India Culture, Business, Sports and Food. Get all the buzz in India now

Sindhias of Gwalior Ranoji Sindhia was another famous Maratha Noble who rose to power along with Holkar. He, too, participated in various military expeditions of Bajirao and Balaji Bajirao. He played a pivotal rule in Bringing Malwa and Bundelkhand under the rule of Peshwa. He founded his independent state in Gwalior and its surrounding territory and ruled it successfully from 1726 to 1745. All his sons, Jayapa, Dattaji, Tokoji and Mahadji have an important place in the Maratha history. After the death of his father Jayapa ascended to the Gwalior throne in 1746. He successfully ruled Gwalior till his death in 1759.Mahadji Sindhia was one of the most famous Gwalior ruler. He had been appointed Vakil-i-Muttalaq by the Mughal Emperor Shah Aalm When Raghoba joined the British camp, he along with Nana Farnavis foght against the British in the first Anglo-Maratha battle. He died in 1794 and was succeeded by Daulat Rao Sindhia.

Bhonsle Madhoji’s son Parsoji laid the foundation of Bhonsle dynasty. He was one of those Maratha nobles who had played an important role to get Shahu recognized as the hole and sole Maratha leader and in expanding the Maratha Empire. Shahu had appointed him as the ‘Sena-Sahib Suba’ (Governor) of the Brar territory. During Balaji Bajirao’s rule Raghuji Bhonsle was the famous Maratha ruler of Brar. He conquered many territories and established his capital in Nagpur. His increasing military power alarmed Peshwa but Shahu played an important role to defuse tensions between Peshwa and Bhonsle. He ruled over Nagpur from 1738 to 1755. He was succeeded by Jnoji Bhonsle but he always remained at logger-heads with his three brothers. After him, Raghuji II ruled Nagpur from 1788 to 1816.  

Gaikwad During the rule of Peshwa Bajirao I Pilaji Gaikwad had founded an independent state of Baroda. He started his career as a Maratha military general. In 1731 Peshwa signed a treaty with Abhay Singh, the Mughal Subedar of Ahmadnagar according to which Abhay Singh agreed to pay thirteen lakh rupees annually as Chauth (Tax) to the Marathas and in its return Peshwa took the responsibility of overthrowing Pilaji Gaikwad’s rule in Baroda. Because of it, Baroda ruler joined anti-Peshwa group of Trinbhik Dabhade. In 1732, Abhay Singh got Pilaji killed. Pilaji’s successor Damaji Gaikwad remained at logger-heads with the Peshwa for many years. At last an agreement was signed between both the Maratha rulers according to which Gaikwad acknowledged Peshwa’s lordship and agreed to pay 15 lakh rupees annually to the Peshwa as Chauth (Tax).. He also pledged to remain loyal and agreed to send 10,000 soldiers if asked by the Peshwa.

Hyderabad The founder of the Hyderabad Riyasat (Empire) was Nizam-ul-Malik. In 1713, Mughal Emperor Farrukhsiyar had appointed him as the Subedar of six Mughal Provinces of Deccan. After some time he was replaced by Sayyad Hussain Ali. In 1722 Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah appointed him as his Wazir. He tried to introduce some reforms in the administration. But he was very much upset because of the rifts and daily intrigues in the Mughal Royal Court. He returned towards Deccan without informing the Mughal Emperor. Deccan Subedar, Mubariz Khan opposed him and a battle was fought between their armies at a place known as Shakar-Kheda. In this battle Mubariz Khan was killed. As a result of this victory Nizam-ul-Malik became the independent ruler of Deccan.  He chose Hyderabad as his capital. Shortly after it Mughal Emperor accepted him as the governor of Deccan. In true terms, he was an independent ruler who ruled according to his own wishes. He used to appoint his officials according to his own wishes. He had to face the stiff resistance of the Marathas. After Nizam-ul-Malik’s death in 1748, Nasir Jung was coroneted as his successor but his sister’s son Muzaffar Jung also laid claim for the throne. Muzaffar Jung was helped by the French. But Nasir Jung, with the help of British defeated Muzaffar Jung and threw him into prison. French General launched an intrigue and got Nasir Jung murdered and Muzaffar Jung freed from the prison in December 1750. Soon after it he ascended to the throne of Nizam of Hyderabad. He briefly ruled his kingdom and was murdered by his own servant in 1751. Soon after it Nizam-ul-Malik’s third son Salabat Jung ascended to the Hyderabad throne with the help of another French military general Bussi. During his early years as the ruler of Hyderabad he remained under the influence of French but later on joined the British camp. In 1757 he signed an agreement with the British according to which he surrendered Musolipattam to the British and vowed not to keep any relations with the French. In 1759 Peshwa Balaji Bajirao sent a huge army against the Nizam under the military leadership of Sadashiv Rao Bhau. On February 3, 1760 Maratha army defeated the Nizam in the battlefield of Udgir. As a result Salabat Jung surrendered Daulatabad, Asirgarh and Burhanpur territories to the Marathas Salabad Jung died in 1761. After him his brother Nizam Ali succeeded him.

Nizam-British Relations He ruled from 1762 to 1803 and because of the fear of the Sultans of Mysore he signed an agreement with the British government of Madras.  This treaty was again reviewed on 23 February, 1768. According to this agreement territories of Northern Sarkars came under the rule of British and in return they agreed to pay 9 Lakhs annually to the Nizam. But when in 1795 Nizam once again fought against the Marathas, British kept themselves away from this confrontation. Nizam was defeated badly by the Marathas in the Kharda battle. He established friendly relations with the French and started to re-organize his military according to the European style. In this situation Lord Wellesley signed two agreements with the Nizam in 1798 and then in 1800 and according these agreements he acknowledged the authority of East India Company.

Sultans of Mysore From 14^th century Mysore was being ruled by the Hindu rulers of the Wodeyar Dynasty. During the earlier decades of eighteen century Mysore was being ruled by the weak Wodeyar ruler Chikka Krishnaraj. Two Hindu brothers Nandraj and Devraj took the advantage of his weakened position and took actual powers into their hands and Krashanaraj had remained only a nominal head of Mysore. From 1750 to 1760 a military officer of Nandraj’s army, Haider Ali had increased his power and finally took over the reigns of Mysore administration into his hands. Haider Ali was born in 1721. His father, Fateh Muhammad was on the rank of Faujdar in the military of Mysore Riyasat. He was one of ablest military officers in the army so the ruler of Mysore was very much impressed by him. He during his early life was a lower ranked military officer but slowly and steadily rose to the rank of Faujdar. He took the advantage of the enmity between Nizam of Hyderabad and the Marathas and overthrow Nandraj’s rule. Taking the advantage of British-French wars, Maratha defeat in the third battle of Panipat and weakened position of the Hyderabad Nizam, Haider Ali expanded his kingdom to all sides. He conquered Bulapur, Shera, Bednaur, Kanara, Gooty etc territories within a very short time. Increasing military might of Haider Ali alarmed Nizam of Hyderabad and Marathas. British also decided to put a full stop to his increasing military might so he had to fight against all these enemies. From 1764 to 1779 he had to fight against the Marathas many times. Fortunately Peshwa Madhav Rao died in 1773 after which Marathas started fighting with each other. To took the advantage of the circumstances and not only regained his lost territories but also conquered some of his neighboring territories.

First Battle of Mysore From 1767 to 1769 he had to fight against the British. This battle is called the first battle of Mysore. Haider Ali scored many victories over his enemies and suddenly attacked Madras. It frightened the Madras government which preferred to sign a treaty with Haider Ali. Both the sides agreed to help each other in case of battle with any of their enemy and returned each other’s conquered territories. In 1771 Haider Ali had to fight against Marathas but British did not help him. In 1779 British conquered Guntur while Haider too wanted to conquer it. Same year war broke out between the British and French. In this battle British East India Company defeated French and took over their Mahi Colony. This colony was under Haider Ali’s protection. But British declined to free this French colony despite of his resistance. At that time Marathas were fighting with each other. Haider Ali decided to fight against the British with the help of Marathas and Nizam of Hyderabad. In 1780 he marched towards Karnataka along with a huge army and defeated the British military under Colonel Baillie. Baillie was going to help Munroe’s Army. Munroe was very much frightened by Baillie’s defeat and he fled to Madras without fighting against Haider Ali. Thus Karnataka came under Haider Ali’s rule. But Governor General Warne Hastings divided them very cleverly by giving Guntur territory to the Nizam and signing a treaty with the Marathas. Thus Haider Ali, alone had to fight against the British. Hastings sent an army under the leadership of Sir Eyre Coote and it defeated Haider Ali in three different battles. In 1782, a French military vessel had reached Madras to help Haider Ali to fight against the British. Thus British had to fight against the French and Haider Ali at the same time. But British were fortunate enough that Haider Ali died in 1782.

As a Ruler Haider Ali was one of the greatest rulers of India of the 18^th century. He was very brave, clever, determined and full of confidence. Because of these characteristics he had rose from bottom to top. He started his life as a soldier and laid the foundation of an independent state of Mysore. He himself was a brave soldier and a brave military general. He trained his military according to the western style. Like a clever politician he signed a treaty with the French to fight against the British. He also tried to bring Marathas and Nizam of Hyderabad to bring into his side to fight against their common enemy, the British East India Company. He conquered many territories and expanded his kingdom. He was an able and successful ruler who took many steps for the welfare of his people. He never discriminated on the basis of religion or caste while recruiting men in his army. He had appointed many Hindus at high ranks and had launched coins with the picture of Shiv-Parvati on them.

Tippu Sultan After Haider Ali’s death, his son Tippu Sultan succeeded him. He was a brave warrior and an able military general. After his father’s death he kept on fighting against the British. He with the help of French military under Brigadier Mathew defeated British in many battles. But unfortunately French left him as French and British governments had agreed not to fight against each other according to a treaty.  French left India and thus British became the masters of the Indian waters. British sent many military expeditions against Mysore and Tippu fought against them very bravely. In 1784, both the sides signed a treaty according to which they returned those territories that they had won from each other. They also exchanged their captured soldiers. In 1786, Tippu dethroned the king of Mysore and himself sat on his place. In 1788 Lord Cornwallis signed a treaty with the Nizam and according to which Guntur came under the rule of British and in return they promised to help him to regain his lost territories to Tippu. When Tippu came to know about this treaty he decided to oppose the British. And next year he attacked Travankore. The king of Travankore was the friend of British and his territory was under the protection of British so they decide to fight against Tippu. Marathas and Nizam also joined British to fight against Tippu. Thus third battle of Mysore broke out. Tippu fought very bravely against his enemies for two continuous years and kept them at bay. In 1790, Cornwallis himself took the reins of his military in his own hands. In 1791 he captured Banglore and marched towards Saringapattam. Because of Tippu’s stiff resistance, lack of reinforcement and rainy season, Cornwallis had to return to Banglore. in Novermber, Tippu recaptured Coimbatore. Cornwallis sent his army from Bombay which succeeded capturing many forts of Tippu with the help of Nizam and Marathas and reached near Saringapattam on February 1792. In this difficult time Tippu Sultan had to sign a treaty with the invading forces according to which half of his kingdom was divided between all the three invading forces. Tippu also had to give Thirty Lakh rupees as compensation of battle for the invaders.

Death of the Warrior Tippu wanted to revenge this defeat and with this purpose he started to increase his military power and sent his messengers to various parts of the world. He also had established relations with Napoleon but unfortunately Napoleon was very busy in Europe and could not help Tippu. But British considered him one of their most formidable enemies. Fearing his increasing military powers Lord Wellesley declared war against him with the help of Maratha and Nizam. He himself commanded his military and camped at Madras. Tippu offered stiff resistance to them but his military was outnumbered by 1:4 and thus was defeated in many battles. Finally he died on May 4, 1799 while fighting in Saringapattam. His kingdom had been divided between the invaders.

Lion of Mysore Some British historians have criticized Tippu by terming him as a tyrant and cruel ruler. It is said that Haider was seldom wrong and Tippu seldom right. But it is not right as we can say that the British historians of his time were biased against him because of his anti British policies. Tippu Sultan was one of the most learned, brave warriors, an able ruler and a true patriot of his time. It was Tippu who first understood the hidden wishes and policies of the British. He did not fight only for the independence of his kingdom but also tried to form an alliance with the Marathas and Nizam to throw the foreigners out of India. He was a brave warrior and an experienced military general who reorganized and modernized his military according to the western style. He tried to modernize his navy according to the latest methods. He was the first man in the world who used missiles in the battles against his enemies. Unfortunately because of his defeat, the documents related to the missile technology fell into the hands of the foreigners. He was an able administrator who introduced many reforms into the administration and collection of taxes. He took many steps for industrialization and development of his kingdom. Though he was a Muslim but was not a fundamentalist. He never discriminated on the basis of religion. He was a patron of literature and other related arts. He had established a library also. He is popularly known as the ‘Lion of Mysore’ even today.

Shivaji 18^th century saw the decline and disintegration of the Mughal Empire. Mughal Empire declined rapidly after the death of Aurangzeb as his policies put a damaging effect on the stability of the Mughal Empire and the later Mughals were incompetent and did not have the skill that were needed to keep the system in working order. They let the affairs drift in their own way. Thus many independent states came into existent in north and south India. Marathas of Maharashtra were most powerful among them. They had revolted against Aurangzeb under the leadership of Shivaji. After Shivaji’s death, Aurangzeb tried his best to suppress the revolt of the Marathas for 25 continuous years but he could not succeed in his efforts. After his death Marathas kept on increasing their power and has established many independent states. There were many reasons behind their rise to power. First Maharashtra’s geographical features had made the native people very brave, hardworking, struggle lover and well trained in guerrilla warfare. They were influenced by the Hindu state of Vijaynagar. Wars of south between Mughals and Shiyaas provided enough time to the Marathas to increase their power. Shivaji’s personality had a lasting effect on his people. 

Childhood Shivaji was born on April 20^th, 1627 in the Shivnaur fort located in the north of the famous town of Puna. His father Shahji Bhosle was a feudal lord in the Bijapur Sultanate. His mother was Jijabai who was related to the Yadavs. Three personalities had an everlasting effect on the personality of Shivaji. First was Shivaji’s own mother who had taught him stories from the epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata. Stories of the Hindu warriors had created feeling of bravery and patriotism in his heart. Shivaji’s regent Dadaji Kond Dev too had an everlasting effect on his personality. He taught him house riding, close combating, guerrilla warfare and managing the administration. Famous religious leader of Maharashtra, Ramdas, also influenced Shivaji for the establishment of an independent Hindu state. He was Shivaji’s religious (guru) teacher.

Conquests When Sivaji was only 19 years old he had started conquering his neighboring territories. Within the time of two-three years he had conquered many forts. First of all he conquered the Torna fort. After that he won the Raigarh fort and repaired it. After the death of Dadaji Kond Dev, Shivaji took over Puna and collected a huge military. In 1648 he conquered the Purandhar and Kodana territories and invaded Konkan. He succeeded in conquering the famous Konkan city of Kalyani. From 1649 to 1655 Shivaji had to put a hold on conquering the neighboring states. In 1656 he invaded Jawli. Raja Chandar Rao was the ruler of Jawli. He had joined Bijapur Sultan against the Maratha king. Shivaji bribed a killer and got Chandar Rao killed. After it he took over Jawli. Shivaji’s financial and military powers increased enormously with the victory of Jawli. After that he defeated his own maternal uncle and conquered the Soupa territory. In 1658 when Aurangzeb left south and went towards north India, Bijapur ruler decided to suppress rising military power of Shivaji. His military marched under general Afzal Khan against Shivaji. When he reached the Maratha territories he felt that it is difficult to fight against Marathas in the mountainous terrain. So he decided to engage Shivaji in diplomatic methods and kill him in deceitful manner by organizing manner. But Shivaji was very clever and was already ready for this meeting. So a meeting was held on November 2, 1659 in Partapgarh. Afzal Khan embraced Shivaji as a greeting and tried to stab on his neck but Shivaji saved himself from his attack and killed him in the countermove. After it the Maratha military suddenly attacked the Bijapur military and defeated them. A severe battle was fought in which three hundred Bijapuri soldiers were killed and the rest fled. After it Shivaji defeated Afzal Khan’s son Fazal Khan and conquered the fort of Panhala. After it he defeated Bijapur general Rustam Khan. He had thus conquered the forts of Basantgarh, Khelna etc. But Bijapur ruler sent a huge army under Sidhi Johar. Bijapur army laid seize to the Panhala fort. After four months of seize Shivaji fled safely from the Panhala fort. Bijapur ruler sent a huge army to suppress the rising power of Marathas but could not succeed because of the rainy season. Later on Bijapur ruler acknowledged him as an independent ruler. During seize, British, ruler of Palwan and ruler of Sringarpur had helped the combined forces of Mughals and Bijapur. Shivaji attacked on them and defeated them as a punishment.Shivaji not only fought against the Bijapur Sultanate but also revolted against the Mughal Empire. He kept on fighting against the Mughals for many years and heaved a sigh of relief after annexing some of the Mughal territories into his Kingdom. After ascending to throne, Aurangzeb decided to suppress Marathas who had emerged as a major threat to his Empire. He appointed his maternal uncle Shayista Khan at the governor of the deccan and ordered him to suppress the revolt of Marathas. In March 1660, Shiyista Khan marched from Ahmadabad towards Puna. In next two or three years he conquered Puna, Chakan, Kalyani and the adjoining Maratha territories. In the meantime, Shivaji had conquered the Kolaba and Ratanagiri territories. Shayista Khan decided to rest in Puna because of the rainy season. Unfortunately, he stayed in the same house where Shivaji had spent his childhood. Under the cover of a marriage procession Shivaji entered Puna with a handful of soldiers and infiltrated the Mughal camp on April 1663. He along with his 400 trusted soldiers attacked the Mughals camp in the night. In the close combat, Shayita Khan’s son, Abdul Fateh, his six wives and his forty servants were killed. He himself narrowly escaped the attack as one of his thumbs was cut in the battle. According to a historian ‘Shivaji dealt a masterly blow at the Mughals, which created terror in the Mughal court and camp’. Aurangzeb was so much annoyed with Shayista Khan that he transferred him from Deccan to Bengal as a punishment.

Shivaji in Mughal Court In January 1664, Shivaji along with his 4000 soldiers, suddenly attacked Surat. Mughal Subedar of Surat was so much afraid of this attack that he hid and enclosed himself in the Surat fort. For next four days, Marathas looted this famous Mughal trading city. It is believed that this was Shivaji’s answer to the Mughals for the loot of Maratha territories by Shayista Khan for two continuous years.  Shayista Khan’s defeat and sack of Surat had annoyed Aurangzeb a lot so he sent a huge army under the leadership of Mirza Raja Jai Singh to punish Shivaji. Jai Singh was one of the most experienced military general of the Mughal Empire. In January 1665, Mughal army crossed the Narmada River and reached Puna. Here Jai Singh planned his strategy against Marathas and attacked Purandhar. Seize of Purandhar continued for two continuous months and Maratha noble Murar Bazi was killed in the battle. Shivaji realized that he can not succeed against the huge Mughal army so he signed a treaty with the Mughals according to which he surrendered 23 Maratha forts to the Mughals while 12 forts remained with him. It was agreed that Shivaji won’t be forced to attend the Mughal court. His son, Shambhai was appointed a 5000 Mansabdar. Maratha forces had fought along with Mughal forces against the Bijapur military for some months before Shivaji went to Agra along with his son, five nobles and soldiers. They gave some presents to Aurangzeb but were not treated well by the Mughal Emperor and threw them in prison instead. Aurangzeb had planned to get them killed after sometime but Shivaji was cleverer than him. He feigned fatal sickness and started distributing fruits and sweets among the Brahmins and poor. One day he and his son hid themselves in the fruit and sweets baskets and escaped the Mughal prison unhurt. After some time he reached his kingdom and once again waged a war against the Mughals. Aurangzeb was very much annoyed because of his escape but was unable to take any action against him as Mughals were busy in suppressing the revolt in north-west. He preferred acknowledge Shivaji as an independent ruler. No battle was fought between the Mughals and Marathas for next two years. Shivaji used this time to strengthen his administration.

Death In 1670 Marathas and Mughals were once again at arms. Shivaji recaptured all those forts that he had surrendered to Mughals after signing the Purandhar treaty. In 1670, Marathas sacked Surat for the second time. After it Shivaji started to collect ‘Chouth’ and ‘Srdeshmukhi’ taxes from Khandesh, Surat and some other adjoining Mughal territories. Disappointed Aurangzeb has written ‘it appears God has taken away the sovereignty from me and conferred it on Shivaji’. On June 16, 1674 Shivaji was coroneted as the first Maratha King. According to the Vedic rituals he was given the title of Chhatrapati Shivaji. His coronation led to celebrations in the Maratha territory. Presents were sent to famous Hindu temples and valuables were distributed among Brahmins and poor. After his coronation Shivaji decided to conquer his southern territories. Within next two-three years he had conquered Belari, Sira, Velore, Jinji and many other forts. Victory of Jinji is considered to be one of his most important achievements.  Thus Shivaji had laid the foundation of an independent kingdom in the south. From Western coast and Surat of Konkan to Goa (excluding Goa), his kingdom included Baglan, Chandoor, Puna, Satara and Kohlapur territories in east. While in south-east it included Belari, Sira, Velore and Jinji territories. Thus Shivaji ruled over a vast empire. Shivaji died on April 13, 1680 because of illness. At the time of death he was 53 years old. Before his death he had fulfilled his dream of establishing an independent, stable and strong Hindu Kingdom.

Sivaji’s Successors After Shivaji’s death his son Shambhaji took the reigns of the Maratha Kingdom into his hands. He was not liked by his people because of his bad habits. He appointed Kavi Kalash from Kanauj as his chief advisor. Soon after his coronation the rebel Mughal prince Akbar had reached Deccan. Shambhaji offered him refuse and made arrangements for his stay. Though he stayed in the Maratha territory for more than six years but Shambhaji did not try to plan any military campaign against the Mughal Emperor with the help of Akbar. After taking over Golkunda and Bijapur Aurangzeb started to send military campaigns against Shambhaji . Shambhaji took refuse in Sangeshwar but Mughal forces under the generalship of Mukkarab Khan suddenly attacked the Maratha fort. Shambhaji failed to offer stiff resistance to the invading Mughals and was captured alive on March 21, 1689 along with Kavi Kalash and many other members of his court. On March 21, 1689 he was murdered along with Kavi Kalash.

Raja Ram and Tarabai After Shambhaji’s arrest, his son Raja Ram ascended to the throne on February 19, 1689. At that time he was only 19 years old. But he was fortunate enough to have Prahlad Niraji and Ram Chandar Nilkanth as his advisors and Shantaji and Dhanaji as his military generals. Under their leadership Marathas united and kept on fighting guerrilla warfare against the Mughals. They had spread in the vast territory from Burhanpur to Jinji and kept the Mughals military at its toes for many years. In 1698 Aurangzeb sent a huge army under the leadership of Zulfikar Khan to capture Jinji. Marathas offered a stiff resistance to the Mughals. After relentless efforts of seven years Mughals succeeded to bring situation under their control. Raja Ram fled to Balabhgarh and then to Satara. There, he started to increase his military power. He sent his forces against the Mughal territories of Khandesh and Brar to collect Chouth (tax). He died in Sinhgarh on March 12, 1700 after a brief illness. After his death, his four years old son Shivaji II was coroneted as the next Maratha King and his mother Tarabai appointed herself as his regent. She was a brave and an intelligent lady. She reunited the Marathas and kept on fighting against the Mughals. Though Mughals had captured the Satara fort after Raja Ram’s death but she sent many military campaigns against the Mughals from the Panhala and Vishalgarh forts. Tarabai with the help of her Nobles like Parasram Trimbik, Dhanaji Yadav and Shankar Narayan fought against the Mughals and failed Aurangzeb’s all military campaigns sent against the Marathas. Mughal Emperor died on March 3, 1707 along with this disappointment.

Last Maratha King Shahu was Shambji’s another son who had been captured along with his mother Yesubai from the Raigarh fort. At that time he was only seven years old. He remained in the Mughal prison almost for 17 years. After Aurangzeb’s death he fled from Azam’s camp in May 1707. On reaching Maharashtra he was welcomed by Parsoji Bhonsle, Balaji Vishavnath and Nemaji Sindhia like Maratha Nobles. Tarabai sent her military against Shahu but was defeated by him on the banks of Bhima Rivar. Many famous Maratha Nobles deserted Tarabai and joined Shahu. His forces captured Satara without any military resistance. He was anointed as the next Maratha King on January 22, 1708.  He slowly and steadily increased his military power and strengthened his administration. In 1713 he appointed Balaji Vishavnath as his Peshwa (Prime Minister). From that onwards the position of Peshwa strengthened and after some years they (Peshwa) became more powerful than the Maratha King. Most of the administrative works were done by the Peshwa. During Shahu’s rule, after Balaji Vishavnath, Bajirao I and Balaji Bajirao worked as Peshwas. Shahu died in 1749 and by that time Peshwa was the actual head of the state while Chchatrapati (king) worked only like a rubber stamp.

Peshwa Balaji Vishawanath From Shivaji’s time, Maratha Prime Minister was called Peshwa. Till 1707, neither their position was hereditary nor did they have enough powers. But during Shahu’s rule their position had become hereditary. Peshwa had become so powerful that king had remained nothing more than a rubber stamp and the actual powers had slipped into the hands of the Peshwa. During the rule of earlier Peshwas the Maratha power had increased a lot. Balaji Vishawanath was the first Peshwa who was a Brahmin and native of Konkan Pradesh. Shahu trusted him a lot and was very much influenced by his efficient services. So he appointed him as his Peshwa. The day he was appointed Peshwa is considered to be one of the most glorious days in the Maratha history. After that, powers of the Peshwa increased a lot and they became the hereditary rulers of the Maratha Empire. He took full advantage of the weakness of the Mughals and their mutual rifts and political intrigues. He signed a treaty with the Mughal Emperor as the representative of the Maratha King according to which Mughals accepted Shahu as the ruler of all those territories that had been won by Shivaji. All those territories that recently had been conquered by the Marathas were also accepted as the part of the Maratha territory. Mughal Emperor also allowed the Marathas to collect Chhout and Srdeshmukh taxes from the six provinces of the Mughal territory of Deccan. Except it, Mughal Emperor also agreed to free the members of Shivaji’s family that were in the Mughal prison. Maratha King Shahu agreed to give ten lakh rupees to the Mughal Emperor as the annual tax. This treaty between the Mughals and the Marathas is considered to be Balaji Vishwanath’s biggest achievement. Though, Shahu could not be called a sovereign king because of this treaty but on the other hand it ensured his rule over the territories won by Shivaji. The result of this treaty was tremendous increase of power of Marathas in the Deccan. Because of it, Shahu was recognized as the whole and sole Maratha leader.  Thus Balaji Vishwanath played an important role to strengthen Shahu’s position and increase the Maratha power. Though he was not a military leader but had the qualities of a clever politician, an able organizer and administrator. Some historians call him the ‘second founder of the Maratha Empire’. He increased the powers and prestige of the Peshwa to a great extent.

Peshwa Bajirao After his death in April 1720, his son, Bajirao I was appointed the next Peshwa by Shahu. At that time he was only twenty years of age. But he was a very brave, able and intelligent man. He worked as the Peshwa for next twenty years till his death in 1740. During the period of his rule he successfully suppressed the enemies of the Maratha Empire. He not only conquered some south Indian territories but also extended the Maratha Empire in North India. In 1728 Bajirao I defeated Nizam-ul-Malik, the Mughal governor of six provinces of Deccan. Nizam accepted Shahu’s right of collecting taxes from these territories.  After it he defeated the Mughal Subedar of Malwa.  Thus Marathas had become more powerful in south and central India. Udaji Pawar, Malhar Rao Holkar and Ranauji Sindhia like Marathas Nobles had established semi-independent states in Dhar, Indore and Gwalior. Bajirao helped Chhatrasal, the ruler of Bundelkhan against the Mughals and defeated them. Chhatrasal was very happy with him and presented Jhansi and adjoining territories to him. After it Bajirao signed a treaty with Abhay Singh, the Mughal Subedar of Ahmadabad according to which Abhay Singh agreed to pay 13 lakh rupees annually to the Marathas as tax and in return Balaji took the responsibility to free Baroda from Pilaji Gaikwad.  In March 1737, Balaji crossed River Jammuna along with his military and suddenly attacked Delhi. After looting Delhi, Marathas came out of it but Mughal Emperor sent forces to follow them. But Marathas defeated them severely and then went towards Gwalior. In 1737 he ordered his brother Chimnaji Aapa to march against the Portuguese. He easily won the Thana and Salsait territories. After two years of relentless efforts he won the Bhasin fort. British of Bombay became afraid of the Marathas after their victory of Bhasin and they sent their representatives to establish peaceful and friendly relations with the Marathas. Balaji died on April 28, 1740 at a place known as Rewar located at the bank of Narmada River. At the time of his death he was only forty years of age. Because of his important achievements he had brought sea change in the power and prestige of the Marathas. According to a famous historian ‘the twenty years of his career witnessed a complete revolution in the character of the Maratha State. At the time of his death the political centre of gravity had shifter from the court of Delhi of that of Shahu’.

Peshwa Balaji Bajirao After the Death of Bajirao I, his son Nana Sahib was appointed the next Peshwa by Shahu on July 4, 1740. He is popularly known as Balaji Bajirao. At that time he was only eighteen years old. But he lacked the military and administrative qualities of his father. But he led the Marathas to many victories and extended the Maratha Empire in many directions. He worked as Peshwa from 1740 to 1761. After Shahu’s death in 1749 Ram Raja ascended to his throne. His rival Tarabai tried to take the advantage of the circumstances and regain her lost powers. But Balaji foiled all her efforts very cleverly. He invited Chhatrapati Ram Raja to Puna and signed a treaty with him which is called Sangola agreement. According to this agreement the actual power slipped into the hands of the Peshwa and the Chhatrapati had remained only a titular head. He approached the Jaipur ruler Jai Singh to sign a treaty with the Mughal Emperor. He pledged to remain loyal to the Mughal Emperor and in return he was appointed as the Mughal Subedar of Malwa. In July 1741 Mughal Emperor declared Prince Ahmad as the titular head of Malwa and appointed Peshwa as his deputy. Thus the actual control of Malwa came into his hands. Another Maratha Military general Raghuji Bhonsle conquered Karnatka and Trichanpali. After that he defeated Nawab of Bengal and forced him to sign a treaty. According to this treaty Nawab submitted Kattak territory to the Marathas and also agreed to pay 12 lakh rupees as annual tax to Raghuji Bhonsle. On Balaji Bajirao’s orders, Raghunath Rao invaded Ahmadabad and by April 1753 had conquered most of the Kathiawar territory including Ahmadabad and Dwarka. In 1756-57 Raghunath Rao and Malhar Rao marched towards Delhi but by that time Ahmad Shah Abdali had invaded India for the fourth time and had returned to his homeland. Marathas defeated his nobles in Delhi and declared Mughal Emperor Alamgir as the ruler of Delhi. After it they headed towards Lahore and defeated Abdali’s son Taimur Shah and Jahan Khan and forced them to flee towards Kabul. Thus Marathas came into confrontation with invader Abdali. Raghunath Rao left some army under the leadership of Sabaji  in Lahore and returned to his homeland. Marathas appointed Adina Begh as the subedar of Lahore in return of 75 lakh rupees of annual tax. In 1759 Marathas attacked Nizam under the leadership of Sadashiv Rao Bhau. In February 1760 Nizam’s military was defeated severely by the Marathas after which Daultabad, Asirgarh and Burhangarh territories were annexed into the Maratha Empire. Thus by 1760 the Marathas had conquered almost all of the India and thus Maratha power was at its peak at that time.

Third War of Panipat In 1759, Abdali invaded India for the fifth time. Maratha general fled from Lahore after hearing the news of his invasion. After conquering Lahore, Abdali headed towards Delhi. A small battle was fought between the invaders and the Marathas near Tarawari and Marathas were defeated. After it they fought against each other in March 1760 on the outskirts of Delhi. In this battle a Maratha military general Dattaji Sindhia was killed. In March, 1760, Abdali once again defeated Marathas military general Malhar Rao Holkar at a place known as Sikandrabad. To revenge these defeats, Balaji Bajirao sent a huge army under the leadership of Sadashiv Rao Bhau towards Delhi. Marathas conquered Delhi and Kunjpur. But Abdali kept on looting the other north Indian territories and prepared for a war with the Marathas. Finally a battle was fought at the historic battlefield of Panipat on January, 1761. At that time Abdali had 60,000 soldiers in his army while Maratha soldier were 45.000. In the initial stage of the battle Marathas had an upper hand on the invading military and thousands of soldiers were killed of Abdali’s military. But after some time a Maratha general fled from the battlefield along with his military. Two Maratha Military generals Vishwas Rao and Sadashiv Rao were killed in the battlefield. After it, Maratha soldiers fled from the battlefield. Abdali’s soldiers followed them and killed thousands of fleeing Maratha soldiers. This battle played a decisive and significant role in the Indian history. Many Marathas generals were killed in the battles with Afghans. After some time Balaji Bajirao died and thus Punjab was lost forever. On the other hand Afghans took over many North-West territories. Thus Sikhs of Punjab and Afghans came into confrontation with each other and at last Sikhs had succeeded to establish an independent Empire in most of the North Indian territories. Defeat of Marathas indirectly helped British. The loss of his entire Maratha army, and some famous generals was a big shock to the Peshwa. He could never recover from this loss and died as a heart broken man on June 23, 1761. After his death Madhav Rao, Narayan Rao, Madhav Rao Narayan and Bajirao II ruled as his successors from 1761 to 1818.

Power of Chhatrapati Shivaji was not only a warrior but had the qualities of an able administrator, organizer and planner. Because of his administrative abilities he succeeded to establish an efficient administration in a very short time in his kingdom.   According to a famous historian Ishwari Prasad ‘he organized an administration which was in many respects more efficient than that of the Mughals’.  Chhatrapati or King was the chief of the administration. He was the hole and the sole power in his kingdom. His wishes were government laws. He himself appointed ministers and high officials and could dismiss them at any time. He was the supreme power as for as the judiciary and military was concerned. Though he was a dictator but he never misused his powers. He always kept public’s interests ahead of his own interests. He can be called a benevolent despot. The king had a council of eight ministers that was called Ashta Pradhan. They used to advise the King related to the administrative works and were also the heads of their respected departments. King himself appointed them and they were directly under him and were respondent to him.

Ashta Pradhan Maratha Prime Minister was called Peshwa. After the king’s stamp, his stamp and signatures were the necessary part of every government document. He kept an eye on the works of other high officials and worked for the public welfare. In the absence of the king, he worked as his representative. The Maratha Finance Minister was called Amatya. He kept the records of revenue and expenditure and informed the King at regular times. Mantri kept the records of King’s daily works and incidents of the royal court. Sachiv was a king of Superintendent. His chief work was to prepare and keep the government documents in an organized way. He kept the record of all the government documents. Sumant was the foreign minister of the Chhatrapati. His advised the king about the foreign affairs. Except it his other works were to welcome the ambassadors and make proper arrangements for their stay. Pandi Rao was the Minister of religion related matters. He worked as king’s representative in religion related matters. To welcome the Brahmins and give alms to them, to give judgments in religion related quarrels and make laws to religion related rituals were his duties. Senapati was the chief of the military. Recruitment of new soldiers, organization and establishment of discipline in the military were his responsibilities. Nyayadhish was the highest judge after the King in the Maratha judiciary. According to the Hindu law he used to give his judgements both in civil and criminal cases. Except Pandit Rao and Nyayadhish, all the other ministers had to keep soldiers and had had to send them to the battle field on King’s orders.

Provincial Administration Shivaji had divided his kingdom into four Provinces. Three out of them, northern, southern and south-east provinces had a well organized administration. The administration of these provinces was in the hands of Subedars who worked according to the orders of the King. The fourth province did not have any definite borders as Shivaji had won it in his last years. It had Velore, Jinji etc territories. Its administration was in the hands of the military. Every province was sub-divided into many Parganas. Every Pargana had its chief. Nothing definite can be said about the rights and works of the chief of the Pargana but it is believed that he worked like the modern day district collector. It is also sure that he used to keep some soldiers. Villages were lowest unite in the Maratha administration. The head of the village was called Mukhiya or Patel. It was a traditional ages old panchayat system of India. Shivaji brought some reforms and established an efficient land revenue system in his kingdom. He abolished feudal system and established Rayatwadi system according to which farmers and government had direct relations between them. A new system ‘ Kathi’ was introduced to measure the land. The land was divided into three qualities according to the production and taxes were collected according to the quality of the land. According to some foreigner historians the situation of farmers was very pathetic during Shivaji’s rule. Fryer writes ‘the great fish preyed on the little and even Bijapur rule was milder than that of Sivaji’. But other historians disagree with this view. They say that Shivaji always preferred the welfare of his people and welfare of farmers was ahead of all. Loans were given to farmers in the form of seed and domestic animals to the needy farmers. Except it there were many other sources of government revenue among which chhouth and Sardeshmukhi were the most important. Chhouth was the fourth part of the land revenue of a state that was collected by the Marathas. Marathas collected this tax from some states in return of ensuring its safety from any foreign invasion. But some historians say that Chhouth ensured the safety of the states from the loot of Marathas not from any foreign invasion. Sardeshmukh was collected from all the feudal lords of Maharashtra who had acknowledged Shivaji’s lordship. They gave tenth part of their land revenue to the Maratha King. Except it road tax, occupation tax and fines were the other main sources of Maratha revenue.

Judiciary The situation of judiciary was not satisfactory in Shivaji’s kingdom. Nor the courts were established according to the prevalent system in the neighboring states neither it was a modern judicial system. Small scale civil cases were handled by the Panchayat at the village level while criminal cases were handled by the Patel. Nyayadhish heard the appeals of the civil and criminal cases. Hazir Muzlis was the Maratha Supreme Court. King himself gave him judgments in major cases. Shivaji did relentless efforts to provide justice to the needy people. Maratha kingdom did not have written rules and judgments were given according to the Hindu religious books and rituals. Criminals were sent to prison or fined for minor crimes.

Defense Shivaji had a vast military which had both army and navy. It comprised 45,000 cavalrymen, 1,00,000 infantry soldiers, 1,260 elephants and 200 navy soldiers. Both the infantry and the cavalry were divided into many parts according to the number of the men. Shivaji had 280 forts in his kingdom. Havaldar used to be the head of the fort and fort army followed his orders. He had some officials who helped him in the administrative and land revenue collection works from the adjoining areas. Shivaji had established a navy unite and built some military ships. It remained stationed at Kolaba. Shivaji gave no importance to religion or caste while recruiting soldier in his military. His military had both Hindu and Muslim soldiers. Soldiers were paid their salaries in cash and soldiers were rewarded also for their distinguished services. Shivaji gave a lot of importance to discipline in his military. Soldiers were ordered to keep a high character. They were ordered not to take ladies with them while attacking the enemy. They were not allowed to attack the enemy ladies and were ordered to protect them. The safety of cows and farmers were also the chief duties of the Maratha soldiers. Shivaji had established an efficient espionage system. His spies were present in every part of his kingdom and military units.

Decade after hijack: Indian Airlines flight IC 814 was hijacked ten years back in year 1999 during its way from Tribhuvan International Airport, Kathmandu, Nepal to Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi, India. India is more alert after that incident and is now prepared to tackle any such circumstances. Indian airports have high security now by Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and sky marshals are also present in the flights and a fortified internal security mechanism as well to tackle any such conditions. The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security has also prepared an aviation security manual which assures with three stage classification process for shooting down a hijacked aircraft. India is not compromising for any kind of delay or lack in the security matter and intelligence agencies of India are also very active to provide information which can help to avoid any kind of incidents in future. Home Minister P. Chidambaram said warning officers of Intelligence Bureau on Wednesday that there will be no room for any kind of complacency and India has better coordination among the intelligence agencies to share the information. He said we were still lucky enough and there can be another major crises like hijack or attach like that in Mumbai so we have to be alert every time so that no such incident takes place with us now. E Ahamed, Minister of State for Railways said that we have to be careful for future and we have an anti hijack policy to solve the problem with the hijackers. Hijack was ended with the one casualty of young married man.

About the hijack of IC 814: Indian Airlines flight IC 814 was hijacked by Pakistani militants on its way from Kathmandu to Delhi on December 24, 1999. Harkat-ul-Mujahideen which is a Pakistan based militant group was responsible for the hijacking of the plane just after short time of entering into the Indian air space. After hijacking they tried to land into Amritsar for refueling but they had to take off without refueling and then they landed in Lahore for refueling in emergency conditions but Pakistan refused to offload the female and children passengers from the flight. After their militants took plane to Dubai where they left 27 passengers including one young man of age 25 years who was injured by the militants badly and later he lost his life. He had gone to make honeymoon with his wife to Nepal. It was only one casualty which took place during the hijack. After that hijacked plane left from Dubai for Kandahar International Airport, Afghanistan. Taliban authority agreed to act as mediator between the terrorists and Indian government so that life of passenger who were made hostage by militants can be saved.  The hijackers demanded the release of 35 militants which were in Indian jails and 200 million US dollars in cash from Indian government to release the hostages. Indian negotiators persuaded the militants in reducing the demand and made them to agree on release of three prisoners. The released militants were Maulana Masood Azhar, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar.  On December 31, 1999 Indian former external affairs minister Jaswant Singh went to Afghanistan with the to release the hostages in exchange of three militants. Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh is in Pakistan jail as he was arrested for killing of an American journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002. Maulana Masood Azhar is running the Jaish-e-Mohammed militant group which was responsible for the Indian parliament attack in 2001 while Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar is roaming free and is playing active role in training Islamic militants in the region of Kashmir which is administered by Pakistan. Two movies were also directed on the incident of hijack of IC 814 fligh named “Zameen” and “Hijack” which shown the incident in sequence. One documentary film was prepared by one company Miditech of Gurgaon, Haryana which was shown on National Geographic channel. Neelesh Misra, a New Delhi based correspondent of the Associated Press written a book “173 Hours In Captivity” explaining all the sequence of events inside and outside the hijacked plane during the hijack. He has explained how the passengers, crew members lived during the hijack and how uncomfortable they were feeling at that time. Nepali film director Dayaram Dahal is also planning now to make the first Nepali film on the hijack drama of Indian Airlines flight IC 814.

Present scenario: At present India have far better security than from past and there are manual as well as computerized checking to avoid any kind of hijack. India has now good relations with Hamid Karzai government in Afghanistan and India has also invested 1.2 billion US dollars in socio economic reconstruction of their country. But still there is always a danger that Taliban can take over which is topic of concern for India but India is ready to tackle any kind of conditions. Nepal has also increased their security level on their only international airport in Kathmandu. They have learned from the last hijack and don’t want to take chance in future. Indian Airlines and Jet Airways combine flights from Kathmandu to New Delhi, Kolkata, Varanasi and Mumbai accounts for about 6,000 seats per week so it is important concern of security for the Nepal and they have made their security system according to guidelines of International Civil Aviation Organizations to avoid future hijack.  Dinesh Prasad Shrestha who is general manager of the Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu said that we have learnt from the hijack of IC 814 and now the security measures have been enhanced at the international airport to prevent any kind of repetition in future. According to officials of Nepal, Nepal police and Nepal army both are used now to look for the security of airport and many advanced techniques are also in use to check the baggage of the passengers as well as body with X-ray machines. Moreover Indian, Pakistani and Middle East states passengers are thoroughly examined so that there is no chances of any kind of mistake. 

Rajput Policy Akbar’s Rajput policy was the result of his sharp mind. He broke from the path and adopted a new policy that his predecessors had never even thought. All the former Muslim rulers had used sword against the Rajputs and thus had wasted their power and had invited dangers to their empires. Akbar did not want to follow the policy of his predecessors so he extended hand of friendship towards them. He believed that with the policy of Mughals and bravery of Rajputs a vast empire can be established. Akbar wanted to establish a strong empire in India. It could not be done without the support and friendship of Rajputs as they were the military leaders of Hindus. Peace and prosperity could prevail only because of unity of Hindus and Muslims. To turn his dream into reality he extended hand of friendship towards Rajputs. He wanted to suppress his Muslim enemies. He had to suppress many rebellions in his own household and court at the time of his accession to the throne. Even his trusted courtiers and family members had conspired against him and had tried to declare Mirza Haqeem as the new ruler. He had a very few family members who could be trusted so he realized the necessity of the friendship of true, brave and trusted friends. Only Rajputs fitted in this criterion. He used various kinds of methods to make them his friends. He established matrimonial relations with them. If anyone of them acknowledged his lordship during the battle, was forgiven and embraced. In 1562 he himself had married with the princess of Ambar. He appointed many Hindus at high posts in his administration without giving any attention to the caste and religion based discrimination. In his administration he had 51 Hindu nobles out of which 17 were Rajputs.

Freedom to Rajputs Hindus and Rajputs had complete freedom as for as their religion was concerned. They were free to worship in temples, celebrate their religious festivals and participate in their religious rituals. Religion based taxes on Hindus such as Jaziya and Pilgrimage taxes were abolished. Akbar never fought against his enemies in the name of ‘holy war’ or Jehad. After defeating his Hindu enemies, he never looted or destroyed the Hindu temples. Many Rajputs kings were impressed by Akbar’s policies and they acknowledged his lordship happily. But Mewar, Ranthambor and Kalinjar Rajput kings did not accepted him as their king so he marched against them. But after defeating his enemies he never killed them but made them his friends. Akbar did not interfere in the internal matters of the Rajput riyasats (states). At one hand Akbar’s Rajput policy secured the Mughal Empire from the brave Rajputs and on the other hand Rajputs helped him to expand his Empire. With the help of Rajpus he neutralized the anti-Mughal forces and established peace and prosperity. According to a famous historian Lanepool ‘When Akbar ascended to throne he had control only on the territory surrounding Delhi and Agra. But when he died he left the greatest, the wealthiest and the strongest empire in the world. Such a great achievement of, was in no small measure, due to the most loyal support and wonderful fighting qualities the Rajputs’. Akbar’s Rajput policy ended more than three hundred years old enmity between the Rajputs and Mughals and started an era of Economic reformation. It gave tremendous boost to the foreign trade and commerce. India developed a lot in every field of life during the rule of Akbar. Religious movements and hereditary influences had played an important role in his religious policy. Many Hindu kings had helped his father Humayun when he was facing worst phase of his life. Thus, neither Humayun nor Akbar was fundamentalists.

True Patriot In 1575 he built a building in Fatehpur Sikri which was named ‘Ibadatkhana’. Akbar used to organize meeting on every Thursday in which Muslim clerics and religious figures participated. Debates were held on many Islamic topics and most of the time these debates used to turn into quarrels. Because of it Akbar lost faith in Islam. From that onwards he started to call representatives of every religion in these meetings and debates. After some time Akbar felt that there is no basic difference between the basic teachings of every religion and none of them is better than the other. The result of this thinking was the establishment of a new religion Din-e-Ilahi. But some people say that it was a monument of Akbar’s folly. Many historians say that Din-e-Ilahi was not a religion but a social group. They say that it lacked basic rituals that are the part of every religion. It did not have any religious book. Akbar did not give much importance to spread this new belief. Different people have different views about Din-e-Ilahi but it can not be ruled out that it was a revolutionary thinking which could not turn into reality.

Akbar loved his country more than his religion. He established Din-e-Ilahi to strengthen his country. Almost all the countries of world have been bothered by the religious matters.

Annexation of Kabul Akbar’s step brother Mirza Mohammad Hakeem was the governor of Kabul. In 1581 he revolted against the Mughal Empire and was defeated badly. He asked for the forgiveness of the Mughal emperor and was reinstated as the governor of Kabul. In 1585 Mirza Hakeem died. Akbar took the advantage of this opportunity and annexed Kabul into the Mughal Empire. Raja Maan Singh was appointed as the governor of Kabul. Under the able leadership of Raja Bhagwan Das and Kasim Khan, Akbar sent a military campaign to conquer Kashmir in 1586. They defeated Kashmir ruler Yusuf Khan and his son Yaqub Khan in the battle. Thus Kashmir was the next princely state to fell to the Mughals. In 1591 governor of Multan, Khankhana, Abdur Raheem was sent to conquer Sindh by the Mughal Emperor. At a place named Sehwan, Sindh ruler Jaani Begh gave a stiff resistance to the invading Mughals and severely damaged their military might. Toddar Mall’s son Dharu was killed in this battle. But in the end Jaani Begh accepted his defeat and surrendered before the Mughals. He married his daughter with Khankhana’s son. Akbar appointed him as a ‘Mansabdar’ into his administration and thus Sindh was annexed into the Mughal Empire.

Suppression of North-West Frontier Tribes After the annexation of Kabul, Akbar sent military campaigns to suppress the rebel North-West Frontier Tribes. Among them, Yusufjai Tribe was the strongest and most dangerous tribe. To suppress this tribe Akbar sent a military campaign under the generalship of Birbal and Jain Khan. These Tribals gave stiff resistance to the Mughals and severely damaged their military might. More than 8,000 Mughal soldiers were killed in the battle along with Birbal. His death was emotionally a big blow to Akbar. On hearing this news he was very upset. To avenge his death, he sent a huge army under the leadership of Raja Maan Singh and Raja Toddar Mall. Both these military leaders severely defeated Yusufjai Tribals and avenged the previous Mughal defeat. Mughlas fought against the Roshnaia Tribe for many years and totally suppressed them. Abdullah Khan, the Uzbek leader was very much influence by the victory of Mughals against the North-West Frontier Tribes. He decided not to fight against them and signed an agreement with them. In 1595 Kandhar was annexed into the Mughal Empire. Before that it was a part of the Kingdom of Shah of Iran. Muzaffar Hussain Shah, the governor of Kandhar was not at good terms with the Shah of Iran. He conspired against him and himself surrendered Kandhar to the Mughals. He was appointed a ‘Mansabdar’ in the Mughal administration.

South India Expedition After conquering whole of the north India and strengthening his administration, Akbar decided to conquer South India. At that time, Khandesh, Ahmadnagar, Bizapur and Golkunda were the four famous princely states of South India. These states were ruled by the Muslim Shiya rulers. Akbar sent messengers to all those states to acknowledge his lordship. Except the Khandesh ruler Ali Khan the other three rulers declined to do so. Akbar decided to conquer those states. In 1595, on his orders, Mughal forces marched towards Ahmadnagar under the generalship of Prince Murad and Abdur Rahim Khankhana. At that time, Bahadur Nizamshah was the Sultan of Ahmadnagar and Chand Bibi was his regent. Under her leadership, the Ahmadnagar soldiers fought bravely against the invaders. When saw no hope of victory, they signed an agreement with Chand Bibi according to which Brar area was annexed into the Mughal territory. After some time the Chieftains of Brar areas collected a huge military and tried to force the Mughals to oust from the Brar areas. Mughals defeated them in a battle that was fought at a place named Soupa. In April, 1600, Mughal military once again laid seize to Ahmadnagar and after four months of battle defeated the defending forces of Ahmadnagar. The ruler of that state was sent into prison in Gwalior. After the death of Khandesh ruler, Ali Khan, Meeran Bahadar ascended to his throne and declared himself free from the Mughal Empire. So Akbar, himself led the Mughal military against the Khandesh ruler. They easily conquered Burhanpur the capital of Khandesh. After that Mughal forces laid seize to the fort of Asirgarh. “It was impossible to conceive of a stronger fortress or one more amply supplied with artillecy, war-like stories and provisions”. But for six months, Mughals forces failed to enter into the fort. It is said that Akbar got the doors of the fort opened by bribing some officials. In January, 1601 Khandesh was annexed into the Mughal Empire. It was Akbar’s last victory. The defeated Khandesh ruler was sent into prison to Gwalior. By 1602, Akbar ruled a vast empire that expanded from the Himalaya and Kashmir to Godawari River in South. In east it Bengal was its part while in west Hindukush mountains worked as its borders. It had 15 Provinces named, Delhi, Agra, Lahore, Multan, Kabul, Awadh, Bihar, Bengal, Ilahabad, Ajmer, Malwa, Ahmadabad, Khandesh, Brar and Ahmadnagar.

The greatest medieval ruler, though ruled the vastest empire at that time, but he died in utter despair. His own son Salim revolted against him and declared himself the next Mughal heir. He died because of illness on October 25, 1605. He was buried near Agra and a beautiful tomb was built at that place. Some historians say that misconduct of his sons had troubled him and hastened his death.

Young Prince Akbar was only 13 years old when his father Humayun died. It was a difficult position to the young Mughal heir. But Bairam Khan, Akbar’s tutor and Humayun’s trusted friend and officer rose to the occasion. He became the regent of the young prince and looked after his kingdom until he was able enough to rule India. When Humayun died Akbar was in Punjab. Bairam Khan hastily constructed a throne for Akbar’s coronation in Kalanor near Gurdaspur and proclaimed Akbar as the new King of India. At the time of Akbar’s accession, the Mughal Empire did not have definite borders. Slowly and steadily he not only expanded his empire but also consolidated and strengthened his empire by his good administration and works. He was anointed as the King of India on February 14, 1556. Since his childhood, Akbar had always dreamt of expanding his empire. After proclaiming Akbar as the ‘Samrat’ of India Bairam Khan spent next 4-5 years to suppress the enemies of the Mughal Empire. Soon after his accession Akbar started to conquer all the independent states. He conquered almost all the north and south Indian states.

Initial Campains Takeing the advantage of Humayun’s death and Akbar’s absence, Hemu (military general of Aadilshah Suri) captured Agra and marched towards Delhi. Mughal forces marched from Sirhind towards Delhi under the leadership of Bairam Khan and Akbar. Mughal military met the Afghan military on the historic battlefield of Panipat and a fierce battle was fought on November 5, 1556. Afghan army was defeated badly and Hemu was captured and killed. This battle has a historic significance as it ended the Afghan rule in India forever and consolidated the position of Mughals in India. After defeating the Afghan military and recapturing Agra and Delhi, an army was sent to Mewat to kill the relatives of Hemu under the leadership of Peer Mohammad in 1557. Hemu’s father was captured and killed and Mewat was included into the Mughal empire. In 1557 Mughals marched to suppress Sikander Suri’s resistance under the leadership of Akbar and Bairam Khan. The Suri ruler was in Mankot fort at that time. For next six months he resisted the Mughals from the fort but in the last he accepted his defeat. By 1560 Gwalior and Jaunpur states, too had been won.

Akbar on his own From Akbar’s accession to 1560 Bairam Khan had his complete control of Mughal administration. He defeated all the Mughal enemies whoever dared to challenge Akbar. If anyone of their enemy was defeated and captured alive in the battlefield, Bairam Khan, himself, brutally murdered him. But Akbar did not like this kind of approach towards his enemies. In 1560 Akbar took the reins of administration into his own hands and asked Bairam Khan to spend rest of his life in peace. Bairam Khan chose to go to Mecca but he was murdered on his way to Mecca by an Afghan in 1561. In 1561 Akbar sent an expedition towards Malwa under the leadership of Peer Mohammad and Aadam Khan. Malwa ruler Baz Bahadur was defeated and fled towards Khan Desh. Peer Mohammad was appointed the governor of Malwa. But after some time Baz Bahadur defeated the Mughals and recaptured Malwa. Under the leadership of Abdulah Khan, Akbar sent a huge army against the Malwa ruler. Baz Bahadur was defeated and he accepted Akbar’s lordship. In 1564 on Akbar’s orders Asif Khan conquered Gondwana. Gondwana ruler Rani Durgawati and her son Veer Narayan was killed during the battle. In 1567 Mughal forced marched towards Chittor. Chittor was ruled by Mewar king Rana Uday Singh. By that time, many Rajput kings had accepted Akbar’s lordship but Mewar king had declined to do so. He also had helped Mughal enemies. So Akbar himself led his military towards Chittor. Uday Singh himself fled and hid in mountains but Rajputs of Mewar bravely fought against the invading Mughals under the leadership of two brother military generals Jaimal and Fatta.  After four months of seize Mughals captured Chittor while Jaimal and Fatta were killed in the battle. Storied of their bravery are still famous in Rajathan and are sung as folk songs. In 1569 Akbar sent military expedition to conquer Ranthambhor and Kalinjar. Ranthambhor ruler Surjan Rai fought bravely against the Mughals but finally acknowledged Akbar’s lordship.Kalinjar ruler Ramchandar, too,  accepted his acknowledged Akbar’s lordship without any military resistance.

Expansion of Mughal Empire After the death of his father Uday Singh, Rana Pratap ascended to the throne of Mewar. It is said that he had took oath to free his homeland from the Mughals. On June 18, 1576 a battle was fought between Rana Pratap and Mughal forces in the battlefield of Haldighati. Rana Pratap was defeated and he fled towards mountains. But he kept on fighting against Mughals from 1576 till his death in 1597. By the time of his death he had freed almost all the Mewar except Ajmair and Chittor from the clutches of Mughals.  Praising Rana Pratap, a historian has written ‘the vanquished, it may be, were greater than the victors’. Rana Pratap is considered as a great patriot and his picture is a part of almost every north Indian household. Tales of his bravery are sung in the form of folk songs. Indian freedom struggle especially armed freedom struggle was influenced a lot from Rana Partap. In 1572 Akbar sent Mughal army to conquer Gujarat and himself followed his army to Gujarat.

When he reached Ahmadabad, the Gujarat ruler Muzaffar Khan III acknowledged his lordship. In 1572 he defeated the Mirzas of Gujarat in the battle of Sarnal. After that he conquered Surat and thus whole of the Gujarat was under the Mugals by year of 1573.  After that he suppressed the revolt of Gujarat and Mirzas were punished. Rebels were punished severely and thus suppressed the revolt and consolidated the Mughal rule in Gujarat by establishing peace. After conquering Gujarat an army was sent against the independent ruler of Bihar and Bengal Dawood Khan under the leadership of Muneem Khan and Toddar Mall. After some time Akbar himself joined his forces. First it was Patna and Hazipur that fell to the Mughal might and after that whole of the Bengal was conquered. Dawood Khan acknowledged the lordship of the Mughal ruler. But after some time he rebelled. Under the leadership of Khan Jahan and Toddar Mall Mughal forces defeated and forced Dawood Khan to flee from the battleground. Later on he was captured and murdered. By the year of 1576 Bihar and Bengal had been included into the Mughal Empire.

Sultan Shahab-ud-Din Mohammad Shah Jahan ascended to throne in 1628 and he ruled India for next thirty years. During thirty years of his rule he not only kept his empire secured from the external threats but also worked ceaselessly for its expansion and development. In the early years of his rule two Rajputs nobles Jujhar Singh Bundela and Khanjahan Lodhi revolted against the Mughal rule. He had to send many expeditions against them and in the last these revolts were quelled. Shah Jahan had to fight against the Hugly based Portuguese as they had started to indulge in illegal activities. They had started spreading their religion with the use of power. In East-Bengal they had created a law and order problem and they used to loot the inhabitants. Under the leadership of Bengal Governor Kasim Khan Mughal forces attacked the Portuguese and severally punished them. Except these achievements, Shahjahan had many other important achievements. With his ascension to the throne, a new era of Deccan policy commenced. Like his predecessors Shah Jahan enthusiastically tried to conquer south Indian territories and was more successful than them.

Deccan Conquests He gave orders to his military general Mahabat Khan to march against Ahmadnagar. Mughal forces laid seize to the Daultabaad fort and succeeded to conquer it after four months of seize. It is said that Fateh Khan (son of Malik Ambar) took ten lakhs as bribe to open the gates of the fort. Young Sultan of Ahmadnagar Hussain Nizamudin was captured and sent to the Gwalior prison. Thus 1n 1633, the era of Nizamshahi rule ended in Ahmadnagar and it was annexed into Mughal Empire. In 1636 Shah Jahan sent letters to the Gulkunda and Bijapur rulers to acknowledge the lordship of the Mughal Badshah.  Golkunda ruler Abdulah Qutubshah welcomed the Mughal messenger and signed an agreement to give six lakh as annual tax to the Mughal ruler and also to help them against their campaign against Bijapur. But the Bijapur Sultan declined to accept the offer of the Mughal Sultan so Shah Jahan ordered his military to march against him. Mughal forces attacked Bijapur from three sides and destroyed every village and town that came into their way. Thousands of native of Bijapur were put to sword. But they fought very bravely against the invaders and gave a big blow to their military power. In  the last both the sides signed an agreement according to which Bijapur sultan accepted to give 20 lakhs as annual tax to the Mughals and on the other hand Mughal Emperor acknowledged him as the Sultan of Bijapur and gave some Ahmadnagar areas to him. Shah Jahan appointed his third son Aurangzeb as the governor of Mughal territory of Deccan. He successfully ruled these areas from 1636 to 1644. He was again appointed the governor of this territory in 1653 as Golkunda and Bijapur Sultans has become free. He defeated them and forced them to acknowledge the lordship of the Mughal Emperor.

Minor Conquests of North India Mughals had scored many minor victories during the rule of Shah Jahan. Free or rebel rulers of north India were defeated and forced to acknowledge the lordship of the Mughal Emperor. Conquest of Little Tibet is important among these victories. Its ruler Abdal had helped some rebels of the Mughal Empire so Mughal forces marched against him. On Kashmir governor Jafar Khan’s advice he surrendered. But after four years he rebelled. On the orders of Mughal Emperor, Jafar Khan marched against him. After resisting for some time he accepted his defeat and acknowledged lordship of the Mughal Emperor. He submitted an amount of ten lacks as damages of the battle to the Mughals. Bundelkhand ruler Champat Rai had started to create problems in the Mughal territories. During 1639 to 1642 many expeditions were sent against him. In 1642 he accepted Mughal Emperor as his ruler. Many expeditions were sent against the Bhil and Gond tribes of Malwa. After it rulers of Kumaun and Srinagar (Dehradoon) were subdued.

Setbacks and Death In 1629 the able and clever ruler of Iran Shah Abbas died. His successor was not clever like his father. The Kandhar governor has some differences with him. He surrendered Kandhar fort to the Mughal forces and was appointed at a high rank in the Mughal Empire. After it Shah Jahan sent expeditions to conquer Balkh and Badakhshan under the leadership of Aurangzeb. They defeated the Balkh ruler Nazar Mohammad but could not conquer these territories permanently.  So they signed an agreement with Nazar Mohammad and returned. In the way they were attacked by the Hazara Tribe and many Mughal soldiers were killed.  Thousands of them died in mountains because of cold and hunger. Thus Mughals lost thousands of their soldiers. In 1642, Shah Abbas II became the ruler of Iran. He had all the qualities of Shah Abbas. He lade seize to Kandhar in early months of 1649. Mughal emperor could not send reinforcement in time and after some time it became impossible to send reinforcement because of snowfall. Three expeditions were sent to conquer Kandhar in 1649, 1652 and 1653 but they failed to bear any fruit. An amount of four crores was wasted on these expeditions and many brave and able nobles were killed. In 1657, Shah Jahan fell ill and war of succession started among his sons. In this war, three of his sons were killed by Aurangzeb. Shah Jahan was imprisoned in a building in the Agra fort.  He spent his next eight years in the house arrest. He died on January after a prolonged illness and remaining confined to bed for some months.

Mughal-Mewar Agreement Akbar had sent many expeditions against the Mewar King but he could not subdue him and all his efforts failed bear fruits. After his ascension to the throne Jahangir decided to follow Akbar’s Mewar policy. By that time Rana Sanga had died and his son Rana Amar Singh had become the new ruler of Mewar. Jahangir too had to send many expeditions to subdue Mewar. All the expedition sent during the years from 1606 to 1613 failed. In the last an expedition send under the leadership of Prince Khurram succeeded. Khurram destroyed many villages and towns of the Mewar Riyasat (Kingdom) and thus Rana Amar Singh was forced to sign an agreement with Prince Khurram.  On the basis of this agreement Rana Amar Singh acknowledged the lordship of the Mughal Ruler. All those areas of Mewar that were won during the rule of Akbar were given back to the Rana. This agreement between the Mughals and the Mewar King is considered to be the most important achievement of Jahangir. It ended that centuries old enmity between Mughals and Mewar and established friendly relations between them. This agreement indicates that Jahangir followed his father’s footsteps by adopting most conciliatory policy towards his vanquished foe. After that, till the time of Aurangzeb, Mewar rulers remained trusted friends of Mughals.

Expansion of Mughal Empire Under the rule of Jahangir, conquest of Kangra was an important achievement of Mughal military. It is said that this mountainous fort was attacked 54 times but it could not conquered. In 1619 Mughals laid seize to the fort under the leadership of Khurram. After four months of efforts this fort fell to the Mughals on November 16, 1620. Jahangir followed his father’s Deccan policy consistently. During the last years of Akbar’s rule Khandesh, Brar and Ahmadnagar had been annexed into the Mughal Empire but by the time of Jahangir’s ascension to throne Ahmadnagar had become free. So he decided to conquer Ahmadnagar once again. But it was his misfortune that it was ruled by a very able, clever policy maker and administrator Wazir Malik Ambar. His power had increased manifolds. From 160 to 1616 campaigns were sent under the leadership of Khankhana Abdul Rahim and Khan Jahan but nothing substantial could be achieved. In 1616-17 a campaign was sent under the leadership of Khurram. Jahangir himself followed him to Mandu to help him. When Mughlas started to destroy Ahmadnagar territory Malik Ambar preferred to make peace with Mughlas. So he surrendered Ahmadnagar and Balaghat forts to Mughals. He himself met Khurram along with gifts worth 15 lakhs and acknowledged Mughal Emperor’s lordship. But by 1620 he had recaptured his lost territory from the Mughals with the help of Bizapur and Golkunda rulers. Thus Jahangir’s Deccan campaigns failed to achieve something substantial. On Jahangir’s orders Bengal governor Allaudin Islam marched against the Bihar ruler Laxmi Narayan. He acknowledged lordship of Mughal Emperor and gave his world to give annual taxes.

Setbacks and Death In 1622, Iran ruler Shah Abbas attacked Kandhar and captured it after 45 days of seize. Jahangir had ordered to Shahjahan to lead Mughal military to Kandhar but the later declined to do so. Thus because of Shahjahan’s revolt Khandhar was lost forever. Jahangir had planned to recapture Khandhar but it could not turn into reality because of Shahjahan’s revolt and some other internal problems. It was a big blow to the Mughal Empire. After 1621, Noorjahan had started to conspire against Shahjahan and had hatched a plan to make her son-in-law Shehryar as the heir of Jahangir. So Shahjahan revolted and this rebellion took three years from 1623 to 1626 to get suppressed. Soon after it, famous Mughal noble and military general Mahabat Khan revolted because Noorjahan had mistreated him and his son-in-law. He arrested both Jahangir and Noorjahan and ruled the country for one hundred days. In the last his revolt was suppressed but both these revolts gave a big blow to the Mughal power and prestige. In Deccan, Malik Ambar had increased his military power manifolds an in north-west Kandhar was lost. In 1627, Jahangir fell ill because of too much drinking. He went to Kashmir to get well but returned because of cold. He died in Lahore in 1627 and beautiful tomb is located at his burial place which is accompanied by the tombs of his wife Noorjahan her brother Aasaf Khan.

Expedition against Rajputs Aurangzeb was not in favor of allowing the Rajputs to play an important role in his administration. He transformed Akbar’s Rajput policy. But Aurangzeb did not tried to take any concrete step against the Rajputs for next twenty years after his accession to throne as he wanted to strengthen and consolidate his position and Empire. He also needed their help to fight against Shivaji. But after the deaths of Jaipur ruler Raja Jai Singh and Jodhpur ruler Raja Jaswant Singh, Aurangzeb started sending expeditions against the Rajput states. Soon after Raja Jaswant Singh’s death in December 1678, Aurangzeb ordered Khan Jahan Bahadur to march towards Mewar. Mewar was captured by the Mughal forces and both his wives and newly born son Price Ajit Singh were arrested. A brave Rajput noble and trusted friend of Jaswant Singh, Durga Das Rathode freed both the Rajput queens and Prince Ajit Singh from the clutches of Mughals and accompanied them to reach to Jodhpur. Mughal forces marched towards Jodhpur under the leadership of Prince Akbar to punish the Rajputs and conquered the Jodhpur fort. But Ajit Singh and Durga Das had fled unhurt. Mewar ruler became very upset because of Aurangzeb’s tyranny on Marwar people.  He repaired the fort of Chittorh and joined anti-Mughal battle. Aurangzeb himself led Mughal forces to Udaipur and captured it on January 4, 1680. After Aurangzeb’s return, Rajputs recaptured their lost territory by guerrilla warfare. Prince Akbar could not succeed against them and Aurangzeb sent Prince Aazam to replace him while Akbar was appointed at Marwar.

Result of anti-Rajput Policy Prince Akbar signed an agreement with the Rajputs of Marwar and revolted against his father. He declared himself the Mughal ruler. Aurangzeb was shaken to hear this news. He very cleverly created a rift between Akbar and the Marwar Rajputs by throwing forged letter in Akbar’s camp. Akbar fled towards Deccan and new ruler of Mewar Rana Jai Singh preferred to make peace with Mughal Emperor. Aurangzeb too preferred to sign an agreement with the Rajputs. Thus an agreement was signed between the Mughals and Rajputs in July 1679 according to which Aurangzeb removed his army from Mewar and acknowledged Jai Singh as the new Rana of Mewar. On the other had Rana acknowledged the lordship of the Mughal Emperor and agreed to pay annual taxes. But the Rathode Rajputs of Marwar kept on fighting against the Mughals from 1681 to 1707. Because of Durga Das’s relentless efforts, Ajit Singh became the free ruler of Mewar in 1707. Aurangzeb also died in 1707 and Bahadur Shah accepted Ajit Singh as the new ruler of Marwar. Aurangzeb’s anti-Rajput wars proved out to be dangerous for the existence of Mughal Empire. Except the loss of men and wealth, Mughals lost incomparable services of Rajputs. ‘A race which had been the right arm of the Mughal Empire at the beginning of the reign was now hopelessly alienated’. Mughals could not attain any thing substantial by fighting against the Rajputs and it was a big blow to the Mughal prestige.

Mughal Empire After 1681 Aurangzeb gave his full attention to expand his empire towards Deccan and to suppress the revolt of Marathas. He wrote a letter to Bijapur ruler to acknowledge the lordship of the Mughal Emperor. But the latter declined to do so. On Aurangzeb’s orders Mughal army marched against the Bijapur ruler under the leadership of Prince Aazam. After 17 month’s of seize Mughal forces succeeded to conquer the Bijapur fort. Bijapur Sultan was captured alive and sent to the Daultabad fort as a royal prisoner. Bijapur territory was annexed into the Mughal Empire. After conquering Bijapur, Aurangzeb attacked the Golkunda riyasat. After eight months of unsuccessful seize of Gulkunda fort, Mughals got the eastern door of the fort opened after bribing a Gulkunda Pathan Noble Abdullah Pni. Mughal soldiers forced into the fort and attacked the enemy. A Gulkunda noble Abdur Razzaq reached the door and fought very bravely against the Mughals. Golkunda Sultan Abdul Hassan was captured alive and sent to Daultabad fort. His territory was annexed into the Mughal Empire. After these conquests Aurangzeb became the sovereign ruler of the entire north and south India. No other Indian ruler had ruled over such a vast empire before him. His empire was expanded from Himalaya in the north to the Kaweri River in south. In East it touched the Bengal coast while in north-west Hindukush mountains were its borders. In West Arabian Sea bordered it. But it can not be ignored that Jats, Rajputs and Marathas had revolted in the last years of Aurangzeb’s rule and had become free with the passage of time.

Revolt of Marathas and Death By the year of 1660 Marathas had revolted against the Mughal Empire under the leadership of Shivaji and had conquered many forts. For next five years he quelled all the Mughal efforts to retain the lost territory.  A Mughal army sent under the generalship of Raja Jai Singh defeated Shivaji and forced him to sign a treaty with the Mughal Emperer. In 1666 Shivaji was arrested along with his son when he went to the royal court. But he cleverly escaped the prison and reached his homeland. Within a few years he recaptured his lost territory and was anointed as the first Maratha King at Raigadh fort in 1674. After Shivaji’s death in 1680 his son became the next king of Maratha Kingdom. But he was an unable ruler. He never took the advantage of Aurangzeb’s difficulties and wasted his time in luxurious pursuits. Mughal forces attacked the Sangeshwar fort where Shambhaji had taken refuses after consecutive defeats. He was captured alive along with his friend Kavi Kalash and were murdered in 1689. Mughal forces attacked the Maratha capital Raigadh and captured Shambhaji’s son Shahu along with other family members was captured alive while his second son fled from the fort and kept on fighting against the Mughal Emperor. They kept on fighting guerrilla war against the Mughals. Because of years’ long battles against Marathas, the Mughal Emperor weakened. In the last he fell ill and returned to Ahmadabad. After remaining ill for some time he died on March 3, 1707. He was buried at Khuldabad near Daultabad.

Auragzeb wasted his last 25 years while fighting in south without any concrete gains. ‘All seemed to have been gained by Aurangzeb. But in reality all was lost. It was the beginning of Aurangzeb’s end’. Mughal Empire was economically shaken and the royal treasury became empty. Agriculture and trade was severely affected by years’ long battles. Unrest prevailed in the north India because of 25 years long battles of South. In different areas enemies of the Mughal Empire revolted. Feudal system and taxation was totally shaken. It is believed that it were not the religious but the economic reasons that caused the downfall of the Mughal Empire.

War of Succession Shah Jahan had four sons-Dara Shikoh, Shah Suja, Aurangzeb and Murad Baksh. In September, 1657 he fell ill and rumors of his death spread. It started the war of succession between all the sons of Shah Jahan. Shah Jahan himself favored Dara Shikoh to become the ruler of Mughal India. Suza sided with Dara while Murad sided with Aurangzeb. Dara and Suza’s combined forces sent under the leadership of Sulemaan Shikoh were defeated at Bahadargarh near Banaras by the combined forces of Aurangzeb and Murad. After it Aurangzeb and Murad defeated Dara’s forces lead by Jaswant Singh and Qasim Khan at Dhanpat on April 15, 1658. In this battle Dara was defeated. The final and decisive battle was fought on May 29, 1658 at Sumgarh, fourteen miles away from Agra. Dara was defeated and he fled from the battlefield. After that Aurangzeb got all his brothers killed and forced his father to remain in house arrest in a building in the Agra Fort. Finally Aurangzeb succeeded in the battle of succession and became the next Mughal ruler. Thus Muhi ud-din Muhammad Aurangzeb popularly known as Alamgir ascended to the peacock throne on July 21, 1658. He ruled India for next fifty years. He was the last famous Mughal ruler. According to a historian ‘His reign stands forth as the most important epoch in the annals of our country. Under him the Mughal Empire reached its greatest extent’. He committed many ‘decisive’ follies that proved out to be dangerous for the Mughal Empire in the long term.

As Governor Aurangzeb, Shah Jahan’s third son was born on November 4, 1618. He spent his early years of childhood in the court of Jahangir because of soured relations between Shah Jahan and Jahangir. Aurangzeb shot to fame when he was appointed as the governor of Mughal provinces of Deccan in 1636. For next eight years he worked very successfully and suppressed many revolts and consolidated the Mughal position in Deccan. Relations between him and Shah Jahan soured in 1644 because of some minor family issue and he was dismissed from his position. Later on he was appointed as the governor of Gujarat and he performed well at that position. After that he was appointed the governor of Balakh and Badakhshan(North-West Frontier Province(Pakistan)) as tribal people had revolted against the Mughal Empire. But he failed to quell the revolt and thus he, again, was not at good terms with his father. After that he was again appointed the governor of Deccan in 1653 and he once again annexed Golkunda and Bijapur into the Mughal Empire. He had defeated both the sultans of Gulkaunda and Bijapur in 1656-57 and had forced them to acknowledge the lordship of Mughal Emperor.

Expansion After ascending to the throne Aurangzeb followed the policy of his predecessors of spreading the Empire. He appointed Mir Zumla governor of Bengal in 1660 and ordered to take actions against the enemies and expand the Empire. Mir Zumla marched towards Cooch Bihar and conquered it without any stiff resistance. After the conquest of Bihar, Mir Zumla marched towards Assam with a huge army. After conquering many forts, Mughals attacked the capital of Jaidhwadh, an Ahom King.  Jaidhwadh preferred to acknowledge Mughal Emperor’s lordship instead of fighting. But Mir Zumla died on March 31, 1663 because of tiredness of this battle. Mughal’s Assam victory did not prove out to be a permanent victory as after four years the new Ahom ruler Chakardhawaj recaptured his lost territories. He also conquered Guwhati and arrested the Mughal administrator of that territory. Many expeditions were sent by the Mughals to recapture Guwhati but they failed. In 1679 Mughals conquered it by bribing some of their enemies but in 1681, the Ahom ruler once again recaptured it and thus Kamrup was lost forever. After the death of Mir Zumla, Shayista Khan was appointed the governor of Bengal. His most important success was the conquest of Chittagong. His navy defeated the Arakan ruler’s forces in three battles and in the last fort of Chittagong was conquered and Chittagong’s name was renamed Islamabad.

Suppression of Revolts The North-West Frontier Tribes has once again started to create law and order problems in the Mughal territories. Aurangzeb took strong actions to suppress them and Mughal forces fought against them for ten years constantly. In 1667 people of the Yusufzai tribe revolted under the leadership of Bhagu. They attacked the Mughal territory of Hazara. An army of Mughals marched against them under the leadership of Shamsher and Muhammad Amin Khan. Yusufzais were defeated badly and hundreds of them were killed in battle. Many of them drowned in the Sindh (Indus) River. Hundreds of them were captured alive. After that Mughal forces attacked the Yusufzai villages and destroyed them. Thus their revolt was suppressed with power of sword. In 1672, the Afridi and Khatak tribes revolted under the leadership of Akmal Khan and Khushal Khan. Kabul Governor marched against them and battle was fought near the Ali Masjid. But Mughal forces were defeated and thousands of them were captured alive by the rebellions. Amin Khan narrowly escaped and reached Peshawar. Aurangzeb ordered Mughal forces to march towards North-West Frontier Province under the leadership of Fateh Khan, Suzat Khan and Jaswant Singh. Afghans gave a stiff resistance to the Mughal forces and defeated them. Suzat Khan was followed and killed by them. After this setback, Aurangzeb himself led his army to bordering states and camped at Hasan Abdal. He, by the use of ‘hook and crook’ tried to suppress them. This policy proved out to be very successful. Soon, sons of both the rebel leaders sided with the Mughals. By 1657 their power had decreased a lot. Aurangzeb appointed, Amir Khan as the governor of Kabul and himself returned to Delhi. Amir Khan cleverly, created difference between the rebels and defeated them slowly and steadily After Akmal Khan’s death Afridis acknowledged the lordship of Mughal Emperor. Khushhal Khan was captured alive because of his own treacherous son. Thus rebellion of the North-West Frontier tribes was suppressed. But these battles played an important role in the downfall of the Mughal Empire. Power of Mughal’s had decreased manifolds because of these battles. Aurangzeb wasted a lot of time in North-West which presented an opportunity for Shivaji to increase his power in Deccan.  

Mixed Administration Babar and Humayun had no tried to change the prevailing administration and government style of ruling. It was only Akbar who established an efficient and strong administration. His administration was better than his predecessors. He not only adopted some rules of Sher Shah Suri’s administration but also reformed the prevalent system and also introduced some new rules and practices. His successors adopted his basic administration and policies and ruled successfully. In the early time of their rule Mughal rulers ruled according the Islamic Law like the Delhi Sultans. They ruled according to the wishes of the Muslims and guidelines of the Ulemas. But Akbar abolished this practice. In case of differences between the Ulemas and the Emperor, Akbar’s decision was considered to be effective. Thus Muslim religions lobby was barred from interfering in the administration and Mughal Emperor became the supreme power in India. Mughals believed in the divine theory of Kingship. Royalty was considered to be a light emanating from God and a ray from the Sun.

Administration Mughals Emperor gave equal right to Muslims and non-Muslims and thus went against the Islamic Laws. Jeziya tax was abolished and many Hindus were appointed at the high ranks in the Mughal administration. After Akbar, Jahangir and Shah Jahan did not change the prevalent administration system but Aurangzeb was a fundamentalist who ruled according the Islamic Law. He put Jeziya into effect and implemented some rules on Hindus. Mughal Emperors can be called kind dictators. They believed in the welfare of the subjects their first duty. Tyranny was unlawful in everyone, especially in a sovereign who was the guardian of the people. One of the main importances of the Mughal administration is that feudal system was prevalent at large scale. Many rulers of small states had acknowledged Akbar’s lordship and in return Akbar had appointed them feudal lords of their states. They used to pay annual taxes and military assistance to the Emperor.  On Emperor’s orders they used to march against the enemies of the Empire. Mughal Emperor never interfered into the internal matters of their states and they had the full right to rule their state according to their own will. The Mughal administration was the combination of foreign and native elements. ‘It was a Perso-Arabic system in Indian setting. The Royal court, administration and judiciary were established according to the foreign methods while village administration, land and revenue were established according to prevalent methods. They introduced some native subjects into the military administration along with the foreign subjects.

Central Government Emperor was the sovereign head of the Mughal administration who had unlimited powers. But welfare of the people was the chief motive of all the Mughal Emperors. A council of ministers used to help the Emperor. The Mughal ministers did not have the rights of today’s ministers. According to historian ‘The ministers were usually Emperor’s pupils, rather than his teachers’. After the Emperor, the Vakil or Wazir was the most powerful in the administration. He used to advice the Emperor and handled all the administration departments. Bairam Khan was the famous Vakil during Akbar’s reign after that Vakil or Wazir’s powers decreased and Diwan-i-Ala’s powers increased. Diwan-i-Ala was an important position in the Mughal administration. He was the finance minister who kept the record of the revenue and expenditures. He made the land and other taxes related rules. His signatures were necessary for any kind of payment. Toddar Mall and Giyas Begh were the famous Diwan-i- Alas of their ages. Mir Bakhshi was another position in the administration that used to give salaries to the military and civil officials and was also in charge of some other military and civil related works. Chief Sadar was in charge of religious matters.  He used to keep the record of saints and seers, give grants to educational and religious institutes and advice the Emperor into the religion related matters. Khan-i-Saman was the minister of royal family and house hold related matters. Chief Qazi was the chief Judge in the Mughal administration. He used to appoint Qazis, keep a watch on their courts and to advise the Emperor into the related matters. Mir Atish was in charge of artillery while Droga-i-Dakchori was the chief of postal services. Mir-i-Bar was the chief of forest department and Mir-i-Bahir was chief of Navy.

Provincial Administration Subedar was the chief of province who was called Sipah Salar or Nazim. There were 15 provinces during Akbar’s era and during Aurangzeb’s rule they had increased to 21. The administration of province was same like the central administration. Nazim was appointed by the Emperor himself. His chief aim was to establish peace and rule of law and order. He was in charge of almost every department. Diwan was the second in rank after Nazim and was in charge of the financial matters of the province. He was appointed by the Emperor with the advice of Chief Diwan. He was directly under the Central government. Except it Bakkshi, Sadar and Qazi were also appointed by the central government and were answerable only to the heads of their respected departments in center. Waqiya-Nawis used to keep the record of all the happenings informed the Emperor secretly. Many secret agents and writers used to work under him. Kotwal used to be the chief of every important city who used to keep an eye on the personalities.

Lower Level Administration Every province was divided into Sarkar and subdivided into Parganas. Faujdar, Amil Guzar, Bitikchi, Khazanedar were important posts in Sarkars. Shiqdar, Amil, Qanungo, Potdar and Karkuns were the import officials of Pargana. Faujdar and Shiqdar’s work was to establish law and order in their respected fields. They also used to keep a small army under them. Amil Guzar and Amil were in charge of finance departments of Sarkar and Pargana. They used to collect revenue from the land and keep record of it. Except it they also could hear the cases related to financial matters. Bitikchi used to keep the record of land records and revenue collected from them. Khazanedar used to deposit the collected taxes into the royal treasury. Same duties were performed by the Qanungo, Potdar and Karkuns at the Pargana level. Every village had its own Panchayat that was judiciary, administration and government in itself at village level.

Architecture According to a historian ‘with the advent of the Mughals Indo-Muslim architecture reached a unity and completeness’.  From Babar to Shah Jahan all the Mughal Emperors were lovers of art, architecture and literature. Babar built two mosques one in Panipat and another in Sambhal. Humanyun built one mosque in Agra and another in Fatehabad. According to artistic point of view these works are not much important. Akbar himself had a lot of knowledge of architecture. Humayun’s tomb is an important building built during his rule. He also built a fort in Agra.  Fatehpur Sikri. a town established by Akbar consists of many magnificent buildings. Akbar himself had established this city. Buland Darwaza, Jama Masjid, Diwan-i-Aam, Diwan-i-Khas, Tomb of Saleem Chistey, Panch Mehl, Jodhabai Mehal, Uzmaani Mehal and Birbal’s home are the famous, magnificent and beautiful buildings built situated inside this town. Jahangir built Akbar’s tomb in Sikandara, Itmad-ud-Daula’s tomb in Agra. Except it, Abdur Rahim KhanKhana’s tomb in Delhi and Noor Jahan and Jahangir’s tombs in Lahore are the famous building built during Jahangir’s reign. During Shah Jahan’s rule the architecture had touched the peaks. He built many buildings in Agra, Delhi, Lahore, Ajmer, Kashmir, Gwalior and Kubul. World famous building Taj Mahal was build during Shah Jahan’s time. It is considered to be the most beautiful building in India and is called ‘Queen of Architecture’. During Auragzeb’s era the art of architecture saw its downfall. He Built Moti Masjid in Delhi and Badshahi Masjid in Lahore. But they are not much important according to artistic point of view.

Music Except Aurangzeb, all the Mughal Emperors were the great patrons of art, music and literature.  Many musicians, painters, poets etc were the gems in the Mughal court. Babar and Humayun themselves had knowledge of Music. Baiju Bawra was a famous musician in Humayun’s court. It is said that 16^th and 17^th centuries formed the classical age of Hindi Poetry. During Akbar’s rule are of music was at its peaks. Tansen was the famous musician in Akbar’s court. Jahangir and Shah Jahan also were famous patrons of music. But Aurangzeb had banned music in his court.

Successes Humayun succeeded Babar after his death in 1530 but his effectual rule lasted only for ten years as he was driven out of India by Afghans. He was 23 years of age when he became the ruler of India.  He was very brave and fought many battles along with his father. He had played a decisive role in the battles of Khanua and Panipat. After becoming the King he himself led many expeditions against his enemies. But he lacked the qualities of a clever administrator and of an able military leader. He committed many follies which played important roles in his setbacks. His first campaign was against the Kalinjar’s Chandel King. Mughal forces had lain seize of Kalinjar fort for one month and in the last Chandel king accepted his defeat and acknowledges the lordship of Mughal King. After capturing Kalinjar Humayun fought against Afghans who had united under the leadership of Mehmood Lodhi and had become a big threat to the Mughal Empire. In July 1531 a battle was fought between the Mughals and Afghans in the battlefield of Doraha. Afghans were defeated severely and many of the Afghan chieftains were killed. Mehmood Lodhi deserted his army and ran towards Patna. Humayun succeeded in capturing Jaunpur without any resistance. In September the Mughals laid seize of the fort of Chunar. After four months of seize, Sher Khan acknowledged the lordship of Humayun and agreed to send his army to help the Mughals for their future campaigns. Humayun accepted the agreement and withdrew his forces.



Bahadur Shah Gujarat ruler Bahadur Shah had become a major threat to the Mughal Empire. He was rapidly increasing his military and captured Malwa and Raisin. According to a famous historian ‘the court of Gujarat was now the acknowledged refuge of all who feared or hated the Mughal dynasty’. In 1535 Humayun launched a campaign against Bahadur Shah.  Bahadur Shah was defeated many times in various battles. By the end of 1536 Gujarat had been included into the Mughal Empire. Humayun divided the new won areas into parts and gave their administration into the hands of his generals. He himself headed towards Mandu. But in his absence Mughal governors failed to establish a good administration in Gujarat and Malwa. A rebellion broke out in these areas and Bahadur Shah took the advantage of this situation increased his power manifolds. After getting military help form foreigners he headed towards Surat and succeeded in capturing Surat, Brroch and Kaimbe without any stiff resistance. Many Gujarat Chiefs helped him. He collected a large military and captured Ahmadabad in April 1537. By the end of 1537 Mughals had lost the states of Malwa and Gujara to Afghans.

Hamayun’s Failures There is no doubt that Sher Shah was the most formidable enemy of the Mughals. He was the cleverest and most dangerous enemy of Humayun. He had been acknowledged Humayun’s lordship in 1532 after his defeat of Chunar. But he increased his power manifolds form 1532 to 1537. Accessing the gravity of the situation Humayun marched towards Chunar. After seize of Chunar fort for six months Sher Khan fled from the Chunar fort towards Gaur. After capturing Chunar Mughls headed towards Gaur but Sher Khan had fled from Gaur too along with family members and had taken refuse in Rohtas. Mughals succeeded in capturing Gaur without any military confrontation. But Sher Khan had fully prepared himself for the battle in Rohtas. After military preparations he marched towards Mughals. In April 1539 both the forces met in near Chausa. A fierce battle was fought between them on April 26, 1539 in which Mughals were badly defeated. More than eight thousand Mughal soldiers were killed in this battle and Humayun fled from the battlefield. After the battle of Chausa Shar Khan declared himself the ‘Samrat’ and issued coins in his own name. He had become now Sher Shah. After the defeat of Chausa Humayun recruited new soldiers in his military and once again marched against Shar Shah. Both the forced met at Bhojpur near Kanauj. But none of them attacked their enemies. Here Humayun committed the biggest folly of his life by crossing the Ganga River and attacking the Afghans. Mughals were severely defeated in this battle. Thousands of Mughal soldiers were killed along with their military generals. Thousands of Mughal soldiers drowned in the river. Humayun fought bravely but many of his soldiers deserted him. Afghans won a decisive victory over the Mughals and Humayun barely could save himself and fled towards Agra. From there he went to Delhi. But Sher Shah followed him and forced him to run towards Sindh. Humayun fought for many years against Sher Shah and Bahadur Shah but failed to contain them. There were many reasons behind failures. He lacked qualities of generalship. He himself was very brave but always failed to understand the military situations. He never acted according to the demands of time. He did not take adequate steps to contain Afghans when militarily they were very weak. Indulgence in luxurious pursuits was another reason behind his failures. After every victory he spent most of his time in celebration instead of strengthening his position. He did not get any help or cooperation from his brothers. Instead of helping him his brother created problems for him. Disloyalty of his soldiers and treachery of his nobles also played an important role in his defeats in the hands of Sher Shah. It was his misfortune that he had to fight against able enemies. Both his main enemies, Bahadur Shah and Sher Shah were good administrators and military generals. They were very brave, able, treacherous and experienced.

Humayun’s Successes and Death Humayun had to flee towards Sindh because Afghan forces were constantly following him. There he tried an unsuccessful attempt to capture Bhakar. There he married with Hindal’s Ustad Mir Ali Akbar’s daughter Hameeda Bano. He stayed in Amarkot for some time there his wife gave birth to Akbar on October 15, 1542.  By the year of 1543 he had decided to leave India but fortunately his old and faithful friend and noble Bairam Khan met him. Bairam Khan helped him to sign an agreement with the Shah of Iran. The Iran ruler sent his 14.000 soldiers to help him in capturing Kabul and Kandhar. But it took a lot of time. In 1554 he once again decided to march towards India. By that time both his most formidable enemies Mohammad Shah and Sher Shah had died and three Afghan nobles Aadil Shah, Ibrahim and Sikandar Shah were fighting against each other. In December 1554 Humayun and Bairam Khan crossed Indus along with the Mughal forces. In Punjab he successfully fought against Afghans near Machiwara and Sirhind. In July 1555 he had captured Delhi and after that Agra. But he did not live long to consolidate his power as he died from a fall from his library building in Purana Qila at Delhi while reading a book.