Decline of the Mughal Empire
The decline of the Mughal Empire was a period in Indian history roughly between the early 18th century and mid 19th century during which the Mughal Empire, which once dominated the subcontinent, experienced a sharp decline. The period is also called the Anarchy by William Dalrymple. Several factors are frequently cited to be responsible for the decline, including the wars of succession, various different rebellions, the Afghan and Iranian invasions, and the rise of the British East India Company.
The period is usually considered to have begun with the death of Bahadur Shah I in 1712 and ended with the deposition of Bahadur Shah II in 1857. A number of provinces became hereditary vassal monarchies who ruled nominally in the name of the emperor. All powers, including the Marathas and British, nominally ruled in the name of the emperor, and the politics of the era was marked by these powers trying to gain a larger influence over the emperor than the other.
Several Historians have debated the cause of decline. Irfan Habib argues the excessive exploitation of the peasantry by the rich, which stripped away the will and the means to support the regime causing the empire to collapse. William Dalrymple largely attributes the decline to the rigid religious policies under Aurangzeb and the Deccan Wars.
Jeffrey G. Williamson states that the Indian economy went through deindustrialization in the later half of the 18th century as an indirect outcome of the collapse of the Mughal Empire, with British rule later causing further deindustrialization which led to a decline in agricultural productivity, which drove up food prices, nominal wages, and textile prices. This led to India losing a share of the world textile market to Britain.
Karen Leonard focuses on the failure of the regime to work with Hindu bankers. In a religious interpretation, some scholars argue that the Hindu powers revolted against the rule of a Muslim dynasty.
Some Historians assert such orthodox policies resulting in decline of Mughal power in the Indian Subcontinent. During the reign of Aurangzeb imposed practices of orthodox Islamic state based on the Fatawa 'Alamgiri. This resulted in the persecution of Shias, Sufis and non-Muslims. G. N. Moin Shakir and Sarma Festschrift argue that he often used political opposition as pretext for religious persecution, resulting in revolts of groups of Jats, Marathas, Sikhs, Satnamis and Pashtuns.
Other scholars argue that the very prosperity of the Empire inspired the provinces to achieve a high degree of independence, thus weakening the imperial court.
Aurangzeb's son, Bahadur Shah I, repealed the religious policies of his father and attempted to reform the administration. However, after he died in 1712, the Mughal dynasty began to sink into chaos and violent feuds. In 1719 alone, four emperors successively ascended the throne.
Mughal war of succession (1707–1709)
Following the Deccan Wars, the three sons of Aurangzeb, Bahadur Shah I, Muhammad Azam Shah, and Muhammad Kam Bakhsh fought each other for the throne. Muhammad Azam Shah lived in Ahmednagar. Khafi Khan suggested that whoever reached the capital city of Agra first would capture the throne. The distances to Agra from Jamrud and Ahmednagar were 715 and 700 miles, respectively. Azam Shah and Bahadur Shah were involved in the Battle of Jajau, south of Agra, on 20 June 1707. Azam Shah and his three sons were killed in the battle and were buried with other royals in Humayun's Tomb in Delhi.Bahadur Shah's half-brother, Muhammad Kam Bakhsh, marched to Bijapur in March 1707 with his soldiers. When the news of Aurangzeb's death spread through the city, the city's monarch, King Sayyid Niyaz Khan surrendered the fort to Baksh without a fight. In May 1708, Bahadur Shah sent a letter to Kam Bakhsh warning that he hoped would prevent him from proclaiming himself an independent sovereign. Bahadur Shah then began a journey to the Tomb of Aurangzeb to pay his respects to his father. Kam Bakhsh replied, thanking him "without either explaining or justifying ".
When Bahadur Shah reached Hyderabad on 28 June 1708, he learned that Kam Bakhsh had attacked Machilipatnam in an attempt seize over three million rupees worth of treasure hidden in its fort. The subahdar of the province, Jan Sipar Khan, refused to hand over the money. Enraged, Kam Bakhsh confiscated his properties and ordered the recruitment of four thousand soldiers for the attack. In July, the garrison at the Gulbarga Fort declared its independence and garrison leader Daler Khan Bijapuri "reported his desertion from Kam Bakhsh". On 20 December 1708, Kam Bakhsh marched towards Talab-i-Mir Jumla, on the outskirts of Hyderabad, with "three hundred camels, twenty thousand rockets" for war with Bahadur Shah. Although Kam Bakhsh had little money and few soldiers left, the royal astrologer had predicted that he would "miraculously" win the battle. At sunrise the following day, Bahadur Shah's army charged towards Kam Bakhsh. His 15,000 troops were divided into two bodies: one led by Mumin Khan, assisted by Rafi-ush-Shan and Jahan Shah, and the second under Zulfiqar Khan Nusrat Jung. Two hours later Kam Bakhsh's camp was surrounded, and Zulfiqar Khan impatiently attacked him with his "small force". With his soldiers outnumbered and unable to resist the attack, Kam Bakhsh joined the battle and shot two quivers of arrows at his opponents. A dispute arose between Mumin Khan and Zulfikar Khan Nusrat Jung over who had captured them, with Rafi-us-Shan ruling in favor of the latter. Bahadur Shah I was crowned the Mughal emperor after the conflicts.
Later civil wars
After the death of Bahadur Shah I, a war of succession brow out between his sons in which Jahandar Shah was victorious. Unlike previous Mughal wars of succession, the outcome of this war was engineered by a noble, Zulfiqar Khan. He built an alliance between Jahandar Shah, and his younger brothers Rafi-us-Shan and Jahan Shah, proposing to them that they could divide the empire between them upon victory. Azim-us-Shan was defeated and killed, following which Jahandar Shah broke the alliance and turned on his brothers, defeating them and killing them with the help of Zulfiqar Khan, emerging as the victor of the succession struggle.Farrukhsiyar defeated Jahandar Shah with the aid of the Sayyid brothers, and one of the brothers, Abdullah Khan. According to historian William Irvine, Farrukhsiyar's close aides Mir Jumla III and Khan Dauran sowed seeds of suspicion in his mind that they might usurp him from the throne.
Syed brothers
During the reign of the Aurangzeb in 1697, Hassan Ali Khan and Hussain Ali Khan were appointed into Mughal administration. They were Indian Muslims belonging to the Sadaat-e-Bara clan of the Barha dynasty, who claimed to be Sayyids or the descendants of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. The brothers became highly influential in the Mughal Court after Aurangzeb's death in 1707 and became de facto sovereigns of the empire when they began to make and unmake emperors.After Prince Mu'izz ud-Din Jahandar Shah, the eldest of Emperor Bahadur Shah's sons, had been appointed in 1695 to the charge of the Multan province. When Emperor Aurangzeb died and Prince Muhammad Mu'azzam Shah Alam, reached Lahore on his march to Agra to contest the throne, the Sayyids presented themselves, and their services were gladly accepted. In the Battle of Jajau or Jajowan on the 18th Rabi I, 1119 H., they served in the vanguard and fought valiantly on foot, as was the Sayyid habit in an emergency. The two Sayyids managed to quarrel with Khanazad Khan, the vizier Munim Khan's second son, and offended Jahandar Shah, though the breach was healed by a visit to them from the vizier in person, there is little doubt that this difference helped to keep them out of employment.
Rajput rebellions
In the late 17th century, various Rajput noblemen previously loyal to the Mughal crown, revolted and carved out their own independent kingdoms. These revolts lasted throughout the 17th and 19th centuries.File:Durga Das before Maharaja Ajit Singh of Marwar.jpg|left|thumb|Durgadas Rathore and Ajit Singh
The Rathore rebellion, was fought Rajputs of Marwar and the Mughals started after the death of Jaswant Singh of Marwar, due to Aurangzeb's attempt to interfere in the succession of Marwar. On 23 July 1679, Aurangzeb made attempts to divide Marwar into two Rathore principalities, one held by Inder Singh Rathore and other by Ajit Singh. Aurangzeb also proposed that Ajit Singh should be raised as a Muslim and offered Jodhpur in return. The Jodhpur nobles led by Durgadas opposed this decision, upon which Aurangzeb tried to imprison the infant prince Ajit Singh.
Upon hearing of this news, the Marwar loyalists led by Sonig Rathore and Ram Bhati captured the fort of Jodhpur from the Mughal officers, Tahir Beg and Tahawar Khan. Other loyalists like Sujan Singh also captured the forts of Siwana and Merta. Prince Akbar was sent with an army to occupy Jodhpur. The Rajputs made headstrong and suicidal attacks on the Mughals, but they were unable to stop their advance towards Jodhpur, which was soon occupied by Akbar.
After the death of Raj Singh, Aurangzeb was able to sue for peace with Mewar, upon which the new Rana was forced to give away some land and promise not to help Ajit Singh. In 1686, Durgadas returned and won several victories against the Mughals, prompting Shujaat Khan, the Mughal governor of Gujarat and Jodhpur, to lead an intensive campaign against the Rathors. Hostilities thus continued until Aurangzeb's death, after which Jodhpur was captured by the Rathores. Bahadur Shah I would invade Marwar again, resulting in the Rajput Rebellion of 1708–1710.
R. C. Majumdar wrote:
Rajput Rebellion (1708–1710)
Various Rajput nobles including Ajit Singh, Amar Singh II, Maharaja Jai Singh II and Durgadas Rathore formed an alliance and revolted against the Mughal crown in 1708.Bahadur Shah I was forced to move south and could not come back till 12 June 1710. Jodhpur was captured in July and Amber in October 1708. Sayyid Hussain Barha and Churaman Jat were sent with a large force to retake Amber, however Barha was shot dead with his brothers and the Mughals were defeated. Three thousand Mughals were killed at Sambhar. Jai Singh in his letter to Chattrasal has written that "among the dead were all three Faujdars". The Rajputs also took all the Mughal treasury of Sambhar and distributed it among the people. When Bahadur Shah got to know of this defeat, he immediately tried to sue for peace by offering to restore Ajit Singh and Jai Singh to their thrones, however the Rajputs demanded the restoration of their lands that had been forcefully taken by Aurangzeb in 1679 and the expulsion of the Mughals from Rajputana.
When Bahadur Shah returned, he had no choice but to negotiate with the Rajputs. Gifts and letters were sent to the two rebel Rajas in May 1710. The rise of Banda Singh Bahadur and death of Wazir Khan, faujdar of Sirhind, further caused fear in the Mughal court and on 11 June 1710 Jai Singh and Ajit Singh were invited to the Mughal court and were given robes of honour, presents and governorships of Malwa and Gujarat.