History
The Mughal Empire
Akbar to Aurangzeb: The Great Mughals
Akbar, Jahangir, Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb for CGPSC: conquests, Rajput and religious policy, sulh-i-kul, war of succession, Deccan and revolts, with dates.
Prerequisites
- Foundation: Babur, Humayun and Sher Shah — the empire Akbar inherited after Second Panipat (1556).
- Bhakti and Sufi Movements — the religious climate (Kabir, the Chishtis, Guru Nanak) that shaped Akbar’s ideas and the Sikh–Mughal story.
The Hook: The Gond Queen Who Faced Akbar’s Army
Connect
Every year on 24 June, Jabalpur and the Gond belt of central India observe the Balidan Diwas (sacrifice day) of Rani Durgavati (रानी दुर्गावती), the queen of Garha-Katanga (Garha-Mandla), whose Gond kingdom lay just north-west of today’s Chhattisgarh. In 1564, Asaf Khan, Akbar’s governor of Kara-Manikpur, invaded her kingdom. She fought at Narai Nala near Jabalpur and, when defeat was certain, took her own life on 24 June 1564.
The same Akbar who crushed Durgavati and Chittor married into the house of Amber, abolished the jizya and debated religion with Jesuits. How did the Mughal empire reach its height between 1556 and 1707, and why did the policies of Akbar and Aurangzeb differ so sharply?
Why it matters: Prelims asks year-event pairs (Haldighati, Mahzar, jizya abolition and reimposition, Purandar), “who built / who wrote” and sequence questions. Mains GS-I asks you to compare Akbar’s and Aurangzeb’s religious and Rajput policies and to evaluate Aurangzeb’s Deccan policy.
Akbar (अकबर), 1556–1605
Early years
| Point | Detail |
|---|---|
| Full name | Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar |
| Born | 1542 at Amarkot (Umarkot, Sindh) |
| Accession | Crowned at Kalanaur (Punjab) in February 1556, aged 13 |
| Regency | Bairam Khan (1556–1560), victor of Second Panipat; dismissed in 1560 and killed on the way to Mecca |
| 1560–1562 | Influence of the harem faction led by Maham Anaga (Akbar’s foster-mother), sometimes called the “petticoat government” |
Expansion
| Year | Conquest / event |
|---|---|
| 1561 | Malwa (Baz Bahadur) |
| 1564 | Garha-Katanga (Gondwana): Rani Durgavati defeated by Asaf Khan |
| 1568 | Chittor (Mewar) besieged and taken |
| 1569 | Ranthambore and Kalinjar |
| 1572–73 | Gujarat: gave the Mughals the port of Surat and the sea trade |
| 1576 | Battle of Haldighati (हल्दीघाटी): Mughal army under Raja Man Singh vs Maharana Pratap of Mewar. Pratap escaped and continued resistance from the hills |
| 1576 | Bengal: Daud Khan Karrani defeated |
| 1586 | Kashmir |
| 1591–1595 | Sindh (1591), Orissa (1592), Baluchistan and Kandahar (1595) |
| 1600 | Ahmadnagar (after the defence led by Chand Bibi) |
| 1601 | Asirgarh (Khandesh): Akbar’s last conquest |
Rajput policy
- 1562: Akbar married the daughter of Raja Bharmal (Kachhwaha ruler of Amber). Bharmal’s son Bhagwant Das and grandson Raja Man Singh rose to the top of the nobility.
- Rajput rulers who submitted kept their kingdoms as watan jagirs (वतन जागीर), received high mansabs, and served as governors and generals (Man Singh in Kabul, Bengal and Bihar).
- Rulers who resisted (Mewar, Ranthambore) faced conquest. Mewar alone never submitted in Akbar’s lifetime; it made peace under Jahangir in 1615.
- Result: the Rajputs became partners in the empire, giving it a broad base beyond the Turani and Irani nobles.
Religious policy: towards sulh-i-kul
| Year | Step |
|---|---|
| 1562 | Ended the practice of enslaving prisoners of war |
| 1563 | Abolished the pilgrim tax |
| 1564 | Abolished the jizya (जज़िया), the tax on non-Muslims |
| 1575 | Built the Ibadat Khana (इबादतख़ाना) (House of Worship) at Fatehpur Sikri for religious debates; first only Sunni scholars, later Shias, Hindus, Jains, Zoroastrians and Christians (Jesuits from Goa) |
| 1579 | Mahzar (महज़र): a declaration signed by leading ulama, drafted by Shaikh Mubarak (father of Abul Fazl and Faizi). It let Akbar choose between conflicting legal opinions of the jurists. Often loosely called the “infallibility decree” |
| 1582 | Din-i-Ilahi (दीन-ए-इलाही), also called Tauhid-i-Ilahi: a discipleship order around the emperor. It had very few members (Birbal is the best-known Hindu member) and was not a mass religion |
Sulh-i-kul (सुलह-ए-कुल): 'peace with all'
The guiding principle of Akbar’s later reign, articulated by Abul Fazl: the ruler stands above all sects and gives every community the same protection. It showed up as the abolition of jizya and the pilgrim tax, the translation of Sanskrit works into Persian (the Mahabharata as Razmnama, the Ramayana) in the Maktab Khana (translation bureau), the celebration of festivals of different faiths at court, and the appointment of non-Muslims to high office. Din-i-Ilahi was a narrow expression of it; sulh-i-kul was the policy.
Akbar’s court
- Abul Fazl: Akbarnama and Ain-i-Akbari; killed in 1602 by Bir Singh Bundela, at the instigation of Prince Salim.
- Faizi: poet laureate; Persian translation of the Lilavati.
- Raja Todar Mal: revenue reforms (dahsala, 1580).
- Raja Birbal: courtier and wit; killed fighting the Yusufzai Afghans (1586).
- Tansen: musician from Gwalior, earlier at the court of Raja Ramchandra of Rewa.
- Abdur Rahim Khan-i-Khanan: son of Bairam Khan; translated the Baburnama into Persian; wrote Hindi dohas.
- Raja Man Singh: general and governor.
- The idea of exactly “nine jewels” (navaratna) is a later popular tradition; the membership varies between lists.
Death: Akbar died in 1605; his tomb is at Sikandra near Agra.
Jahangir (जहाँगीर), 1605–1627
| Point | Detail |
|---|---|
| Name | Prince Salim (named after Shaikh Salim Chishti); title Nur-ud-din Muhammad Jahangir |
| 1606 | Revolt of his son Khusrau; Guru Arjan Dev, the fifth Sikh Guru, was executed for supporting him |
| Justice | Hung a Zanjir-i-Adl (ज़ंजीर-ए-अदल), “chain of justice”, at Agra Fort for petitioners. Issued twelve ordinances on accession |
| 1611 | Married Mehr-un-Nisa, titled Nur Mahal, then Nur Jahan (नूरजहाँ). Her father Itimad-ud-Daulah, brother Asaf Khan and Prince Khurram formed the so-called “Nur Jahan junta”. Coins were issued in her name |
| 1615 | Mewar under Rana Amar Singh accepted Mughal suzerainty on honourable terms |
| Deccan | Resistance in Ahmadnagar led by the Abyssinian minister Malik Ambar |
| 1622 | Kandahar lost to the Safavids of Persia |
| 1622–1626 | Revolt of Prince Khurram; Mahabat Khan’s coup (1626) |
| The English | William Hawkins at court (1608–1611); Sir Thomas Roe, ambassador of James I, at court 1615–1619. The English East India Company got permission to trade at Surat |
| Memoir | Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri (Jahangirnama), in Persian |
| Culture | Peak of Mughal painting (Mansur, Abul Hasan, Bishandas) |
| Death | 1627; tomb at Shahdara, Lahore |
Shah Jahan (शाहजहाँ), 1628–1658
| Point | Detail |
|---|---|
| Name | Prince Khurram; married Arjumand Banu Begum (Mumtaz Mahal), Asaf Khan’s daughter. She died in 1631 at Burhanpur |
| Deccan | Ahmadnagar annexed (1633). In 1636, Bijapur and Golconda accepted Mughal overlordship by treaty. Aurangzeb served as viceroy of the Deccan |
| North-west | Kandahar regained in 1638, lost to Persia again in 1649; three sieges failed. The Balkh–Badakhshan campaign (1646–47) was a costly failure |
| Portuguese | Driven out of Hugli (Bengal) in 1632 |
| Building | Taj Mahal, Red Fort and Jama Masjid of Delhi, the new city Shahjahanabad, the Peacock Throne (Takht-i-Taus). The reign is called the golden age of Mughal architecture |
| Dara Shikoh | Eldest son; Sufi-minded scholar. Wrote Majma-ul-Bahrain (“Mingling of the Two Oceans”, on Sufism and Vedanta) and had about fifty Upanishads translated into Persian as Sirr-i-Akbar |
War of succession (1657–1659)
When Shah Jahan fell ill in 1657, his four sons fought for the throne.
| Battle | Date | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Bahadurpur | 1658 (February) | Imperial army defeated Shuja |
| Dharmat | April 1658 | Aurangzeb and Murad defeated the imperial army under Jaswant Singh |
| Samugarh | May 1658 | Aurangzeb and Murad defeated Dara Shikoh; decisive battle near Agra |
| Khajwa | January 1659 | Aurangzeb defeated Shuja |
| Deorai | 1659 | Final defeat of Dara, near Ajmer; Dara was captured and executed |
Aurangzeb imprisoned Shah Jahan in Agra Fort, where he lived until his death in 1666. Murad was imprisoned and later executed.
Aurangzeb (औरंगज़ेब), 1658–1707
| Point | Detail |
|---|---|
| Title | Alamgir (आलमगीर), “conqueror of the world”; crowned in 1658 and formally again in 1659 |
| Extent | The empire reached its greatest extent in his reign, after the annexation of Bijapur (1686) and Golconda (1687) |
| Legal compilation | Fatawa-i-Alamgiri, a digest of Hanafi law |
| Death | 1707, at Ahmadnagar; buried in a simple grave at Khuldabad near Aurangabad |
Religious measures
- Ended practices he regarded as un-Islamic: jharokha darshan, the weighing of the emperor (tuladan), and court music (musicians were dismissed from court, though music continued among nobles).
- Appointed muhtasibs (censors of public morals) and stopped the Nauroz festival at court.
- 1669: temples at Varanasi (Vishwanath) and, in 1670, Mathura (Keshav Rai) were destroyed. Historians note that he also confirmed grants to some temples and Brahmins; the policy was not uniform.
- 1679: reimposed the jizya.
- 1675: execution of the ninth Sikh Guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur, in Delhi.
Revolts against him
| Revolt | Leader / place | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Jats | Gokula (1669), later Rajaram and Churaman | Agrarian revolts around Mathura and Agra; later the Jat state of Bharatpur |
| Satnamis | Narnaul (Haryana), 1672 | A sect founded in 1657 by Birbhan of Narnaul; peasant revolt crushed when Aurangzeb sent a large force |
| Afghans | Yusufzai and Afridi tribes (from 1667) | North-west frontier |
| Sikhs | After Tegh Bahadur’s execution; Guru Gobind Singh founded the Khalsa (1699) | Became an armed community |
| Rajputs | Marwar (after Raja Jaswant Singh’s death, 1678–79), led by Durgadas Rathore; Mewar joined | Aurangzeb’s son Prince Akbar rebelled (1681) and fled to the Maratha court |
| Bundelas | Chhatrasal | Bundelkhand |
The Deccan and the Marathas
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1663 | Shivaji’s night raid on Shaista Khan at Pune |
| 1664 | Shivaji sacked Surat |
| 1665 | Treaty of Purandar (11 June) with Raja Jai Singh: Shivaji surrendered 23 forts |
| 1666 | Shivaji at Agra; placed under house arrest; escaped |
| 1674 | Shivaji crowned Chhatrapati at Raigad |
| 1681–82 | Aurangzeb moves to the Deccan; he never returned north |
| 1686 / 1687 | Bijapur (Adil Shahi) and Golconda (Qutb Shahi) annexed |
| 1689 | Sambhaji (Shivaji’s son) captured and executed |
| 1689–1707 | Maratha resistance under Rajaram and then Tarabai; war without decisive result |
The 'Deccan ulcer'
Aurangzeb spent his last 25 years in the Deccan. Annexing Bijapur and Golconda removed buffer states and left the Mughals facing the Marathas directly across a vast, hard-to-hold region. The long war drained the treasury, kept the emperor away from the north (where Jat, Sikh and Rajput unrest grew), and created a shortage of good jagirs for the many new Deccani and Maratha nobles. This is why the Deccan policy is often called the “ulcer” that weakened the empire. See Later Mughals and Decline.
Akbar and Aurangzeb compared (Mains)
| Point | Akbar | Aurangzeb |
|---|---|---|
| Basis of rule | Sulh-i-kul; the ruler above sects | Rule according to his reading of the Sharia; emperor as a pious Sunni ruler |
| Jizya | Abolished (1564) | Reimposed (1679) |
| Rajputs | Partners through marriage, mansabs, watan jagirs | Conflict with Marwar and Mewar (1679 onwards), though Rajputs still served |
| Deccan | Limited annexation (Khandesh, part of Ahmadnagar) | Full annexation of Bijapur and Golconda; long Maratha war |
| Culture | Patron of painting, music, translation | Withdrew patronage of court music and painting |
| Result | Consolidation and a broad ruling class | Greatest territorial extent but overstretch and alienation |
Historians' debate
Jadunath Sarkar blamed Aurangzeb’s religious policy for the empire’s troubles. Later historians, such as Satish Chandra and M. Athar Ali, put more weight on the jagirdari crisis, the Deccan wars and the strains in the nobility, and Athar Ali’s study of the nobility showed that Hindus (mainly Rajputs and Marathas) held a larger share of high mansabs in Aurangzeb’s later reign than under Akbar. A balanced Mains answer mentions both views.
Chhattisgarh Angle
- Garha-Katanga’s fall (1564) brought Mughal armies to the edge of the Chhattisgarh uplands. The Gond kingdom survived as a tributary and later fell to the Marathas in the 18th century.
- Kalyan Sai (कल्याण साय), a 16th-century Kalachuri king of Ratanpur, is said in British-era accounts to have spent about eight years at the Mughal court. The accounts differ on whether this was under Akbar or Jahangir, so mention it only as a tradition. See Kalachuris of Ratanpur.
- Don’t confuse the Satnamis: the Satnami revolt of 1672 was in Narnaul (Haryana). The Satnampanth of Chhattisgarh was founded much later by Guru Ghasidas (गुरु घासीदास), born in 1756 at Giraudpuri, and is a separate movement. See Social Aspects of Chhattisgarh.
Memory Tricks
Akbar's religious ladder: '63-64-75-79-82'
Pilgrim tax off (1563) → Jizya off (1564) → Ibadat Khana (1575) → Mahzar (1579) → Din-i-Ilahi (1582). Read it as “Please Join In My Divine order”: P-J-I-M-D.
Six Great Mughals in order
Babur → Humayun → Akbar → Jahangir → Shah Jahan → Aurangzeb: “Big Horses Are Just So Awesome”. Then later Mughals start with Bahadur Shah I (1707).
Aurangzeb's revolts: 'J-S-A-S-R-B'
Jats (1669) · Satnamis (1672) · Afghans · Sikhs (1675, Khalsa 1699) · Rajputs (1679) · Bundelas. “Just Six Angry Subjects Rose Back.”
Don’t Confuse
| This | vs | That |
|---|---|---|
| Jizya abolished 1564 (Akbar) | vs | Jizya reimposed 1679 (Aurangzeb) |
| Guru Arjan Dev — executed 1606 under Jahangir | vs | Guru Tegh Bahadur — executed 1675 under Aurangzeb |
| Mahzar (1579) — legal declaration by the ulama | vs | Din-i-Ilahi (1582) — discipleship order |
| Haldighati (1576) — Man Singh vs Maharana Pratap | vs | Mewar’s submission (1615) — Amar Singh, under Jahangir |
| Thomas Roe (1615–19) — ambassador of James I to Jahangir | vs | William Hawkins (1608–11) — earlier English visitor to Jahangir |
| Satnami revolt (1672) — Narnaul, Haryana | vs | Satnampanth — Guru Ghasidas, Chhattisgarh, late 18th–19th century |
| Samugarh (1658) — Aurangzeb beats Dara | vs | Deorai (1659) — Dara’s final defeat |
Common Mistakes
MCQ traps
- “Din-i-Ilahi was a new religion that Akbar imposed on his subjects.” False. It was a small discipleship order with very few members; Akbar did not force it on anyone.
- “Akbar’s last conquest was Ahmadnagar.” The last was Asirgarh (1601).
- “Kandahar was lost permanently under Jahangir.” It was lost in 1622, regained in 1638 and lost finally in 1649 under Shah Jahan.
- “Thomas Roe came to Akbar’s court.” False. He came to Jahangir (1615–19).
- “Aurangzeb’s empire was small because of revolts.” False. It reached its greatest extent under him; the problem was overstretch, not size.
Practice
All questions below are original practice questions written in CGPSC style. They are not previous-year questions.
Level 1: Foundation
- Akbar abolished the jizya in the year ______.
- The Gond queen of Garha-Katanga who died fighting Akbar’s general Asaf Khan in 1564 was ______.
- The Treaty of Purandar (1665) was signed between Shivaji and ______.
Answers
- 1564.
- Rani Durgavati.
- Raja Jai Singh (of Amber), Aurangzeb’s commander.
Level 2: Prelims MCQs
Q1. Consider the following statements:
- The Ibadat Khana was built at Fatehpur Sikri for religious debates.
- The Mahzar of 1579 was drafted by Abul Fazl.
- Akbar reimposed the pilgrim tax after the Mahzar.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- (a) 1 only
- (b) 1 and 2 only
- (c) 2 and 3 only
- (d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer and explanation
(a) 1 only. The Ibadat Khana (1575) was at Fatehpur Sikri. The Mahzar was drafted by Shaikh Mubarak, Abul Fazl’s father, not by Abul Fazl. Akbar abolished the pilgrim tax in 1563 and did not bring it back.
Q2. Match List I (Event) with List II (Emperor):
| List I | List II |
|---|---|
| A. Execution of Guru Arjan Dev | 1. Aurangzeb |
| B. Final loss of Kandahar to Persia | 2. Akbar |
| C. Conquest of Asirgarh | 3. Jahangir |
| D. Annexation of Golconda | 4. Shah Jahan |
- (a) A-3, B-4, C-2, D-1
- (b) A-1, B-4, C-2, D-3
- (c) A-3, B-2, C-4, D-1
- (d) A-4, B-3, C-1, D-2
Answer and explanation
(a) A-3, B-4, C-2, D-1. Guru Arjan Dev was executed in 1606 under Jahangir; Kandahar was lost finally in 1649 under Shah Jahan; Asirgarh (1601) was Akbar’s last conquest; Golconda was annexed in 1687 by Aurangzeb.
Q3. Arrange the following in chronological order:
- Battle of Haldighati
- Reimposition of jizya
- Treaty of Purandar
- Mewar’s submission to the Mughals
- (a) 1, 4, 2, 3
- (b) 1, 4, 3, 2
- (c) 4, 1, 3, 2
- (d) 1, 3, 4, 2
Answer and explanation
(b) 1, 4, 3, 2. Haldighati 1576 → Mewar’s submission 1615 → Purandar 1665 → jizya reimposed 1679.
Q4. Who among the following had about fifty Upanishads translated into Persian under the title Sirr-i-Akbar?
- (a) Abul Fazl
- (b) Faizi
- (c) Dara Shikoh
- (d) Abdur Rahim Khan-i-Khanan
Answer and explanation
(c) Dara Shikoh, Shah Jahan’s eldest son, who also wrote Majma-ul-Bahrain. The title’s “Akbar” means “great” (“the Great Secret”), not the emperor, which is the trap that pulls students to (a) or (b).
Q5. The Satnami revolt of 1672 against Aurangzeb broke out in:
- (a) Giraudpuri, Chhattisgarh
- (b) Narnaul, Haryana
- (c) Mathura, Uttar Pradesh
- (d) Bundelkhand
Answer and explanation
(b) Narnaul, Haryana. Option (a) is the birthplace of Guru Ghasidas, founder of the Chhattisgarh Satnampanth, a separate and much later movement. Mathura was the centre of the Jat revolt (1669) and Bundelkhand of the Bundela resistance under Chhatrasal.
Level 3: Mains Answer Writing
Q1. (150–200 words) Compare the religious and Rajput policies of Akbar and Aurangzeb. How did they affect the stability of the Mughal empire?
Model answer outline
- Intro: The two reigns mark the high points of integration and of strain in Mughal rule.
- Akbar:
- Sulh-i-kul: abolition of the pilgrim tax (1563) and jizya (1564); Ibadat Khana (1575); Mahzar (1579); translations in the Maktab Khana.
- Rajputs as partners: marriage alliance with Amber (1562), high mansabs, watan jagirs; Man Singh as general and governor.
- Effect: a broad, multi-ethnic ruling class loyal to the throne.
- Aurangzeb:
- Rule by his reading of the Sharia; jizya reimposed (1679); some temples destroyed; court music and jharokha ended.
- Conflict with Marwar and Mewar after 1679; Prince Akbar’s revolt (1681).
- Effect: revolts of Jats, Satnamis, Sikhs and Rajputs added to the Deccan burden.
- Balance: historians such as Satish Chandra and M. Athar Ali stress the jagirdari crisis and the Deccan war; religious policy was one factor among several.
- Conclusion: Akbar widened the base of the state; Aurangzeb narrowed it just as the Deccan war overstretched it.
Quick Revision Table
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Akbar | Born 1542 Amarkot; crowned Kalanaur 1556; regent Bairam Khan to 1560 |
| Garha-Katanga | 1564; Rani Durgavati died 24 June 1564 at Narai Nala |
| Chittor / Gujarat / Haldighati | 1568 / 1572–73 / 1576 (Man Singh vs Pratap) |
| Last conquest | Asirgarh, 1601 |
| Religious steps | Pilgrim tax off 1563; jizya off 1564; Ibadat Khana 1575; Mahzar 1579; Din-i-Ilahi 1582 |
| Rajput alliance | 1562, daughter of Raja Bharmal of Amber |
| Jahangir | Guru Arjan executed 1606; chain of justice; Nur Jahan 1611; Mewar submits 1615; Thomas Roe 1615–19; Kandahar lost 1622 |
| Shah Jahan | Ahmadnagar annexed 1633; Kandahar lost finally 1649; Taj, Red Fort, Jama Masjid, Peacock Throne |
| Succession war | Dharmat (Apr 1658), Samugarh (May 1658), Khajwa (1659), Deorai (1659) |
| Aurangzeb | Alamgir; jizya 1679; Tegh Bahadur 1675; Purandar 1665; Bijapur 1686, Golconda 1687; Sambhaji 1689; died 1707 Ahmadnagar |
| Revolts | Jats 1669, Satnamis 1672 (Narnaul), Rajputs 1679, Khalsa 1699 |
Key Takeaways
Key Takeaways
- Akbar turned a military conquest into an empire through conquest, Rajput partnership and sulh-i-kul.
- Jahangir and Shah Jahan ruled a stable, wealthy empire; Kandahar was lost for good in 1649, and the war of succession (1657–59) brought Aurangzeb to power.
- Aurangzeb took the empire to its greatest extent but faced revolts across the north and an unending Maratha war in the Deccan.
- For Mains, compare Akbar vs Aurangzeb on religion, Rajputs and the Deccan, and cite both the religious-policy and the agrarian/jagirdari explanations.
- Chhattisgarh links: Rani Durgavati (1564) next door, the Ratanpur tradition of Kalyan Sai at the Mughal court, and the need to separate the 1672 Satnamis from Guru Ghasidas’s Satnampanth.
What’s Next
- Mughal Administration and Mansabdari — the machinery that held this empire together
- Art and Architecture — Fatehpur Sikri, the Taj and Mughal painting
- Later Mughals and Decline — what happened after 1707
- Maratha Rule in Chhattisgarh — the Marathas who fought Aurangzeb later ruled Chhattisgarh
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