Mughal Empire — Creation and Social Change | CTET SST P2

Founding the Mughal Empire — Babur and Humayun

The founder of the Mughal dynasty, Zahiruddin Muhammad Babur (1483–1530), was a Timurid ruler from Fergana in Central Asia. On his father's side he descended from Timur, and on his mother's side from Chengiz Khan. In 1526 CE Babur defeated the last Lodi Sultan of Delhi, Ibrahim Lodi, at the First Battle of Panipat. At Panipat he used artillery and the tulughma (flanking) battle-formation — tactics unknown in India at that time — to rout a larger Afghan force. He followed this with victories at the Battle of Khanwa (1527) against Rana Sanga of Mewar, and the Battle of Ghagra (1529) against the Afghans, consolidating Mughal control over north India.

Babur composed a vivid autobiography, the Babarnama, written in Turkish (Chaghatai), which is an invaluable primary source for the period. His son Humayun (1530–40, 1555–56) inherited the empire but struggled to hold it together. He was twice defeated by the Afghan chieftain Sher Shah Suri — at Chausa (1539) and Kanauj/Bilgram (1540) — and was forced to flee to Iran for fifteen years. After the Suri dynasty weakened, Humayun returned in 1555 and recovered Delhi, but died the following year after falling from the steps of his library at Dinpanah.

Akbar — Conquests and Policies

Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar (r. 1556–1605) is considered the true architect of the Mughal Empire. Ascending the throne at just thirteen, he defeated the Hindu general Hemu at the Second Battle of Panipat (1556) under the regency of Bairam Khan. Taking personal charge of government in 1562, he launched a sustained programme of territorial expansion — Malwa (1562), Gondwana (Rani Durgavati, 1564), Chittor (1568), Ranthambhor (1569), Gujarat (1572–73), Bengal (1576), Kabul (1581), Kashmir (1586), Sindh (1591), and the partial conquest of Ahmadnagar.

Akbar combined military conquest with diplomacy. He forged matrimonial alliances with Rajput rulers — marrying the daughter of Raja Bharmal of Amber — and appointed Rajput nobles to the highest imperial offices: Man Singh as commander of the army and Raja Todar Mal as his revenue minister. This policy transformed the Mughal state into a multi-community power structure.

In 1571 Akbar shifted his capital from Agra to Fatehpur Sikri, a new city built to honour the Sufi saint Shaikh Salim Chishti. The famous Buland Darwaza (Gate of Victory, built to commemorate the Gujarat campaign) and the Ibadat Khana were constructed there. Water scarcity later forced the capital back to Agra and Lahore.

Akbar's Religious Policy — Sulh-i-kul and Din-i-Ilahi

Akbar's most distinctive contribution was his policy of 'Sulh-i-kul' (Universal Peace). According to NCERT Our Pasts II, Akbar developed this idea through dialogue with scholars of many faiths in his early years as ruler. In 1575 he established the Ibadat Khana (House of Worship) at Fatehpur Sikri, where Hindu, Muslim, Jain, Parsi, Sikh and Christian scholars — including the Jesuit priests Acquaviva and Monserrate — were invited for open religious debates.

In 1579 Akbar issued the Mahzar (declaration), which vested the final authority on religious matters in the emperor (applicable when the ulema were divided). In 1582 he introduced the Din-i-Ilahi — not a formal religion but a spiritual path emphasising truth, non-violence and ethical living. It attracted very few followers (Birbal was among the rare converts).

At a practical level, Akbar abolished the jizia tax (1564) and the pilgrimage tax (1563), banned cow-slaughter on certain days, and appointed Hindu nobles to high office. The historian Irfan Habib has described Akbar's policy as an 'inclusive philosophy of state', documented by his court historian Abul Fazl in the Ain-i-Akbari. (NIOS 509 Unit 3)

Mansabdari and Jagirdari Systems

The mansabdari system, developed by Akbar after 1571, was the administrative backbone of the Mughal Empire. Every official was assigned a numerical rank (mansab) that determined his military grade. The rank had two components:

• Zat: the holder's personal salary-grade and status.
• Sawar: the number of horses and cavalry troops he was required to maintain.

The highest mansabs (up to 10,000) were reserved for princes; ordinary nobles (umara) typically held ranks of 1,000–7,000 zat. A mansabdar received his salary either in cash or as a jagir — the right to collect revenue from a specified territory.

Under the jagirdari system, a mansabdar was assigned a jagir from which he extracted enough revenue to pay himself, remitting any surplus to the imperial treasury. Jagirs were transferable — mansabdars were normally rotated every three years to prevent them from developing local roots and independent power bases.

Shah Jahan and Mughal Architecture

While Jahangir's reign (1605–27) is called the golden age of Mughal painting, the golden age of Mughal architecture belongs to Shah Jahan (1628–58). He commissioned the Taj Mahal (1632–53) at Agra in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal — a masterpiece in white marble, pietra dura inlay (coloured stone inlay), char-bagh (four-part garden) layout, and the purest expression of the Indo-Islamic architectural tradition.

Shah Jahan shifted the imperial capital from Agra to Shahjahanabad (Delhi), where he built the Red Fort (1638–48), the Jama Masjid (1644–56) and the bustling market street of Chandni Chowk. Within the Red Fort, the Diwan-i-Am (Hall of Public Audience) and Diwan-i-Khas (Hall of Private Audience) — which once housed the famed Peacock Throne (Takht-i-Taus) — remain landmarks of Mughal grandeur.

Notable painters of the period include Ustad Mansur, Abul Hasan and Bishan Das. The Mughal style of painting fused Iranian delicacy with Indian colour traditions and gave rise to regional sub-styles — Rajasthani, Pahari and Deccani. Shah Jahan's son Dara Shikoh wrote Majm-ul-Bahrayn (Confluence of Two Seas), drawing parallels between Islam and Vedanta, and had the Upanishads translated into Persian as Sirr-i-Akbar.

Aurangzeb and the Decline of the Empire

Aurangzeb (1658–1707) defeated and executed his brothers Dara, Shuja and Murad in a war of succession, and imprisoned his father Shah Jahan in Agra Fort. His forty-nine-year reign saw the Mughal Empire reach its greatest geographic extent — expanding deep into the Deccan — but this very overstretch sowed the seeds of decline.

Principal causes of decline (NCERT Our Pasts II/III and NIOS 509 Unit 3):

1. Twenty-five-year Deccan War: ceaseless campaigns against the Marathas under Shivaji and his successors drained the treasury and exhausted the army.
2. Shift in Religious Policy: reimposition of jizia in 1679; demolition of temples at Kashi and Mathura; strained relations with Rajputs and Sikhs (execution of Guru Tegh Bahadur in 1675).
3. Jagirdari Crisis: the number of mansabdars grew faster than available jagirs, leaving many nobles with mounting salary arrears (paye-baqi).
4. Regional Revolts: Sikhs (under Guru Gobind Singh), Jats (Gokula), Satnamis, Bundelas, Marathas and Ahoms all rose in rebellion across different parts of the empire.
5. Nadir Shah's Invasion (1739): the Persian ruler sacked Delhi, carried off the Peacock Throne and the Koh-i-Noor diamond, and shattered Mughal prestige beyond repair.
6. Weak Successors: Bahadur Shah I, Farrukh Siyar, Muhammad Shah 'Rangeela', and others could not hold the empire together; regional powers — Marathas, Sikhs, Hyderabad, Awadh, Bengal — broke away one by one.

After the 1857 Uprising, the last Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar was exiled to Rangoon by the British, formally ending 300 years of Mughal rule.

Mughal Society, Trade and Economy

The Mughal economy was primarily agrarian. Revenue Minister Todar Mal's Dahsala settlement (1582) systematised tax demand — one-third of the average produce over the previous ten years was fixed as the state's share. Land was classified into four categories: polaj (cultivated every year), parauti (rested), chachar (uncultivated for three to four years) and banjar (waste).

Key trading centres were Surat, Ahmedabad, Masulipatnam, Hooghly and Dhaka. India exported cotton textiles (calico, muslin), indigo, spices and saltpetre to Europe, receiving gold and silver in return. This period also saw the establishment of the English, Dutch, French and Portuguese East India Companies in India, which would later alter the political balance.

Caste hierarchies persisted throughout society, but the Bhakti and Sufi movements exercised a deep influence. Kabir, Raidas, Mirabai, Guru Nanak, Surdas and Tulsidas all composed devotional verse accessible to ordinary people. Khanqahs and dargahs — especially Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti (Ajmer) and Nizamuddin Auliya (Delhi) — served as centres of social harmony cutting across religious boundaries.

Women in the Mughal court: Nur Jahan (Jahangir's wife) exercised active political authority; Jahanara and Roshanara were patrons of architecture and literature. However, the lives of ordinary women remained restricted — purdah and sati continued to be practised.

Teaching the Mughal Period — Sources and Classroom Processes

NCF 2005 and NIOS 509 Unit 4 (History Teaching) recommend teaching periods like the Mughal Empire not through timelines alone but through primary sources and inquiry-based methods that help children 'think like historians'.

Key primary sources accessible for Classes 7–8:

• Babarnama (Babur's autobiography) — vivid descriptions of Fergana's gardens, elephants and the shock of India help children grasp historical context.
• Ain-i-Akbari (Abul Fazl) — detailed accounts of mansabs, revenue, court protocol and the daily life of the empire.
• Akbarnama, Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri, Badshahnama — Mughal-perspective dynastic histories.
• Mughal miniature paintings — visual primary sources ideal for classroom discussion on clothing, weapons, food and gender roles.
• Monuments (Taj Mahal, Fatehpur Sikri, Red Fort) — architectural primary sources for studying craft, patronage and power.

Classroom activities (NCERT Our Pasts II Teacher's Guide):

• 'If you were at Akbar's court…' — imaginative diary-writing exercise.
• Local field visits to identify Mughal architectural elements — arches, domes, pietra dura, char-bagh layout.
• Source-based questions on short extracts from the Ain-i-Akbari for critical reading.
• Comparative table — Delhi Sultanate administration vs Mughal mansabdari.