Medieval India — The Mughal Empire
ICSE Class 9 · History & Civics · Chapter 14
What this chapter covers
- The Mughal Empire: time, place and importance
- Sources: the Ain-i-Akbari
- Sources: the Taj Mahal
- Sources: the Jama Masjid
- Sources: the Red Fort
- The Mughal kings in chronological order
- Babur: the three battles waged to consolidate his empire
- Akbar's Rajput policy
- Akbar's steps towards integration
- Akbar's social and educational reforms
- The mansabdari system
Key points
- The Mughal Empire was founded by Babur in 1526 and lasted until 1858; its six great emperors ruled from 1526 to 1707.
- The Mughal emperors in order were Babur, Humayun, Akbar, Jahangir, Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb.
- The Ain-i-Akbari, written in Persian by Abul Fazl, describes the court, army, administration, revenue and people of Akbar's empire, but it praises Akbar and must be checked against other sources.
- The Taj Mahal at Agra, the Jama Masjid of Delhi and the Red Fort of Delhi were built by Shah Jahan; they show the wealth of the empire and the blend of Persian, Central Asian and Indian styles.
- Babur consolidated his empire through three battles: Panipat (1526) against Ibrahim Lodi, Khanwa (1527) against Rana Sanga, and Ghagra (1529) against the Afghans of the east.
- Babur won with field artillery, a line of carts and the tulughma tactic.
- Akbar's Rajput policy combined marriage alliances, high mansabs, freedom for the Rajputs to rule their own lands and respect for their faith with force against rulers who resisted.
- Akbar's steps towards integration included sulh-i-kul, the abolition of the pilgrim tax and jizya, the Ibadat Khana, the Mahzar, the Din-i-Ilahi, Persian as the common language and the translation of Sanskrit works.
- His social reforms restricted sati, fixed a minimum age of marriage, allowed widow remarriage and forbade the enslavement of prisoners of war.
- His educational reforms widened the curriculum to include practical subjects, opened madrasas to Hindus and Muslims alike and set up the Maktab Khana for translations.
- Under the mansabdari system every officer held a mansab expressed as zat (personal rank) and sawar (horsemen); ranks were not hereditary and were paid in cash or by jagirs.
- Dagh and chehra were used to prevent fraud in the maintenance of troops.
Questions answered
Who wrote the Ain-i-Akbari? Of which larger work does it form a part?
Abul Fazl, a minister and close friend of Akbar, wrote it in Persian. It is the third volume of the Akbarnama, the official history of Akbar's reign.
Give one reason why historians must read the Ain-i-Akbari with care.
Abul Fazl was Akbar's devoted admirer, so he praises the emperor and says little about revolts, failures or the hardships of ordinary people.
Who built the Taj Mahal, and in whose memory? Name two features of its design.
Shah Jahan built it in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal. Its features include a large double dome, four corner minarets, pietra dura inlay in white Makrana marble, and a charbagh garden.
What is a Jama Masjid? Who built the Jama Masjid of Delhi?
A Jama Masjid is the chief mosque of a city, where Muslims gather for the Friday congregational prayer. The Jama Masjid of Delhi was built by Shah Jahan between 1650 and 1656.
Distinguish between the Diwan-i-Am and the Diwan-i-Khas of the Red Fort.
The Diwan-i-Am was the hall of public audience, where the emperor heard ordinary people and met his officials. The Diwan-i-Khas was the hall of private audience, where he met important nobles and foreign envoys.
Name the first six Mughal emperors in chronological order.
Babur, Humayun, Akbar, Jahangir, Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb.
What was the tulughma? In which battle did Babur first use it in India?
The tulughma was a tactic in which the army was divided into a centre and two wings, with mounted archers riding round the enemy's flanks to attack from the sides and rear. Babur first used it in India at the First Battle of Panipat in 1526.
Why is the Battle of Khanwa considered more decisive than the First Battle of Panipat?
Panipat only defeated the Lodi sultan, while the Rajput confederacy under Rana Sanga was still a powerful rival. Khanwa broke that confederacy, ended the Rajput challenge and firmly established Babur as ruler of North India.