CBSE Notes Class 7 Social Science History Chapter 4-The Mughal Empire

Who were the Mughals?

Descendants of two great lineages of rulers-Genghis Khan (died 1227), the Mongol ruler who ruled over
parts of China and Central Asia from mother’s side-successors of Timur (died 1404), the ruler of Iran,
Iraq and modern-day Turkey from father’s side-Mughals did not like to be called Mughal or Mongol as
Genghis Khan’s memory was associated with the massacre of innumerable people-it was also linked
with the Uzbegs, their Mongol competitors-they were proud of their Timurid ancestry because their
great ancestor had captured Delhi in 1398.

Mughal Military Campaigns

Babur- 1st Mughal emperor (1526- 1530)- succeeded the throne of Ferghana in 1494, when only 12
years old-forced to leave his ancestral throne due to the invasion of another Mongol group, the Uzbegs-
seized Kabul in 1504-In 1526 defeated the Sultan of Delhi, Ibrahim Lodi, at Panipat-captured Delhi and
Agra.
Mughal Traditions of Succession
Did not believe in the rule of primogeniture (where the eldest son inherited his father’s estate)-followed
the Mughal and Timurid custom of coparcenary inheritance (a division of the inheritance amongst all
the sons).

Mughal Relations with Other Rulers

Mughal rulers campaigned constantly against rulers who refused to accept their authority. However, as
they became powerful many rulers like the Rajputs joined them voluntarily. Many of the Rajputs
married their daughters into Mughal families and received high positions. Many resisted as well. For
example, Sisodiya Rajputs of Mewar refused to accept Mughal authority. However, upon defeat, they
were honourably treated by the Mughals, given their lands (watan) back as assignments (watan jagir).
This careful balance between defeating but not humiliating their opponents enabled the Mughals to
extend their influence over many kings and chieftains. However, it was difficult to keep this balance all
the time.

Mansabdars and Jagirdars

Empire expanded to include different regions-Mughals recruited diverse bodies of people-from Turkish
nobles (Turanis) they went on to include Iranians, Indian Muslims, Afghans, Rajputs, Marathas and other
groups-some joined Mughal service as mansabdars- term refers to an individual who holds a mansab,
meaning a position or rank- grading system used by Mughals to rate (1) rank, (2) salary and (3) military
responsibilities-Rank and Salary determined by numerical value, Zat-higher the zat, the more prestigious
the noble’s position in court and larger his salary- mansabdar’s military responsibilities require him to
maintain specific number of sawar or cavalrymen-cavalrymen were reviewed, registered and their
horses branded before the mansabdar received the money to pay them as salary-mansabdar’s salaries
were revenue assignments called jagirs, somewhat like iqtas-however, unlike muqtis, most mansabdars
did not administer their jagirs- mansabdars only had rights to the revenue of their assignments collected
for them by their servants, while they themselves served in another part of the country-During Akbar’s
reign Jagirs were assessed so that their revenues were roughly same as the salary of the mansabdar-
However, things changed by Aurangazeb’s rule-during this time, actual revenue collected was often less
than the granted sum-the number of mansabdars also increased, thus leading to a long wait before they
received a jagir-these and other factors led to shortage in the number of jagirs- jagirdars tried to get as
much revenue as possible while they had a jagir-Aurangazed unable to control these developments
during the end of his reign-peasantry suffered.

Zabt and Zamindars

The main source of income for Mughal Rulers-tax on the produce of the peasantry. Some of these taxes
were paid by the peasants via the rural elites like the headman or the local chieftain, termed as
Zamindars by the Mughals. Todar Mal, Akbar’s revenue minister took a careful survey of the crop yields,
prices and areas cultivated for a 10 year period (1570-1580). Based on this data, the tax was fixed on
each crop in cash. Every province was divided into revenue circles with its own schedule of revenue
rates for the individual crops-revenue system called zabt- prevalent in areas where Mughal
administrators could survey the land and keep very careful accounts-not possible in provinces like
Gujarat and Bengal-In some areas, the Zamindars exercised more power-exploitation by Mughal
administrators could lead them to rebellion-at times zamindars and peasants of the same caste also
allied in rebelling against Mughal Authority-peasant revolt challenged the stability of the Mughal Empire
from the end of 17th century.

A Closer Look: Akbar’s Policies

The administration laid down by Akbar-elaborately discussed by Abul Fazl in the book Akbar Nama-in its
last volume the Ain-i Akbari-empire was divided into provinces called subas-governed by a subadar who
carried out both political and military functions-every province had a financial officer or diwan-subadar
was supported by other officers such as the military paymaster (bakhshi), the minister in charge of
religious and charitable patronage (sadr), military commanders (faujdars) and the town police
commander (kotwal) in order to maintain peace and order in the province-Akbar’s nobles commanded
large armies-had access to large amounts of revenue-when they were loyal the empire functioned
efficiently but by end of 17th century, many nobles had independent networks-loyalties to the empire
weakened by self-interest-Akbar when at Fatehpur Sikri during the 1570s started discussions on religion
with the ulama, Brahmanas, Jesuit priests who were Roman Catholics, and Zoroastrians-discussions took
place in the ibadat khana-Akbar’s interaction with people of different faiths made him realise that
religious scholars who emphasised ritual and dogma were often bigots-their teachings created divisions
and disharmony amongst his subjects- led Akbar to the idea of sulh-i kul or “universal peace”- idea of
tolerance did not discriminate between people of different religions in his realm- it focused on a system
of ethics – honesty, justice, peace – that was universally applicable-Abul Fazl helped Akbar in framing a
vision of governance around this idea of sulh-i kul-This principle of governance were followed by
Jahangir and Shah Jahan.

The Mughal Empire in the 17th Century and After

The administrative and military efficiency led to great economic and commercial prosperity-
International travellers described it as the fabled land of wealth-state of poverty also existed side by
side with the greatest opulence-inequalities were glaring-Documents from 20th year of Shah Jahan’s
reign show that the highest-ranking mansabdars were only 445 in number out of a total of 8,000-
amounts to a mere 5.6% of the total number of mansabdars–received 61.5% of the total estimated
revenue of the empire as salaries for themselves and their troopers-spent a great deal of their income
on salaries and goods-expenditure benefited the artisans and peasantry who supplied them with goods
and produce-however, scale of revenue collection left very little for investment in the hands of the
primary producers (the peasants and the artisan)-poorest lived a hand to mouth existence-could not
invest in additional resources (tools or supplies) to increase productivity- wealthier peasantry and
artisanal groups, merchants and bankers profited in this economic world- enormous wealth and
resources commanded by Mughal Elite made them extremely powerful in the late 17th century-as the
authority of the Mughal Emperor declined, his servants emerged as powerful centres of power in the
regions, constituting new dynasties and holding command of provinces like Hyderabad and Awadh-they
continued to recognise the Mughal emperor in Delhi as their master-by 18th century, the provinces of
the empire consolidated their independent political identities.