GK SERIES FOR SSC,IAS,PCS,HAS,HCS
AND OTHER COMPETITIVE EXAMS
(HISTORY-21)
MUGHAL-4
LATER MUGHAL
EMPIRE
•
Aurangzeb died in Feb 1707 in Deccan when the Mughal Empire consisted of 21
provinces Kabul in Afghanistan, 14 in North India and 6 in South India
(Aurangabad, Berar, Bidar, Telangana, Bijapur, Hyderabad and Kandesh).
•
In the South, the Maratha influence had become so formidable that large area of
the South India were obeying two masters, one is the Mughal Authority and other
is the Marathas and local rulers.
•
On the west coast, the Portuguese held Goa, Chaul, Diu and Daman; The British
held Calcutta, the French held Chandranagar, with their headquarters at
Pondicherry in the far south.
•
The war of succession amongst Aurangzeb’s surviving sons Muazzam, Azam and Kambaksh.
•
Muazzam, subahdar of Kabul, was at Jamrud when he heard the news of his father Aurangzeb’s
death. He crowned himself as Emperor with a title of Bahadur Shah at Lahore.
•
Azam, subhadar of Gujarat, had hastened to Ahmadnagar and proclaimed himself Emperor.
•
After securing peaceful possession of Agra and Delhi, Muazzam met Azam, who was
advancing towards the North from Ahmadnagar via Gwalior, at Jajau near Agra in June,
1707. Azam was defeated and killed, along with his 2 sons by Muazzam.
•
Kambaksh, subhadar of Bijapur assumed Sovereignty and conquered some important
places including Gulbarga and Hyderabad.
•
Bahadur Shah marched to the Deccan through Rajasthan and crossed the Narmada in
May 1708. A battle took place near Hyderabad in 1709 in which Kambaksh and his
son were killed.
Bahadur Shah I (1707-12)
·
Muazzam
emerged victorious in the war of succession and ascended the throne with the
name of Bahadur Shah I. He was the first and the last of the Later Mughals to
have exercised the real authority. At the time of his succession, his age was
65 years.
·
He
pursued a conciliatory policy towards Rajputs and Marathas. He acknowledged the
independence of Mewar and Marwar. Sahu, the son of Sambhaji, who had been in
Mughal captivity since the fall of Raigarh, was released.
·
Granted Sardeshmukhi (10% tax levied upon the Land revenue) to Marathas
but not Chauth (one-fourth in form of tribute).
·
Made peace with Chhatarsal, the Bundela chief and Churaman, the
Jat chief.
·
The
jeziya imposed by Aurangzeb was withdrawn.
·
Bahadur
Shah had to face considerable trouble in the Punjab, where after the death of Guru
Govind Singh, Banda Bahadur had emerged very powerful and causing a lot of depredations.
Emperor himself led the campaign against Banda Bahadur. The Sikhs were neither crushed
nor conciliated. During the course of this campaign, Bahadur Shah died in 1712.
·
Mughal
Historian Khafi Khan called him Shah-i-Bekhabar. He was buried at Delhi.