UPSC History The Mughal Empire NCERT Extracts - Struggle for Empire in North India-II Mughals and Afghans (1525-1555)

Babur

• During the Fifteenth century, Samarqand and Herat became the cultural centres of West Asia. The ruler of Samarqand had great prestige in the entire Islamic world.
• In 1494, at the young age of 12, Babur succeeded to Farghana, a small state in Trans- Oxiana.
• Babur says that from the time he obtained Kabul (1504) to his victory at Panipat. "I had never ceased to think of the conquest of Hindustan."
• Like countless earlier invaders from Central Asia, Babur was drawn to India by the lure of its fabulous wealth. India was the land of gold and riches.
• In 1518-19, Babur conquered the powerful fort of Bhira. He then sent letters and verbal messages to Daulat Khan and Ibrahim Lodi, asking for the cession of the areas which had belonged to the Turks.
• Babur received an embassy from Daulat Khan Lodi, led by his son, Dilawar Khan.
• They invited Babur to India, and suggested that he should displace Ibrahim Lodi since he was a tyrant and enjoyed no support from his nobles.

The Battle of Panipat (20 April, 1526)

• Ibrahim Lodi met Babur at Panipat with a force estimated at 1,00,000 men and 1000 elephant.
• Babur had also secured the services of two Ottoman master-gunners, Ustad Ali and Mustafa.
• The use of gunpowder had been gradually developing in India.
• Babur says that he used it for the first time in his attacks on the fortress of Bhira.
• Ibrahim Lodi fought to the last, and was killed in the battle.
• The battle of Panipat is regarded as one of the decisive battles of Indian history.
• It broke the back of Lodi power, and brought under Babur’s control the entire area up to Delhi and Agra.
• "Not for us the poverty of Kabul again" Babur records in his diary after Ac victory at Panipat.

The Battle of Khanwa

• Babur accuses Rana Sanga of breach of agreement He says that Sanga had invited him to India, and promised to join him against Ibrahim Lodi, but made no move white he (Babur) conquered Delhi and Agra.
• Many Afghans, including Mahmud Lodi, a younger brother of Ibrahim Lodi, rallied to Rana Sanga, in the hope of regaining the throne of Delhi in case Sanga won.
• Hasan Khan Mewati, the ruler of Mewat, also cast in his lot with Sanga.
• Almost all the Rajput rulers of note sent contingents to serve under Rana Sanga.
• To rally them, Babur solemnly declared the war against Sanga to be a jihad.
• The battle of Khanwa (1527) was fiercely contested.
• Rana Sanga escaped and wanted to renew that conflict with Babur. But he was poisoned by his own nobles who considered such a course to be dangerous and suicidal.
• The battle of Khanwa secured Babur "s position in the Delhi-Agra region.
• Babur strengthened his position further by conquering the chain of forts - Gwalior, Dholpur, etc., east of Agra.
• He also annexed large parts of Alwar from Hasan Khan Mewati.
• He then led a campaign against Medini Rai of Chanderi in Malwa.
• Chanderi was captured after the Rajput defenders had died fighting to the last man and their women performed jauhar.
• At the beginning of 1529, Babur left Agra for the east. Crossing the Ganga near Banaras, he faced the combined forces of the Afghans and Nusrat Shah of Bengal at the crossing of the river Ghagra.
• Babur died near Lahore while on his way to Kabul.

Significance of Babur's Advent into India.

• Babur's advent into India was significant from many points of view.
• Babur introduced a new mode of warfare in India.
• Although gunpowder was known in India earlier, Babur showed what a skilled combination of artillery and cavalry could achieve.
• Babur had the prestige of being a descendant of two of the most famous warriors of Asia, Changez and
• Babur was fond of wine and good company and was a good and merry companion. At the same time, he was a stem disciplinarian and a hard taskmaster.
• He took good care of his begs, and was prepared to excuse many of their faults as long as they were not disloyal.
• An orthodox Swam, Babur was not bigoted or led by the religious divines.
• He declared the battle against Sanga a jihad and assumed the title of ghazi after the victory, but the reasons were clearly political.
• Babur was deeply learned in Persian and Arabic, and is regarded as one of the two most famous writers in the Turkish language which was his mother tongue.
• As a prose writer, he had no equal, and his famous memoirs, the Tuziik-i-Baburi, is considered one of the classics of world literature.
• His other works include a masnavi and the Turkish translation of a well-known Sufi works.He was in touch with the famous poets and artists of the time and describes their works in his memoirs.
• He was a keen naturalist, and has described the flora and fauna of India.
• He laid out a number of formal gardens with running water thereby establishing a Tradition.

 Humayun's

• Humayun succeeded Babur in December 1530 at the young age of 23.
• He had to grapple with a number of problems left behind by Babur.
• When Humayun ascended the throne at Agra, the empire included Kabul and Qandhar, while there was loose control over Badakhshan beyond the Hindukush mountains.
• Kabul and Qandhar were under the charge of Humayun's younger brother, Kamran.
• Humayun, who was busy elsewhere, and did not want to start a civil war, had little option but to agree. Kamran accepted the suzerainty of Humayun.
• In 1532, at a place called Daurah, he defeated the Afghan forces which had conquered Bihar and overrun Jaunpur in eastern Uttar Pradesh.
• After this success, Humayun besieged Chunar. This powerful fort commanded the land and the river route between Agra and the east, and was known as the gateway of eastern India.
• The rapid increase in the power of Bahadur Shah of Gujarat, and his activities in the areas bordering Agra, had alarmed him.
• According to some later legends. Rani Karnavati, the widow of Rana Sanga, sent a rakhi to Humayun seeking his help, and Humayun gallantly responded.
• During the next year and a half, Humayun spent his time in building a new city at Delhi, which he named
• After the victory, Humayun placed Gujarat under the command of his younger brother, Askari, and then retired to Mandu which was centrally located and enjoyed a fine climate.

Sher Khan

• During Humayun's absence from Agra (February 1535 to February 1537), Sher Khan had further strengthened his position.
• He had made himself the unquestioned master of Bihar.
• Sher Khan completely outmanoeuvred Humayun. Humayun should have realised that he was in no position to offer a military challenge to Sher Khan without more careful preparations.
• Humayun's march to Bengal was purposeless and was the prelude to the disaster which overtook his army at Chausa almost a year later.
• After a stay of three to four months at Gaur, Humayun started back for Agra, leaving a small garrison behind.
• Misled by an offer of peace from Sher Khan, Humayun crossed to the eastern bank of the Karmnasa river, giving full scope to the Afghan horsemen encamped there to attack.
• Humayun barely escaped with his life from the battle field, swimming across the river with the help of a water-carrier. Immense booty fell in Sher Khan's hands.
• After the defeat at Chausa (March, 1539), only the fullest unity among the Timurid princes and the nobles could have saved the Mughals.
• The army hastily assembled by Humayun at Agra was no match against Sher Khan.
• However the battle to Kanauj(may,1540, was bitterly contested. Both the younger brothers of Humayun, Askari and Hindal, fought valiantly but to no avail.
• The battle of Kanauj decided the issue between Sher Khan and the Mughals.
• Ultimately, Humayun took shelter at the court of the Iranian king, and recaptured Qandhar and Kabul with his help in 1545.
• Humayun's life was a romantic one. He went from riches to rags and again from rags to riches. In 1555, following the breakup of the Sur empire, he was able to recover Delhi.
• But he did not live long to enjoy the fruits of the victory. He died from a fall from the first floor of the library building in his fort at Delhi.

Sher Shah and the Sur Empire (1540-55)

• Sher Shah ascended the throne of Delhi at the age of 54 or so.
• We do not know much about his early life. His original name was Farid and his father was a small jagirdar at Jaunpur.
• Farid acquired rich administrative experience by looking after the affairs of his father's jagir.
• Following the defeat and death of Ibrahim Lodi and the confusion in Afghan affairs, he emerged as one of the most important Afghan sardars.
• The title of Sher Khan was given to him by his patron for killing a tiger (sher).
• His last campaign was against Kalinjar, a strong fort that was the key to Bundelkhand.
• During the siege, a gun burst and severely injured Sher Shah. He died (1545) after he heard that the fort had been captured.
• Sher Shah was succeeded by his second son, Islam Shah, who ruled till 1553.
• In two hotly contested battles in 1555, Humayun defeated the Afghans, and recovered Delhi and Agra.

Contribution of Sher Shah

• Amongst the foremost contributions of Sher Shah was his re-establishment of law and order across the length and breadth of his empire.
• He dealt sternly with robbers and dacoits, and with zamindars who refused to pay land revenue or disobeyed the orders of the government.
• We are told by Abbas Khan Sarwani, the historian of Sher Shah, that the zamindars were so cowed the none of them dared to raise the banner of rebellion against him, or to molest the travellers passing through their territories.
• Sher Shah restored the old imperial road called the Grand Trunk Road, from the river Indus in the west to Sonargaon in Bengal.
• He also built a road from Agra to Jodhpur and Chittor, evidently linking up with the road to the Gujarat seaports. He built a third road from Lahore to Multan.
• For the convenience of travellers, Sher Shah built a sarai at a distance of every two kos (about eight km) on these roads. The sarai was fortified lodging or inn where travellers could pass the night and also keep their goods in safe custody.
• Brahmanas were appointed for providing bed and food to the Hindu travellers, and grain for their horses.
• Efforts were made to settle villages around the sarais. and land was set anart in these villages for the expenses of the sarais.
• Every sarai had several watchmen under the control of a shahna (custodian).
• Sher Shah built 1700 sarais in all. Some of these still exist.
• His roads and sarais have been called "the arteries of the empire".
• The sarais were also used as stages for the news service or dak-chowki.
• By means of these Sher Shah kept himself informed of the developments in his vast empire.
• In his enitre empire, good paid customs duty only at two place: good produced in Bengal or imported from outside paid custom duty at the border of Bengal and Bihar at Sikrigali, and goods coming from West and Central Asia paid customs duty at the Indus.
• No one was allowed to levy customs at roads, ferries or towns anywhere else.
• The duty was paid a second time at the time of sale.
• Sher Shah made the local village headmen (muqaddams) and zamindars responsible for any loss that the merchant suffered on the roads.
• In the picturesque language of Abbas Sarwani, "a decrepit old women might place a basketful of gold ornaments on her head and go on a journey, and no thief or robber would come near her for fear of the punishment which Sher Shah inflicted."
• The currency reforms of Sher Shah also helped in the growth of commerce and handicrafts. He struck fine coins of gold, silver and copper of uniform standard in place of the debased coins of mixed metal.
• A number of villages comprised a pargana. The pargana was under the charge of the shiqdar, who looked after law and order and general administration.
• The munsif or amil looked after the collection of land revenue.
• Above the pargana was the shiq or sarkar under the charge of the shiqdar-i-shiqdaran and a munsif-i-munsifan. A number of sarkars were grouped into provinces,
• Sher Shah paid special attention to the land revenue system, the army and justice.
• Sher Shah insisted on measurement of the sown land. A crop rate (called ray) was drawn up, laying down the state's share of the different types of crops.
• This could then be converted into cash on the basis of the prevailing market rates in different areas. The share of the state was one-third of the produce.
• The peasants were given the option of paying in cash or king.
• The areas sown, the type of crops cultivated and the amount each peasant had to pay was written down on a paper called patta and each peasant was informed of it.
• Sher Shah set up a strong army in order to administer his vast empire.
• Every soldier had his descriptive roll (chehra) recorded, and his horse branded with the imperial sign so that horses of inferior quality may not be substituted.
• Sher Shah seems to have borrowed this system, known as the dagh (branding) system, from the military reforms ofAlauddin Khalji.
• He set up cantonments in different parts of the empire and a strong garrison was posted in each of them.
• Sher Shah placed considerable emphasis on justice. He used to say, "Justice is the most excellent of religious rites, and it is approved alike by the king of infidels and of the faithful".
• Qazis were appointed at different places for justice but, as before, the village panchayats and zamindars also dealt with civil and criminal cases at the local level.
• A big step forward in the dispensation of justice was, however, taken by Sher Shah's son and successor, Islam Shah.
• Islam Shah codified the laws, thus doing away with the necessity of depending on a special set of people who could interpret the Islamic law.
• The tomb which he built for himself at Sasaram during his lifetime is regarded as one of the masterpieces of architecture.
• Sher Shah also built a new city on the bank of the Yamuna near Delhi. The sole survivor of this is the Old Fort (Purana Qila) and the fine mosque within it.
• Sher Shah also patronized the learned men. Some of the finest works in Hindi, such as the Padmavat of Malik Muhammad Jaisi, were completed during his reign.