The birth of the New India in which we live was preceded by the death of a political and social order under which the millions of this country had been mu'tured for two ‘centuries and a half and-which had done great things for them.The Mughal Empire, established in 1556, had united much of the Indian continent under one sceptre, given it a uniform civilisation whose conquering light had penetrated beyond the bounds of that empire, and on the whole promoted th'e general happiness of the people in a degree unapproached except in the mythical past.

The Mughal Empire began to decline in the 18th century, during the reign of Muḥammad Shah (1719–48). Much of its territory fell under the control of the Marathas and then the British. The last Mughal emperor, Bahādur Shah II (1837–57), was exiled by the British after his involvement with the Indian Mutiny of 1857–58.

Mughal dynasty, Mughal also spelled Mogul, Persian Mughūl (“Mongol”), Muslim dynasty of Turkic-Mongol origin that ruled most of northern India from the early 16th to the mid-18th century. After that time it continued to exist as a considerably reduced and increasingly powerless entity until the mid-19th century. The Mughal dynasty was notable for its more than two centuries of effective rule over much of India; for the ability of its rulers, who through seven generations maintained a record of unusual talent; and for its administrative organization. A further distinction was the attempt of the Mughals, who were Muslims, to integrate Hindus and Muslims into a united Indian state.