Mughal+India

Mughal India __1526-1858__ Key Terms: 1. Jizya: Head tax place on non-muslims 2. Purdah: Seclusion of women in their households 3. Sati: Burning of high caste Hindu women on their husbands funeral pyres 4. Taj Mahal: The architectural symbol of India! “This stunning architectural work” contains Mumtaz Mahal’s and Shah Jahan’s tombs.

__ ** Social Structures ** __
**Women were also subordinate to men, however their social standing improved over time [4].
 * 1) Strong elite system composed of Hindus and Muslims
 * 2) Outstanding army (No significant merchant/middle class
 * 3) Peasants (note: Living standards continued to fall.)

__**Culture **__
Intellectual Aspects (Reform-related)
 * Established a Calendar System
 * Established living quarters for beggars
 * Regulated the consumption of alcohol

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Recreation (for Rulers) >
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Liked the “good life”
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Female dancers
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Drinking
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Elephant Fights
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Elaborate Gardens
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Polo Matches
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Elaborate Court Ceremonies
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Huge patrons of the arts (Examples: Paintings of Battle themes,Domes, Arches, Marble, “Paradise on Earth" [4].



<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The Taj Mahal, which has become a world renowned symbol for Indian architecture, was built by Shah Jahan.

__**<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Religion **__
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The Mughal Dynasty was ruled by an Islamic minority. Despite this fact, the leaders were tolerant of the Hindu people in India. During Akbar’s reign, he established his own faith, called Din-I-Ilahi. Akbar borrowed what he saw as the best components of each religion and blended them into one religion. He believed he could unite his Hindu and Muslim subjects. His new faith was never practiced beyond the Hindu and Muslim adherents that made up his court. Despite this failure, Akbar continued to support religious tolerance. He is one example of a ruler who tried to accommodate other religions within the empire. [2,4]

__<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Interactions __
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">In order for the Mughal empire to be established, the crumbling Delhi sultanate had to be taken over. Northwestern India was claimed by Babur and his strong army in the 1520s. His death brought about turmoil over the right to rule the Mughal empire and eventually protest due to the fact that his son, Humayan, became his successor. There were always Mughal enemies waiting to take advantage of the apparent weakness in the empire. Akbar strengthened the Mughals and extended conquests. Mughal success led to more European involvement and contact between the nations increased due to European demand for Indian products. [4]

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">A societal shift occurred when Aurangzeb came into power. His attempt to extend the borders of the empire led to political, social, and economic strain. The administration fell apart, peasants suffered worsening living conditions, and long wars with neighbors drained the treasury. Furthermore, new opposition to Islam emerged in groups like the Sikhs. Near the decline of the empire (mid-1700s), the British and the French began to fight over the right to colonize the weakened territory. [4]

__<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Politics __
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">**Babur** was the founder of the Mughal empire. In 1526, Babur participated in the Battle of Panipat against the weakened Delhi sultanate. Babur and his army defeated the opposing forces, which led him to establish the Mughal empire in the same year. Babur significantly changed India when he united the Northwestern region. However, he did little to improve the government. [1,4]

====<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">**Humayan,** who was the son and the successor of Babur, did not make any noteworthy changes to the empire. However, when he died, it caused turmoil among potential successors and revealed the political strain and inadequate organization within the empire to the enemies of the Mughals. [1,4] ====

====<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">**Akbar** had excelled in administration by centralizing the government and organizing tasks for the bureaucracy. He tolerated the Hindu people of India and removed the taxes established by the empire’s previous Muslim leaders. Under Akbar’s rule, Hindus were also promoted to high social and government ranks. Despite his attempted failures to reconcile the Hindus and Muslims into one faith, Akbar continued to support religious tolerance among his people. Akbar executed many social reforms during his reign, which enabled him to provide relief for women in Mughal society. Most importantly, Akbar tried to help women trapped by purdah, and he abolished sati. [2,4] ====

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Under **Aurangzeb**, the last of the six great Mughals, India had reached it’s greatest territorial size. Unlike his grandfather, Akbar, Aurangzeb made enemies with the Hindus of northern India. He removed the tax-free status that Akbar previously granted the Hindus, destroyed their temples, and crushed the vassal states that had previously enjoyed a semi-independent status. [1,2]

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Aurangzeb attained the throne by displacing members of his family. He enlarged his kingdom's territory into the far south of India through the Deccan plain. However, Aurangzeb was unable to sustain this over inflated domain. The enlargement of the empire had strained it’s army, bureaucracy, and economy. When Aurangzeb died in 1707, the empire was nearly at the brink of collapse. The government had become so weak that the empire had become an easy target for invading forces such as the Persians and the British. [2]

__<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Technology __
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Francois Bernier, an European observer, noted that the Indians had fallen behind the Europeans in the areas of invention and science. Despite this, the Indian army began using powerful elephants as their new mode of transportation during combat. Some innovations from Britain were adopted and diffused widely throughout the empire. Examples of this are swivel guns, pistols, and rifles. All of these were quickly added into the Mughal military armory. [4,5]

__<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Economy __
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The Mughal economy was essentially agricultural and supported by the “hard-pressed” peasantry. One of their most important crops was cotton. Therefore, India had a strong manufacturing industry and a highly profitable cotton trade. The infinite demand for Indian products in Europe, led to an increased contact with the British and Dutch East India Companies. However, few European products were received in the Indian markets. [4]

__<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Demography __
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Under Akbar, India’s territory expanded from the Bay of Bengal to almost all of present day Afghanistan. In addition, almost half of India had been successfully conquered by 1605. Furthermore, due to the combined efforts of Shah Jahan (1627-1658) and Aurangzeb (1658-1701), The entire subcontinent of India was acquired by the Mughals, in 1707 .[3] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Works Cited
 * 1) <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Ganeri, Anita. India. Philadelphia, PA: Chelsea House, 2001. Print.
 * 2) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">"The Mughals: Aurangzeb." EdWeb Home Page. Ed. Andy. Web. 24 Mar. 2012. < __http://www.edwebproject.org/india/aurangzeb.html>.__
 * 3) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Pearcy, Thommy, and Mary Dickison. "Mughal Empire in India." Mughal Empire in India, 16th century. W.W. Norton & Company, 1996. Web. 25 Mar. 2012. < __http://www.wwnorton.com/college/history/ralph/resource/mughal.htm>.__

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'times new roman',times,serif; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">4. Stearns, Peter N. World Civilizations: The Global Experience. New York: Pearson Longman, 2003. Print. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">5. Richards, John F. "Jahangir (1605-1627)." The Mughal Empire. 1st ed. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1993. Print.