The downfall of the Mughal Empire started with the death of Aurangzeb in 1707. His death marked the end of a Mughal era in India. The empire was the largest in India at the time of his death, yet the Mughal empire falls. Aurangzeb's death followed by a war of throne among his three sons which ended up by the victory of his third son Bahadur Shah. The downfall started with Aurangzeb's religious policy. Aurangzeb turns off the support of the Hindus by committing all sorts of cruelty on them. He imposed Jizya on the Hindus in India. The Rajput’s and Brahmans also have to give the Jizya even they were not spared. He allowed only those people as the officers of the state who were prepared to embrace Islam. He gives the order of banning on building new Hindu temples in the area under the Mughal region. The temples which were built at Akbar's time did not destroy but several temples were closed. Due to closing down or destroying the temples and making mosques instead, Rajput’s started resisted the demands of the Mughal Empire. Aurangzeb fought the battle of Deccan without the support from the Rajput’s and when he gave the order for the execution of Guru Teg Bahadur that led the separation of the Sikhs who then led by Guru Gobind Singh and become the strong military power.[1] The same policy of religious treatment led to the rise of Marathas, led by Shivaji.
The Deccan policy of Aurangzeb was also the
reason behind the downfall of the empire. He wanted to crush the power of
Marathas. Bijapur and Golcunda were the main sources of Marathas powers, they
were employed in those states in large numbers and the Marathas soldiers were
welcomed in these areas. Marathas got the trust and the authority in civil
administration. Aurangzeb thought that if these states will be seized then the
main source of the power of Marathas will be stopped. Rulers of these states
were the Shias where Aurangzeb and his empire were Sunni. The idea to conquer
these states was because the Marathas get the money from Bijapur and Golcunda
and if he stopped that money then the Marathas have fought against the great
Mughal army. Aurangzeb went to Deccan and conquer the Bijapur and Golcunda and
captured Sambhaji, son of Shivaji. Sambhaji was executed by the orders of
Aurangzeb. Sambhaji's son, Sahu was also captured and made a prisoner. When
Aurangzeb died Marathas were still not crushed. They were stronger than ever.
Another caused of the downfall of the Mughals
was the rebellion in different provinces of the empire. During Aurangzeb's era,
there were the provincial governors who were appointed by the emperor but they
were not loyal to the emperor. They were all trying to build reserves of power
and secure such allies as could help them when the aged emperor passed away.
Another cause was the absence of the law of primogeniture. The law of
primogeniture in the matter of succession of the throne. This law was needed
because every prince considers himself as the right ruler or successor of the
throne which then resulted in the battles between the brothers and the hatred
born in between hem which resulted in family disputes.
The change of characteristics in the Mughal
emperor was also one of the causes of the downfall of the empire. It is said
that Babur was so strong that we could run on the wall of the fort while
carrying men in his arm. The same goes for the Akbar who conquer northern India
that he can run miles and miles on foot and he could kill the lion with one
stoke from his sword but after the death of Aurangzeb the emperors were so
cowardly that they hardly came out of their fort. Maybe the reason for their
cowardliness was that they were all Muppets of their Wazirs. The ninth emperor
Farrukhsiyar as the best example of being the puppet of his wazirs the Sayyid
Brothers who are also known as the kingmakers.[2] The
deterioration of the Mughal army also started when the riches of India and uses
of wine and comforts hit the Mughal army then the soldiers started cared more
about their comforts then winning the battles. The importance of the army
starts reducing when they lost the battle of recapturing of Qandhar, three
times. The Mughal army was outmoded. They have too much artillery and armored
cavalry that the artillery was too heavy to carry and too slow for movement. On
the other hand, the Marathas army was like a swift wind. They erupted on Mughal
camp and launched attacks on their post and before the Mughal had a recovery,
the Marathas closed and fell on them.
The Mughals suffered from intellectual
failure. This was due to the lack of an education system and as well as the
emperor itself was not educated. They all dozed in the administration of their
ancestors, this was the reason they do not have the political genius or the
leader who could introduce the new philosophy to the country.
The empire faces financial difficulties as
well. The beginning of the financial troubles started when Shah Jahan had
increased the demand of one half of what the state produces. The making of a
new building or monuments become a burden in the country's resources. The time
of Aurangzeb and after his death, the system of farming taxes was restored. The
taxes were so high that the people lost all incentive to production. The
financial collapse came in the time of Alamgir II who was starved by his wazir
Imad-Ul-Mulk. Alamgir II had no way of transportation due to financial
bankruptcy he had a walk on foot to go to his destination.[3]
The Mansabdari system, which was introduced at
the time of Akbar, was degenerated. Mansab means ranks and mansabdari means the
holder of the rank, it's the system in which the civilian administers were
given the ranks by the emperor. There was corruption all over the place at the
time of Aurangzeb. The mansabdari becomes corrupted and the reason why the
system degenerated.
The invasion of Nadir Shah and Ahmed Shah Abdali
was another cause of the downfall of the struggling Mughal Empire. The victory
of Nadir Shah at Delhi and the repeated invasions by Ahmed Shah Abdali on Delhi
earned them a huge booty. Their invasion or attacked showed the world about the
weakness of the Mughal army. After these invasions and attacks, the people lost
complete faith in the capabilities of the Mughal army.
The Mughals neglected the development of the
navy which was "the last nail in the coffin" for them. They did not
pay any attention to the coastline of Bengal or south India, maybe they think
the sea power is not necessary to rule the land. This mistake by the Mughals
was well used by the Europeans who came to India by sea, established their
trading company and then establish their mastery over India.
Another major factor of the downfall of the
Mughal Empire was the rise of the East India Trading Company. The company
establishes in 1600. They were among the several other trading ventures who
wanted the riches of the East. The company was the joint-stock enterprises as
they cannot trade their own so far from Europe. The company began the trade of
hugely profitable spices trade and gave the tough time to rivals the Dutch East
India Company to establish in India. The company has some troubles itself for
establishing in India early as the Indians had no interest in what England had
available for sale. In the seventeenth century, the company secures itself in
limited spices. The East India Company imports from India to Europe, worth
almost 2million pounds in 1740 and gaining the markets in India.[4] The territorial gains of the company
destroyed all the chances of the Mughal Empire to survive. They won the battle
of Plessey and continued to expand their empire in Deccan. As time passes the
British got their hold all over India and the last Mughal Empire Bahadur Shah
Zafar II was captured by the company's officers. The surviving members of the
Mughals were imprisoned or exiled. The last Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar
was tried in four courts. After the forty-day trial, he found guilty for aiding
rebels, treason and for murdering 49 people. Respecting Hudson's guarantee on
his surrender he was not sentenced but exiled to Rangoon, Burma. His departure
as emperor marked the end of over three century's rule of Mughal reign in
India.[5]
My
perspective, based on the text, is that the reason for the downfall of the
Mughal Empire was because of the lack of education and leadership qualities.
They were outdated and they did not know where they were making mistakes and
how to tackle the mistakes which had been previously made. Till Aurangzeb, all
the Mughal emperors were ruling because of their military skills and after
Aurangzeb, the majority of the emperors were the string-puppets of their wazirs
(ministers). If they dared to stand and make their own decisions, things might
have been different for the Mughal Empire.
[1] http://www.preservearticles.com/2012041030221/20-causes-behind-the-downfall-of-the-mughals-in-india.html
[3] http://www.preservearticles.com/2012041030221/20-causes-behind-the-downfall-of-the-mughals-in-india.html
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