NCERT Class 7 History Chapter 4: The Mughal Empire YouTube Lecture Handouts
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NCERT Class 7 History Chapter 4: The Mughal Empire
- Expanded kingdom from 16th to 17th Century
- PM address Independence Day Speech from Red Fort (Residence of Mughal Emperors)
Ancestry
Babur
- Succeeded to throne at 12 years
- 1st on throne of Ferghana in 1494
- Uzbegs invaded and was forced to leave
- Seized Kabul in 1504
- 1526: Defeated Ibram Lodi in Battle of Panipat
- Captured Agra & Delhi
- Afghans were threat to Mughals
- 1527: Defeated Rana Sanga, Rajput rulers and allies at Khanua
- 1528: Defeated the Rajputs at Chanderi
Humayun
- Divided inheritance based on father՚s will
- Each brother given a province
- Sher Khan defeated him at Chausa (1539) and Kanauj (1540)
- He fled to Iran
- Got help from Safavid Shah
- Recaptured Delhi in 1555
- Died in Accident
Akbar
- Emperor at 13 years
- Under Bairam Khan – Campiagns against Suris and Afghans
- Suppressed revolt of his half-brother Mirza Hakim & Uzbegs
- 1568: Sisodiya capital of Chittor was seized
- 1569: Ranthambhor was seized
- Military campaigns to Gujarat, Bihar, Bengal & Odisha
- Expansion of empire to NW
- Qandahar was seized from the Safavids
- Kashmir was annexed
- Kabul annexed after death of Mirza Hakim
- Annexed Deccan, Berar, Khandesh and parts of Ahmadnagar
- Ibadat khana: various religious people discussed (religious scholars who emphasised ritual and dogma were often bigots)
- Sulh-i-Kul or universal peace – ethics, honesty and peace – was followed by Jahangir & Shah Jahan
Jahangir
- Sisodiya ruler of Mewar, Amar Singh accepted his rule
- Known as Prince Salim
- Wife: Nur Jahan (Mehrunnisa) – loyal & supportive – had seals and coins with her name
Shah Jahan
- Prince Khurram
- Afghan noble Khan Jahan Lodi was defeated
- Qandahar was lost to Safavids
- 1632: Annexed Ahmadnagar
- Aurangzeb was victorious and his three brothers, including Dara Shukoh were killed
- Was imprisoned for the rest of his life in Agra
Aurangzeb
- 1663: Ahoms defeated but rebelled again in 1680
- Initially successful against Shivaji (insulted him when he came to accept Mughal authority)
- Sent armies to Deccan
- 1685: Bijapur annexed
- 1687: Golconda annexed
- 1698: Against Marathas who followed guerrilla warfare
- After his death, succession conflict amongst his sons
Succession
- Primogeniture: Eldest son inherited his father՚s estate
- Coparcenary inheritance or division of inheritance amongst all the sons – Mughals
Relations to Other Rulers
- Jahangir՚s mother: Kachhwaha princess, daughter of Rajput ruler of Amber
- Shah Jahan՚s mother: Rathor princess, daughter of Rajput ruler of Marwar
- Sisodiyas did not accept Mughal authority – defeated once by Mughals but land (watan) given back as assignments (watan jagir)
- In Mughal Service: Mansabdars (hold rank mansab)
- Grading system used by Mughals to fix rank, salary & military responsibilities
- Rank & salary determined by Zat
- Higher Zat, more prestigious position with larger salary
- Maintain cavalry or sawar
- Mansabdars got salaries as revenue assignments called jagirs similar to iqtas. However, unlike muqtis, most mansabdars did not actually reside in or administer their jagirs.
- Akbar՚s period: jagirs were assessed
- Aurangzeb՚s period: actual sum was less than granted sum & huge number of mansabdars. Long wait & shortage of jagirs. Peasantry suffered a lot.
Zabt & Zamindars
Major tax was on produce of peasantry
Taxes paid by rural elite
Zamindars were intermediaries
Todarmal (revenue minister of Akbar) carried crop survey – tax fixed on each crop in cash
Province divided into revenue circle with revenue rates – Zabt – not possible in Gujarat & Bengal
Provinces divided into subas & subas had subedars (political & military functions) , diwans (financial)
- Military paymaster (bakhshi)
- Minister in charge of religious and charitable patronage (sadr)
- Military commanders (faujdars)
- Town police commander (kotwal)
Abul Fazal wrote Akbar Nama in 3 volumes
- Volume 1: Akbar՚s ancestors
- Volume 2: Event of Akbar՚s reign
- Volume 3: Ain-i-Akbari – Administration and revenue & cultural details – statistics on crops and yields
Shah Jahan period: 5.6% mansabdars received 61.5% of total revenue.
Most income was spent on salary and goods – benefitted artisans and peasantry
Poorest lived from hand to mouth – economic strata created
Mughal elite became very powerful
Mughals declined and servants became powerful – dynasties like Awadh and Hyderabad came into power
Worldwide
- Queen Elizabeth I (dynasty Tudors) – conflict b/w Catholics and Protestants (reformed church) – tried to establish independence of Church of England from Rome
- Conflicted with Phillip II from Spain & defeated them
- Supported playwrighters like Shakespeare & poets like Edward Spenser (wrote epic poem called The Faerie Queene in her praise)
Contemporaries of Akbar
- Ottoman Turkey, Sultan Suleyman: Al-Qanuni or lawgiver (1520 - 1566)
- Safavid ruler of Iran: Shah Abbas (1588 - 1629)
- Russian ruler, Czar Ivan IV Vasilyevich or “Ivan the terrible” (1530 - 1584)
✍ Manishika