Class 7 History Chapter 4 Question Answers - The Mughal Empire

Q1. How did the Mughals succeed in ruling the subcontinent?
Ans:

• Quite in contrast to their predecessors, the Mughals created an empire and ruled over it for a long period of time.
• From the later half of the sixteenth century they expanded their kingdom from
• Agra and Delhi up to the seventeenth century.
• They controlled nearly all of the subcontinent.
• They imposed structures of administration and ideas of governance.
• They outlasted their rule, leaving a political legacy that succeeding rulers of t^e subcontinent could not ignore.

Q2. Who founded the Mughal rule in India and how?
Ans:
Babur was the first Mughal Emperor in India (1526-1530). At the age of 12 he was forced to leave his ancestral home Ferghana due to Uzbegs’ attacks.

• In 1526 he defeated Ibrahim Lodi at the battle of Panipat and captured Delhi and Agra.
• In 1527 he defeated Rana Sanga at Khanua.
• In 1528 he defeated Rajputs at Chanderi and strengthened his control over Delhi and Agra.

Q3. Describe the reign of Humayun.
Ans:
Humayun 1530-1540, 1555-1556

• Humayun divided his inheritance according to the Will of his father.
• His brothers were each given a province.
• The ambitions of his brother Mirza Kamran weakened Humayun’s cause against Afghan competitors.
• Sher ‘Khan defeated Humayun at Chausa (1539) and Kanauj (1540), forcing him to flee to Iran.
• In Iran Humayun received help from the Safavid Shah.
• He recaptured Delhi in 1555 but died the next year after an accident in the building.

Q4. At which age did Akbar become emperor? Give an account of his rulership.
Ans:
Akbar 1556-1605:
Akbar was 13 years old when he became emperor. His reign can be divided into three periods.

• 1556-1570-Akbar became independent of the regent Bairam Khan and other members of his domestic staff. Military campaigns were launched against the Suris and other Afghans; against the neighbouring kingdoms of Malwa and Gondwana, and to suppress the revolt of his half-brother Mirza Hakim and the Uzbegs. In 1568 the Sisodiya capital of Chittor was seized and in 1569 Ranthambhor.
• 1570-1585 – military campaigns in Gujarat were followed by campaigns in the east in Bihar, Bengal and Orissa. These campaigns were complicated by the 1579-1580 revolt in support of Mirza Hakim.
• 1585-1605 – expansion of Akbar’s empire. Campaigns were launched in the north west.
• Qandahar was seized from the Safavids.
• Kashmir was annexed, as also Kabul, after the death of Mirza Hakim.
• Campaigns in the Deccan started and Berar, Khandesh and parts of Ahmadnagar were annexed.
• In the last years of his reign Akbar was distracted by the rebellion of Prince Salim, the future Emperor Jahangir.

Q5. Describe the reigns of Jahangir and Shah Jahan.
Ans:
Jahangir 1605-1627:

• Military campaigns started by Akbar continued.
• The Sisodiya ruler of Mewar, Amar Singh, accepted Mughal service. Less successful campaigns against the Sikhs, the Ahoms and Ahmadnagar followed.
• Prince Khurram, the future Emperor Shah Jahan, rebelled in the last years of his reign. The efforts of Nur Jahan, Jahangir’s wife, to marginalise him were unsuccessful.

Shah Jahan 1627-1658

• Mughal campaigns continued in the Deccan under Shah Jahan.
• The Afghan noble Khan Jahan Lodi rebelled and was defeated.
• Campaigns were launched against Ahmadnagar; the Bundelas were defeated and
• Orchha seized.
• In the north-west, the campaign to seize Balkh from the Uzbegs was unsuccessful and Qandahar was lost to the Safavids.
• In 1632 Ahmadnagar was finally annexed and the Bijapur forces sued for peace.
• In 1657-1658, there was conflict over succession amongst Shah Jahan’s sons.
• Aurangzeb was victorious and his three brothers, including Dara Shukoh, were killed.
• Shah Jahan was imprisoned for the rest of his life in Agra.

Q6. How did Aurangzeb spread his empire?
Ans:
Aurangzeb 1658-1707
In the north-east, the Ahoms were defeated in 1663.

• They rebelled again in the 1680s.
• Campaigns in the north-west against the Yusufzai and the Sikhs were temporarily successful.
• Mughal intervention in the succession and internal politics of the Rathor Rajputs of Marwar led to their rebellion.
• Campaigns against the Maratha chieftain Shivaji were initially successful. But Aurangzeb insulted Shivaji who escaped from Agra, declared himself an independent king and resumed his campaigns against the Mughals.
• Prince Akbar rebelled against Aurangzeb and received support from the Marathas and two Deccan Sultanates (Bijapur and Golconda).
• He finally fled to Safavid Iran.

After Akbar’s rebellion Aurangzeb sent armies against the Deccan Sultanates.

• Bijapur was annexed in 1685 and Golconda in 1687.
• From 1698 Aurangzeb personally managed campaigns in the Deccan against the Marathas who started guerrilla warfare.
• Aurangzeb also had to face the rebellion in north India of the Sikhs, Jats and Satnamis, in the north-east of the Ahoms and in the Deccan of the Marathas.
• His death was followed by a succession conflict amongst his sons.

Q7. Give an account of the Mughal relations with other rulers.
Ans:
Mughal relations with other rulers:

• Mughal rulers campaigned constantly against rulers who refused to accept their authority.
• The Mughals became powerful only when many other rulers joined them voluntarily.
• The Rajputs are a good example of this.
• Many of them married their daughters into Mughal families.
• Then they received high positions.
• But many resisted this as well.
• The Sisodiya Rajputs refused to accept Mughal authority for a long time.
• After their defeat, they were honourably treated by the Mughals.
• They were given their lands (watan) back as assignments (watan jagir).
• The careful balance between defeating opponent kings and chieftains enabled the Mughals to expand their kingdoms.
• But it was difficult to keep this balance all the time.
• Aurangzeb insulted Shivaji when he came to accept Mughal authority.
• The consequence of this insult was that the Aurangzeb empire fell down like a pack of playcards.

Q8. What were the duties of the Mansabdars?
Ans:
Mansabdars and their duties:

• The term mansabdar refers to an individual who holds a mansab (a position or rank).
• It was a grading system used by the Mughals to fix (t) rank, (ii) salary and (iii) military responsibilities.
• Rank and salary were determined by a numerical value called zat. The higher the zat, the more prestigious was the noble’s position in court and the larger his salary,
• The mansabdar had military responsibilities.
• It required him to maintain a specified number of sawar or cavalrymen.
• The mansabdar brought his cavalrymen for review, got them registered, their horses branded and then received money to pay them as salary.

Q9. Describe Jagirdars and their duties.
Ans:
Jagirdars and their duties

• In Akbar’s reign these jagirs were carefully assessed so that their revenues were roughly equal to the salary of the mansabdar.
• By Aurangzeb’s reign situation changed and the actual revenue collected was often less than the granted sum.
• There was also a huge increase in the number of mansabdars which meant a long wait before they received a jagir.
• These and other factors created a shortage in the number of jagirs. Hence, many jagirdars tried to extract as much revenue as possible while they had a jagir.
• Aurangzeb was unable to control these developments in the last years of his reign, so the peasantry suffered tremendously.

Q10. What was the role of Zamindars?
Ans:
Zabt was prevalent in those areas where Mughal administrators could survey the land and keep very careful accounts. This was not possible in provinces like Gujarat and Bengal.

• In some areas the zamindars exercised a great deal of power.
• The exploitation by Mughal administrators could drive them to rebellion.
• Sometimes zamindars and peasants of the same caste allied in rebelling against Mughal authority.
• These peasant revolts challenged the stability of the Mughal Empire from the end of the seventeenth century.

Q11. Describe Akbar Nama and Ain-i Akbari.
Ans:
Akbar Nama and Ain-i Akbari

• Akbar ordered one of his close friends and courtiers, Abul Fazl, to write a history of his reign.
• Abul Fazl wrote a three volume history of Akbar’s reign titled, Akbar Nama.
• The first volume dealt with Akbar’s ancestors.
• The second volume recorded the events of Akbar’s reign.
• The third volume is the Ain-i Akbari.
• It deals with Akbar’s administration, household, army; the revenues and geography of his empire.
• It also provides rich details about the traditions and culture of the people living in India.
• The most interesting aspect about the Ain-i Akbari is its rich statistical details about things like crops, yields, prices, wages and revenues.

Q12. Describe the policies of Akbar.
Ans:
Policies of Akbar

• Akbar laid down broad features of administration.
• They were elaborately discussed by Abul Fazl in his last volume of Akbar Nama, the Ain-i Akbari.
• Abul Fail explained that the empire was divided into provinces called subas.
• The subas were governed by a subadar.
• The subadar carried out both political and military functions.
• Each province also had a financial officer or diwan.
• For the maintenance of peace, law and order in his province, the subadar was supported by other officers like the military paymaster (bakhshi), the minister in charge of religious and charitable patronage (sadr), military commanders (faujdars) and the town police commander (kotwal).

Q13. Discuss Nur Jahan’s influence in Jahangir’s court.
Ans:
Nur Jahan’s Influence in Jahangir’s Court:

• Mehrunnisa, married the Emperor Jahangir in 1611.
• She received the title Nur Jahan.
• She remained extremely loyal and supportive to the monarch.
• As a mark of honour, Jahangir struck silver coins bearing his own title on one side and on the other the inscription “struck in the name of the Queen Begum, Nur Jahan”.
• The square seal states, “Command of her most Sublime and Elevated Majesty Nur
• Jahan Padshah Begum”.
• The round seal states, “by the sun of Shah Jahangir she became as brilliant as the moon; may Nur Jahan Padshah be the lady of the age”.

Q14. Was there a economic inequality during Mughal rule?
Ans:
The Mughal empire in the seventeenth century and after:

• The administrative and military efficiency of the Mughal Empire led to great economic and commercial prosperity.
• International travellers described it as the fabled land of wealth.
• These visitors were also surprised at the state of extreme poverty that existed side by side.
• The inequalities were glaring.
• Documents from the twentieth year of Shah Jahan’s reign say that only 445 mansabdars were in number out of a total of 8,000.
• A mere 5.6 per cent of the total number of mansabdars, received 61.5 per cent of the total estimated revenue of the empire as salaries for themselves and their troopers.

Q15. Who was benefitted in the Mansabdari system?
Ans:

• The Mughal emperors and their mansabdars spent a great deal of their income on salaries and goods.
• This expenditure benefited the artisans and peasantry who supplied them with goods and produce.
• But the scale of revenue collection left very little for investment in the hands of the primary producers, the peasants and the artisans.
• The poorest among them lived from hand to mouth.
• They could not consider investing in additional resources like tools and supplies to increase productivity.
• The wealthier peasantry and artisanal groups, the merchants and bankers profited in this type of economy.