So, "what primarily contributed to the decline of the Mughal Empire?" Assuming the Mughal Empire never showed any major improvement in terms of social, economic and political stability after Akbar's rule, it can be asserted that economic decline primarily contributed to the decline of Mughal Empire although some historians predict the non-economic factors like, Aurangzeb's policies, degeneration of nobility and inefficient military to be the key causes.
Emperors spent lavishly to satisfy their interests and desires. The ideal example, Jahangir, preferred the comforts and pleasures of the imperial court to the battlefield. He loved hunting and constructing gardens in Lahore and Kashmir and exhausted enormous treasury on partly rebuilding and designing Akbar's tomb. He permitted the ltimad-ud-Daulah's tomb to be constructed under the direction of his wife, Nur Jahan. His descendent, Shah Jahan who is still recognised by the world as the founder of the Great Taj Mahal, was a prolific builder and as a result spent a vast sum of treasury on buildings to expose his creativity. He utilised the piettraduro method on a large scale in Taj Mahal and depleted millions of dollars worth of resources by building the Jama Masjid and the red fort. Apart from the profligate emperors, uncountable warfares also drained the economy to the extent where there were insufficient wealth to acquire new weapons and other warfare resources to stay competent with the rivals, especially the British. They clashed aggressively with the Safavids over Qandhar Fortress in Northwest .Aurangzeb's Maratha warfare, the Jat Peasantry of Mathura in 1669 and Nadir Shah's invasion of Iran in 1739 depict some of the grand scale wars fought by the Mughals. Although some of them were not at all constructive to the Mughals, the emperors still conducted incessant warfares that were aimed at the expansion of territories.
