HISTORY (VII) LESSON- 4 THE MUGHAL EMPIRE (LESSON NOTES)

HISTORY (VII) LESSON- 4

THE MUGHAL EMPIRE

(LESSON NOTES)

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v INTRODUCTION

Ø On 15 August our prime minister unfurled the flag and addresses the nation from Red Fort, Delhi. It shows the importance of Red fort. It was built by Mughal ruler Shahjahan. For a long year India was ruled from Red fort. In this lesson we will read about Mughals, rulers, their administration policies, military campaign etc.

 

 

v WHO WERE THE MUGHALS

Ø The Mughal were descendants of two great lineages of rulers. From their mother’s side, they were descendants of Genghis Khan (Mangols) and from the father’s side; they were the descendants of Timur (who attacked on India in 1398)

v ESTABLISHMENT OF MUGHAL DYNASTY IN INDIA

Ø Mughal dynasty was established by Babur in 1526 by defeating Ibrahim Lodi (last ruler of Delhi sultanate) in first battle of Panipat in 1526.

Ø From the latter half of the 16th century, the Mughals expanded their kingdom from Agra and Delhi, until in the 17th century they controlled nearly the entire subcontinent.

v MUGHAL TRADITIONS OF SUCCESSION

Ø The Mughals did not believe in the rule of primogeniture, where the eldest son inherited his father’s estate.

Ø They followed the custom of coparcenary inheritance or a division of the inheritance amongst all the sons.

v MUGHAL MILITARY CAMPAIGNS

Ø Babur, the first Mughal emperor, captured Delhi in 1526 by defeating Ibrahim Lodi in the Battle of Panipat.

Ø To expand their kingdom they organized many military compaign in almost all over areas.

Ø Humayun captured Delhi back in 1555 from Sur dynasty.

Ø Akbar captured Chittor (1568), Ranthambor (1569), Gujarat, Bihar, Bengal, Kashmir, Berar Khandesh, etc. (1585-1605).

Ø Jahangir took campaign against Sikhs and Ahoms.

Ø Shah Jahan captured Ahmadnagar and Bijapur.

Ø Aurangzeb waged a long battle in the Deccan.

v MUGHAL RULERS

v Babur was the first Mughal emperor, He became the ruler of Delhi by defeating Ibrahim Lodi at Panipat in 1526. In 1527 he defeated Rana Sanga, Rajput rulers and allies at Khanua. In 1528 he also defeated the Rajputs at Chanderi. He also established his control over Agra. But he could not rule for a long time.

v Humayun -After his death in 1530, his son Humayun became the second Mughal emperor. Sherkhan defeated Humayun at Chausa in 1539 and Kanauj in 1540 forcing him to flee to Iran. He recaptured Delhi in 1555 with the help of Safarid Shah but died soon afterwards.

v Akbar –He became the emperor under a petron Bairam khan of Delhi at the age of 13. He was very competent and soon began to handle the entire empire successfully. In 1568 he seized the Sisodiya capital of Chittor and in 1569 Ranthambhor. During the period 1570-1585 he started military campaign in Gujarat which was followed by campaigns in the east in Bihar. Bengal and Orissa. During the period 1585-1605 to Akbar expanded his empire.

v Jahangir  (Salim)  -Hebecame the emperor in 1605. He continued the military campaigns started by Akbar. The Sisodiya ruler of Mewar, Amar Singh, accepted. Mughal service. Mehrunuiza married the Emperor Jahangir in 1611 and received the title Nur Jahan. She was very suppertive to the monarch.

v Shah Jahan (Khurram) -After Jahangir Shah Jahan (Khurram) took the control of the Mughal Empire. He continued Mughal campaigns in the Deccan.

v Aurangzeb  (Alamgir)  reign ranges from 1658 to 1707. His campaign against Maratha Chieftain Shivaji was very important. Initially, Aurangzeb got success. But soon Shivaji declared himself an independent king after being insulted by Aurangzeb. He also resumed his campaigns against the Mughals. From 1698 Aurangzeb personally managed campaigns in the Deccan against the Marathas who started guerrilla warfare. Aurangzeb also faced the rebellion in north India of the Sikhs, Jats and Satnamis.

v MUGHAL RELATIONSHIPS WITH RAJPUTS

Ø When Mughals became powerful many other rulers also joined them voluntarily. The Rajputs were most important among them.

Ø Many rajputs married their daughters into Mughal families and received high positions.

§  Like The mother of Jahangir was a Kachhwaha princess, daughter of the Rajput ruler of Amber (modern day Jaipur).

§  The mother of Shah Jahan was a Rathor princess, daughter of the Rajput ruler of Marwar (Jodhpur).

Ø But many Rajputs like the Sisodiya Rajputs (Mewad)refused to accept Mughal authority for a long time. But once defeated they were treated honourably and given their land back as assignment (watan jagir).

v MANSABDARS AND JAGIRDARS

Ø The term mansabdar refers to an individual who holds a mansab, meaning a position or rank. It means all person who joined Mughal services is called as mansabdar.

Ø Mansab was a grading system which was used to fix (1) rank,

(2) salary and (3) military responsibilities of Mansabdar.

Ø Rank and salary were determined by a numerical value called zat. High zat means more powerful and high salary in court.

Ø MANSABDAR’S MILITARY RESPONSIBILITIES

§  They have to maintain a specified number of sawar or cavalrymen.

§  The mansabdar registered their cavalrymen and their horses branded

§  They received their payment in cash (Naqadi) for their assignment and to pay them as salary.

v JAGIRDARS

Ø The Mansabdars who received their salaries from revenue assignments or Jagir were called as Jagirdars.

Ø Jagirdars did not stay in their jagir. They served in other area as mansabdar. But they have the right to collect the revenue from their jagir by their servants.

Ø In the reign of Akbar there was full control on the Jagirdar work but later on they started to collect more revenues. It created peasant’s revolt.

v ZAMINDARS AND REVENUE SYSTEM (ZABT)

Ø The village headmen or powerful chieftains who collected the revenue from the peasants were called as zamindars. This revenue was an important source of income for rulers.

Ø The revenue was collected according to a revenue system developed by Akbar’s revenue minister Todarmal in 1570’s  known as Zabt. The feauters of this system were like that-

§  A survey of crop yields, prices and areas cultivated for a ten-year period was carried out carefully.

§  On the basis of this data, tax was fixed on each crop in cash.

§  Each province (Suba) was divided into revenue circles with its own schedule of revenue rates for individual crops.

 

v CLOSER LOOK AKBAR’S POLICY

Ø MUGHAL ADMINSTRATION

§  Abul Fazl, one of the Akbar’s friends and courtiers wrote a three-volume history of Akbar’s reign, titled Akbar Nama.

§  Abul Fazl explained that the empire was divided into provinces called subas, governed by a subadar.

§  The subadar carried out both political and military functions. Each province also had a financial officer or diwan.

§  To maintain peace and order in his province, the subadar was supported by other officers such as

·       the military paymaster (bakhshi),

·       The minister in charge of religious and charitable patronage (sadr)

·       Military commanders (faujdars)

·       Town police commander (kotwal).

v RELIGIOUS POLICY-(SULH-I KUL OR UNIVERSAL PEACE)

Ø Akbar was interested in the religion and social customs of different people.

Ø He realize that religious scholars who emphasised on ritual and dogma were often bigots. Their teachings created divisions and disharmony amongst his subjects.

 

Ø So he started discussions on religion at Fatehpur Sikri(UP) at Ibadat Khana in 157o’s  with the ulama, Brahmanas, Jesuit priests who were Roman catholics and Zoroastrians.

Ø These religious discussions led Akbar to the idea of Sulh-i Kul or ‘universal peace ’. Shah Jahan and Jahangir also followed this principle. These are the features of universal peace-

§  It did not discriminate between people of different religions in his realm.

§  It focused on a system of ethics –honesty, justice, peace – that was universally applicable.

v ECONOMIC CONDITION OF PEOPLE

Ø International travelers described this land as the fabled land of wealth due to economic prosperity.

Ø But some source also describes the poverty in this empire.

Ø The condition of peasant and artisan were not so good due to high revenues.

Ø The enormous wealth and resources commanded by the Mughal elite made them an extremely powerful, so they exploited the weaker section.

v THE MUGHAL EMPIRE IN THE 17^th CENTURY AND AFTER

Ø The Mughal Empire exercised a great deal of influence and power upto 17^th century.

Ø But by the end of the 17th century the authority of the Mughal Empire declined which gave rise to many independent provinces like Hyderabad and Awadh.

Ø Although they continued to recognise the Mughal emperor in Delhi as their master, by the 1858.

v TERMS-

Ø Genealogy: History of generations of one’s family in sequence. ‘

Ø Diwan: The financial officer of a Suba was called as Diwan.

Ø Dogma-A statement or an interpretation declared as authoritative with the expectation that it would be followed without question.

Ø Bigot- An individual who is intolerant of another person’s religious beliefs or culture

Ø Ain-i Akbari –The third volume of Akbarnama was Ain –I Akbari.The most interesting aspect about the Ain-i Akbari is its rich statistical

details about things as diverse as crops, yields, prices, wages and revenues.

v IMPORTANT YEARS

Ø 1237: Genghis Khan died.

Ø 1404: Jimur died.

Ø 1526-1530: Reign of Babur. He captured Delhi in 1526 by defeating Ibrahim Lodi and laid the foundation of the Mughal Empire.

Ø 1539: Sher Shah defeated Humayun at Chausa.\

Ø 1540: Sher Shah again defeated Humayun, this time at Kanauj.

Ø 1555: Humayun recaptured Delhi

Ø 1556: Akbar became the Mughal Emperor at the age of 13.

Ø 1568: Akbar seized Sisodiya capital of Chittor

Ø 1569: Akbar seized Ranthambhore

Ø 1605-1627: Jahangir ruled over Delhi as the Mughal emperor

Ø 1627-1658: Shah Jahan reigned over Delhi.

Ø 1632: Ahmadnagar was annexed by Shah Jahan

Ø 1658-1707: Aurangzeb reigned over Delhi.

Ø 1685: Aurangzeb annexed Bijapur

Ø 1687: Aurangzeb annexed Golconda

Ø 1698: Aurangzeb campaigned in the Deccan against the Marathas.

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