Mughal Empire:
Introduction:
From the 16th to the 18th centuries India was synonymous with the "Empire of the
Great Moghul". They reformed government, encouraged artistry, and tried to unite their subjects. The last Mughal emperors allowed the empire to break apart, however. As a result, the Mughal Empire came to an end, and India came under British control. The Mughals were a Muslim dynasty that lasted for seven generations. They were descended from the Turkic conqueror Timur Lenk and the Mongol ruler Genghis Khan. The empire was founded when a ruler from Turkestan, Baber, raided India, defeated the sultan of Delhi in 1526, and expanded his holdings. The next notable Mughal ruler perhaps the greatest of the dynasty was Baber's grandson Akbar, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. He made the Mughal throne more secure and greatly expanded the empire. India was difficult to rule because it was basically a Hindu culture governed by Muslims and because of the variety of languages and traditions of its people. Akbar succeeded because he reformed the government to make it fairer and allowed Muslims, Hindus, and Christians alike to practice their beliefs. He was also a great promoter of art and learning. To this day certain works dating from the empire are known by such names as Mughal painting, Mughal glass, and Mughal carpets. They were highly aware of the potential of architecture as a means of
self representation. To express their 'multiple identity' architecturally, they drew from many divers supra regional and regional traditions which they synthesised and 'imperialised' so successfully that they created with the Taj Mahal the universally most widely accepted building.
The Founder
The founder of the Mughal dynasty was Babur, "The Tiger," who ruled from 1483 to 1530. Babur was not fully a Mongol: his mother was descended from Genghis Khan, but his father was descended from Timur. Like his ancestors, he rose from comparatively little to become one of the great conquerors of his time. He ruled over a small kingdom in Turkestan; he expanded his kingdom by attacking Afghanistan and capturing Kabul in 1504. From there he crossed over the mountains into Hindustan and attacked the Dehli Sultanate. With an army of only twelve thousand men, he defeated the Sultan at Panipat, captured Agra and Dehli, and established himself as Sultan. He then attacked a confederation of Rajput states. When he died in 1530 he had conquered all of Hindustan and controlled an empire that extended from the Deccan to Turkestan. Besides his fierce military genius, his conquest of this vast territory was aided by technological superiority. He was the first Islamic conqueror to employ muskets and artillery, and even though these weapons were somewhat primitive, they were more than a match for the armies of the Hindustan.
India was no stranger to Islamic conquest. In the seventh century, just decades after the beginning of Islam, India was invaded by Muslims. In the tenth century, the Punjab was conquered by the Turkish chieftain, Mahmud. In the thirteenth century, the Turk Qutb-ud-din, invaded the Punjab and established the Dehli Sultanate which remained in power until Babur's invasion. Still, the Islamic Sultanate did not protect India from Muslim invasion. In 1398, Timur invaded from the west and utterly destroyed Dehli. Although the Sultanate survived, Timur's invasion left the entire area politically shattered.
At the same time that Babur was aggressively expanding his territory, however, Europeans began their slow and steady invasion of India. Initially begun by the Portugese, the process would be brought to completion by the British who, in the 1850's, annexed India into the British Empire. The history of the Mughal Empire is intimately tied to the history of European expansion and territorial invasions. In 1510, the Portugese conquered the island of Goa off the Indian Coast and a few years later occupied territory on the Indian subcontinent itself. Babur was still in Afghanistan; it would be fifteen more years before he crossed the mountain paths and attacked the Dehli sultanate.
Decline:
After Emperor Aurangzeb's death in 1707, the empire fell into succession crisis. Barring none of the Mughal emperors could hold on to power for a decade. In the 18th century, the Empire suffered the depredations of invaders like of Persia and of Afghanistan, who repeatedly sacked , the Mughal capital. Most of the empire's territories in India passed to the y c. 1750. The Mughal Emperors lost effective power in favor of the British after the 64.1804, the ineffective ormally accepted the protection of th The company had already begun to refer to the weakened emperor as "King of Delhi", rather than "Emperor of India". The once glorious and mighty Mughal army was disbanded in 1805 by the British; only the guards of thewere spared to serve with the King of Delhi, which avoided the uncomfortable implication that British sovereignty was outranked by the Indian monarch. Nonetheless, for a few decades afterward thontinued to rule the areas under its control as the nominal servants of the emperor and in his name. After th even these courtesies were disposed. The rebels declared their allegiance to Shah Alam's descendant, which led to a protracted after which the victorious British abolished the institution altogether with transfer of authority to the British crown. The last Mughal emperor was deposed and exiled t where he died in 1862.
Bengal under the Mughals:
After the fall of the ower in 1576, Bengal was under the mughal rule. But the establishment of effective rule took some time. On 19th December, 1578, Khan-i-jahan died and Muzaffar Khan became the governor of Bengal. brother Mirza Hakim declared himself independent in Kabul, and Muzaffar Khan was defeated by rebels sympathetic to him, and Bengal and Bihar was declared to be his. He sent a subedar (governor) to Bengal, but lots of Afghans took control of parts of Bengal and all of Orissa. In April 1582, Akbar sent Khan-i-Azam as the subedar of Bengal, who won partial victory; but parts of the region remained under Masum Kabuli and Isha Khan, even under the next subedar Shahbaz Khan. In June 1584, Kutlu Khan of Orissa, who had revolted and took over parts of Bengal, was defeated. In 1586, both Isha Khan and Masum Kabuli accepted mughal overlordship. A new administrative system headed by a sipahsalar (later called subedar) started: Wazib Khan was the first sipahsalar, but he died in August 1587. He was followed by Sayyid Khan (1587–1594).
Raja Mansingh (1594–1605) was the next governor of Bengal. He shifted the capital from Tanda to a new town of Akbarnagar. There were again revolts headed by Isha Khan and Raghudeva, cousin of Lakshminarayana, ruler of . porary retirement, and his eldest son Jagatsingh took over. When he died, the younger Mahasingh took over. Because of revolts, Mansingh had to return to Bengal and defeat them in February, 1601; though revolts continued till next year. He also defeated the Mags of Arakan. The mughal empire passed on to nur-ud-din Muhammad jahângîr (1605–1627) who replaced Mansingh by Qutb-ud-din Khan Koka (1605–1607). He and Sher Afghan Istalaju, a Turk Jaigirdar in Bengal, quarreled and both died in 1607. Sher Afghan's wife finally married Jehangir and was called Nur Jahan.
The next subedar was Quli Khan (1607–1608) and when he died, Islam Khan (June 1608–died August 1613). Even at this time large parts of Bengal, under the zamindars known as bAro bhuJA. Examples of zamindars who often revolted are Musa Khan, son of Isha Khan (controlled Dhaka, half of Maimansingh, Rangpur, and parts of Bagura and Pabna), Bahadur Gazi of Bhaoal, Suna Gazi of Sarail, Mirza Mumin (son of Masum Khan Kapuli) of Chatmohar, Madhu Ray of Khalsi, Binod Ray of Chandpratap, Mazlis Qutb of Fatehabad=Faridpur, and Paloan of Matanga. Satrajit of Bhusana and Raja Raghunath of Susanga sided with the Mughals. Raja Pratapaditya was the zamindar who ruled from Dhumghat and controlled Jessor, Khulna and Bakharganj; and was father in law to Ramchandra of Bakla. (Bakla or Bakherganj including modern Barisal was probably same as the old Ramchandra was son of Kandarpanarayan, one of the Barobhuyians who ruled from 1584 to 1598 and was the son of the daughter of Paramananda whose mother Kamaladevi was fifth generation frome married Bindumati, daughter of Pratapaditya, established his capital in Husainpur, and defeated Laksmanmanikya of Bhulua. He was succeeded by his son Kirtinarayan, who was succeeded by his halfbrother Pratapnarayan Ray.) There were also other zamindars like Anantamanikya, son of Laksmanmanikya, of Bhulua and many Pathans, mainly in Sylhet, main among whom was Bayazid Karrani and his associate Khaja Osman, nephew of Qutlu Khan, the last Pathan ruler of Orissa. Also, near Rajmahal, there were Vir Hambir of Mallabhuma and Bankura, Shams Khan in Panchet and Selim Khan in Hijli. Islam Khan, with his gunpowder, horses, and navy, overcame all these zamindars and also defeated Shatrudaman of Kachhar. In 1612, he moved the capital to Dhaka and called it Jehangirnagar. He then Kamrup which was then under Pariksit Narayan, an offshoot of the dynasty ruling Coochbehar which also came under Mughal rule. This was the beginning of true Mughal rule in Bengal, a fundamental change in the economic, religious, social, and political structure of Bengal: it was now one of twelve imperial provinces, ruled by outsiders who did not feel native to Bengal but who felt the borders of the empire as economic and cultural frontiers; and which now had sunni ashrafs that did not intermarry with othe Bengalis but rather claimed Iranian ancestry; and with the sufis that brought a pan-Indian religious outlook to the religion of the masses.
The next Subedar was Islam Khan's brother Qasim Khan (1614–7). He again saw revolts from different parts. The next subedar Ibrahim Khan Fatehjang (1617–24) reconquered parts of Bengal, but he was defeated by Prince khurram (shahabu-ud-din, later shah jahan), who had revolted against his father Jehangir. In April 1624, Khurram started ruling independently over Bengal and Orissa, and soon over Bihar and Oudh as well. He was defeated in October 1624, but when Jehangir died in 1627, after a confused period under dâwar bakhsh (1627–28), he started ruling over the Mughal empire as shahabu-ud-din shâh jahân khusraw (1628–deposed in 1657). He defeated thnd recovered hughli in 1632, and fought with Ahom. His son, murad baksh (1657) was defeated by subedar Shuja (1629? 1639?–58) was defeated by another of his sons, dara, who in turn was defeated by Mohy-ud-din Awrangzîb ´âlamgîr (1658–1707) on the Mughal throne. Shuja fled to Arakan and was assasinated.
Mir Jumla (June 1660–died March 1663) was the next subedar of Bengal. During his time,occupied Kamrup, and Ahom, Gauhati. Then Ahom took over Kamrup. Mir Jumla took over both, but both became independent when he died. The next subedar Shaesta Khan (March 1664–June 1688) was known for his economic oppression, but popularity amongst common man, in Bengal. He reconquered Coochbehar, defeated the Arakan and portugueseand conqueured chittagong.
After this, Khan-i-jahan Bahadur was subedar for a year, followed by Ibrahim Khan. Zamindar Shobhasingh and Rahim Singh revolted during his time. In response Aurengzeb sent his grandson Azim-ud-din, known as Azim-us-san (1697–1712), as the subedar. He suppressed the revolt. He let the europeans fortify their settlements and ushered in the era in the history of bengal
JUDICIAL & ADMINISTRATIVE SYSTEM DURING MUGHAL EMPIRES:
Judicial & Administrative system during Mughal empires was matchless, excellent and complete in all senses. Let us have a brief perusal of Mughal system as a whole. Though the Mughal Emperors had absolute powers, they appointed a number of officers in the different departments of the Government for the transaction of its multitudinous affairs. The chief departments of the State were: (a) the Imperial House-hold under the Khan-i-saman, (b) the Exchequer under the Deccan(c) the Military Pay & Accounts office under the Mir Bakshi (d) the Judiciary under the Chief Qazi, (e) Religious Endowments and charities under the Chief Sadr or Sadr-us-Sudur, and (f) the Censorship of Public Morals under the Muhtasib. The Diwan or wazir was usually the highest officer in the state, being sole incharge of revenues and finance, The Bakhshi discharged a variety of functions. While he was the Pay-master-General of all the officers of the State, who "theoretically belonged to the military department he was also responsible for the recruiting of the army, and for maintaining lists of mansabdars and other high officials, and when preparing, for a battle he has a complete muster-roll of the army before the Emperor. The Khan-i-Saman or the Lord High Steward had charge of the whole imperial house-hold "in reference to both great and small things". The Muhtamibs or Censors of Public Morals looked after the enforcement of the prophet's commands and the laws of
morality. The other officers, somewhat inferior in status to those mentioned above, the Mir Atish or Daroga-i-Topkhana (head of the artillery), the Daroga of Dak Chowki (the correspondence department). the Daroga of the Mint, the Mir Mai or the Lord Privy Seal, the Mustayfi or the Auditer- General air the Nazir~i-luyulat or the Superintendent of the Imperial workshop, the Mushriff or the Revenue Secretary, the Mir bahri or the Lord of the Admiralty, the Mir Barr or the Superintendent of forests, the or News Reporters the Mir arz or the charge of petitions presented to the Emperor, the Mir Manzil or the Quarter master General, and the Mir Tezak or the Master of Cerensnies. We shall discuss first police, then Judicial and revenue system. (l) The Police so far as the rural areas were concerned, Mughals introduced no new arrangement for the prevention and detection and crimes. These as from time immemorial under the headman of the village and his subordinate watchmen. The system, which afforded a fair degree of security in the local areas with only occasional disturbances in times of disorder, survived till the beginning of the nineteenth century. In the cities and towns, all police duties including the task of maintaining : order and decency, were entrusted to the, whose duties, as enumerated in the Ain-i AKbari, were multi farious (i) to detect thieves, (ii) to regulate prices and check weights measures, (iii) to keep watch at night and the City, (iv) to keep up registers of houses, frequented roads, and of citizens and watch the movements of strangers, (v) to employ spies from the vaga bands, gather information about the affairs of the neighbouring villages and the income expenditure of the various classes of people, (vi) To prepare aninventory of, and take charge of, the property of deceased or missing persons who left be heirs, (vii) to prevent the slaughter buffales, of oxen, bourses or camaels, and (viii) to prevent the burning of women Gainst their win,and circumcision below the age of twelve Sir J.N.Sarkar believes that this long list of the duties in the Ain represents " only the ideal the Kotwali" and not" the actual State But Mailed age gives from personal observation an exhaustive account of the Kotwals duties. It is, however, certain that the Xotwali's main business was to preserve peace and public security in the urba areas. In the districts or Sarkars, law and order were maintained usually by officers like the Faujddars "The faujddar, as his name suggests, was only the commander of a military force stationed in the country. He had to put down smaller rebellions, disperse or arrest robber gangs, take of all violent crimes, demonstrations of force to overawe, opposition to the revenue authorities, or the criminal judge, or the censor". The police arrangements were in some respects effective, though " the State of public security varied greatly from place to place and from time to time.
Judicial System Nothing like modern legislation, or a written code of laws, existed in the Mughal period. The only notable exceptions to this were the twelve ordinances of Jahagir
and the Fatawa-i-A Xat^ a digest of Muslim law prepared under supervision. The judges chiefly followed the Quranic injunctions or precepts, the Fatawas or previous interpretations of the Holy Law by eminent jurists, and the qanunus or ordinances of the Emperors. They did not ordinarily disregard customary laws and sometimes followed principles of equity. Above all the Emperor's interpretation prevailed, provided they did not run counter to theThe Mughul Sperors regarded speedy of justice as one of their important duties, and their officers did not enjoy special protection in thisrespect under anythlng like administrative Law. " If I were guilty of an unjust act, l would rise in judgement against myself" Peruschi writes on the authority of Menserrate that as to the administration of justice he is most zealous gpid watchful. The love of justice of the other Emperors like Jahasir, Shah Aurangzeb has been testified to by some travellers. Though
approach to the emperor through all kinds of offcials obstructions was not very easy, at least two Mughul Emperors, Akbar and Jahagir, granted to their subjects the right of direct petitioning ( which was only won in England after a hard fight). The latter allowed a chin with with is to be hung outside his palace to enable petitioners to bring their grievances to the notice of the Emperor. The Qazi-ul-Qazat or the Chief Qdri was the principle judicial officer in the realm. He Qazis in every provincial capital. The into,well as criminal cases of both the Hindus and the Muslims, the Muftis expounded Muslim Law, and the Mir Adls drew up and aronounced judgments. The Qazis were expected to be “Just, honest, impartial, to hold trials in the presence of the parties and at the Court-house and the seat of government, not to accept presents form the people where they served, no to attend entertainments given to anybody and everybody and they served, nor to attend entertainments given to anybody and everybody, and they were asked to know poverty to be their glory”. But in practice they abused their authority and as Sir J.N. Sarkar observes, “the Qazi’s department became a byword and reproach in Mughul times”. There were no primary courts below these of the Qazi’s department became a byword and reproach in Mughul times”. There were no primary courts below these of the Qazis and the villagers and the inhabitants of smaller towns, having no Qazing over them, settled their difference locally” by appeal to the caste courts or panchyats, the arbitration of a impartial umpire (salis), or by a resert to force”. The sadr_us_sudur or the chief Sadr exercised supervision over the lands granted by the emperors of princes to pious men, scholars and Mons and tried cases relating to these. Below him there was a local Sadr in every province. Above the urban and provincial courts was the Emperor himself, who as the “Khalif of the age”, was the fountain of justice and the final court of appeal. Sometimes he acted as a court of first instance too. Fines could be imposed and severe punishments, kike amputation, mutilation and whipping, could be inflicted by the courts without any reference to the Emperor, but his consent was necessary in inflicting caital punishment. There was no regular jail system, but the prisoner were confined in forts.
Crime and Punishment:
In every society crime and punishment are closely linked, for law demands that criminals should be punished so that they pay the price for violating the law or customs and traditions of society. Types of punishment vary from flogging, enslavement, paying fine and exile to execution and life imprisonment. However, in ancient and medieval times there were no systematic prison buildings. Prisoners were either kept under house arrest or remained confined in a place heavily guarded by authorities, so that the chances of breaking free or escape were minimal. In ancient Greece, we find such a reference of confinement in the case of Socrates who was imprisoned after his death sentence was pronounced. Though his friends planned his escape, he refused to comply and preferred to die as a law abiding citizen. There is also evidence of a system of prison in ancient Egypt. Edward M. Peters in his article ‘Prison before the Prison: The ancient and medieval world’ published in the Oxford History of the Prison: Practice of punishment in western society sheds light on the concept of prisons in the past. There were supervisors, scribes, and guards for the management. Escape was regarded a grave crime and there was severe punishment for it. In ancient Rome, in case of debt, the creditor had a right to imprison the debtor and as punishment he either sold the debtor as a slave or executed him. There was the tradition of domestic prisons where the master could confine his servants and slaves to maintain discipline. In England, King William (1060-86) built the Tower of London for royal prisoners. It was used for centuries to keep members of the royal family, prominent rebels, and high-profile personalities much as Walter Raleigh and Queen Ann Bolyn. There is an interesting story of the bishop of Durham who was imprisoned in the tower on charges of corruption. He spent a great term there because he bribed his guards, who in turn provided him all sorts of facilities. One day he invited them for dinner and offered delicious food and a lot of liquor. When they got drunk, he scaled down the tower by a rope and escaped. Henry II was the ruler who built royal prisons throughout the kingdom. According to rules, prisoners had to pay for their food, bedding and fuel. In case of poor prisoners, charity paid their expenses. It is said that the 18th century is regarded as a period of the birth of the modern prison system in Europe. In the case of medieval India, there was no system of prison. Convicts were flogged, asked to pay fine, executed or put in confinement at the kotwali for a limited period. During the Mughal period, nobles and members of the royal family were imprisoned at the fort of Gwalior. Jehangir writes in the Tuzuk that he sent Ahmad Sirhindi, a religious scholar and Sufi, to the fort in order to reform his religious views. Aurangzeb kept prince Murad there. Some other forts were also used as prisons for aristocrats.
It appears that in the case of rebels or important nobles, houses were used as prison. Prince Dara Shukoh was kept in a house where he was killed on the order of the king. Shivaji was house arrested after his meeting with Aurangzeb. He managed to escape by hiding in a large sweet basket. The other custom was that prisoners were given in custody of some trusted nobles to keep them. If they escaped, the custodian was responsible and faced the king’s wrath. Prince Khusro, who rebelled against Jehangir, was kept in confinement in the palace and would accompany the king everywhere. Later on he was handed over to Prince Khurram, who secretly poisoned him while going to Deccan on an expedition, as he regarded him his rival to the throne. The modern prison system in India, however, was introduced by the colonial government.
Economic system in Mughal Period:
Agriculture has been mainstay of economy in India since time immemorial. During Mughal time also it was not only the largest source of income to state but it was also the source of livelihood to the large majority of people in India. Main crops that were grown were cereals, millets, oilseeds, sugarcane, cotton, hemp, chilli, indigo and betel.
Tobacco and potato were introduced by Portuguese in India during Jahangir’s reign. Ajmer was famous for the best quality of sugar cane. Gujarat and Agra was famous for indigo cultivation.Babur introduced many central Asian fruits to India. During Akbar’s reign Firoz Shah’s Yamuna canal was repaired for the first time. In the reign of Shah Jahan,Nahr-i-Bihisht was built by opening the canal at Khizrabad for irrigation purposes.
The Muslim ruling class preferred to settle in the towns and cities. The artistic life style of Mughal ruling clan encouraged handicrafts, art and architecture and trade in India. The merchants and trader class was divided into big business magnates owing hundreds of ships, rich merchants and traders and petty shopkeepers. Hundi system was developed by shroffs for carrying out large transactions. Trade both intra country and outside India grew tremendously during the Mughal period particularly because of the following factors:
The political and economic unification of India under the Mughal rule and establishment of law and order over extensive areas created the favorable environment for trade and commerce. The improvement of transport and communications by the Mughals.Encouragement given by the Mughals to the monetization of economy. Arrival of European traders from the beginning of 17th century onwards and the growth of the European trade. Decca was the famous centre of muslin and textiles. Agra, Fatehpur Sikri and Lahore were the main centers of silk weaving. Surat, Cambay, Braoch in Gujarat was the main ports for foreign trade.
Education System of Mughal Period:
Under the Mughal rule special attention was given to education. During the Akbar’s reign important changes were introduced in the syllabus of education through the efforts of Shah Fathullah Shirazi.Islamic schools were attached to mosques, Khanqah of the Sufis and tombs. Special buildings were also constructed for imparting education. Their expenses were met from endowments.
During the Mughal period the principal centres of learning were at Lahore,Delhi,Ajmer,Sialkot,Multan,Ahmadabad,Allahabad,Lucknow,Murshidabad,Dacca.Many scholars were attracted to these institutions from Persia and Central Asia. Students received education free of cost. Famous scholars received fixed stipends from the royal treasury.
Provisions were made for the teaching of Persian; the official language of the government in the Maktabs.Nizamiyah system of education became popular during the later days of the Mughals. The aim of this system was to create such ability in the scholar so that he is able to acquire perfection in any branch of learning through self-study and personal efforts. While Muslims received education in Maktabs,Hindus had their pathsalas for imparting religious instructions.
Introduction:
From the 16th to the 18th centuries India was synonymous with the "Empire of the
Great Moghul". They reformed government, encouraged artistry, and tried to unite their subjects. The last Mughal emperors allowed the empire to break apart, however. As a result, the Mughal Empire came to an end, and India came under British control. The Mughals were a Muslim dynasty that lasted for seven generations. They were descended from the Turkic conqueror Timur Lenk and the Mongol ruler Genghis Khan. The empire was founded when a ruler from Turkestan, Baber, raided India, defeated the sultan of Delhi in 1526, and expanded his holdings. The next notable Mughal ruler perhaps the greatest of the dynasty was Baber's grandson Akbar, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. He made the Mughal throne more secure and greatly expanded the empire. India was difficult to rule because it was basically a Hindu culture governed by Muslims and because of the variety of languages and traditions of its people. Akbar succeeded because he reformed the government to make it fairer and allowed Muslims, Hindus, and Christians alike to practice their beliefs. He was also a great promoter of art and learning. To this day certain works dating from the empire are known by such names as Mughal painting, Mughal glass, and Mughal carpets. They were highly aware of the potential of architecture as a means of
self representation. To express their 'multiple identity' architecturally, they drew from many divers supra regional and regional traditions which they synthesised and 'imperialised' so successfully that they created with the Taj Mahal the universally most widely accepted building.
The Founder
The founder of the Mughal dynasty was Babur, "The Tiger," who ruled from 1483 to 1530. Babur was not fully a Mongol: his mother was descended from Genghis Khan, but his father was descended from Timur. Like his ancestors, he rose from comparatively little to become one of the great conquerors of his time. He ruled over a small kingdom in Turkestan; he expanded his kingdom by attacking Afghanistan and capturing Kabul in 1504. From there he crossed over the mountains into Hindustan and attacked the Dehli Sultanate. With an army of only twelve thousand men, he defeated the Sultan at Panipat, captured Agra and Dehli, and established himself as Sultan. He then attacked a confederation of Rajput states. When he died in 1530 he had conquered all of Hindustan and controlled an empire that extended from the Deccan to Turkestan. Besides his fierce military genius, his conquest of this vast territory was aided by technological superiority. He was the first Islamic conqueror to employ muskets and artillery, and even though these weapons were somewhat primitive, they were more than a match for the armies of the Hindustan.
India was no stranger to Islamic conquest. In the seventh century, just decades after the beginning of Islam, India was invaded by Muslims. In the tenth century, the Punjab was conquered by the Turkish chieftain, Mahmud. In the thirteenth century, the Turk Qutb-ud-din, invaded the Punjab and established the Dehli Sultanate which remained in power until Babur's invasion. Still, the Islamic Sultanate did not protect India from Muslim invasion. In 1398, Timur invaded from the west and utterly destroyed Dehli. Although the Sultanate survived, Timur's invasion left the entire area politically shattered.
At the same time that Babur was aggressively expanding his territory, however, Europeans began their slow and steady invasion of India. Initially begun by the Portugese, the process would be brought to completion by the British who, in the 1850's, annexed India into the British Empire. The history of the Mughal Empire is intimately tied to the history of European expansion and territorial invasions. In 1510, the Portugese conquered the island of Goa off the Indian Coast and a few years later occupied territory on the Indian subcontinent itself. Babur was still in Afghanistan; it would be fifteen more years before he crossed the mountain paths and attacked the Dehli sultanate.
Decline:
After Emperor Aurangzeb's death in 1707, the empire fell into succession crisis. Barring none of the Mughal emperors could hold on to power for a decade. In the 18th century, the Empire suffered the depredations of invaders like of Persia and of Afghanistan, who repeatedly sacked , the Mughal capital. Most of the empire's territories in India passed to the y c. 1750. The Mughal Emperors lost effective power in favor of the British after the 64.1804, the ineffective ormally accepted the protection of th The company had already begun to refer to the weakened emperor as "King of Delhi", rather than "Emperor of India". The once glorious and mighty Mughal army was disbanded in 1805 by the British; only the guards of thewere spared to serve with the King of Delhi, which avoided the uncomfortable implication that British sovereignty was outranked by the Indian monarch. Nonetheless, for a few decades afterward thontinued to rule the areas under its control as the nominal servants of the emperor and in his name. After th even these courtesies were disposed. The rebels declared their allegiance to Shah Alam's descendant, which led to a protracted after which the victorious British abolished the institution altogether with transfer of authority to the British crown. The last Mughal emperor was deposed and exiled t where he died in 1862.
Bengal under the Mughals:
After the fall of the ower in 1576, Bengal was under the mughal rule. But the establishment of effective rule took some time. On 19th December, 1578, Khan-i-jahan died and Muzaffar Khan became the governor of Bengal. brother Mirza Hakim declared himself independent in Kabul, and Muzaffar Khan was defeated by rebels sympathetic to him, and Bengal and Bihar was declared to be his. He sent a subedar (governor) to Bengal, but lots of Afghans took control of parts of Bengal and all of Orissa. In April 1582, Akbar sent Khan-i-Azam as the subedar of Bengal, who won partial victory; but parts of the region remained under Masum Kabuli and Isha Khan, even under the next subedar Shahbaz Khan. In June 1584, Kutlu Khan of Orissa, who had revolted and took over parts of Bengal, was defeated. In 1586, both Isha Khan and Masum Kabuli accepted mughal overlordship. A new administrative system headed by a sipahsalar (later called subedar) started: Wazib Khan was the first sipahsalar, but he died in August 1587. He was followed by Sayyid Khan (1587–1594).
Raja Mansingh (1594–1605) was the next governor of Bengal. He shifted the capital from Tanda to a new town of Akbarnagar. There were again revolts headed by Isha Khan and Raghudeva, cousin of Lakshminarayana, ruler of . porary retirement, and his eldest son Jagatsingh took over. When he died, the younger Mahasingh took over. Because of revolts, Mansingh had to return to Bengal and defeat them in February, 1601; though revolts continued till next year. He also defeated the Mags of Arakan. The mughal empire passed on to nur-ud-din Muhammad jahângîr (1605–1627) who replaced Mansingh by Qutb-ud-din Khan Koka (1605–1607). He and Sher Afghan Istalaju, a Turk Jaigirdar in Bengal, quarreled and both died in 1607. Sher Afghan's wife finally married Jehangir and was called Nur Jahan.
The next subedar was Quli Khan (1607–1608) and when he died, Islam Khan (June 1608–died August 1613). Even at this time large parts of Bengal, under the zamindars known as bAro bhuJA. Examples of zamindars who often revolted are Musa Khan, son of Isha Khan (controlled Dhaka, half of Maimansingh, Rangpur, and parts of Bagura and Pabna), Bahadur Gazi of Bhaoal, Suna Gazi of Sarail, Mirza Mumin (son of Masum Khan Kapuli) of Chatmohar, Madhu Ray of Khalsi, Binod Ray of Chandpratap, Mazlis Qutb of Fatehabad=Faridpur, and Paloan of Matanga. Satrajit of Bhusana and Raja Raghunath of Susanga sided with the Mughals. Raja Pratapaditya was the zamindar who ruled from Dhumghat and controlled Jessor, Khulna and Bakharganj; and was father in law to Ramchandra of Bakla. (Bakla or Bakherganj including modern Barisal was probably same as the old Ramchandra was son of Kandarpanarayan, one of the Barobhuyians who ruled from 1584 to 1598 and was the son of the daughter of Paramananda whose mother Kamaladevi was fifth generation frome married Bindumati, daughter of Pratapaditya, established his capital in Husainpur, and defeated Laksmanmanikya of Bhulua. He was succeeded by his son Kirtinarayan, who was succeeded by his halfbrother Pratapnarayan Ray.) There were also other zamindars like Anantamanikya, son of Laksmanmanikya, of Bhulua and many Pathans, mainly in Sylhet, main among whom was Bayazid Karrani and his associate Khaja Osman, nephew of Qutlu Khan, the last Pathan ruler of Orissa. Also, near Rajmahal, there were Vir Hambir of Mallabhuma and Bankura, Shams Khan in Panchet and Selim Khan in Hijli. Islam Khan, with his gunpowder, horses, and navy, overcame all these zamindars and also defeated Shatrudaman of Kachhar. In 1612, he moved the capital to Dhaka and called it Jehangirnagar. He then Kamrup which was then under Pariksit Narayan, an offshoot of the dynasty ruling Coochbehar which also came under Mughal rule. This was the beginning of true Mughal rule in Bengal, a fundamental change in the economic, religious, social, and political structure of Bengal: it was now one of twelve imperial provinces, ruled by outsiders who did not feel native to Bengal but who felt the borders of the empire as economic and cultural frontiers; and which now had sunni ashrafs that did not intermarry with othe Bengalis but rather claimed Iranian ancestry; and with the sufis that brought a pan-Indian religious outlook to the religion of the masses.
The next Subedar was Islam Khan's brother Qasim Khan (1614–7). He again saw revolts from different parts. The next subedar Ibrahim Khan Fatehjang (1617–24) reconquered parts of Bengal, but he was defeated by Prince khurram (shahabu-ud-din, later shah jahan), who had revolted against his father Jehangir. In April 1624, Khurram started ruling independently over Bengal and Orissa, and soon over Bihar and Oudh as well. He was defeated in October 1624, but when Jehangir died in 1627, after a confused period under dâwar bakhsh (1627–28), he started ruling over the Mughal empire as shahabu-ud-din shâh jahân khusraw (1628–deposed in 1657). He defeated thnd recovered hughli in 1632, and fought with Ahom. His son, murad baksh (1657) was defeated by subedar Shuja (1629? 1639?–58) was defeated by another of his sons, dara, who in turn was defeated by Mohy-ud-din Awrangzîb ´âlamgîr (1658–1707) on the Mughal throne. Shuja fled to Arakan and was assasinated.
Mir Jumla (June 1660–died March 1663) was the next subedar of Bengal. During his time,occupied Kamrup, and Ahom, Gauhati. Then Ahom took over Kamrup. Mir Jumla took over both, but both became independent when he died. The next subedar Shaesta Khan (March 1664–June 1688) was known for his economic oppression, but popularity amongst common man, in Bengal. He reconquered Coochbehar, defeated the Arakan and portugueseand conqueured chittagong.
After this, Khan-i-jahan Bahadur was subedar for a year, followed by Ibrahim Khan. Zamindar Shobhasingh and Rahim Singh revolted during his time. In response Aurengzeb sent his grandson Azim-ud-din, known as Azim-us-san (1697–1712), as the subedar. He suppressed the revolt. He let the europeans fortify their settlements and ushered in the era in the history of bengal
JUDICIAL & ADMINISTRATIVE SYSTEM DURING MUGHAL EMPIRES:
Judicial & Administrative system during Mughal empires was matchless, excellent and complete in all senses. Let us have a brief perusal of Mughal system as a whole. Though the Mughal Emperors had absolute powers, they appointed a number of officers in the different departments of the Government for the transaction of its multitudinous affairs. The chief departments of the State were: (a) the Imperial House-hold under the Khan-i-saman, (b) the Exchequer under the Deccan(c) the Military Pay & Accounts office under the Mir Bakshi (d) the Judiciary under the Chief Qazi, (e) Religious Endowments and charities under the Chief Sadr or Sadr-us-Sudur, and (f) the Censorship of Public Morals under the Muhtasib. The Diwan or wazir was usually the highest officer in the state, being sole incharge of revenues and finance, The Bakhshi discharged a variety of functions. While he was the Pay-master-General of all the officers of the State, who "theoretically belonged to the military department he was also responsible for the recruiting of the army, and for maintaining lists of mansabdars and other high officials, and when preparing, for a battle he has a complete muster-roll of the army before the Emperor. The Khan-i-Saman or the Lord High Steward had charge of the whole imperial house-hold "in reference to both great and small things". The Muhtamibs or Censors of Public Morals looked after the enforcement of the prophet's commands and the laws of
morality. The other officers, somewhat inferior in status to those mentioned above, the Mir Atish or Daroga-i-Topkhana (head of the artillery), the Daroga of Dak Chowki (the correspondence department). the Daroga of the Mint, the Mir Mai or the Lord Privy Seal, the Mustayfi or the Auditer- General air the Nazir~i-luyulat or the Superintendent of the Imperial workshop, the Mushriff or the Revenue Secretary, the Mir bahri or the Lord of the Admiralty, the Mir Barr or the Superintendent of forests, the or News Reporters the Mir arz or the charge of petitions presented to the Emperor, the Mir Manzil or the Quarter master General, and the Mir Tezak or the Master of Cerensnies. We shall discuss first police, then Judicial and revenue system. (l) The Police so far as the rural areas were concerned, Mughals introduced no new arrangement for the prevention and detection and crimes. These as from time immemorial under the headman of the village and his subordinate watchmen. The system, which afforded a fair degree of security in the local areas with only occasional disturbances in times of disorder, survived till the beginning of the nineteenth century. In the cities and towns, all police duties including the task of maintaining : order and decency, were entrusted to the, whose duties, as enumerated in the Ain-i AKbari, were multi farious (i) to detect thieves, (ii) to regulate prices and check weights measures, (iii) to keep watch at night and the City, (iv) to keep up registers of houses, frequented roads, and of citizens and watch the movements of strangers, (v) to employ spies from the vaga bands, gather information about the affairs of the neighbouring villages and the income expenditure of the various classes of people, (vi) To prepare aninventory of, and take charge of, the property of deceased or missing persons who left be heirs, (vii) to prevent the slaughter buffales, of oxen, bourses or camaels, and (viii) to prevent the burning of women Gainst their win,and circumcision below the age of twelve Sir J.N.Sarkar believes that this long list of the duties in the Ain represents " only the ideal the Kotwali" and not" the actual State But Mailed age gives from personal observation an exhaustive account of the Kotwals duties. It is, however, certain that the Xotwali's main business was to preserve peace and public security in the urba areas. In the districts or Sarkars, law and order were maintained usually by officers like the Faujddars "The faujddar, as his name suggests, was only the commander of a military force stationed in the country. He had to put down smaller rebellions, disperse or arrest robber gangs, take of all violent crimes, demonstrations of force to overawe, opposition to the revenue authorities, or the criminal judge, or the censor". The police arrangements were in some respects effective, though " the State of public security varied greatly from place to place and from time to time.
Judicial System Nothing like modern legislation, or a written code of laws, existed in the Mughal period. The only notable exceptions to this were the twelve ordinances of Jahagir
and the Fatawa-i-A Xat^ a digest of Muslim law prepared under supervision. The judges chiefly followed the Quranic injunctions or precepts, the Fatawas or previous interpretations of the Holy Law by eminent jurists, and the qanunus or ordinances of the Emperors. They did not ordinarily disregard customary laws and sometimes followed principles of equity. Above all the Emperor's interpretation prevailed, provided they did not run counter to theThe Mughul Sperors regarded speedy of justice as one of their important duties, and their officers did not enjoy special protection in thisrespect under anythlng like administrative Law. " If I were guilty of an unjust act, l would rise in judgement against myself" Peruschi writes on the authority of Menserrate that as to the administration of justice he is most zealous gpid watchful. The love of justice of the other Emperors like Jahasir, Shah Aurangzeb has been testified to by some travellers. Though
approach to the emperor through all kinds of offcials obstructions was not very easy, at least two Mughul Emperors, Akbar and Jahagir, granted to their subjects the right of direct petitioning ( which was only won in England after a hard fight). The latter allowed a chin with with is to be hung outside his palace to enable petitioners to bring their grievances to the notice of the Emperor. The Qazi-ul-Qazat or the Chief Qdri was the principle judicial officer in the realm. He Qazis in every provincial capital. The into,well as criminal cases of both the Hindus and the Muslims, the Muftis expounded Muslim Law, and the Mir Adls drew up and aronounced judgments. The Qazis were expected to be “Just, honest, impartial, to hold trials in the presence of the parties and at the Court-house and the seat of government, not to accept presents form the people where they served, no to attend entertainments given to anybody and everybody and they served, nor to attend entertainments given to anybody and everybody, and they were asked to know poverty to be their glory”. But in practice they abused their authority and as Sir J.N. Sarkar observes, “the Qazi’s department became a byword and reproach in Mughul times”. There were no primary courts below these of the Qazi’s department became a byword and reproach in Mughul times”. There were no primary courts below these of the Qazis and the villagers and the inhabitants of smaller towns, having no Qazing over them, settled their difference locally” by appeal to the caste courts or panchyats, the arbitration of a impartial umpire (salis), or by a resert to force”. The sadr_us_sudur or the chief Sadr exercised supervision over the lands granted by the emperors of princes to pious men, scholars and Mons and tried cases relating to these. Below him there was a local Sadr in every province. Above the urban and provincial courts was the Emperor himself, who as the “Khalif of the age”, was the fountain of justice and the final court of appeal. Sometimes he acted as a court of first instance too. Fines could be imposed and severe punishments, kike amputation, mutilation and whipping, could be inflicted by the courts without any reference to the Emperor, but his consent was necessary in inflicting caital punishment. There was no regular jail system, but the prisoner were confined in forts.
Crime and Punishment:
In every society crime and punishment are closely linked, for law demands that criminals should be punished so that they pay the price for violating the law or customs and traditions of society. Types of punishment vary from flogging, enslavement, paying fine and exile to execution and life imprisonment. However, in ancient and medieval times there were no systematic prison buildings. Prisoners were either kept under house arrest or remained confined in a place heavily guarded by authorities, so that the chances of breaking free or escape were minimal. In ancient Greece, we find such a reference of confinement in the case of Socrates who was imprisoned after his death sentence was pronounced. Though his friends planned his escape, he refused to comply and preferred to die as a law abiding citizen. There is also evidence of a system of prison in ancient Egypt. Edward M. Peters in his article ‘Prison before the Prison: The ancient and medieval world’ published in the Oxford History of the Prison: Practice of punishment in western society sheds light on the concept of prisons in the past. There were supervisors, scribes, and guards for the management. Escape was regarded a grave crime and there was severe punishment for it. In ancient Rome, in case of debt, the creditor had a right to imprison the debtor and as punishment he either sold the debtor as a slave or executed him. There was the tradition of domestic prisons where the master could confine his servants and slaves to maintain discipline. In England, King William (1060-86) built the Tower of London for royal prisoners. It was used for centuries to keep members of the royal family, prominent rebels, and high-profile personalities much as Walter Raleigh and Queen Ann Bolyn. There is an interesting story of the bishop of Durham who was imprisoned in the tower on charges of corruption. He spent a great term there because he bribed his guards, who in turn provided him all sorts of facilities. One day he invited them for dinner and offered delicious food and a lot of liquor. When they got drunk, he scaled down the tower by a rope and escaped. Henry II was the ruler who built royal prisons throughout the kingdom. According to rules, prisoners had to pay for their food, bedding and fuel. In case of poor prisoners, charity paid their expenses. It is said that the 18th century is regarded as a period of the birth of the modern prison system in Europe. In the case of medieval India, there was no system of prison. Convicts were flogged, asked to pay fine, executed or put in confinement at the kotwali for a limited period. During the Mughal period, nobles and members of the royal family were imprisoned at the fort of Gwalior. Jehangir writes in the Tuzuk that he sent Ahmad Sirhindi, a religious scholar and Sufi, to the fort in order to reform his religious views. Aurangzeb kept prince Murad there. Some other forts were also used as prisons for aristocrats.
It appears that in the case of rebels or important nobles, houses were used as prison. Prince Dara Shukoh was kept in a house where he was killed on the order of the king. Shivaji was house arrested after his meeting with Aurangzeb. He managed to escape by hiding in a large sweet basket. The other custom was that prisoners were given in custody of some trusted nobles to keep them. If they escaped, the custodian was responsible and faced the king’s wrath. Prince Khusro, who rebelled against Jehangir, was kept in confinement in the palace and would accompany the king everywhere. Later on he was handed over to Prince Khurram, who secretly poisoned him while going to Deccan on an expedition, as he regarded him his rival to the throne. The modern prison system in India, however, was introduced by the colonial government.
Economic system in Mughal Period:
Agriculture has been mainstay of economy in India since time immemorial. During Mughal time also it was not only the largest source of income to state but it was also the source of livelihood to the large majority of people in India. Main crops that were grown were cereals, millets, oilseeds, sugarcane, cotton, hemp, chilli, indigo and betel.
Tobacco and potato were introduced by Portuguese in India during Jahangir’s reign. Ajmer was famous for the best quality of sugar cane. Gujarat and Agra was famous for indigo cultivation.Babur introduced many central Asian fruits to India. During Akbar’s reign Firoz Shah’s Yamuna canal was repaired for the first time. In the reign of Shah Jahan,Nahr-i-Bihisht was built by opening the canal at Khizrabad for irrigation purposes.
The Muslim ruling class preferred to settle in the towns and cities. The artistic life style of Mughal ruling clan encouraged handicrafts, art and architecture and trade in India. The merchants and trader class was divided into big business magnates owing hundreds of ships, rich merchants and traders and petty shopkeepers. Hundi system was developed by shroffs for carrying out large transactions. Trade both intra country and outside India grew tremendously during the Mughal period particularly because of the following factors:
The political and economic unification of India under the Mughal rule and establishment of law and order over extensive areas created the favorable environment for trade and commerce. The improvement of transport and communications by the Mughals.Encouragement given by the Mughals to the monetization of economy. Arrival of European traders from the beginning of 17th century onwards and the growth of the European trade. Decca was the famous centre of muslin and textiles. Agra, Fatehpur Sikri and Lahore were the main centers of silk weaving. Surat, Cambay, Braoch in Gujarat was the main ports for foreign trade.
Education System of Mughal Period:
Under the Mughal rule special attention was given to education. During the Akbar’s reign important changes were introduced in the syllabus of education through the efforts of Shah Fathullah Shirazi.Islamic schools were attached to mosques, Khanqah of the Sufis and tombs. Special buildings were also constructed for imparting education. Their expenses were met from endowments.
During the Mughal period the principal centres of learning were at Lahore,Delhi,Ajmer,Sialkot,Multan,Ahmadabad,Allahabad,Lucknow,Murshidabad,Dacca.Many scholars were attracted to these institutions from Persia and Central Asia. Students received education free of cost. Famous scholars received fixed stipends from the royal treasury.
Provisions were made for the teaching of Persian; the official language of the government in the Maktabs.Nizamiyah system of education became popular during the later days of the Mughals. The aim of this system was to create such ability in the scholar so that he is able to acquire perfection in any branch of learning through self-study and personal efforts. While Muslims received education in Maktabs,Hindus had their pathsalas for imparting religious instructions.
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