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Decline

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37 views17 pages

Decline

Uploaded by

zunaira tariq Student
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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SECTION A

Decline Of Mughal Empire


Unit :1
Who was Aurangzeb?

 6th Mughal emperor


 -succeeded shah jehan-became king in 1658.
 -introduced jizya tax-
 fought against Marathas/EIC/Pathans
 –died in 1707.
Mughal empire
Aurangzeb Reforms
 Reinstituted Jizya Tax on non-Muslims.
 Destroyed Hindu Temples
 Enforced Islamic Laws
 Banned Suttee (Hindu Tradition)
 All of which led to Hindu’s (who formed a
large part of India) agitation.
Aurangzeb’s wars.

 Fought a war against the Rajputs


 Attempted to expand North (in a campaign against NWFP pathans)
Numerous Rebellions (Sikhs, Satnamis, Jatts). The Maratha War which
was the costliest.
 ^All these wars resulted in heavy taxes, and emptied the Mughal
treasury. Leaving the Mughal Empire in economic misery.
Decline of Mughal Empire
Reasons For The Decline

Aurangzeb’s love for luxury.


 Built palaces, spend huge sums on himself.
 ^E.g Pearl Mosque for his own private prayers in Delhi made him
unpopular. Furthered economic decline.
Indefinite law of succession.
 The dead Mughal emperor’s sons would fight for power.
 He tried preventing this by dividing the empire between his 4 sons.
Didn’t work
 Muezzin was first emperor. Died. His sons fought. In 10 years, 12
claimed the throne. These wars cost a lot. Weakening the economy.
Many capable soldiers, nobles died. Left the empire divided and weak.
Decline (Continuation)

Lazy ass successors.


 Were lazy, incompetent. Unable to control government. Handed the
government over to the mansabdars (Nobles put in charge, system started by
Akbar. These were often corrupt, disloyal and sought their own gains) these
often corrupt nobles grew in power. Some princes and rulers were assassinated
by courtiers. Such as Farukhsiyar and Alamgir.
 Thus, there was an imbalance of power. Any emperor who would take control
could not rule.
Vast Empire.
 Over 1000’s of Communication and transport was difficult. Months before news
e.g: Rebellions reached the emperor, and he couldn’t react in time.
 The Mansabdary system was weak and corrupt, no longer countered tis. Bihar,
Deccan, Bengal managed to declare independence at points.
Decline

Military Inefficiency.
 Mughals used to be powerful, disciplined armies. Used to fight with clever tactics.
With strong commanders.
 They became complacent with time. Didn’t feel the need for an army. Army
became weak. Less disciplined. No modern advancements in warfare.
 Army was also made of different groups: Persian. Afghani etc.
 The Mughals lacked a naval fleet as well, despite having numerous ports.
Invaders.
 Nadir Shah, Persian leader invaded. Defeated Muhammad Shah at Karnal 1734
 He sacked Delhi. Left after 2 months with many jewels, good and the peacock
throne Ahmed Shah, an Afghan came in 1747.Attacked Kabul, Peshawar and
Lahore. Had control over Punjab by 1749. Kashmir, Multan by 1756.
British. Finally took control and effectively
ended Mughal Rule
 They were military better equipped. Also employed local sepoys. Had
military experience from their combat against the French, Portuguese.
 Won decisive Battles: Plassey, Buxar. Mir Jafar betrayed Indians, helped
British.
 Exploited captured lands for a lot of profit.
What was the EIC (East India Company) ?

 1600, Queen Elizabeth 1, granted permission to a group of merchants


to set up EIC, monopoly in trade b/w Britain & countries “east” of
Africa.
First ship, 1608, at Surratt. Headquarter at Bombay, 1664; gradually
became stronger by acquiring military strength
Why European nations became
involved in the subcontinent?
 India had certain raw materials that the rest of the world did not have and they
desired, including spices, cotton, sugar, silk, jute etc. The British had a great regard
for the raw materials, since they had recently undergone the industrial revolution
and wished to expand their industries.

 The Middle Eastern countries had a tax on Europeans, and the Byzantine Empire
was now under the ottomans who sought cheaper trade routes.

 They avoided land routes in the Middle East, since trading via sea was cheaper,
more effective and gave economy of scale.

 British went to India since other lands (e.g.: Africa) were already under Portuguese
control. They also fought against the French here.
Why the British took control over the EIC
?

 The Volume of trade and profit to the British was extremely significant.
The crown did not feel that a thing of such importance should remain in
the hands of a private company. They thus took control of the EIC.

 The British needed to shape their foreign policy, since the Russians
seemed to be trying to expand. This couldn’t be done under the EIC.

 British Prestige was at stake. The needed expansion to regain the image
they had lost in their disgraceful loss at Kabul by the Afghans.
Taking control of India

Successes (Of Indians in resisting)


 In 1666, EIC grew proud, refused taxes and issued coins. Aurangzeb sent
a force against them, defeated them. EIC paid a fine, apologized,
reduced activities.
 >In 1756, Nawab of Bengal, Siraj ud Daulah defeated EIC and managed
to drive them away from and they captured Calcutta.
 Tipu Sultan had French support, and used his strong army against the
EIC at several times. Defeating them.
Failures

 The very next year in 1757, The British, under Robert Clive defeated Siraj ud Daulah’s forces
with the help of Mir Jafar’s betrayal. Siraj died, and the Mir Jafar was placed as a puppet ruler
by the British
 In The Battle of Buxar of 1764, the British defeated the Mir Jafar’s son, Mir Qasim and Shah
Alam II and the Nawabs of Oudh. This extended their influence, gave them Bengal, Bihar and
Orissa. They collected Revenue from here, managed to get a bigger army. Ended true Muslim
Rule.
 In 1782, first GG, Warren Hastings signed a treaty with the Marathas, they could now focus
on other places, and Maratha take over was prevented.
 In 1799, GG Wellesley invaded Mysore and killed Tipu Sultan. They thus killed a strong
enemy and took control of his lands in Mysore.

 In 1803, The British entered Delhi, forced Shah Alam II to accept rule under “British
Protection” … which basically meant that The Emperor no longer had any real power. British
were true rulers by this point.

 They provoked the Sindh Amirs into war despite a treaty signed between the two parties in
British Reforms/Rule.

 India was very wealthy, but this wealth was heavily exploited by the
british, with all this wealth going over to the British.
 In 1829, they banned Suttee (A common hindu tradition)
 Replaced Persian with English as the government language … Indians
could no longer get government jobs.
 Indians had to send their children to co-ed schools with westernized
Educations. They disliked this as it went against their culture and
religion.
 Christian Missionaries came and set up schools, and seemed to try and
convert the local populace to Christianity. This was resented by the
Indians.
 British brought in the railway system, which is also annoyed the
Indians as they felt that the British were trying to intervene in India
too much.
 British sold cotton in India (thanks to Industrial Revolution) and
collapsed the Indian Textile Industry, leaving millions jobless and poor.
CAIE BASED QUESTIONS

 1. Who was Aurangzeb? [4]


 2.What reforms did Aurangzeb introduced in his era? [4]
 3.What was the East India Company (EIC)?
[4]
 4. Explain why the East India Company became involved in the
Subcontinent during 17th century?
[7]
 5. Why did the British government take control of the East India
Company in early 19th century? Explain.
[7]
 6. The spread of Maratha power was the main reason for the
decline of the Mughal Empire.’ Do you agree or disagree? Give
reasons for your answer. [14]

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