History 1. The Great Mughals

The first Battle of Panipat was fought in A.D. 1526. Babur accepted the invitation of Daulat Khan Lodi and came to India, later he met Ibrahim Lodi to discuss the plans of the battle of Panipat on 21st April 1526.

Sher Shah Sur has been called the forerunner of Akbar because many of his reforms were later followed by Akbar such as land revenue reforms, military reforms, judicial reforms, etc.

Jahangir set up a ‘’ Chain of Justice’’. Jahangir was famous for his justice. So, he set up a chain of justice between Shah Burji palace in the fort of Agra, and a stone pillar fixed on the banks of river Yamuna.

NOTE- The chain has been set up to be pulled by the individual who needs justice. The person who pulls the chain will later be brought in front of the king to solve his issue. This came to be known as the “Chain of justice.”

Guru Arjun Dev was the Fifth Sikh guru. The eldest son of Jahangir prince Khusro took the blessings of 5^th Sikh guru, Guru Arjun Dev.

Humayun means fortunate.

Explanation: The name Humayun means fortunate, but he was considered to be the unfortunate one because he couldn’t prove himself as a good king.

Hemu, the Prime Minister of Muhammad Shah of Bengal

Explanation: In the Second Battle of Panipat, Akbar defeated Hemu, the prime minister of Muhammad Shah of Bengal. He tried to capture Delhi which led to the second battle of Panipat in A.D. 1556.

Shah Jahan

Explanation: The reign of Shah Jahan has been called as the ‘’Golden Age of the Mughals’’ because the empire witnessed prosperity and poverty at the same time and also architectural development took place during the reign of Shah Jahan.

Akbar

Explanation: Tansen lived in the court of Akbar. Akbar contributed greatly to the field of art and architecture. He patronized many scholars, and Tansen was one of them. Tansen was one of the great musicians in Akbar’s court.

1. Rana Sanga Ruler of Mewar

2. Din-I-IIahi 1582

3. Second Battle of Panipat 1556

4. Raja Todarmal Revenue system

Explanation: 1 – Rana Sanga was the ruler of Mewar. He was one of the greatest enemies of Babur. He got defeated in the battle of Kanwah which was fought with the Mughal emperor Babur.

2 – Din-I-Ilahi is the religious policy which was introduced by the Akbar in 1582. He is considered to be the tolerant king. He introduced this policy to create a national religion. This policy included all the good values and principles of all religions. This was created to maintain tolerance among all the religions.

3 – The second battle of Panipat was fought between Akbar and Hemu, the Prime Minister of Muhammad Shah of Bengal in A.D. 1556.

4 – Raja Todarmal was the Finance Minister during the reign of Akbar who introduced the land revenue system.

The battle of Kanwah was fought between Babur and Rana Sanga of Mewar in A.D. 1527. The Mughals won the battle. Rana Sanga was badly wounded and taken away from the battlefield.

Jahangir’s autobiography is known as Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri which gives us the detailed account of his reign. He wrote his autobiography as he was a good writer and scholar.

Bairam Khan was Akbar’s guardian. Bairam Khan was an extraordinary military general who served for Mughal emperors Humayun and his son Akbar and had great contributions in expanding their empires.

Nur Jahan whose original name was Mehr-un-Nisa was the daughter of Mirza Ghias Beg and wife of Sher Afghan. Sher Afghan was later killed by Jahangir, and he married Nur Jahan. He gave her the title “light of the world’’ or Nur Jahan.

Zahir-ud-din Muhammad, Babur who was born in A.D. 1483, was the eldest son of Umar Sheikh Mirza. Daulat Khan Lodi, the Governor of Punjab and Alam Khan, the uncle of Ibrahim Lodi, invited Babur to invade India. He accepted the invitation of Daulat Khan Lodi. He then fought the first battle of Panipat and killed Ibrahim Lodi. In his journey to establish the Mughal empire in India, he fought and defeated Rana Sangha of Mewar in the battle of Kanwah; Medini Rai of Malwa in the battle of Chanderi; Muhammed Lodi in the battle of Gaghra. His victory led to the establishment of the Mughal Empire in India.

Nur Jahan whose original name is Mehr-un-Nisa was a beautiful and intelligent woman. She was the daughter of Mirza Ghias Beg and married to Sher Afghan. Jahangir later killed Sher Afghan. Jahangir married Mehr-un-Nisa and gave her the title Nur Mahal or “light of the palace.” Later, the title Nur Jahan or “light of the world” was given to her. The period between 1611-1626 is known as the age of Nur Jahan because she occupied real power during the reign of Jahangir. After the death of Jahangir, she lost her power and died in A.D. 1645. She is one of the woman empresses of the Mughal Empire who influenced the affairs of the empire.

Sher Shah Sur, son of Hussain, founded the dynasty known as Sur dynasty. He was a great administrator, warrior, and military expert who introduced various reforms and came to be known as the forerunner of Akbar. He issued silver and gold coins which mentioned his name in Devanagari script and fixed the ratio between copper and silver coins and abolished old and mixed currency. His main aim was to improve the economic condition of the country. Thus, he came to be known as the father of modern currency”.

Babur established the Mughal empire in India. The four causes for the downfall of the Mughal empire in India are as follows: -

1. The first and the foremost cause of the downfall of the Mughal Empire is the religious policy of the Aurangzeb. He mistreated the people of other religions.

2. As the empire covered distant and large parts of the country, it becomes difficult to exercise control which led to the revolts by the people.

3. There was no law of primogeniture, i.e., eldest son acquiring the throne. This led to the unhappiness among his sons, and they became the cause of their own downfall.

4. Also, the emergence of the Europeans led to the downfall of the Mughal Empire in India.

Shah Jahan whose original name is Khurram was the son of Jahangir. His period is known as the ‘’Golden Age of the Mughal’’. Following are the reasons why the period of the Shah Jahan is known as the “golden age of Mughals”:-

•During the Mughal period, it was during the reign of the Shah Jahan that the country witnessed prosperity. Trade and commerce developed during his period. Development took place in every field, especially in the field of architecture. It was only in the accounts of the foreigners that we find evidence of the poverty.

•A maximum number of architectural developments took place during the reign of Shah Jahan. He built new capital “Shahjanabad,” Red Fort in Delhi which consist of Rang Mahal, Moti Mahal, Diwan-i-Aam and Diwan-i-khas; Jama Masjid, one of the largest mosques in the world; Taj Mahal and Moti Masjid.

•He showed his interest in art and literature. Thus, development took place in the field of art such as music, painting.

•He also focused on the welfare of the public, and constructed roads, canals.

The Mughal administration was different from other administrative systems of India.

•Central Administration – This is the administrative system under which the king had all the powers. His position was equivalent to that of God. He was considered to be a “shadow of God on earth.” He was assisted by the council of ministers, among them prime minister or wazir was important

•Provincial Administration – Village was the lowest unit of provincial administration. For the convenience purpose, the empire was divided into a number of Subas. Subedar or governor was the in-charge of the Subas. Subas are further divided into Sarkars and Sarkars were divided into Parganas. At the time of Akbar, there were 15 Subas.

•Revenue Administration- Raja Todarmal, revenue minister during the reign of Akbar introduced land revenue system. Land revenue was the main source of income of the state. Akbar also introduced Zabti system under which land was measured with a standard weight of measurement and on the basis of the fertility of the soil, and the yield of the crops land is classified into 3 categories. 1/3^rd of the crops is paid as land tax. It could be paid in cash and kind. Proper facilities were provided at the time of flood and famine.

•Military Administration-The Mughal army consisted of infantry, cavalry, artillery, and elephantry. Cavalry was an important branch of the Mughal army. Mansabdari system was introduced by Akbar which means rank or place. The mansabs were given preference according to the number of horsemen they acquire. The mansabs ranged from 10 to 10,000. They were bound to help the king at the time of war and in return they were given salary.

•Judicial Administration- The king was the centre of power who provided justice with the help of the chief Qazi. According to the Quranic law, the cases were solved. The punishments were severe, and mutilation was the common one.

TIMELINE CHART

NOTE – Apart from this, there are other events of the Mughal period which are performed by the weak successors of Aurangzeb. Gradually, this led to the downfall of the Mughal Empire.

Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal on the banks of the river Yamuna which is one of the Seven Wonders of the World. He built this to house the remains of his wife, Mumtaz. There were following reasons why Taj Mahal is one of the seven wonders of the World :-

•Taj Mahal is built by the chief architect of that time Ustad Isa. It took almost 22 years to complete this.

•It is the mausoleum made of white marble

•The tomb is the main part of the Taj Mahal which has a large dome above it. The decorations in Taj Mahal are the finest of the Mughal architecture.

•In front of the Taj Mahal, there is Charbagh or the Mughal garden. In the center of the garden, there is raised marble water tank which is called as al Hawd-al-Kawthar.

•It is a UNESCO world heritage site as it is one of the most beautiful monuments and one of the world’s historical masterpieces.

Yes, it is true that Aurangzeb practiced anti-revolutionary religious policy and mistreated with the people of other religions. Following are the causes which prove that the anti-religious policy of Aurangzeb led to the downfall of the empire: -

•From Babur to Shah Jahan all were tolerant kings, and they were clear about the fact that cooperation with the people of other religions will only help them to increase the extent of Mughal Empire. But the son of Shah Jahan, Aurangzeb was the orthodox Sunni Muslim and exercised strict control over the people of other religions.

•He reimposed Jizya tax on the non-Muslim population.

•He failed to establish as a king as he exercised strict religious policies over the non-Muslim population of the country.

•He took all the state services from the Hindus which led to the revolt by the Marathas, Rajputs, Jats, Satnamis, and Sikhs. This led to the downfall of the Mughal Empire.