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The Mughal period

era

Mughal rule reshaped the cities of the Indus basin. Lahore gained its fort, Shalimar Gardens and Badshahi Mosque; Thatta and Sindh developed tiled tomb architecture; and the Grand Trunk Road carried trade from Bengal to Kabul. Later Mughal weakness after 1707 left the provinces to regional powers.

Period
1526 CE to 1857 CE
Focus
Lahore, Thatta and the imperial road

Last updated

Quick facts about The Mughal period
Period1526 CE to 1857 CE[1]
FocusLahore, Thatta and the imperial road[1]

The Mughal period: overview

Mughal rule reshaped the cities of the Indus basin. Lahore gained its fort, Shalimar Gardens and Badshahi Mosque; Thatta and Sindh developed tiled tomb architecture; and the Grand Trunk Road carried trade from Bengal to Kabul. Later Mughal weakness after 1707 left the provinces to regional powers.

Timeline

  1. 1541

    Rohtas Fort begun

    Sher Shah Suri builds Rohtas near Jhelum during the Mughal interregnum.

  2. 1641

    Shalimar Gardens laid out

    Shah Jahan's terraced garden is completed at Lahore.

  3. 1673

    Badshahi Mosque completed

    Aurangzeb's congregational mosque is finished in Lahore.

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era

  • Durrani and Sikh rule

    1747 — Durrani empire founded

    Ahmad Shah Durrani's Afghan state claimed Peshawar, Kashmir and much of the Punjab from 1747. Sikh misls consolidated under Ranjit Singh, who took Lahore in 1799 and ruled the Punjab until his death in 1839. British annexation after the Anglo-Sikh wars ended independent rule in 1849.

Peaks

  • K2

    1856 — Surveyed and numbered

    K2 is the second highest mountain on Earth at 8,611 metres, standing on the border between Gilgit-Baltistan in Pakistan and the Xinjiang region of China. It anchors the Karakoram range above the Baltoro Glacier, and its steep pyramid shape, thin weather windows and severe winter conditions make it far harder to climb than Everest despite being lower.

Browse the master chronology of Pakistan

Sources

  1. [1]Rohtas Fort — UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Accessed 2026-08-30.
  2. [2]Fort and Shalamar Gardens in Lahore — UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Accessed 2026-08-30.
  3. [3]Mughal dynasty — Encyclopaedia Britannica. Accessed 2026-08-30.
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