By: Sir Ali Ammar

THE DECLINE OF MUGHAL EMPIRE

- The empire declined for the following reasons.

1. The religious policies of Aurangzeb.
2. His reforms.
3. The war of Succession.
4. Invading forces.
5. The Nature of Empire (Administrative issues).
6. The luxurious lifestyle.
7. Declining military expertise.
8. The arrival of British.

The Religious Policies of Aurangzeb:

- Reintroduced Jizya (Tax on Non-Muslims).

- Tried to ban Satti (Burning widow alive along with her husband’s corpse- A
Hindu Tradition).
- Destroyed Hindu temples. (Many believe).
- Orthodox.
- Abolished alcohol, dancing, and singing in the court.
- Enforced to have maximum length of beard.
- Thus non-Muslims rose against him and the empire collapsed.

Military cost:

- Most of money spent on fighting. Following are the examples.

- The war against Rajputs (1679-81).
- The war against Marhattas (25 Years)
- Fought against pathans for empire extension.
- Faced rebellions by Juts, Satnamis in Mewar and Juts in Gokal. Bringing
empire to collapse.
By: Sir Ali Ammar

The War of Succession:

- After Aurangzeb, his 4 sons fought together to take on the large empire.
- Among them Prince Muazzam succeeded but for a short period of time.
- Later, Muazzam’s 3 sons fought together and Jahandar Shah won but just
for a year.
- Within 10 years of Aurangzeb’s death 12 successors claimed empire.
- Only, lastly, Muhammad Shah (1719) remained emperor for just 30 years.
- Thus one day empire collapsed.

The Invading Forces:

- The Persian, Afghan and Marhattas invaded and plundered empire.

- Nadir Shah Durrani (Persian King) attacked and defeated Muhammad Shah
at the Battle of Karnal 1739. Plundered booty and Mughal’s prestige.
- The Marhattas (Hindu empire in India’s south) attacked and plundered
Mughals in 1737.
- An Afghan fighter Ahmed Khan Abdali attacked Kabul, Peshawar and Lahore
in 1747. Gained Punjab in 1749, Kashmir and Multan in 1756.
- Thus, these invading forces caused empire to decline.

The Administrative Issues:

- Mughal Empire stretched from Kashmir (North) to Karnataka (South) &

Assam (East) to Kabul (West).
- News from one part of the empire took months to reach Emperor.
- In this case Mansabdars could also not deliver and corruption increased.
- As a result Mughal’s control on the empire became weaker and weaker
with time. A time came when Alamgir II was assassinated by the minister of
his own court.
- Proper supervision of Mansabdar became difficult. Hence, empire ended.
By: Sir Ali Ammar

The Luxurious lifestyle:

- Mughals accumulated as well as inherited immense wealth.

- Became habitual of luxuries.
- Money spent on hundreds of dishes, dancing, and singing.
- Expensive fabrics and jewelries were worn.
- Expensive buildings were built such as Taj Mahal and Pearl Mosque Delhi.
- Wealth came to end thus empire

Declining Military expertise:

- Mughal’s ruled used to be so long. 30 years, 50 years etc.

- Military had nobody to fight during these long peace years. Thus they
became lazy and incompetent.
- Incompetent and lazy army could not sustain sudden attacks and rebellions.
- On the other hand the military that kept fighting such as Marhattas (25 year
war) became frustrated due to home-sickness. Thus empire declined.

The Arrival of British:

- The British entered India for trade. (EIC).
- They firstly established headquarters then started expansion.
- They finally put the empire to complete end.
- The very last Mughal Prince Bahadur Shah Zafar was arrested and was
taken to Rangoon in Burma (Today Yangon- The capital of Myanmar
(Burma)).
- He finally died there and so empire died completely.
By: Sir Ali Ammar

EVALUATION (level 5):

- The Arrival of The British is the most important reason why empire declined
completely.
- The evidence is:
 Despite all the issues empire somehow sustained.
 Successors who fought together and won over each other were all
Mughals. They kept naming their empire as Mughal Empire.
 Foreign invaders just entered their empire looted and returned, empire
still there.
 But British officially wiped out the empire from the Indian sub-continent
completely. Thus, their arrival is the main reason why empire declined.