Hindu tribal confederacy in the Deccan. Over the
course of Aurangzeb’s long reign, uprisings were
common; his sons were all imprisoned for insti-
gating rebellions. By the time he died, after ailing
for almost 50 years, the empire was in decline.
The empire was soon under attack from both
without and within. Aurangzeb’ s death was fol-
lowed by a series of struggles for the throne.
Between 1707 and 1719, the empire had five rul-
ers. In 1739 Persian leader Nadir Shah invaded
from the northwest, defeating the Mughal army
and sacking Delhi. His successor made regular
attacks on India. At court, the disputed succes-
sions and brief reigns led to chaos within the
administration, and various regions began to
rule as independent states. The British also took
advantage of the fractured empire, pressing for—
and receiving—trade privileges.
At the same time, the British and French
extended their hostilities in Europe to the Indian
subcontinent. Soon both the British East India
Company and its French counterpart, the Com-
pagnie des Indes, were supporting contenders for
power in various Indian states. By the mid-1700s,
although the Mughals still ruled in name, the Eng-
lish East India Company was effectively the main
power in India. The last Mughal emperor, Bahadur
Shah Zafar II, was tried for sedition by the British
in 1857 and exiled to Burma. The English East
India Company was abolished and India became a
British colony, governed directly by parliament.
See also chishti sUFi order; colonialism.
Kate O’Halloran
Further reading: William Dalrymple, The Last Mughal:
The Fall of a Dynasty, Delhi, 1857 (New York: Random
House, 2006); John F. Richards, The Mughal Empire
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993);
Annemarie Schimmel, The Empire of the Great Mughals:
History, Art, and Culture (New Delhi: Oxford University
Press, 2005).
Muhajirun See emigrants.
Muhammad (Arabic: praiseworthy)
(ca. 570–632) historic founder and prophet of Islam
Recognized as both a prophet and a statesman,
Muhammad delivered the qUran to the people of
mecca and medina and created a religious com-
munity that would grow into a great civilization
after his death. He is beloved by Muslims, who
follow his example in their spiritual and worldly
affairs.
Recognizing Muhammad as God’s messenger
(Rasul Allah) is a central requirement of Islam,
as reflected in the second part of the shahada, or
Muslim testimony of faith. He lived in the western
part of the Arabian Peninsula during the sixth and
seventh centuries, when the major empires of the
time, Byzantium and Persia, were being weakened
by warfare and internal strife. But Muhammad’s
importance in the history of religions and civi-
lizations extends far beyond his land and time.
His major contribution is the qUran, the Islamic
holy book, which Muslims believe he received
from God during the last 23 years of his life.
Muhammad’s own words and deeds (the hadith)
are known to Muslims everywhere, and they have
given a distinctive stamp to the spiritual, moral,
cultural, social, and political contours of their
lives.
His full name is Abu l-Qasim Muhammad ibn
Abd Allah al-Hashimi al-Qurashi. The first part of
his name, which means “Qasim’s father,” indicates
that he had a son named al-Qasim; Abd Allah
(“servant of God”) was Muhammad’s father, a
member of the clan of Hashim of the qUraysh tribe.
Sources say that Qasim died when he was only
two years old. Muhammad has traditionally been
known by numerous other names, too, includ-
ing Ahmad (“most praiseworthy”), al-Mahmud
(a variant of Muhammad), al-Mustafa (“chosen
one”), and al-Amin (“trustworthy one”). In addi-
tion to calling him God’s Messenger, Muslims also
know him reverently as al-Nabi (“prophet”) and
al-Habib (“beloved”). They believe that he is a
descendant of abraham and Ishmael, two major
figures in the Hebrew Bible. He is also recognizedK 490 Muhajirun