The Mughal Empire

(a) The capital of Mirza Hakim, Akbar’s half-brother, was Kabul.

Mirza Hakim was the second son of Mughal emperor Humayun. He ruled Kabul in Afghanistan.

(b) The five Deccan Sultanates were Berar, Khandesh, Ahmadnagar, Bijapur and Golconda.

The Deccan Sultanates namely Berar, Khandesh, Ahmadnagar, Bijapur and Golconda were the five dynasties that ruled late medieval Indian Kingdoms.

(c) If zat determined a mansabdar’s rank and salary, sawar indicated his military responsibility.

In Mansabdari system on the basis of zat of the mansabdar his salary and rank were decided and his sawar were used to decide his military responsibilities.

(d) AbulFazl, Akbar’s friend and counselor, helped him frame the idea of sulh-i-kul so that he could govern a society composed of many religions, cultures and castes.

Sulh-i-kul is an Arabic term meaning “Peace with all”. It was applied by Akbar the third Mughal emperor; it described a peaceful and harmonious relationship among different religions.

The central provinces under the control of the Mughals were:

1. Lahore

2. Panipat

3. Delhi

4. Mathura

5. Agra

6. Ajmer

7. Marwar

8. Mewar

9. Deccan

10. Chittor

11. Bihar

12. Bengal

13. Kashmir

14. Kabul

A mansabdar refers to an individual who holds a position or rank and jagir was a revenue assignment for the mansabdars. The mansabdars had the right to collect revenue from a jagir but they could not reside in or administer the jagir. They just had rights to the revenue of their assignments which was collected by their servants while they are serving in other parts of country.

The Zamindars in the Mughal administration were basically the local headmen of villages or powerful chieftains.

Role ofthe zamindar in Mughal administration are:

1. Zamidars were appointed by rulers.

2. They acted as intermediaries between the rulers and the peasants.

3. They were responsible for collecting revenue from the peasants.

Akbar was very much interested in the religious practices of different cultures and regions and often debated on such issues with religious scholars.

These debates helped Akbar in framing the idea of sulh-i -kul or ‘universal peace’. By using such a policy of tolerance Akbar was able to formulate governance guidelines which were based on a system of ethics, honesty, justice and peace.

His ideas on governance were in effect shaped by his liberal and secular views on religion; as a result, few developments during his reign were –

1. He abolished the jaziya tax that was levied on the non-Muslim.

2. Provided every community with freedom of religion to profess and practice their faiths without any fear.

The main reason for Mughals to emphasized their Timurid descent, that Ghengiz Khan’s memory was associated with the massacre of innumerable people, and also linked with Uzbegs, their Mongol competitors.

On the other hand, they prided themselves on the fact that Timur had captured Delhi in 1398.

The Mughal Empire was very big therefore to maintain the law and order in the large area, soldiers were required for the proper administration. For their salary and maintaining law and order, a huge amount of finance was required which came from the revenue.

Therefore income from land revenue was the main source of income for the Mughal rulers and hence it was very important.

It was important for the Mughals to recruit mansabdars from diverse backgrounds and not just Turanis and Iranis because:

1. The empire had expanded to encompass different regions and provinces thus it was needed to provide stability to the empire.

2. The problems of common folks would be understood better by the people living with them only.

3. Mughal also didn’t wanted people to rebel against them on the issue of privileges to Turanis and Iranis.

4. They came here to rule so they needed to maintain a balance between the diversity of the country as well as respect it.