Later Mughal Rulers
What happened so, that a mighty Mughal King was blinded in court in front of everyone, the king who replaced a blind king died of tuberculosis. How a Mighty empire became so weak that foreigners came and looted worth of 70 Crore Rupees, even the Kohinoor and Peacock throne was not left. What happened to the empire that happened to be spread throughout India, shrank to few miles around Delhi. We will learn all these in this Lesson.
we were discussed, Aurangzeb was dead, his sons were fighting for the throne and Marathas, Sikhs, Rajputs, and Jats were unhappy because of fanatical religious policies of the Aurangzeb. And these states were in rebellion. There are foreigners on the shore, who are waiting for an opportunity and sensing the weakness in the center.
We will learn will the later Mughals consolidate their position once again, or they will disintegrate, can Maratha Swaraj capture Delhi and rule entire India OR simply all Indian powers will falter and bow down to few merchants. So let us address these questions in this lesson.
Let us a recap, till now we dealt with why and how part, we learned why Europeans came in India, we also discussed how Aurangzeb’s religious and fanatic policies are causing trouble to the mighty empire, we learned some keywords which were exam-oriented. We also dealt with what, where, when the part in the last session.
So when Aurangzeb died in 1707 and a war of succession took place. Now, what is the war of succession? When the king is dead princes fight for the throne and defeat their brothers and most of the time they go for the kill, so the defeated cannot rise again revolt, and finally, the strongest one gets the throne. In the war of succession, rulers are mostly aided by the nobility, sometimes even foreign states also help their favorite candidates so that once he gets the throne he will serve their interests. Most of the time this help is to cater to their economic, political, and geostrategic interests.
So similar succession war took place when Aurangzeb died and Prince Muazzam we know him as Bahadur Shah first, killed his two brothers Muhammad Azam and Kam Baksh. He was fairly (old some source say he was 63 and others say he was 65 when he ascended the throne.
Now after ascending the throne, the next job was consolidation, for that he required peace in the Mughal Land, In the last session, we learned when Aurangzeb was ruling India, his fanatical religious policies thrown the empire in rebellion, there was discontent among the regional states like Marathas, Rajputs, and Sikhs. So we can say that there was no peace.
So Bahadur Shah thought it will be a good idea if I make friends with these regional states and I will rule happily.
So He adopted a policy of appeasement, compromise, and conciliation towards the Sikh, the Marathas, the Rajputs, and the Jats.
1. He made peace with Guru Gobind Singh, but after the death of Guru Gobind Singh, Banda Bahadur revolted and Bahadur Shah led a campaign against Banda Bahadur.
2. In Deccan, He granted Sardeshmukhi to Marathas and released Shahu the son of Sambhaji and Maratha prince, though he did not grant Chauth to Marathas. We learned Chauth and Sardeshmikhi in the keywords session.
3. Also, Bahadur Shah tried to make peace with the Jats and the Rajput rulers too but all these efforts to pacify Sikh, Marathas, Rajputs, and Jats were half-hearted and the result was not as desired.
Most importantly Mughal administration decayed in the reign of bahadur shah. Khafi Khan, who was a civil servant of Mughal Empire and historian of Mughal era, (he had completed his training in LBSNAA), he gave Bahadur Shah the title Shah-i-bekhabar, because of the worsening position of state finances mainly because of reckless grants of jagirs and promotions to calm down rulers of regional state and other chieftains. This puts stress on Mughal Treasury, and to exaggerate his poor economic performance he was called Shah-i-bekhabar.
Given time he could have consolidated the empire’s position but he died in 1712 and again the succession war took place. Now here entered a new element in Mughal Politics.
As we discussed earlier when the king died, the princess fought for the throne and took the help of nobility who never asserted their power above the king, their ultimate loyalty lied towards a king, but from here onwards you will see a trend where ambitious nobles became direct contenders of power and used princess as their puppet. Here afterward you will see the rise of strong characters among nobility like Zulfiqar Khan, Sayyid Brothers, Chin Qilich Khan, etc. These guys acted as Kingmakers, in fact, Sayyid Brothers are known in history as Kingmakers. So here afterward you will see increasing interference of Nobility So let us discuss what happened after Bahadur Shah was dead.
Jahandar Shah
After the death of the Bahadur Shah, again a succession war took place and Jahandar Shah won the position of the emperor with the help of Zulfiqar Khan. Jahandar Shah was incapable but his mentor Zulfiqar Khan was competent, he was appointed as Prime Minister.
He also thought that it is better to make friends with the Marathas, the Jats, and the Rajputs. So Jahandar Shah with the advice of Zulfikar Khan reversed Aurangzeb Policies, so unfair Jizya was abolished.
These guys knew it is important to appease the regional states which were in revolt and assertive, so Rajput Rajas and Marathas Sardar were given a higher position in Mughal Court.
Marathas were granted Chauth too, and Sardeshmukhi was continued but the collection was to be made by the Mughal Official.
In the Punjab region, Banda Bahadur was suppressed.
Scene 11 Land Revenue and Demise 60 Seconds
From an economic perspective, these guys replaced the land revenue system proposed by Todar Mal and the Izara system was introduced in which middleman was appointed to pay a fixed amount of tax and middleman was free to collect whatever they could as long as he is paying that fixed amount, this was done to improve the financial condition of states but farmers suffered. This is what happens when there are more middlemen.
During the tenure of one year of Jahandar Shah, other nobles became jealous of Jahandar Shah and they conspired against Zulfiqar Khan, these nobles poisoned Jahandar Shah’s ears. But all this came to end when Farrukh Siyar nephew of Jahandar Shah killed Jahandar Shah with the help of Sayyid Brothers.
Sayyid Brothers
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Sayyid Brothers were Mughal Nobles, their name was Hussain Ali Khan Barrah and Hasan Ali Khan Barrah AKA Abdullah Khan. Farrukh siyyar owed his success to Sayyid Brother and in return, he made
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Hussain Ali Khan Mir Bakshi i.e. Manager of Army and Hasan Ali Khan also is known as Abdullah Khan, a wazir i.e. Manager of Home and Finance
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Farrukh Siyyar was coward, undependable, and faithless. He was a puppet of Sayyid Brothers. So there was growing discontent against Sayyid Brothers as Farrukh Siyar did not like being a puppet. He wanted some freedom as he was a king and Sayyid Brothers freed him from the world.
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Farrukh siyyar hatched a conspiracy against Sayyid Brothers because of their rising influence but Hussain Ali, who was Mir Bakshi outsmarted Farrukhsiyyar and Farrukh Siyyar was exposed. So Farrukh Siyar was blinded and later executed.
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Farrukh Siyyar was replaced by Rafi Ud Daulah and Rafi Ud Darajat, both of them died quickly it is said that both of them died because of Tuberculosis. Finally, Sayyid Brothers settled with Muhammad Shah and made him Emperor, he was the grandson of Bahadur Shah.
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So we can say that Mughal politics and administration between 1713 to 1720 were dominated by Sayyid Brothers- In 1720 Sayyid Brothers were presented with a taste of their own medicine,
Scene 14 120 Seconds 1713 to 1720 Scene 15 Mughal Empire in 1720
before discussing the end of the sayyid brothers first let us discuss developments that took place in the period between 1713 to 1720 – /sayyid Brothers 1713-1720
1. Jizya was abolished and Pilgrim Tax was abolished too we have discussed these terms in the keywords session. /jizya was abolished
2. Banda Bahadur who earlier revolted in the reign of the Bahadur Shah was captured and executed / execution of Banda Bahadur
3. Shahu was recognized as Maratha King and granted the right to collect and Chauth and Sardeshmukhi / Right to collect Chauth and Sardeshmukhi
4. In 1717 Farrukh Siyyar issued a Farman which granted the company the right to live and trade for free in Mughal India in return for annual payment. / 1717 Farman
5. But Atmosphere in Delhi was not healthy, because of constant political rivalry, quarrels, and conspiracies at the court, the administration was paralyzed at all levels, the revenue system failed too. / Mughal Court
Now the year is 1720 and three kings have died in a short span, there is growing discontent and fear among nobility because the killing of the King openly and the rising influence of Sayyid Brothers, Nobles were like agar emperor mar sakta hai then who are we? Scared Nobles + Sayyid Brothers
Even Muhammad Shah Rangeela was afraid of them. Sayyid Brothers who were known as King Makers became Namak Haram. Sayyid Brothers’ liberal policies towards Rajput, Marathas, and Jats were disliked by some factions so Turani and Irani Nobles headed by Nizam ul Mulq grabbed this opportunity, and assassinated Sayyid Brothers. Nizam ul Mulq.
After that Muhammad Shah Rangeela ruled for 30 years. Now, why the suffix Rangeela, he was a professional kathak Dancer, addicted to wine and women, so he got famous with the title of Rangeela. Rangeela made Nizam ul Mulq his Wazir i.e. Prime Minister.
1. Nizam ul Mulk got frustrated by narrow mindedness and suspicious nature of the Rangeela and carved his own empire in Hyderabad in October 1724.
2. This started a trend and other nobles also started carving out their own territories, in the coming years Bengal became Independent under Murshid Quli Khan
3. Awadh became independent under Burhan ul Mulq Saadat Khan.
4. Muhammad Khan Rohilla established Rohilakhand
5. Badan Singh established Jats in Agra Mathura region
6. Maratha sardars expanded their territory in Malwa, Gujarat, and Bundelkhand under Peshwa Bajirao
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In 1737, Baji Rao I, the Maratha Peshwa invaded Delhi with a small army of 500 horsemen
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In 1739, Nadir Shah defeated the Mughals in the Battle of Karnal and later imprisoned Muhammad Shah and annexed areas west of the Indus into the Persian empire. The story of Nadir Shah itself is unique he was a shepherd boy a common man and became king of Persia, we will discuss that story in some another video.
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In plunder of Delhi, he looted worth of approximately 70 Crore Rupees, he even took Koh-i-Noor diamond and Peacock throne of Shah Jahan. In 1748 Muhammad Shah Rangeela died and again succession war took place. And Ahmad Shah ascended the throne. Ahmad Shah was an incompetent ruler who left the state affairs in the hands of Udham Bai, the ‘Queen Mother’.
Read Akbar vs Aurangzeb
Ahmad Shah Abdali
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Meanwhile, Ahmad Shah Abdali, who was earlier commander in the Nadir Shah’s forces, invaded India several times between 1748 and 1767. He continuously harassed the Mughals and plundered North India Mughals were so frustrated that in 1752 they ceded Punjab to Abdali in return of peace. But In 1757, Abdali captured Delhi and left behind an Afghan caretaker to watch over the Mughal emperor.
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In 1758, Raghunath Rao the Maratha chief expelled Najib-ud-Daula from Delhi, Raghunath Rao is also known as Raghoba Dada, who also captured Punjab. This made Ahmad Shah Abdali angry and in 1759, Ahmad Shah Abdali returned to India to take revenge on the Marathas. In 1761, Abdali defeated the Marathas in the Third Battle of Panipat. The last of Abdali’s invasions came in 1767.
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Meanwhile, Shahjehan III ruled Delhi from 1758-1759 he was deposed within a year and
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Shah Alam II, son of Alamgir Second ruled from 1759-1806 His reign saw two decisive battles—
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the Third Battle of Panipat (1761) and the Battle of Buxar (1764). In 1765, according to the terms of the Treaty of Allahabad (August 1765),
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He was taken under the East India Company’s protection and resided at Allahabad.
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He also issued a firman granting to the Company in perpetuity the Diwani (the right to collect revenue) of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa.
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In 1772, the Marathas took emperor back to Delhi where he lived till 1803.
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In 1803, Marathas were defeated by English in Battle of Delhi
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Then he again accepted the protection of the English, after the defeat of Daulat Rao Scindia by the English.
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Afterward, the Mughal emperors received the pensions from the English.
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Akbar II (1806-37): There are two things that you have to remember about Akbar who ruled between 1806 to 1837, He gave the title of Raja to Rammohan Rai and In 1835, the coins bearing the names of Mughal emperors were stopped.
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Bahadur Shah II (1837-1857): Bahadur Shah II or Bahadur Shah Zafar became the last Mughal emperor. He ruled from 1837 till 1857. The Revolt of 1857 had made an attempt to declare him the Emperor of India. When the revolt was suppressed he was captured and sent to Rangoon where he died in 1862. Officially, the Mughal Empire came to an end on November 1, 1858, with the declaration of Queen Victoria. After this proclamation, India came under the direct rule of the British crown.
So this is how an empire who almost ruled the entire Indian Subcontinent lost her power and glory and shrank to a few square miles around Delhi and later completely replaced by Britishers.
