The Mughal Empire

INTRODUCTION #

The Mughal era marked a significant break from the past for they were relatively more Indianised and had been successful in establishing a pan Indian Empire in collaborations with the native Indian rul- ers. They continued with the land Revenue system of the Sher Shah Suri, with minor modification, encouraged trade, tolerant atmosphere, were great builders and empire maker. Their north-west frontier policies were relatively pro-active vis-a-vis preced- ing dynasties.

BABUR 1526-1530 #

Babur has written his biography i.e. Baburnama which is also known as Tuzk-e Babri. Babur and Jahangir are the only two emperors of Mughal Empire who wrote their own auto-biographies. Baburnama is also known to be the first true autobiography in the Islamic literature. Baburnama was written in Chagatai Turkic, which was Babur’s mother tongue. In contrast Jahangirnama or Tuzk-i-Jahangiri was written in Persian.

Babur, a descendent of Timur through his father and descendant of Changez Khan through his mother had both Mongols and Turks lineage.

The first attack of Babur in India was on Bajaur in 1519 with 2000 equestrians. Gun Powder was used for the first time during his expedition to Bajaur. In successive expeditions, he used Gun powder and Can- ons which were perhaps new to the Indians. Prior to take on Ibrahim Lodi, Babur had led 4 expeditions. In one of these expeditions, he was able to defeat Daulat Khan Lodi, the Governor of Punjab.

The discontent at Delhi led Alam Khan , one of the uncles of Ibrahim Lodi and a claimant to

the throne of Delhi flee to Kabul and appeal him for “action”, which was already “granted”. First his troops routed the Lahore and then Dipalpur. Alam Khan was appointed at Dipalpur and a Mongol was also left to watch this coat changer.

His fifth and final expedition was in November 1525, which ended in 1526 with victory at Delhi. After Delhi, he moved to Agra where his soldires wanted to return but his moral persuassion held them back. The next battle was with the Old Rajput Hero Rana Sanga who counted 80 wounds on his body and lost one arm and one eye in the battle field. Rana Sanga commanded a Rajput confederacy with 120 chieftains leading 80 thousand war horses and 500 war elephants.

Prior to Babur, he had fought “Battle of Gagron” in 1519, with Sultan Mahmood of Malwa and “Battle of Khatoli and Bari” in which Ibrahim Lodi’s forces were defeated. This enmity kept Rana Sanga neutral in the Battle of Khanwa, otherwise Babur could be defeated. In the battle of Khanwa in 1527, Mughal artillery wreaked havoc in the Rajputs closed ranks. The Canons did the fearful execution. The Rajput army soon disintegrated into the disordered crowd and their gallantry was turned into massacre. In 1529, Babur defeated Muhammad Lodi, brother of Ibrahim, who was the last Lodi claimant of the Delhi Throne, in the Battle of Ghaghra. At the age of 47, on December 26, 1530 Babur died in his garden palace in Agra of an unknown disease. He is buried at Kabul, In Uzbekistan & Kyrgyzstan he is a National Hero.

HUMAYUN #

Humayun was portrayed in his biography “Humayunnama” written by his sister Gulbadan

Begum. When he ascended the throne of Delhi, in North west, his brother Kamran had a problem for him, in east Afghans were roaring and in south, Bahadur Shah the king of Gujarat and Malwa was a formidable king. Rajputs were also sitting at a striking distance from Agra.

After initial expeditions, when he laid siege Chunar in 1532 to defeat the Afghans under Sher- shah, he accepted a peace treaty because he got the news that Bahadur Shah of Gujarat was planning a conquest of Delhi. So, Afghans got some time to mature plans. In 1534, when Sultan of Gujarat Bahadur Shah had attacked Chittor in 1534, the Rani Karmavati (she was princess of Bundi) was sent to Bundi for safety. However, Humayun did not “reply” in time. Chittor was in siege by Bahadur Shah and Karvavati performed Jauhar. The timely interference of Humayun at Chittor could win him the inestimable friendship of the Rajputs, something which was the need of the hour. But, he decided to standby till the quarrel was fought out. This was an unusual incident where Humayun, despite his capability, did not attack Bahadur Shah.

After the Chittor fell, Humayun became active and cut the supplies of the soldier camps of the Bahadur shah so that he soldiers started starving. In the dead of the night, Bahadur shah fled the scene and his army immediately dispersed in all directions. Humayun, all of a sudden found himself in undis- puted possession of the camp. Bahadur Shah was chased to Mandu but was neither killed nor arrested. From here, Bahadur shah fled to Champaner, then Ahmadabad, then Cambay and finally Diu, where his life was ultimately taken by the Portuguese. The almost entire region of Malwa and Gujarat now belonged to Humayun.

CONFRONTATION WITH SHER SHAH SURI 1540-1545

Sher Shah aka Farid descended from the Royal house of Sur, the kings of Ghor, and in early career, rose fromthe rank of a small time administrator (jagirdar) to be the prime minister of one of the Lohani Afghans. Heinitially worked under Baha- rkhan and later in 1527, he joined the military of Babur. When Babur invadedBihar, Sher Khan guided his troops and as a prize, got his Jagir restored. His very presence in the Mughal armyitself was enough

for him to learn about the weakness and strength of the Mughal army and administration.

His first confrontation with Humayun was in 1532, when Humayun had laid siege on the Chunar Fort which lasted for 4 months and ended in a sub- mission.But this submission did not let him abandon his dream to become the sovereign. When Humayun was busy in south, he conquered Gaur, the capital of Bengal. In the battlefield of Chausa, in 1539, the imperial army was checked by Sher shah. The two forces camped opposite each other, but none of the two warranted an attack for two months. In these two months the Mughal forces suffered the scarcity of food and supply, leading death of cattle and horses. In the desperate situation, Humayun opened the nego- tiations and arrangement for a treaty was made.

As per this treaty, Sher Shah was to retain Bengal and parts of Bihar. In return, he would give recognition to emperor and accept his suzerainty. However, one day, on the break of the dawn the Afghans struck the unsuspecting Mughals from all sides. Many of the Mughal soldiers were slain in sleep, few killed mounted on horses. Humayun was saved by a Bhisti, who supported him on his water skin across the river Ganga. Most of the army was drawn in Ganga or captured or killed and the luckless emperor of India came almost alone to Agra in 1539.

In May 1540, the armies met once again oppo- site Kannauj and the Mughal Empire was put to an end for a while. At Kannauj, the Afghans were able to scatter the Mughal army, which mere by panic, fled in confusion. Humayun again escaped from the battle field and from that day , for next 15 years he lived like a wanderer. Through the deserts of Thar, he reached Sind where he lived for 3 years. Here, he fell in love with Hamida, a 15 year old girl, who was daughter of a sheikh of his brother. In 1542, on October 15, Hamida gave birth to Akbar, who would become the most powerful emperor of India, only after Asoka.

Administration of Sher Shah #

In Sher Shah, we find a benevolent autocrat. He introduced many reforms which are greatly appre- ciated. The first five year of Sher Shah’s adminis- tration were used in setting up a new template for civil administration in India.

He divided the entire Kingdom in 47 divisions and called them “Sarkars”. These Sarkars were divided into Parganas. Every Pargana was under a Shikqdar, who looked into the law and order of his Pargana. At Pargana Level:

• Munsifs were appointed to collect the revenue.
• Amir was to hear the Civil Cases.
• Qazi or Mir-i-adal was to hear the criminal cases.
• Muqqadams were to chase and arrest the cul- prits, and if they failed to do so, were liable to get punished.

Rupia #

The first Rupee (Silver coin) was introduced by Sher Shah and was called “Rupia” which remained in use throughout the Mughal rule. He issued copper coins which were called Dam, Half Dam and quarter Dam as per the denomination.

Todal Mal #

Todar Mal Khatri, prior to become a celebrity under the reigns of Akbar as Raja Todar Mal was groomed in Sher Shah’s administration. Whether, he did any finance and revenue related works is not clear, but it is believed that he acquired consider- able experience in revenue affairs. The land was measured and for this measurement Sikandari Gaj was used which was equivalent to 39 inches. The Sikandari Gaj was introduced by Sikandar Lodi.

Kabuliyat and Patta System #

The Kabuliyat and Patta system was introduced during the reign of Sher Shah, where the area sown, types of crops cultivated and revenue share was writ- ten on a Paper. He introduced direct remittances of the taxes to the Central Government so that the tax- payers are saved from any exploitation by the middle officers. Jagir system was discouraged and a new arrangement Kabuliyat was introduced. Kabuliyat was a deed of agreement between the peasant and government. The survey charge was fixed at 2.5% that was called Jaribana and the collection charge was fixed at 5% that was known as Muhasilans.

Grand Trunk Road #

A major road running across the Gangetic plain

was built by Ashoka for administrative and military reasons. This “Sadak-i- Azam” was the precursor of the Grand Trunk Rood. This Road was initially built by Sher Shah to connect Agra to Sasaram, that was his home town. It was extended to Multan in west and Sonargaon in East. (Sonargaon is now in Bagladesh). This road is one of the greatest legacies of Shershah. During the Mughal era, this Sadak-i-Azam extended till Kabul. The same road was improved by the British and renamed as Grand Trunk Road that ran between Calcutta to Peshawar.

SUCCESSORS OF SHERSHAH

The reign of Sher Shah was just 5 years from 1540-45 though, one of the most impressive reigns. In May 1545, when he was campaigning against the Chandel Rajputs in Bundelkhand (Kalinjer), a gunpowder explosion fatally wounded him and thus leading to his demise.

Sher Shah was succeeded by Jalal Khan, his son who ascended the throne with title Islam Shah Suri. Islam shah is best known for “Codifying the Laws” for the first time. Thus, in justice and judiciary, he was one step ahead of his father Sher Shah. His reign was of 9 years till 1554, when he died of some disease.

His successor was his son Firoz Shah, a 12 year child, got soon assassinated by Muhammad Adil Shah. Adil Shah left the real power in his trusted Hindu Vazir Hemu. There was a struggle among all the Suri cousins such as Sikandar Shah and Ibrahim Shah. Now the Suri Empire was divided into four Suris, none of them was important. In 1555, Humayun descended from Kabul with some 15000 horses and routed Sikandar Suri in Punjab. He proceeded further and took easy possession of Delhi and Agra. His son Akbar was sent to pursue the fugitive Afghans.

Humayun was back in power. He had the Throne of Delhi merely for 6 months when one day, he slipped down the stairs of his library and died at the age of 49.

AKBAR, THE GREAT 1556-1605 #

Akbar and Bairam Khan #

When Humayun died of the fatal accident, Akbar was mere 13. The territories under him were

Punjab and Delhi only. When his father died, he was in midst of a war with Sikandar Shah at Sirhind. At Kalanaur in Punjab, this 13 year old boy was enthroned by Bairam Khan in January 1556 and was proclaimed Shahanshah. Bairam Khan became his protector and co-regent till he comes of his age. Akbar’s nurse named Maham Anaga, who was also known as his foster mother wished to use her power to undermine the esteem of Bairam and was successful in that.

Akbar publicly announced that he has taken the reign in his hand, deposed Bairam Khan and sent orders for him to go for Haj – the temporary banishment. Bairam left for Gujarat to take a boat for the pilgrimage in Arabia but was instigated by some of the foolish Muslim counsellors to revolt against Akbar. He followed their advice and got defeated by the Mughal army and was brought to Akbar, who pardoned him. Now, once more he left for Mecca but before he could reach Gujarat, he was assassinated by the Afghans in revenge.

Maham Anaga #

The “petticoat government” under Maham Anaga did triumph for a moment. She acted almost as prime minister for a while as her devotion to her foster son Akbar made her invaluable to him. But, her hopes were wrapped up in her own son Adham Khan, who was pushed forward by her to the high command.

Adham Khan was filled with more pride than loyalty. He was sent to invade Malwa in 1561 along with Pir Muhammad Khan, another general, Baz Bahadur, the sultan of Malwa was defeated in the battle of Sarangpurs.

Only a part of the booty was sent to Akbar and rest he kept with himself. Miffed Akbar marched to Sarangpur and seized the spoils. Out of envy, he killed Shams-ud-Din Muhammad Ataga Khan, Akbar’s one of the favorite generals. He was thrown twice from the roof of the Palace and the news of his death was given by Akbar to his mother. She survived but only for 40 days.

Wives and Harem #

Salima Sultan, widow of his trusted general and tutor became the queen of Akbar after he was sent

for the pilgrimage and died midway. Prior to her, Akbar had a childless Ruqaiyya Begum as her first wife. The third chief wife of Akbar – Hira Kunwari, recorded in Muslim books as Mariyam Zamani Begum and popular now as “Jodha”, was daughter of Raja Bharmal of Amber with whom he married in 1562.

Akbar’s union with the Rajput princes marked a new policy. Her father Bharmal was decorated with the highest rank of the official aristocracy, 5000 Mansabdari, the general of 5000 horsemen. The bride was allowed to freely exercise the rites of her own faith Hinduism, marking the religious toleration of Akbar. Later he took other women Hindus, Iranians, Persians, Muslim, Armenian etc. in his harem, till the number rose to 5000.

The immediate result with alliance with the Rajput princes was that in 1562 Jazia, the tax, which was charged upon the infidels, was abolished. Next in line was abolition of the tax on Hindu Pilgrims, on the base that there should be no obstacles in the way of Man’s service to the God. The detested Jazia and the pilgrim tax thus abolished during the time of Akbar were reemployed only during the times of Aurangzeb, uprooting the judicious system imposed by his great grandfather. But Akbar did not hesitate in interfering in the Hindu practices that offended the sense of humanity – such as Child marriage, animal sacrifice, permission to widows to remarry etc. He was against the burning of widows, though, abolishing sati wholly was beyond his power.

Akbar and Mewar #

Udai Singh was the youngest and posthumous son of Rana Sanga. Banvir tried to kill Udai Singh also, but Udai’s nurse Panna Dhai sacrificed her own son to save him from his uncle Banbir and took him to Kumbhalgarh. Udai Singh lived in secret in Kumbhalgarh for two years, disguised as a nephew of the governor Asha Shah. He defeated Banvir at Mavli. In 1540, the nobles of Mewar crowned him in Kumbhalgarh. His eldest son Rana Pratap was born in the same year 1540. Shakti Singh, Jagmal and Viramdeo were his other sons.

In 1562, Udai Singh gave refuse to Baz Bahadur, the king of Malwa who was defeated by the Mughal army of Akbar.

The refuge to Baz Bahadur was a costly affair for Udai Singh. Akbar attacked and sacked Mewar in 1567. Udai Singh, left Chittor and went to Gogunda. Chittor was left in hands of his loyal chieftains Jaimal & Patta, who died in the Mughal campaign. Rajput ladies performed third Jauhar at this time. Udaipur had been already founded in 1559 and now Udaisingh could take refuge over there. Akbar Captured Chittor in 1568. Udai Singh died in Gogunda in 1572. He nominated his son Jagmal, but the nobles placed Rana Pratap on throne. The fall of Chittor was followed by two other famous forts of Ranthambore and Kalinjer, which secured allegiance of Akbar. Akbar cemented the feel good factor by marrying other princess, the daughter of Raja of Bikaner – Kalyanmal, who along with his son Ram Singh entered into the service of Akbar.

But Rana Pratap never accepted Akbar as ruler of India, and fought Akbar all his life. Akbar first tried diplomacy to win over Maharana Pratap but nothing worked. Pratap maintained that he had no intention to fight with Akbar but he could not bow down to Akbar and accept him as the ruler. Chittor was under Mughal and Pratap was a king without capital.

Almost all of Pratap’s fellow Rajput chiefs had entered into the allegiance with Mughals. Pratap’s brothers, Shakti Singh and Sagar Singh, were also serving Akbar. Many Rajput chiefs, such as Raja Man Singh of Amber were serving as army com- manders in Akbar’s armies and members of his council. Akbar sent a total of six diplomatic mis- sions to Pratap, seeking to negotiate the same sort of peaceful alliance that he had concluded with the other Rajput chiefs. Pratap roundly rebuffed every such attempt displaying his self-respect and honor.

This culminated in Battle of Haldi Ghati on June 21, 1576. It was a decisive victory for Akbar’s chieftain Man Singh. Col. Todd called Battle of Haldighati as Battle of Thermopylae of Rajasthan. Abul Fazal called this war as “Battle of Khamnaur” Badayuni called this war as “Battle of Gogunda”. After this battle, Rana Pratap continued Guerilla warfare against Akbar. His Son Amar Singh fought

17 wars with the Mughals but he conditionally accepted them as rulers in 1615. This was the ter- minating end of Freedom of Mewar.

Extent of Empire & Political Foresight #

From 1572 to 1573, Akbar won Gujarat. In 1574-75 he won Bengal. In 1581, he marched towards Afghanistan to suppress a revolt. By 1595, he had taken Kashmir, Sind, Orissa and Kandahar. In the Deccan, only Khandesh, Berar and parts of Ahamednagar were annexed.

Buland Darwaja at Fatehpur Sikri was erected by him to commemorate the victory over Gujarat. When its climax, the empire of Akbar reached from Bay of Bengal to Kandahar and from Persia and Kashmir to Narmada, touching the formidable Deccan Kingdoms.

The empire was almost equal in area with that of Alauddin, but expansion its foundations were utterly stronger than that of the Khalji. It was not subdued with sword but was done with the utterly help of the wiling Hindu chiefs. Another major difference was that this expansion of Akbar’s empire went hand-in hand with the nifty administration. The central gov- ernment did not interfere so long as revenue did not suffer.

The assimilation of Hindu chiefs was one of the most striking features of his reign. Akbar allowed no oppression by his officers. Large number of Hindus employed under Akbar.

Raja Todar Mal & Land Revenue System #

Raja Todar Mal, a Khatri Rajput had served his youth under the administration of Sher Shah Suri and had gained priceless experience in management of Land and revenues. He assisted Akbar’s chancel- lor of exchequer Muzaffar Khan first and then took part in suppression of Ali Kuli in 1566.Raja Todar Mal was the First Hindu which was sent to lead the Mughal Army. This was particularly because of Akbar’s suspicion that a Muslim may act in collu- sion with the rebel enemy.

After that Raja Todar Mal was employed settling the revenue system of Gujarat and then again given the military command to win Bengal. He became the finance officer (Mushrif-i-Diwan) of Akbar in 1575 and Diwan-i-kul (Chief Finance Minister) in 1582 and introduced the reforms also known as Todar Mal’s rent roll, the book of land records in Mughal Empire. He died in 1587.

Mal Kharaj #

The Agrarian tax was called Mal or Kharaj. Mal essentially represented a claim on behalf of the state to a share of the actual crop.

Akbar first adopted Sher Shah’s System in which cultivated area was measured and a central schedule was drawn up fixing the dues of peasants crop wise on the basis of the productivity of the land. The state’s share was one-third of the produce, the produce under the schedule being valued at prices fixed by the emperor. In fixing the prices, the rates current in the vicinity of Delhi were probably taken as the basis. This arrangement created difficulties, because one uniform scheduled of prices of crops could not reasonably be applied to the whole empire. Prices were lower in rural areas which were far away from the urban centres and the cultivators found it difficult to pay in cash at the official rate.

In the tenth year of Akbar’s reign, prices of crops prevailing in different regions were substituted for the uniform schedule and the emperor reverted to a system of annual assessment.

Karori System #

In 1573, Akbar did a third change via which he gave up the annual assessment and appointed the “karoris” all over north India. These Karoris were to collect a crore of dams as revenue and to check the facts and figures supplied by the Kanungos regarding the actual produce, state of cultivation , local prices etc.

Dahsala System #

Then, in 1580, the Karori System was given up and Raja Todarmal introduced a new Dahsala System or Zabti System. This remained a standard system of revenue assessment during the greater part of the Mughal empire.In the Dahsala system, the land was classified in four categories viz.

• Polaj (land which was cultivated every year and never left fallow);
• Parati or parauti (land which had to be left fallow for a time to enable it to recover fertility);
• Chachar (land which had to be left fallow for three or four years); and

• Banjar (land which remained uncultivated for five years or more).

Polaj and parauti lands were classified into three categories – good, middle and bad- and the average produce per bigha of these three categories was taken as the normal produce of a bigha. Parauti land, when cultivated , paid the same revenue as polaj land. The chachar and banjar lands were charged a concessional rate which was progressively increased to full or polaj rate (i.e. one-third of the produce) by the fifth or the eighth year. Under the Dahsala system an attempt was made to work out the revenue rates. The state demand was given in maunds; but for the conversion of the state demand from kind to cash, a separate schedule of cash revenue rates (dastura amals) for various crops was fixed.

For a period of the previous ten years, 1570 to 1580 information yields, prices, and area cultivated was collected for each locality.

On the basis of the average prices of different crops in each locality over the past ten years the state demand was fixed in rupees per bigha. Each revenue circle had a separate schedule of case revenue rates (dastur-i- amal) for various crops. Thus, the peasant was required to pay on the basis of local produce as well as local prices.

Please note that Dahsala was neither a ten-year nor a permanent settlement, and the state had the right to modify it.

Since this system was associated with raja Todarmal, it is also known as Todarmal bandobust. This system prevailed from Lahore to Allahabad and in the provinces of Malwa and Gujarat.

During Shahjahan’s era, it was introduced in the Deccan by Murshid Quli khan.

Other Systems of Mughal Era #

During the reign of akbar and his successors three more systems of revenue assessment were prevalent viz. batai or Gallabakshi System, Kankut System and Nasaq System.

Batai or Galla-bakhshi was a very old system which continued during the Mughal period. This was a simple method of crop-sharing in which the produce was arranged into heaps and divided into three shares, one of which was taken by the state.

Under this system the peasant had the choice to pay in cash or kind.

Kankut system was also an old prevalent method in which, instead of actually dividing the grain (kan), an estimate (kut) was made on the basis of an actual inspection on the spot and one-third of the estimated produce was fixed as the state demand. So, it was a rough estimate of produce on the basis of actual inspection and past experience.

Nasaq System was widely prevalent in the Mughal Empire, particularly in Bengal. In this system a rough calculation was made on the basis of the past revenue receipts of the peasants. It required no actual measure- ment, but the area was ascertained from the records.

Military Administration: Mansabdari System #

Mansabdari System was a system introduced by Akbar for military administration and territorial com- mands (grant and revenue) to sustain parts of army. His experiences led him to conclude that rather than relying in the Irani and Turkish nobles, he should also include the Indian Muslims (Sheikhzadas), Afghans and Rajputs in the Mughal army.

The Mughal officers whether Hindus or Muslims were granted territorial commands in return for the military service. They had to bring in some fixed number of men-at-arms, horses and elephants to the field and were rated as per the numbers which was known as Zats. So they were called Mansabdars of 10, 20, 100, and 1000 and so on.

Mansingh was the first Mansabdar of 7000 zats and Bhagwan Das with 5000 zats enjoyed the priv- ileged position in the Mansabdari system of Akbar.

Problems with Mansabdari System: #

This system was not perfect. The greed of the Mansabdars ate all the grant or revenue and no money was left for the soldiers. There was a general corruption that the Mansabdars dressed their kith and kins, servants, dhobis and Malis as soldiers and registered them and send them back to do what they were doing earlier. The weavers and carpenters were hired to obtain a Mansab and later not a trace of the horse brought by them would be found.

Bureaucracy #

Office of Diwan: The office of the Diwan was

the office of today’s minister. It got strengthened in Akbar’s reign. The Chief Diwan was called Diwan- i-kul and was responsible for revenue and finance. He oversaw the imperial treasury and accounts. The Diwan had to submit a daily report to the emperor.

Mir Bakshi: The office of Mir Bakshi was in existence since Sultanate Era. He was to give appointments and salary letters to the Mansabs. The branding of the horses named Dagh was under his supervision. He was assisted by other subordinate Bakshis.

Mir Saman was the in charge of Royal work- shops (Karkhanas).

Sadr-us Sudur was to protect the laws of the Shariat. Qazi-ul-quvvat was the chief judiciary.

The governor of a province (Suba) was a sube- dar who was directly appointed by the emperor. The usual tenure of Subedar was 3 years.

Faizi: Faizi was a Persian poet who he joined Akbar’s suite during the seize of Chittor in 1568. In 1588 was given the status of Malik-ush-Shu’ara (Court Poet) of Akbar. He was one of the Navratnas of Akbar. Born in Agra to a scholar in philosophy and Islamic theology, he was educated mostly by his father. Akbar was impressed by the scholarly aptitude of Faizi and appointed him the tutor of princes Salim, Murad and Daniyal. Badayuni, the contemporary historian says that he composed over

100 poetic works in Persian. The collection of poems by Faizi was entitled Tabasir al-Subah, which includes Ghazals, Qasidas (Eulogies), Rubai’s and poems. In 1580, he started working on five projects Nal o Daman , the Markaz ul-Advar, the Sulaiman Bilqis, the Haft Kishvar and the Akbarnama, out of which only 2 first works were completed. Faizi also translated “Lilavati”, the celebrated Sanskrit work in Maths by Bhaskaracharya, into Persian. His brother Abul Fazal penned the celebrated work Akbarnama.

Introduction of Persian in official works: There was one more feature of Raja Todarmal’s system that virtually unified the country. It was enactment that all the government accounts should be kept in Persian, rather than Hindi. The study of Persian became necessary and it helped Hindus to learn the Persian language and the Muslims to go hand-in-hand with the “talented” Hindus.

Religious Policy #

Akbar could not see the validity in the custom that the Hindus should pay more taxes than the Mus- lims. He also had an insatiable quest in the matters of religion and faith. He was deeply moved by the mystical doctrines of the Persian Sufis which was revealed to him by Faizi and his younger brother Abul Fazal. Abul Fazal encouraged Akbar for debates on doctrinal and philosophical enquiries. Akbar displayed a curiosity in these discussions. The debate took place in the Ibadat Khana or Hall of Worship. The Ibadat Khana is now recognized to be the Diwan-i-Khas, which was founded in 1574 at the City of Fatehpur Sikri. It was opened for Sunni Muslims initially and was opened to all religions viz. Sufis, Shias, Christians, Zoroastrians, Hindus and Jains. In the emperor’s eyes, there was a truth in all the faiths but none of the creed had the master key of the Supreme Being. In 1579, Mahzar Nama was declared by which Akbar pounced upon the domi- nance of the intolerant orthodox and allowed free development of a genuine religious spirit. Mazhar Nama , which was actually an idea of the father of Abul Fazal and Faizi , set that the authority of the King was higher than that of a Mujtahid (doctor of the faith) and if there is a variance, the emperor’s decision should be binding on the Muslims of India. With this edict, Akbar’s judgment was set above every legal and religious authority, so it was the promulgation of the doctrine of Imperial infallibility. In 1581, the discussions at the Ibadat Khana were discontinued. But quest of Akbar culminated in the Tauhid-i-ialhi (the divine monotheism) or Din- i-Illahi, the word Din was applied decades later. In 1582, this religious doctrine which combined mysticism, philosophy and nature worship was pro- pounded by Akbar which recognized no prophets. Akbar declared himself the spiritual guide of his subjects. His religion Tauhid-i-illahi favored peace and tolerance. Tauhid-i-illahi prohibits lust, sensual- ity, slander and pride, considering them sins. Piety, prudence, abstinence and kindness are the core virtues of this religion. The soul is encouraged to purify itself through yearning of God. It respects celibacy and forbade slaughter of animals.

Abul Fazal : This gentle and enthusiastic younger brother of Faizi later became a Wazir

of Akbar. Abul Fazal was a man of wide culture and pure spiritual ideals. He was also one of the Navratnas in the court of Akbar. Abul Fazal was the author of Akbarnama, the official history of Akbar’s reign in 3 volumes. This book gives the history of Akbar’s forefathers from Timur to Humayun and Akbar’s reign till 1602. Third volume of above work is known as Ain-i-Akabari, which is the administra- tive report of Akbar’s reign. Another important work of Abul Fazal was Ruqaât, which is a collection of letters to the princes of Akbar and other contempo- raries. It was later compiled by his nephew Nuruddin Muhammad. Yet another work Inshâ-i-Abu’l Fazl is the compilation of the letters written by Akbar to various contemporary rulers and nobles. He was also compiled by one relative of Abul Fazal.Here, please note that one more Akbarnama was written in those times by Shaikh Illahdad Faizi Sirhindi. This was a derivative work based upon Tabaqat-i-Akbari. Tab- aqat-i-Akbari was written by Nizamuddin Ahmad, Mir Bakshi of Akbar.

Elements of Din-i-Illahi #

Din-i-Illahi was a doctrine that contained ele- ments from very diverse fields. It adopted “Sun” as a symbol of the worship of the creator. He started a new Illahi era. The new religion proposed:

• Forbade cow eating.
• Indifference among all Indians.
• Instituted worship of Sun as creator.
• Incorporated the sacred fire adored by the Parsis.
• Encouraged the Havana (hom sacrifice) of the Hindus.

A small band of the courtiers of Akbar includ- ing Faizi, Abul Fazal, Birbal and a few others immediately professed the new cult. But the rest remained indifferent if not hostile. This hotchpotch of philosophy, mysticism and nature worship of Akbar’s divine faith practically died with him, but left footprints which partially contributed in creation of a nation, that was never a united nation before.

Fatehpur Sikri #

Akbar was a devout visitor to the holy places and tombs of Muslim saints. One of his prime objects

was to secure an heir to the throne. Up to the 14th year of reign, none of his children could survive and he was told to visit a holy man dwelling at Sikri village near Agra. This holy man Salim Chisti, who was one of the descendents of Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti of Ajmer promised & blessed Akbar a son. Akbar placed his wife Hura Kunwari or Jodha under the care of this saint. The Sikri, due to frequent visits of the emperor became a cradle of development activities and numerous palaces were erected.

Salim Chisti set up a new noble Mosque in Sikri and the emperor’s people built their palaces near this place. The Sikri village became the town of Fate- hpur Sikri. It was blessing of this holy saint Salim Chisti, that Akbar’s first son was safely ushered in this world. Akbar named this child as Salim, with due respect to the holy man. This offspring of the Great Mughal and a Rajput Princess later became Emperor Jahangir. The result of this auspicious event in Fatehpur Sikri was that Akbar showered all the taste and art of the age upon the adornment of this blessed town. Thus, Fatehpur Sikri became the first planned city of the Mughals. It is also the place demonstrating the first heritage of the Mughal architecture, an amalgamation of the Persian, Hindu and Islamic architecture. It was virtually the capital of Akbar from 1571 to 1585. However, later it was abandoned mostly because of the problem of drinking water supply. Today, this beautiful city, though a great tourist destination, is a deserted. It was abandoned and ever since has remained the desolate and abandoned city. A few years back, some Jain & Hindu idols were found which were dated 1010 AD near the Birbal ka Tila site which have rise to a hot debate that this beautiful city was actually a great Hindu site, that was vandalized by the great Mughal. Whatever may be the truth, but palaces, tombs, mosques, baths, lake and everything at Fatehpur Sikri is a great Indian Heritage through which we recognize the grandeur and pomp of Akbar, greatest of Indian emperors.

Navratnas #

Abul Fazal: Abul Fazl was the chronicler of Akbarnama in three volumes over seven years, the third volume is known as the Ain-i-Akbari.

Faizi: Faizi was Abul Fazl’s brother, the poet laureat of Akbar. The name of father of Abul Fazal

and Faizi was Mubarak Nagori, a scholar in the philosophy and literature of Greece as well as in Islamic theology.

Miyan Tansen: Miyan Tansen was born as Tanna Mishra, in 1520. He was a disciple of Swami Haridas and later became disciple of Hazrat Muham- mad Ghaus (Gwalior ). He was a court musician with the prince of Mewar and later was recruited by Akbar as his court musician.

Raja Birbal: Raja Birbal, a poor Hindu Brah- min Maheshdas was appointed to the court of Akbar for his intelligence, and became the court jester. The name Raja Birbal was given by the Emperor. Birbal’s duties in Akbar’s court were mostly military and administrative. He was also a poet and his col- lections under the pen name “Brahma” are preserved in Bharatpur Museum. Raja Birbal died in battle, in an attempt to subdue unrest amongst Afghani tribes in Northwest India.

Raja Todar Mal: Raja Todar Mal, a Hindu Khatri was Akbar’s finance minister, who from 1560 onwards overhauled the revenue system in the kingdom.

Raja Man Singh: Raja Man Singh, the prince of Amber was a trusted general in Akbar’s army and was the grandson of Akbar’s father-in-law Bharmal. Raja Man Singh was the foremost (7000 Mansabdari) and ablest among Akbar’s military commanders and assisted Akbar in many fronts including holding off advancing Hakim (Akbar’s half-brother) in Lahore. He was also the Mughal viceroy of Afghanistan, led campaigns in Bihar, Orissa, Deccan and was also the viceroy of Bengal.

Abdul Rahim Khan-I-Khana: Abdul Rahim Khan-I-Khana, son of Akbar’s trusted general and tutor. Best known for his Hindi couplets.

Fakir Aziao-Din: Fakir Aziao-Din was a sufi mystic, and an advisor.

Mullah Do Piaza: Mullah Do Piaza, an intelli- gence advisor to Akbar.

JAHANGIR 1605-1627 #

Jahangir aka Salim was an indolent, self indul- gent and indifferent personality. When he ascended the throne, he was a man of 37 years and had become “mature”. He should be noted for:

Regulations such as forbidding sale of wine and even tobacco.

Restoration of Mohammaden Faith. Used Hijra Chronology on coins, something his father had abandoned. But he was equally tolerant towards the Christians and Hindus.

He was active in redressing the grievance of the people and had a Justice chain and bell attached to the gate of his palace in Agra, so that all who wished to appeal to him could ring him up. However, it is not clear, who was eligible to ring the emperor up.

Jahangir is known for his pompous display of the Justice. He enacted 12 regulations that show his liberalism and judiciousness. He is known for prohibition of some extortion type of cesses such as Tamga and controlling the merchants by an enact- ment which forbade them not to open bales without permission from the government.

SHAH JAHAN 1627-1658 #

Shahjahan aka Khurram was the son of a great Mughal and a Rajput Princess, the daughter of Rana of Marwar (Jodhpur) had more Indian Blood in his veins that his forefathers. This haughty, introvert man was wrapped in political connives and was indifferent to the race of his mother. He became the most “celebrated” among the Mughal emperors but not popular among the Hindus. He was a perfect orthodox Muslim who was more intolerant than his father. With Arjumand Bano Beghum, Khurram married at the age of 15 years and gave her the title Mumtaj Mahal. Mumtaj Mahal, the “lady of the palace” was a mother of his 14 children and died on the death of their 14th child. The exquisite monument Taj Mahal is a witness to her husband’s devotion.

Through out of the his life, Shah Jahan kept struggling with revolts. The first big revolt was in Bundelkhand in 1636 under Jujhar Singh. The revolt was suppressed and Jujhar Singh was eliminated. Another was under the Lodi remnant Khan Jahan Lodi. This revolt was also suppressed. During Shahjahan’s times, the Portuguese had established a factory at Hugli in Bengal. Portuguese had a very constringe religious policy. It was learnt that the Portuguese often lifted the orphaned children and converted them to Christianity. This was something

objectionable under the rule of a Mughal, who was a devout Muslim. During the reign of Jahangir the Portuguese lifted two slave girls that belong to Mumtaj Mahal and they were not released even after it was known to the Portuguese. In 1631, Qasim Khan was appointed as Governor of Bengal and was given authority to teach a lesson to the Portuguese.

The Portuguese were attacked, massacred and Hugli was in siege for 3 months. The Portuguese surrendered only after a huge loss of ten thousand lives. Four thousand were made prisoners, who were given an option to either convert to Islam or face lifelong imprisonment. Thus, Shah Jahan gave the Portuguese a death blow in Bengal.

Later life of Shah Jahan was marred by the war of succession. He was imprisioned and later died in obscurity.

AURANGZEB 1658-1707 #

This Emperor created a lot of troubles for him- self and lost both energy and resources in dealing with the rebellions of Jats, Satnamis, Bundelas, Sikhs and finally the formidable Marathas.

He stopped engraving Kalma on coins. For- bade the Parsis to celebrate their festival Navaroz. Released an order to ban the music everywhere and arrest those who listen to the music. His drink was plain water and he used to sleep on ground, something that made him a Zinda Fakir.

Aurangzeb had claimed the throne as the Cham- pion of the Orthodox Islam against the heretical practices of his brother Dara.

His Rajput policy was also filled with the ortho- doxy, when he asked Raja Jaswant Singh to send his sons to Delhi so that they can be taught under his “supervision”, leading their conversion. All the Rajputs except raja of Amber were in a state of rebellion.

He ended the Mughal pomp of Jharokha Darshan, use of almanacs, the Mughal custom of weighing the emperor in gems-distributing the wealth to the poors, on coronation anniversaries. He reintroduced Jazia. In summary he did all that was never done by his great grandfather, grandfather and father. This was enough to shake the foundation of the Mughal Empire which was based upon religious tolerance.

Aurangzeb was the last important Mughal ruler and after him the Mughal empire rapidly decayed and was finally put to an end by the British.

This King reigned for half a century and died in 1707 leaving behind a war of succession. He now lays in peace at Khuldabad, near Aurangabad.

LATER MUGHALS #

Bahadur Shah I ( 1707-1712): Aurangzeb was succeeded by his son Muazzam, who ascended the throne as Bahadur Shah I in 1707. His reign was just 5 years till 1712, and during this time he tried to get rid of the strict edicts of his father. He was not able to eliminate Jazia but supported music. He tried to establish peace with the Sikhs and Marathas. He died in 1712, when he was overseeing the repair works at Shalimar Gardens at Lahore. He was fol- lowed by his son Jahandar Shah.

Jahandar Shah 1712-1713: After his father Bahadur Shah I died, he ascended the throne after eliminating his brother Azim-us-Shan. He had mar- ried to a dancing girl who became the queen consort. His nephew Farrukhsiyar attacked him and defeated him. He was arrested and Jailed by Farrukhsiyar, who later executed him.

Farrukhsiyar 1713-1719: Farrukhsiyar was a despicable person who suffered similar fate 6 years later in 1719. He sat the throne with the help of

two wazirs of the Mughals Syed Hassan Ali Khan Barha and Syed Hussain Ali Khan Barha known as Sayyid Brothers.

In 1717, the British East India Company acquired duty free trade rights in all of Bengal for peanuts worth Rupees 3000 per year from the emperor. He lolled the throne as a puppet in the hands of the Sayyid Brothers, and when there was an enmity with these two King makers, they deposed him, imprisoned him, starved him, blinded him and finally killed him. The Sayyid brothers placed his cousin Rafi ud-Darajat on the throne in 1719.

Rafi ud-Darajat 1719: Rafi ud-Darajat, the 11th Mughal emperor was proclaimed by the Sayyid Brothers in 1719, who could survive only for 4 months and died of some mysterious disease. He was succeeded by Muhammad Shah Rangile or Rangila.

Muhammad Shah Rangile 1719-1748: Moham- mad Shah Rangila was able to keep the throne for around 29 years partially because the first thing he did was to eliminate the Sayyid Brothers. During his time Nadir Shah attacked and looted Delhi and took the Peacock Throne with himself. The invasion of Nadir Shah hastened the disintegration of the Mughal Empire. During his time, the states of Hyderabad, Bengal, Awadh were established as independent Kingdoms.