7 Subject – History & Civics Chapter – 5 (The Mughal Empire) (Part – I)
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Class – 7 Subject – History & Civics Chapter – 5 (The Mughal Empire) (Part – I) With the coming of the Mughal began a new era in the Indian history. The Mughal Empire was established by Babur in 1526, after which his descendents ruled for more than three centuries. Babur (1526-1530 AD) Babur was related with two powerful families – Timur on his father’s side and Genghis Khan on his mother’s side. First Battle of Panipat (1526 AD) Ibrahim Lodi, the ruler of Delhi, met Babur with a huge but unorganized army at Panipat on 21 April 1526. Babur’s army, though small, was well trained. Babur easily defeated Ibrahim Lodi. His victory was indeed a success of his able leadership and superior weapons that he had acquired from Turkey. Battle of Khanua (1527 AD) The most powerful ruler against whom Babur had ywt to fight was Rana Sanga of Mewar, who had organized a huge force of Rajputs against the Mughal invader. The victory at Khanua, a village near Agra, in 1527, gave Babur complete control over Central India. Babur laid the foundation of a mighty empire which was further strengthened and consolidated by his grandson, Akbar the Great. Babur wrote his autobiography Tuzuk-i-Babri and kept a dairy. From this we learn that he was a man of outstanding ability, valour and artistic temperament. Humayun (1530-1556 AD) Following were the difficulties of Humayun, which ultimately caused his failure. Humayun ascended the throne in 1530. He was surrounded by difficulties on all sides. His difficulties i) The Afghans had not fully subdued. Under Sher Khan (Sher Shah Suri) they were planning to drive the Mughals out f India. ii) Bahadur Shah, the ruler of Gujarat, was also challenging the authority of Babur. iii) The masses considered the Mughals not only foreigners but also ferocious persons who had caused untold suffering to the people. iv) On top of it, Humayun had certain personal weakness which made the situation more complicated. War with Sher Shah Suri Sher Shah Suri was an Afghan who first came into prominence during the rule of Lodi rulers. Babur had conferred on him his father’s jagir in southern Bihar. When Sher Shah again invaded Bengal in 1537, Humayun realized the gravity of the situation and marched against Sher Shah. Sher Shah left Bengal and mover of the south Bihar. Humayun captured Gaur and took step to establish law and order in Bengal. During his absence from Agra, Humayun’s younger brother Hindal got himself crowned and Kamran seized Delhi. This compelled Humayun to start back to Agra. But on his way Humayun had to face Sher Shah’s force at Chausa in June 1539. Humayun’s force were completely defeated, although he managed to escape. He somehow managed to reached Agra. The two armies met again in 1540 at Kannauj. For the next 15 year till 1555, he led the life of a fugitive wandering from place to place. Ultimately, the ruler of Iran provided him a place to stay. With his help, Humayun could recapture Kabul and Kandhar and then Delhi in 1555. But he could not enjoy the throne for long and died the next year in 1556. Causes of Humayun’s Failure i) Humayun was not a very able soldier and general like his father. ii) He lacked determination and will. He would leave one plan incomplete without achieving final victory. iii) His brothers contributed greatly to his failure. iv) His love for opium kept him away from realities. He would revel in opium eaters’ paradise after a small success. Sher Shah Suri and His Successors (1540-1555 AD) We have read as to how Sher Shah re-established Afghan power in Delhi. He then proceeded to conquer Malwa, Bundelkhand, Punjab, Multan, Sindh and Rajasthan. During his assault on the Kalinjar fort, there was an explosion. Although the fort was captured, but Sher Shah died on May 22, 1545. Sher Shah’s Administration Sher Shah is famous in history more for his administration than his conquests and other achievements. He established an efficient system of administration, which remained the basis of administration even during the British rule. Central Administration Sher Shah was a despot like the Mughal rulers, but he was a benevolent despot. He was always concerned about the welfare of his subjects. He was the supreme head of the central administration. All the civil, military and judicial powers were concentrated in his hands. Provincial Administration The empire was divided into provinces. Each province was divided into Sarkars. Shiqdar-i-Shiqdaran and Munsifi-i-Munsifan were the two officers of sarkars. Each sarkar comprised a number of paraganas. In each paragana, there was one shiqdar, one amin or munsif, one fotdar and two Karkuns. All these officers looked fter the administration and revenue affairs of pargana. Village was the lowest unit of administration. Military Organisation i) Sher Shah’s army was divided into many units. The army consisted chiefly of cavalry, but also had infantry. ii) The salaries of the soldiers and officers were fixed and were mostly paid in cash. iii) Sher Shah followed Alauddin Khilji’s system of branding of horses (dagh) and maintaining descriptive rolls (huliya) of the soldiers. Revenue Administration i) The land was carefully surveyed and measured every year according to a uniform system. ii) All cultivable land was divided into three classes, good, medium and bad on the basis of fertility. iii) One-third of the product was the land-revenue to be paid by the cultivator. Trade and Commerce i) Sher Shah encouraged trade and commerce by abolishing numerous duties that were charged on every entry point. ii) Coins of gold, silver and copper of uniform standard were introduced. iii) The roads and sarais build by Sher Shah also gave a boost to trade and commerce. Justice i) Sher Shah was inspired by high ideals of justice. ii) Even the highly placed persons and government officials were given severe punishment. iii) It si said that so great was Sher Shah’s fear and love of justice that robbers and thieves themselves kept watch over the merchant’s goods. Sher Shah’s Successors Sher Shah was succeeded by his son Islam Shah who died in 1554. A war of succession broke out among various claimants to the throne. In 1555, Humayun was able to recover Delhi and re-established Mughal rule in India. Akbar (1556-1605 AD) Akbar was only 13 years of age when he was proclaimed the Emperor of India. It was a difficult situation. The Afghan chief were still occupying a large portion of Sher Shah’s dominions. However Bairam Khan, Akbar’s tutor and his father’s trusted officer, played a very important role at this time. He became the regent and looked after the kingdom until 1560. Second Battle of Panipat (1556 AD) Although Akbar’s coronation had taken place in a hurry, his position was not yet sesure. His immediate task was to defeat Hemu, the wazir and general of Adil Shah, who had consolidated his position and captured Agra and also occupied the city of Delhi. He made preparations to check advance of Mughals. In November 1556, the Mughal forces met Hemu’s army in the historic battlefield of Pnipat. After a fierce battle, the Afghan army was defeated and Hemu was captured and killed. That was the end of the Afghan resistance to the Mughals. Conquests of Akbar Malwa was conquered in 1561. In 1564, Akbar attacked Gondawana where Rani Durgawati bravery resisted the Mughal forces but was defeated and killed. Akbar conquered Bengal in 1576 and Gujarat in 1578. These two conquests added greatest riches to the Mughal Empire. Besides the fertile land of Bengal, a number of ports, which were centres of foreign trade, came under the control of the Mughals. A number of Rajput rulers of Rajasthan had entered into matrimonial alliance with Akbar and accepted his rule. But Rana Pratap did not accept Akbar’s proposal and kept opposing him. As a result, the battle Haldighati took place between the two in 1576. Although Akbar’s forces defeated Maharana’ forces badly and captured most of his strongholds, but Rana did not surrender even then. He kept on opposing Akbar till his death in 1597 and was able to recover some of his lost forts. Akbar’s Claim to Greatness Akbar’s claim to greatness lies in his following achievements :- i) Political Unification of the Subcontinent. ii) Efficient Administration. iii) Land-Revenue System. iv) Policy of Conciliation and Synthesis. Jahangir (1605-1627 AD) Salim succeeded to the throne at Agra without any difficulty as he was the only surviving son of Akbar. He assumed the title of Jahangir, which means ‘holder of the world’. He promulgated 12 rulers which included arrangement for the safety of highways, abolition of many cesses, prohibition of the sale of intoxicating liquors, prohibition of forcible seizure of property and slaughter of animals, especially cows on certain days. Execution of Guru Arjan Dev Guru Arjan Dev, the fifth Guu of the Sikhs had given shelter to Prince Khusrau, son of Jahangir, when he revolted against Jahangir. This offended the Emperor. He imposed a heavy fine of rupees two lakh which the Guru refused to pay. The Guru was tortured till he died. This cruel act of the Emperor estranged the Sikhs from the Mughals. His Conquests The greatest achievement of Jahangir was that he was able to bring the conflict with Mewar to an end in 1615, which had continued for the last four decades. In 1616, Prince Khurram, son of Jahangir, conquered Ahmednagar fort which the Mughals had lost in 1610.