The Mughal Empire

THE MUGHAL EMPIRE
1. BABAR (1526-1530):-
• Conquest of Samarkand in Transoxiana forced Babar to move towards Hindustan & an invitation issued by Alam Khan, an uncle of Ibrahim Lodi & a pretender to throne of Delhi helped.
• He defeated Ibrahim Lodi in first Battle of Panipat in 1526.
• Babar succeeded because:-
• Cavalry he had
• He rearranged his soldiers in such a way that they could be easily moved from one part of the Battle to the other &
• He was a good general
• He defeated Rana Sanga in Battle of Khanwa in 1527.
• Before he died in 1530 he had made himself the master of the Punjab, Delhi & Ganga planis as far as Bihar.
• He wrote Tuzuk-i-Babari in Turkish his autobiography




2. HUMAYUN (1530-1540):-
• He was inherited a vast unconsolidated empire & an empty treasury & also had to deal with growing power of Afgans in east
• Afgan resistence rallied round Sher Shah who had Bihar under his complex control. Soon he conquered Bengal
• Bahadur Shah, ruler of Gujarat paid heavy subsidies to Sher Shah; this enabled him to raise a large army & challenge Humayun
• Humayun succeeded in conquering provinces of Gujarat & Malwa to eliminate threat posed by Bahadur Shah
• However he failed to consolidate the power their
• In two battles fought against Sher Shah at Chausa (1539) & Kanauj (1540), he was completely defeated & passed near 12 years of his life in exile
• In 1555, he regained throne of Delhi from weak successors of Sher Shah but died in 1556 as a result of an accident

3. AKBAR (1556-1605):-
• At 13, he became Sultan; his tutor – Bairam Khan
• His first conflict was with Hemu, a general of Adil Shah at Second Battle of Panipat (1556) between Bairam Khan & Hemu; Hemu was defeated
• He annexed the kingdom of Malwa. Soon most of Rajput rajas recognized the suzerainty of Akbar
• Only Mewar continued to resist under Rana Pratap & his son Amar Singh
• He abolished pilgrimage tax in 1563 & Jazia in 1564
• He conquered Gujarat (1572-73) & Bengal (1574-76). By 1596 Kashmir, Sind, Orissa, central India & Qandhar
• He campaigned for 8 years in Deccan & finally annexed Khandesh, Berar & parts of kingdom of Ahmednagar
• ADMINISTRATION:-
• Organised nobility & his army by means of Manasbdari system
• Mansabs were divided into two zat & sawar
• Sat – personal – whereby states & salary of individual was fixed
• Sawar – no. of cavalrymen (sawars) – mansabdar was paid at a rate of Rs. 240 per annum over & above his salary. Mansab was not hereditary – distinguished by 2 features – for every 10 cavlrymen, mansabdar had to maintain 20 horses & provision was mad that the contingents of nobles should be mixed ones, that is drawn from all the groups – Mughal, Pathan, Hindustani & Rajput
• This was intended to weaken spirit of tribal & ethnic exclusiveness
•  LAND REVENUE:-
• Initially he adopted Sher Shah’s system. However his administration strove to make the rates realistic
• In 1580, he instituted a new system called Dahsala – average produce of different crops & their average prices prevailing over the last 10 years were calculated & 1/3rd of average produce fixed in rupees per bigha was demanded as state’s share
• Asam – revenue upon individual cultivator
• ORGANIZATION OF GOVERNMENT:-
• Diwan / wazir – head of revenue dept
• Mir Bakshi – head of military dept
• Mir Saman – in charge of imperial household
• Qazi – chief of judicial dept
• Sadar – responsibilities for charitable & religious endowments. Sometimes combined with qazi
• Empire was divided in 12 Subhas in 1580. Subha – sarkars – paraganas – villages
• Subhedar, diwan, bakshi, sadar, qazi & waqia-navis (news reporters) were appointed for each subha
• Kotwal – in charge of town administration & responsible for catching criminals, inspecting weights & measuremens & keeping register of all persons living in neighborhood including visiting foreigners
• RELIGIOUS IDEAS:-
• Build the Ibadat Khana / hall of prayer in 1575
• His aim was to ascertain the truth, to find out & disclose the principles of genuine religion
• These religious discussions in Ibadat Khana led to declaration of Mahzar Nama (1579)
• Tauhid-i-Ilahi – literally means divine monotheism
• He believed in policy of Sulk-i-kul or peace to all


4. JAHANGIR (1605-1627):-
• Strengthened Mughal control over Bengal
• 4 successive campaigns between 1600-13 force Amar Singh of Mewar to accept Mughal suzerainty
• Towards the end of his reign, Jahangir had to deal with rebellion of Shah Jahan, his son
• Coins were issued jointly in names of Jahangir & Nur Jahan


5. SHAH JAHAN (1628-1658):-
• Firstly he had to face revolts in Bundelkhand & Deccan
• Finally kingdom of Ahmednagar was annexed (1633)
• Bijapur & Golconda signed a treaty of peace in 1636
• Appointed his son Aurangzeb, as Viceroy of Deccan
• Recovered Qandhar from Iranis in 1638, but lost it again in 1649
• In 1657, Aurangzeb his 3rd son emerged the victorious after defeating Dara Sikoh at Battle of Dharmat
• Shah Jahan was imprisoned in Agra Fort, till his death in 1666


6. AURANGJEB (1658-1707):-
• Ruled almost 50 years; during his long reign Mughal empire reached its territorial climax
• From Kashmir to Jinji in south & from Hindukush to Chittagong in east


7. EMERGENCE OF MARATHAS:-
• SHIVAJI:-
• Most powerful of Maratha chiefs
• Aurangzeb appointed Jai Singh of Amber to deal with him
• In 1665, Purander Fort in heart of Shivaji’s territory was besieged by Jai Singh & a treaty was signed between two
• He was crowned Chattrapati in 1647
• SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT:-
• Governed by king, advised & assisted by a council of eight ministers – the Ashta Pradhan headed by Peshwa as a Prime Minister
• Peasants & cultivators paid 2/5th of their produce to the state
• Chauth – 1/4th of total revenue paid to Mughal government / Deccan kingdoms, which was taken in return for promising not to plunder & raid their territory
• Sardeshmukhi – additional 1/10th
• AURANGZEB & MARATHA POWER:-
• Shivaji’s successors were weak & government gradually moved in to hands of Peshwas
• After death of Aurangzeb, Marathas rose in great strength & became a dominant power in India
• Aurangzeb annexed Bijapur & Golconda in 1686 & 1687 respectively
• In 1689, Sambhaji, was captured & executed & his infant son Shivaji II better known as Shahu, was taken captie by Aurangzeb
• Rajaram, Sambhaji’s brother sought refuge at Jinji on west coast & continued to resist the Mughals
• When he died in 1700, he was succeeded by his minor son Shivaji III under regency of Tarabai, his mother
• In civil war that broke out Shahu emerged victorious with help of Balaji Vishwanath, founder of the line of Peshwa
• INTERNAL REBELLION:-
• Aurangzeb had to deal with rebellion of Jats in Mathura region in 1666
• Later in 18th century, Jats carved out an independent principality in the area
• Rulers of Mewar & Marwar weaken the Mughal alliances
• Aurangzeb ordered execution of Guru Tegh Bahadur in 1675. This naturally enraged Sikhs. So the tenth & last Guru, Guru Govind Singh founded the military brotherhood or Khalsa (pure) in 1699 to defend the panth


DECLINE OF THE MUGHAL EMPIRE (1706-61)
• Aurangzeb’s successors were weak & increasingly became mere tool in the hands of nobles, who began to play the role of kingmakers
• For instance Jahander Shah, one of four sons of Bahadur Shah also emerged victorious; supported by Zulfiqar Khan, a prominent noble
• Later, Jahander Shah was defeated by his nephew Farrukhsiyar; who was supported by the Sayyid brothers & later murdered by them
• Shah Alam I spent his initial years away from his capital. Taking advantage this Rajputs, Sikhs & Afghans openly defied authority of Mughal empire
• Rajput principality Amber, rose under Sawai Jai Singh (1699-1743), who founded the new city of Jaipurin 1728
• He was deeply interested in Mathematics & Science
• He got Euclid’s ‘Elements of Geometry’ translated to Sanskrit  & built 5 astronomical observatories in India, for instance the Jantar Mantar or House of Instruments at Jaipur
• Governors of Hyderabad, Bengal & Avadh established independent kingdoms & Marathas, recognized new system of government that of Brahmin ministers – Peshwas, they were gradually extending their control towards North India
• At the same time foreign invasions such as those of Nadir Shah (1729) & Ahmed Shah Abdali (1747-61) further weakened empire
• Marathas were defeated in Third Battle of Panipat in 1761 by Ahmed Shah Abdali
• Mughals now reduced to the area around Delhi & continued to rule in name until 1857




1. CAUSES FOR THE DECLINE:-
• Aurangzeb’s long reign of constant & uninterrupted fighting was not only big drain on exchequer, it also led to negligence of administration
• There was neither enough money nor Jagirs to assign to various officers. This led to rivalry among the nobles for possession of existing Jagirs
• Officers invariably reduced their expenditure by not maintaining their full quota of troops, thus weakening the empire’s armed strength


2. SOURCE MATERIAL:-
• For Mughal there is plethora of original sources in different languages, besides archaeological, epigraphic & numismatic sources

Author	Book
Babar	Tuzuk-i-Babari
Mirza Muhammd Haider	Tarikh-i-Rashindi (1551)
Khwand Amir	Humayun Nama (1534)
Gulbadan Begum (Babar’s daughter)	Danum-i-Humayun & Humayun Namah (1587)



Afghan histories of Lodis & Surs throw lignt on Afghan conception of Sovereignty & system of government

Author	Book
Abdulla	Tarikh-i-Daudi
Rizqullah	Waqiat-i-Mshtaqi (1572-73)
Abbas Sherwani	Tarikh-i-Sher Shahi
Shaikh Abul Fazal	Akbar nama (1596) & Ain-i-Akbari (1602)
Khwaja Nizamuddin Ahmed Bakshi	Tabaqat-i-Akbari
Abdul Qadir Badauni	Muntakhabut Tawarikh
Jahangir	Tuzuk-i-Jahngiri
Muhammad Khan	Iqbalnama-i-Jahngiri
Official historiographer of Shah Jahan compiled	Pashahnamas
Muhammad Salih Kambu	Amal-i-Salih
Sadiq Khan	Tarikh-i-Shahajahani
Chandra Bhan Brahmin	Chahar Chaman
Mirza Nathan	Baharistan-i-Ghaibi



Aurangzeb’s reign

Author	Book
Munshi Mirza Muhammad	Alamgir-Nama
Md. Saqi Mustaid Khan	Maasir-i-Alamgiri
Khafi Khan	Muntakhabul Lubah
Bhimsen Burhampur	Nushpa-i-Dilkhusha