The Mughal Empire Class 7 Notes Social Science History Chapter 4
Notes of Ch 4 The Mughal Empire Class 7th History
• From the latter half of the sixteenth century, the Mughals expanded their kingdom from Agra and Delhi
→ Until in the seventeenth century, the Mughals created huge empire which controlled nearly all of the subcontinent.
• They imposed structures of administration and ideas of governance that lasted even after their rule.
Who were the Mughals?
• The Mughals were the descendants of two great lineages of rulers, Genghis Khan and Timur.
Mughal Military Campaigns
Babur (1526-1530)
• Babur, the first Mughal emperor (1526-1530), succeeded to the throne of Ferghana in 1494 when he was only 12 years old.
• In 1526 he defeated the Sultan of Delhi, Ibrahim Lodi, at Panipat and captured Delhi and Agra.
• In 1527, he defeated Rana Sanga, Rajput rulers and allies at Khanua.
• In 1528, he defeated the Rajputs at Chanderi;
• He established control over Agra and Delhi before his death.
Humaayun (1530-1540, 1555-1556)
• He was defeated by Sher Khan at Chausa in 1539 and Kanauj in 1540 forcing him to flee to Iran.
• He recaptured Delhi in 1555 but died the next year after an accident in a building.
Akbar (1556-1605)
• Akbar was 13 years old when he became emperor.
• After 1570, Akbar became independent of the regent Bairam Khan.
• He launched military campaign 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.
• During 1570-1585, military campaigns in Gujarat were followed by campaigns in the east in Bihar, Bengal and Orissa.
• During 1585-1605, 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.
Jahangir (1605-1627)
• The Sisodiya ruler of Mewar, Amar Singh, accepted Mughal service.
• Less successful campaigns against the Sikhs, the Ahoms and Ahmadnagar followed.
Shah Jahan (1627-1658)
• Campaigns continued in the Deccan.
• The Afghan noble Khan Jahan Lodi rebelled and was defeated.
• 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.
Aurangzeb (1658-1707)
• He became Emperor after killing his brothers and imprisoning his father, Shah Jahan.
• In the north-east, the Ahoms were defeated in 1663, but rebelled again in the 1680s.
• Campaigns in the north-west against the Yusufzai and the Sikhs were temporarily successful.
• Maratha chieftain Shivaji declared himself an independent king and resumed his campaigns against the Mughals.
• Bijapur was annexed in 1685 and Golconda in 1687.
• From 1698 Aurangzeb personally managed campaigns in the Deccan against the Marathas.
• He also had to face the rebellion in north India of the Sikhs, Jats and Satnamis, in the north-east
of the Ahoms.
• His death was followed by a succession conflict amongst his sons.
Mughal Traditions of Succession
• Mughal followed coparcenary inheritance, or a division of the inheritance amongst all the sons.
Mughal Relations with Other Rulers
• As the Mughals became powerful many other rulers also joined them voluntarily.
→ But many resisted as well.
• The careful balance between defeating but not humiliating their opponents enabled the Mughals to
extend their influence over many kings and chieftains.
Mansabdars and Jagirdars
• Groups coming from different backgrounds such as Iranians, Indian Muslims, Afghans, Rajputs, Marathas joined Mughal service were enrolled as mansabdars.
• The mansabdar’s military responsibilities required him to maintain a specified number of sawar or
cavalrymen.
• Mansabdars received their salaries as revenue assignments called jagirs.
Zabt and Zamindars
• The main source of revenue was tax on the produce of peasants. The intermediaries who collected taxes were called zamindars.
• Zabt was the revenue system which was started by when Akbar’s revenue minister, Todar Mal, carried out a careful survey of crop yields and fixed tax on each crop in cash.
Akbar’s Policies
• Abul Fazl explained that the empire was divided into provinces called subas, governed by a subadar
who carried out both political and military functions.
• Each province also had a financial officer or diwan.
• For the maintenance of peace and order in his province, the subadar was supported by other officers.
• Akbar started the idea of sulh-i kul or “universal peace” which was a idea of tolerance that did not discriminate between people of different religions in his realm.
• This principle of governance was followed by Jahangir and Shah Jahan as well.
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.
• The Mughal emperors and their mansabdars spent large part of their income on salaries and goods which benefited the artisans and peasantry who supplied them with goods and produce.
• In the late seventeenth century, the enormous wealth and resources commanded by the Mughal elite made them an extremely powerful group of people.
• As the authority of the Mughal emperor slowly declined, his servants emerged as powerful centres of power in the regions.
• By the eighteenth century, the provinces of the empire such as Hyderabad and Awadh had consolidated their independent political identities.
Discover more from EduGrown School
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.