THE MUGHAL EMPIRE

1. Babur (1526-1530)

• Babur (Zahiruddin Muhammad) was the founder of the Mughal Empire in India.
• He was related to Timur from his father’s side and Chengiz Khan through his mother.
• He succeeded his father Umar Shaikh Mirza as the ruler of Farghana but he was soon defeated by his distant relative as a result he lost his kingdom.
• He became a wanderer for some time till he captured Kabul from one of his uncles. Then, he took an interest in conquering India and launched four expeditions between 1519 and 1523.

Military Conquests

• On the eve of Babur’s invasion of India, there were five prominent Muslim rulers the Sultans of Delhi, Gujarat, Malwa, Bengal and the Deccan, two prominent Hindu Rulers Rana Sangha of Mewar and the Vijayanagar Empire.
• Once again by the end of 1525, Babur started from Kabul to conquer India.
• He occupied Lahore easily by defeating its governor, Daulat Khan Lodi.
• Then he proceeded against Delhi where Ibrahim Lodi was the Sultan. On 21^st April 1526, the first Battle of Panipat took place between Babur and Ibrahim Lodi was killed in the Battle.
• Babur was due his cavalry and artillery and occupied Delhi and sent his son Humayun to seize Agra and proclaimed himself as “Emperor of Hindustan”.
• His subsequent victories over Rana Sangha and the Afghans secured his position as the ruler of India. Rana Sangha of Mewar was a great Rajput warrior.
• He marched against Babur and in the Battle of Khanua (near Agra) held in 1527 Babur won a decisive victory over him. Babur assumed the title, of Ghazi.
• In 1528, Babur captured Chanderi from another Rajput ruler Medini Rai.
• In the next year, Babur defeated the Afghans in the Battle of Gogra in Bihar. Through these victories, Babur consolidated his power in India. Babur died at Agra in 1530 at the age of forty-seven.

Estimate of Babur

• Babur was a great statesman and a man of solid achievements. He was also a great scholar in Arabic and Persian languages.
• Turki was his mother tongue and wrote his memoirs, Tuzuk-i-Baburi in the Turki language.
• It provides a vivid account of India and frankly confesses his failures without suppressing any facts.
• He was also a naturalist and described the flora and fauna of India.

2. Humayun (1530-1540)

• Humayun was the eldest son of Babur. Humayun means “fortune” but he remained the most unfortunate ruler of the Mughal Empire.
• He had three brothers, Kamran, Askari and Hindal.
• He divided the empire among his brothers but this proved to be a great blunder on his part. Kamran was given Kabul and Kandahar. Sambhal and Alwar were given to Askari and Hindal.
• He was busy fighting the Afghans in the east and got the news that Bahadur Shah of Gujarat was advancing towards Delhi.
• He hastily concluded a treaty with the Afghan leader Sher Khan (Sher Shah) and proceeded towards Gujarat.
• He captured Gujarat from Bahadur Shah and appointed Askari as its governor but soon Bahadur Shah recovered Gujarat from Askari who fled from there.
• In the meantime, Sher Khan became powerful in the east.
• Humayun marched against him and in the battle of Chausa, held in 1539, Sher Khan destroyed the Mughal Army and Humayun escaped from there.
• Humayun reached Agra to negotiate with his brothers but as they were not cooperative, Humayun was forced to fight with Sher Khan alone in the Battle of Bilgram (Battle of Kanauj) in 1540.
• He was defeated by Sher Khan after losing his kingdom and became an exile for the next fifteen years.

3. Sur Interregnum (1540-1555)

Sher Shah Sur (1540-1545)

Sher Shah’s Administration

1. Diwan-i-Wizarat also called Wazir-in charge of Revenue and Finance.
2. Diwan-i-Ariz- in charge of the Army
3. Diwan-i- Rasalat- Foreign Minister
4. Diwan-i-Insha-Minister for Communications.

• His empire was divided into forty-seven sarkars. Chief Shiqdar (law and order) and Chief Munsif (judge) were the two officers in charge of the administration in each sarkar. Each sarkar wad divided into several paraganas.
• Shiqdar (Military officer), Amin (land revenue), and Fotedar (treasurer) Karkuns (accountants) were in charge of the administration of each Pargana. There were also many administrative units called iqtas.
• The land revenue administration was well organized under Sher Shar.
• The land survey was carefully done. All cultivable lands were classified into three classes, good, middle and bad.
• The state’s share was one-third of the average production and it was paid in cash or crop.
• His revenue reforms increased the revenue of the state.
• Shar Shah introduced new silver coins called “Dam” and they were in circulation till 1835.

He also improved communications by laying four important highways. They were:

1. Sonargaon to Sind
2. Agra to Burhampur
3. Jodhpur to Chittor and
4. Lahore to Multan

• Rest houses were built on the highways for the convenience of the travellers.
• Police were efficiently reorganized and crime was less during his regime.
• The military administration was also efficiently reorganized and Sher Shah borrowed many ideas like the branding of horses from Alauddin Khaliji.

Estimate of Sher Shah

• He remained a pious Muslim and generally tolerant towards other religions.
• He employed Hindus in important offices and was also a patron of art and architecture.
• He built a new city on the banks of the river Yamuna near Delhi.
• Now the old fort called Purana Qila and its mosque are alone surviving.
• He also built a Mausoleum at Sasaram, which is considered one of the masterpieces of Indian architecture and patronized the learned men.
• Malik Muhammad Jayasi wrote the famous Hindi work Padmavat during his reign.
• After he died in 1545 his successors ruled till 1555 when Humayun reconquered India.

4. Humayun (1555-1556)

• He left India in 1540; he married Hamida Banu Begum on his way to Sind.
• When they stayed in Amorkot, a Hindu Kingdom ruled by Rana Prasad, Akbar was born in 1542.
• He proceeded to Iran and sought help from its ruler and later defeated his brothers, Kamran and Askari.
• In the meantime, the Sur dynasty in India was declining rapidly.
• In 1555, he defeated the Afghans and recovered the Mughal throne.
• After six months, he died in 1556 due to his fall from the staircase of his library.
• Although Humayun was not a good General and warrior, he was kind and generous.
• He has also learned and is a student of mathematics, astronomy and astrology.
• He also loved painting and wrote poetry in the Persian language.

5. Akbar (1556-1605)

• Akbar was one of the greatest monarchs of India and he succeeded to the throne after his father Humayun’s death.
• But his position was dangerous because Delhi was seized by the Afghans.
• Their commander-in-chief, Hemu, was in charge of it.
• In the second Battle of Panipat in 1556, Hemu was almost on the point of victory. But an arrow pierced his eye and he became unconscious and his army fled and the fortune favoured Akbar. The Mughal victory was decisive.
• During the first five years of Akbar’s reign, Bairam Khan acted as his regent. He consolidated the Mughal Empire.
• After five years he was removed by Akbar due to court intrigues and sent to Mecca. But on his way, Bairam was killed by an Afghan.
• Akbar’s military conquests were extensive. He conquered northern India from Agra to Gujarat and then from Agra to Bengal and strengthened the northwest frontier. Later, he went to the Deccan.

6. Relations with Rajputs

• The Rajput policy of Akbar was notable and he married the Rajput princess the daughter of Raja Bharamal.
• It was a turning point in the history of the Mughals. Rajputs served the Mughals for four generations.
• Many of them rose to the positions of military generals. Raja Bhagawan Das and Raja Man Singh were given senior positions in the administration by Akbar. One by one, all Rajput states submitted to Akbar.
• But the Ranas of Mewar continued to defy despite several defeats.
• In the Battle of Haldighati, Rama Pratap Singh was severely defeated by the Mughal army led by Man Singh in 1576.
• Following the defeat of Mewar, most of the leading Rajput rulers accepted Akbar’s suzerainty.
• Akbar’s Rajput policy was combined with broad religious toleration. He abolished the pilgrim tax and later the Jiziya.
• The Rajput policy of Akbar proved to be beneficial to the Mughal state as well as to the Rajputs.
• The alliance secured the Mughals the services of the bravest warriors.
• On the other hand, it ensured peace in Rajasthan and several Rajputs who joined the Mughal service rose to important positions.

7. Religious Policy

• Akbar rose to fame in the pages of history due to his religious policy. Various factors were responsible for his religious ideas.
• The most important among them were his early contacts with the Sufi saints, the teachings of his tutor Abdul Latif, his marriage with Rajput women, his association with intellectual giants like Shaikh Mubarak and his two illustrious sons Abul Faizi and Abul Fazl and his ambition to establish an empire in Hindustan.
• Akbar was a pious Muslim at the beginning of his life.
• Soon after marrying Jodh Bai of Amber, he abolished the pilgrim tax and in 1562, he abolished Jiziya and allowed his Hindu wives to worship their gods.
• He became a sceptical Muslim and in 1575 he ordered the construction of Ibadat Khana (House of worship) at his new capital Fatehpur Sikri.
• Akbar invited learned scholars from all religions like Hinduism, Jainism, Christianity and Zoroastrianism.
• He disliked the interference of the Muslim Ulemas in political matters and 1579 he issued the “Infallibility Decree” by which he asserted his religious powers.
• In 1582, he promulgated a new religion called Din Ilahi or Divine Faith. It believes in one God.
• It contained good points about all religions. Its basis was rational. It upholds no dogma and aims at bridging the gulf that separates different religions.
• However, his new faith proved to be a failure. It fizzled out after his death.
• Even during his lifetime, it had only fifteen followers including Birbal. Akbar did not compel anyone to his new faith.

8. Land Revenue Administration

• Akbar made some experiments in the land revenue administration with the help of Raja Todar Mal.
• The land revenue system of Akbar was called Zabti or Bandobast system.
• It was further improved by Raja Todar Mal and it was known as the Dahsala system which was completed in 1580.
• Through this system, Todar Mal introduced a uniform system of land measurement.
• The revenue was fixed on the average yield of land assessed based on the past ten years.

The land was also divided into four categories

1. Polaj (cultivated every year)
2. Parauti (once in two years)
3. Chachar (once in three or four years) and
4. Banjar (Once in five or more years)

• Payment of revenue was made generally in cash.

9. Mansabdari system

• Akbar introduced the Mansabdari system in his administration. Under this system, every officer was assigned a rank (mansab).
• The lowest rank was 10 and the highest was 5000 for the nobles. Princes of royal blood received even higher ranks. The ranks were divided into two-zat and Sawar.
• Zat means personal and it fixed the personal status of a person.
• Sawar rank indicated the number of cavalrymen a person was required to maintain.
• Every sawar had to maintain at least two horses. The mansab rank was not hereditary.
• All appointments and promotions as well as dismissals were directly made by the emperor.

10. Jahangir (1605-1627)

11. Nur Jahan

• In 1611, Jahangir married Mehrunnisa who was known as Nur Jahan (Light of the world).
• Her father Itimaduddauala was a respectable person and was given the post of chief diwan to her. Other members of her family also benefited from this alliance.
• Her elder brother Asaf Khan was appointed as Khan-i-Saman, a post reserved for the nobles.
• In 1612, Asaf Khan’s daughter, Arjumand Banu Begum (Mumtaj) married Jahangir’s third son, Prince Khurram (Shah Jahan).
• It was believed by some historians that Nur Jahan formed a group of “junta” and this led to two factions in the Mughal Court.
• This drove Shah Jahan into rebellion against his father in 1622 since he felt that Jahangir was completely under Nur Jahan’s influence.
• This view is not accepted by some other historians. Till Jahangir became weak due to ill health, he only took important political decisions. It is revealed in his autobiography.
• It is clear that Nur Jahan dominated the royal household and set new fashions based on Persian traditions. She encouraged Persian art and culture in the court.
• She was a constant companion of Jahangir and even joined him in his hunting.
• The rise of Shah Jahan was due to his ambitions and rose in revolt against his father who ordered him to go to Kandahar.
• This rebellion distracted the activities of the empire for four years. After Jahangir died in 1627, Shah Jahan reached Agra with the support of the nobles and the army.
• Nur Jahan was given a pension and lived a retired life till her death eighteen years later.

12. Shah Jahan (1627-1658)

• Shah Jahan launched a prolonged campaign in the northwest frontier to recover Kandahar and other ancestral lands.
• The Mughal army lost more than five thousand lives during the successive invasions between 1639 and 1647.
• Then Shah Jahan realized the futility of his ambition and stopped fighting and his Deccan policy was more successful.
• He defeated the forces of Ahmednagar and annexed it. Both Bijapur and Golconda signed a treaty with the emperor.
• Shah Jahan carved four Mughal provinces in the Deccan Khandesh, Berar, Telangana and Daulatabad. They were put under the control of his son Aurangzeb.

War of Succession

Shah Jahan's reign was clouded by a bitter war of succession between his four sons

1. Dara Shikoh (Crown Prince),
2. Shuja (Governor of Bengal),
3. Aurangazab (Governor of Deccan) and
4. Murad Baksh (Governor of Malwa and Gujarat).

• Towards the end of 1657, Shah Jahan fell ill in Delhi for some time but later recovered. But the princes started fighting for the Mughal throne.
• Aurangzeb emerged victorious in this struggle and entered the Agra fort after defeating Dara and forcing Shah Jahan to surrender.
• Shah Jahan was confined to the female apartments in the Agra fort and strictly put under vigil. But he was not ill-treated and lived for eight long years lovingly nursed by his daughter Jahanara and died in 1666 and was buried beside his wife's grave in the Taj Mahal.

13. Aurangazab (1658-1707)

• Aurangazeb was one of the ablest of the Mughal Kings and assumed the title Alamgir, World Conqueror.
• His military campaigns in his first ten years of reign were a great success.
• He suppressed the minor revolts and faced serious difficulties in the latter part of his reign.
• The Jats and Satnamis and also the Sikhs revolted against him. These revolts were induced by his harsh religious policy.

Deccan Policy

• The Deccan Policy of the Mughals started during the reign of Akbar who conquered Khandesh and Berar.
• Jahangir fought against Malik Amber of Ahmadnagar. During Shah Jahan’s reign, Aurangazeb, as governor of Deccan, followed an aggressive Deccan policy.
• When he became the Mughal emperor, for the first twenty-five years, he concentrated on the northwest frontier.
• At that time, the Maratha ruler, Shivaji carved out an independent Maratha Kingdom in the territories of north and South Konkan.
• To contain the spread of the Marathas, Aurangzeb decided to invade Bijapur and Golkonda.
• He defeated Sikandar Shah of Bijapur and annexed his kingdom.
• Then, he proceeded against Golconda and eliminated the Kutb Shahi dynasty. It was also annexed by him.
• The destruction of the Deccan kingdoms was a political blunder on the part of Aurangazeb.
• The barrier between the Mughals and the Marathas was removed and there ensued a confrontation between them. Also, his Deccan campaigns exhausted the Mughal treasury.

Religious Policy

• Aurangazeb was a staunch and orthodox Muslim in his personal life.
• His idea was to transform India into an Islamic state.
• He created a separate department to enforce moral codes under a high-powered officer called Muhtasib.
• Drinking was prohibited Cultivation and use of bhang and other drugs were banned.
• Aurangazeb forbade music in the Mughal court and discontinued the practice of Jarokhadarshan.
• He also discontinued the celebration of Dasarah and royal astronomers and astrologers were also dismissed from service.
• Initially, Aurangzeb banned the construction of new Hindu temples and the repair of old temples. Then he began a policy of destroying Hindu temples.
• The celebrated temples at Mathura and Benares were reduced to ruins.
• In 1679, he reimposed Jiziya and the pilgrim tax.
• He was also not tolerant of other Muslim sects. The celebration of Muharram was stopped and invasions against the Deccan sultanates were partly due to his hatred of the Shia faith.
• He was also against the Sikhs and he executed the ninth Sikh Guru Tej Bahadur.
• This resulted in the transformation of Sikhs into a warring community.
• His religious policy was responsible for turning the Rajputs, the Marathas and the Sikhs into the enemies of the Mughal Empire.
• It also resulted in the rebellions of the Jats of Mathura and the Satnamis of Mewar.
• Aurangazeb was held responsible for the decline of the Mughal Empire.

Personality and Character of Aurangazeb

• In his private life, Aurangazeb was industrious and disciplined and was very simple in food and dress. He earned money for his expenses by copying Quaran and selling those copies.
• He did not consume wine and learned and proficient in Arabic and Persian languages
• He was a lover of books devoted to his religion and conducted prayers five times a day. He strictly observed the Ramzan fasting.
• In the Political field, Aurangazeb committed serious mistakes misunderstanding the true nature of the Maratha movement and antagonising them.
• Also, he failed to solve the Maratha problem and left an open sore and his policy towards Shia Deccan Sultanates also proved to be wrong.
• His religious policy was also not successful. Aurangzeb was an orthodox Sunni Muslim.
• But his move to apply his religious thought rigidly in a non-Muslim society was a failure.
• His antagonistic policies towards non-Muslims did not help him to rally the Muslims to his side.
• On the other hand, it strengthened the political enemies of the Mughal Empire.

14. Causes for the Downfall of the Mughals

• The Mughal Empire declined rapidly after the death of Aurangzeb.
• The Mughal court became the scene of factions among the nobles. The weakness of the empire was exposed when Nadir Shah imprisoned the Mughal Emperor and looted Delhi in 1739.
• The Causes for the downfall of the Mughal Empire varied. To some extent, the religious and Deccan Policies of Aurangazeb contributed to its decline.
• The weak successor and demoralization of the Mughal army also paved the way for it.
• The vastness of the empire became unwieldy. The financial difficulties due to continuous wars led to the decline.
• The neglect of sea power by the Mughals was felt when the Europeans began to settle in India.
• Further, the invasions of Nadir Shah and Ahmad Shah Abdali weakened the Mughal state.
• Thus the decline and downfall of the Mughal Empire were due to a combination of political, social and economic factors.