Before the British occupation of South Asia the predominant force that ruled a majority of the continent was the Mughal empire, which originated in Ferghana (modern day Uzbekistan).

The cultural and religious capital of this empire lay in Bukhara due to the established silk trade routes from the Far East to the Mediterranean. This Indo-Islamic power had control over most of Asia and the city of Bukhara was the melting pot for all these cultures and their cuisines, as this great power vanished so did much of its culinary inventions, but some aspects of this style survived in Northern India which have since come to be known as 'Mughlai Khanna' (food of the Mughals).