MR. IBN HASAN has invited me to write a few words by way of introduction to his work on The
Central Structure of the Mughal Empire in Northern India. As the teacher under whom he prepared this thesis, for which he was awarded the Ph.D. degree, I am, at any rate, in a position to testify to the vast amount of research and hard work which this book entailed. It link it may be claimed that no source, whether Indian or English, has escaped him, and as far as regards the
Mughal administration at headquarters, this book covers the whole ground in a manner never before attempted in future it must always form a companion volume to the Ain-i-Akbari, and it will be studied by all serious students of Mughal history. Nothing in this work is more humanly interesting than the author's account of the active part played by the Mughal emperors in the administration of the state, and their efforts to achieve their ideals of kingship by means of an organized administrative machinery ~ This machinery was brought to perfection by Akbar, who in 01 binary times regulated his working hours with the same precision that he demanded of his ministers. Akbar's day was both long and strenuous, beginning as it did with the public appearance soon after sunrise and continuing often until long after sunset, the morning work usually occupying four and a half hours at a stretch. It is especially interesting to note the list which Mr. Ibn Hasan gives of the causes of absence of Akbar and his two immediate successors from state business; these causes are practically confined to sickness and mourning.


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.