இந்தக் கட்டுரையில், TNPSC குரூப் 1, குரூப் 2, குரூப் 2A, குரூப் 4 மாநிலப் போட்டித் தேர்வுகளான TNUSRB, TRB, TET, TNEB போன்றவற்றுக்கான முறைகள் இலவசக் குறிப்புகளைப் பெறுவீர்கள்.தேர்வுக்கு தயாராவோர் இங்குள்ள பாடக்குறிப்புகளை படித்து பயன்பெற வாழ்த்துகிறோம்.
Shah Jahan (1627 – 1658)
Prince Khurram succeeded Jahangir as the next Mughal emperor with the title Shah-
Jahan.
His position was secure and unchallenged.
Deccan Expedition
The Afghan Pir Lodi, with the title Khan Jahan, who had been governor of the southern
provinces of the empire was hostile.
Despite Shah Jahan’s order transferring him from the government of the Deccan, he
aligned with Murtaza Nizam Shah II, the Sultan of Ahmed-Nagar, and conspired against
Shah Jahan.
As the situation turned serious, Shah Jahan proceeded to the Deccan in person.
The newly appointed governor of the Deccan, Iradat Khan, with the title Azam Khan led
the imperial army and invaded the Balaghat.
Seeing the devastation caused by the imperial troops, Murtaza changed his attitude
towards Khan Jahan.
Khan Jahan thereupon fled from Daulatabad into Malwa, but was pursued and finally
killed.
North-West Frontier
Shah Jahan launched a prolonged campaign in the northwest frontier to recover
Kandahar and other ancestral lands.
The Mughal army lost more than five thousand lives during the successive invasions
between 1639 and 1647.
Then Shah Jahan realized the futility of his ambition and stopped fighting.
His Deccan policy was more successful.
Deccan provinces
Shah Jahan divided Deccan into four provinces:
1. Ahmednagar with Daulatabad
2. Khandesh
3. Berar
4. Telangana
The viceroyalty of the four provinces was conferred by Shah Jahan on his son
Aurangzeb, then eighteen years of age.
Thus the Deccan was brought under the effective control of the Mughal empire during
the reign of Shah Jahan.
Ahmed Nagar conquest
In 1636, Shah Jahan subdued the Nizam Shahi rulers of Ahmad Nagar with the support of
Mahabat Khan.
Golkonda conquest
When the Shi’ite Qutub Shahi ruler of Golkonda imprisoned his own minister Mir Jumla,
it was used as a pretext by Aurangzeb to invade Golkonda on the lines of
misgovernance.
A treaty made the Qutub Shahi ruler a vassal of the Mughal empire.
Kandahar
In 1638, Shah Jahan made use of the political intrigues in the Persian empire and annexed
Kandahar, conquered by Akbar and lost by Jahangir.
Portuguese vs Mughals
The Portuguese had authority over Goa and Bengal.
Shah Jahan ordered the Mughal Governor of Bengal, to drive out the Portuguese from
their settlement at Hugli.
Moreover, Portuguese gunners from Goa had assisted the Bijapur forces against the
Mughals. Though the Portuguese defended themselves valiantly, they were easily
defeated.
The Taj Mahal
The Taj Mahal, is the epitome of Mughal architecture, a blend of Indian, Persian and
Islamic styles.
It was built by the Shah Jahan to immortalize his wife, Mumtaz Mahal.
Mumtaz Mahal died in childbirth in 1631, after having been the emperor’s inseparable
companion since their marriage in 1612.
The chief architect of the Taj Mahal was Ustad Ahmad Lahauri, an Indian of
Persian descent.
Building commenced in about 1632. More than 20,000 workers were employed
from India, Persia, the Ottoman Empire and Europe to complete the mausoleum
by about 1638–39.
The adjunct buildings were finished by 1643, and decoration work continued until
at least 1647.
Travellers during Shah Jahan’s reign
Europeans travellers and merchants like
1. Bernier
2. Tavernier
3. Mandelslo
4. Peter Mundy
5. Manucci
Visited India during the reign of Shah Jahan and left behind detailed accounts of India.
War of Succession
During the last days of Shah Jahan, there was a contest for the throne amongst his four
sons.
Dara Shukoh (Philosopher Prince), the eldest, was the favourite of his father.
Aurangzeb, the third son, was astute, determined and unscrupulous.
A war of succession broke out between the four sons of Shah Jahan in which Aurangzeb
emerged victorious.
Last days
Aurangzeb imprisoned Shah Jahan and crowned himself as the Mughal emperor.
Shah Jahan died broken-hearted as a royal prisoner in January 1666 and was buried in
the Taj Mahal next to his wife.
Aurangzeb (1658 – 1707)
Aurangzeb Alamgir (“World Conqueror”) ascended the throne in 1658 after getting rid
of all the competitors for the throne, Dara Shukoh, Shuja and Murad, in a war of
succession.
His reign of fifty years falls into two equal parts. During the first twenty-five years he
resided in the north, chiefly at Delhi, and personally occupied himself with the affairs of
northern India, leaving the Deccan in the hands of his viceroys.
Aurangzeb conducted several military campaigns to extend the frontiers of the Mughal
empire. His wars in the northwest and northeast drained the treasury.
Already under his father, the revenue of the crops had been raised from a third to a half,
and the extensive and the prolonged military campaigns he waged required him to keep
the peasantry heavily taxed.
Aurangzeb retained Shah Jahanabad as his capital, but after some two decades, the
capital was shifted to wherever Aurangzeb would set up camp during his long military
campaigns.
In the north, there were three major uprisings against Aurangzeb. The Jats (Mathura
district), the Satnamis (Haryana region), and the Sikhs rebelled against Aurangzeb.
The Jat rebellion (1669), a constant feature even during the reign of Jahangir and Shah
Jahan, was crushed temporarily but they remained restive even after the death of
Aurangzeb.
The Satnamis revolt was crushed with the help local Hindu zamindars.
The Sikh (Punjab) rebellion erupted due to the political intrigues of Ram Rai, a claimant
for the position of Sikh Guru, against the incumbent Guru Tegh Bahadur.
Aurangzeb’s decision that the jizya (poll tax) should be levied on Hindus of all classes
agitated the chiefs of Rajasthan, who had until then served the empire faithfully.
The Rana of Mewar, Rana Raj Singh, resenting the interference of Aurangzeb in the
affairs of Marwar rose in revolt and he was supported by Prince Akbar, the rebellious
son of Aurangzeb. However, the Rana could not match the Mughal forces and fought
guerrilla warfare till his death in 1680.
Deccan Policy
The Deccan policy of Aurangzeb was motivated by the policy of containing the growing
influence of the Marathas, the rebellious attitude of the Shia kingdoms of Deccan like
Golkonda and Bijapur and to curtail the rebellious activities of his son Akbar who had
taken refuge in the Deccan.
Aurangzeb came to the Deccan in 1682 and remained in the Deccan till his death in
1707. The Adil Shahi ruler, Sikkandar Adil Shah of Bijapur, resisted the different forces
sent by Aurangzeb.
Golkonda was captured in 1687 after defeating the ruler Abul Hasan.
Against Marathas
The Marathas under Shivaji were a threat to Aurangzeb. Aurangzeb sent two of his great
generals Shaista Khan and Jai Singh one after the other to capture Shivaji.
Jai Singh captured Shivaji and took him to Delhi but, Shivaji managed to escape to the
Deccan. Shivaji, employing guerrilla tactics, defied the Mughal forces until his death at
the age of 53 in 1680.
Aurangzeb was severely tested by the Marathas till his death in 1707 as the sons of
Shivaji continued the rebellion.
The death of Aurangzeb in 1707 marked a watershed in Indian history as the Mughal
empire virtually came to an end even though the weak successors of Aurangzeb held the
throne for the next 150 years.
Aurangzeb nursed a grudge against the Sikhs for having supported his brother and
principal rival to the throne, Dara Shukoh.
Guru Tegh Bahadur was killed at Aurangzeb’s command.
Aurangzeb sent a formidable army under his son Akbar to subdue the rebellious Rajput
kings, but the emperor had not reckoned with his son’s traitorous conduct.
Akbar had declared himself the emperor but was compelled to flee to the Deccan,
where he enlisted the help of Shivaji’s son, Sambhaji.
Aurangzeb decided to take to the field himself and eventually drove his own son into
exile in Persia.
Sambhaji was captured in 1689 and executed. The Sultanates of Bijapur and Golkonda
were also reduced to utter submission.
Towards the end of his reign, Aurangzeb’s empire began to disintegrate, and this
process was accelerated in the years after his death when “successor states” came into
existence.
Many of his political appointees broke loose and declared themselves independent.
Shortly after the death of Aurangzeb, the Mughal empire ceased to be an effective force
in the political life of India.
In areas where there was no political insubordination, Aurangzeb provided endowments
to build temples. It should be noted that during the reign of Aurangzeb the number of
Hindu officials increased when compared to the reign of Shah Jahan.
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