CHAPTER – 4 The Mughal Empire | CLASS 7TH | NCERT HISTORY IMPORTANT QUESTIONS & MCQS | EDUGROWN

Answer: (a) the Red Fort

Answer: (b) Mongols

Answer: (b) Humayun

Answer: (d) 1605-1627 AD

Answer: (c) Guru Aijun Singhji

Answer: (a) Kabul

Answer: (a) Marwar

Answer: (c) Shivaji

Answer: (c) jagi

Answer: (a) Todar Mai

Answer: (d) all of these

Answer: (c) sadr

Answer: (c) universal peace

Answer: (c) 8000

Answer:

Answer: Ibrahim Lodhi

Answer: Khurram

Answer: Jagirs

Answer: ancestors, events

Answer: Genghis Khan, Timur

Answer: Humayun.

Question 1.
Why was it extremely difficult to rule over the Indian subcontinent?
Answer:
To rule over the vast territories of the Indian subcontinent was extremely difficult because of the diversity of people and cultures in the middle ages.

Question 2.
How did the Mughals succeed in ruling the subcontinent?
Answer:

• Quite in contrast to their predecessors, the Mughals created an empire and ruled over it for a long period of time.
• From the later half of the sixteenth century they expanded their kingdom from
  Agra and Delhi up to the seventeenth century.
• They controlled nearly all of the subcontinent.
• They imposed structures of administration and ideas of governance.
• They outlasted their rule, leaving a political legacy that succeeding rulers of t^e subcontinent could not ignore.

Question 3.
What is the importance of Red Fort in modern context?
Answer:
Prime Minister of India addresses the nation on Independence Day from the ramparts of the Red Fort, the residence of Mughal Rulers.

Who were the Mughals?

Question 1.
Who were the Mughals?
Answer:
Mughals were the descendants of two of great rulers. From their maternal side Genghis Khan ruler was their ancestor. From their father’s side Timur, ruler of modem day Turkey was their ancestor.

Question 2.
‘Mughals were proud of their Timurid ancestry.’ Comment.
Answer:
The Mughals did not like to be known as Mongols. Genghis Khan’s memory was associated with massacre of people and invasional instinct. It was also linked with Uzbegs, their Mongol competitors.

They preferred their Timurid ancestry. Their great ancestor had captured Delhi in 1398. They were proud of their genealogy. Each ruler had his picture made with Timur.

Mughal Military Campaigns

NOTES: Mughals had many long running military campaigns in India.

• Afgans were a threat to their authority.
• Mughals had less successful campaigns against the Ahoms, the Sikhs and
  Ahmadnagari.
• Military campaigns continued and ruler of Mewar, Amar Singh, accepted Mughal service.
• Humayun received help from Safavid Shah of Iran. Akbar seized Qandhar from Safavids. Qandhar was lost again during Shah Jahan’s reign.
• Prince Akbar received help from Deccan rulers when he rebelled against Aurangzeb.
• Aurangzeb personally managed campaigns against Deccan and annexed Golconda and Bijapur.

Question 1.
Who founded the Mughal rule in India and how?
Answer:
Babur was the first Mughal Emperor in India (1526-1530). At the age of 12 he was forced to leave his ancestral home Ferghana due to Uzbegs’ attacks.

• In 1526 he defeated Ibrahim Lodi at the battle of Panipat and captured Delhi and Agra.
• In 1527 he defeated Rana Sanga at Khanua.
• In 1528 he defeated Rajputs at Chanderi and strengthened his control over Delhi and Agra.

Question 2.
Describe the reign of Humayun.
Answer:
Humayun 1530-1540, 1555-1556

• Humayun divided his inheritance according to the Will of his father.
• His brothers were each given a province.
• The ambitions of his brother Mirza Kamran weakened Humayun’s cause against Afghan competitors.
• Sher ‘Khan defeated Humayun at Chausa (1539) and Kanauj (1540), forcing him to flee to Iran.
• In Iran Humayun received help from the Safavid Shah.
• He recaptured Delhi in 1555 but died the next year after an accident in the building.

Question 3.
At which age did Akbar become emperor? Give an account of his rulership.
Answer:
Akbar 1556-1605:
Akbar was 13 years old when he became emperor. His reign can be divided into three periods.

• 1556-1570-Akbar became independent of the regent Bairam Khan and other members of his domestic staff. Military campaigns were launched against the Suris and other Afghans; against the neighbouring kingdoms of Malwa and Gondwana, and to suppress the revolt of his half-brother Mirza Hakim and the Uzbegs. In 1568 the Sisodiya capital of Chittor was seized and in 1569 Ranthambhor.
• 1570-1585 – military campaigns in Gujarat were followed by campaigns in the east in Bihar, Bengal and Orissa. These campaigns were complicated by the 1579-1580 revolt in support of Mirza Hakim.
• 1585-1605 – expansion of Akbar’s empire. Campaigns were launched in the north west.
• Qandahar was seized from the Safavids.
• Kashmir was annexed, as also Kabul, after the death of Mirza Hakim.
• Campaigns in the Deccan started and Berar, Khandesh and parts of Ahmadnagar were annexed.
• In the last years of his reign Akbar was distracted by the rebellion of Prince Salim, the future Emperor Jahangir.

Question 4.
Describe the reigns of Jahangir and Shah Jahan.
Answer:
Jahangir 1605-1627:

• Military campaigns started by Akbar continued.
• The Sisodiya ruler of Mewar, Amar Singh, accepted Mughal service. Less successful campaigns against the Sikhs, the Ahoms and Ahmadnagar followed.
• Prince Khurram, the future Emperor Shah Jahan, rebelled in the last years of his reign. The efforts of Nur Jahan, Jahangir’s wife, to marginalise him were unsuccessful.

Shah Jahan 1627-1658

• Mughal campaigns continued in the Deccan under Shah Jahan.
• The Afghan noble Khan Jahan Lodi rebelled and was defeated.
• Campaigns were launched against Ahmadnagar; the Bundelas were defeated and
  Orchha seized.
• In the north-west, the campaign to seize Balkh from the Uzbegs was unsuccessful and Qandahar was lost to the Safavids.
• In 1632 Ahmadnagar was finally annexed and the Bijapur forces sued for peace.
• In 1657-1658, there was conflict over succession amongst Shah Jahan’s sons.
• Aurangzeb was victorious and his three brothers, including Dara Shukoh, were killed.
• Shah Jahan was imprisoned for the rest of his life in Agra.

Question 3
How did Aurangzeb spread his empire?
Ans.
Aurangzeb 1658-1707
In the north-east, the Ahoms were defeated in 1663.

• They rebelled again in the 1680s.
• Campaigns in the north-west against the Yusufzai and the Sikhs were temporarily successful.
  Mughal intervention in the succession and internal politics of the Rathor Rajputs of Marwar led to their rebellion.
• Campaigns against the Maratha chieftain Shivaji were initially successful. But Aurangzeb insulted Shivaji who escaped from Agra, declared himself an independent king and resumed his campaigns against the Mughals.
• Prince Akbar rebelled against Aurangzeb and received support from the Marathas and two Deccan Sultanates (Bijapur and Golconda).
• He finally fled to Safavid Iran.

After Akbar’s rebellion Aurangzeb sent armies against the Deccan Sultanates.

• Bijapur was annexed in 1685 and Golconda in 1687.
• From 1698 Aurangzeb personally managed campaigns in the Deccan against the Marathas who started guerrilla warfare.
• Aurangzeb also had to face the rebellion in north India of the Sikhs, Jats and Satnamis, in the north-east of the Ahoms and in the Deccan of the Marathas.
• His death was followed by a succession conflict amongst his sons.

Mughal Traditions of Succession

Question 1.
Describe the Mughal traditions of succession.
Answer:
Mughal Traditions of Succession:

• The Mughals did not believe in the rule of primogeniture (inheritance).
• Instead they followed the Mughal and Timurid custom of coparcenary inheritance. It is a division of the inheritance amongst all the sons.
• Mughal princes rebelled against their fathers, overthrew them and captured power.
• Mughal Relations with Other Rulers

Question 1.
Who were the mothers of Jahangir and Shah Jahan?
Answer:

• Mother of Jahangir: A Kachhwaha Princess, daughter of Rajput, ruler of Amber (now Jaipur)
• Mother of Shah Jahan: A Rathor Princess, daughter of a Rajput, the ruler of Marwar (Jodhpur).

Question 2.
Give an account of the Mughal relations with other rulers.
Answer:
Mughal relations with other rulers:

• Mughal rulers campaigned constantly against rulers who refused to accept their authority.
• The Mughals became powerful only when many other rulers joined them voluntarily.
• The Rajputs are a good example of this.
• Many of them married their daughters into Mughal families.
• Then they received high positions.
• But many resisted this as well.
• The Sisodiya Rajputs refused to accept Mughal authority for a long time.
• After their defeat, they were honourably treated by the Mughals.
• They were given their lands (watan) back as assignments (watan jagir).
• The careful balance between defeating opponent kings and chieftains enabled the Mughals to expand their kingdoms.
• But it was difficult to keep this balance all the time.
• Aurangzeb insulted Shivaji when he came to accept Mughal authority.
• The consequence of this insult was that the Aurangzeb empire fell down like a pack of playcards.

Mansabdars and Jagirdars

Question 1.
Who all formed the Mughal nobility?
Answer:

• With the expansion of Mughal empire, the Mughals recruited diverse bodies of people.
• From a small nucleus of Turkish nobles (Turanis) they expanded to include Iranians, Indian Muslims, Afghans, Rajputs, Marathas and other groups.
• Those who joined Mughal service were enrolled as mansabdars.

Question 2.
What were the duties of the Mansabdars?
Answer:
Mansabdars and their duties:

• The term mansabdar refers to an individual who holds a mansab (a position or rank).
• It was a grading system used by the Mughals to fix (t) rank, (ii) salary and (iii) military responsibilities.
• Rank and salary were determined by a numerical value called zat. The higher the zat, the more prestigious was the noble’s position in court and the larger his salary,
• The mansabdar had military responsibilities.
• It required him to maintain a specified number of sawar or cavalrymen.
• The mansabdar brought his cavalrymen for review, got them registered, their horses branded and then received money to pay them as salary.

Question 3.
How did the Mansabdars get their salaries?
Answer:
Mansabdars received their salaries as revenue assignments called jagirs.

• They were like iqtas.
• Most of the mansabdars did not actually reside in or administer their jagirs.
• They only had rights to the revenue of their assignments which was collected for them by their servants.
• Mansabdars themselves served in some other parts of the country.

Question 4.
Give an account of ranking on the basis of zat.
Answer:
Zat ranking:

• Nobles with a zat of 5,000 were ranked higher than those of 1,000.
• In Akbar’s reign there were 29 mansabdars with a rank of 5,000 zat.
• By Aurangzeb’s reign the number of mansabdars had.increased to 79*.
• This had meant more expenditure for the state.

Question 5.
Describe Jagirdars and their duties.
Answer:
Jagirdars and their duties

• In Akbar’s reign these jagirs were carefully assessed so that their revenues were roughly equal to the salary of the mansabdar.
• By Aurangzeb’s reign situation changed and the actual revenue collected was often less than the granted sum.
• There was also a huge increase in the number of mansabdars which meant a long wait before they received a jagir.
• These and other factors created a shortage in the number of jagirs. Hence, many jagirdars tried to extract as much revenue as possible while they had a jagir.
• Aurangzeb was unable to control these developments in the last years of his reign, so the peasantry suffered tremendously.

Zabt and Zamindars

Question 1.
Who were Zamindars? What were their duties?
Answer:
The Zamindars

• The main source of income of the Mughal rulers was tax on the produce of the peasantry.
• In most places, peasants paid taxes through the rural elites.
• The rural elite was the headman or the local chieftain.
• The Mughals used the term—zamindars—to describe all intermediaries, whether they were local headmen of villages or powerful chieftains.

Question 2.
What was ‘Zabt’?
Answer:

• Akbar’s revenue minister, Todarmal, carried out a careful survey of crop yields, prices and areas cultivated for a ten-year period, 1570-1580.
• On the basis of this data, tax was fixed on each crop in cash.
• Each province was divided into revenue circles with its own schedule of revenue rates for individual crops.
• This revenue system was known as zabt.

Question 3.
What was the role of Zamindars?
Answer:
Zabt was prevalent in those areas where Mughal administrators could survey the land and keep very careful accounts. This was not possible in provinces like Gujarat and Bengal.

• In some areas the zamindars exercised a great deal of power.
• The exploitation by Mughal administrators could drive them to rebellion.
• Sometimes zamindars and peasants of the same caste allied in rebelling against Mughal authority.
• These peasant revolts challenged the stability of the Mughal Empire from the end of the seventeenth century.

Closer look: Akbar’s Policies

Question 1.
Describe Akbar Nama and Ain-i Akbari.
Answer:
Akbar Nama and Ain-i Akbari

• Akbar ordered one of his close friends and courtiers, Abul Fazl, to write a history of his reign.
• Abul Fazl wrote a three volume history of Akbar’s reign titled, Akbar Nama.
• The first volume dealt with Akbar’s ancestors.
• The second volume recorded the events of Akbar’s reign.
• The third volume is the Ain-i Akbari.
• It deals with Akbar’s administration, household, army; the revenues and geography of his empire.
• It also provides rich details about the traditions and culture of the people living in India.
• The most interesting aspect about the Ain-i Akbari is its rich statistical details about things like crops, yields, prices, wages and revenues.

Question 2.
Describe the policies of Akbar.
Answer:
Policies of Akbar

• Akbar laid down broad features of administration.
• They were elaborately discussed by Abul Fazl in his last volume of Akbar Nama, the Ain-i Akbari.
• Abul Fail explained that the empire was divided into provinces called subas.
• The subas were governed by a subadar.
• The subadar carried out both political and military functions.
• Each province also had a financial officer or diwan.
• For the maintenance of peace, law and order in his province, the subadar was supported by other officers like the military paymaster (bakhshi), the minister in charge of religious and charitable patronage (sadr), military commanders (faujdars) and the town police commander (kotwal).

Question 3.
Discuss Nur Jahan’s influence in Jahangir’s court.
Answer:
Nur Jahan’s Influence in Jahangir’s Court:

• Mehrunnisa, married the Emperor Jahangir in 1611.
• She received the title Nur Jahan.
• She remained extremely loyal and supportive to the monarch.
• As a mark of honour, Jahangir struck silver coins bearing his own title on one side and on the other the inscription “struck in the name of the Queen Begum, Nur Jahan”.
• The square seal states, “Command of her most Sublime and Elevated Majesty Nur
  Jahan Padshah Begum”.
• The round seal states, “by the sun of Shah Jahangir she became as brilliant as the moon; may Nur Jahan Padshah be the lady of the age”.

Question 4.
How did the nobles of Akbar weaken the empire?
Answer:

• Akbar’s nobles commanded large armies.
• They had access to large amounts of revenue.
• Till they were loyal the empire functioned efficiently.
• By the end of the seventeenth century many nobles had built independent networks of their own.
• Their loyalties to the empire were weakened by their own self-interest.

Question 5.
What led to Akbar’s ideas on Sulh-i-kul?
Answer:
In 1570’s at Fatehpur Sikri Akbar started discussions on religion with people of different faiths. There were ulemas, Brahmanas, Jesuit Catholic priests and Zoroastrians.

• These discussions took place in Ibadat Khana. These were about social and religious customs.
• These interactions made him realise that religious scholars are bigots. They emphasize rituals and dogma.
• Their teachings create divisions in society. This led to the idea of Sulh-i-Kul or ‘Universal peace’.

Question 6.
What is Sulh-i kul or universal peace?
Answer:

• The idea of tolerance did not discriminate between people of different religions r 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 was followed by both Jahangir and Shah Jahan also.

Question 7.
What was the idea of Sulh-i-Kul according to Jahangir?
Answer:
According to Jahangir Sulh-i-Kul was a concept of divine compassion following principle of “universal peace”.

• There was scope for followers of all religion, classes and creed.
• There was room for scholars of all religions, for beliefs good or bad.
• The road to intolerance was closed.
• Sunnis and Shias met in one mosque and Christians and Jews in one church.

The Mughal Empire in the Seventeenth century and After

Question 1.
Was there a economic inequality during Mughal rule?
Answer:
The Mughal empire in the seventeenth century and after:

• The administrative and military efficiency of the Mughal Empire led to great economic and commercial prosperity.
• International travellers described it as the fabled land of wealth.
• These visitors were also surprised at the state of extreme poverty that existed side by side.
• The inequalities were glaring.
• Documents from the twentieth year of Shah Jahan’s reign say that only 445 mansabdars were in number out of a total of 8,000.
• A mere 5.6 per cent of the total number of mansabdars, received 61.5 per cent of the total estimated revenue of the empire as salaries for themselves and their troopers.

Question 2.
Who was benefitted in the Mansabdari system?
Ans.

• The Mughal emperors and their mansabdars spent a great deal of their income on salaries and goods.
• This expenditure benefited the artisans and peasantry who supplied them with goods and produce.
• But the scale of revenue collection left very little for investment in the hands of the primary producers, the peasants and the artisans.
• The poorest among them lived from hand to mouth.
• They could not consider investing in additional resources like tools and supplies to increase productivity.
• The wealthier peasantry and artisanal groups, the merchants and bankers profited in this type of economy.

Question 3.
What happened politically with the gradual decline of Mughal rule?
Answer:

• The enormous wealth and resources commanded by the Mughal elite made them an extremely powerful group of people in the late seventeenth century.
• With slow decline of the authority of the Mughal emperor, his servants emerged as powerful centres of power in the regions.
• They constituted new dynasties and held command of provinces like Hyderabad and Awadh.
• Although they continued to recognise the Mughal emperor in Delhi as their master, by the eighteenth century the provinces of the empire had consolidated their independent political identities.