UNIT VII AURANGZEB

UNIT VII (9 MARKS) CLIMAX AND INTEGRATION OF MUGHAL EMPIRE.

Aurangzeb's Religious Policy; Revolts against Aurangzeb for regional independence. Aurangzeb's Deccan Policy.

Shivaji - Administration.

Causes of the downfall of the Mughal Empire.

 AURANGZEB: Aurangzeb (1618-1707), last of the great Mughal emperors of India (1658-1707), during whose reign the empire reached its widest extent. The third son of Shah Jahan, he was originally named Muhi-ud-Din Muhammad . When his father was incapacitated by illness in 1657, Aurangzeb and his brothers began a deadly struggle for the succession, in which he prevailed; he ascended the throne in 1658, adopting the title Alamgir (“Conqueror of the World”). To earn that name he put down revolts among the Afghans on the northwest frontier in the 1660s and '70s and suppressed a Rajput rebellion in 1681. In the south he conquered Bijapur (1686) and Golconda (1687) and extracted tribute from Tanjore  and Trichinopoly   in 1691. His repeated attempts to subdue the Marathas of Maharashtra, however, were never quite successful.

A shrewd military leader, Aurangzeb was also a brilliant ruler, with an administrative talent matched by cunning statesmanship. Aurangzeb, having ruled most of the Indian subcontinent for nearly half a century, was the second longest reigning Mughal emperor after Akbar.  A devout Muslim, however, he unwisely abandoned the religious tolerance of his predecessors and ruled the Hindu majority by ruthless force that earned him their universal hatred. He also won the enmity of the Sikhs when he executed their ninth guru, Tegh Bahadur. When Aurangzeb died, on an expedition against the Marathas, he left a vast empire, but an internally weakened one that could not long endure. 

AURANGZEB'S RELIGIOUS POLICY :

Unlike his predecessors, Aurangzeb asserted the fundamentally Islamic character of the state. Regarded as zinda pir, he abolished all un-Islamic practices as mentioned earlier, and appointed Muhtasibs for regulation of moral conduct. In 1669, Aurangzeb took a number of puritanical measures such as prohibiting singing in the court.(himself proficient in playing the veena). He ordered that old temples could be repaired but no  new temples should be built. In 1669 the Vishwanath temple at banaras and keshava rai temple at Mathura were destroyed and mosques erected in their place. He also ordered the destruction of somnath temple and many other temples in Gujarat. Hindus were not allowed to celebrate Holi & Diwali in yhe cities. All Hindus except Rajputs were forbidden to ride well-fed horses, elephants, or Palkies & to wear arms. Aurangzeb also imposed jizyah on Hindus in april 1679, and made a public proclamation of jehad (holy war) against all the hindus with the object of converting the land of infidels into Dar-ul-Islam.

REVOLTS AGAINST AURANGZEB FOR REGIONAL INDEPENDENCE: There were many revolts against Aurangzeb from significant sections of the population for regional independence. Jats, Satnamis, Sikhs & Rajputs, all challenged Mughal hegemony & gravely damaged its prestige.

The Jats: In 1669, the Jats of Mathura revolted under Gokula, the zamindar of Tilpat. The rebellion rapidly spread among the peasants of the area , forcing Aurangzeb to march in person to suppress it. After an intense battle, Gokula was captured & executed. But they continued their struggle under the leadership of raja ram & churamani. After a long struggle, Churamani was successful in founding Shahi dynasty at Bharatpur.

The Satnamis: The Satnami sect. was founded in 1657 in Narnaul (Haryana). The Satnamis revolted in 1672 when a mughal soldier killed a satnami. They were already fed up with the atrocities of Aurangzeb. They killed the soldier in revenge & revolted against the Mughals. They defeated the Mughal armies at many places. The Satnamis were badly defeated by Mughal forces under the leadership of Radandaj.

The Sikhs : In 1675 Aurangzeb had executed Guru Tejh Bahadur, (9^th Guru). This gave rise to revolt against Mughals in punjab. Guru Gobind singh waged a bloody battle against the Mughals & gave a powerful blow to the Mughal empire.  

The Rajputs: In the beginning, Aurangzeb had cordial relations with the Rajputs.The Rajput  rebellion of 1679-80 shows Aurangzeb’s hardened attitude towards his non-Muslim subjects. Aurangzeb did not treat well Rana Jaswant singh of jodhpur & Rana Jai singh of Amber who had sincerely given their services to Mughal Empire. Rana Jaswant singh was sent to attack where he died in fort of jamrud, Rana Jai singh was poisoned by Aurangzeb. Jodhpur was captured by Mughals. It was followed by a prolonged struggle between Aurangzeb & Marwar. Aurangzeb had to retreat & struggle stopped for a short time but after death of Aurangzeb Jodhpur was re-captured by Rajputs.  

AURANGZEB'S DECCAN POLICY:

Aurangzeb spent the last 25 years of his life (1682-1707) in the Deccan. During all this long period, he had practically no rest. The object of his Deccan wars was to conquer the states of Bijapur & Golconda & crush the power of Marathas. Unfortunately the rulers of Bijapur & Golconda were shias & Aurangzeb was a Sunni. Aurangzeb also felt that the existence of these states enabled Marathas to enrich themselves. The Marathas got not only military & administrative experience but also received a lot of money. Aurangzeb believed that if these states were annexed to the Mughal empire, they would not dear to attack them. Aurangzeb proceeded in person to put an end to these states. He led a large number of expeditions against the rulers of Bijapur & was ultimately successful in conquering this state in 1686. Soon after he got success in annexing  the shia state of Golconda to the Mughal empire. But this was not the end of daccan affairs. He had to still deal with Marathas a force was sent against Shivaji’s son Sambaji. He was captured & executed. But the Marathas did not submit they continued the struggle till the end. Thus his 25 years of campaign in Daccan resulted in nothing.The wars in the Deccan drained his resources & loosened his grip in the north. This led to his tragic end in 1707 at Ahamadnagar and slowly led to downfall of Mughal Empire.

SHIVAJI’S  ADMINISTRATION:

Shivaji Bhonsle (1627 -1680), founder of India's Maratha State. The son of a Hindu officer in the service of the Muslim sultan of Bijapur, Shivaji became the leader of the Hindu Maratha people in their struggle against Muslim domination. Establishing himself as an independent ruler at Pune in present Maharashtra state, he defeated an army sent against him by Bijapur in 1659, and another sent by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in 1660. He was forced to make peace with the Mughals in 1665. The following year Aurangzeb had Shivaji and his son detained in the Mughal capital at Agra, but they managed to escape. Returning to Maharashtra, Shivaji resumed his war against Aurangzeb in 1670, pushing as far north as Surat, and he proclaimed himself king in 1674. Although the Mughals reconquered Shivaji's kingdom after his death, his descendants later revived the Maratha power.

Till Shivaji was alive, Aurangzeb did not invade the Deccan but soon after Shivaji's death, he attacked the Maratha kingdom. Shivaji's son, Sambhaji successfully defended his kingdom and did not let Aurangzeb win even a single significant victory. However by 1689 Auranzeb's armies had captured Sambhaji alive. Later Sambhaji was tortured and executed. But even after Sambhaji's death, Aurangzeb could never conquer the Maratha Kingdom completely ever in his 27 years of war in Deccan.

Shivaji Maharaj was an able administrator who established a government that included modern concepts such as cabinet (Ashtapradhan mandal), foreign affairs (Dabir) and internal intelligence. Shivaji established an effective civil and military administration. He also built a powerful navy and erected new forts like Sindhudurg and strengthened old ones like Vijaydurg on the west coast. The Maratha navy held its own against the British, Portuguese and Dutch.

                               Shivaji’s system of administration was largely borrowed from the administrative practices of the deccan state. The Counicil of Ministers (ashtapradhan) had eight ministers, each minister being directly responsible to the ruler. They are

        Peshwa- he was the chief minister and looked after general administration.

        Amatya or Mazumdar- Minister for finance and revenue.

        Waqia Navis- was responsible for intelligence, posts and household affairs.

        Surunavis or chitins- helped the king with his correspondence.

        The samant- the samant used to give advice to the king on matters relating to foreign states. He also advised the king on questions of war and peace.

        The senepati- he was the commander-in-chief of the Maratha forces. His duty was to recruit the soldiers and organise the army.

        The pandit rao or sadar- he was incharge of ecclesiastical forces. He also distributed money among the Brahmins from the charity fund.

        Nayayadhisha – The Nayayadhisha was the chief justice in the kingdom. He endorsed judicial decisions on matters relating to lands, village-headship etc. 

CAUSES OF THE DOWNFALL OF THE MUGHAL EMPIRE:

By the beginning of the 18th century, symptoms of a crisis appeared in the Mughal system. The Marathas had shaken the empire to its foundations by inflicting defeats on Mughal armies in the Deccan and the west. In northern India the Jat landlords and peasants had repeatedly challenged the imperial authority, while in the Punjab region in the northwest, rebellious groups embracing Sikhism emerged as a significant hostile force. Aurangzeb’s policies and the increasing association of his government with a narrow Islamic orthodoxy dealt a serious blow to the empire, as he reversed the time-honored tradition of Mughal rulership accepting indigenous culture.

Despite Aurangzeb’s actions, the setback to the empire was only temporary, as his successors abandoned his policies. There were, however, several other factors that contributed to the final collapse of the empire. The terms on which the zamindars’ relations with the Mughal state were worked out depended on the strength or weakness of the people and the areas under zamindar control. In time, as the regions experienced economic growth, rulers in these regions felt strong enough to stand on their own. They not only refused to cooperate with the Mughals, which in turn affected Mughal military strength and ability to collect taxes, but were often up in arms.

The nobles, on the other hand, had their own problems. They depended on the emperor for position and power and had no hereditary estates to bequeath to their successors. The principal means of tax collection, which required local Hindu gentry to collect revenue from peasants while keeping part for themselves and paying the rest to a treasury, was cumbersome for the nobles. Its enforcement was thus resisted by the nobility even in the 17th century. Under the conditions of the 18th century, many nobles sought to carve out power bases of their own in league with the local magnates, throwing the interests of the empire overboard. The empire collapsed within 40 years of Aurangzeb’s death. However, while there was chaos in some regions, a kind of autonomous regional political order emerged broadly within the Mughal institutional framework. The symbols of the empire therefore outlived the demise of its de facto power.