NCERT Summary: The Mughals (16th to 17th Century)

Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Who were the Mughals?
3. Mughal Military Campaigns
4. Mughal Traditions of Succession
5. Mughal Relations with Other Rulers
6. Mansabdars and Jagirdars
7. Zabt and Zamindars
8. Akbar's Policies and Administration
9. The Mughal Empire in the Seventeenth Century and After
10. Summary
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Introduction

• From the latter half of the sixteenth century the Mughal rulers expanded their power from centres such as Agra and Delhi.
• By the seventeenth century the Mughals had created a large empire that controlled most of the Indian subcontinent.
• The Mughals introduced systems of administration, revenue collection and military organisation, and ideas of governance that continued to influence the subcontinent even after their political power declined.

Who were the Mughals?

• The term Mughal refers to a dynasty whose rulers were of Central Asian origin and traced their descent from the great conquerors Timur (Tamerlane) and Genghis Khan.
• They brought with them Central Asian political and military traditions, Persian administrative practices and cultural influences that combined with local Indian institutions.

Mughal Military Campaigns

Babur (1526-1530)

• Babur became ruler of Farghana (in Central Asia) in 1494 when he was about twelve years old.
• In 1526 he defeated the Sultan of Delhi, Ibrahim Lodi, at the First Battle of Panipat and captured Delhi and Agra.
• In 1527 he defeated Rana Sanga and other Rajput allies at the Battle of Khanua.
• In 1528 he defeated forces at Chanderi, consolidating Mughal control in the Gangetic plains.
• By the time of his death, Babur had established a firm Mughal presence in northern India centred on Agra and Delhi.

Humayun (1530-1540, 1555-1556)

• Humayun lost power after defeats by Sher Shah Suri at Chausa (1539) and Kanauj (1540) and fled to Iran.
• He returned with Safavid support and recaptured Delhi in 1555 but died in 1556 as the result of an accident.

Akbar (1556-1605)

• Akbar became emperor at about thirteen years of age and gradually established direct control over a large empire.
• After 1570 he asserted full authority independent of his regent, Bairam Khan.
• He launched campaigns against remnants of Afghan power, against regional kingdoms such as Malwa and the kingdoms of Gondwana, and suppressed internal revolts including those of his own relatives.
• Key conquests included the capture of Chittor (1568) and Ranthambhor (1569).
• Between about 1570 and 1585 Akbar conducted campaigns in Gujarat, and then eastwards into Bihar, Bengal and Orissa.
• From 1585 to 1605 he led campaigns in the north-west and the Deccan; territories annexed included Kashmir, parts of Kabul, and areas of the Deccan such as Berar and Khandesh.

Jahangir (1605-1627)

• Jahangir continued many Mughal policies.
• The Sisodiya ruler of Mewar, Amar Singh, accepted Mughal service during this period.
• Campaigns against the Sikhs, the Ahoms in the east and against Ahmadnagar were attempted with varying degrees of success.

Shah Jahan (1627-1658)

• Shah Jahan continued expansion, especially in the Deccan, and fought several local and regional rebellions.
• The Afghan noble Khan Jahan Lodi rebelled and was defeated; the Bundelas were suppressed and Orchha was taken.
• Attempts to control the north-west, including efforts to regain Balkh, were largely unsuccessful and Qandahar was lost to the Safavids.
• In 1632 the important Deccan stronghold of Ahmadnagar was finally annexed and the rulers of Bijapur sued for peace.

Aurangzeb (1658-1707)

• Aurangzeb obtained the throne after defeating his brothers and placing his father, Shah Jahan, under house arrest.
• He fought campaigns across the empire: the Ahoms were beaten in 1663 but later rebelled; campaigns against the Yusufzai and the Sikhs in the north-west saw temporary success.
• The rise of the Marathas under leaders such as Shivaji posed a persistent challenge; Bijapur was annexed in 1685 and Golconda in 1687.
• From 1698 Aurangzeb personally directed long campaigns in the Deccan against the Marathas; he also faced rebellions by the Sikhs, Jats and other groups.
• His long wars and the strain of prolonged military action contributed to weakening central authority; after his death a serious succession conflict occurred among his sons.

Mughal Traditions of Succession

• Unlike rules of strict primogeniture, the Mughal tradition did not guarantee the throne to the eldest son only. In theory the inheritance could be divided, and in practice many princes claimed the throne.
• Succession thus often led to competition, fratricidal struggles and civil war, particularly when a strong system of designation was absent.

Mughal Relations with Other Rulers

• When Mughal power grew many regional rulers accepted Mughal overlordship and joined imperial service voluntarily, receiving ranks and positions.
• At the same time, many rulers resisted Mughal expansion and fought to retain independence; the Mughals combined military action with diplomacy to extend their influence.
• As a policy the Mughals often avoided humiliating defeated rulers completely; they used marriage alliances, grants of rank and office, and local accommodation to secure loyalty.

Mansabdars and Jagirdars

• The mansabdari system organised the nobility and military leadership. A mansabdar was an officer granted a rank (mansab) which determined his status, pay and military obligation.
• Mansabdars came from diverse backgrounds - Persians, Afghans, Indian Muslims, Rajputs and later Marathas - and served in the imperial administration and army.
• Each mansabdar had to maintain a specified number of cavalrymen known as sawar as part of his military duty.
• Mansabdars were usually paid through revenue assignments called jagirs; a jagir was the right to collect revenue from a specified territory to meet salary and other obligations.
• The mansabdari system linked military service, rank and revenue and helped the emperor maintain a large standing aristocracy loyal to the court.

Zabt and Zamindars

• The main source of imperial revenue was the tax on agricultural produce. The people who collected and transmitted this revenue to the state were often called zamindars.
• Zabt was a revenue system introduced and refined under Akbar's revenue minister, Todar Mal. It involved careful measurement and survey of crop yields and lands, and fixing the tax liability in cash rather than in kind.
• The zabt system aimed to standardise revenue demands, reduce arbitrary exactions and make revenue more predictable and convertible to cash for the state.
• Zamindars under the zabt system acted as intermediaries: some were hereditary landholders, while others worked as appointed revenue agents responsible for collecting and forwarding the assessed revenue.

Akbar's Policies and Administration

• Abul Fazl, Akbar's court historian, described the imperial administration in works such as the Ain-i-Akbari. He explained the division of the empire into provinces called subas.
• Each suba was administered by a subadar who exercised political and military authority in the province.
• Each province also had a financial officer, the diwan, responsible for revenue and accounts; military officers such as the faujdar maintained law and order in districts.
• For local administration the emperor relied on a hierarchy of officials supported by mansabdars, jagirdars and zamindars.
• Akbar promoted the idea of sulh-i kul (often translated as "universal peace"), a policy of tolerance that aimed not to discriminate between subjects of different religions and to secure loyalty from diverse communities.
• This policy of religious tolerance and administrative incorporation was continued in modified forms by later emperors such as Jahangir and Shah Jahan.

The Mughal Empire in the Seventeenth Century and After

• The administrative and military organisation of the empire helped produce a period of economic and commercial prosperity in the seventeenth century.
• Mughal emperors and their mansabdars spent large parts of their revenues on salaries, court expenditure and luxury goods; this demand stimulated production by artisans and agriculture by peasants who supplied goods and produce.
• By the late seventeenth century the Mughal elite commanded enormous wealth and resources and exercised considerable influence over trade, finance and local politics.
• As central authority weakened after prolonged wars and costly campaigns, especially in the Deccan, imperial servants and officials in the provinces became powerful centres of regional authority.
• By the eighteenth century some provinces developed strong, semi-independent political identities; regional centres such as Hyderabad and Awadh emerged as important independent powers.
• Factors that contributed to the decline of central Mughal power included repeated succession disputes, the financial strain of long wars, the growing power of regional military and political figures, and the rise of groups like the Marathas, Sikhs and Jats.

Summary

• The Mughal empire, founded in the early sixteenth century, expanded through military conquest, alliances and administrative reform to become a major power in South Asia.
• Its administration combined Central Asian, Persian and Indian institutions: the mansabdari system organised military and administrative service, while revenue reforms such as zabt made taxation more systematic.
• Policies like sulh-i kul encouraged stability and incorporation of diverse communities, contributing to prosperity in the seventeenth century.
• However, long wars, succession conflicts and the rise of regional powers gradually reduced central authority, and by the eighteenth century the Mughal Empire had begun to fragment into several independent states.