CIVIL SERVICES (PRELIMS) EXAM SPECIAL
QUICK REVISION NOTESTM
on Indian History
Mughal Empire - II
1. The second Battle of Panipat marked the real begin-
ning of the Mughal Empire in India.
2. Bairam Khan remained the protector and guardian
of Akbar during the initial reign of Akbar.
3. Akbar’s mother Hamida Banu Begum, and his
foster mother Maham Anaga urged Akbar to get rid of the
Regent, Bairam Khan. In 1560, Akbar openly expressed his
desire to take the reigns of the empire in his own hands and
dismissed him.
4. Bairam Khan submitted his resignation and desired
to proceed to Mecca. On his way to Mecca, Bairam was
stabbed to death by Lohani Afghan, whose father had been
killed by Mughal troops under the command of Bairam
Khan.
5. Akbar followed a policy of conquest for the expan-
sion of his empire until the capture of Asirgarh in January
1601. He achieved the political unification of the whole of
northern and central India by frequent annexations extend-
ing over 40 years.
6. Akbar realised the value of Rajput alliance in his task
of building up an Empire in India and tried, as far as possi-
ble, to conciliate the Rajputs and secure and ensure their
active cooperation in almost all activities. The Empire of
Akbar can be said to be an outcome of the coordination of
Mughal prowess and diplomacy and Rajput valour and
service.
7. Mewar, however, gave stiff resistance to Mughal
forces. Rana Sanga, the ruler of Mewar, kept the torch of
independence burning. However, after his death, his weak
son, Uday Singh, could not hold against the Mughals and
Akbar finally besieged the fort of Chittor in October 1567.
But, the victory did not come his way easily. Rana Sanga’s
brave followers, Jaimnall and Patta, gave stiff resistance.
The entire garrison, to the last man, died fighting. The
Rajput women performed the rite of Jauhar.
8. Victory at Chittor resulted in other Rajput chiefs to
submit to Akbar. But Mewar continued to defy. Uday Singh
continued to retain his independence even after losing the
capital. After his death, Mewar found a true leader in Rana
Pratap.
9. The imperial invasion of territory of Rana Pratap
took place in April 1576, under troops commanded by Man
Singh, the ruler of Amber, and Asaf Khan. A furious battle
was fought at the pass of Haldighati. Rana Pratap was
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defeated by the Mughal forces. His life was, however, saved
by the selfless devotion of the chief of Jhala, who drew upon
himself the attack of Mughal forces by declaring himself to
be the Rana. Rana mounted his favourite horse Chetak and
fled to the hills, from where he continued his resistance to
the Mughal forces and also managed to recover some of the
lost territory. Rana Pratap’s son tried to continue the resis-
tance after his father’s death but was finally defeated in 1599
by Mughal forces led by Man Singh.
10. After annexing Ranthambhor and Kalinjar in 1569,
the Mughals subjugated Gujarat. In 1572, Akbar marched in
person against Gujarat and defeated all opposition.
11. Gujarat turned out to be one of the most profitable
sources of income for the Mughal empire, chiefly through
the re-organisation of its finances and revenues by Todar
Mal.
12. In 1585, Kabul was formally annexed to the Delhi
empire after the death of Mirza Muhammad Hakim, step-
brother of Akbar who governed Kabul as an independent
ruler.
13. Bhagwan Das and Kasim Khan were deputed by
Akbar to conquer Kashmir. They defeated its Sultan Yusuf
Shah in 1586 and annexed Kashmir to the Empire.
14. By 1595, Akbar made himself undisputed ruler of
an area extending from Hindukush to Brahamputra, and
from Himalayas to the Narmada.
15. With an ideal of an all-India Empire, Akbar sought
to bring the Deccan Sultanates, Ahmadnagar, Bijapur,
Golkunda and Khandesh under his hegemony. He also
wanted to utilise his control over Deccan as means of push-
ing the Portuguese to the sea. Thus, his Deccan policy was
purely imperialistic in origin and outlook and not influenced by
religious considerations, as was the case with Shah Jehan and
Aurangzeb.
16. Akbar sent a large army under Bairam Khan’s son
Abdur Rehman and his second son Prince Murad to annex
Ahmadnagar. The city was besieged in 1595, but not before
splendid courage and extraordinary resolution shown by
Chand Bibi, a queen of Bijapur. Under a treaty with Chand
Bibi, Berar was ceded to Akbar’s forces and the boy king of
Ahmadnagar agreed to the overlordship of Akbar. The king-
dom could be annexed to the empire only during the reign of Shah
Jehan.
17. In July 1599, Akbar himself marched to the south
and captured Burhanpur, the capital of Khandesh and laid
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siege to the mighty fortress of Asirgarh. Akbar seduced the
Khandesh officers by money to get the doors of the fort
opened. This was the last conquest of Akbar.
18. In 1601, Akbar returned to Agra to deal with his
rebellious son Salim.
19. On October 17, 1605 Akbar died following severe
dysentery. His mausoleum is located at Sikandra.
20. Akbar observed the external forms of the Sunni
faith until 1575, when his association with Shaikh Mubarak
and his two sons, Faizi and Abul Fazal, produced change in
his views.
21. Akbar got a building called Ibadat-Khana or the
House of Worship constructed at Fatehpur Sikri, with a
view to discussing philosophical and theological questions.
22. Hari Vijaya Suri, Vijaya Sen Suri and Bhanuchandra
Upadhaya were prominent Jain teachers who were called
by Akbar to attend the philosophical and theological
discussions.
23. Akbar floated a new religion, called Din-i-Ilahi,
based on his discussions with people of different religions.
24. Akbar abolished the pilgrim tax in the eighth year
of his reign, and the jaziya in the ninth year.
25. A week after Akbar’s death, Salim succeeded to the
throne of Agra and assumed the title of Nur-ud-din
Mohammed Jahangir Padshah (Emperor) Ghazi (Holy
warrior).
26. Five months after his accession to the throne,
Jahangir faced rebellion by his son Khusrav. The Prince and
his troops were defeated by the Mughal army near
Jalandhar and Khusrav was captured alongwith his
principal followers, Husain Beg and Abdul Aziz.
27. The fifth Sikh Guru, Arjan Dev was sentenced to
death by Jahangir for helping Prince Khusrav with a sum of
money. The execution of Guru Arjan Dev estranged the
Sikhs, till then a peace-loving community, and turned them
into foes of the Mughal Empire.
28. In May 1611, Jahangir married Noor Jahan, origi-
nally known as Mihir-ul-nisa. The emperor, who styled
himself Nor-ud-din, conferred on his new wife the title of
Noor Mahal (Light of the palace), which was soon changed
to Noor Jahan (Light of the world). She was the daughter of
Mirza Ghiyas Beg, a Persian adventurer.
29. Jahangir was known to have had several secret love
affairs with the ladies of the court. One famous love of
Jahangir was Anarkali, for whom he raised a beautiful
marble tomb at Lahore.
30. The most distinguished triumph of Mughal
imperialism during the reign of Jahangir was its victory over
the Rajputs of Mewar.
31. In the Deccan, war dragged on throughout his reign
against the kingdom of Ahmadnagar. The kingdom of
Ahmadnagar was then served by its Abyssinian minister
Malik Ambar, one of the greatest statesmen that Medieval
India produced.
32. A partial success was gained by Mughals in 1616,
when Prince Khurram captured Ahmadnagar and some
other strongholds. For this victory Khurram was rewarded
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by his father with the title of Shah Jehan (King of the
world).
33. The first serious disaster of the Mughal empire dur-
ing the reign of Jahangir was loss of Kandhar. Deceiving the
Mughal officers by gifts, Shah Abbas, one of the greatest
rulers of Asia in his time, besieged Kandhar in 1621, and
finally took it in June 1622.
34. Shah Jehan revolted against Jahangir with help of
Abdur Rahim Khan-i-Khanan, an officer in the Mughal
court. He was, however, defeated by Mughal forces led by
Mahabat Khan, at Balochpur, near Delhi, in 1623. Shah
Jehan was then chased from province to province and final-
ly, in 1625, he reconciled with his father and retired to Nasik
with his wife Noor Jahan, a niece of Mumtaz Mahal, and
youngest son Murad. His other sons, Dara Shikoh and
Aurangzeb, were sent to the imperial court, probably to
serve as hostages to ensure his good behaviour.
35. The success of Mahtab Khan excited the jealousy of
Noor Jahan and this hostility drove him to rebellion. Mahtab
Khan took Jahangir as prisoner on the banks of Jhelum,
while the emperor was on his way to Kabul. However,
Jahangir managed to escape from prison and went to Rohtas
where troops loyal to him had collected in a large force.
Mahtab Khan ultimately made peace with Jahangir, but this
triumph remained short-lived as Jahangir died on October
27, 1627. His body was buried in a beautiful tomb at Shah-
dara, near Lahore, on the banks of Ravi.
36. Jahangir had a Chain of Justice, bearing sixty bells,
fastened between the Shah Bhurj in the Agra fort and a post
on the road, near the bank of Yamuna. The chain could be
shaken by the humblest of his subjects to bring their
grievances to his notice.
37. The Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri (Memoirs of Jahangir) is a
brilliant proof of his literary attainments.
38. Himself a painter, Jahangir was a patron of art and
literature and a lover of nature.
39. Jahangir made no departure from his father’s poli-
cy of admitting Hindus to the higher public service. Man
Singh, Kalyan Singh, son of Todar Mal, and Vikramadit
were three Hindu governors during his reign.
40. Jahangir also tried to control the practice of sati
among Hindus. He passed orders that Hindu widows should
not be compelled to become sati without his government’s
permission. He also tried to put a stop to female infanticide.
41. Jahangir was fond of the company of the Vaishnava
leader Jadurup and held many discussions with him at
Ujjain and Mathura, as a result of which he came to the con-
clusion that Hindu Vedanta and Muslim sufism were almost
identical.
42. Jahangir was usually liberal and tolerant towards
all religions, but at times sanctioned repressive measures
against Muslim heretics. Shaikh Rahim of Lahore, who was
a religious leader of a sect, was imprisoned in the fortress of
Chunar. Qazi Nurullah was put to death on account of
being a notable Shia writer. Shaikh Ahmad Sarhindi was
imprisoned in the fortress of Gwalior, but was released later
and sent back to Sarhind with gifts.