History of Indian Subcontinent

Mughal era
 Lecture structure
• Pre-Mughal era
• Mughal era
• Mughal emperors
• Administration
• Decline of Mughals
 Mughal Emperors
• Babur 1526 – 1530
• Humayun 1530 – 1540 1555 – 1556
• Akbar 1556 – 1605
• Jahangir 1605 – 1627
• Shah Jahan 1628 – 1658
• Aurangzeb 1658-1707
• Bahadur Shah II 1837 – 1857
 Mughal era
• 1526 - Delhi-based kingdom of the Afghan
Muslim Lodi dynasty fell to Babur
• Babur was a scion of both Timur on his father’s
side and the Mongol Chingiz Khan on his
mother’s
• Babur ruled for a mere four years
• The foundation for an enhanced infrastructure of
roads and the beginnings of agricultural surveys
was laid by resurgent Afghans, the Surs
 Akbar
• Established the dynasty as an empire
• A diverse and inclusive ruling elite
• Sought to incorporate powerful indigenous
lineages
• Unifying ideology of the regime was that of
loyalty
 Akbar
• Sought shared philosophic truths across
traditions
• Patronized translations into Persian of the
Sanskrit Ramayana (the story of Lord Ram)
and Mahabharata
• Abolished the jizya
 Akbar
• Key to Akbar’s successes were the
administrative reforms that created an
enduring framework for rule
• Nobles were awarded ranks
• Appointed to positions in two parallel
hierarchies, one with civil responsibilities and
one military
 Aurangzeb
• Destroyer of cultural pluralism?
• Persecution of non-muslims
• Hinduism repressed during mughal era?
 Mughals - the decline
• A hierarchic distribution of authority
• No monopoly of military force
• Princely rulers and provincial governors key
 Mughals - the decline
• Grassroots view
• “When the aim of the ruling sovereign is the
happiness of the people, the country prospers,
the peasants are at ease, and people live in
peace.... the Emperor, seized with a passion
for capturing forts, has given up attending to
the happiness of the subjects.”
 Mughals - the decline
• Key fault lines
1. Zamindars
2. Princely rulers
3. Provincial governors
• Challenges posed by Marathas, Sikhs, Afghans
• Nadir Shah and Abdali’s pillage
 Maratha Empire
• Formed in 1674 by Shivaji, the pivotal figure in
the Maratha insurgency that so plagued
Aurangzeb in the Deccan
• Shivaji’s father served the states of Bijapur
and Ahmadnagar, as a senior commander
• A Peshwa was the equivalent of a modern
Prime Minister in the Maratha Empire,
originally served as subordinates to the
Chhatrapati (the Maratha king)