Mughal Empire Aurangzeb, Mughal Administration

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Aurangzeb (1658 - 1707)

Illustration: Aurangzeb (1658 - 1707)
  • On 30th December, 1659, Aurangzeb reached Khajuha - Fatehpur district of U. P. ;
  • In this battle Maharaja Jaswant singh was defeated;
  • On 5th January, 1659, Aurangzeb defeated Shuja in Khajuha;
  • In March 1659, Aurangzeb defeated Dara in the battle of DEORAI - 4 miles south of Ajmer;
  • Dara fled away and proceeded towards Persia via Bolan Pass and Qandhar; ­
  • While on the way to Dadar- 9 miles east of Bolan pass, his beloved wife NADIRA B ANU succumbed to terrible hardships.
  • But Malik Jeevan, the chieftain of Dadar, whom Dara had once saved from death sentence-betrayed him. Malik Jeevan offered his hospitality, which Dara accepted, but Milik Jeevan sized him along with his 2nd son SHTPHTR SUKOH and 2 daughters delivered them to Aurangzeb՚s General Bahadur Khan;
  • They were brought to Delhi. Dara and Siphir were paraded in the streets, and on 30th August, 1659, Dara was put to death;
  • Suleman Suko-Dara՚s son- was put to death in May 1662;
  • Murad was beheaded on 4th September 1661. He was found guilty of murder of Ali Naqavi;
  • On 5th June, 1659, after his decisive battle against Shuja and Dara at Khajua and Deroi respectively, Augangzeb celebrated himself for the second time; ­
  • Dara was very liberal, he had deep interest in painting and always carried his album with himself;
  • Aurangzeb was crowned the king in 1658 and ruled till 1707 - 50 years. ; Personality:-
  • He was an orthodox Sunni;
  • He took the title Alamgir.
  • Patronised persian language; ­
  • His biggest blunder was his wish to incorporate Marwar;
  • He abolished inland transit duties which were called pandhari; ­
  • He started the practice of inscribing Qalma in the coins;
  • He forbade the cultivation of Bhang;
  • He abolished NUROZ (Persian festival) ;
  • He appointed Muhtasib (Censor of public moral) ;
  • Ramjan was made obligatory; ­
  • In 1668, he forbade music in the courts;
  • He also abolished Jharankha Darshan and Sati;
  • In 1659, he ordered to stop the construction of temples, in a Farman to the Pandit of Benaras;
  • He also forbade the repairing of old temples in 1664; ­
  • In 1665, a discriminatory customs duty was fixed to 2.5 per cent for muslims and 5 per cent for the hindus;
  • In 1695, Italian physician GEMELLI CARERI came during his period;
  • Aurangzeb was an expert calligrapher;
  • Fatwa-i-Alamgir had been written under his guidance;
  • He had 4 wives:-
    1. Delras Banu - died in 1657;
    2. Nawab Bai - left him in 1660;
    3. Aurangabadi Mahaldied in 1685;
    4. Udaipuri;
  • He is also known as JINDA PEER, or the living saint;

Mughal Administration

Table Supporting: Mughal Administration
OfficersMining
Wakil:Prime Minister
Mir Bakshi:Head of the military and intelligence department. ­
Qazi:Head of the judiciary department.
Sadr-us-Sudur:Religious endowments and charity department­
Muhtasib:Censorship and public morals.
Mir Atish:head of artillery
Daroga-i-Dakchowki:Head of correspondence department. ­
Nazir-i-Bayutat:Superintendent of imperial workshop. ­­
Fauzdar:Head of Sarkar
Kotwal:Magistrate
Mushrif:Head accountant
Mustaufi:Auditor
Mir Saman:Imperial household­
Diwan-i-Khalsa:for khalisa land
Diwan-i-Tan:for cash and salaries
Diwan-i-Jagir:for jagirs
Diwan-i-Tawazib:for military accounts­
Diwan-i-Sadat:accounts related to the religious department. ­­
  • Mansabdari system was introduced in the Mughal administration by Akbar in his 19th regnal year in 1575.
  • It had two aspects: Zat and Sawar.
  • Zat is the personal rank and Sawar is the indication of the cavalry that mansabdar has to maintain.
  • There were three types of Mansabdars:
    • Amir-i-Umda: Zat varied from 7000 - 25000;
    • Amir: Zat varied from 500 - 2500;
    • Mansabdar: Zat varied from 10 - 500.
  • There were as many as 66 grades but practically only 33 were used.
  • Jehangir introduced Du-Aspa Sih-Aspa in masabdari system.
  • Shah Jahan introduced the Month Scale.
  • Peasants and Raiyyats: Khdkasht: Resident farmers or cultivators
  • Pahikasht: Non resident farmers.
  • Muqarar-i-Raiya: They possessed more land than khudkasht or pahikasht. ­
  • Muzariah: was more powerful than the Muqara-i-Rayiya. ­
  • Land was categorised into:
  • Polaj: land which was annually cultivated for each crop in succession and was never allowed to remain fallow. ­
  • Parti: the land left out of cultivation for time so that it might recover its strength. Chachar: was remained fallow for 3 - 4 years. ­­
  • Banjar: had remained uncultivated for 5 or more years. ­
  • For the purpose of measurement of land Akbar introduced Darii Gaj having 41 digits. ­­
  • Ain-i-Dahsala system was introduced by Todar Mai.

Mughal Paintings

  • Dastan i Amir Hamza or Hamzanamah probably completed in 1576; theie is great controversy regarding the authorship of the book. , ­­
  • Badauni and Shahnawaz Khan says that Mir Sayyid Ali and later Abdus Samad compiled it.
  • Mulla Quzwini - in his Nafais ul Maasir - regards Hamraznamah as Humayuna՚s brain child, who appointed Mir
  • Sayyid Ali to supervise the work.
  • Abul Fazl mentions 15 painters:
    1. Daswant, committed suicide, ­
    2. Basawan, most outstanding, ­
    3. Kesava,
    4. Lai,
    5. Mukund,
    6. Mishkin,
    7. Farrukh Qalmaq,
    8. Madhu,
    9. Jagan,
    10. Mahes,
    11. Khem Karan,
    12. Sanwala,
    13. Haribans,
    14. Ram,
    15. Tara.
  • Important Painting Works:
      • Razmnamah,
      • Diwan,
      • (3) Tarikh-i-khandan-i-Timuriyya,
      • Akbara-namah,
      • Baharistan -1594 - 95,
      • Anwar i Suhaili -1595 - 96,
      • Jami-ut-Tarikh Kamsa of Amir Khusraw,
      • Diwan - i - Hafiz,
      • Babur-namah,
      • Jog Bashisht -1602,
      • NafahatalUns-1603,
      • Iyar i Danish (1604 - 05)

AKBAR

  • Fresco Painting famous
  • European Painting introduced­
  • Principle of foreshortening introduced. Important Painters: Dasawan, Basawan: he was known for his artistic longevity, calligraphic outlines, Sanwal Das, Tarachand, Jagannath Lal, Keshava, Harbans, Farrukh Beg, Khurashan Quli, and Jam-shed­­

Jahangir

  • Portrait Painting
  • Jahangir compiled Gulshan Album
  • Painters: Mansoor: Title: Nadir ul Asr, famous for bird and animal painting Bishan: Portrait Painter Manohar, Tulsi: Mansoor, specialized in court scenes, Abdul Hassan (Herat) : Na-dir-us-Zaman was his title; created figure of St. John, Others are Aga Raza, Goverdhan and Daulat. ­

Shah Jahan

  • Royal Glory by means of a mass humanity and huge armies. ­
  • Important painters are Rai Anup, Anu Chitr, Muhammad Nadir Samarquandi, Murad, Mir Hasim, Muhammad Faquirullah and Kalyan Das. ­­
  • Father Jerome Xavier presented Jahangir with Iranian paintings Bichitr­

Dara Shikoh

  • Bird and Vegetal
  • Kept personal album

Aurangzeb

  • Declined

Calligraphy

  • Muhammad Hussain
  • Kashmiri - Zarin Qalan (Akbar)
  • Mir Hashim - Shah Jahan
  • Jawahar Raqam - Aurangzeb՚s court. ­

Decline of the Mughal

The Exploitative Revenue Policy

  • the Jagirdari -Zamindari conflict;
  • the stagnation of trade; ­
  • industrial and scientific development the factionalism;
  • the rotten bureaucratic superstructure; ­
  • the scarcity of fresh Jagirs;
  • less emphasis on consolidation, the trend for conspicuous consumption; the tradition of Escheat;
  • greater emphasis on the subsistence oriented agriculture;
  • the inherent contradictions of Jagirdari -Mansabdari systems; ­
  • the indiscriminate recruitment of Mansabdars; ­
  • the growing conservatism and fanaticism; the changing complexion of composite nobility; lack of secondary section manufacturing; absence of formal means of organization; ­
  • the ruthless expansionism; the growing discrepancy between Jama and Hasil; ­
  • the growing exploitation between of the peasantry; ­
  • the subsequent revolts of Jats, Sikhs and Satnamis, all in a combined manner brought down one of the most durable empire.
  • Mughals in the 17th century already showed the signs of decline.
  • The desperate expansionism and reference of ‘Paibaqi’ aptly shows that the Mughals were facing financial crisis. ­­
  • The advent of the western powers, the discrimination of the modern technologies, the emergence of the Marathas and a feeling of regionalism coupled with obscurantist administrative and military institutions made a centralized state intractable. ­­
  • Aurangzeb exhausted his entire wherewithal and resources to quell the feeling of regionalism and to stop the process of decentralization. ­­­
  • With his tremendous ability govern and administer, he managed to enact the Mughal Empire but his successors failed to shows their talents to deal with this cumulative decay. ­­­
  • Consequently the Mughal empire dwindle and a number of independent states emerged in the 18th century. ­