Old NCERT Summary (Satish Chandra): Climax & Disintegration of Mughal Empire- 1 | History for UPSC CSE PDF Download

PROBLEMS OF SUCESSION
(i) The last years of Shah Jahan's reign were clouded by a bitter war of succession among his four sons
(a) Dara Shikoh (crown prince)
(b) Shuja (governor of Bengal)
(c) Aurangazeb (governor of Deccan)
(d) Murad Baksh (governor of Malwa and Gujarat)
(ii) Aurangazeb emerged victorious in this struggle
(iii) He entered the Agra Fort after defeating Dara
(iv) He forced Shah Jahan to surrender
(v) Shah Jahan was confined to the female apartments in the Agra fort and strictly put under watch
(vi) Shah Jahan lived for eight long years lovingly nursed by his daughter Jahanara.

AURANGZEB'S REIGN
Aurangazeb (1658-1707)
(i) Aurangazeb was one of the ablest kings of the Mughal.
(ii) He assumed the title Alamgir, World Conqueror.
(iii) In his first ten years of reign, his military campaigns were a great success.
(iv) But in the latter part of his reign, he faced serious difficulties.
(v) The Jats and Satnamis and also the Sikhs revolted against him due to his harsh religious policy.
(vi) The Deccan policy of the Mughals started from the reign of Akbar. Aurangazeb, as governor of Deccan, followed a belligerent Deccan policy.
(vii) He concentrated on the northwest frontier in his first 25 years as the Mughal emperor
(viii) In the same time, Shivaji, the Maratha Ruler carved an independent Maratha kingdom in the territories of north and south Konkan.
(ix) Aurangazeb decided to invade Bijapur and Golkonda to hold the spread of the Marathas.
(x) He defeated Sikandar Shah of Bijapur and seized his kingdom.
(xi) He proceeded against Golkonda and eliminated the Kutb Shahi dynasty.
(xii) The destruction of the Deccan kingdoms was a political blunder by Aurangazeb.
(xiii) The barrier between the Mughals and the Marathas was removed and there ensued a direct confrontation between them.

POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS
(i) Recurrent War of succession let the local rajas and zamindars not paying the revenue or capturing and plundering neighbouring areas.
(ii) The relative independence given to the north east and the deccan kingdom owing to the forward policy of Mughals was overturned by Aurangzeb.
(iii) Upon his succession he tried consolidation of the empire by tightening the noose and reasserting Imperial prestige.
(iv) This led to rebellions in various parts of Mughal empire.

POPULAR REVOLTS FOR INDEPENDENCE
There were many revolts against Aurangzeb from significant sections of the population for regional independence. Jats, Satnamis, Sikhs & Rajputs, all challenged Mughal hegemony & gravely damaged its prestige.

JATS AND SATNAMIS
The Jats
(i) Mathura started a peasant rebellion under a local zamindar.
(ii) While dealing with them the Mughal did not completely crush them and they were discontented.
(iii) There was second uprising under the leadership of Rajaram. They were better organised this time and adept with guerrilla warfare sought to plundering.
(iv) His successor Churaman was able to carve out an individual principality owing to growing weakness of the Mughal administration.

The Satnami sect.
(i) was founded in 1657 in Narnaul (Haryana).
(ii) The Satnamis revolted in 1672 when a mughal soldier killed a satnami. They were already fed up with the atrocities of Aurangzeb.
(iii) They killed the soldier in revenge & revolted against the Mughals. They defeated the Mughal armies at many places.
(iv) The Satnamis were badly defeated by Mughal forces under the leadership of Radandai.

AFGHANS
(i) The revivalist religious movement called Raushanai intellectual and moral background for unity.
(ii) The Afghan uprising led by a tribal leader bhagu assumed the title Muhammad Shah.
(iii) It deflected Mughal might from Marathas and Meanwhile Shivaji crowned himself.

SIKHS
(i) In 1675 Aurangzeb had executed Guru Tejh Bahadur, (9th Guru).
(ii) This gave rise to revolt against Mughals in punjab.
(iii) Guru Gobind singh waged a bloody battle against the Mughals & gave a powerful blow to the Mughal empire.

RAJPUTS
(i) In the beginning, Aurangzeb had cordial relations with the Rajputs.
(ii) The Rajput rebellion of 1679-80 shows Aurangzeb's hardened attitude towards his non-Muslim subjects.
(iii) Aurangzeb did not treat well Rana Jaswant singh of jodhpur & Rana Jai singh of Amber who had sincerely given their services to Mughal Empire. Rana Jaswant singh was sent to attack where he died in fort of jamrud, Rana Jai singh was poisoned by Aurangzeb.
(iv) Jodhpur was captured by Mughals.
(v) It was followed by a prolonged struggle between Aurangzeb & Marwar.
(vi) Aurangzeb had to retreat & struggle stopped for a short time but after death of Aurangzeb Jodhpur was re-captured by Rajputs