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Pakistan
Index
Figure 4. Mughal Empire, Late Seventeenth Century
Source: Based on information from Joseph E. Schwartzberg, ed.,
A Historical Atlas of South Asia, New York, 1992, 46.
Mughal painting of Aurangzeb, the last of the Great Mughals
Courtesy Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress
India in the sixteenth century presented a fragmented
picture
of rulers, both Muslim and Hindu, who lacked concern for
their
subjects and who failed to create a common body of laws or
institutions. Outside developments also played a role in
shaping
events. The circumnavigation of Africa by the Portuguese
explorer
Vasco da Gama in 1498 allowed Europeans to challenge Arab
control
of the trading routes between Europe and Asia. In Central
Asia
and Afghanistan, shifts in power pushed Babur of Ferghana
(in
present-day Uzbekistan) southward, first to Kabul and then
to
India. The dynasty he founded endured for more than three
centuries.
Claiming descent from both Chinggis Khan (also seen as
Genghis Khan) and Timur, Babur combined strength and
courage with
a love of beauty, and military ability with cultivation.
Babur
concentrated on gaining control of northwestern India. He
did so
in 1526 by defeating the last Lodhi sultan at the first
Battle of
Panipat, a town north of Delhi. Babur then turned to the
tasks of
persuading his Central Asian followers to stay on in India
and of
overcoming other contenders for power, mainly the Rajputs
and the
Afghans. He succeeded in both tasks but died shortly
thereafter
in 1530. The Mughal Empire was one of the largest
centralized
states in premodern history and was the precursor to the
British
Indian Empire
(see
fig. 4).
The perennial question of who was the greatest of the
six
"Great Mughals" receives varying answers in present-day
Pakistan
and India. Some favor Babur the pioneer and others his
great-grandson, Shah Jahan (r. 1628-58), builder of the
Taj Mahal
and other magnificent buildings. The other two towering
figures
of the era by general consensus were Akbar (r. 1556-1605)
and
Aurangzeb (r. 1658-1707). Both rulers expanded the empire
greatly
and were able administrators. However, Akbar was known for
his
religious tolerance and administrative genius, while
Aurangzeb
was a pious Muslim and fierce protector of orthodox Islam
in an
alien and heterodox environment.
Akbar succeeded his father, Humayun (r. 1530-40 and
1555-56),
whose rule was interrupted by the Afghan Sur Dynasty,
which
rebelled against him. It was only just before his death
that
Humayun was able to regain the empire and leave it to his
son. In
restoring and expanding Mughal rule, Akbar based his
authority on
the ability and loyalty of his followers, irrespective of
their
religion. In 1564 the jizya on non-Muslims was
abolished,
and bans on temple building and Hindu pilgrimages were
lifted.
Akbar's methods of administration reinforced his power
against two possible sources of challenge--the
Afghan-Turkish
aristocracy and the traditional interpreters of Islamic
law, the
ulama (see Glossary).
He created a ranked imperial service
based
on ability rather than birth, whose members were obliged
to serve
wherever required. They were remunerated with cash rather
than
land and were kept away from their inherited estates, thus
centralizing the imperial power base and assuring its
supremacy.
The military and political functions of the imperial
service were
separate from those of revenue collection, which was
supervised
by the imperial treasury. This system of administration,
known as
the mansabdari, was based on loyal service and cash
payments and was the backbone of the Mughal Empire; its
effectiveness depended on personal loyalty to the emperor
and his
ability and willingness to choose, remunerate, and
supervise.
Akbar declared himself the final arbiter in all
disputes of
law derived from the Quran and the sharia. He backed his
religious authority primarily with his authority in the
state. In
1580 he also initiated a syncretic court religion called
the
Din-i-Ilahi (Divine Faith). In theory, the new faith was
compatible with any other, provided that the devotee was
loyal to
the emperor. In practice, however, its ritual and content
profoundly offended orthodox Muslims. The ulama found
their
influence undermined. The concept of Islam as a superior
religion
with a historic mission in the world appeared to be
compromised.
The syncretism of the court and its tolerance of both
Hindus and
unorthodox
Shia (see Glossary)
sects among Muslims
triggered a
reaction among
Sunni (see Glossary)
Muslims. In the
fratricidal
war of succession that closed the reign of Akbar's
grandson Shah
Jahan in 1658, the aristocracy supported the austere
military
commander Aurangzeb against his learned and eclectic
brother Dara
Shikoh, whom Aurangzeb defeated in battle and later had
decapitated in 1662.
Aurangzeb's reign ushered in the decline of the Mughal
Empire. Aurangzeb, who in the latter half of his long rule
assumed the title "Alamgir" or "world-seizer," was known
for
aggressively expanding the empire's frontiers and for his
militant enforcement of orthodox Sunni Islam. During his
reign,
the Mughal empire reached its greatest extent, although
his
policies also led to its dissolution. Although he was an
outstanding general and a rigorous administrator, Mughal
fiscal
and military standards declined as security and luxury
increased.
Land rather than cash became the usual means of
remunerating
high-ranking officials, and divisive tendencies in his
large
empire further undermined central authority.
In 1679 Aurangzeb reimposed the hated jizya on
Hindus.
Coming after a series of other taxes and also
discriminatory
measures favoring Sunni Muslims this action by the
"prayermonger " (emperor), incited rebellion among Hindus and
others in
many parts of the empire--Jat, Sikh, and Rajput forces in
the
north and Maratha forces in the Deccan. The emperor
managed to
crush the rebellions in the north, but at a high cost to
agricultural productivity and to the legitimacy of Mughal
rule.
Aurangzeb was compelled to move his headquarters to
Daulatabad in
the Deccan to mount a costly campaign against Maratha
guerrilla
fighters, which lasted twenty-six-years until he died in
1707 at
the age of ninety. Aurangzeb, oppressed by a sense of
failure,
isolation, and impending doom, lamented that in life he
"came
alone" and would "go as a stranger."
In the century- and one-half that followed, effective
control
by Aurangzeb's successors weakened. Succession to imperial
and
even provincial power, which had often become hereditary,
was
subject to intrigue and force. The mansabdari
system gave
way to the zamindari system, in which high-ranking
officials took on the appearance of hereditary landed
aristocracy
with powers of collecting rents. As Delhi's control waned,
other
contenders for power emerged and clashed, thus preparing
the way
for the eventual British takeover.
Vasco da Gama led the first documented European
expedition to
India, sailing into Calicut on the southwest coast in
1498. In
1510 the Portuguese captured Goa, which became the seat of
their
activity. Under Admiral Alfonso de Albuquerque, Portugal
successfully challenged Arab power in the Indian Ocean and
dominated the sea routes for a century. Jesuits came to
convert,
to converse, and to record observations of India. The
Protestant
countries of the Netherlands and England, upset by the
Portuguese
monopoly, formed private trading companies at the turn of
the
seventeenth century to challenge the Portuguese.
Mughal officials permitted the new carriers of India's
considerable export trade to establish trading posts
(factories)
in India. The Dutch East India Company concentrated mainly
on the
spice trade from present-day Indonesia. Britain's East
India
Company carried on trade with India. The French East India
Company also set up factories.
During the wars of the eighteenth century, the
factories
served not only as collection and transshipment points for
trade
but also increasingly as fortified centers of refuge for
both
foreigners and Indians. British factories gradually began
to
apply British law to disputes arising within their
jurisdiction.
The posts also began to grow in area and population. Armed
company servants were effective protectors of trade. As
rival
contenders for power called for armed assistance and as
individual European adventurers found permanent homes in
India,
British and French companies found themselves more and
more
involved in local politics in the south and in Bengal.
Plots and
counterplots climaxed when British East India Company
forces, led
by Robert Clive, decisively defeated the larger but
divided
forces of Nawab Siraj-ud-Dawlah at Plassey (Pilasi) in
Bengal in
1757.
Data as of April 1994
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