Question

Discuss the political changes during 1526 _ 1707
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Answer 1

Answer:

The Mughal Empire had started disintegrating in the life time of Aurangzeb himself. Aurangzeb attempted to make India Darul Islam, that is, a place for the people believing in the Islamic faith. His policy gave a severe jolt to the policy of Akbar to build India as Sulah-i-Kul, that is, a place of religious toleration.

It was that policy which fitted into the compromising nature of the Indian society. His policy brought the Rajput chiefs into the imperial fold and gave their blood in building Mughal Empire in India. No sooner this policy was reversed by Aurangzeb than the Rajput’s went into opposition. Builders became the destroyer of Mughal Empire.

The Marathas, the Bundelas, the Jats, and Sikhs and others followed the pursuit. Even divided, their opposition weakened the central author­ity and inflamed the ambitions of the Mughal nobility to carve out their independent kingdoms. Thus, the Mughal Empire was being eaten away by the forces of disintegration on all sides with redoubled vigour on the morrow of the eighteenth century.

Aurangzeb was succeeded by Bahadur Shah I and ruled India from 1707 to 1712. Complacency was writ large on all his actions. Therefore, he is famous as “Shah Bekhabar”. It was in his times that the Sikhs dealt a severe blow to the “rule of the Mughals in the Punjab” and a way was paved for its conquest by them. This did not bring any senses to the Mughal rulers and nobility.

After Bahadur Shah’s death, the dynasty again suffered the war for succes­sion. In that war, Jahandar Shah, “an utterly degenerate represent­ative of the House of Timur, Babur and Akbar” occupied the throne in 1712.

“Frivolous, profligate cruel and cowardly, servilely devoted to a favourite lady Lal Kunwar whose relatives he promoted whole­sale to high honours, to the disgust of the old nobles and the able and experienced servants of the state, he soon became odious and despicable.”

His character gave “a fine time for minstrels and singers and all the tribes of dancers and actors .” It was his rule which helped emergence of the Sayyid brothers famous as king­makers. The treasury—backbone of the government—was squan­dered away. He was to be the first victim of his ministers in the whole history of the Mughal dynasty. The Sayyid brothers placed Farrukhsiyar (1713-1719) on throne.

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In Rajputana, it was Ajit Singh who was recognized as the lawful ruler of Jodhpur by the Mughal Emperor immediately after the death of Aurangzeb. His course of action was imitated by other Rajput rulers and rang the death-knell of Mughal rule over the whole of Marwar.

Marathas:

The Marathas were the most successful in throw­ing the yoke of Mughal rule and created the illusion of an alternative to the Mughal Emperor. Shivaji had successfully, founded a Maratha kingdom even in the life time of Aurangzeb. At the time of his death in 1680, Shivaji ruled independently over Marathavada, Konkan and a large part of the Carnatic.

The entire western sea-coast from the centre of the line joining Surat and Daman to Karwar and Akola was subject to his authority. A few pockets in that region were held by Sidis of Janjira and the Portuguese. Besides, Shivaji held almost an area thrice of his kingdom as semi-subjugated chauth-paying territories.

After the death of Aurangzeb, they defeated the Nizam-ul-Mulk, the Subahdar of the Deccan and the Wazir of the Mughal Emperor in February 1738. His defeat plainly demonstrated the superior military strength of the Marathas.

The Marathas had not only accumulated the strength, but also they had become the leader of the Hindus. It was then the genuine feeling that the King of the Marathas would be succeeding the Mughal Emperor. But this illusion was shattered by their humi­liating defeat at the hands of Ahmad Shah Abdali in the Third Battle of Panipat in 1761.

Struggle for Power:

The Marathas tried to replace the Mughals. All the vassal chiefs and provincial governors of the Mughals also became de facto rulers and their independence was tempered with not by the authority of the Mughal Emperor but by the awe of one noble to the other. Their intense infighting helped in shattering the Mughal government in India.

Almost forty- five years before the sovereignty over India passed into the hands of the British, the Indian polity had disintegrated. Then, India consis­ted of several “kingdoms” of varying size, in each of the ‘ kingdom”, its king was supreme. Each of them had, however, been under cons­tant pressure from “nobles” from within and without who aspired to be their own masters. This ensured a fierce struggle for power in India.