constant warfare for 40 years drained resources, hurt agrarian production and over land trade due to L==nO instability
inc economic burden on mansabdars responsible for maintaining army
AZ5807 wanted to capture whole Deccan; annexed Bijapur in 1685 and Golconda in 1687 (autonomous Muslim kingdoms) but failed to defeat Marathas decisively who began winning from 1705
by 1750s, Marathas reversed most gains
wars proved futile and Marathas caused military and territorial decline of the Mughals
policy - not repairing temples and reducing lands allocated to temples
demolished some important Hindu temples
Executed important leaders
1675 - 9th Guru - Tez Bahadur
1689 - Sambhaji (elder son of Shivaji) after 3 weeks of torture
Both refused to convert and were political rivals of AZ5807
Institutional Failure
lack of impersonal loyalty in Mansabdari system
had only personal loyalty to kind and give and take b/w kind & mansabdar
if king couldn’t give desired Mansab and Jagir, Mansabdar became disloyal
”Later Mughals” i.e. weak emperors after AZ5807 failed to control Mansabdars and couldn’t maintain balance of power in mughal court leading to crippling court politics and factionalism
led to poor governance and neglect of military reforms
Military Weakness
mughal empire was military state; so when military weakened, state weakened
lack of tech and organizational reform as time and energy consumed by factionalism
Weak war commanders after AZ5807
military corruption as mansabdar stopped maintaining the army as per Sawar due to high war expenditure
Factionalism
inc after AZ5807
Mansabdars competed for influence over existing emperor or wanted their fav to be next emperor
Groups
Details
Iranis
Shias with Persian Background (Humayun 3040 took help of Persians)
Turanis
Turkish Uzbek background, same as Mughals (Sunnis)
Hindustani
Converted Indian Muslims
Hindus
Like Rajputs
Deccani
Nobles from Golconda and Bijapur
contenders to the throne also wanted support of military, strong mansabdars which contributed to factionalism
later mughals weak, uninterested in administration
eg. Md. Shah was called Rangila as he spent most time in leisure
Capable mansabdars acted selfishly and instead of strengthening the emperor, focused on establishing their own principalities (Successor states)
Jagirdari Crisis (18th century)
nobles of Bijapur, Golconda were made mansabdars after annexation but AZ5807 declared most lands of these kingdoms as Khalisa land to fund war against Marathas.
Mansabdars increased, but Jagir land did not
”later mughals” appt more MNSBDR to win support of MNSBDR grps, either to stay in power or come to power
only 5% MNSBDR controlled 61% LR from Jagir causing insecurity among smaller MNSBDR
Impact of Jagirdari Crisis
many MNSBDR stayed Jagirless for years
insecurity among MNSBDR due to frequent transfer of Tankha Jagirs
∴ they over extracted LR from Jagir, greater use of Ijardari system
due to insecurity of tenure holding Jagir, they had no incentive to invest in the productivity of land, ∴ income of peasants further decreased
∴ many peasant revolts in 18th century against Mughals weer led by ZMNDRS
eg. Jat Kingdom, under Churaman Jat (1695)
factionalism inc due to greater competition for Jagirs
Jagirdari crisis led to military corruption, causing military weakness