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    5 views7 pages

    Mughal Decline Book - Resource

    Uploaded by

    Yusha Sharfi

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    of 7
    Peoonone GSs Foregn Invasions byte Persians ‘nd Afghans eee othe cthurangzebs Carel succnstors rouse 9 man “Rede lere ion te lng? Bayou os or Sante? ve sso or “yorooeer i) "Hoe as Auoga espns be “tocine be Maglenpie? (4 ‘What were the causes and consequences of the doctine af tho Mughal Tone Cee = How farwas Aurangzeb responsibtoforthe decling . Injygnal adian eeann for W 100 ofthe Mughal Empire? ‘Mughal Emp + How far did Mughal wecknansos from 1707 OKO nant oman pean ane? ofthe Mughal Empira = What role did the East India company play in tho doctinooftho Empiro? + theoffectivenss of his successors as rulars ~ How succossful was British expansion inthe sub- - problems of controling the Empire ‘continent to 1857? = tho rise of the Maratha and Sikh empires. The decline of the Mughal Empire was due to both internal and external reasons. Internal causes for the decline include Aurangzeb’s polices, his pleasure socking successors, extravagiar lifestyle, the absence ofa dofiniteline of succession, the vastness of Empiro, miltary inefliiency, deciine of the nobilily, gulf botwoen rulers and ruled and the rise of the Marathas. Extemal reasons that led to the decline of the Mughal Empire ware the foraign invasions trom Persia and ‘Afghanistan and British expansion in the sub-continent. INTERNAL CAUSES ‘There were 2 number of reasons for the Empire's decline. ‘Aurangzeb's policies weakened the empire and also started the decay of the Mughal Empire, He had an intolerant attitude towards non-Muslims. This could be seen in his actions of re- imposing a tax on non-Muslims called the Jizya. He also destroyed some Hindu temples and tried to ban some old Hindu practices, such as suttee, Further, he also compelled Hindus and Sikhs to live according to the Quran. This led to hatred for him among other religious communities, especially Hindus who were in majorly, As they believed, he was trying to convert them to Islam. ‘Consequently, itnot only made him unpopular amongst them but also decreased suppor for the ‘empire and thus weakenedit, Aurangzeb's religious policy played an important role in weakening the Empire, Aurangzeb withheld rights from everyone except for Sunni Muslims, and behaved partially towards Hindus and Shias. He persecuted the majority community of the population, which were Hindus, and destroyed their sacred temples. He also mistreated the Shias living in his empire. Accordingly, he ostthe suppor of both the citizens and the professional class of the Mughal Empire. Since Aurangzeb was keen to extend his Empire, he fought a number of wars against different nations e.g. Rajputs, Sikhs, Jats and Pathan tribas otc. Thus, he made many enomios which later damaged the empire and led to its downfall. Perhaps most costly war fought by Aurangzeb was the war against Maratha tribes in the Deccan. This led to enmity of Marathas. The Marathas were Hindu warrior group from Deccan. They became prominent in the seventeenth century under the leadership of Shivaji who revolted against Mughal Empire, The war against Marathas continued for 25 years which was a great wastage of time, resulting in the affairs of the state boing unattended. This weakened the administration and thus the Empire itsolt. In addition, the imperial ‘army, bogged down in long, futila wars against the more aggressive Marathas lost its fighting spirit. These wars were very costly, ho war agains! tho Marathas almost amptiad the treasury. So, adventures of Aurangzeb. Aurangzeb also attracted discontent of tha luxurious palaces and mosques e.g. Pearl Mos acts led to a weak economy and eventually he stood as the worst of inspirations forthe future rulers to come. The latter also opted luxury, this weakened tho economy, miltary and alse tne administration, thus leading to the downfall ofthe Mughal Empir. , military and also the People because of his extravagance. He built que which he built for his private prayers. Such In addition, Aurangzeb also attracted criticism because of racial discrimination in During his rule, 5% custom duty had been impose! on non-Muslims goods and 2 fn Muslims’ goods. As non-Muslims had to pay more custom duly, their resenti Aurangzeb increased. Further, during his rule, Muslims were preferre opportunities were limited for the non-hiusi started seeing Aurangzeb with eyes of su tis potictea. ent against f high rank posts. As ogress economically during his rul icion and had negative sentiment. to Perhaps much of the criticism is a result of his more stem measures, such as appointing censors ‘on public morals, banning drinking of alcohol, gambling, singing, dancing at court and even determining the maximum length for beards, He tried to enforce the preserived practices of the faith amongst Muslims which made him unpopular. His polices not only annoyed the non- Muslims, especially Hindus, but also insillad feelings of discontent in Muslims which made him unpopular amongst large majority of people in his empire However, there were other reasons forthe dectineas well, Aurangzeb’s successors became lazy, weak and corrupt. They were also incompetent and incapable. They were neither good commanders nor good statesmen, as they were neither skilled in warfare nor in running the country well. So, they did not do much for maintaining their control and when their authority was challenged, they were unable to handle iteffectively. That led the Empire towane. Luxurious living also contributed to the downfall of the Empire. The wealth created by the Mughals made them pleasure seeking and ease loving. They used to wear fine clothes and jewellery. Instead of ruling the empire effectively they stayed busy in drinking, gambling, music and poetry etc., which made the rulers lazy and negligent of their duties. They left the ‘administration to their ministers, who often put their own interests first. This further weakened the Extravagant lifestyle was another reason for the decline, Fine buildings were a symbol of power, pride and culture, but they were also sometimes so expensive that they were a symbol of extravagance. There used to be hundred courses of meal at the royal court. Especially after ‘Aurangzeb death, Mughal Emperors were renowned for having an extravagant lifestyle and spending money with lttle thought to the effect it had on the economy of the Empire. This led to financial inefficiencies and a lack of interestin the running of the Empire. One ofthe important reasons was the absence of a definite line of succession. There was no law of succession, instead there was usually a struggle for succession which ended in war, called Wars of successions. After the death of Aurangzeb, succession dispute became worse, in the ten Years after Aurangzeb's death twelve different people claimed to be emperor at one time. As a result the stable Mughal Empire had become weak and divided. Repeatedly, the stability ofthe government was threatened and its money and manpower depleted. The Mughal royal palace and court became the center of confusion, political intrigue and chaos. Hence, the absence of a definite ine of succession led to a significant amount of in-ighting amongst potential successors, Causing instability and downfall of the empire. wuted in Mughal decline by diferent ways ie. these wars wore expensive, so destroyed their economy. These wars damaged their unity 2s Raid Mugs and their supporters into dlfferont groups. Morgover, as a result ofthese wars, miltary was Stetched and suffered much ineficiency. The succession dispute also ted! 0 wastage of ta Moanwhile, the wars on dispute took the time when the Empire needed an Emperor and survival g {HE DOWNFALL OF THE MUGHAL EMPIRE ‘These wars of successions cont 3 et: baste This lapse allowed the discontented groups to rebel and to do maximum damage tothe Empire Putting itinto a decline mode. Eo oy es oie ent {olowinghiereimotaurangest. 7] Further, the vastness of the Empire made it hard to administer and defend it, Due to the How did the successors of Aurangzeb id not know what was going on in ea rt pear Set SETS sizeof the empire, emperors could not going on in each part of the Ei moe? ir PM aa ial, LT oa TR huge mpi, Decisions often had to be relayed over thousands of miles. When rabellions broke out, it way often many months before emperors could take decisive actions. So, to take tho advantage o¢ weak administration the far flung areas ike Bengal and Oudh became independent and did not pay the revenue, Moreover, he vastness of the Empire made ithard to defend and thus suffered Size, goring poween Aurangss¥ several invasions, Eventually the British overran the Empire because they were superior in MvghalEmnie? ian military might. Hence, poor administration was one reason. Likewise, military inefficiency was one of the main reasons for the decline of Empire. As Mughals had been in power for a long time, they became complacent and imaginad that their success will continue forever. No real efforts were made to upgrade the army, instead tain raaon or te deci oe Mosher *ReY let their military expertise decline until it was no longer an effective fighting force. D'erent ErpreDoyauagreserdangee? discontented groups within the empire e.g. Sikhs and Marathas tock advantage and t ee Mughal army was unable to control, Hence, Mughal Empire disintegrated and declined, Decline of the nobility was also a very important factor that contributed to the decline. The 4 Mughal Emperors went through a loss of power towards the end of the Mughal Empire, and in ~ some cases nobles (courtiers) proved to be more powerful than the Emperors themselves. Such was witnessed in the assassination of Alamgir Il by his courtier. The nobles cheated the government with limited success, and split into factions after quarrels with one another. This Proved that the system had failed to work properly. With weak control in the centre, the other the dest of Aurangzeb they wore «| 24"Tinistratve institutions like the Mansabdari system also failed to work which added problems ‘poeenaly unig (9 scp! ne of} for the Emperor and the Empire. In consequence, this violation led to frequent disruptions in jorenmmeninbah "> Mughal socaty vreak Moreover, gulf between rulers and ruled was another reason of Mughal decline. The rulers and the ruled were separated by a constantly growing gap as the glory days of the Mughal Empire progressed. Akbar was the only emperor who attempted to bridge the gulf, but the other ones ‘chose to ignore the irregularity altogether. Mass popular support disappeared to a degree in light of the upper hand of the wealthy, and because of the discernment of the unfair circumstances. > °F This greatly broke their strength and enabled the already strong Marathas and other internal and external powerto take advantage. The rise of the Maratha was one of the most important internal reasons of the Mughal decline honor ie rated ond bestowea by te | The Marathas were skilful Hindu guerrilla fighters who defeated a Mughal army in 1737 and took ieengate Bctas naers of’parcayy control of Delhi and eastwards towards Bengal. By 1760, they were the most powerful peopie in ‘Hats in Inia "Nawab usualy fer. t© India and nothing could the Mughals doto stop it. The Mughals suffered heavy losses in he entire males; thefemalo equates "Gegunor Stawab begun’. Tre primary dy of a , War (Marathas wars) of 27 years, Afterwards, the whole Mughal Empire was spit into small kingdoms, The Nizam of Hyderabad, Nawab of Oudh and Nawab of Bengal quickly declared thelr kingdoms as independent from Mughals. Zamindars or landlords also contributed in Mughal dectine. As the empire grew, it became harder to keep a close eye on every town and village. People with local roots and knowledge and the respect of their neighbours, sometimes became powerful. Some of them were Zamindars ‘who had accumulated wealth and built up their own private armies. After the death of Aurangzeb, they were increasingly unwilling to accept the rule of any new emperor or to make any payments tothe governmentin Dethiwhich weakened the empire. Rebellion by Princes and provincial governor also played an important role in the Mughal decline. Mughal rule had relied on local princes’ loyalty. In return for this loyalty they kept both their status and administrative control of their lands. Similarly, Mughal rule had depended on local officials. In time these officials, especially the provincial governors, known as nawabs, became very important. As Mughal control weakened, the princes and nawabs seized the chance torebel | and simply rule as they pleased. During the 1720s nawabs in provinces of Awadh or Oudh and Bengal simply broke away from imperial control. Independence meant they no longer had to pay any tribute to the central government. So, they stopped sending revenues tothe government and leditto decline. RE ee ics Vpn mt ai thattugeal mre? AAs the Empire started to decline, it found itself at risk from invasion of foreign invaders, WhO Eypiainyoursrsme. 1 {further weakened the Empire. The Persians under Nadir Shah captured much of the Empire's "The comin of bt wealth and returned home with gold, jewels and the Peacock throne from Dolhi, Nadir Shah took fy suion er ovanren 1 the prestige of the Mughals and now people saw how weak the empire had become. After Nadir 72" ‘Shah, the Afghans, under the leadership of Ahmad Shah Abdali, defeated the Marathas at Panipat. They had been in control of much of the Empire for some time, Ahmad Shah Abdali added Kabul, Peshawar, Lahore and Kashmir to his possessions. The Afghans were unable to make the most of their victory and returned to Kabul. However, they were able to invade the Empire a number of times during the 18th Century. These foreign invasions exposed the weakness of the Mughal army in front of the Marathas, Sikh and British who were encouraged to lake over the Empire because the myth of he Mughal was bro! The British also held great responsibilty in the downfall of the Mughal Empire. The British te economic and military strength was greater due to ths industrial revolution. British industries producing cheap manufactured goods which were sold around the world, With this wealth, 81 could afford military strength (e.g. modem weapons) which the Mughals could not match, therefore the British expansion into the sub-continent was rapid. Their forces and equipment was 3°") ‘unmatched by the Mughals who fall into rapid dectine asa result yon fish The British army was also wel trained in military tactics. They could fight efficiently and could = come up with clever strategies to defeat opposition. The Mughals on the other hand were already militarily weak and poorly trained. As a result, the British were able to seize the control of the a Empire. Further, the British being the super power of that time had more confident soldiers. Their Thy murat conrad va ans Bet Poltical belief was to only succeed and never to fail and therefore the army was more eager and they icant eu t carl and determined to defeat the Indians. Their spirits were high and they fought with more courage. Asa seminar Tis aterm Sh result they managed to come up with a sttong and brave foree that was able to defeat tho tuitsanesnyssrowisobater ‘Scattered and weak Mughals quite easily. sae aca al wa opty to local uot valor than the ‘Reeahateadrs ne catty of Pune ‘Asa rosuh, racks began {0 show Ih tev ny and a Thr on

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