THE MUGHAL EMPIRE
Ruling a big land like India, with many kinds of people and cultures, was very hard in the old days. But the Mughals did something special. They made a strong empire that lasted a long time.
From the late 1500s, they started ruling from Agra and Delhi. By the 1600s, they ruled almost all of India. They made good systems for ruling the land. These systems were used even after the Mughals were gone. Even today, the Prime Minister of India gives a speech on Independence Day at the Red Fort in Delhi, where the Mughal kings used to live.
WHO WERE THE MUGHALS?
The Mughals came from two famous families. On their mother’s side, they were related to Genghis Khan, who ruled parts of China and Central Asia. On their father’s side, they were related to Timur, who ruled Iran, Iraq, and Turkey.
But the Mughals did not like being called "Mongol" or "Mughal" because Genghis Khan was known for killing many people. Also, they did not like the Uzbegs, who were also Mongols. The Mughals were proud of being from Timur’s family. Timur had attacked Delhi in 1398. The Mughal kings liked to show paintings of themselves with Timur.
MUGHAL MILITARY CAMPAIGNS
Babur, the first Mughal emperor (ruled from 1526 to 1530), became king of Ferghana in 1494 when he was just 12 years old. But soon, a Mongol group called the Uzbegs attacked, and he had to leave his kingdom. After many years of wandering, he took control of Kabul in 1504. Later, in 1526, Babur defeated the Sultan of Delhi, Ibrahim Lodi, at the Battle of Panipat and captured Delhi and Agra.
MUGHAL TRADITIONS OF SUCCESSION
The Mughals did not follow the primogeniture rule, where the eldest son gets everything after the father dies. Instead, they followed a Mughal and Timurid custom called coparcenary inheritance, where the father’s property was divided among all the sons.
Which do you think is more fair: giving everything to the eldest son (primogeniture), or dividing it equally among all sons (coparcenary)?
MUGHAL RELATIONS WITH OTHER RULERS
The Mughals often fought against rulers who did not accept their rule. But as the Mughals became stronger, many rulers willingly joined them. The Rajputs are a good example. Many Rajputs married their daughters into Mughal families and got important jobs in the Mughal court. But some Rajputs refused to accept Mughal rule.
When these rulers were defeated, the Mughals still treated them with respect. They gave them back their lands (called watan) as a kind of job or post (watan jagir).
The Mughals tried to keep a balance—they wanted to win, but not insult their enemies. This helped them gain control over many kings and chiefs. But it was not always easy to keep this balance.
MANSABDARS AND JAGIRDARS
As the Mughal Empire grew into new areas, the Mughals brought in people from many different groups. At first, they had a small group of Turkish nobles (called Turanis), but later they included Iranians, Indian Muslims, Afghans, Rajputs, Marathas, and others.
People who joined the Mughal service were called Mansabdars. A mansabdar is someone who holds a rank or position. The Mughals used a system called mansab to decide three things:
l The person’s rank
l Their salary
l Their military duties
Their rank and salary were based on a number called zat. A higher zat meant a higher status in court and a bigger salary.
Mansabdars had to keep a certain number of soldiers (especially horsemen). They had to bring their soldiers for checking, get their names written down, and their horses branded. Then the mansabdars got money to pay their soldiers.
Mansabdars were paid through land called jagirs (sometimes also called iqtas). These lands gave them revenue (money collected from taxes). But most mansabdars did not live in their jagirs or manage them directly. Instead, their servants collected the revenue for them while the mansabdars were doing their duties in other parts of the empire.
During Akbar’s rule, these jagirs were carefully checked, so that the income from the land matched the salary of the mansabdar. But by the time of Aurangzeb, things had changed. The money collected from the land was often less than what was promised.
Also, the number of mansabdars increased, so many had to wait a long time to get a jagir. Because of this shortage, some jagirdars tried to collect as much tax as possible while they had a jagir.
In Aurangzeb’s final years, he could not control this problem, and as a result, farmers (peasants) suffered a lot.
ZABT AND ZAMINDARS
The main income of the Mughal rulers came from taxes on the crops grown by farmers. In most areas, farmers paid their taxes through local leaders like village headmen or local chiefs. The Mughals called all these middlemen zamindars, whether they were small village leaders or powerful landowners.
Akbar’s revenue minister, Todar Mal, did a careful study between 1570 and 1580. He looked at how much crops were grown, their prices, and how much land was used. Based on this information, the Mughals fixed a tax amount for each crop, which had to be paid in cash.
Each region was divided into revenue circles, and each circle had its own tax rates for different crops. This system was called zabt. It was used in places where Mughal officers could measure the land and keep detailed records. But this system could not work in all areas—like in Gujarat and Bengal—where land was harder to measure.
In some places, zamindars became very powerful. If Mughal officers tried to take too much tax, the zamindars could get angry and rebel. Sometimes, zamindars and peasants from the same caste joined together and fought against the Mughals.
These peasant rebellions became a serious problem and weakened the Mughal Empire, especially by the end of the 1600s.
THE MUGHAL EMPIRE IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY AND AFTER
The Mughal Empire had a strong administration and military, which led to great wealth and trade growth. Many foreign travellers called it a land of riches. But they also noticed that there was a lot of poverty, even though some people were very rich. The gap between the rich and poor was very clear.
In the twentieth year of Akbar’s reign, there were only 445 high-ranking mansabdars out of 8,000 total. These few people (just 5.6%) received about 61.5% of the empire’s total income as salaries for themselves and their soldiers.
The Mughal emperors and mansabdars spent a lot of their money on goods and salaries, which helped peasants and artisans, since they were the ones making and selling the goods. But even with this, most farmers and workers stayed poor. They had very little money left to buy new tools or improve their work. They lived hand to mouth, meaning they only earned enough to survive.
However, richer farmers, artisans, traders, and bankers did well and made good profits during this time.
By the late 1600s, the Mughal nobles (elite) had become very powerful because of their huge wealth. As the Mughal emperor’s power became weaker, these nobles started taking control of different regions. Some of them began new dynasties and ruled states like Hyderabad and Awadh.
Even though they still respected the emperor in Delhi, by the 1700s, these provinces had become independent and had their own political power.
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