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India in the 16th century had numerous unpopular rulers, both Muslim and Hindu, with an absence of common bodies of laws or institutions. External developments also played a role in the rise of the Mughal Empire. The circumnavigation of Africa by the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama in 1498 allowed Europeans to challenge Arab control of the trading routes between Europe and Asia. In Central Asia and Afghanistan, shifts in power pushed Babur of Ferghana (in present-day Uzbekistan) southward, first to Kabul and then to India. The Mughal Empire lasted for more than three centuries. The Mughal Empire was one of the largest centralized states in premodern history and was the precursor to the British Indian Empire. |
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THE LARGEST ARMY
The Mughals maintained the largest standing army of that time. Just one estimate: In 1628 there 200,000 salaried cavalrymen, 8000 mansabdars, 7000 ahadis and mounted musketeers were stationed at the imperial capital, besides the armies of the nobles, mansabdars and the princes. In many instances they had the fastest moving army as well. Akbar was able to cover a distance of 500 . miles (normally it took twenty-one days), in nine days to crush a rebellion (this feat was never repeated).
nMughal dynamism depended on its military conquest, so much that some historians call it “a war state (J F Richards). Mughal emperors made little apology for attacking the neighbouring rulers and they regarded the
CHARISMATIC RULERS
adjoining territories either as tributaries or enemies.
The Mughal emperors, especially Akbar, created a special image of himself, and some of his personal qualities and virtues later served as a model for his successors (more details when legitimization process will be discussed).
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THE MINISTERS (some about mughal period)
officials and their ministries namely: Diwan in charge of finance and revenue, Mir Bakshi in charge of army and intelligence, Qazi in charge of judiciary and patronage and Mir-i-Saman in charge of the royal household, and its central workshops, buildings, roads and canals throughout the empire.
THE MANSABDARI SYSTEMEvery official in the Mughal empire, high or low, had a rank or a mansab. Their status, duties, pay and importance were graded accordingly. Technically, all mansabdars had to maintain a military contingent for which they were paid. All other officials were paid in cash. During Akbar’s time the official bearing a decimal rank of 500 were ranked as a noble
or umara. But by the end of the seventeenth century the mansabdars with 1000 rank were accorded the status of a umara.
All mansabdars had dual ranks and they were remunerated on that basis. The successful regulation of the mansabs and the salary assignment (jagirdari system) can be truly termed as a Mughal phenomenon.
All Mughal officials received a dual rank when they joined the Mughal imperial service. That was zat (personal salary) and sawar (payment for the military contingent). For example the mansab of Prince Salim (Jahangir) was 5000 zat/5000 sawar. What does it mean: Prince Salim’s personal salary was based on his mansab of 5000 zat and for 5000 sawar, he had to maintain a military contingent.
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CHANGES IN THE MANSABDARIAfter the reign of Akbar when the highest ranking mansabdars who had reached the maximum limit in their mansab had nothing to aspire for. For this reason there were some changes in the mansabdari system.
The quota of the contingent which each mansabdar had to maintain was lowered and there were further reductions in the contingent if the mansabdars were posted on the frontiers or far away places.
Du-aspa and sih-aspa categories: For example the mansab of Ali Mardan Khan (1628) was 7000/7000 du-aspa (His personal rank was 7000 but for his 7000 contingent he had to maintain only 66% of troops)
If the sih-aspa category was added then the mansabdar had to maintain 33% of his contingent.
The crisis in the mansabdari system was becoming obvious by the time of Shahjahan. The zat rank of the mansabdars starting exceeding their sawar rank and had crossed the maximum limit of 7000. A mansabdar could have a mansab of 20,000/ 5000. (will be elaborated).
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Historical Date Of India |
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1761: Afghani invaders by Ahmad Durani defeat the Marathas at Panipat, thus starting the decline of the Maratha empire 1764: Britain expands to Bengal and Bihar 1769: a famine kills ten million people in Bengal . 1772: Britain chooses Calcutta as the capital of India . 1773: Warren Hastings, governor of Bengal (India), establishes a monopoly on the sale of opium . 1776: Marathas conquer Mysore 1783: Oman acquires the port of Gwadar 1794: Marathas conquer Delhi 1796: Holland cedes Ceylon (Sri Lanka) to Britain |
1713: Muguhal emperor Jahandar Shah and his wazir Zulfikar Khan are overthrown by Farrukhsiyar, who becomes the new emperor, and Sayyid Abdullah Khan, who becomes the new wazir . 1714: Jai Singh is appointed governor of Malwa by the Mughal 1715: Banda is captured by the Mogul and the Sikh insurrection ends 1715: Muguhal emperor Farrukhsiyar marries the daughter of Ajit Singh 1715: Mughal emperor Farrukhsiyar appoints Mubariz Khan as governor of the Deccan, that becomes an autonomous state |
1713: the prime minister (peshwa) of Maratha, Balaji Vaishvanath, becomes the real ruler of the Maratha kingdom and the peshwa becomes a hereditary title while queen Tara Bai moves her court to Kolhapur 1716: Banda is publicly executed in Delhi
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