GK SERIES FOR SSC,IAS,PCS,HAS,HCS
AND OTHER COMPETITIVE EXAMS
(HISTORY-18)
MUGHAL
Zahir-ud-din
Muhammad Babur (1526 – 1530):
·
Defeated
Ibrahim Lodi at Panipat in 1526 and founded the Mughal Empire in India.
·
He
was a descendant of Timur on his father’s side and of Chengiz Khan on the side
of his mother.
·
On
the death of his father Umar Shaikh Mirza, Babur inherited the ancestral
kingdom of Farghana in 1494 and invaded India five times. The first real
expedition took place in 1519 when he captured Bhera, and he fifth was the
defeat of Ibrahim Lodi the first battle of Panopat in April 1526.
·
He
defeated Raja of Mewar, Sangram Singh or Rana Sanga, in battle that took place 1527
at Khanwa.
·
In
1528, he captured Chanderi from a Rajput Chief Medini Rai and a year later he
defeated the Afghan chiefs under Mahmud Lodi in the battle of Ghaghra in Bihar.
·
In
1530, he died at Agra. His tomb is at Lahore (The tomb of only two Mughal
emperors are outside India i.e. Babur and Bahadur Shah Zafar).
·
His
autobiography, Tuzuk-i-Baburi or Baburnamah, which he wrote in his mother-tongue
Turki gave detail account of his reign.
Humayun(1530-56):
·
Babur’s
eldest son Humayun ascended the throne in 1530. His succession was challenged
by his brothers Kamran, Hindal and Askari along with the Afghans.
·
In
1532 he established Tabl-e-adl at Agra.
·
Sher
Khan, also known as Sher Shah Suri, proved to be the most formidable enemy of
Humayun, and after defeating the latter at Chausa and Kanauj in 1540,
completely shattered his prospects. He escaped to Iran where he passed 12 years
of his life in exile.
·
The
Mughal Empire in India was temporarily eclipsed and Humayun had to pass nearly
fifteen years (1540-55) in exile.
·
After
Sher Shah‘s death Humayun invaded India in 1555 and once again became the ruler
of India.
·
He
built Din Panah at Delhi as his second capital.
·
He
died while climbing down the stairs of his library (at Din Panah) in 1556 and
was buried in Delhi.
·
His
sister, Gulbadan Begum wrote his biography Humayunama.
Mughal
exile period - Sur Empire (1540-1556 AD)
Sher
Shah Suri (1540-1545):
·
His
original name was Farid. He was born in Hoshiarpur, Punjab
·
Mohammad
Shah Nuhani, independent ruler of Bihar, gave him that Title “Sher Shah Suri”.
·
In
1539, in the battle of Chausa near Buxar, Mughals were defeated by Suri.
·
As
an emperor, he conquested Malwa (1542), Ranthambhor (1542), Rajputana
annexation of Marwar (1542), Chittor (1544) & Kalinjar (1545).
·
He
died in 1545 while conquesting Kalinjar.
·
He
build sarai(inn) at a distance of two kos (8km).
·
He
built the Grand Trunk Road (G.T. Road), which runs from Chhittagong to Kabul.
·
He
issued the coin called Rupiah and fixed standard weights and measures all over
the empire.
·
Land
was measured using Gaz-i-shikandari.
·
According
to Abul Fazal the empire of Sher Shah was divided into 63 sarkars or districts
·
Abbas
Khan Sarwani wrote Tarik-e-Sher-shahi.
·
His
hindu minister Hemu became powerful and adopted the title of “Vikramditya”, who
was defeated by Akbar in the 2nd battle of Panipat.
Jalal-ud-din
Muhammad Akbar (1556-1605):
·
At
the time of his father Humayun's death Akbar was merely 14 years old and was
under the guardianship of Bairam Khan who, on hearing of Humayun’s death, coroneted
Akbar at Kalanaur.
·
Within
a few months of Akbar’s accession, Hemu, the energetic wazir of Muhammad Adil
Shah of Bihar, occupied the country from Bayana to Delhi, including Agra, and
assumed the title of Vikramaditya.
·
In
November 1556, the Mughal army under Bairam Khan moved towards Delhi and
defeated Hemu in the second battle of Paniput.
·
During
the next four years, Bairam Khan crushed the Afghan power in different parts of
India.
·
Tulsidas
(author of Ramcharitmanas) also lived during Akbar‘s period.
·
When
Akbar died, he was buried at Sikandara near Agra.
Conquests under Akbar:
·
Malwa
was conqueror in 1561 from the musician Sultan Baz Bahadur.
·
In
1562, when Akbar visited the shrine of Khwaja Muinuddin Chisti at Ajmer, Raja
Bharmal of Amber proposed his eldest daughter’s marriage with the emperor.
·
Chandrasen,
the ruler of Marwar, submitted to Akbar in 1563.
·
Rulers
of Bikaner and of Jaisalmer also made their submission to Akbar and entered
into matrimonial alliances with the Mughals.
·
By
the end of 1570 all prominent princes of Rajasthan, except the Rana of Mewar,
submitted to Akbar.
·
Rana
Udai Singh of Mewar refused to accept the Mughal Rajput alliance and further
offended Akbar by giving shelter to Baz Bahadur of Malwa. In 1567 Akbar himself
conducted the siege of the fort of Chittor which fell next year (1568) after a
desperate resistance.
·
But
the Mughal-Mewar struggle did not end with the fail of Chittor. After Rana Udai
Singh’s death in 1572, his son Rana Pratap Singh continued it further,
culminating in the famous battle of Haldighat in 1576.
·
The
Mughal army which was led by Raja Man Singh of Amber won this battle, but Mewar
was not subjugated. Rana Pratap, till his death in 1597, continued the struggle
and except Chittor and Mandalgarh he was virtually the master of the whole of
Mewar.
·
Akbar
himself led an expedition to Gujarat in 1572 and completed it by the siege of
Surat in 1573.
·
In
1574-75 Bihar and Bengal were conquered from the Afghan Chief Daud. Raja Man
Singh of Amber, who as Governor of Bihar conquered Orissa in 1592, was rewarded
for his success by being appointed subahdar of Bengal as well.
·
In
1581, Akbar's half brother Muhammad Hakim, the ruler of Kabul, advanced to
Lahore. Akbar proceeded to Kabul and forced his half brother to submit, but
reinstated him. After the death of Muhammad Hakim in 1586, Kabul was annexed to
the Mughal.
·
In
1586, Kashmir too was annexed to the empire, and in 1593, as a preclude to the
conquest of Kandahar, the whole of Sindh was annexed.
·
In
1594, Kandahar was conquered from Persian.
·
Of
the five offshoots of the Bahmani Empire, Akbar was concerned about
Ahmadanagar, Bijpur and Golconda only. In 1591, four Mughal embassies were sent
to the Sultans of Khandesh, Bijpur, Golcunda and Ahmadnagar to accept Mughal
suzerainty. Of these only Sultan Raja Ali Khan of Khandesh agreed to submit.
·
Ultimately
Khandesh, Berar and the annexed portion of Ahmadnagar were combined as the
viceroyalty of the Deccan and placed under prince Daniyal.
·
Asirgarh
proved to be the last conquest of Akbar’s life. He intended to deal with the
kingdoms of Bijapur, Golconda and Bidar, but he had to leave the Deccan for the
North where prince Salim had revolted.
Akbar’s Administration:
·
In
1563, he abolished the pilgrim tax and in 1564, he abolished jezyah (tax on
non-muslims). The use of beef was forbidden.
·
His
Hindu official like Todarmal, Birbal and Man Singh, scholars like Faizi and
Abul Fazi and the Bhakti movement of the sixteenth century helped in molding
his religious thought.
·
In
1575-76, the empire was divided into twelve subahs (subas) or provinces, whose
number increased to fifteen after the conquest of the Deccan. Each subha was
subdivided into sarkars and each sarkar into parganas or mahals.
·
After
the conquest of Gujarat in 1573-74, the officers were classified into different
ranks or mansabs, which led to the growth of the mansabdari system.
·
Foundation
of the Ibadat-khana(Hall of Worship) at Fatehpur Sikri. In 1578, he converted
the Ibadat-khana into a ‘Parliament of Religious’ and threw it open to Hindus,
Jains, Zoroastrias and Christians.
·
The
comparative study of different religions of the age led Akbar to formulate an
order known as Din-i-Ilahi (Divine Monotheism) in 1582. The basic purpose of
the formulation of Din-i-Ilahi was Sul-i-kul or universal harmony which
governed all public policies of Akbar.
·
Akbar
gave the Mughal India one official language (Persian).
·
In
1582, the whole revenue system was overhauled under the supervision of
Todarmal, the revenue minister. The revenue system introduced by him, known as
Todarmal bondobust or zabti system, based on classification, measurement of
land etc, was a pioneering measure.
·
The
same year (1582), Dastur-a-amal or Code of Rules was issued for revenue officials.
·
After
his eldest son Salim’s rebellion in 1602, Mughal court got divided into two
groups, one favoring the succession of Salim and the other of Salim’s son
Khusrau, who was also Akbar’s choice.
·
But
shortly before his death in 1605, Akbar himself nominated Salim as his
successor who ascended the throne with the title of Jahangir.
