The Mughal Empire G.G.G. Grand Father Muhammad Mirza Great Grand Father ABU Said Grand Father Umar...
Transcript of The Mughal Empire G.G.G. Grand Father Muhammad Mirza Great Grand Father ABU Said Grand Father Umar...
The Mughal Empire
A Vast Empire….
Ruling vast empire was just an Imagination
Mughal did that for a long period of time
Almost whole Indian Subcontinent
Who were the Mughals?
Mughals
Mother
Father
TIMUR GREAT GREAT
GREAT GRAND FATHER OF
BABUR
TIMUR Miran Shah Great
Great G. Father Abu Said G. Father
Sultan Muhammad Mirza Great G. Father
Umar Shaikh
Babur
Akbar
Shah Jahan
Humayu
Jahangir
Aurangzeb
TimurG.G.G.GrandFather
MuhammadMirzaGreatGrandFather
ABUSaidGrandFather
UmarShaikhFather
Babur Humayu Akbar Jahangir ShahJahan Aurangzeb
MiranShahG.GGrandFather
Mughal Military Campaigns
Babur, the first Mughal emperor succeeded to the throne if Ferghana in 1494.
He was forced to live his ancestral throne due to the invasion of Uzbegs.
In 1526, he defeated the Sultan of Delhi in the First battle of Panipat
BABUR 1526-1530
1526- defeated Ibrahim Lodi and his Afghan supporter at Panipat
1527- Defeated Rana Sanga at Khanua
1528 - Defeated the Rajputs at Chanderi
HUMAYUN 1530-1540 and 1555-1556
Divided his kingdom among his brother
Became weak against Afghan competitors.
Sher Khan defeated Humanyun at 1539 Chausa and 1540 Kanuj
Fled to Iran
Exile to Iran
HUMANYUN received the help of his friend Safavid Khan
Captured Delhi again in 1555.
AKBAR 1556-1605
He was only 13 years old when he became emperor
Barium Khan and supported him
Military campaign against Suris, Afghans, Malwa and Gondwana
Suppress revolt of his half brother Mirza Hakim and Uzbeks.
1568 - Sisodiya capital of CHittor
1569 - Ratambhor
1570 - 1585 - Military campaigns in Gujarat then in the east in Bihar, Bengal and Orissa
1585 - 1605 - Campaign in North West. Kandahar from Safavids,
Kashmir and Kabul
Campaign in Deccan - unto Ahmedanagar
In last few years his son Salim distracted.
Jahangir 1605 - 1627
Military campaigns were continued
The Sisodiya ruler and Amar Singh accepted Mughal service
Not effective against - Sikhs, the Ahoms and Ahmadnagar
Prince Khurram - Shah Jahan rebelled in the last years of his reign
Shah Jahan 1627-1658
Mughal campaigns continued in the Deccan
Khan Jahan Lodi rebelled and defeated
Campaigns against Ahmadnagar, achieved in 1632
Bundles were defeated and Orchha seized.
Qandhaw was lost to Safavids
In 1657-1658, Conflict over succession amongst Shah Jahan’s sons.
Aurangzeb was victorious
His three brothers - Dara Shukoh were killed
Shah Jahan was imprisoned in Agra.
Aurangzeb 1658-1707
Ahoms in NE were defeated in 1663
NW Successful temporarily against Yusufzai and Sikhs
Campaign against the Maratha - Shivaji
Prince Akbar rebelled against Aurangzeb
Sent armies to Deccan
Conquered Bijapur in 1685 and Golconda in 1687
1698 he personally managed the campaign in Deccan against the Marathas (Guerrilla warfare)
Rebellion in North India of the Sikhs, Jats and Satnamis
Conflict after his death among his sons.
Mughal Traditions of Succession
The Mughals did not believe in the rule of primogeniture
They followed the Mughal and Timurid custom of coparcenary
Division of the inheritance amongst all the sons
Mughal Relations with other rulers
Only campaign against those who refused to accept their authority.
As Mughal got power other rulers joined them
Many of them married their daughter in the Mughal families and received high positions.
Many resisted
The Sisodiya Rajputs refused to accept Mughal authority
Defeated, they were treated honorably
Balance of defeating but no humiliation policy with their opponents enabled the Mughals to extend their influence over many kings and chiefs.
Mansabdars and Jagirdars
Started recruiting Turkish, Iranians, Indian Muslims, Afghans, Rajputs, Maraths and other groups
Those who joined Mughal service were enrolled as Mansabdars.
Mans = Position or rank
They had grading system to to fix rank, salary, and military responsibilities
Grading System
Rank and salary were determined by a numerical value called zat.
Higer the zat, the more prestigious was the noble’s position in the court and the larger his salary.
Mansabdar’s Salary
Revenue assignments called Jagirs = iqtas
But they did not decide their Jagirs like iqtadars
They only had rights to the revenue of their assignments
Akbar carefully assessed the size of the jagirs so that mansabdars can get equal salary
Aurangzeb did not continue this system
increase in the number of mansabdars
Many jagirdars tried to extract as much revenue as possible while they has a jaguar
Aurangzeb was unable to control this
Peasants suffered tremendously.
Zat Ranking
Nobles with 5000 sat were ranked higher than 1000
In Akbar’s reign there were 29 mansabdars with a rank of 5,000 sat:
In Aurangzeb’s reign it increased from 29 to 79
Zabt and Zamindars
Main source of income available to Mughal was tax
Peasants paid taxes through rural elites / local chieftains /headman
All were called zamindars who collect the tax
Zabt and Zamindars Todar Mal
Todal Mal carried out a careful survey of crop yields, prices and areas cultivated for a ten - year period.
1570-1580, on the basis of data the tax was carried out
Each province was divided into revenue circles with its own schedule of revenue rates for individual crops
This revenue system is called zabt
Later in the end of 17th century sometimes peasants and zamindars allied in rebelling against Mughal authority
Akbar Nama and Ain -i Akbari
Akbar told his friend to write a history of his reign - Abul - Fazal
He wrote a three volume book titled. Akbar Nama
Three Volumes of Akbar Nama
1st volume - Akbar’s ancestors
2nd - volume - Events of Akbar’s reign
3rd volume - Ain - i Akbar deals with Akbar’s administration, household, army, revenue and geography of his empire,
Culture and traditions, of people
It has rich statistical details about things as diverse as crops, yields, prices, wages and revenues.
Akbar’s Policies
Military
Empire was divided into provinces called - Subas - Subadar
Subadar look after both political and military functions
Each provinces had a financial officer or Diwan
To support Subadar
Paymaster (bakhshi)
Minister in charge of religious and charitable patronage (Sadr)
Military commanders (Faujdars)
Town police commander (Kotwal)
They were loyal to Mughals until the end of 17th century
Religious
In 1570s he started religious discussion with the ulama, Brahmans, Jesuit priests from Roman Catholics, and Zoroastrians
Discussion at ibadat khana
He was interested knowing culture, social customs of different people.
He realized that religious scholars have dogma which were often bigots
Sulh-i kul
Universal peace
This idea of tolerant does not discriminate religions in his realm
His religion focused on Ethics, Honesty, Justice, Peace - that was universally applicable
The Mughal empire in the 17th century and after
Fabled land of wealth
Poverty existed side by side with the greatest opulence
During Shah Jahan’s reign out of 8,000 mansabdars only 445 were getting 61.5 % of revenue
Mughal emperors and mansabdars spent a lot on goods
Benefited artisans and peasantry who supplied goods and produce.
Scale of revenue collection left very little for investment in the hands of the primary producers
Artisans and peasant just had hand to mouth
Mughal elite became powerful eventually
As the authority of the Mughal emperor slowly declined these groups emerged as powerful centers of power in the regions
New dynasties were formed i.e. Awadh, Hyderabad,