Mughal chronicles provide us important information about the empire in chronological order. These chronicles were written for a number of reasons like to convey the ideology of emperor, to keep a record of their prosperous history etc. Some distinct features of Mughal chronicles are –

• Most authors of these chronicles focused on events related to the ruler, his family, administration, royal court, wars etc. For these authors history of the empire was synonymous with that of the Emperor. Akbar Nama, Shah Jahan Nama are two examples of these kinds of chronicles.

• Mughals were Chagatai Turks from origin and Babur, the first Mughal emperor wrote in his native Turkish. Under Akbar Persian became the leading language of court and most of the chronicles since then were written in Persian.

• All of these books containing chronicles were handwritten and were written at different kitabkhanas sanctioned by the emperor.

• Several paintings were used to describe things and communicate ideas that were difficult to express in words.

• Calligraphy was considered very important and was practiced using different styles. Nastaliq style was the favourite of emperor Akbar.

• These chronicles were written in a way to promote the legitimacy of Mughal kingship and also to convey the message that any attempt of resistance is destined to fail.