Education in subcontinent during Mughal Period

Babur (1530---1530) the first Mughal ruler, was a man of literary taste and possessed perfect
knowledge of Persian, Arabic and Turkish. His memoirs, is a work of great literary importance.

He had great love for education and got a number of schools and colleges repaired. He also set
up a number of new educational institutions. Despite his great love for education, Babar could
not accomplish much because his reign lasted only for four years.

Hamayun (1530—1556 A.D.) was also a great scholar like his father. He provided patronage to
man of arts and literature. In spite of many political difficulties, he rendered valuable service to
the cause of education. He established a college at Delhi and appointed Shaikh Hussain as its
Principal.

Akbar (1556----1605) the great Mughal ruler, showed much greater interest in education. It
would not be wrong to say that his reign marked the beginning of a new chapter in the history
of education for Muslim India, Though, Akbar was not himself much educated, he showed a
great love for the scholars and education.

During his reign, subjects like philosophy, history, literature and arts made tremendous
progress.

Jahangir (1605-----1627) the successor of Akbar, was also a great lover of learning. He himself
possessed a command over Persian and also knew Turkish. He was fond of literary and cultural
persons and showed great regard to them.

Shah Jahan (1627-----1658) was an educated person and gave great encouragement to scholars
and spread of education. He set up a Madrasa near Jama Masjid at Delhi His son, Dara Shikoh
was a great scholar. He had mastered languages like Arabic, Persian and Sanskrit he has been
described by the scholars as the rarest literary jewels produced by India.

Aurangzeb (1658------1707) the last great Mughal Emperor, was also educated and had love for
education. However, he spent most of the funds for the education of the Muslim subjects.
Thus, he tried to extend his orthodoxy to the field of education and neglected Hindus. He gave
liberal grants to poor children belonging to Muslim families.

The later Mughal rulers also paid much attention towards education. Rulers like Bahadur Shah I,
Mohammad Shah, Shah Alam II, Bahadur Shah II were all great patron of education and noted
for their literary knowledge.