Talk:Mughal Empire

The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

The result of the move request was: not moved. Closed per WP:SNOWBALL. (non-admin closure) — Raihanur (talk) 02:05, 19 July 2026 (UTC)

Mughal Empire → Gurkani Empire – I believe we should change the title of the page, and its content, to the Gurkani empire. Within the contents, both of them are fine so people are aware its the same empire, but the official name should be Gurkani. There are many reasons for this, and I will list some of them below.

Mughal is the colloquial term for Mongol, and the Timurids, although claiming descent from the Genghisids, were far more Turkic Uzbeks, both culturally and ethnically by the time of Babur, rather than Mongols. The Timurids, starting from Timur himself, considered themselves Gurkanis, and it was their formal title as attested to from various historical documents. I understand that Mughal has come to be widely associated with the dynasty, but the name is simply inaccurate, and the Timurids or Gurkanis themselves never referred to themselves as Mughals. They were Timurids, ie descendants of Timur in our Uzbek naming tradition, or Gurkanis, which they self styled themselves as. Thank you. . You don't need to add your signature at the end, as this template will do so automatically. ATYHAC (talk) 18:25, 17 July 2026 (UTC)

Oppose. We have to go by what the English language sources call the empire. What a foreign language community calls itself is not relevant to how it's named in English Wikipedia. If an ethnic group is known by a slur in English-language literature, then there's a case for changing to a respectful name even if most of the sources don't use that name. But this is just a case of "incorrect" or "not how those people described themselves". That's not a good enough argument in itself: we talk in a reference book about the Ancient Greeks even though those people did not call themselves by that name. MartinPoulter (talk) 19:41, 17 July 2026 (UTC)

I believe the name "Mughal" is inherently racist. Mughal refers to an entirely different ethnic group which shares similar features with the Turks, the Mongols. Referring to a family of Turks as Mongols is no different than referring to a family of Vietnamese people as Chinese. Especially when we have an alternative name for them even besides Gurkani, that being Timurids, which we call the initial empire anyways. I dont think the Ancient Greeks example stands as the Gurkanis are a family, the empire is named after them, like the Ottomans in the west. ATYHAC (talk) 19:48, 17 July 2026 (UTC)

We have a policy. Please take a look at the first two WP:CRITERIA. MartinPoulter (talk) 23:12, 17 July 2026 (UTC)

Perhaps not Gurkani for recognizability among english speakers, but something like the Eastern Timurid Empire or the Later Timurid Empire, or even the Baburid Emmpire would suffice. We can always keep a redirecting link up for people that search for the Mughal Empire. ATYHAC (talk) 01:43, 18 July 2026 (UTC)

Not happening - snow close somebody please. Johnbod (talk) 20:55, 17 July 2026 (UTC)

Yes, snow close it. A waste of time. Srnec (talk) 02:11, 18 July 2026 (UTC)

Agreed. Snow close. Fowler&fowler«Talk» 03:38, 18 July 2026 (UTC)

Oppose. Everyone calls it "the Mughal Empire". WP:COMMONNAME. Regardless of the technical etymology of the term, Wikipedia is ultimately descriptivist. We use the terms and names which see the most common use, regardless of any endonym/exonym concerns, or the historical baggage the most common terms may carry. And if scholarly consensus will ever overturn the use of the term "Mughal" to describe the empire, Wikipedia will follow suit. Hugo P. Behrmann (☎) 18:57, 18 July 2026 (UTC)