premier port, hosted merchants from Persia, Arabia, Ottoman Turkey, and European trading companies. Bengal’s ports—particularly Hooghly and Dacca—traded with Southeast Asia and China. Indian exports included textiles, indigo, saltpeter, pepper, and other spices, while imports consisted of precious metals (particularly silver from the Americas via European intermediaries), horses from Central Asia and Arabia, raw silk from Persia, and luxury goods.

Overland Trade: The northwestern routes through Kabul connected the empire to Central Asian trade, including the silk road networks. Though reduced from earlier centuries, these routes still moved goods between India, Persia, and beyond.

Revenue and Economic Output

Modern estimates suggest the Mughal Empire’s economy constituted approximately 24-25% of global GDP in the late 17th century, making it the world’s largest economy. The empire’s annual revenue under Aurangzeb was reported at approximately 100 million rupees in silver (though figures vary in historical sources), though the prolonged Deccan campaigns consumed most of this revenue.

Major revenue sources included:

Land revenue: 80-90% of imperial income from agricultural taxation
Customs and trade taxes: 5-10% from port duties and internal customs
Mint revenues: Income from currency production
Tribute: Payments from tributary states and defeated kingdoms

However, military expenditure in 1690—particularly maintaining massive armies in the Deccan—consumed most imperial revenue, creating fiscal pressures that would intensify under Aurangzeb’s successors.

Cultural and Religious Geography

The Mughal Empire’s cultural landscape in 1690 reflected extraordinary diversity, with the imperial administration managing a mosaic of religious communities, linguistic regions, and cultural traditions.

Religious Distribution

Islamic Presence: Muslims constituted a minority of the empire’s population (estimated at 15-20%), concentrated in urban centers, the Punjab, parts of Bengal, and the Deccan. The Mughal court was predominantly Muslim, though religious practice varied from orthodox interpretations favored by Aurangzeb to the syncretic traditions popular in many regions. Major Islamic centers included Delhi, Agra, Lahore, and the Deccan cities, featuring impressive mosque architecture like Delhi’s Jama Masjid and Lahore’s Badshahi Mosque (completed in 1673).

Hindu Majority: Approximately 70-75% of the population practiced various forms of Hinduism. Major pilgrimage centers—Varanasi, Mathura, Vrindavan, Puri, and numerous others—continued to flourish, though with varying degrees of imperial patronage depending on the ruler. Temples ranged from modest village shrines to elaborate complexes, particularly in regions like Rajasthan and southern territories where local rulers maintained traditional patronage patterns.

Sikh Community: By 1690, Sikhism had evolved from a devotional movement to a distinct religious community, particularly strong in Punjab. Relations with the Mughal state were complex—initially cooperative but increasingly conflictual under Aurangzeb, whose execution of Guru Tegh Bahadur in 1675 created lasting tensions.

Other Communities: The empire also encompassed Jain communities (particularly strong among merchant classes in Gujarat and Rajasthan), Parsis (Zoroastrians concentrated in Gujarat), Christians (especially in coastal areas with Portuguese influence), and various heterodox and tribal religious practices in frontier regions.

Linguistic Diversity

The empire’s linguistic geography was extraordinarily complex. Persian served as the official language of administration and the court, with a sophisticated literary culture producing historical chronicles, poetry, and administrative documents. However, Persian was largely confined to educated elites.

Regional Languages: The vast majority of the population spoke regional languages including Hindi/Hindustani (emerging as a lingua franca in northern India), Bengali, Punjabi, Gujarati, Marathi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, and numerous others. Each region maintained literary traditions, with Mughal patronage sometimes extending to vernacular literature.

Urdu Development: By 1690, Urdu was emerging as a distinct language, combining Persian, Arabic, and indigenous vocabularies with Hindi grammatical structures. This language would become particularly associated with Mughal urban culture and Muslim communities.

Architectural and Artistic Geography

Mughal architectural achievements defined the empire’s cultural geography. Major monuments in 1690 included:

Religious Architecture: Beyond the famous Taj Mahal (completed 1653), the empire featured numerous magnificent structures—the Red Forts of Delhi and Agra, Jama Masjid in Delhi, Badshahi Mosque in Lahore, and countless smaller mosques, tombs, and gardens. Hindu temples, though not typically receiving imperial patronage under Aurangzeb, continued to be constructed by local rulers and communities.

Urban Planning: Mughal cities featured planned layouts, with Shahjahanabad representing the pinnacle of Mughal urban design—wide avenues, organized bazaars, public spaces, and integration of monumental architecture with commercial and residential quarters.

Regional Variations: Architectural styles showed regional variation, incorporating local building traditions. Kashmiri architecture featured distinctive wooden elements, Bengali buildings utilized curved roofs adapted to monsoon climate, while Deccan structures often continued pre-Mughal sultanate traditions.

Educational and Intellectual Centers

Islamic education was centered in madrasas attached to mosques in major cities, teaching Quranic studies, Islamic law, Persian literature, and various sciences. Major centers included Delhi, Lahore, and newly established institutions in Aurangabad. Hindu learning continued in traditional pathshalas and institutions attached to temples.

The imperial court attracted scholars, historians, poets, and artists from across the Islamic world, creating a cosmopolitan intellectual atmosphere. Notable works from this period included Aurangzeb’s compilation of Islamic law, the Fatawa-i Alamgiri, and numerous historical chronicles documenting the empire’s history.

Military Geography

The Mughal Empire’s military organization in 1690 reflected both its continental scale and the challenges of maintaining control over diverse territories through prolonged warfare.

Army Organization and Deployment

The Mughal military system was built around the mansabdari hierarchy, with mansabdars required to maintain troops proportional to their rank. By the late 17th century, the empire theoretically could mobilize over 200,000 cavalry and perhaps 500,000-1,000,000 total troops including infantry, though actual deployments were typically smaller and quality varied considerably.

The army was organized into:

Imperial forces: Directly controlled by the emperor and high-ranking mansabdars
Provincial contingents: Maintained by subahdars for regional security
Auxiliary forces: Provided by tributary rulers, particularly Rajput allies
Artillery: Sophisticated cannon and siege equipment operated by specialized units

In 1690, the majority of imperial military resources were committed to the Deccan campaigns, with Aurangzeb personally leading operations from his military camp. This concentration of forces in the south left other regions more vulnerable to internal unrest and external threats.

Strategic Strongholds and Fortifications

The empire’s military geography was defined by extensive fortification systems. Major categories included:

Hill Forts: Particularly important in Rajasthan and the Deccan, these fortresses occupied commanding heights and could withstand prolonged sieges. Examples included Gwalior, Ranthambore, Daulatabad, and numerous Maratha forts in the Western Ghats.

River Forts: Controlling strategic river crossings, these fortifications secured communication routes and administrative centers. Delhi’s Red Fort and Agra Fort exemplified sophisticated river fort design, combining defensive strength with palatial architecture.

Border Fortifications: Strategic positions along frontiers—particularly in the northwest passes, Kashmir, and Assam—maintained garrisons to defend against external threats.

The siege and capture of major Deccan forts consumed enormous resources during Aurangzeb’s campaigns. The siege of Golconda (1687) lasted eight months, while numerous smaller forts required separate campaigns to reduce.

Major Campaigns and Battles (1680-1690)

The decade preceding 1690 witnessed intensive military operations primarily in the Deccan:

Conquests of Bijapur and Golconda: Aurangzeb’s armies besieged and conquered these sultanates (1686 and 1687 respectively), extending Mughal control throughout the Deccan plateau. These victories appeared to complete the empire’s territorial consolidation.

Maratha Conflicts: Parallel to the sultanate conquests, Mughal forces engaged in continuous low-intensity warfare with Maratha forces. Unlike conventional battles, these conflicts involved guerrilla tactics, fort raids, and revenue disruption rather than decisive set-piece battles. The Marathas’ mobility and local support made them difficult to defeat conclusively despite Mughal numerical superiority.

Regional Uprisings: Various regional rebellions required military responses. Jat peasant uprisings near Agra, Bundela resistance in central India, and Afghan frontier troubles all demanded military attention even as primary resources flowed to the Deccan.

Cavalry and Military Culture

The Mughal military was cavalry-dominant, reflecting Central Asian Turkic and Mongol traditions. The empire’s extensive horse trade—importing animals from Central Asia, Arabia, and Persia—was militarily critical. Major cavalry types included:

Heavily armored cavalry: For shock combat
Light cavalry: For reconnaissance and pursuit
Mounted archers: Traditional Central Asian warfare style

Infantry included matchlock-equipped musketeers, archers, and sword-and-shield troops. Artillery had advanced considerably, with European-style cannon supplementing traditional siege weapons.

Naval Weakness

Unlike its land forces, the Mughal Empire maintained minimal naval capabilities. This weakness became increasingly problematic as European powers established maritime dominance. The empire could not effectively contest Portuguese, Dutch, or English naval forces, limiting its ability to control coastal territories or protect maritime trade.

Some regional powers, particularly the Marathas under leaders like Kanhoji Angre, would develop naval forces that challenged European shipping, but these operated largely independently of imperial control.

Political Geography

The Mughal Empire’s political landscape in 1690 extended beyond territories under direct administration to include complex relationships with tributary states, allied kingdoms, and neighboring powers.

Tributary and Allied States

Rajput Kingdoms: Several major Rajput states maintained subsidiary alliance with the empire while retaining internal autonomy. These included:

Amber (Jaipur): Close ally providing military support
Jodhpur: Allied though with periodic tensions
Mewar: Maintained greater independence despite nominal Mughal suzerainty

Rajput states provided substantial military contingents—cavalry forces crucial to Mughal military campaigns—in exchange for recognition of their territorial sovereignty and high mansab ranks for their rulers.

Deccan Zamindars: In newly conquered southern territories, numerous local power-holders (zamindars, poligars) nominally accepted Mughal authority while maintaining practical independence. These relationships were unstable, with loyalties shifting based on military pressure and financial incentives.

Tributary Kingdoms: Various smaller kingdoms paid tribute to the empire without full administrative integration. In the northeast, kingdoms in Assam and nearby regions maintained formal independence despite periodic Mughal campaigns.

Neighboring Powers and Diplomatic Relations

Persia (Safavid Empire): Relations with Persia oscillated between rivalry and cooperation. Disputes over Kandahar led to periodic conflicts, though cultural and commercial ties remained strong. Persian remained the Mughal court language, and Persian merchants were prominent in Indian trade.

Ottoman Empire: Distant but cordial relations existed, with both empires representing major Islamic powers. The Ottoman sultan’s claim to the Caliphate was respected, though political ties were minimal.

Central Asian Khanates: The Khanates of Bukhara and other Central Asian powers maintained trading and cultural connections with the Mughal Empire, though direct political relations were limited by distance and intervening Persian territories.

European Trading Companies: By 1690, English, Dutch, French, and Portuguese trading companies maintained fortified factories along the coasts. While nominally under imperial authority through trading licenses, these companies increasingly operated as autonomous powers, negotiating directly with local subahdars and maintaining private armies.

Maratha Confederacy: Perhaps the most significant political challenge, the Marathas under leadership emerging after Shivaji’s death (1680) represented a decentralized power network rather than a unified kingdom. Various Maratha sardars (chiefs) controlled territories and forts across the Deccan, sometimes accepting Mughal mansab ranks while simultaneously contesting imperial control.

Imperial Court Politics

Political geography extended into court factions and networks. Noble factions formed around ethnic, religious, and patronage lines:

Turani: Central Asian Turkic nobles
Irani: Persian nobles
Hindustani Muslims: Indian-origin Muslim nobles
Rajput: Hindu Rajput nobles in imperial service
Maratha: Marathas who accepted mansab ranks

Under Aurangzeb, Persian Shi’a nobles faced some discrimination despite their administrative expertise, while preference for orthodox Sunni nobles increased. These court politics influenced provincial appointments, military commands, and policy decisions.

Legacy and Decline

The Mughal Empire’s configuration in 1690, while representing maximum territorial extent, paradoxically marked the beginning of imperial fragmentation that would accelerate after Aurangzeb’s death in 1707.

Seeds of Decline

Several factors visible in the 1690 map presaged future challenges:

Overextension: The vast territories depicted required enormous administrative and military resources. The Deccan campaigns drained the imperial treasury while generating minimal revenue from devastated, war-torn provinces. Modern historians debate whether the territorial expansion was economically rational, with many arguing the costs exceeded benefits.

Military Exhaustion: Continuous warfare for over 25 years in the Deccan exhausted both imperial forces and the regions fought over. The inability to decisively defeat Maratha guerrilla tactics meant resources were continuously consumed without achieving stable administration.

Religious Policies: Aurangzeb’s departure from Akbar’s religious tolerance—reimposing jizya, destroying some temples, showing preference for Muslim nobles—alienated significant Hindu constituencies. While the empire’s Hindu population remained largely loyal (Hindu mansabdars and soldiers continued serving), the policies created resentments that regional powers would exploit.

Succession Crisis: Unlike earlier Mughal emperors who had established stable successions, Aurangzeb’s long reign (49 years) meant his sons were elderly when he died, creating immediate succession conflicts that would paralyze the empire for years.

Economic Strain: Despite the empire’s wealth, continuous military expenditure created fiscal pressures. Jagirs (revenue assignments) were over-assigned, meaning more mansabdars held claims than revenue existed to satisfy. This created discontent among imperial servants and encouraged autonomous revenue collection.

Fragmentation Process

After Aurangzeb’s death in 1707, the empire entered a period of rapid decentralization. Provincial governors (subahdars) increasingly operated as autonomous rulers while nominally acknowledging imperial sovereignty. Major successor states emerged:

Bengal: Effectively independent under nawabs from the 1720s
Awadh: Autonomous kingdom in the Gangetic plain
Hyderabad: The nizam established independent rule in the Deccan
Maratha Confederacy: Expanded dramatically, eventually controlling much of peninsular India

By mid-18th century, the Mughal emperor controlled little beyond Delhi’s vicinity, though the title retained symbolic importance—even British authorities would seek Mughal recognition well into the 19th century.

Enduring Impact

Despite political fragmentation, the Mughal Empire’s legacy profoundly shaped South Asian civilization:

Administrative Practices: Revenue systems, land tenure arrangements, and administrative terminology established by the Mughals influenced subsequent political entities including British colonial administration. The district-level administrative structure visible in modern India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh traces roots to Mughal practices.

Architectural Heritage: Mughal monuments remain iconic symbols of South Asian culture. The Taj Mahal, Red Fort, Jama Masjid, and countless other structures attract millions of visitors and represent UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Provincial and successor state architecture continued Mughal stylistic traditions.

Cultural Synthesis: The Mughal period witnessed significant Hindu-Muslim cultural synthesis, particularly in music, cuisine, language (Urdu’s development), and artistic traditions. Miniature painting, classical music traditions, and literary forms developed under Mughal patronage continue to influence South Asian culture.

Linguistic Legacy: Urdu, which emerged as a lingua franca during the Mughal period, remains one of South Asia’s major languages. Persian administrative and literary vocabulary entered regional languages across the subcontinent.

Political Concepts: Ideas of sovereignty, legitimacy, and political organization established during the Mughal period influenced regional kingdoms and even anti-colonial movements. The concept of “Hindustan” as a unified political entity, though contested, partly derives from the Mughal imperial experience.

Historical Debates

Historians continue debating the Mughal Empire’s significance and legacy. Colonial-era scholarship often portrayed Mughal rule as despotic and economically exploitative, preparing the way for “civilizing” British rule. Nationalist historians emphasized indigenous resistance to foreign (Muslim/Turkic) rule while acknowledging cultural achievements.

Contemporary scholarship offers more nuanced perspectives, recognizing:

The empire’s economic sophistication and global significance
Complex patterns of Hindu-Muslim interaction beyond simplistic conflict narratives
Regional variations in imperial impact and local agency
Environmental and ecological consequences of Mughal policies
The empire’s role in early modern global trade networks

The 1690 map thus represents not just territorial extent but a complex historical moment—simultaneous achievement and overreach, integration and emerging fragmentation, continuity and transformation. Understanding this configuration illuminates both Mughal accomplishments and the challenges that no pre-modern South Asian state successfully resolved: governing the subcontinent’s vast territories, diverse populations, and varied ecological zones within a stable, sustainable political framework.

Conclusion

The map of the Mughal Empire at its 1690 territorial zenith captures a civilization at the height of its power yet facing challenges that would transform South Asian political geography within decades. Spanning 4 million square kilometers and governing approximately 25% of global population and economic output, the empire represented the early modern world’s most significant South Asian political entity.

This territorial configuration resulted from accumulated conquests over 160 years, sophisticated administrative development, economic prosperity based on agricultural productivity and manufacturing excellence, and military capabilities that could project power from Afghanistan to Assam, from Kashmir to the Deccan. The empire’s cities—Delhi, Agra, Lahore, Dacca—ranked among the world’s largest and most prosperous, while its architectural achievements produced monuments that remain globally recognized symbols of Indian civilization.

Yet the very extent visible on this map contained seeds of subsequent fragmentation. The Deccan campaigns’ costs, religious policy changes, administrative overextension, and emerging challenges from Maratha confederacy, European trading companies, and regional autonomy movements would, within two decades of Aurangzeb’s death, transform the unitary empire into a complex system of successor states nominally acknowledging Mughal sovereignty while exercising practical independence.

The significance of this 1690 map thus extends beyond mere territorial demarcation to represent a pivotal moment in South Asian history—the culmination of one political era and the beginning of transitions that would ultimately lead to British colonial domination in the 19th century. Understanding the Mughal Empire at this crucial juncture illuminates not only the achievements and limitations of pre-modern Indian state-building but also the complex historical processes that shaped contemporary South Asian political geography, cultural practices, and historical consciousness.

Sources: This content is based on the provided Wikipedia extracts, infobox data, and Wikidata structured information about the Mughal Empire. Historical dates, territorial extent, population figures, and major events are drawn from these sources. Specific details about administration, military organization, economic geography, and cultural patterns reflect scholarly consensus as represented in the source materials.