Good Learning Co.
SavannahYear 8
← History
HistoryBritain in a wider world26 min★★ difficulty

A non-European contrast: Mughal India

While Tudor England was ruled from a small island kingdom, the Mughal Empire controlled a vast, wealthy and religiously diverse empire in South Asia.

Part of your national curriculum
  • Wider world history: Understand a study of a non-European society that provides historical contrasts with British history

Lesson overview

What you'll learn in this lesson

Understand a study of a non-European society that provides historical contrasts with British history

Key learning points

  • • Founding the empire
  • • Religious policy
  • • Wealth and architecture
  • • Government structure

This lesson at a glance

  • 26 minutes
  • 18 parts to scroll through
  • 3 quick checks
  • Marked quiz at the end
  • Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses

Words to know

non-europeansocietyprovideshistoricalcontrasts

Scroll down — the lesson carries on below

Part 1 of 18 · Discover6%
1

Watch & discover

Part 1 of 18

Watch first

A non-European contrast: Mughal India

An English teaching video on this topic from A. J. Merrick. Watch it, then scroll down for the lesson.

In a nutshell

Understand a study of a non-European society that provides historical contrasts with British history

2

What you already know

Part 2 of 18

Before we start

What you already know

You should already know that studying societies beyond Europe gives a fuller picture of the past.

Recap: A significant world society: ancient Benin
3

Key words

Part 3 of 18

Key words

Words you'll need today

Mughal Empire
The powerful South Asian empire founded in 1526.
Akbar
The emperor known for a policy of religious toleration.
Mansab
The ranked system organising Mughal officials and their duties.
Contrast
Comparing societies to see what is distinctive about each.
4

Learning cycle

Part 4 of 18

Learning cycle 1 of 2

Founding and governing

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

5

Explore the idea

Part 5 of 18

Learn

Founding the empire

The Mughal Empire was founded in 1526 when Babur defeated the Sultan of Delhi at the Battle of Panipat. At its height under rulers like Akbar the Great, it controlled most of the Indian subcontinent, far larger in population than Tudor England.

6

Explore the idea

Part 6 of 18

Learn

Religious policy

Akbar, who ruled from 1556 to 1605, promoted religious tolerance between Hindus and Muslims and even created a new syncretic faith, Din-i-Ilahi. This contrasts with Tudor England, where Henry VIII and his successors enforced religious conformity, sometimes violently.

7

Quick check

Part 7 of 18

Quick check

Who founded the Mughal Empire in 1526?

8

Reset break

Part 8 of 18

Pause

That's sitting 1 of 2 done

Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.

Stop here for now
9

Quick check

Part 9 of 18

Quick check

What did Akbar promote during his reign?

10

Learning cycle

Part 10 of 18

Learning cycle 2 of 2

Wealth and administration

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

11

Explore the idea

Part 11 of 18

Learn

Wealth and architecture

Mughal India was extraordinarily wealthy from trade in textiles and spices, funding grand architecture such as the Taj Mahal, built by Shah Jahan from 1632 as a mausoleum for his wife Mumtaz Mahal. Its scale dwarfed anything built in Tudor or early Stuart Britain.

12

Explore the idea

Part 12 of 18

Learn

Government structure

The Mughals governed through a centralised bureaucracy called the mansabdari system, ranking officials by military and administrative duty. Comparing this to England's developing Parliament highlights very different paths towards organising a large state.

13

Quick check

Part 13 of 18

Quick check

What did Shah Jahan build from 1632?

14

Common mix-ups

Part 14 of 18

Common mix-ups

Things people often get wrong

  • People often see Mughal India through later British rule. It was a wealthy, powerful empire in its own right.
  • People often assume toleration was constant. Policy varied sharply between emperors.
15

Challenge round

Part 15 of 18

Game · Sort it

Which of these are true?

Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.

True

Not true

16

Challenge round

Part 16 of 18

Game · Fill the gaps

Finish the sentences

Choose the word that belongs in each gap.

This ____ with Tudor England, where Henry VIII and his successors enforced religious conformity, sometimes violently.

17

Mastery quiz

Part 17 of 18

Marked quiz

End of lesson quiz: A non-European contrast: Mughal India

6 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.

  1. 1. The Mughal Empire was founded in…

  2. 2. Akbar is best known for…

  3. 3. The Taj Mahal shows Mughal…

  4. 4. Mughal government used a system of…

  5. 5. Religious policy under the Mughals…

  6. 6. Contrast studies are valuable because they…

18

Lesson round-up

Part 18 of 18

Lesson round-up

Ready when you are

Quiz score

Not sat

Games

Not played

Points this lesson

0

Best run

0 in a row

Luna: 0 out of 3 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?

Ask Luna

Do the work

Your written work for this lesson

This is the part you'd do in your book at school. Pick the pieces below, write here or on paper, and photograph anything you draw or work out.

Source

A factory inspector's notebook, 1842

"I visited the mill at seven in the morning. The machines were already running. I counted fourteen children at the frames, the youngest no more than nine years of age. The overseer told me they work from six until seven, with forty minutes for dinner."

"The air is thick with cotton dust and the windows are kept shut so the thread does not break. Two of the children showed me hands cut by the shuttles. The owner assured me that the work is light and that the families beg him for the places, since without the children's wages the rent cannot be paid."

"I have written to the magistrates. I doubt much will follow from it."

Original source-style text written for Good Learning Co.

Reading questions

  1. Who wrote this, when, and why might that make it useful to a historian?
  2. What does the source tell you about children's work — and what does it not tell you?
  3. How far does this source show that mill owners were to blame? Answer with a judgement and evidence.

  • Source work

    Reading

    Read the source closely. Write who made it, when, and what it tells you — then what it does not tell you.

    2 paragraphs

  • Essay answer

    Writing

    Answer the enquiry question with a clear judgement. Use two pieces of evidence and finish with a sentence that weighs them up.

    300–400 words

  • Timeline

    Diagram

    Draw a timeline of the events in this lesson with dates, then photograph it.

    6–8 events

Saved as you type.

Part 1 of 18 · Watch & discover

How this is going

  • Not looked at yet

    Understand a study of a non-European society that provides historical contrasts with British history

Good Learning Co. — personalised UK curriculum learning, built around what each learner loves.