In the early 16th century, northern India

In the early 16th century, northern India, then under mainly Muslim rulers,[116] fell again to the superior mobility and firepower of a new generation of Central Asian warriors.[117] The resulting Mughal Empire did not stamp out the local societies it came to rule.

Instead, it balanced and pacified them through new administrative practices[118][119] and diverse and inclusive ruling elites,[120] leading to more systematic, centralised, and uniform rule.[121] Eschewing tribal bonds and Islamic identity, especially under Akbar, the Mughals united their far-flung realms through loyalty, expressed through a Persianised culture, to an emperor who had near-divine status.[120] The Mughal state’s economic policies, deriving most revenues from agriculture[122] and mandating that taxes be paid in the well-regulated silver currency,[123] caused peasants and artisans to enter

larger markets.[121] The relative peace maintained by the empire during much of the 17th century was a factor in India’s economic expansion,[121] resulting in greater patronage of painting, literary forms, textiles, and architecture.[124] Newly coherent social groups in northern and western India, such as the Marathas, the Rajputs, and the Sikhs, gained military and gov

erning ambitions during Mughal rule, which, through collaboration or adversity, gave them both recognition and military experience.[125] Expanding commerce during Mughal rule gave rise to new Indian commercial and political elites along the coasts of southern and eastern India.[125] As the empire disintegrated, many among these elites were able to seek and control their own affairs.[126]