The Mughal Empire from Babur to Aurangzeb

Overview

The Mughal empire (1526–1857) was one of the largest and richest states of the early modern world. At its height under Aurangzeb, it covered almost the whole subcontinent, and in 1700 India may have produced about a quarter of world manufacturing output. The six "Great Mughals" – Babur, Humayun, Akbar, Jahangir, Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb – ruled from 1526 to 1707. After 1707 the empire declined rapidly, though Mughal emperors remained symbolic rulers until 1857.

Babur (1526–1530)

Zahiruddin Muhammad Babur was descended from Timur on his father's side and Chenghiz Khan on his mother's. Driven out of his Central Asian kingdom of Ferghana and Samarkand by the Uzbeks, he took Kabul (1504) and turned to India.

Battles:

Babur wrote his autobiography, the Tuzuk-i-Baburi (Baburnama), in Chagatai Turkish – a frank and lively account of India's land, people, plants and animals. He laid out gardens in the charbagh style.

Humayun (1530–1540, 1555–1556)

Humayun faced rebellious brothers (Kamran, Askari, Hindal), Bahadur Shah of Gujarat and, above all, the Afghan Sher Khan (Sher Shah Suri). He was defeated at Chausa (1539) and Kannauj/Bilgram (1540), and spent 15 years in exile, mostly in Persia with Shah Tahmasp. He regained Delhi in 1555 after the battle of Sirhind, but died in 1556 after falling from the stairs of his library (Sher Mandal). His sister Gulbadan Begum wrote the Humayun-nama. His tomb in Delhi, built by his widow Haji Begum (Bega Begum), is a UNESCO site and the forerunner of the Taj Mahal.

The Sur interlude: Sher Shah Suri (1540–1545)

Sher Shah ruled only five years but left a deep mark on administration:

• Land revenue: measured land, classified it into good, middle and bad, fixed the state's share at one-third of average produce, issued patta (title deed) and took qabuliyat (agreement) from farmers. Todar Mal worked under him.
• Currency: the silver rupiya (about 178 grains) and copper dam – the ancestor of today's rupee.
• Roads and sarais: rebuilt the Grand Trunk Road (Sonargaon in Bengal to the Indus, then called Sadak-e-Azam) and built about 1,700 sarais that also served as postal stations (dak chowkis).
• Administration: divided the empire into sarkars and parganas with officials such as the shiqdar, amin, munsif and qanungo; local headmen were responsible for crimes in their areas.
• Buildings: Purana Qila (Delhi), Qila-i-Kuhna mosque, and his tomb at Sasaram (Bihar), an octagonal tomb in a lake.

He died in an accident during the siege of Kalinjar (1545).

Akbar (1556–1605)

Akbar became emperor at 13 under the regency of Bairam Khan. The Second Battle of Panipat (1556) against Hemu (Hemchandra Vikramaditya, the general of the Sur ruler Adil Shah) secured his throne. After a period of influence by his foster-mother Maham Anga and her family (the "petticoat government", 1560–62), he took full control.

Expansion: Malwa (Baz Bahadur), Gondwana (Rani Durgavati), Chittor (1568), Ranthambore (1569), Gujarat (1572–73; Buland Darwaza commemorates it), Bengal and Bihar (1576), Kashmir (1586), Sindh, Kandahar, and in the Deccan Berar, Khandesh and part of Ahmadnagar (Chand Bibi resisted). The Battle of Haldighati (1576) was fought against Maharana Pratap of Mewar, who continued to resist from the hills; his general Hakim Khan Sur was an Afghan and the Mughal commander was Raja Man Singh.

Rajput policy: marriage alliances (with the Kachhwaha princess of Amber, mother of Jahangir), high mansabs for Rajputs (Man Singh, Raja Bhagwan Das), and respect for their autonomy (watan jagirs), while dealing firmly with those who resisted.

Religious policy (sulh-i-kul – "peace with all"):

• abolished the pilgrim tax (1563) and jizya (1564);
• built the Ibadat Khana (house of worship) at Fatehpur Sikri (1575) for debates among Muslims, Hindus, Jains, Zoroastrians and Christians (Jesuits from Goa);
• issued the Mahzar (1579), declaring him Imam-i-Adil with the power to choose between interpretations of Islamic law;
• started the Din-i-Ilahi / Tauhid-i-Ilahi (1582) – a spiritual discipleship rather than a new religion, with very few followers (Birbal was one);
• translated Sanskrit works (Mahabharata as Razmnama, Ramayana) at the Maktab Khana.

Navaratnas (popular tradition): Abul Fazl (Akbarnama, Ain-i-Akbari), Faizi (poet), Todar Mal (revenue), Birbal, Tansen (musician), Man Singh, Abdur Rahim Khan-i-Khanan (Hindi dohas) and others – the list varies between sources.

Jahangir (1605–1627)

• Executed the fifth Sikh Guru Arjan Dev (1606) for supporting rebel prince Khusrau.
• Strong influence of Nur Jahan and her family ("Nur Jahan junta": her father Itimad-ud-Daula, brother Asaf Khan).
• Received the English envoys William Hawkins (1608) and Sir Thomas Roe (1615), who obtained trading rights for the English at Surat.
• Installed the chain of justice (zanjir-i-adl) at Agra Fort.
• Mughal painting reached its peak; Jahangir wrote his memoir Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri.
• Lost Kandahar to Persia (1622).

Shah Jahan (1628–1658)

• The "golden age" of Mughal architecture: Taj Mahal (Agra), Red Fort and Jama Masjid (Delhi), new city Shahjahanabad (1648), the Peacock Throne, Moti Masjid in Agra Fort.
• Annexed Ahmadnagar (1636); made Bijapur and Golconda tributaries.
• Failed Balkh and Badakhshan campaign; lost Kandahar finally (1649–53).
• The war of succession (1657–58) among his sons Dara Shikoh, Shuja, Aurangzeb and Murad ended with Aurangzeb's victory at Dharmat and Samugarh; Shah Jahan was imprisoned in Agra Fort till his death (1666). Dara Shikoh translated the Upanishads into Persian (Sirr-i-Akbar) and wrote Majma-ul-Bahrain ("mingling of two oceans") on the unity of Hinduism and Islam.

Aurangzeb (1658–1707)

• Took the title Alamgir; enforced orthodox policies: banned music at court, appointed muhtasibs (censors of morals), re-imposed jizya (1679), and destroyed some temples, though he also gave grants to others.
• Compiled the Fatawa-i-Alamgiri (a digest of Hanafi law).
• Executed the ninth Sikh Guru Tegh Bahadur (1675).
• Faced revolts: Jats (Gokula, Rajaram), Satnamis (1672), Sikhs (Guru Gobind Singh), Rajputs (Marwar, after the death of Jaswant Singh – led by Durgadas Rathore), Afghans and Marathas.
• Annexed Bijapur (1686) and Golconda (1687); spent his last 25 years in the Deccan fighting the Marathas. He died at Ahmednagar in 1707 and was buried at Khuldabad. Under him the empire reached its largest extent but was financially and militarily exhausted.

Mains practice question

Q. "Akbar's policy of sulh-i-kul was a political necessity as much as a personal conviction." Discuss. (150 words)

Framework: diverse empire and Rajput alliances needed broad support; measures (abolition of jizya and pilgrim tax, Ibadat Khana, Mahzar, translations); personal influences (Sufism, Bhakti, debates); results (stable empire, composite culture); contrast with later reversal under Aurangzeb.

Quick self-test

1. Where did Babur first use artillery in India? *(First Panipat, 1526)*
2. Who introduced the rupiya? *(Sher Shah Suri)*
3. Against whom was the Battle of Haldighati fought? *(Maharana Pratap)*
4. Who wrote Majma-ul-Bahrain? *(Dara Shikoh)*
5. When did Aurangzeb re-impose jizya? *(1679)*