Decline of the Mughal Empire
The Empire at its height
The Mughal Empire was founded by Babur in 1526 (First Battle of Panipat). Under Akbar, Jahangir, Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb it ruled most of the subcontinent. It reached its greatest size under Aurangzeb (ruled 1658–1707), but he also left problems that led to its fall.
Internal causes of decline
Aurangzeb and his policies
| Policy or problem | Effect on the Empire |
|---|---|
| the long Deccan wars (about 25 years, to 1707) | the army was away from the north, costs were huge, and the treasury was emptied |
| religious policies: re-imposed jizya (a tax on non-Muslims) in 1679 and ordered some temples to be destroyed (historians debate the extent) | alienated many Hindus, especially the Rajputs |
| conflict with the Marathas under Shivaji (and later his successors) | a guerrilla war that Aurangzeb could not win |
| conflict with the Sikhs (the execution of Guru Tegh Bahadur in 1675) | the Sikhs became a military force |
| revolts (Jats, Satnamis, Rajputs) | the Empire spent resources on putting them down |
| a very large empire to control, with slow communications | governors became more independent |
His religious policy in detail (the extent is debated, but these are the points usually given):
- the jizya was re-imposed (1679) after Akbar had abolished it;
- some temples were demolished and mosques built on their sites;
- Hindu traders paid a higher customs duty than Muslim traders (about 5% against half of that);
- an order of about 1670 limited the employment of Hindus in the revenue department, and some high posts went to Muslims;
- limits were placed on new Hindu schools and on some festivals and public display;
- conversion brought relief from taxes and helped in getting jobs.
These policies led to revolts by the Jats, Satnamis, Sikhs, Rajputs and Marathas, which drained money and weakened the Empire.
Some historians say that Aurangzeb was not the cause, and that the Empire was already too big to rule effectively. Others say that his policies made decline faster. A balanced answer says that he was partly responsible: he was a capable ruler, but the Deccan wars and religious policies made the problems worse.
The weakness of the successors
There was no fixed law of succession, so each death meant a war of succession (Aurangzeb himself had beaten his brothers Dara Shikoh and Shuja). After Aurangzeb died (1707) his sons fought: Bahadur Shah I defeated his brothers Azam and Kam Bakhsh and ruled only until 1712, and his own sons then fought for the throne. The result was a struggle for the throne and a series of weak rulers:
- Bahadur Shah I (1707–12), Jahandar Shah (1712–13), Farrukhsiyar (1713–19), Muhammad Shah "Rangila" (1719–48), then Ahmad Shah, Alamgir II and Shah Alam II.
- Court factions and the Sayyid brothers (kingmakers) made and unmade emperors.
- The rulers were more interested in pleasure than government. The nobles (mansabdars, officers holding a rank under the system Akbar introduced) fought each other, grew corrupt and kept their own troops, so loyalty went to the noble rather than the Emperor.
- The Empire had no navy, so it could not match European ships.
- The army was badly paid and poorly led, and its weapons became out of date.
- Governors (nawabs) in Bengal, Awadh and Hyderabad became independent in all but name, and paid little revenue to Delhi.
- Revenue fell because of corruption and tax-farming; peasants were over-taxed and rebelled.
External causes of decline
The Marathas and Sikhs
- The Marathas grew from a small kingdom under Shivaji (d. 1680) into a powerful empire. By the mid-18th century they controlled much of central and western India and raided up to Delhi, collecting chauth (a quarter of revenue).
- The Sikhs built a state in the Punjab. Under Maharaja Ranjit Singh (who took Lahore in 1799), they ruled the Punjab until 1849, and also took Multan (1818), Kashmir (1819) and Peshawar (1834).
Foreign invasions
| Invasion | Effect |
|---|---|
| Nadir Shah of Persia, 1739 | defeated the Mughals at Karnal (February 1739), sacked Delhi and took away the Peacock Throne and the Koh-i-Noor diamond, and a huge amount of treasure. The Mughal army and prestige were broken |
| Ahmad Shah Abdali of Afghanistan, 1748–67 (he invaded eight or more times; sources give 8 to 10) | looted Delhi, annexed the Punjab; he defeated the Marathas at the Third Battle of Panipat (1761). But he did not take over the Empire, which left a power vacuum |
The East India Company
The East India Company was set up in 1600 and got a charter from Queen Elizabeth I. It first came as a trading company, with factories at Surat and then at Madras, Bombay and Calcutta. As the Mughals weakened, it took part in Indian politics, and used its trained army and sea power to win control.
Why the Company came. The main reason was trade and profit: Indian cotton and silk cloth, spices, indigo, saltpetre and tea sold at high prices in Europe. The English were shut out of the spice trade of the East Indies by the Dutch (and earlier the Portuguese), so India became their main base. The Company's first ship reached Surat in 1608, Jahangir allowed it to trade in 1612, and it built bases at Madras (1639), Bombay and Calcutta (1690). Some writers add the wish to spread Christianity, and later a political reason: to protect its trade from the French and to guard India against Russian expansion towards Afghanistan.
| Date | Event | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1757 | Battle of Plassey (Robert Clive v. Siraj-ud-Daula of Bengal). Clive won through the treachery of Mir Jafar | the Company gained control of Bengal, the richest province |
| 1764 | Battle of Buxar (British v. Mir Qasim, Shuja-ud-Daula and Shah Alam II) | the Company confirmed as the strongest power in the north |
| 1765 | Treaty of Allahabad: Shah Alam II gave the Company the diwani (the right to collect revenue) of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa | the Company became the ruler of eastern India |
| 1799 | Tipu Sultan of Mysore was killed in the fourth Anglo-Mysore War | a major opponent was removed |
| 1803 | the British took Delhi and the blind Shah Alam II became a British pensioner | the Mughal emperor was now a puppet |
At Plassey Clive had about 3,000 men (roughly 800 Europeans and 2,200 Indian soldiers) against a Bengal army of about 50,000, but Mir Jafar and other commanders did not fight. At Buxar (22 October 1764) Major Hector Munro won a clear military victory. The Marathas were broken in the Third Anglo-Maratha War (1817–18), when the Peshwa Baji Rao II surrendered, and the First Afghan War (1839–42) ended in a British disaster but did not stop expansion elsewhere.
The Company also used methods such as the Subsidiary Alliance (Lord Wellesley), under which Indian princes paid for a British force and gave up foreign policy, and the Doctrine of Lapse (Lord Dalhousie), under which a state without a natural heir was annexed (for example Satara, Jhansi and Nagpur; Awadh was taken in 1856 on the ground of misgovernment).
Why Britain was able to win
- The Industrial Revolution gave Britain better weapons, ships and money; its army was disciplined and trained with modern drill.
- A strong navy and sea communications; a well-run administration and the Company's wealth from Bengal.
- Divisions among Indian rulers, who fought each other and sometimes helped the British; treachery such as Mir Jafar's.
- A weak Mughal centre: no one power led the resistance.
Social reform and resentment
The British banned sati (the burning of a widow on her husband's funeral pyre) in 1829. Reforms of this kind, together with missionary activity, made many Indians fear for their religion (see chapter 3).
British relations with the later Mughal emperors
The British treated the later emperors with a show of respect (the Company used the title of emperor on its coins until 1835), but gave them pensions and limited their authority to the Red Fort in Delhi. In 1857 the last emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar, was deposed and exiled (see chapter 3).
British expansion to 1857
The Sindh annexation (1843)
Sindh was ruled by the Talpur Mirs. During the First Afghan War (1839–42) the British had used Sindh as a route to Afghanistan. After accusing the Mirs of treachery, Sir Charles Napier defeated them at the Battle of Miani (Meeanee) in February 1843 and annexed Sindh.
The Anglo-Sikh Wars and the annexation of the Punjab
After Ranjit Singh died (1839) the Sikh state weakened because of quarrels in the army (the Khalsa) and at court.
| War | Result |
|---|---|
| First Anglo-Sikh War (1845–46) | the British won; Treaty of Lahore (1846): the Sikhs gave up territory (including Jalandhar Doab and Kashmir, sold to Gulab Singh), paid an indemnity, and a British Resident was placed at Lahore |
| Second Anglo-Sikh War (1848–49) | after the Multan revolt, the British won at Gujrat (February 1849). The Punjab was annexed on 29 March 1849 by Lord Dalhousie. The young Maharaja Duleep Singh was pensioned off |
Peshawar (held by the Sikhs from 1834) and the Frontier districts came under British rule with the Punjab. By 1849 the British ruled the territories that now make up Pakistan.
The North-West Frontier
- The British wanted a secure frontier to guard against Russian expansion in Central Asia and against Afghanistan (the "Great Game").
- They debated a "natural" frontier, the River Indus and the mountain line along the edge of the plains, and a "scientific" frontier, further forward in the hills (based on strategic strongholds such as the Khyber and Bolan passes).
- The result was two policies: the Close Border policy (hold the line of the Indus and leave the tribes alone) and the Forward policy (move into the tribal hills and control the passes).
- The Durand Line (1893) was agreed with the Amir of Afghanistan, Abdur Rahman, as the boundary between British India and Afghanistan.
Policy towards the tribal territory
The Pathan tribes were hard to control. The British used a mixture of force and payment: they paid allowances to tribal leaders, used political agents, and punished raids with expeditions. The Frontier Crimes Regulation (1901) gave special powers to tribal elders (jirgas). In 1901 Lord Curzon created the North-West Frontier Province (separate from the Punjab).
Summary: causes and consequences of the decline
| Causes | Consequences |
|---|---|
| Aurangzeb's wars and policies | Muslims lost political power |
| weak successors and quarrelling nobles | the East India Company became the ruler |
| rise of the Marathas and Sikhs | Muslim society and economy declined |
| invasions of Nadir Shah and Abdali | led to the War of Independence (1857) and to later Muslim movements |
| the East India Company's power, army and trade | the Mughal emperor became a pensioner |
Outline. For: the Deccan wars drained the treasury and the army; his religious policies (jizya) alienated Hindus and the Rajputs; he fought the Marathas and Sikhs; he left a huge empire hard to control. Against: the Empire was already too large; weak successors, court factions, foreign invasions (Nadir Shah, Abdali) and the rise of the East India Company were also decisive. Conclusion: he was a significant but not the only cause; his successors and external forces did most damage.