The Mughal Empire (Persian: شاهان مغول Shāhān-e Moġul; self-
designation: گوركانى - Gūrkānī), or Mogul Empire in former
English usage, was an Islamic imperial power (current day
Pakistan) that ruled the Indian subcontinent which began in
1526, invaded and ruled most of Hindustan (South Asia) by the
late 17th and early 18th centuries, and ended in the mid-19th
century. The Mughal Emperors were and descendants of the
Timurids of Turkistan, and at the height of their power around
1700, they controlled most of the Indian Subcontinent—extending
from Bengal in the east to Balochistan in the west, Kashmir in
the north to the Kaveri basin in the south. Its population at
that time has been estimated as between 110 and 130 million,
over a territory of over 4 million sq. km (1.5 million sq. mi.).
The "classic period" of the Empire started with the accession of
Jalaluddin Mohammad Akbar, better known as Akbar the Great, in
1556. It ended with the death of Emperor Aurangzeb in 1707,
although the Empire continued for anothe