UPSC History The Mughal Empire NCERT Extracts - Nur Jahan, Shah Jahan and Political Development

 Political and Administrative Developments in India

• The first half of the seventeenth century in India was, on the whole, an era of progress and growth.
• During the period, the Mughal empire was ruled by two capable rulers, Jahangir (1605- 27), and Shah Jahan (1628-1658).
• Jahangir, the eldest son of Akbar, succeeded to the throne without any difficulty, his younger brother having died during the life-time of Akbar due to excessive drinking.
• However, shortly after Jahangir's succession, his eldest son, Khusrau, broke out into rebellion. Jahangir defeated him at a battle near Lahore and soon afterwards he was captured and imprisoned.
• In 1608, Jahangir posted to Bengal, Islam Khan, the grandson of Shaikh Salim Chishti, the famous Sufi saint who was the patron saint of the Mughals.
• The leading Afghan noble under Jahangir was Khan-i-Jahan Lodi who rendered distinguished service in the Deccan.
• By 1622, Jahangir had brought Malik Ambar to heel patched up the long drawn out tussle with Mewar, and pacified Bengal.

Nur Jahan

• She was married to Jahangir in 1611.
• Her family was a respectable one and her father, had been made joint diwan by Jahangir in the first year of his reign.
• Having been tested in this office, and following Nur Jahan's marriage with Jahangir, he was raised to the office of the chief diwan.
• Nur Jahan's brother, Asaf Khan, was also learned and able man.
• He was appointed the khan-i-saman, a post reserved for nobles in whom the emperor had fall confidence.
• He married his daughter to Khurram (Shah Jahan) who was his father's favourite following the rebellion and imprisonment of Khusrau.
• Some modem historians are of Ac opinion that along with her father and brother, and in alliance with Khurram, Nur Jahan formed a group or "juiitsT which ''managed" Jahangir so that without its backing and support no one could advance in his career, and that this led to Ac division of the court into two factions - the Nur Jahan “junta" and its opponents.

Shah Jahan's Rebellion

• The immediate cause of Ac rebellion was Shah Jahan's refusal to proceed to Qandhar wchich had been besieged by the Persians.
• Shah Jahan was afraid that the campaign would be a long and difficult one and that intrigues would be hatched against him during his absence from the court. Hence, he put forward a number of demands.
• However, in the battle near Delhi, Shah Jahan was defeated by the forces led by Mahabat Khan. He was saved from a complete defeat by the valiant stand of the Mewar contingent.
• The defeat of Mahabat Khan was the greatest victory attained by Nur Jahan, and it was due, in no small measure, to her cool courage and sagacity.

Foreign Policy of the Mughals

• The Uzbeks were the natural enemies of the Mughals, having been responsible for the expulsion of Babur and the other Timurid princes from Samarqand and the adjoining area including Khorasan.
• It was natural for the Safavids and the Mughal to ally against the Uzbek danger especial!} as there were no frontier disputes between them with the exception of Qandhar.
• The Ottoman threat from the west made the Persians keen to befriend the Mughals,
• The Mughals refused to be drawn in a tripartite Ottoman, Mughal and Uzbek alliance against the Persians as it would have upset the Asian balance of power and left them alone to face the might of the Uzbeks.
• Alliance with Iran was also helpful in promoting trade with Central Asia.
• The Mughals were chary of a closer relationship with Turkey since they were not prepared to countenance the claim to superiority made by the Turkish sultan as successor to the Caliph.

Akbar and the Uzbeks

• The territorial power of the Uzbeks grew rapidly under Abdullah Khan Uzbek.
• In 1577, Abdullah Khan sent an embassy to Aikbar, proposing to partition Iran.
• Abdullah Uzbek urged that Akbar "should lead an expedition from India to Iran in order that they may, with united efforts, release Iraq, Khorasan and Fars from the innovators (Shias)".
• As if reply to this, Akbar sent a return embassy to Abdullah Uzbek in which it was pointed out that differences in law and religion could not be regarded as sufficient ground for conquest.
• The situation became so serious that Akbar had to move to Attock. It was during these operations that Akbar lost one of his best friends. Raja Birbal.
• Akbar completed his objective of establishing a scientific defensible frontier by acquiring Qandhar in 1595. In addition to this, from 1586 Akbar stayed at Lahore in order to watch the situation,
• He left for Agra only after the death of the death of Abdulla Khan Uzbek in 1598.

Relations with Iran and the Question of Qandhar

• The dread of Uzbek power was the most potent factor which brought the Safavids and the Mughals together.
• Strategically, Qandhar was vital for the defence of Kabul.
• The fort of Qandhar was considered to be one of the strongest forts in the region, and was well provided with water.
• Qandhar was a rich and fertile province and was the hub of the movement of men and goods between India and Central Asia.
• The trade from Central Asia to Multan via Qandhar, and thence down the river Indus to the sea steadily gained in importance, because the roads across Iran were frequently disturbed due to wars and internal commotions.
• Akbar wanted to promote trade on this route, and pointed out to Abdullah Uzbek that it was an alternative route for pilgrims and the good traffic to Mecca.
• Relations between Iran and the Mughals continued to be cordial, despite the Mughal conquest of Qandhar. After Akbar's death, the Persians made an abortive attempt on Qandhar.

Shah Jahan’s Balkh Campaign

• But the conquest of Qandhar was only the means to an end. Shah Jahan was more concerned with the serious danger of recurrent Uzbek attack on Kabul, and their intrigues with the Baluch and Afghan tribes.
• Shah Jahan's objective, was to secure a friendly ruler in Baikh and Badakshan, the areas which bordered Kabul, and which had been ruled over by Timurid princes till 1585.
• The campaign was a success in the military sense - the Mughals conquered Baikh, and defeated Uzbek attempts to oust them.

Mughal-Persian Relations : The Last Phase

• Aurangzeb decided not to continue the futile contest over Qandhar, and quietly resumed diplomatic relations with Iran.
• Thus, their basic foreign policy was based on the defence of India. The defence of this frontier-line was further buttressed by diplomatic means.
• These military and diplomatic means adopted by the Mughals were remarkably successful in giving India security from foreign invasions for a long time.
• Secondly, the Mughals insisted on relations of equality with leading Asian nations of the time, both with the Safavids, who claimed a special position by virtue of their relationship with the Prophet, and with the Ottoman sultans who had assumed the title of Padshan-i-Islam and claimed to be the successors of the Caliph of Baghdad.
• Thirdly, the Mughal used their foreign policy to promote India's commercial interests. Kabul and Qandhar were the twin gateways of India's trade with Central Asia. The economic importance of this trade for the Mughal empire has yet to be fully assessed.

Growth of Administration: Mansabdari System and the Mughal Army

• Under Akbar, for the maintenance of his contingent, the mansabdar was paid at the average rate of Rs 240 per annum per sawar.
• Later in the time of Jahangir it was reduced to Rs 200 per annum.
• Individual sawars were paid according to their nationality - a Mughal got more than an Indian Muslim or a Rajput – and the quality of their mount.
• The Mughals favoured mixed contingents, with men drawn in fixed proportions from Irani and Turani Mughals, Indian Afghans and Rajputs.
• A number of other modifications were also carried out during the period. There was a tendency to reduce zat salaries.
• The average salary paid to a sawar was reduced by Jahangir.
• Jahangir also introduced a system whereby selected nobles could be allowed to maintain a large quota of troopers, without raising their zat rank.
• This was the du-aspah sih-aspah system (literally, trooper with 2 or 3 horses) which implied that a mansabdar holding this rank had to maintain and was paid for double the quota of troopers indicated by his sawar rank.
• Normally, no mansabdar was given a sawar rank which was higher than his zat rank.
• A further modification, which comes to our notice during Shah Jahan's reign, was aimed at drastically reducing the number of sawars a noble was required to maintain.
• Although the salaries of the mansabdar were stated in rupees, they were generally not paid in cash, but by assigning them a jagir.
• By devising a careful scale of gradations and laying down meticulous rules of business, the Mughals bureaucratized the nobility.

The Mughal Army

• The cavalry, as we have noted, was the principal arm of the Mughal army and the mansabdars provided the overwhelming proportion of it.
• In addition to the mansabdars the Mughal emperors used to entertain individual troopers, called ahadis.
• The ahadis have been called gentlemen troopers and received much higher salaries than other troopers. They were a highly trusted corps, being recruited directly by the emperors and having their own muster-master.
• The Mughal emperors had a large stable of war elephants, and also a well-organised park of artillery.
• The Mughals were solicitous of improving tfaeir artillery and, at first, many Ottomans and Portuguese were employed in the artillery department
• The Frenchman, Bemier, who accompanied Shah Jahan to Lahore and Kashmir, found the light artillery, called “artillery of the stirrup”, to be extremely well appointed.
• The success of the Mughals against the Uzbeks who could match themselves with the Persians at the time of the Baikh campaigns suggests that the Mughal army was not inferior of the Central Asian and Persian armies in an open contest
• Its major weakness was in the naval sphere, particularly in the field of sea-war-fare.