Mughal emperor in the context of "Maratha Empire"

The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern polity in the Indian subcontinent. It comprised the realms of the Peshwa and four major independent Maratha states under the nominal leadership of the former.

The Marathas were a Marathi-speaking peasantry group from the western Deccan Plateau (present-day Maharashtra) that rose to prominence under leadership of Shivaji (17th century), who revolted against the Bijapur Sultanate and the Mughal Empire for establishing "Hindavi Swarajya" (lit. 'self-rule of Hindus'). The religious attitude of Emperor Aurangzeb estranged non-Muslims, and the Maratha insurgency came at a great cost for his men and treasury. The Maratha government also included warriors, administrators, and other nobles from other Marathi groups. Shivaji's monarchy, referred to as the Maratha Kingdom, expanded into a large realm in the 18th century under the leadership of Peshwa Bajirao I. Marathas from the time of Shahu I recognised the Mughal emperor as their nominal suzerain, similar to other contemporary Indian entities, though in practice, Mughal politics were largely controlled by the Marathas between 1737 and 1803.

Mirza Azim-ush-Shan (15 December 1664 – 18 March 1712) was the second son of the 8th Mughal Emperor Shah Alam I and his Rajput wife Amrit Kanwar. He was the great grandson of Shah Jahan and the grandson of Aurangzeb during whose reign he was the imperial subahdar (governor) of Bengal Subah from the year 1697 to his death in 1712.

Mumtaz Mahal (Persian pronunciation: [mum.ˈtɑːz ma.ˈhal]; lit. 'The Exalted One of the Palace'; born Arjumand Banu Begum; 27 April 1593 – 17 June 1631) was the empress consort of Mughal Empire from 1628 to 1631 as the chief consort of the fifth Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan. The Taj Mahal in Agra, often cited as one of the Wonders of the World, was commissioned by her husband to act as her tomb.

Mumtaz Mahal was born Arjumand Banu Begum in Agra to a family of Persian nobility. She was the daughter of Abu'l-Hasan Asaf Khan, a wealthy Persian noble who held high office in the Mughal Empire, and the niece of Empress Nur Jahan, the chief consort of Emperor Jahangir and the power behind the emperor. Arjumand Banu was married at the age of 19 on 10 May 1612 or 16 June 1612 to Prince Khurram, later known by his regnal name Shah Jahan, who conferred upon her the title "Mumtaz Mahal" lit. 'The Exalted One of the Palace'. Although betrothed to Shah Jahan since 1607, she ultimately became his second wife in 1612. Mumtaz and her husband had 14 children, including Jahanara Begum (Shah Jahan's favorite daughter), and the Crown prince Dara Shikoh, the heir-apparent, anointed by his father, who temporarily succeeded him until deposed by Mumtaz Mahal's sixth child, Aurangzeb, who ultimately succeeded his father as the sixth Mughal emperor in 1658.

The siege of Golconda (1687 CE) was an eight-month military siege of the Golconda Fort (in present-day Telangana, India). This siege was personally directed by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb against the Golconda Sultanate, ruled by king Abul Hasan Qutb Shah. It was the second Mughal siege of the fort, following an aborted attempt by Aurangzeb in 1656 as a prince of emperor Shah Jahan. The event served as the climax of the Golconda Sultanate, which was annexed into the Mughal Empire as a result of the victory of the siege. The military confrontation was one of the final stages in the Mughal Empire's expansion southwards in the Indian subcontinent.

The siege was lengthy and laborious, hampered by the strength of the fort, environmental conditions, and dissent within the Mughal administration. The siege was won only through treachery. It exacerbated drought, famine and epidemic in the region.

The Afghan–Maratha War was fought between the Afghan Empire under Ahmad Shah Durrani and the Maratha Empire and the Sikh Confederacy between 1758 and 1761. It took place in north-west India, primarily the region around Delhi and Punjab.

The three year long war ended in a catastrophic defeat for the Maratha Confederacy and the Afghan Empire retained control of the territories until the Sutlej river which had been ceded by the Mughal emperor Shah Alam II. The militant Sikh Confederacy continued waging wars against the Afghan Empire and later Emirate of Afghanistan following Maratha defeat in the Afghan–Maratha War. Delhi came under the occupation of the Kingdom of Rohilkhand, an Indian kingdom in modern-day western Uttar Pradesh and an ally of the Afghans, while the emperor was forced to flee to Oudh and remain in exile until 1772.

Banda Singh Bahadur (born Lachman Dev; 27 October 1670 – 9 June 1716) was a Sikh military commander of the Khalsa Army. At age 15, he left home to become an ascetic, and was given the name Madho Das Bairagi. He established a monastery at Nānded, on the bank of the river Godāvarī. In 1707, Guru Gobind Singh accepted an invitation to meet Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah I in southern India, he visited Banda Singh Bahadur in 1708. Banda became disciple of Guru Gobind Singh and was given a new name, Gurbaksh Singh (as written in Mahan Kosh), after the baptism ceremony. He is popularly known as Banda Singh Bahadur. He was given five arrows by the Guru as a blessing for the battles ahead. He came to Khanda, Sonipat and assembled a fighting force and led the struggle against the Mughal Empire.

His first major action was the sacking of the Mughal provincial capital, Samana, in November 1709. After establishing his authority and the Sikh Republic in Punjab, Banda Singh Bahadur abolished the zamindari (feudal) system, and granted property rights to the tillers of the land. Banda Singh was captured by the Mughals and tortured to death in 1715–1716.

The Jama Mosque, also known as the Jama Masjid, is a 16th-century Sufi Friday mosque and dargah complex, in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Fatehpur Sikri, located in the Agra district of the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. It was built by Mughal emperor Akbar, and was the largest mosque in the empire at the time of construction. The Jama Masjid's design drew from earlier mosques built by various pre-Mughal sultanates, and served as an important precedent in subsequent Mughal architecture.

The mosque, as part of Fatehpur Sikri, is Monument of National Importance, administered by the Archaeological Survey of India. Notable other monuments in the mosque complex include the Buland Darwaza, which acts as the mosque's southern gate, and the Tomb of Salim Chishti, a saint in whose honour the mosque was constructed.