Mughal Empire –
Zahir-ud-din Muhammad Babur-
He was the founder of Mughal Empire in India
He got the tittle of Padshah
He was a direct descendent of Timur and through his mother he was connected with Mongol conquerer Chingiz Khan
He laid the foundation of Mughal Empire in India
Babur introduced and popularizes Gun powder in India
Tuzuk-i-Baburi – It is the autobiography written by him in Turkish
He introduced Charbagh Garden system and laid the foundation of mosques at Panipath and Sambhat in Rohilkhand
1519- He led first expedition to India and after that he led many expeditions and finally in 1526 he was invited by Daulat Kahna Lodi and Alam Khan Lodi against Ibrahim Lodi
The Battle of Panipat-1526
In this battle he defeated the Ibrahim Lodi due to superior war tactics and artilleries
After this war Babar laid the foundation of Mughal Empire in Delhi
The Battle of Kanwah (1527)-
In this battle he defeated the Rana Sangha of Mewar and after defeating him he assumed the title of Ghazi
The battle of Chanderi (1528) –
This war was fought between Babur and Medini Rai the Rajput chief of Chanderi and a close associate of Rana Sangha
Babur defeated Medini rai in this battle
Battle of Ghagra (1529)-
In this battle Babur defeated Mahmud Lodhi who aspired to the throne of Delhi
In 1530, he died at Agra and His tomb is at Lahore
Humayun (1530-40 and 1555-56)
Babar had 4 sons Humayaun(eldest), Kamran, Askari and Hinda
Initially he was appointed as governor of Badakhsha
After the death of Babur in 1530, he ascended to the Throne
He divided some part of his Kingdome among his brothers and Kamran was given the governorship of Kabul and Kandhar, Askari was given sambhal while Hindlal was given Alwar
Battles-
He was in constant fight with Bahadur shah of Gujarat , Sher Khan and finally with Sher shah
Battle of Chunar (1532) :He defeated the Afghan chief Sher Khan
Battle of Chausa (1539) & Battle of Kanauj or Bilgram (1540) : He was defeated by Sher Shah and control of Delhi was taken over by Sher Shah
Exile-
After his defeat Humayun fled to Lohore and then he escaped to Iran where he passed 12 years of his life in exile.
Restoration of Humayun-
Sher shah died in 1545 and then Ilsma shah was next rule who also died in 1553 and Humayun took advantage of the situation and with the help of his able commander Bairam Khan he occupied Lahore in February 1555.
He died while climbing down the stairs of his library (at Din Panah) in 1556
His sister, Gulbadan Begum wrote his biography Humayunama
Art and Architecture-
He built Din Panah at Delhi as his second capital
His widow Amida Benu Bhegum built Humayun’s tomb
Painting-
The development of painting in Mughal’s time was started by Humayun
He had two famous painter in his court- Mir Sayyid Ali and Abdal Samad
Afghan dynasty (1540-1556)-
Sher Shah Suri-
He laid the foundation of 2nd Afghan dynasty in India after the Lodhi dynasty
His original name was Farid and Title “Sher Shah Suri” was given to him by Mohammad Shah Nuhani
Abbas Khan Sarwani was historian in his court and he wrote Tarik-e-Shershahi
Conquests of Sher Shah-
Defeated Malwa ruler Malu khan in 1542
Defeated Puran Mal of Raisin in 1543
He captured Marwar (1542), Chittor (1544) and Ranthambhor (1542)
Last expedition-
He captured Fort of Kalinjar in Bundelkhan and while doing so he died
Administration of Sher Shah Suri-
Central administration-
The administration of Sher shah was centralized and different departments and officials were there to look into the functioning of the empire
Diwan –i- Wizarat– It was Revenue and Finance department led by Wazir
Diwan-i-Ariz – It was military department led by ariz-imamalik
Diwan-i-Rasalat- this department uses to deal with foreign affairs
Diwan-i-Insha- Department for Communications and royal correspondence
Diwan-I Qaza- Judicial department under Chief Qazi
Diwan-i-Barid- Intelligence Department under by Barid-i-Mamalik
There was also intelligence department which was headed by Daroga-i-Dak Chowk
Division of Empire of Sher shah
Province -
It was the large unit which was headed by faujdar, hakim or amin
Sarkars or districts-
The provinces were divided in Sarkars or districts and it was under chief Shiqdar & Chief Munsif
Chief Shiqdar use to maintain law and order and Chief Munsif was incharge of revenue collection and civil justice
Parganas-
Each Sarkar comprised of a number of parganas and it was under under Shiqdar(military officer) & Munsif or Amin (Land revenue)
Other officials like Fotedar (treasurer) and Karkuns (accountants) were also there
Village-
It was the smallest administrative unit
The panchayats were incharge of maintaining law and order
Army-
Sher shah use to have large army and different troops were called as Fauj and they were under Faujdar
Revenue system-
Method of calculation of Land revenue-
There was division of cultivable land into - good, middle and bad and then annual produce per bigha per each crop was calculated and than Average produce of per bigha of land as a whole, together for all category of land was calculated for each crop
Share of State-
One third of the produce either in form of cash or kind was fixed as the state’s share
Share of Land Surveyor and Tax collector-
There was also provision for share of Land Surveyor and Tax collector which was known as jaribana and mahasilana respectively
Patta and qabuliyat-
Patta means the deed in which state use to specify the amount of tax that is to be paid by taxpayer
Qabuliyat was kind of agreement in which taxpayer agrees to pay the amount mentioned in the patta
There was no intermediary in this type of land revenue system
Coins-
He introduced new coins called Dam
He issued new coins in Gold, Silver and copper with fixed standards
Art and architecture-
He built The Grand Trunk Road connecting major cities of that time like Agra, Mandu, Jodhpur, Attock etc.
Sher shah suri built The Purana Qila at Delhi
He built mausoleum in Sasaram
He built many He also built Sarais during his time
Akbar (1556-1606 AD)-
He became king when he was only 14 year old
Bairam Khan served as the regent of the Mughal emperor from 1556 to 1560
From 1560 to 62 Maham Anaga, her son Adam Khan and their relatives exercised great influence on Akbar and finally Akbar started working independently after 1562
He introduced Jharoka Darshan - daily practice of addressing the public audienceat balcony
Akbar’s Military Conquests-
2nd battle of Panipat (1556) –In this battle he defeated Hemu the Hindus Prime Minister of Muhammed Adil Shah
In 1561-He defeated ruler of Malwa Baz Bahadur
In 1564 he attacked Gondwana and defeated Vir Narayan
In 1567 Akbar seized Chittor Fort in Mewar which was under Uday singh
In 1569 he captured the fort of Kalinjar in Bundelkhand which was under Raja Ram Chandra of Rewa
Battle of Haldighati (1576)-
It was fought between Mewar king Raja Pratap son of Rana Uday Singh
Rana Pratap wanted to reoccupy Chittor ,the capital of Mewar
Furious battle was fought at the pass of Haldigha and Mughal army was led by Man Singh
He was defeated and some of his area came under control of Mughal
In 1595 he captured Ahmednagar which was under Chand Biwi
Other conquests include-
Conquest of Gujarat,Bihar and Bengal (1576), Khandesh and North western region etc.
Religious policy of Akbar-
Akbar was religious tolerant person and Sheikh Mubarak was religious guru of Akbar
He abolished Pilgrim tax called Jiziya(It was paid by Non Muslims)
He built ibadat khana at Fatehpur sikri-
It was built in 1575
It was the house built to have gathering of different religious leader to have discussion on religious matters
He encouraged people or leaders from all to religion to participate
Din Ilahi or Divine Faith-
It was a kind of new religion or religious movement which was introduced by Akbar in 1582
It included good elements from all the religions mixed together
It had fe member and Birbal was only Hindu among them
Sulh-i kul-
It means peace for all
Akbar advocated Sulh-i kul among all the religion to have peaceful and prosperous relations
Art and Architecture-
Navrattan/Nine jewels-
Akbar court consist of famous Nine learned men and hey were-
1. Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak
He was Author of Akbarnama which is official history of Akbar’s reign
3rd volume of Akbarnama is called as Ain-i-Akbari
2. Birbal-
He was poet ,singer and main advisor to the Akbar
He was the only Hindu who joined Din-i-llahi
3. Abdul Rahim Khan-I-Khana
He was great poet Translated Baburnama into Turki
He wrote a book on Astrology called Khetakautukam in Sanskrit
4. Mirza Aziz Koka –
He was also known as Kotaltash, was the foster brother of Akbar built by Mirza Aziz Koka as a mausoleum for himself, at the time of Jahangir’s reign
5. Faizi –
He was the elder brother of Akbar's historian Abul Fazl
His Translated Lilavati into Persian & under his supervision Mahabharata was translated into Persian language
6. Raja Man Singh –
He helped Akbar to defeat Maharana Pratap in Battle of Handighati
He helped Akbar in many expedition
7. Faqir Azio-Din
He was one of the Chief advisors of Akbar
8. Tansen –
He was famous Musician, Hindu of Gwalior.
He served to King Ramachandra, who gave him the title of “Tansen”.
Akbar gave him title of “Mian”
Tansen is remembered for his epic Dhrupad compositions
Sri Ganesh Stotra and Sangita Sarawere two books written by him on music
9. Raja Todar Mal –
He was finance minister of Akbar
Akbar gave him tittle Diwan-i-Ashraf
On his advice Akbar introduced different reforms in Land revenue
Paintings-
Akbar opened a separate department for development of Paintings called Tasvir Khana
Important painters: Daswant ,Baswant ,Haribansh ,Jaganath and Tarachand
European style of painting was introduced by Portuguese priests in his court
Tuti-nama : It is an illustrated compilation of 52 stories in 250 miniature paintings which are related to Sanskrit mythology
Hamza-nama: group of more than 1200 paintings and majority of them on leaf
Architecture-
1.Fatehpur Sikri (City of Victory)-
This city was founded by Akbar in 1571
There is massive use of Red sandstone to built this city
It consists of following famous buildings-
Diwan-i-Khas –
Akbar’s meeting place with various representative and important peoples
Buland Darwaja –
built by Akbar in the memory of the victory in Gujarat in 1601)
Jama Masjid –
It was built by Akbar
It is a UNESCO world heritage site
Tomb of Salim Chishti-
It was constructed by Akbar as a mark of his respect for the Sufi saint
Other important buildings at fatehpur sikri - Panch Mahal and Jodha Bai’s palace
2. Agra Fort –
It is a UNESCO World Heritage site
Before arrival of Akbar it was a brick fort known as ‘Badalgarh’
Akbar reconstructed it with efficient use of Red Sandstone
The fort was invaded and captured by the Maratha Empire in the early 18th century.
3. Other buildings-
Humayun’s tomb was built at Delhi during his time
Akbar’s tomb at Sikandara near Agra was completed by Jahangir
Revenue system of Akbar-
Revenue Officials-
Diwan was revenue head of provience and amalgujars used to work under Diwan
The amil was the revenue collector
Bitikchi, the potahdar and the qanungo were use to assist The Amil
Revenue system-
We can find the detail about revenue administration of Akbar in Abul Fazal’s Ain-i-Akbari
Akbar introduced different reforms in land revenue system with the help of Todar mal
Assessment of Land revenue by Todar Mal-
He followed very effective method to assess the land-
1st ly measurement were of lands were made and only area under actual cultivation was assessed
After measurement land was classified into-
(i) Polaj: land cultivated continuously, never left fallow and it yielded revenue every year
(ii) Parauti : land that was left fallow for year or two
(iii) Chachar - land left fallow for three to four years
(iv) Banjar - land not cultivated for more than five years.
The polaj and parauti lands were further classified into good, middling and bad and then average of 3 was taken and assessment of revenue was made
The state share was one third of the average produce but can vary with productivity
Similar to Sher shah Patta and Qubuliyat system was also there
Negative of this system-
As there was assessment in every year, this practice was not sustainable and also costly and time consuming
There were the chances of corruption during the assessment of the land
Akbar brought some new changes in the Land revenue system
The Dashala System-
Under this system the average produce of different crops as well as the average prices prevailing over the last ten years were calculated and revenue share was decided on the basis of this 10 year assessment
State share was similar to previous case i.e. one third
There were separate schedules of prices of different kinds of crops
The Zabti System-
Under this system there is assessment of land revenue on the basis of field visit of officials
During the crop season revenue officials use to visit the land and asses the exact area under the cultivation and then total quantity of produce is assumed and total revenue was calculated on the basis of prevailing market rate
The Nasaq or Kankut System-
There is varied point of view about this system
Some says that It was the collection of revenue on the basis of what peasant had been paying in the past and some says that it was revenue collection on the basis of field inspection
The Ghallabaksha or Bantai System-
Under this system produce was divided between state & peasants in fixed proportion
The crop was divided when it was standing in the field or when it had been harvested or when it was threshed.
Mansabdari system-
Meaning of Mansab is a rank assigned to an officer and there were different grades of Mansab and each assigned as per rank of the official
This mansab provided some privileges to the officers
No mansab was hereditary and allotment of Mansab was entirely dependent upon the King
Zat and Swar-
Zat and Swar were added by Akbar to the Mansabdari system
Zat rank -
It means the personal status and salary of a person
It indicated the number of cavalrymen a mansabdar was expected to maintain to render service to the state.
Sawar rank -
It indicated the number of sawars or extra horsemen that one can maintain on the basis of Zat rank
Every sawar had to maintain at least two horses
Muslim sawar received more salary than a Rajput
Mansabdar were classified into 3 categories-
1st category - A mansabdar belonged to the first category if his rank in zat and sawar were equal
2ng category- Sawar rank was half of his zat rank
3rd category - Sawar was less than half of his zat rank
There was no such ranking if Mansab was more than 5000
A mandabdar of the rank of 5,000 could get a salary of Rs. 7,000 a year which was considered as very at that time
Some other terms-
Chehra and dagh- chehra means descriptive roll of soldiers and Dagh was branding of horses and it was introduced by Alauddin Khilji but also followed during this time
Dakhils and Ahadis-
Dakhil : Soliders of king working under Mansabdar
Ahadis : Soldiers directly under king
Jagirdari system-
This system was also part of Mansabddari and under this system some nobles were given revenue right of particular territory