Summary

Modern Indian History Class 03

The decline of the Mughals (continued) (5:05 PM)

Military weakness:
Mughal state was a military state (not a nation-state, a nation is people who feel while the country is a territory, the state is an organization that manages the affairs of the nation and country, a state/organization created by the people/nation is nation-state).
Poor military due to a lack of technological and organizational reforms
Weak war commanders especially after Aurangzeb.
Military corruption example of non-maintenance of the army as per Sawar due to disaffection and the Jagirdari crisis.
Fractional-ism (group politics):
Post-Aurangzeb, there were continuous succession disputes and factionalism increased.
This also led to competition between different groups of Mansabdars, like:
Irani Group- Shias and had Persian origin, Humayun took the help of the Persians for recapturing power in 1555, thus their presence as Mansabdars.
Turrani group- from the same origin as the Mughals.
Hindustani groups- converted Indian Muslims.
Deccani groups- nobles of Golconda and Bijapur who were made Mansabdars by Aurangzeb, after defeating Golconda in 1687 and Bijapur in 1685.
Hindus- mainly Rajputs.
The able Mansabdars acted selfishly and instead of strengthening the central authority, they focused on carving out their principalities.

Jagirdari crisis of 18th century (5:53 PM)

Aurangzeb annexed Golconda in 1687 and Bijapur in 1685 and then nobles of these kingdoms were coopted as Mansabdars and came to be knowns as the Deccani group
However, Aurangzeb converted most of the land in these kingdoms into the Khalisa land as he wanted to fund his future warfare against Marathas.
Therefore the number of Mansabdars while land under Jagirdari did not.
Emperor post-Aurangzeb appointed more and more Mansabdars for political reasons, that is to win the support of different groups of Mansabdars, either to come to power or to stay in power.
There was also inequity among Mandabaras as 5% of Mansabdars controlled 61% of Jagirdari lands, therefore there was insecurity among smaller Mansabdars.
In the 18th century, there was inflation in luxurious goods due to high exports to Europe by the European trading companies, as a wazir Nizam tried but failed to convince the elite Mansabdars to redistribution of Jagirs.
Now the smaller Mansabars found it hard to maintain the lifestyle, adding to insecurity.
Impact of the Jagirdari crisis of the 18th century:
Many Mansabdar stayed Jagir-less for years.
Insecurity among Jagiradrs due to the frequent transfer of jagirs to other Mansabdars, which is the insecurity of tenure of holding jagir.
Therefore now there was increased oppression of ryots and primary zamindars as Mansabdars wanted to extract as much Land revenue as possible from jagirs.
Now there is a greater spread of the Ijaradari system as Mansabdar Jagirdar tried to maximize his earnings
Due to insecurity of tenure no incentive for Jagirdar-Mansabdar to invest in the productivity of the Jagirs, therefore hurting the income of ryots.
Peasant revolts in the 18th century were the product of the Jagirdari crisis and they were led by Zamindars, who were traditional leaders of rural society
For example, the Jat kingdom set up by Churaman Jat (a Zamindar) was a product of peasant revolt, therefore Jagirdari crisis hurt political stability.
The Jagirdari crisis led to military corruption by Mansabdars, therefore contributing to the military weakness.
Group politics increased as Mansabdars competed for Jagirs even more.
The Mughal state was a military state and when the military weakened the state weakened.

The proof of the decline of the Mughal empire (7:17 PM)

Jahandar Shah came to power after executing the father of Farukksiyar who came to power with the help of the Sayyid brothers of the Hindustani group.
But then Farukksiyar wanted to free himself of control of the Sayyid brothers, therefore planning to get rid of the Sayyid brothers, who then aligned with Marathas to execute Farruksiyar in 1719 and placed Mohammad Shah in power as puppet emperor.
Nizam-Ul-Mulk of the Turani group allied with the Irani group and defeated the Sayyid brothers and restored the status of Muhammad Shah.
From 1720-24 Nizam served as wazir.
Mughal post-Aurangzeb are called Later Mughals who were weak rulers with weak personalities and not interested in administration.
For Example, Muhammad Shah came to be known as Rangeela as he spent the most time in leisure, detached from political and administrative issues.
Beginning in 1705 Marathas began defeating the Mughals.
In 1719 they were successful in placing Muhammad Shah as puppet ruler and extracted some gains.
In 1737, Peshwa Baji Rao plundered Delhi and kept Muhammad Shah captive temporarily.
Then in 1738 Marathas defeated a large Mughal army led by Nizam.
And then in 1739, they signed a treaty of Bhopal where they extracted Subha of Malwa and sovereignty over all territory between river Chambal and Narmada.
Invasion of Nadir shah:
Reasons for invasion:
In Afghanistan Nadir shah's opponents were given protection by Mughals in Mughal-controlled territory.
His messenger was held captive in Delhi.
Nadir shah wanted to plunder Indian wealth.
Reasons for Nadir shah's win:
Mughals were military weak example Marthas defeated a large Mughal army in 1738.
lack of military reforms(technology and organization)
Military corruption by Mansabdars due to the Jagirdari crisis.
Sadat Ali Khan (Nawab of Awadh) switched sides to fight alongside Nadir shah when she was not made Mir Bakshi and the Mansab was given to Nizam, therefore factionalism played a role.
The better military leadership of Nadir shah
The Decisive was the battle of Karnal, in 1739 after which Nadir shah became emperor of India for 2 months and Muhammad Shah was taken as a prisoner.
Sadat Ali Khan committed suicide when insulted post-victory by Nadir Shah.

The topic for the next class: Dictation of Impact of the Nadir Shah invasion.