MUGHAL EMPIRE

The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South
Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. For some two hundred years, the empire
stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus river basin in the west,
northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to
the highlands of present-day Assam and Bangladesh in the east, and the uplands of
the Deccan Plateau in South India.

The Mughal empire is conventionally said to have been founded in 1526 by Babur,
a warrior chieftain from what is today Uzbekistan, who employed aid from the
neighboring Safavid and Ottoman empires, to defeat the Sultan of Delhi, Ibrahim
Lodi, in the First Battle of Panipat, and to sweep down the plains of North India.
The Mughal imperial structure, however, is sometimes dated to 1600, to the rule of
Babur's grandson, Akbar. This imperial structure lasted until 1720, shortly after the
death of the last major emperor, Aurangzeb, during whose reign the empire also
achieved its maximum geographical extent. Reduced subsequently to the region in
and around Old Delhi by 1760, the empire was formally dissolved by the British
Raj after the Indian Rebellion of 1857.

Although the Mughal empire was created and sustained by military warfare, it did
not vigorously suppress the cultures and peoples it came to rule; rather it equalized
and placated them through new administrative practices and diverse ruling elites,
leading to more efficient, centralised, and standardized rule.[21] The base of the
empire's collective wealth was agricultural taxes, instituted by the third Mughal
emperor, Akbar. These taxes, which amounted to well over half the output of a
peasant cultivator, were paid in the well-regulated silver currency, and caused
peasants and artisans to enter larger markets.

The relative peace maintained by the empire during much of the 17th century was
a factor in India's economic expansion. The burgeoning European presence in the
Indian Ocean, and its increasing demand for Indian raw and finished products,
created still greater wealth in the Mughal courts. There was more conspicuous
consumption among the Mughal elite, resulting in greater patronage of painting,
literary forms, textiles, and architecture, especially during the reign of Shah
Jahan. Among the Mughal UNESCO World Heritage Sites in South Asia are: Agra
Fort, Fatehpur Sikri, Red Fort, Humayun's Tomb, Lahore Fort, Shalamar Gardens,
and the Taj Mahal, which is described as "the jewel of Muslim art in India, and one
of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage.
BABUR AND HUMAYUN (1526–
1556)
The Mughal Empire was founded by Babur (reigned 1526–1530), a Central Asian
ruler who was descended from the Turco-Mongol conqueror Timur (the founder of
the Timurid Empire) on his father's side, and from Genghis Khan on his mother's
side. Paternally, Babur belonged to the Turkicized Barlas tribe
of Mongol origin. Ousted from his ancestral domains in Central Asia, Babur turned
to India to satisfy his ambitions. He established himself in Kabul and then pushed
steadily southward into India from Afghanistan through the Khyber Pass. Babur's
forces defeated Ibrahim Lodi in the First Battle of Panipat in 1526. Before the
battle, Babur sought divine favour by abjuring liquor, breaking the wine vessels
and pouring the wine down a well. However, by this time Lodi's empire was
already crumbling, and it was actually the Rajput Confederacy which was the
strongest power of Northern India under the capable rule of Rana Sanga of Mewar.
He defeated Babar in the Battle of Bayana. However, in the decisive Battle of
Khanwa which was fought near Agra, the Timurid forces of Babur defeated the
Rajput army of Sanga. This battle was one of the most decisive and historic battles
in Indian history, as it sealed the fate of Northern India for the next two centuries.

After the battle, the centre of Mughal power became Agra instead of Kabul. The
preoccupation with wars and military campaigns, however, did not allow the new
emperor to consolidate the gains he had made in India. The instability of the
empire became evident under his son, Humayun (reigned 1530–1556), who was
forced into exile in Persia by rebels. The Sur Empire (1540–1555), founded
by Sher Shah Suri (reigned 1540–1545), briefly interrupted Mughal
rule. Humayun's exile in Persia established diplomatic ties between the Safavid and
Mughal Courts, and led to increasing Persian cultural influence in the later restored
Mughal Empire. Humayun's triumphant return from Persia in 1555 restored
Mughal rule in some parts of India, but he died in an accident the next year.

AKBAR TO AURANGZEB (1556–

1707)
Akbar (reigned 1556–1605) was born Jalal-ud-din Muhammad in the
Rajput Umarkot Fort, to Humayun and his wife Hamida Banu Begum,
a Persian princess. Akbar succeeded to the throne under a regent, Bairam Khan,
who helped consolidate the Mughal Empire in India. Through warfare and
diplomacy, Akbar was able to extend the empire in all directions and controlled
almost the entire Indian subcontinent north of the Godavari River. He created a
new ruling elite loyal to him, implemented a modern administration, and
encouraged cultural developments. He increased trade with European trading
companies. India developed a strong and stable economy, leading to commercial
expansion and economic development. Akbar allowed freedom of religion at his
court, and attempted to resolve socio-political and cultural differences in his
empire by establishing a new religion, Din-i-Ilahi, with strong characteristics of a
ruler cult. He left his son an internally stable state, which was in the midst of its
golden age, but before long signs of political weakness would emerge.

Jahangir (born Salim, reigned 1605–1627) was born to Akbar and his
wife Mariam-uz-Zamani, an Indian Rajput princess. Salim was named after the
Indian Sufi saint, Salim Chishti and was raised by the daughter of Chishti. He "was
addicted to opium, neglected the affairs of the state, and came under the influence
of rival court cliques". Jahangir distinguished himself from Akbar by making
substantial efforts to gain the support of the Islamic religious establishment. One
way he did this was by bestowing many more madad-i-ma'ash (tax-free personal
land revenue grants given to religiously learned or spiritually worthy individuals)
than Akbar had. In contrast to Akbar, Jahangir came into conflict with non-Muslim
religious leaders, notably the Sikh guru Arjan, whose execution was the first of
many conflicts between the Mughal empire and the Sikh community.

Shah Jahan (reigned 1628–1658) was born to Jahangir and his wife Jagat Gosain, a
Rajput princess. His reign ushered in the golden age of Mughal
architecture. During the reign of Shah Jahan, the splendour of the Mughal court
reached its peak, as exemplified by the Taj Mahal.The cost of maintaining the
court, however, began to exceed the revenue coming in. His reign was called as
"The Golden Age of Mughal Architecture". Shah Jahan extended the Mughal
empire to the Deccan by ending the Nizam Shahi dynasty, and forced the Adil
Shahis and Qutb Shahis to pay tribute.

Shah Jahan's eldest son, the liberal Dara Shikoh, became regent in 1658, as a result
of his father's illness. Dara championed a syncretistic Hindu-Muslim culture,
emulating his great-grandfather Akbar. With the support of the Islamic orthodoxy,
however, a younger son of Shah Jahan, Aurangzeb (r. 1658–1707), seized the
throne. Aurangzeb defeated Dara in 1659 and had him executed. Although Shah
Jahan fully recovered from his illness, Aurangzeb kept Shah Jahan imprisoned
until his death in 1666. Aurangzeb oversaw an increase in the Islamicization of the
Mughal state. He encouraged conversion to Islam, reinstated the jizya on non-
Muslims, and compiled the Fatawa 'Alamgiri, a collection of Islamic law.
Aurangzeb also ordered the execution of the Sikh guru Tegh Bahadur, leading to
the militarization of the Sikh community. From the imperial perspective,
conversion to Islam integrated local elites into the king's vision of network of
shared identity that would join disparate groups throughout the empire in
obedience to the Mughal emperor. He expanded the empire to include almost the
whole of South Asia, but at his death in 1707, "many parts of the empire were in
open revolt". Aurangzeb is considered India's most controversial king, with some
historians arguing his religious conservatism and intolerance undermined the
stability of Mughal society, while other historians question this, noting that he
built Hindu temples, employed significantly more Hindus in his imperial
bureaucracy than his predecessors did, opposed bigotry against Hindus and Shia
Muslims.
DECLINE (1707–1857)
Aurangzeb's son, Bahadur Shah I, repealed the religious policies of his father and
attempted to reform the administration. "However, after his death in 1712, the
Mughal dynasty sank into chaos and violent feuds. In 1719 alone, four emperors
successively ascended the throne", as figureheads under the rule of the Indian
Muslim Sayyid king-makers.

During the reign of Muhammad Shah (reigned 1719–1748), the empire began to
break up, and vast tracts of central India passed from Mughal to Maratha hands. As
the Mughals tried to suppress the independence of the Nizam in the Deccan, he
encouraged the Marathas to invade central and northern India. The far-off Indian
campaign of Nader Shah, who had previously reestablished Iranian suzerainty over
most of West Asia, the Caucasus, and Central Asia, culminated with the Sack of
Delhi and shattered the remnants of Mughal power and prestige. Many of the
empire's elites now sought to control their own affairs, and broke away to form
independent kingdoms. But, according to Sugata Bose and Ayesha Jalal, the
Mughal Emperor continued to be the highest manifestation of sovereignty. Not
only the Muslim gentry, but the Maratha, Hindu, and Sikh leaders took part in
ceremonial acknowledgments of the emperor as the sovereign of India.

Meanwhile, some regional polities within the increasingly fragmented Mughal

Empire, involved themselves and the state in global conflicts, leading only to
defeat and loss of territory during the Carnatic Wars and the Bengal War.

The Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II (1759–1806) made futile attempts to reverse
the Mughal decline but ultimately had to seek the protection of the Emir of
Afghanistan, Ahmed Shah Abdali, which led to the Third Battle of
Panipat between the Maratha Empire and the Afghans (led by Abdali) in 1761. In
1771, the Marathas recaptured Delhi from Afghan control and in 1784 they
officially became the protectors of the emperor in Delhi, a state of affairs that
continued until the Second Anglo-Maratha War. Thereafter, the British East India
Company became the protectors of the Mughal dynasty in Delhi.[70] The British
East India Company took control of the former Mughal province of Bengal-Bihar
in 1793 after it abolished local rule (Nizamat) that lasted until 1858, marking the
beginning of British colonial era over the Indian subcontinent. By 1857 a
considerable part of former Mughal India was under the East India Company's
control. After a crushing defeat in the war of 1857–1858 which he nominally led,
the last Mughal, Bahadur Shah Zafar, was deposed by the British East India
Company and exiled in 1858. Through the Government of India Act
1858 the British Crown assumed direct control of East India Company-held
territories in India in the form of the new British Raj. In 1876 the British Queen
Victoria assumed the title of Empress of India.
CAUSES OF DECLINE
Historians have offered numerous explanations for the rapid collapse of the
Mughal Empire between 1707 and 1720, after a century of growth and prosperity.
In fiscal terms, the throne lost the revenues needed to pay its chief officers, the
emirs (nobles) and their entourages. The emperor lost authority, as the widely
scattered imperial officers lost confidence in the central authorities, and made their
own deals with local men of influence. The imperial army, bogged down in long,
futile wars against the more aggressive Marathas, lost its fighting spirit. Finally
came a series of violent political feuds over control of the throne. After the
execution of Emperor Farrukhsiyar in 1719, local Mughal successor states took
power in region after region.

Contemporary chroniclers bewailed the decay they witnessed, a theme picked up

by the first British historians who wanted to underscore the need for a British-led
rejuvenation.

The Mughal Empire had a highly centralised, bureaucratic government, most of

which was instituted during the rule of the third Mughal emperor Akbar. The
central government was headed by the Mughal emperor; immediately beneath him
were four ministries. The finance/revenue ministry was responsible for controlling
revenues from the empire's territories, calculating tax revenues, and using this
information to distribute assignments. The ministry of the military
(army/intelligence) was headed by an official titled mir bakhshi, who was in charge
of military organisation, messenger service, and the mansabdari system. The
ministry in charge of law/religious patronage was the responsibility of the sadr as-
sudr, who appointed judges and managed charities and stipends. Another ministry
was dedicated to the imperial household and public works.
The empire was divided into suba (provinces), each of which were headed by a
provincial governor called a subadar. The structure of the central government was
mirrored at the provincial level; each suba had its own bakhshi, sadr as-sudr, and
finance minister that reported directly to the central government rather than
the subahdar. Subas were subdivided into administrative units known
as sarkars, which were further divided into groups of villages known
as parganas. Mughal government in the pargana consisted of a Muslim judge and
local tax collector.

CAPITALS
The Mughals had multiple imperial capitals, established over the course of their
rule. These were the cities of Agra, Delhi, Lahore, and Fatehpur Sikri. Power often
shifted back and forth between these capitals. Sometimes this was necessitated by
political and military demands, but shifts also occurred for ideological reasons (for
example, Akbar's establishment of Fatehpur Sikri), or even simply because the cost
of establishing a new capital was marginal. Situations where there were two
simultaneous capitals happened multiple times in Mughal history. Certain cities
also served as short-term, provincial capitals, as was the case with Aurangzeb's
shift to Aurangabad in the Deccan. Kabul was the summer capital of mughals from
1526 to 1681.

The imperial camp, used for military expeditions and royal tours, also served as a
kind of mobile, "de facto" administrative capital. From the time of Akbar, Mughal
camps were huge in scale, accompanied by numerous personages associated with
the royal court, as well as soldiers and labourers. All administration and
governance was carried out within them. The Mughal Emperors spent a significant
portion of their ruling period within these camps.
After Aurangzeb, the Mughal capital definitively became the walled city
of Shahjahanabad (today Old Delhi).

LAW
The Mughal Empire's legal system was context-specific and evolved over the
course of the empire's rule. Being a Muslim state, the empire
employed fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) and therefore the fundamental institutions of
Islamic law such as those of the qadi (judge), mufti (jurisconsult),
and muhtasib (censor and market supervisor) were well-established in the Mughal
Empire. However, the dispensation of justice also depended on other factors, such
as administrative rules, local customs, and political convenience. This was due to
Persianate influences on Mughal ideology, and the fact that the Mughal Empire
governed a non-Muslim majority.

LEGAL IDEOLOGY
The Mughal Empire followed the Sunni Hanafi system of jurisprudence. In its
early years, the empire relied on Hanafi legal references inherited from its
predecessor, the Delhi Sultanate. These included the al-Hidayah (the best
guidance) and the Fatawa al-Tatarkhaniyya (religious decisions of the Emire
Tatarkhan). During the Mughal Empire's peak, the Fatawa 'Alamgiri was
commissioned by Emperor Aurangzeb. This compendium of Hanafi law sought to
serve as a central reference for the Mughal state that dealt with the specifics of the
South Asian context.
The Mughal Empire also drew on Persianate notions of kingship. Particularly, this
meant that the Mughal emperor was considered the supreme authority on legal
affairs.

COURTS OF LAW
Various kinds of courts existed in the Mughal empire. One such court was that of
the qadi. The Mughal qadi was responsible for dispensing justice; this included
settling disputes, judging people for crimes, and dealing with inheritances and
orphans. The qadi also had additional importance with regards to documents, as
the seal of the qadi was required to validate deeds and tax records. Qadis did not
constitute a single position, but made up a hierarchy. For example, the most basic
kind was the pargana (district) qadi. More prestigious positions were those of
the qadi al-quddat (judge of judges) who accompanied the mobile imperial camp,
and the qadi-yi lashkar (judge of the army). Qadis were usually appointed by the
emperor or the sadr-us-sudr (chief of charities). The jurisdiction of the qadi was
availed by Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

The jagirdar (local tax collector) was another kind of official approached,
especially for high-stakes cases. Subjects of the Mughal Empire also took their
grievances to the courts of superior officials who held more authority and punitive
power than the local qadi. Such officials included the kotwal (local police),
the faujdar (an officer controlling multiple districts and troops of soldiers), and the
most powerful, the subahdar (provincial governor). In some cases, the emperor
themself dispensed justice directly. Jahangir was known to have installed a "chain
of justice" in the Agra fort that any aggrieved subject could shake to get the
attention of the emperor and bypass the inefficacy of officials.
Self-regulating tribunals operating at the community or village level were
common, but sparse documentation of them exists. For example, it is unclear
how panchayats (village councils) operated in the Mughal era

ECONOMY
The Mughal economy was large and prosperous. During the Mughal era, the gross
domestic product (GDP) of India in 1600 was estimated at 22% of the world
economy, the second largest in the world, behind only China (Ming era) but larger
than Europe. By 1700, the GDP of India had risen to 24% of the world economy,
the largest in the world, larger than both China (Qing era) and Western
Europe. India was producing 24.5% of the world's manufacturing output up until
1750. India's GDP growth increased over the 1500-1820 period, having grown
faster than over the 1-1000 and 1000-1500 periods. India's economy has been
described as a form of proto-industrialization, like that of 18th-century Western
Europe prior to the Industrial Revolution.

The Mughals were responsible for building an extensive road system, creating a
uniform currency, and the unification of the country. The empire had an extensive
road network, which was vital to the economic infrastructure, built by a public
works department set up by the Mughals which designed, constructed and
maintained roads linking towns and cities across the empire, making trade easier to
conduct.

The main base of the empire's collective wealth was agricultural taxes, instituted
by the third Mughal emperor, Akbar. These taxes, which amounted to well over
half the output of a peasant cultivator, were paid in the well-regulated silver
currency, and caused peasants and artisans to enter larger markets.
COINAGE
The Mughals adopted and standardised the rupee (rupiya, or silver)
and dam (copper) currencies introduced by Sur Emperor Sher Shah Suri during his
brief rule. The currency was initially 48 dams to a single rupee in the beginning of
Akbar's reign, before it later became 38 dams to a rupee in the 1580s, with the
dam's value rising further in the 17th century as a result of new industrial uses for
copper, such as in bronze cannons and brass utensils. The dam was initially the
most common coin in Akbar's time, before being replaced by the rupee as the most
common coin in succeeding reigns. The dam's value was later worth 30 to a rupee
towards the end of Jahangir's reign, and then 16 to a rupee by the 1660s. The
Mughals minted coins with high purity, never dropping below 96%, and
without debasement until the 1720s.

Despite India having its own stocks of gold and silver, the Mughals produced
minimal gold of their own, but mostly minted coins from imported bullion, as a
result of the empire's strong export-driven economy, with global demand for Indian
agricultural and industrial products drawing a steady stream of precious metals into
India. Around 80% of Mughal India's imports were bullion, mostly silver, with
major sources of imported bullion including the New World and Japan, which in
turn imported large quantities of textiles and silk from the Bengal Subah province.

LABOUR
The historian Shireen Moosvi estimates that in terms of contributions to the
Mughal economy, in the late 16th century, the primary sector contributed 52%, the
secondary sector 18% and the tertiary sector 29%; the secondary sector contributed
a higher percentage than in early 20th-century British India, where the secondary
sector only contributed 11% to the economy. In terms of urban-rural divide, 18%
of Mughal India's labour force were urban and 82% were rural, contributing 52%
and 48% to the economy, respectively.

According to Stephen Broadberry and Bishnupriya Gupta, grain wages in India

were comparable to England in the 16th and 17th centuries, but diverged in the
18th century when they fell to 20-40% of England's wages. This, however, is
disputed by Parthasarathi and Sivramkrishna. Parthasarathi cites his estimates that
grain wages for weaving and spinning in mid-18 century Bengal and South India
was comparable to Britain. Similarly, Sivramkrishna analyzed agricultural surveys
conducted in Mysore by Francis Buchanan during 1800–1801, arrived at estimates
using a "subsistence basket" that aggregated millet income could be almost five
times subsistence level, while corresponding rice income was three times that
much. That could be comparable to advance part of Europe. Due to the scarcity of
data, however, more research is needed before drawing any conclusion.

According to Moosvi, Mughal India had a per-capita income, in terms of wheat,

1.24% higher in the late 16th century than British India did in the early 20th
century. This income, however, would have to be revised downwards if
manufactured goods, like clothing, would be considered. Compared to food per-
capita, expenditure on clothing was much smaller though, so relative income
between 1595 and 1596 should be comparable to 1901–1910. However, in a
system where wealth was hoarded by elites, wages were depressed for manual
labour. In Mughal India, there was a generally tolerant attitude towards manual
labourers, with some religious cults in northern India proudly asserting a high
status for manual labour. While slavery also existed, it was limited largely to
household servants.
AGRICULTURE
Indian agricultural production increased under the Mughal Empire. A variety of
crops were grown, including food crops such as wheat, rice, and barley, and non-
food cash crops such as cotton, indigo and opium. By the mid-17th century, Indian
cultivators begun to extensively grow two new crops from the Americas, maize
and tobacco.

The Mughal administration emphasised agrarian reform, which began under the
non-Mughal emperor Sher Shah Suri, the work of which Akbar adopted and
furthered with more reforms. The civil administration was organised in a
hierarchical manner on the basis of merit, with promotions based on
performance. The Mughal government funded the building of irrigation systems
across the empire, which produced much higher crop yields and increased the net
revenue base, leading to increased agricultural production.

A major Mughal reform introduced by Akbar was a new land revenue system
called zabt. He replaced the tribute system, previously common in India and used
by Tokugawa Japan at the time, with a monetary tax system based on a uniform
currency. The revenue system was biased in favour of higher value cash crops such
as cotton, indigo, sugar cane, tree-crops, and opium, providing state incentives to
grow cash crops, in addition to rising market demand. Under the zabt system, the
Mughals also conducted extensive cadastral surveying to assess the area of land
under plow cultivation, with the Mughal state encouraging greater land cultivation
by offering tax-free periods to those who brought new land under cultivation. The
expansion of agriculture and cultivation continued under later Mughal emperors
including Aurangzeb, whose 1665 firman edict stated: "the entire elevated
attention and desires of the Emperor are devoted to the increase in the population
and cultivation of the Empire and the welfare of the whole peasantry and the entire
people."

Mughal agriculture was in some ways advanced compared to European agriculture

at the time, exemplified by the common use of the seed drill among Indian
peasants before its adoption in Europe. While the average peasant across the world
was only skilled in growing very few crops, the average Indian peasant was skilled
in growing a wide variety of food and non-food crops, increasing their
productivity. Indian peasants were also quick to adapt to profitable new crops, such
as maize and tobacco from the New World being rapidly adopted and widely
cultivated across Mughal India between 1600 and 1650. Bengali farmers rapidly
learned techniques of mulberry cultivation and sericulture, establishing Bengal
Subah as a major silk-producing region of the world. Sugar mills appeared in India
shortly before the Mughal era. Evidence for the use of a draw bar for sugar-milling
appears at Delhi in 1540, but may also date back earlier, and was mainly used in
the northern Indian subcontinent. Geared sugar rolling mills first appeared in
Mughal India, using the principle of rollers as well as worm gearing, by the 17th
century.

According to economic historian Immanuel Wallerstein, citing evidence from Irfan

Habib, Percival Spear, and Ashok Desai, per-capita agricultural output and
standards of consumption in 17th-century Mughal India were probably higher than
in 17th-century Europe and certainly higher than early 20th-century British
India. The increased agricultural productivity led to lower food prices. In turn, this
benefited the Indian textile industry. Compared to Britain, the price of grain was
about one-half in South India and one-third in Bengal, in terms of silver coinage.
This resulted in lower silver coin prices for Indian textiles, giving them a price
advantage in global markets.
INDUSTRIAL MANUFACTURING
Up until 1750, India produced about 25% of the world's industrial
output. Manufactured goods and cash crops from the Mughal Empire were sold
throughout the world. Key industries included textiles, shipbuilding, and steel.
Processed products included cotton textiles, yarns, thread,
silk, jute products, metalware, and foods such as sugar, oils and butter. The growth
of manufacturing industries in the Indian subcontinent during the Mughal era in the
17th–18th centuries has been referred to as a form of proto-industrialization,
similar to 18th-century Western Europe prior to the Industrial Revolution.

In early modern Europe, there was significant demand for products from Mughal
India, particularly cotton textiles, as well as goods such as spices, peppers, indigo,
silks, and saltpeter (for use in munitions). European fashion, for example, became
increasingly dependent on Mughal Indian textiles and silks. From the late 17th
century to the early 18th century, Mughal India accounted for 95% of British
imports from Asia, and the Bengal Subah province alone accounted for 40%
of Dutch imports from Asia. In contrast, there was very little demand for European
goods in Mughal India, which was largely self-sufficient, thus Europeans had very
little to offer, except for some woolens, unprocessed metals and a few luxury
items. The trade imbalance caused Europeans to export large quantities of gold and
silver to Mughal India in order to pay for South Asian imports. Indian goods,
especially those from Bengal, were also exported in large quantities to other Asian
markets, such as Indonesia and Japan.