Modern Indian History Class 01

Battle of Panipat,Mughal emperor chronology,Mansabdari system 

Discussion regarding syllabus of modern Indian history 

• The decline of the Mughals.
• Rise of Regional powers:
• Autonomous states like Rajputs, Mysore, and Travancore.
• Rebel states like Marathas, Jats, Sikhs, Afghans, etc.
• Successor states like Hyderabad, Bengal, Awadh, etc.
• Why did Marathas not become an all-Indian power?
• How did the British become an All-India power?
• Rise of Indian national movement.

Ist Battle of Panipat, 1526 

• It was fought between Zahiruddin Babur Vs Ibrahim Lodhi(the Lodhi dynasty was the last empire of the Delhi sultanate).
• Babur was in search of a kingdom for himself and this battle was the culmination of conflicts between Babur and Lodhi.
• It was the first major battle where gunpowder and field artillery(small bronze canon) was used, which is why Babur won despite a small army.
• Therefore Babur founded the Mughal empire in 1526.

2nd battle of Panipat, 1556 

• Fought between Akbar (13 years old, the army was led by his guardian Bairam Khan) and Hemchandra Vikramaditya of Rewari or Hemu (the most important minister and military general of the Suri dynasty).
• Babar was succeeded by Humayun who was defeated by Afghan invader Shershah Suri(set up the rule of the Suri dynasty, 1540-55).
• In 1555, Humayun defeated Suris but then died in 1556, and now Hemu recaptured power.
• Therefore the 2nd battle of Panipat was fought by Akbar to establish the Mughal empire in India.

Mughal emperor chronology 

• Babar (1526-30).
• Humayun (1530-40)
• Akbar (1556-1605).
• Jahangir (1605-1627).
• Sahajhan (1628-58).
• Arungbzeb (1658-1707).
• Bahadur Shah (1707-1712).
• Jahandar Shah (1712-1713).
• Farruksiyar (1713-19).
• Muhammad Shah (1719-1748).
• Ahmed Shah Bahadur (1748-1754).
• Alamgir-II (1754-59).
• Shah Alam (1760-1806).
• Akbar-II (1806-1837).
• Bahadur Shah Jafar (1837-1857).

Mansabdari system 

• It was the military bureaucracy system of the Mughals established by the Akbar.
• That is officials had dual functions of civil and military functions.
• Mansab is a post/office and Mansabdar is the holder or occupant of Mansabs.
• There were two types of Mansbdars on basis of the mode of salary.
• Naqadi Mansabdar:
• They were paid a salary in cash.
• Jagirdar Mansabdar:
• They were paid in the form of allocating a Jagir.
• The land revenue from the Jagirs (land) went to the Jagirdar.
• Jagir is a land whose land revenue goes to Jagirdar and Jagirdar is the holder of Jagir.
• Jagir was of two types:
• Tankha Jagirs:
• These jagirs could be transferred from one to another Mansabdar(could be taken away from the Mansabdar by the king).
• All of the revenue goes to Mansabdar.
• Vatan Jagirs:
• The word Vatan means hereditary.
• It was given permanently to a person and becomes heredity Jagir.
• It is non-transferable.
• 10% of land revenue from Vatan Jagir went to the king as tribute/Peshkash.
• As here king gave up the right to take away Jagir, therefore needs to be compensated and tribute acted as Vatan Jagirdar recognizing the sovereign authority of the king.
• The criteria for becoming Mansabdar was lineage(family background).
• Every Mansabdar had a dual rank.
• Zat:
• It was a personal Rank.
• Sawar:
• It is the number of Horsemen a Mansabdar is required to Maintain for the king.
• For example- Zat=3000 and Sawar=1500 then net rank=4500.
• The emoluments of Mansabadar were equal to his salary and allowance for the maintenance of the army as per his Sawar.
• More important nobles were Jagirdar Mansabdar and less important ones were Naqadi  Mansabdars.
• Vatan Jagirs were given to those who were very powerful Mansabdars.
• Corrupt Mansabadar would not maintain an army as per Sawar, therefore would try to make personal, money to be ideally spent on the army or over-extracted land revenue from Jagir.
• Mughal emperors are dependent on Mansabdars for the Maintainance of the army.
• therefore in the Mansabdari system, a give-and-take relationship existed between the king and Mansabdar.
• The king gave Mansab and Jagir and in return Mansabdar gave his loyalty and maintained the army of the king.
• Therefore there existed personal loyalty and if the king does not give the desired Mansabs and Jagirs then it may lead to disloyalty towards the king.

The topic of the next class:  Khalisa land and Land revenue system.