HISTORY (MUGHAL EMPIRE)
BABUR
- Descendent
of Timur (from his father side) and Genghis khan (from his mother side)
- It is said
that he was invited in India by Daulat Khan Lodi and Alam kha lodi
- He laid the foundation of the Mughal empire by defeating Ibrahim Lodi in the first battle of
Panipat on 21, April 1526.
- In 1527, he
defeated Rana Sanga of Mewar at Khanwa.
- In 1528, he
defeated Medini Rai of Chaneri at Chanderi.
- In 1529, he
defeated Muhammad Lodhi (uncle of Ibrahim Lodhi) at Ghaghra.
- In 1530, he
died at Agra. His tomb is at Lahore. The tomb of only two Mughal emperors are
outside India i.e. Babur & Bahadur Shah Zafar
- He was the
first to use gunpowder & artillery in India.
- Two gun
masters Mustafa & Ustad Ali were in his army
- He wrote his
autobiography Tuzuk-i-Baburi in Turki.
- Tuzuk-i-Baburi
was translated in Persian (named Baburnama) by Abdur Rahim Khan-e-khana &
in English by Madan Bebridge.
- He compiled
two anthologies of poems, Diwan (in Turki) & Mubaiyan (in Persian). He also
wrote Risal-i-Usaz or letters of Babur.
- The Mughals did not believe
in the rule of primogeniture, where the eldest son inherited his father’s
estate. Instead, they followed the Mughal and Timurid custom of coparcenary
inheritance or a division of the inheritance amongst all the sons.
HUMAYUN
- Son of Babur
and his successor
- Divided his
father’s inheritance among his brothers and challenged by them.
- He fought
two battles against Sher Shah at Chausa (1539) & at Kannauj/Bilgram (1540)
& was completely defeated by him.
- He escaped
to Iran where he passed 12 years of his life in exile.
- After Sher
Shah’s death Humayun invaded India in 1555 & defeated his brothers the
Afghans. He once again became the ruler of India. He died while climbing down
the stairs of his library (at Din Panah) in 1556 & was buried in Delhi.
- Abul Fazal
calls him Insan-e-Kamil.
- His sister,
Gulbadan Begum wrote his biography Humayunama.
- He built Din
Panah at Delhi as his second capital.
AKBAR
- Akbar, the eldest son of Humayun, ascended the throne under the title of Jalaluddin
Muhammad Akbar Badshah Ghazi at the young age of 13.
- His
coronation took place at Kalanaur.
- Second
Battle of Panipat (Nov 1556) was fought between Hemu (hem Chandra Vikramaditya
the Hindu General of Muhammad Adil Shah) & Biram Khan (the regent of
Akbar). Hemu was defeated, captured & slain by Bairam Khan.
- In the
initial years of his rule Akbar was first under the influence of his reagent
Bairam.
- Age of
marriage for boys & girls was increased to 16 years & 14 years
respectively
- Sati was
prohibited
- In his 24th
year Akbar introduced Dashala system for the collection of land revenue by the
state.
- The
Mansabdari system under Akbar, divided the Mansabdars into 66 categories. This
system fixed the following service conditions:
- Rank &
status
- Salary
Number of sawars (horsemen)
- Akbar’s revenue minister,
Todar Mal carried out a careful survey of crop yields, prices and areas
cultivated for a 10-year period, 1570-1580. On the basis of this data, a tax was
fixed on each crop in cash. Each province was
- Divided into revenue circles
with its own schedule of revenue rates for individual crops. This revenue system
was known as zabt.
- Tulsidas
(author of Ramcharitmanas) also lived during Akbar’s period.
- In the last years of his
reign Akbar was distracted by the rebellion of Prince Salim, the future Emperor
Jahangir.
- When Akbar
died, he was buried at Sikandara near Agra.
JAHANGIR
- Salim, son
of Akbar, came to the throne after Akbar’s death in 1605.
- He
established Zanjir-i-Adal (i.e. Chain of Justice) at Agra Fort for the seekers
of royal justice.
- In 1611,
Jahangir married Mihar-un-nisa, widow of Sher Afghan, a Persian nobleman who
was sent on an expedition to Bengal. Later on, she was given the title Nurjahan.
- Nurjahan
exercised tremendous influence over state affairs. She was made the
official Padshah Begum.
- Jahangir
issued coins jointly in Jurjahan’s name & his own. • Jahangir also married
Jodha Bai of Marwar.
- In 1608,
Captain William Hawkins, a representative of East India Company came to
Jahangir’s court. In 1615 Sir Thomas Roe, an ambassador of King James I of
England also came to his court. He granted permission to the English to
establish a trading port at Surat.
- His reign
was marked by several revolts. His son Khusrau, who received the patronage of 5th
Sikh Guru Arjun Dev revolted against Jahangir (1605). Arjun Dev was later
sentenced to death for his blessing to the rebel prince (1606).
- During his
last period, Khurram (Shanjahan), son of Jahangir, & Mahavat Khan, military
general of Jahangir also revolted (Khurram: 1622-25 & Mahavat Kha : 1626-27).
- He wrote his
memories Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri in Persian.
- He was
buried in Lahore.
SHAHJAHAN
- His real
name was Khurram, he was born to Jodha Bai (daughter of Raja Jagat Singh).
- Shahjahan
ascended the throne after his father’s death.
- Three years
after his accession, his beloved wife Mumtaj Mahal (original name- Arzumand
Bano) died in 1631. To perpetuate her memory he built the Taj Mahal at Agra.
- He
introduced the Char-Taslim in the court
- In addition
to Jahangir’s empire, Nizam Shahi’s dynasty of Ahmadnagar was brought under
Mughal control (1633) by Shahjahan.
- Shahjahan’s
reign is described by French traveler Bernier & Tavernier & the Italian
traveler Nicoli Manucci. Peter Mundi described the famine that occurred during
Shahjahan’s time.
- The Red
Fort, Jama Masjid & Taj Mahal are some of the magnificent structures built
during his reign.
- Shahjahan’s
failing health set off the war of succession among his four sons (Dara shikoh,
Murad Baksh, Shah Shuja and Aurangzeb) in 1657.
- Aurangzeb
emerged the victor who crowned himself on July 1658. Shahjahan was imprisoned
by his son Aurangzeb in the Agra Fort where he died in captivity in 1666. He
was buried at Taj (Agra).
AURANGZEB
- War of
succession took place in the later stage of the Shah Jahan reign.
- His four
sons Dara Shikoa, Aurangzeb, Shah Shuja & Murad were in the state of war
for the throne.
- His
daughters also supported one son or the other in the tussle for throne Janah
Ara supported Dara. Roshan Ara supported Aurangzeb. Guhara supported Murad.
- Aurangzeb
was coroneted twice; he was the only Mughal king to be coroneted twice
- Barnier was
the foreign visitor who saw the public disgrace of Dara after he was finally
defeated in the war at Deorai.
- During the
first 23 years of the rule (1658-81) Aurangazeb concentrated on North India.
During this period the Marathas under Shivaji rose to power & were a force
to reckon with. Highest numbers of Hindu Mansabdars were there in the service
of Mughals during the reign of Aurangzeb.
- Aurangzeb
captured Guru Teg Bahadur, the 9th Guru of Sikhs in 1675 & executed him
when he refused to embrace Islam. The 10th & last Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind
Singh, son of Guru Teg Bahadur, organized his followers into militant force
called Khalsa to avenge the murder of his father.
- Guru Gobind
Singh was, however murdered in 1708 by an Afghan in Deccan. Banda Bahadur, the
militant successor of Guru Gobind Singh continued the war against Mughals.
- He was
called Zindapir or living saint
- In 1679 he
re-imposed Jaziya tax
- Prince Akbar rebelled against
Aurangzeb and received support from the
- Marathas and the Deccan
Sultanate. He finally fled to Safavid Iran.
DECCAN CAMPAIGN AGAINST MARATHAS
- Shivaji was the most powerful Maratha king & an arch-enemy of Aurangzeb. When Aurangzeb could not eliminate him, he conspired with Jai Singh of Amber, a Rajput, to eliminate Shivaji in 1665.
- On the assurance given by Jai Singh, Shivaji visited Aurangzeb’s court. Shivaji was imprisoned by Aurangzeb but he managed to escape & in 1674 proclaimed himself an independent monarch.
- Shivaji died in 1680 & was succeeded by his son Sambhaji, who was executed by Aurangzeb in 1689. Sambhaji was succeeded by his brother Rajaram & after his death in 1700, his widow Tarabai carried on the movements.
Mughal administration (Mansabdari
system)
- The empire
was divided into provinces or Subas.
- The Nazim or
Subedar was the head of provinces
- Each Mughal
officer was assigned a mansab (rank), there were 66 categories of Mansabdars
- Jahangir
introduced Du-Aspah-Sih-Aspah system whereby the specific noble was to maintain
double the number of horsemen.
- Documents from the twentieth year of Shah Jahan’s
reign inform us that the highest-ranking mansabdars were only 445 in number out
of a total of
- 8,000. This small number – a mere 5.6 per
cent of the total number of mansabdars – received 61.5 percent of the total
estimated revenue of the empire as salaries for themselves and their troopers.
Wakil: He was initially the PM,
however, later became revenue advisor only
Mir Bakshi: He was the head of the military
department
The enormous wealth and
resources commanded by the Mughal elite made them an extremely powerful group
of people in the late seventeenth century. As the authority of the Mughal
emperor slowly declined; his servants emerged as powerful centers of power in
the regions. They constituted new dynasties and held command of provinces like
Hyderabad and Awadh. Although they continued to recognize the Mughal emperor in
Delhi as their master, by the eighteenth century the provinces of the empire had consolidated their independent political identities.
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