What language did Mughals speak?

 The Mughal rulers, who established and ruled over the Mughal Empire in South Asia from the 16th to the 19th centuries, primarily spoke Persian and later adopted a version of the Turkic language known as Chagatai Turkic. The Mughal Empire was founded by Babur, a descendant of Timur and Genghis Khan, who originally spoke Chagatai Turkic.

During the early years of the Mughal Empire, Persian served as the court language and was widely used for administrative and literary purposes. Persian was the language of culture, administration, and diplomacy in the Mughal court. Akbar the Great (reigned from 1556 to 1605), one of the most prominent Mughal emperors, was known for his patronage of the arts and the promotion of Persian as a language of literature and administration.

As the Mughal Empire progressed, a synthesis of Persian and local Indian languages, particularly Urdu, emerged. Urdu, which evolved as a language with influences from Persian, Arabic, and various Indian languages, became a significant medium of communication in the later Mughal period.

It's important to note that while Persian and Chagatai Turkic were languages of the Mughal court and administration, the people of the Indian subcontinent spoke a variety of languages. The Mughals ruled over a diverse population with different linguistic and cultural backgrounds, and regional languages continued to be spoken alongside the court languages.

The use of Persian as a court language persisted until the decline of the Mughal Empire in the 19th century. With the advent of British rule in India, Persian gradually lost its official status, and English became the language of administration. Urdu continued to evolve and played a significant role in the cultural and literary heritage of the region.