Hello, I'm Mr. Marchin, and thank you for joining me for today's history lesson.

My job today is to help guide you through our history resources in the lesson, and I'm gonna be working to make sure that by the end of our time together, you can securely meet our lesson objective.

Welcome to today's lesson, which is part of our unit on the Mughal Empire, where we're asking ourselves how important was violence to the Mughal conquests in India? By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to explain how the Mughal Empire was founded.

There are five keywords which will help us navigate our way through today's lesson.

Those are sultanate, empire, descendant, conquer, and noble.

A sultanate is a Muslim state or country ruled by sultan.

An empire is a collection of territories or countries ruled by a single person or government.

A person who is related to you and who lives after you is known as a descendant.

If you conquer something, you've taken control of it usually by using force.

And nobles are people from the highest social group in some countries.

Today's lesson will be split into three parts and we'll begin by thinking about India at the start of the 16th century.

The Indian subcontinent is located in South Asia.

The globe shown on the screen highlights the location of the Indian subcontinent in green.

Today, many countries such as India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh are located in the Indian subcontinent.

In the 16th century, the entire subcontinent was often referred to as India.

At the start of the 16th century, India was one of the most highly populated places on earth.

Many historians estimate that 100 million people lived across India at the time.

The population of India was diverse.

The majority of the population was made up by Hindus, but significant minorities, so very large groups of the population, were Muslims or Sikhs.

So it is clear that people of many different religions were living in 16th century India.

So let's make sure we have a secure understanding of what we've just heard.

Which group made up the majority of India's population at the start of the 16th century? Was it Hindus, Muslims, or Sikhs? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said the correct answer was a.

The majority of India's population at the start of the 16th century was made up by Hindus, but Muslims and Sikhs both counted as significant minority groups in India at the time.

At the start of the 16th century, no single state was in control of the entirety of India.

Instead, power was divided between many different states across the subcontinent.

In northern India, the main power was the Delhi Sultanate at the start of the 16th century.

The Delhi Sultanate was led by Muslim rulers, but mostly ruled over Hindus.

Although the Sultanate had once ruled over most of India, its power had declined significantly by the early 16th century.

As a Delhi Sultanate declined in power, other powerful regional states led by both Muslims and Hindus emerged in Northern India.

So let's make sure we have a secure understanding of what we've just heard.

We have a statement on the screen that reads, the Delhi Sultanate ruled over all of India at the start of the 16th century.

Is that statement true or false? Pause a video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that that statement was false.

But we need to be able to justify our response.

So two justifications have appeared on the screen.

The first says that the Delhi Sultanate's power had declined, and it was only one of many states which ruled in northern India.

The second statement says that the Delhi Sulanate no longer controlled all of India, but still ruled over all of Northern India.

So which one of those two justifications is correct? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said the correct justification was a.

The Delhi Sultanate's power had declined, and it was only one of many states which ruled in northern India by the start of the 16th century.

So we can think about who some of these other regional states were, which emerged in Northern India at the start of the 16th century.

They included the Sultanate of Gujarat.

In Gujarat there were Muslim leaders, or Muslim sultans, who ruled over a majority Hindu population.

There's also the Sultanate of Bengal, another powerful state in northern India.

Again, in the Sultanate of Bengal, Muslim leaders ruled over a majority Hindu population.

And other important states in northern India by the start of the 16th century included the Rajput kingdoms, such as the Kingdom of Mewar.

In the Rajput kingdoms, Hindu leaders led majority Hindu populations.

So let's check our understanding of what we've just heard.

Which of the following states had a Hindu majority population and was led by Hindu rulers? Was it the Delhi Sultanate, the Kingdom of Mewar, or the Sultanate of Bengal? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said the correct answer was b.

The Kingdom of Mewar was one of many Rajput kingdoms in northern India, and there a Hindu ruler led a majority Hindu population.

So in a good position to put all of our knowledge into practise now, I want you to study the three statements below.

They read: People of many different religions lived in India.

No single state ruled over all of India at the start of the 16th century.

And many Indian states were led by rulers whose religion differed from the majority of people they ruled over.

For each of those statements, I want you to provide an example which supports it.

So pause the video here, write your free examples, and press play when you're ready to reflect on your responses.

Okay, well done for all of your effort on that task.

So I asked you to study the three statements and provide an example for each one which could support it.

Your answers may have included, people of many different religions lived in India.

Most Indians were Hindus, but significant minorities were Muslim or Sikh.

For our second statement, which said, no single state ruled over all of India at the start of the 16th century.

You may have written, in northern India, there were several powerful states, such as the Delhi Sultanate, Bengal Sultanate, and the Rajput Kingdoms. And for the third statement that said, many Indian states were led by rulers whose religion differed from the majority of people they ruled over, you may have written the Delhi Sultanate was led by Muslims, but most of its population was made up of Hindus.

So really well done if your own responses look something like those answers which we've just seen.

So now we're ready to move onto their second part of our lesson for today where we are gonna ask ourselves, who were the Mughals? During the 16th and 17th centuries, the Mughals established an empire which controlled almost all of India.

The map on the screen shows just how much territory was controlled by the Mughals by the late 17th century.

However, at the very start of the 16th century, the Mughals had not ruled over any land in India.

Once established Mughal rule in India would go on to last for centuries though.

The Mughals came from central Asia rather than South Asia where the Indian subcontinent is located.

The base of Mughal Empire was in Afghanistan.

The Mughal were Muslims, and the Mughals were led by Babur who had come to power at just age 11 in 1494.

So let's make sure we have a secure understanding of what we've heard so far.

Where did the Mughals come from? Was it Central Asia, East Asia, or South Asia? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said the correct answer was a.

The Mughals came from Central Asia, and their base of power was located in Afghanistan.

And let's try another question.

What was the religion of Mughal leaders like Babur? Pause a video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said the correct answer was Islam.

Mughal leaders like Babur were Muslims who followed the Islamic faith.

Babur's ancestors included famous rulers of Asian empires.

Babur was a descendant of Genghis Khan, the Mongol leader, who had ruled over one of the largest empires in history.

Babur hoped to increase his own power by making conquests in northern India.

So let's try another question to make sure our understanding is really secure.

I want you to write the missing keyword from the following sentence.

Babur was a blank of Genghis Khan, the Mongol leader who had ruled over one of the largest empires in history.

So what's the missing word? Pause a video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said the missing keyword was "descendant." Babur was a descendant of Genghis Khan, the Mongol leader, who'd ruled over one of the largest empires in history.

Babur hoped to follow Genghis Khan's example and make his own conquests to increase his power.

So we're now in a good position for all of our knowledge about who the Mughals were into practise.

In 50 words or fewer, I want you to write a summary of who the Mughals were.

You may consider where they came from, who led them, and what they wanted to achieve.

So pause the video here and press play when you're ready to reflect on your response.

Okay, fantastic work on that task.

So I asked you in 50 words or fewer to write a summary of who the Mughals were and your answer may have included: The Mughals were led by Babur, who was a descendant of Genghis Khan.

The Mughals were Muslims who came from Central Asia.

Babur hoped to extend Mughal power and control by conquering parts of Northern India.

So really well done if your own summary looked something like that model which we've just seen.

What's really important is that you were referring to things, like where the Mughals came from, what they wanted to achieve and who led them.

And now we're ready to move on to the third and final part of our lesson for today where we are gonna think about founding an empire.

Between 1505 and 1525, Babur launched several invasions from his base in Afghanistan to try and conquer lands in northern India.

It was not until the fifth and final Mughal invasion, which began in 1525, that Babur found success.

In 1525, Babur launched his fifth and final invasion of Northern India as he aimed to take power away from the Delhi Sultanate and its leader Ibrahim Lodi.

Babur organised a strong army for the invasion and led 8,000 men, some of whom were armed with guns and cannons into India.

Initially, Babur faced little opposition.

This was because many people living in the Delhi Sultanate were unhappy with the rule of Ibrahim Lodi.

Lodi had removed some of the most important nobles from their positions of power, leaving many of them angry at him.

Some historians have even suggested that these angry nobles may have invited Babur to invade in 1525.

In any case, it is certain that many leading nobles in India simply refused to fight against the Mughal armies when they first arrived in India.

In April 1526, Babur's army fought against the forces of Ibrahim Lodi at the Battle of Panipat.

Unlike the Mughal army, Lodi soldiers were not armed with any guns or cannons, which were quite new technologies at the time.

By the middle of the day, Ibrahim Lodi had been killed and the armies of the Delhi Sultanate defeated.

This allowed Babur and Mughals to move on to the most important cities in the Delhi Sultanate, Delhi and Agra, and take control of them for themselves.

At this time, Babur also worked hard to win over the support of people living in the areas he had conquered.

For instance, the Mughals took care to protect the people living in both Agra and Delhi.

And Babur visited important religious sites in both cities to pay his own respects.

Many historians treat 1526 as the beginning of the Mughal Empire.

So let's check our understanding of what we've just heard.

We have a statement on the screen that reads some powerful groups in the Delhi Sultanate did not resist the Mughal invasion.

Is that statement true or false? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that that statement was true.

But we need to be able to justify our response.

So two justifications have appeared on the screen.

The first says that some nobles disliked the way Ibrahim Lodi ruled and refused to fight against the Mughals.

The second says that Ibrahim Lodi did not like his nobles and fought with the Mughals against his nobles.

So which one of those two justifications is correct? Pause video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said the correct justification was a.

Some nobles disliked the way Ibrahim Lodi ruled and refused to fight against the Mughals.

In fact, some historians have even suggested that it may have been some of the nobles in northern India who invited Babur to invade in the first place.

And let's try another question.

Who won the Battle of Panipat in 1526? Was it the Delhi Sultanate, the Mughals, or neither side? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said the correct answer was b.

In the Battle of Panipat, the Mughals defeated the armies of the Delhi Sultanate, and the leader of the Delhi Sultanate, Ibrahim Lodi, was killed.

Although Babur had defeated the armies of the Delhi Sultanate in 1526, other powers remained in northern India who opposed the arrival of the Mughals.

In particular, the Mughal conquests in India were opposed by Rana Sanga, the Hindu king of Mewar and the most powerful Rajput leader in northern India.

In 1527, Rana Sanga created an army that was over 80,000 men strong to attack Babur and Mughals.

Rana Sanga's army was mainly made up of non-Muslims and outnumbered the Mughal forces in India.

Nevertheless, when the two sides fought in 1527 at the Battle of Khanwa, the Rajputs were defeated, although both sides suffered very high losses during the fighting.

Unlike after the Battle of Panipat the previous year, the Mughals were not in a strong enough position to conquer the Rajput states after the Battle of Khanwa.

However, to try and increase the security of his rule in India, Babur did construct a tower and filled it with the skulls of his enemies after the battle.

Babur hoped that this would terrorise any opponents and discourage them from challenging him in future.

So let's check our understanding of what we've just heard.

What did Babur do with the tower he had built after the Battle of Khanwa? Did he fill it with treasure taken from Rana Sanga, fill it with the skulls of his enemies, or fill it with both Hindu and Muslim religious objects? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said the correct answer was b.

After the Battle of Khanwa, Babur had a tower constructed and filled it with the skulls of his enemies.

So we're now in a good position to put all of our knowledge from today's lesson into practise.

I want you to study Sam's view, which is given on the screen.

Sam says that Babur relied on violence to make his conquests in Northern India.

I want you to do two things with regards to this statement.

Firstly, I want you to explain one reason why Sam's view could be considered correct.

And then secondly, I want you to explain one reason why some historians might challenge Sam's view.

So pause video here, answer both of those questions and press play when you're ready to reflect on your responses.

Okay, well done for all of your effort on that task.

So we had Sam's view, which said Babur relied on violence to make his conquests in Northern India.

Firstly, I asked you to explain one reason why Sam's view could be considered correct, and your answer may have included: Sam's view could be considered correct because Babur had to achieve military victories to help him conquer Northern India.

For example, in 1526, the Mughals defeated the Delhi Sultanate at the Battle of Panipat, and a year later, Babur fought the Rajput kingdoms at the Battle of Khanwa.

This shows that violence was important to help extend Babur's control over Northern India.

And then I also asked you a second question.

Well, I asked you to explain one reason why some historians might challenge Sam's view.

Your answer may have included: Sam's view could be challenged because Babur's conquests also benefited from the weaknesses of others.

For example, many important Indian nobles were unhappy with the rule of Ibrahim Lodi and may have even invited Babur to invade in 1525.

This meant that the Mughal invasion faced less resistance than if Lodi had been popular, making it easier for the Mughals to conquer the Delhi Sultanate.

So really well done if your own responses look something like those two models which we've just seen.

And that means we've reached the end of today's lesson, which puts us in a good position to summarise our learning.

We've seen that many different states ruled over India at the start of the 16th century.

Babur was the leader of the Mughals who came from Central Asia.

Babur's invasion of India benefited from divisions within the Delhi Sultanate.

Most historians argue that the Mughal Empire was established by 1526, after Babur's victory at the Battle of Panipat, and Mughal victory over the Rajput kingdoms at the Battle of Khanwa in 1527 helped make the Mughal's conquests in India more secure.

So really well done for all of your hard work during today's lesson.

It's been a pleasure to help guide you through today's resources, and I look forward to seeing you again in future as we think further about the Mughal Empire and really ask ourselves, how important was violence to the Mughal conquests in India during the 16th and 17th centuries?.