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Bhaktism

Origin and rise of Bhakti
Spread of Bhakti in North India
Nirguna Bhakti and its social impact
Saguna Bhakti and its manifestation in different parts of India
Historiography of Bhaktism
The role of women Bhaktas and the evolution of Bhaktism as a social liberator
Cultural contribution of Bhaktism

Origin and the rise of Bhakti

Bhaktiisinherentin Indian culture.Atdifferentpointsinhistory,Bhaktitookthe form of a philosophical movement then it became the largest cultural movement in India.

From the viewpoint of time, it covered more than 1000 years.

Likewise, as for its nature, we can say it was an inclusive cultural phenomenon.

For example,itassimilatedwithinitselfbothhigh Brahmaniccultureandlower tribal culture,

popular elements as well as feudal elements,
Brahmanic orthodoxy as well as religious liberalism.
So, it was heterogeneous in character.

Some elements of Bhakti manifested even in ancient texts like Vedas and Upanishads.

But still,asasocial-religiousideology,wefindthefullextentof Bhaktisminthe text, Bhagwat Gita, first.

Pre-Gupta Period: Upto the Gupta period Bhaktism emerged as a philosophical response to Buddhism, however, it largely remained confined to high philosophy and never really affected the lives of the common people.

Gupta Period: Then idol worship and temple cult started during Gupta period as a result of the influence of non-Aryan elements.

There was an expansion of Aryan culture due to the phenomenon of land grants and through the process of cultural integration, a large number of non- Aryan godswere assimilated within the Aryan pantheon preparingthe wayfor future Hinduism.

Post-Gupta Period: Tantricism became the dominant sect in North India and it overpowered Bhaktism for some time.

Furthermore, we should keep one thing in mind that during Gupta and Post- Gupta periods, Bhakti got associated with a socio-political phenomenon that emerged at that time and which was known as feudalism.

Tamil Bhakti: Then in the 6 th and 7 th centuries, Bhakti appeared in South India as a popular movement.

Here the initiative was taken by Alavar and Nayanar saints. According to the tradition, there were 12 Alwar saints and 63 Nayanar saints.

Although these saints came from different social backgrounds, most came from the lower castes. So they opposed varna division.

That's why initially the Bhakti movement in south India did not work simply as a religious movement but also a social movement.

Alavar and Nayanar saints made a demand not simply of religious equality but also of social equality.

Acharyas: But after the 10 th century CE, Brahmanic elements started to penetrate the Tamil Bhakti movement. They were known as Acharyas for example, Nath muni,

Yamunacharya, Ramanujacharya, Vallabhacharya, Madhavacharya etc.

They began promoting Bhakti as a philosophy once again.

Ramanujacharya: Then in the 12 th century CE, under Ramanuja, a compromise formula was reached.

According to this, although in the religious field equality for all was accepted, in the social field, Varna division had to continue.

As a result of thischange, the Bhakti movement was converted from a popular movement into an elitist movement.

Ironically, Bhakti became a strong weapon in the hand of Brahmins, with the support of which they could eliminate Buddhist and Jaina adversaries.

Simultaneously, this period was marked by the rise of new dynasties in South India i.e. Cholas.

This dynasty was in search of legitimacy so they could gain support to Brahmanas and temple cult.

Thus Bhaktiemergedasareligiousstructurebasedonanalliancebetweenmonarchy and Brahmans who were being supported by idol worship and temple cult.

Medieval Bhakti in North India

Afterthe 13th century,Bhaktitravelledto North India.Itissaidthatit was Ramananda who carried the message of Bhaktism from South to North India.

Ramanandaappearedat the endofthe 15th centuryand early 16th century.Hespent his early life in South India then the rest of the life he spent at Banaras.

Althoughhewasafollowerof the Ramanujatradition,hebroughtcertaininnovations.

Forexample,herelaxedthecastebarriersandaccepteddiscipleseven among lower caste Hindus.

That's why he is supposed to be the spiritual inspiration behind the lower caste saints like Kabir, Ravidas, Sena and Dhanna. Nirguna Bhakti

By the 15 th century in North India, Nirguna Bhakti had emerged. The background for Nirguna Bhakti was prepared by the Nathpanthi sect. It had two specialities.

Firstly, although Nathpanthi saints were worshippers of Lord Shiva, they worshipped Lord Shiva in a shapeless form.

Secondly, they were vehemently opposed to the caste system.

In fact, it is through a proper mix between Nathpanth and Bhakti that Nirguna Bhakti came into existence in North India.

Apart from Nathpanth and Bhakti, we can underline the influence of Sufism on Nirguna Bhakti as well.

Possibly the intensity of love for God was inspired by Sufism. Kabirdas became a great exponent of Nirguna Bhakti in North India. His Bhakti had the following features-

Worship of a shapeless God:-

Kabir's Ram was quite different from Tulsi's Ram as Kabir's Ram is not represented in anthropomorphic form.

It was this factor in Kabir which made him opposed to Idol worship.
So unconsciously he fell into the category of a religious reformer.

Opposed to the caste system:-

Kabir inherited a sense of bitterness against the caste division from Nathpanth. Simultaneously there might have been some influence of monotheism of Islam as well.

Kabirdas asserted that if Allah and Ishwar (God) are one and the same then how can the followers of Allah and Ishwar be separated from each other as

Muslims and Hindus. In this way,through propagating religions unity Kabirdas emphasised social unity as well.

In fact, Kabir had a bitter experience of the caste system. He belonged to the weaver caste. This caste was at the lowest ladder of Hindu society.

So in the hope of improvement in their social condition weaver (Julaha) caste embraced Islam but it realised that even within Muslim society it was marginalised.

Sopractically Kabir Dasdevelopedasenseofdisillusionmentin both Hinduism and Islam.

It was one of the reasons why Kabir made an attack on Hindu and Islamic ritualism simultaneously.

Challenged the infallibility of the religious scriptures:

Kabir Das was deprived of education. As he was illiterate he did not get support from scripture or Shastra.

But it became a blessing in disguise for Kabir as Kabir made his personal experience as his guide.

It was a very important reason why Kabir expressed such original ideas in socio- religious fields at that time.

Kabir as a mystical thinker:-

When there is intensity of love, but the object of love is not clear thus originates mysticism.

In the case of Kabir we find that he worshipped God in shapeless form. But he expressed a deep love for God in the manner of a Sufi Saint.

Kabir gave the symbol of a beloved to the Soul and the symbol of lover to Brahma.

Then he tried to express the relationship between Brahma and Soul through the symbol of human relations. It is here mysticism in Kabir originates and brings him near to Sufi Saint as well.

Apart from Kabir, some others were associated with the saint tradition. For example, Ravidas,whowasaleatherworker from Banaras;Dhanna,whowasa Jatpeasantfrom Rajasthan; Sena, a barber and Pipa; all of them belong to lower caste and shared the same world view with Kabirdas.

Guru Nanak and Sikhism

Guru Nanak's Bhakti was also influenced by Nath Panth.

In his speech, there is the use of terms like 'Shabad' (sound) and 'Sunniya' (emptiness). These terms have been taken from Nath Panthi.

In this way, he had ideological proximity to Kabir.

Apart from that, on Sikhism, we can underline the impact of monotheism of Islam as well.

Guru Nanak's Bhakti produced a tangible result in the formation of the Sikh state. It became possible due to certain reasons-

Sikhism was deeply associated with a collective spiritual experience, rather than simply an individual experience as you find in the case of other forms of Nirguna Bhakti.

For example, Guru Nanak created a large group of followers who were known as Sikhs.

Likewise, he started a community kitchen in the form of 'Langar'.
Later, Guru Arjandev, the fifth guru, gave a textual flavour to Sikhism in form of Guru Granth Sahib.

Thenlateranegalitarian Sikhsocietycollidedwiththecoercivefeudal system under Mughal. It developed a sense of mission.

Certainly, such developments paved the way for the rise of an independent Sikh state in the 18 th century.

Contributions of Nirguna Bhakti 1.Itpromotedsocialradicalismthroughanattackonthecaste system.Itrejectedtheexisting pattern of society.

Although Kabirdas, Nanak, etc. were basically spiritual leaders, they unconsciously brought certain reforms within the society itself.

This was due to the responsibility of religious ritualism for many social evils, for example, caste division, idol worship, pilgrimage, etc.

So once these saints attacked religious ritualism, social evils automatically came into their ambit.

It is due to this fact, Kabir is characterised as the Martin Luther of the 15 th century.

Nirguna Bhakti rejected asceticicism and preferred to remain associated with productive

activities.

Kabir even after being a saint continued his weaving activity.
So in one sense, Nirguna Bhakti encouraged production.

Apart from this, Nirguna Bhakti promoted production by breaking the relationship

between craft and caste which was a prevailing norm in India at that time.

In other words, the change of craft created the situation of Varna Samkara that was decried in society at that time.

But Nirguna saints encouraged the people to adopt new crafts, thus weakening the caste system.

Nirguna Bhakti made a major contribution to the cultural field as well.

These saints, not simply reflected the feelings of the common people but also the language of the common people.

For example, Kabir used the language of the common people, Hindavi, while Punjabi was adopted by Nanak. So local dialects were promoted. Kabir has declared that

Sanskrit was just a well's water while Hindavi (perverted form of Hindi) was a stream.

Furthermore, Nirguna Bhakti gave support to local literature as well.

Nanak established Punjabi literature.
Likewise, Kabir's Sakhi, Ramnia and other sorts of poems contributed to Hindi literature.

Bijak and Granthawali of Kabir are supposed to be based on his sermons.

Even in the development of music, Nirguna Bhakti made its contribution.

Guru Nanak introduced devotional songs in Sikhism and also the instruments like Rabab.

Even today devotional songs are part of the Gurudwara's life.

Limitations

But in spite of the positive contribution of Nirguna Saints, we shouldn't overestimate it.

Although it is true that Nirguna Bhakti made an attack on religious rituals and social tradition, they couldn't bring any radical change in existing religious or social structure in the true sense.

Essentially, they were spiritual leaders so, even their reform program was mainly guided by their personal spiritual realisation, not by any rational ideology.

That's why they failed to give any alternative system and their protest remained simply a timely reaction.

It is sometimes compared with the Protestant movement of Europe.

In Europe,the Protestantmovementsuccessfullybrokethepillaroffeudalism and paved the way for the rise of capitalism. However, Nirguna Bhakti could not overpower the prevailing feudalism of the time.

Vaishnava Bhaktism

It was different from Nirguna Bhakti. Nirguna Bhakti believed that God didn't take incarnation nor did he come to earth to play his Lila.

On the other hand, Saguna Bhakti believed in the concept of incarnation and reincarnation.

Two important exponents of Vaishnava Bhakti in North India were Ramananda and Vallabhacharya.

Ramananda became an inspiration for both the Nirguna and Saguna Bhakti in North India.

Ramananda brought three important changes with respect to the Bhaktism of South India.

In place of Lord Vishnu and Shiva, he introduced the Rama cult in North India.
Secondly, in place of Sanskrit he introduced local dialects in order to spread his message to the common people.

Above all, he created a band of followers from the lower castes. In this way, the difference is clearly visible with prevailing Brahmanic orthodoxy.

Similarly, Vallabhacharya became an ideological inspiration behind Krishna Bhakti in North India.

Vallabhacharya was a Telugu Brahmin. He also appeared at the end of 15 th and early 16 th century. He was born in Banaras and remained active in North India.

He laid the foundation of Ashtachap which comprises 8 important Krishna Bhaktas and who were ardent followers of Vallabhacharya.

Vallabhacharya influenced mainly Gujarat and later after the appearance of Surdas, this movement would be an influential movement in North India in the 17 th century.

The difference in the perception of Nirguna and Saguna Bhakti

Nirguna Bhaktiemphasisedontheworshipof Godinashapelessform while Suguna

Bhakti believed in individual Gods.

Nirguna Bhakti was having a radical social outlook as it rejected caste division while

Saguna Bhaktimadeacompromisewiththevarnasystemandacceptedcastedivision.

The manifestation of Vaishnava Bhakti in different regions of India

Vaishnava Bhakti shouldn't be taken as a monolithic movement rather it was heterogeneous in nature.

In different regions, its manifestation was slightly different and there it reflected the influence of some local elements as well.

North India In North India as well as in Western India, Vaishnava Bhakti manifested itself in two different branches, i.e. Rama Bhakti and Krishna bhakti. Both became popular movements in these regions.

Rama Bhakti

Tulsidas appeared to be a great exponent of Rama bhakti. It was he who carried Ram Katha to every Hindu household.

He composed the famous text 'Ramcharitmanas' in Awadhi language which was associated with the birthplace of Ram. If today the story of Rama has survived, it isn't in Valmiki's Ramayana, but it is in the language of Tulsidas.

Another important Ram Bhakta was Nabhadas. He composed a famous text i.e. 'Bhaktamal' in which 200 Bhaktas are mentioned.

Krishna Bhakti

Surdas emerged to be a great exponent of Krishna bhakti and he popularised his Bhakti among common masses.

Heused Braj Bhasha,alocaldialect,andcomposedhisfamoustext,'Sur Sagar' in this language.

The popular story of Lord Krishna, Radha, the Gopis, etc. possibly
caught popular imagination much deeper than even Rama Bhakti.
Krishna Bhaktiwaspromotedby Narsingh Mehtain Gujaratand Mira Baiin Rajasthan. Maharashtra Dharma

Maharashtra Dharma reflected assimilation between Vaishnavism and Nathpanthi ideology.

The centre of Maharashtra Dharma was Pandharpur and the God around whose Maharashtra Dharma revolves was Vithoba, a local God. The followers of Vithoba formed a new sect that was the Varkari sect.

Namdeva was supposed to be a bridge between Maharashtra Dharma and Bhakti movement in North India.

One important exponents of Maharashtra Dharma was Gyandeva. He composed a commentaryon Bhagavad Gitainthe Marathilanguage knownas 'Gyaneshwari Gita'.

Some other important saints associated with this sect were Namdeva, Eknath, Tukaram.

Maharashtra Dharmawasdifferentfrom other Vaishnavasectsasit advocatedfor the eradication of social differences between high and low born in society.

In this way, a common Maratha identity to the people was given.

So unconsciously Maratha saints laid the foundation of the future Maratha state as they encouraged the process of human capital formation for the promotion of a common political cause.

In the 17 th century, Saint Ramdas Samartha emerged.

He was Shivaji's teacher as well.
He laid the foundation of the Dharkari sect.
The emphasis of this sect was the assimilation between spiritual and mundane life.

So gradually Maharashtra Dharma evolved from a Shahishnu Dharma (a tolerant religion)toa Jayishnu Dharma (Asectforconquest).Thuswasprepared abasisforthe future Maratha state.

Bhaktism in Eastern India In Eastern India Bhaktism was influenced by Siddha and Nath saints.

Early exponents of Bhakti ideas in Bengal were Jayadeva and Vidyapati.

Jayadeva composed a famous text 'Geet Govinda' in Sanskrit.

This text focused on the relationship between Radha and Krishna and
presented this relationship in a very erotic manner.

Vidyapati carried Bhakti tradition and composed his text in the Maithili language.

Likewise, one of the earliest Bhakti saints was Chandidas in Bengal.

But the most important was Chaitanya.

He popularised Krishna Bhakti in Bengal and created such a deep impact on the mind of the people that he was presented as the reincarnation of Lord Krishna.

It was Chaitanya who introduced Kirtana (devotional song). So he brought Bhakti to the moment of emotional ecstasy.

In Assam, Sankardeva was also a Bhakti saint.

In Assam Bhakti, Radha didn't play a significant role.
Likewise, in place of young Krishna, Bala Krishna (Childhood) became a major theme of Bhaktism. Contribution of Saguna Bhakti :-

Although it is true, Saguna Bhakti made a compromise with the Varna system but at least

they tried to soften the rigour of the Varna system.

Even in Saguna Bhakti, we can underline the element of protest against Brahmanic

orthodoxy and elite norms. For example, Maharashtra Dharma reflected popular consciousness. Likewise, in Krishna Bhakti, the existing social norms have been challenged.

In the cultural field, Vaishnava Bhakti made a larger contribution. In one sense, Bhaktism

became a majortheme in contemporary literature, architecture, music,dance, painting, etc.

Support for local dialects like Hindi, Awadhi, Braj Bhasha, Bengali, Marathi, etc.
Saguna Bhakti encouraged temple cult so the rare example of temple architecture is associated with Saguna Bhakti.

Sankritana system introduced by Chaitanya, devotional songs of Mira, Dhrupada singing of Swami Haridas, made a rare contribution to Indian music. In one sense, it

was Bhaktism which prepared the way for the development of Hindustani music in India.

Limitations of Saguna Bhakti

Through accepting caste division and temple cult, Saguna Bhakti accepted the

Brahmanic world view and it strengthened the position of Brahmanism in socio

religious life of India.

In one sense, the resurgence of Saguna Bhakti overpowered Nirguna Bhakti in North India where Nirguna Bhakti had so far continued to promote some sort of social radicalisation.

Women Bhaktas and a note of protest

Bhaktism is supposed to be a movement that advocated for the creation of an egalitarian society but on observing sincerely we find that while some saints raised the caste issue and opposed the caste system but simultaneously they neglected the issue of women's exploitation.

But in the course of the Bhakti movement, some women Bhaktas emerged.

David Kingsley asserts that for them it became difficult to reconcile their love for the lord and perform their worldly duties.

So in one sense, the rise of women Bhaktas symbolises a protest against the drudgery of domestic life.

We come to know about some important women Bhakta such as Lalded/Laleshwari of Kashmir.

She was a dedicated Shaivite.
She opposed all sorts of social taboos and religious ritualism.
Ideologically she came close to the rishi sect (a Sufi sect) in Kashmir. Nuruddin Rishi was highly influenced by the spiritual perfection of Lalded.

On the one hand, Lalded became a symbol of protest against the male dominance of society; on the other in association with the Rishi sect and its exponent Nuruddin, she also became a symbol of Hindu-Muslim amity.

As in Rajasthan, Mirabai was associated with the same symbol of social protest.

Shelostherhusbandatayoungagethenalsolostherfather-in-law,Maharana Sanga, as well after the battle of Khanwa.

Along with a sense of loneliness, she also felt a sense of being victimised as a result of domestic violence.

It was from the earlier phase she was indulging in Krishna Bhakti but later she became a complete Bhakti saint. She was a symbol of social rebellion. This phenomenon can be ascertained even on the basis that even in earlier phases shedidn'tenjoyrespect among Rajasthaniwomenwhotookherasthebreaker of social norms.

Mahadevi Akka was a Bhakti saint from the Karnataka region.

She also became a symbol of women's protest against male dominance in society. In this way, women Bhakta gave a new dimension to the Bhakti movement.

Historiography of the Bhakti Movement Bhakti proved to be the largest cultural movement in India. Almost every part of India was touched by it and it made its presence felt for a long time i.e. 1000 years. So it is very natural that there should be some controversy among scholars in specifying its nature.

Earlier R.G. Bhandarkar, while making a study of Bhaktism, tried to find out its indigenous roots.

In other words, he linked Bhaktism to the earlier religious tradition of India.

R.C. Zaehner tried to link it to the influence of Islam.
Likewise, some other scholars, such as Yusuf Hussain, divided Bhaktism into two phases -

1. Starting from the 4 th - 5 th century to the 12 th century, when Bhaktism was an individual perception.

2. Then, from the 13 th century to the 16 th century, when Bhaktism became a religious creed after an interaction with Islam.

Some scholars tried to prove that bhakti was an outcome of the desperation of the lower castes. For them, it was an expression of social protest.

They were caught between Devil and Deep Blue Sea.
Ontheonehand,theywereexploitedbyhigher-caste Hindusandonthe other, they were unable to link themselves to the cruel world view given by the Turkish ruling class.

So they moved towards Bhaktism for emotional support.

Other scholars like Irfan Habib interpret Bhakti in relation to craft and caste.

In fact, he emphasised the point that Nirguna saints promoted new crafts through delinking relations between craft and castes.

Another interpretation about this movement is that it was a reaction of caste-ridden Hindu society against the challenge of Islam.

Conclusion Considering different views about the nature of the Bhakti movement we come to the point that it wasn't uniform in nature rather it was polyphonic in nature.

In fact, it encompassed within itself varied and sometimes even mutually contradictory elements.

We can very well underline its multifaceted nature when we come to know that on the one hand, it represented elite elements on the other popular elements.

Likewise, it also symbolises the assimilation between Brahmanic orthodoxy and popular revolt.

Apart from that, at some places it appeared to be a bit insensitive to women but at other places, it represented women's protest also in the form of devotion of Lalded and Mirabai.

Furthermore, Bhaktism on the one hand strengthened the position and power of the ruling class, on the other hand, it represented the revolt of regional elements against the centralised power in the form of Maratha and Sikh movement.

So, while making the study of Bhakti, we need to be cautious about generalisations.

Sufism

The term 'Sufism' came into use for the first time in the 19 th century. Earlier, it was known as 'Tasawwuf'.

Sufism originated from the term Safa or Suffa, which means sacred. Safa also means a coarse blanket made of wool. It also symbolises a rejection of luxurious life.

So far as the term 'suffa' is concerned it symbolized a religious place outside of the mosque.Onthissuffa,saintssatandperformedmeditation.Theywereknownas Sufi.

Sufism emerged in the Islamic world in the 10 th century, when on the one hand there wasthe decline of the Islamic empire, and on theother hand there wasthe rise of the Turkish monarchy.

This period was marked by a transition of values in the Islamic world.

It was a time when power, wealth and influence had completely overshadowed the original values of egalitarianism, love and rule by the consent of the governed.

The new generation of Muslim youth was deeply attracted to a luxurious life.
So, Sufism represented a spiritual reaction against this social decadence.

The Quran itself, provides the basis to Sufi ideas. In fact, the Quran had two different types of interpretations.

First was the Shariyat, presented as the orthodox interpretation;
At the same time the other interpretation was the Tariqat. It gives a liberal interpretation of the Quran. So, it was Tariqat which prepared the basis for mystical ideas of Sufism.

Initially, Sufism was not accepted in the Islamic world as there were two important differences between orthodox Islam and Sufism.

Firstly, according to orthodox Islam, the relationship between Allah and the common man is just like a master and slave, while Sufismbelieved in monistic ideas and talked about unity and equality of god and soul.

Likewise, orthodox Islam and ulemas gave primacy to faith while Sufism believed in the tradition of mutazil (reasoning).

It is on the issues mentioned above that tension continued between the two.

Eg. In 10 th century CE, a Sufi saint Mansur-bin-Hallaz declared himself to be Anhalq (unity of god and soul). He was awarded the death sentence.

Later in the 12 th century a saint Al-Gazzali made Sufism acceptable in Islamic world by bringing an important change in its ideas.

Hedeclaredthat Allahandhismerits can'tberealizedonlythroughreasoning but also through faith.

Although it was an attack on the tradition of Mutazil and ultimately proved costly to the Islamic world, but during this period, the conflict between orthodox Islam and Sufism ceased for time being.

Sufismissupposedto have originated in Iran,then spread to otherpartsof the world.
Right from the time of Turkish conquest of Punjab under Ghazani, Sufi saints started to travel towards India.

The first Sufi saint who came to India was Sheikh Al-Hujwiri or Data Ganj Baksh. He came to India during the period of Mahmud Gazani. He composed 'Kashf-ul-Mahjoob', a famous text.

Following the invasion of Ghori, Sheikh Moinuddin Chisti moved to India and built his Khanqah at Ajmer. After his death his Khanqah became a Dargah and a pilgrimage centre. Several other scholars and Pirs rushed towards India due to the Mongol Menace.

One of Chisti's disciples was Fariduddin Ganj-i-Shakar. He established his Khanqah at Ajodhan in Punjab. He became a famous saint and by his period the Chisti sect became fully established in India.

Later there appeared two important Chisti saints, Sheikh Nizamuddin Auliya and Nasiruddin Chirag-e-Dehlavi.

Nizamuddin created a wide band of followers. He came in touch even with Hindu Yogis and appropriated the Yoga method. Yogis of his age referred to him as a Siddha (perfect Yogi).

Why did the Chisti sect gain in popularity in comparison to others?

The Chistis maintained relations with the common people but avoided contact with the ruling class.

Chisti saints adopted local languages like Awadhi, Punjabi, Urdu and Deccani and expressed their spiritual experience through popular stories from Hindu houses.

Sufi saints came in touch with lower strata of the society e.g. Nizamddin Auliya contacted Nathpanti Yogis.

Other Sufi Sects

Another important Sufi sect was the Suhrawardi sect. Its founder was Bahauddin Zakariya.

Apart from the Suhrawardi sect there were some other sub-sects as well e.g. Sattari, Firdausi, Naqshbandi, Qadiri etc.

According to Abul Fazal, there were a total 14 Sufi sub-sects which worked in India.

Sufi Ideology

The objective of Sufismwas to make Ruh (Soul)free from earthlybonds. In the course ofitsjourneyto God,Ruhhastocross 7 valleysorinspiritualterms,sevenlevels.Then the soul would come to manifest god.

Under Sufism some important concepts are Wahadat-ul Wajood (Unity of Being),

Wisal-i- Yaar (sense of loss due to separation from the beloved), Pir/ Haq (teacher/ highest reality),Murid (disciple),Dayra(spiritualterritory),Wali (spiritualsuccessor of Pir) and Fanah (self-annihilation).

Other articles of faith include Dargah/ Mazar (tomb of a Sufi Saint), Ziyarat (Pilgrimage), Futuh (unsolicited gift), Urs (death anniversary of a Sufi saint), Qawwali

(devotional songs), Raksh (dance), Sama (musical gathering) and Hala (state of ecstasy).

Contribution of Sufism:-

It was Sufism which provided a social basis to Islam in India.

The people in India were having bad memory for invasions from Muslim army.
So, it was Sufism that gave an ointment to the wound of Indians. So in one sense it was Sufism due to which Muslim rule in India became acceptable.

Sufi saints even worked as a critic of government policy. In this way they worked as a pressure-group.

Elite Muslim youth was much attracted to the luxuries of life. So Sufi saints through criticising luxurious life infused some moral values in them.

Sufism also contributed to the economic field.

As Sufi saints settled in interior regions or forests and built a Khanqah.
So very soon devotees started going there, the forest was cleared and agriculture developed there.

Moreover, these places developed as the Kasba or town in course of time.

Likewise, Sufism encouraged trade and commerce as well.

Infact, Sufi Khanqah became a meeting place for merchants.
Furthermore, through donations, vast wealth was accumulated in a Sufi khanqah and the khanqah started to invest capital in merchants' business.

In the cultural field, Sufism made a great contribution.

It promoted Indian languages like Awadhi and Panjabi.
By telling stories from the houses of Hindus, it promoted the composite culture of India.

It made a great contribution to music i.e. Gazal and Kawwali are the most important forms of music developed by Sufism.

Md. Gauss was the teacher of Tansen.
Above all, Sufi saints tried to mitigate the cruel behaviors of orthodox Islam on Hindus.

Eg. For orthodox Muslims, the term 'Kafir' meant non- believer but Sufi saints changed its meaning. For them it means beloved.

Vijayanagara Empire

Background

In c. 1334 CE, Muhammad bin Tughlaq marched to suppress a rebellion in Malabar. But, plague struck his camp. Rumours spread that the Sultan had perished along with thousands of others.

Immediately, all the southern units of the Empire viz. Malabar, Telangana, Kampil etc. revolted. At this point, Tughlaq decided to move back to Delhi.

Some of the old kingdoms survived and some emerged after the collapse of Tughlaq rule over the South, viz. Hoysalas of Mysore, Valema rulers of Warangal, Reddis of

Telangana and Sultan of Madurai etc.

All these powers fought and aligned with each other as it suited them. The stage was set for the rise of two formidable powers in Peninsular India- Vijayanagara Empire and Bahmani Kingdom.

There is a consensus that Harihar and Bukka laid the foundation of Vijayanagara Empire in c. 1336 CE. However, their origin story has some variations.

A popular opinion is that they had served under the state of Warangal. When it fell to the Tughlaqs, they moved to Kampil.

They were captured, converted and sent to Delhi when Kampil fell, too.
However, MBT sent them back to consolidate the Sultanate control over Kampil.

Here, they deepened their roots and unfurled the banner of revolt when the suitable opportunity presented itself.

Their association with Musunuri Kapaya Nayak and a Hindu monk Vidyaranya (who allegedly brought them back into the fold of Hinduism) and some early policies of this upstart kingdom gave this independence project a tinge of Hindu revivalism.

But, we can clearly see that both, Vijayanagar and Bahamani Kingdoms, were the result of regional assertion against imperial subjugation.

Political History of Vijayanagara Empire Sangama Dynasty

Harihar of Sangama dynasty was crowned in c. 1336 CE. He was followed by his brother Bukka I in c. 1356 CE.

A new capital Vijayanagara was set up ostensibly on the advice of Vidyaranya during this period.

The struggle for Raichur doab started as early as c. 1356 CE when Raichur fell to the Bahamanis.

Thewarfarebetweentwosideswasfrequentwhichhaditsrootsinthe ancient history of this geographical area.

During this period, first the Hoysala kingdom and later the Madurai Sultanate (till c. 1377 CE) were incorporated into the Empire.

Having reached peak expansion in the South, Vijayanagara embarked on the expansion in the West and North-East under Harihar II.

He snatched Belgaum and Goa from Bahamanis.
He also sent an expedition to northern Sri Lanka.

The struggle for the Doab area renewed under Deva Raya I.

But, he lost to the Bahamani Sultan, Firuz Shah Bahamani (c. 1397-1422 CE). He had to cede some territory in the doab, pay war indemnity and marry a daughter to Firuz Shah.

Later, Deva Raya aligned with Warangal to split the Reddi Kingdom between the two. This brought the Warangal out of the alliance with Bahamani Kingdom. Consequently, Deva Raya I inflicted a shattering defeat on the Firuz Shah Bahaman and annexed almost the entire Doab.

Also, Deva Raya I dug a canal to meet the drinking water needs of his capital. This canal and one other on Haridra River, were used for irrigation purposes also.

Deva Raya II inducted 2000 Muslim archers in his army and gave them Jagirs.

Accordingto Ferishta, this was in addition to the 10000 Muslims already in the service of Vijayanagara army.

According to Nuniz, the kings of Sri Lanka, Quilon, Pegu, Tennasserim (Burma) and Malaya paid tribute to Deva Raya 2 nd.

Sri Lanka was invaded a number of times.

But, it is doubtful whether Vijayanagara was powerful enough in the Indian Ocean to extract tribute from Malaya and Burma.

This possibly means that these states wanted to maintain friendly relations with the Vijayanagara Empire and sent lavish gifts.

Thedeath of Deva Raya II wasfollowedbycivil war.Thegeographicalauthorityofhis successors shrank considerably as many feudatories assumed independence.

Saluva Dynasty

The last ruler of the Sangama dynasty was overthrown by the Saluva Narsimha in c. 1485, laying the foundation of the Saluva dynasty. Narasimha was originally the governor of Chandragiri.

The Saluva kings restored order in the Empire. After them, came the Tuluva dynasty in c. 1505 CE.

Tuluva Dynasty Krishna Deva Raya

Krishna Deva Raya (c.1509-1530),the greatest of Vijayanagara Kings,belongedto this dynasty.Hegainedallaroundvictories,patronisedart&culture andbrought military and administrative reforms.

He had to deal with internal problems and external problems, viz. the Deccani state, Orissa, Portuguese etc.

By this point, Portuguese had started to harass the small coastal feudatory states of Vijayanagara into making concessions.

Krishna Deva Raya defeated both Orissa state and Bijapur separately. He ousted them both from the Raichur doab.

However, unlike Cholas, he did not build a strong navy and largely ignored the Portuguese threat to the trade of Peninsular India.

The Portuguese possibly gave him a monopoly over the supply of horses.
Domingo Paes, a Portuguese traveller, has given a very positive account of his personality.

Decline of the Vijayanagar Empire

Some chaos followed his rule. He was succeeded by Achyuta Rai and Sadasiva Raya, consecutively.

Rama Raya, the prime minister of Sadasiva Raya, played the Deccan states against each other.

He concluded a pact with the Portuguese to deny horses to the Bijapur state.
He attacked Bijapur in alliance with Golconda and Ahmednagar in c. 1543.
Then, he sacked Ahmednagar in alliance with Bijapur.
But, he humiliated his allies who in turn patched up their differences.
Four of them united and defeated the Vijayanagara Kingdom in the battle of Talikota, c. 1565 CE.

Hampi, the Vijayanagara capital, was sacked. But, the kingdom lingered on for almost 100 years more while shrinking rapidly. Aravidu Dynasty

Rama Raya's brother, Tirumal Raya, and the King Sadasiva fled to Penugonda.

Gradually, Tirumal Raya retook some parts of the erstwhile empire and established order. Tirumala Raya led the foundation of the Aravidu dynasty in

1570 CE.
One of his successors, Venkat II shifted the capital to Chandragiri. He unsuccessfully tried to stem the rot and prevent further disintegration.

Gradually, the subordinate Nayaks of Mysore, Tanjore, Madurai and Bednur etc.becameindependentduring the 17th centuryand the Vijayanagara Empire faded into insignificance.

Much of its territory was absorbed by Golconda and Bijapur.

Administration

Due to constant warfare, the military aspect of the kingdom was emphasised and it shaped the politico-administrative structure of the Vijayanagara Empire.

Though the institutions of Vijayanagara administration evolved locally, they had imprints of North India.

King

The King, called Raya, was an autocratic head of state, who gained legitimacy on account of his public works.

Kingship was hereditary, though revolts and coups were common.
The king was supposed to rule according to the Dharmashastras and local traditions.

A king was supposed to look after the interest of people.
Inhisworkonpolity,Krishna Deva Rayaenjoinsthata Kingshouldprotectgood and punish evil as far as possible.

Nothing should escape his due justice and he should tax his subjects moderately.

The King was assisted by a council of ministers and high ranking officials.

There was another council which consisted of provincial governors, Nayakas, Nigam representatives and other men of influence.

But, the King was not bound by their advice.
Princes could be enrolled into administration so as to gather experience.

Provincial Administration

Provincial administration had geographical and historical variations.
In the peripheral areas like the Tamil country and coastal areas, local chiefs were allowed to rule.

However,theroyaladministrationmaintainedawatchoverthemandtheyhad to pay regular tributes to the emperor.

The Kingdom was divided into Rajyas/Mandalam, headed by the Pradhans. Their number must have varied with the expansion and contraction of the empire.

Earlier, mostly the members of the royal family were Pradhans, but later, these posts went more to the military aristocrats. They were quite autonomous.

They could issue coins in their own name.
They could maintain their own militia.
They were authorised to levy new and abolish old taxes.
These governors had to send a fixed amount of revenue to the centre.

Kollam/ Valnadus were equivalent to the districts.
These were divided into Nadus, which in turn were subdivided into a group of villages known as 'Melagrama' or 'Sthala'.

'Ur' (village) was the smallest unit.
The concept of Rajyas, as an administrative and revenue unit, vanished by the time Nayaka system became entrenched under the rule of Krishna Dev Raya.

Nayankara System

Constant warfare on all its sides made the Vijayanagara state militaristic and feudal. The Nayakara system should be evaluated in this context.

It was an administrative innovation of the Vijayanagara state.

According to some historians, Nayaks were originally military officers. Though, some believe that these were the Zamindars.

Eventually, Nayaks turned into a strong military-aristocratic class, which was difficult to subjugate at times.

Nuniz and Paes have left a detailed account of this system.

The state used to allot 'Amaram' land to the Nayaks.

In turn, they had to administer their area, pay a certain amount of revenue to thestateandmaintainacertainnumberof troops- elephants,cavalry,infantry etc.

The Nayaks were different from a typical provincial governor, in that they were not transferable. They were more like feudal lords.

They were more autonomous.
The office of a Nayak was hereditary.

The big Nayaks were called 'Amarnayakas' and smaller Nayaks were called 'Palaigar'.
Amarnayakas were supposed to maintain two representatives - military and political

in the royal court. Control

Theoretically, the state could take back their land. But, this was rare in practice.
The Vijayanagara state maintained a monopoly over the distribution of horses, so as to control these Nayaks.

Later, an official named 'Mahamandaleshwara' was appointed to monitor their movement during the reign of Achyuta Raya.

However, all these measures were not sufficient. Nayakas always remained a challenging centrifugal force for the Kings of Vijayanagara.

Ayagar System

The local self-government institution of the Chola period had declined up to this time.

The responsibilities of village committees were taken over by a group of 12 officials.

They were paid in land grants.
Their post was hereditary and it could be bought and sold.

This whole system was called the Ayagar system.

Revenue Administration

The main sources of the royal income were the revenue from crown land (Bhandarvada), tributes from the Nayaks, revenue from provincial governors and tolls on goods etc.

Other than that, houses, factories, occupations and herds etc. were taxed.
Even marriages were taxed.
Krishna Deva Raya had decreed that the 1/4 th of the revenue had to be spent on the court, 1/2 nd on the army and the 1/4 would go to the treasury.

Sometimes, a criticism is that the Vijayanagara state levied too many taxes.

But, given the all-around prosperity reflected in the sources, it is natural that the state would seek a part of it.

Also, the number of taxes may be more but their rates were lower. And, the state was adequately focused on public welfare. Q: Was the foundation of Vijayanagara Empire a result of Hindu resistance?

Answer

Vijayanagara Empire was the product of a cultural reaction to the Delhi Sultanate.

Harihar and Bukka took the help of Hindu revivalist movement of Kapaya Nayaka to complete their independence project.

They were also associated with a Hindu monk Vidyaranya.
During the early stages, Bukka I appealed to the Hindu scholars and artists from all around to come to the Vijayanagara Empire so as to give a Hindu identity to this state.

Often, the violence between Bahamanis and Vijayanagara took a bloody religious turn.

But, the claim of Hindu revival is rhetorical and not substantive.

There were no separate policies for the Hindu and Muslim subjects of the empire.

Mosques flourished during this period.
A large number of Muslim soldiers were enrolled into the Vijayanagara army.
Muslim merchants were quite active in this kingdom and the Arab merchants dominated the overseas trade.

While applying the Rajamandala principle, secular considerations alone prevailed. Vijayanagar's earliest enemies were the Hoysalas, who were great patrons of Hindu temples.

When Gajapatis of Orissa occupied parts of the Vijayanagara kingdom, they aligned with the Bahamani kingdom to oust them.

Hindu Warangal was aligned with Bahamanis against Vijayanagara for a very long time.

Vijayanagara architecture borrowed freely from the Indo-Islamic architectural tradition.

Abovefactsareenoughtoconvinceusthat the Vijayanagara Empirewasageo political entity with a separate cultural identity. It was not a Hindu revivalist state. It was a reaction to the exploitative intrusion of Delhi Sultanate into the region.

Nature of the Vijayanagara state

The nationalist historiography led by Nilkantha Shashtri, which emphasised centralisation remained unchallenged for a long time.

Later, Burton Stein, rather unconvincingly, tried to apply the 'Segmentary State Model' to the Vijayanagara Empire.

Here,hetriedtoseparatetheritualheadofthestatefromtheactualsovereign authority of an area.

He opined that there were many segments of power which were disjointed from each other.

The King did not control the far off region with the help of bureaucracy and army, rather with the help of religion and rituals.

An example was cited that the annual nine day Dussehra festival in the Vijayanagaracapitalwasnotpresided overbythe Brahminpriestsbut the King himself performed the rituals.

TV Mahalingam calls it a feudal state and compares it with European feudalism.

European feudalism chained the entire society together in the link of sub- infeudation by smaller and smaller land tenures and fealty to the immediate superior lord.

Whereas, the Nayakara system only bonded Nayaks with the King.
King gave them revenue assignments in return for certain responsibilities.
Though these Nayaks could lease out their land to smaller Nayaks,which looks like sub-infeudation, the concept of fealty by the small land holders and cultivators to the Nayaks is absent in the Nayakara system.

A closer readingofthe accountsofforeigntravellersand the Vijayanagara inscriptions by Karashima and Subbayaralu tells us that the Vijayanagara state was essentially feudal.

Karashima says that the strength of Vijayanagara state's control over the Nayaks bringsitsfeudalism closer to the 'Tokugawa feudalism' of Japan,more than the European feudalism

Herman Kulke calls it 'military feudalism'.
Burton Stein himself modified his views in his book, 'Vijayanagara', in 1989 CE. He said that the Vijayanagara administration was based on the patrimonial bureaucracy model.

We can conclude from the above discussion that the Vijayanagara state was not centralised but it was a feudal state due to the presence of the Nayak class.

Causes for the disintegration of Vijayanagara Empire

Vijayanagara was created as well as destroyed by the same set of factors.

It was surrounded by enemies. So, it could never reorient from being a military state to becoming a development oriented state.

Its essential character was feudal under the overall 'Nayakara-Palaigar- Ayagara' set up.

These military aristocrats were a headache for all the rulers and they easily broke into civil wars when the centre became weak.

Their deep rooted vested interests prevented the evolution of long lasting politico-administrative institutions that could embed the name of Vijayanagara kings into the popular mind for centuries.

The military-feudal state consumed all the surplus.

R.S.Sharmasaysthat Vijayanagarastateshowednoenthusiasmformodernityunlike their contemporary European rulers, e.g. Henry, the navigator, of Portugal.

Barring its religious tolerance, its essential character was still medieval.

According to C. V. Vaidya, it was not possible to establish an eternal state as the state failed to set up robust mercantile processes.

Mercantilism was the order of the day in the world during this period.
The policy to allow the Portuguese to entrench themselves on the western coast, reduced its reputation as well as profits from overseas trade.

Duetoitsintensefocusonpatronisingart,literatureandarchitecture,thestatespent a lot of wealth on these narrow groups instead of commissioning durable public welfare works.

Nuniz says that the peasants ended up giving as much as 80% of their production to different agencies.

As long as Vijayanagara could keep its enemies from uniting, it sustained. But, it all changed in the battle of Talikota which ended the glory of Vijayanagara.

However, the state lingered for the next hundred years or so.
The capital was first moved to Penugonda by Tirumal of the Aravidu dynasty. He regained some portions of the erstwhile state back and established law & order.

Venkat IIwasthelastrulerwhotriedtorevivetheempirefromhisnewcapital, Chandragiri.

However, during the 2 nd half of the 17 th century, regional chiefs asserted themselves and much of the remaining territory was absorbed by Golconda and Bijapur.

Foreign Travellers During the reign of Devraya I, NICCOLO CONTI (Italian traveller) visited Vijayanagara.

Hehasgivenadetailedaccountofthecityof Vijayanagar,whichaccordingtohim,was

“as large and as beautiful as Rome".”

He has also commented on the prevalence of Sati. The Persian traveller ABDURR RAZZAQ visited India during the reign of Dev Raya II. He first visited the Zamorin of Calicut and then went to the Vijaygnara empire.

He was a historian and scholar from Herat, sent to Vijayanagar as an ambassador of the ruler of Khurasan, Shah Rukh Mirza, to the court of Deva Raya II.

He has described the time period of Deva Raya II in his travelogue, 'Matla-us-Sadain wa Majma-ul-Bahrain'.

He specially describes the wealth and splendour of the capital. He vouches that Vijayanagar's market was ten times the size of Herat's market.

He says Vijayanagar was the largest and the most well provisioned city in the world.

Accordingtohim,tradersofpreciousmetalsandjewelsflockeditsstreets and bazaars, and the market sold every commodity imaginable.

He mentions that the Vijayanagara treasury was filled with molten gold nuggets.

According to him, Vijayanagara had seven fortification walls within which there were provisions of all year water supply and agriculture fields.

He mentions that the Sati system prevailed in Vijayanagara.
According to him, state derived taxation income from prostitution and brothels.
He pegs the strength of Vijayanagara army at 11 lakh and counts the number of ports at 300.

During Krishna Deva Raya's reign, 2 Portuguese travellers visited the empire

● Durate Barbosa -

He describes the ship building and sati system.
He mentions that diamond and precious stones were imported from Pegu and silk was imported from China, whereas, black pepper came from Malabar coast.

● Domingo Paes

He was received by Krishnadeva Raya at his court.
He has described the beauty of Vijayanagar and the king's personal attributes. According to him, Krishna deva raya was a warrior king, whose body was covered in battlescars.

During the reign of Achyuta Raya, the Portuguese horse trader, FERNANDO NUNIZ, visited the empire.

He has mainly described the social and cultural aspects of Vijayanagara in his travelogue.

He says that there were women scribes, wrestlers, astronomers, musicians and fortune tellers in Vijayanagara.

He also mentions the social evils like dowry, Sati and child marriage which prevailed in the Vijayanagara society.

He praises the Brahmins of Vijayanagara as honest people who were good scribes also.

Accordingto Nuniz,therulersof Quilon,Sri Lanka,Pulicat,Pegu,Tennasserim and Malaya paid tribute to the Vijayanagara King.

Healsodescribes the Nayankarasystemandsaysthattherateoflandrevenue was 1/10 th. Economy The Vijayanagara economy was similar to the Chola economy.

Economic administration was shaped according to the mercantile conditions. The coastal areas were dotted with ports and cities. Often, cities were centres of commercial, cultural, religious and political activities.

Its main income sources were agriculture and commerce, the former being the main sourceofincome.Thetaxranged from 1/4 to 1/6,dependinguponthequalityof land.

Irrigation was an important source of income for the state.

It wascalled 'Dashavanda' in the Tamil area and 'Kattukadage' in the Kannada area.

Even temples and Amaranayakas encouraged the extension of irrigation to the semi-arid areas.

In the Karnataka area, the Kattukadage rights were especially mentioned in the inscriptions so as to protect the income of the concerned individual.

Land was divided into three parts-

'Amaram' land, which was biggest of the three groups, went to the Nayak; 'Bhandarvada' land was the crown land and a part of income from this land went to the maintenance of forts and

The tax free 'Manya' land was granted to the temples, Brahmans and Mathas.

A majority of people lived in the rural areas which were fairly self-dependent.

Temples played an important role in rural life.
Temples had amassed huge land and acted as centres of socio- economic life.

Artisans operated in guilds.

Theireconomicimportance gavethempoliticalinfluenceinthecourtand their leaders had the ears of important political figures.

Items of trade

According to 'Amuktamalyada', the main items of import were horses, precious stones, sandalwood and pearl etc.

According to Nuniz, Vijayanagara state was importing 13000 horses annually.
Commodities like rice, sugar, coconut, dyes, sandalwood, black pepper, ivory, silk and printed cotton were exported mainly to Persia, Africa, China and Sri Lanka.

The level of monetization was high as the trade was mainly in coins.

Hence, the Vijayanagara state had many mints.

Also, the state made sure that the foreign trade did not slip into the hands of rival states.

Thus, they made concessions to foreigners like the Portuguese.

Overall, the internal trade during this period was stable and increased gradually.

The trade of India during this period invited both envy and admiration of the foreign travelers.Perhaps,Indiawasintheprocessofbecoming the proverbial 'Golden Bird' during this period.

Society The society was caste based and hierarchical, however, unlike north India, there was not a four-fold Varna division, rather the society had Brahmins and Non-Brahmins.

Brahmins held the supreme position and enjoyed both political power and social prestige.

The kings, top officials, ministers, army commanders, etc. were Brahmin.
Brahmin priests received lightly taxed land grants.
Educational institutions were completely under their control
Religious life was characterised by regimented ritualism due to which their importance increased.

The Non-Brahmins were divided into the Valangai (right handed) and Idangai (left handed) castes.

The Valangai group consisted of castes with an agricultural basis, whereas,
The Idangai group consisted of castes which were involved in manufacturing, craft and trading etc.

The society was not divided along blood relations but on the basis of geography.

So, it was common that blood relatives living in separate geographical areas establish marital relations.

Due to Brahmanical orthodoxy prevalent in the Vijayanagara society, the condition of women in the Vijayanagara society was no better than north India.

Child Marriage and Polygamy were common.
Widow remarriages were considered taboo.

However, the rulers encouraged it through tax exemptions.

Tippadiyal (Sati) was also popular.

At the same time, we also find evidence of male Royal bodyguards
jumping onto the funeral pyres of deceased kings.

Intemples, Devadasiswereheavilyexploitedbuttheconditionof Ganikaswas far better.

Although the Varnashrama Dharma system was rigidly observed, the Vijayanagara kings were remarkably liberal and practical in their outlook.

Theyreadilypatronisedskilledartisans,workmen,scholarsandpromotedable administrators and military commanders from all backgrounds, including Muslims.

They welcomed Christian missionaries from Portugal.
They even joined hands with the Golconda Sultanate against the Gajpati rulers.

Culture Bukka I invited scholars and artists from all over India to his Kingdom. In the subsequent centuries, Vijayanagara Empire oversaw further evolution of the Dravida School of architecture, development of Telugu literature and evolution of new art forms etc.

Architecture Vijayanagara made special contributions to the Dravida School.

Now, the temple enclosures became wider.
The temple walls were painted with themes from epics and Puranas and the lavishly ornamented Gopurams grew taller as they enclosed more area.

Kalyan Mandapa was a Vijayanagara addition to the temples, where ceremonial weddings of the deities were organised.

Another important feature was the profusely decorated pillars.

A mount with two lofted feet is an impressive sculpture on these pillars.
Pillars invariably had brackets as their capitals. Vithhal Swamiand Hazaratemplesarethetwoexamplesofthisperiodwithraisedplatforms, big assembly halls and pillars.

Kumbakonam, Kanchipuram, Srirangam, Chidambaram, Tirumala and Vellore etc. are full of the Vijayanagara era temples.

Secular buildings had features of Indo-Islamic architecture too.

E.g. The elephant stable at Hampi which had domes and the Lotus Mahal Ruins of Vijayanagara (modern Hampi) are the witness to the genius of Vijayanagara architecture.

Vijayanagara architecture was carried forward by the Madurai school in later centuries.

Literature Vijayanagara kings were great patrons of literature and education and Krishna Deva Raya has a special place among them.

Sanskrit Literature

Sanskrit literature was reinvigorated under state sponsorship.

Under the leadership of Sayanacharya (brother of Vidyaranya), scholars composed a large number of Sanskrit works including commentaries on the Vedic corpus.

Hemadri also wrote a commentary on the Dharmashastras.

Authors in the regional languages- Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Tamil- were also patronised.

Telugu Literature

This was also the period of Telugu renaissance, e.g. the gems produced by the Astadiggaja of Krishna Deva Raya.

Additionally, a large number of Sanskrit religious and secular literature was translated into Telugu

eg. Tirumal wrote a commentary on the 'Geet Govinda' of Jayadeva. Malayalam Literature

The first authentic Malayalam literature, 'Unnuneeli Sandesham' waswritten during this period, which is based on Kalidasa's Meghadutam.

Madhav Panikkar translated Bhagavad Gita into Malayalam. Kannada Literature

Kannada scholar Madhur wrote, Dharmanathapuran, which is based on the life of 15 th Jain Tirthankar.

Palkuriki Somnatha wrote many pieces on Virashaivism in Telugu and Kannada.
'Karnataka Shabd Anushasan', the Kannada grammar was written during this period. Tamil Literature

Except for Tamil, the themes and styles of these works were mostly derived from Sanskrit literature.

Jain, Shaivite and Vaishanava saints composed religious literature in Tamil. Other art forms

Portuguese writers and Abdur Razzaq have mentioned the talented painters in the service of Vijayanagara state.

Lepakshi painting developed during this period.
Themes from epics were used in this type of painting.

A large number of portrait sculptures were made during this period.

The portrait sculpture of Krishna Deva Raya and his queens is found in Tirupati temple

A new art form called, 'Yakshgana', developed during this period which mixed both music and dance.

It was mostly associated with temples.

Nambudiri Brahmins developed a new art form, 'Koodiyattam', in which Puranic stories are told through dance.

The Vijayanagara period saw Carnatic music evolve into a definite form.

Purandara Dasa was a renowned proponent of Carnatic music.
Rudraveena was possibly invented during this period.

Bharatnatyam was also promoted during this period, primarily as a form of temple art.

Contribution of Krishna Dev Raya to art and literature

Duetohiscreativegenius,Krishna Deva Rayawascomparableto Akbar.Despitetheincessant fighting, he could focus on the creative potential of his empire as his court was decorated with many scholars and artists.

He had good command over both Telugu and Sanskrit.

He continued the earlier tradition of writing commentaries on the Vedas and other Sanskrit works.

During his period, Telugu literature came out of the shadow of Sanskrit literature. His reign was a period of Telugu renaissance.

His court had 8 Telugu poets (Astadiggajas) - Allasani Peddana, Nandi Thimmana,Madayyagari Mallana,Dhurjati,Ayyala-raju,Pingali Surana, Ramaraja Bhushanudu and Tenali Ramakrishna.

These scholars authored amazing masterpieces.
His own work, Amuktamalyada, is an epic poem in Telugu which
describes the wedding of Lord Vishnu and Andal, a Tamil bhakti poet.

He patronised Tamil and Kannada scholars too.
He composed literature in Sanskrit too.

He also patronised art and architecture.

Dravida School of architecture evolved further under his rule, e.g. Hazara temple and Vithhal temple.

Duarte Barbosa profusely praises him for his religious tolerance, his sense of justice and his efficient administration.

Bahmani Sultanate (1347-1687)

Unified Bahmani (1347-1482)

After Muhammad bin Tughlaq abandoned Daultabad, it was captured by Zafar Khan alsoknownas Hasan Ganguinc.1345 CE.Hetookthetitle, 'Allauddin Bahaman Shah' upon founding the Bahmani Sultanate which lasted roughly two centuries.

He moved his capital to Gulbarga in c. 1347 CE, which was moved again to Bidar in c.

1422 Ce.

A running theme in the entire history of Bahamani Kingdom is the struggle with Vijayanagara Empire for the control over Raichur Doab, Krishna-Godavari Delta and the Konkan coast, especially its ports like Goa and the conflict between Afaqi and Dakhni nobles.

Political fortunes kept swinging and the details of individual struggles are not important from the point of view of historical processes.

Firoz Shah Bahmani

The brightest star on the Bahmani firmament was the Firuz Shah Bahamani (c. 1397-

1422 Ce).

He was a polymath who was deft in religion,logic, natural sciences and linguistics etc.

He was conversant in several languages such as Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Urdu, Kannada and Telugu.

He was tolerant of other religions and had personally read both the Old and New Testament.

It was during his reign that Gesu Daraz, the famous Chishti Sufi saint established his Khanqah at Gulbarga.

Thedeclineof the Delhi Sultanatemeantthatmanylearnedmenmigrated from Delhi to the Gulbarga.

Firoz also invited scholars and nobles from Iraq and Iran.

Manyof these West Asian migrantswere Shiite.Undertheir influence, Persian culture and Shiite doctrine grew within the Bahmani Sultanate.

He also inducted a largenumber of Hindus in administration,which possibly acted as a balance against the influx of foreigners called Afaqis or Gharibs.

He built an observatory at Daulatabad.
Having initially defeated Devaraya I, he was later dealt a crushing defeat by a Warangal-Vijayanagar alliance led by Devaraya I and was forced to abdicate in favour of his brother Ahmad Shah 'Wali'.

Ahmed Shah Wali

He conquered Warangal, thus breaking the Vijayanagar-Warangal alliance. Following this, he shifted the capital to Bidar to better control the newly conquered territory.

This shifted the balance of power in the favour of Bahamanis.

They conquered Berar, Khandesh and some parts of the Konkan coast during the second half of the 15 th century.

Asaresult,Vijayanagarwasconsiderablyweakened.Theperiodafter Devaraya IIwas a period of chaos and the frontiers of Vijayanagar shrank on all sides.

The confusion allowed the Gajapatis of Orissa to move into the Delta region.

However, he is remembered more for his contribution as sufi saint than as a ruler. He was a close associate of Gesu Daraz and his death anniversary is jointly celebrated by both Hindus and Muslims.

Muhammad Gawan Not much is known about his early life. He gradually rose in the service of the Bahamani kingdom until he was appointed as 'Wakil-us Sultanat' (Prime Minister) when the new King Muhammad Shah III was coronated in 1463. He dominated the affairs of the Bahamani kingdom for the next two decades.

Territorial Expansion

He aligned with Vijayanagara to defeat the Gajapatis.
He also made deep inroads into Vijayanagara.

He annexed the Raichur doab and reached as far as Kanchipuram.
He was also able to snatch Dabhol and Goa from Vijayanagara.

Control over these two ports greatly boosted the external trade. Internal trade and manufacturing of the Kingdom also grew.

Gawan had to wage a bitter struggle with Malwa ruler Mahmud Khalji over the question of Berar.

In this struggle, he was given active help by the Gujarat rulers. Internal Reforms and Downfall

He carried out the administrative reorganisation of the Sultanate by dividing it into 8 provinces 'Taraf/Atrafs'.

He also strengthened the military by including local Marathas in the army. He introduced the practice of making land grants to top commanders, thus winning Maratha loyalty.

He also introduced the system of survey and measurement for land revenue.
Apart from opening 'Muqtabs' for elementary education, Gawan also set up a large Madrasa (college) in Bidar in the traditional Persian style called 'REGISTAN'.

It wasa three storeybuilding in which a thousand teachers and students could live.

Some of the most famous scholars of the time from Iran and Iraq came there to teach.

The struggle between the Afaqis and Dakhni nobles was initially calmed by Mahmud Gawan.

However, he couldn't bridge the factional gap completely, ultimately falling victim to it himself.

The young sultan executed him on trumped up charges. The strife became only more intense after this and the Bahamani Kingdom soon splintered into the five Deccan states, out of which, Bijapur, Golconda and Ahmednagar played important historical roles.

Afanasy Nikitin

He was possibly the first Russian traveller to come to India. He has described both Vijayanagar and Bahamani kingdom in the 15 th century.

Nikitin calls Mahmud Gawan, 'Tuzzar', as Mahmud Gawan held the title of 'Malik-i- Tuzzar'.

According to him, the land was very populous and the common people were very poor. But the nobles lived in great luxury.

Nikitin was amazed to see the king and the nobles ride on men. Perhaps he refers to palanquins carried by four to twenty men on special occasions.

It was his observation that, in India, everyone goes naked. All were barefoot, walked fast and were strong.

The intensity of heat possibly made people use scanty clothes. Perhaps this practice made Nikitin think that they went 'naked'.

He, however, admits that they wore jewellery and ornaments.

He has given a rich, but not free from errors, account of contemporary society. Administration The Bahamanis imitated the broad administrative structure of Delhi Sultanate. The offices and departments bear similarity with the ones from Delhi Sultanate.

However, some new offices were created with time, e.g. Wakil-us-Sultanat (Prime minister).

Muhammad I (c. 1358-78 CE) is credited for institutionalizing the administrative structure.

The Sultanate was divided into four 'tarafs' with their headquarters at Daulatabad, Berar, Bidar and Gulbarga.

Governors (Tarafdars) of different provinces were given different titles.

Mahmud Gawan tried to reform the administration.

He tried to issue revenue assignments on the basis of land measurement.
He also tried to curb the power of the 'tarafdars', who were controlling the military administration of the province.

The law of primogeniture gained comparatively more acceptance in the Bahamani Kingdom than the Delhi Sultanate.

Throughoutthelifeof Bahamani Kingdom,therewasatusslebetween the Dakhniand Afaqi nobles over plum posts in the administration.

Economy and Society

The economy under the Bahamani sultans was prosperous but highly unequal.

Nikitin has thrown light on the trade and commerce of this period. According to him, Dabhol port was connected with the other ports of the Indian subcontinent and Africa.

Horses, clothes, silk and black pepper etc. were important items of trade.
Horses were imported from Arabia, Khurasan and Turkistan.
Indian merchants dominated the inland trade.

Nikitin highlights the glaring inequality between the nobility and commoners.

However, the society must have been more differentiated than this binary classification as the different occupational and ethnic groups must have occupied different positions in the socioeconomic hierarchy.

The social outlook of the Bahmani kings was mostly liberal.

Hindus of all castes, local Muslims, the immigrants from central and west Asia etc. lived in the kingdom which had a cosmopolitan structure.

Shia Muslims emerged as a social group due to migration from central Asia.

Persian, Marathi, Dakhni, Kannada and Telugu etc. were the commonly spoken languages.

Hindus were usually not discriminated against.

There isno solid evidence to suggest that Jizyawasimposed.If it wascollected at all, then, it was a part of Kharaj.

Sufis migrated to the Deccan before and during this period in a large number. Sultans needed their support for legitimacy. Sattariya, Chishti and Qadiri were among the main Sufi orders.

Bidar was an important centre of the Qadiria order.
The Chistisaint Syed Muhammad Gesu Darazmigrated from Delhito Gulbarga in c. 1402 CE. Firuz Shah granted 'Inam' land for the maintenance of his 'khanqah'.

Successor States (1482-1687)

Ahmednagar-itwasruledby the Nizam Shahidynasty.In 1601 itwasforcedtoaccept the Mughal suzerainty by Akbar. It was finally annexed by Shah Jahan in 1636.

Bidar- it was ruled by the Barid Shahi Dynasty and was absorbed by the Ahmednagar Sultanate.

Berar - it was ruled by the Imad Shahi dynasty, and was also absorbed by the Ahamednagar.

Bijapur - it was ruled by the Adil Shahi dynasty. It was forced to accept the Mughal suzerainty by the Shah Jahan in 1636 and later annexed by Aurangzeb in 1686.

Golkonda - it was ruled by the Qutub Shahi dynasty and suffered the same fate as Bijapur. Shah Jahan established Mughal overlordship over it in 1636 and Aurangzeb annexed it in 1687.

Important personalities of the later phase included

Ibrahim Adil Shah - He built the Gol Gumbaz at Bijapur, the largest dome in Asia. He was also known as Jagatguru due to his religious tolerance, love for knowledge and music.

Malik Ambar - originally a slave from Ethiopia named Chapu.

He was educated and trained in Baghdad, converted to Islam and renamed.
Hewassoldintotheserviceof Malik Dabir(Royal Scribe)of Ahmednagar under whom he gained administrative and military experience.

After the death of his master, he was freed and became a military leader, raising his own force.

Mughal aggression towards the Deccan allowed him to quickly rise in power.
He became the Prime Minister and had his daughter married to the Sultan of Ahmednagar, becoming the regent and de facto ruler of Ahmednagar.

He joined hands with the Marathas to successfully resist Mughal encroachment. Bahmani - Vijayanagar Struggle The 14 th century saw the emergence of two powerful Deccani kingdoms.

Bahamani Sultanate covered the linguistic region of Telugu, Kannada and Marathi. It was situated to the north of the Vijaynagar Empire.

The Vijaynagar Empire covered the linguistic region of Telugu, Tamil, Kannada.

Their proximity led to a number of disputes between the two kingdoms and their history in rife with incessant warfare. For almost 200 years, they fought for the control of,

The Konkan Coast, including important ports such as Goa and Dabhol
Raichur Doab (between the Krishna and the Tunghbadhra)
Krishna-Godavari Delta
During this period, their fortunes shifted constantly. Finally in 1565, the combined armies of 4 successor states (Ahmednagar, Bijapur, Golconda and Bidar) defeated the

Vijayanagar Empire, being led by Rama Raya, in the decisive Battle of Talikota/ Bannihatti/ Rakshasa Tagadi.

The Vijaynagar empire collapsed after this. However, some of its Amara Nayakas continued to rule independently.

Q: Examine the nature of conflict between the Vijayanagara Kingdom and the Bahamani Sultanate.

Both, Vijayanagara Empire and Bahamani Kingdom were born almost simultaneously and started fighting immediately.

Harihar and Bukka took the help of Hindu revivalist movement of Kapaya Nayaka to complete his independence project.

They were also associated with a Hindu monk Vidyaranya.
Often, the geopolitical contest between the Bahamanis and Vijayanagara took a bloody religious turn.

Vijayanagara Kingstriedtocreatetheimageofa Hindustateand the Sultansalso used religion and religious vengeance as it suited them.

Richard Eaton calls the Vijayanagara frontier the 'Maginot Line' of the Deccan. Historiography

However, it was essentially a geopolitical conflict with historical roots.

They fought for the control of fertile land and strategic ports, just like the erstwhile kingdoms of the Peninsular India had fought for the control of Raichur Doab, Krishna-Godavari Delta and the Konkan Coast.

Their Rajamandala considerations were purely secular. Once they even aligned with each other.

Firuz Shah employed a large number of Hindus in his administration and Vijayanagara inducted Muslim archers in their army.

Within their respective kingdoms, there was no considerable favouritism in the matters of taxation, trade and rights of the subjects.

Both kingdoms practised their own versions of tolerance.
Thus, it becomes clear that the Vijayanagar-Bahmani conflict was not a religious crusadebut religionwascertainlyusedto mobilise the respectivesides more strongly.

Mughal Historiography Different schools of historiography emerged for interpreting Mughal history.

Imperialist Historiography

British scholars like Smith and Elphinstone were the first to interpret the Mughal period, but they were specifically guided by British colonialism.

Since they had to justify British rule in India, they tried to undermine the Mughal legacy established by Akbar by undermining his achievements vis-a-vis Sher Shah.

Apart from that, in the economic field, British scholars like Moreland tried to prove that the economyunder Mughalswasn'tinanybetterconditionfromthatunder the Britishinthe 19 th century.

Nationalist School

We can divide the nationalist school of historiography into two parts or subgroups-

(a) Communal historiography (b) Secular historiography (a) Communal historiography:- Communal historiography is further divided into two sub-

groups -

Hindu Communalist approach:-

It was promoted by scholars like Sir Jadunath Sarkar, Aashirvadi Lal Shrivastava, etc.

The basic premise of their historiography was that due to the progressive policy of Akbar there was the formation of a vast Mughal Empire but once this policy was reversed by Aurangzeb, the Mughal Empire disintegrated.

In this way, this historiography hovers around certain personalities in the interpretation of the Mughal Empire.

Muslim Communalist approach:-

This school was represented by scholars like I.H. Quraishi (First historian of Pakistan).

He tried to demonise Akbar while praising Aurangzeb.

For example, he emphasised that due to anti-Muslim policy of Akbar, Hindus became indisciplined. So, Aurangzeb's tough attitude towards Hindus was necessary.

(b) Secular historiography:-

Scholars such as A.K. Majumdar were products of the national movement.So, naturally, they were anti-British.

They bitterly criticised the British Empire but considered it to be the descendent of the Mughal Empire. So,inthe course of attackingthe British Empire, they alsoattacked Mughals.

That'swhy,theyidolisedregionalrulerslike Maharana Pratapof Mewar,Maratha King Shivaji and Lachit Borphukan of Assam who fought against Mughals.

Marxist Nationalist School:-

Aligarh School of historiography, led by Mohd. Habib, Noorul Hasan, Athar Ali, Irfan Habib, Shirin Moosvi, etc. is inspired by the Marxist school.

Certain features of this school are -

This school emphasised the role of socio-economic factors rather than the role of personalities.

For example, they emphasised that socio-economic and administrative crises like the Jagirdari and Agrarian crisis were more important for the decline of the Mughal Empire, than the activities of certain individuals.

It also emphasised upon the re-evaluation of sources. For example, the policies of Akbar can't be evaluated simply on the basis of the description by Abul Fazl.

Mughal administration was projected as a centralised structure.

Revisionist School

Scholars like Muzaffar Alam, Chetan Singh, Sanjay Subramaniam, P.J. Marshall, Karen Leonard, etc. have analysed Mughal history in a new light-

According to these historians the Aligarh School had unconsciously selected one hero and one villain from Mughal monarchs i.e. Akbar and Aurangzeb while neglecting others.

These scholars have rejected the perception of centralised Mughal administration and tried to highlight its limitations.

While interpreting the decline of the Mughal Empire, they have also rejected the empire- centric approach of Aligarh school instead they have adopted a region-centric approach.

While Aligarh scholars had declared the first half of the 18 th century as the age of crisis, but the revisionist scholars took the first half of the 18 th century as the era of economic prosperity.

Babur

Tuzuk-i-Babari/Baburnama-Itistheautobiographyof Babur,writtenasajournalin Chagatai Turk.

It was translated into Persian by two scholars.

Painda Khan
Abdul Rahim Khan-i-Khana

Only 18 years of his life survived in the work.
The language used is simple yet incisive.

Babur has written about himself with great candour.

He has not tried to hide his shortcomings.
Neither did he try to hide his father's weakness.
Other than being an important source of history, Baburnamah is considered to be a literary marvel in its own right.

The work may broadly be divided into 3 parts.

First part

It deals with his formative years and youth.
Babur informs us that he was born in 1483 in Ferghana.
He inherited his kingdom at the age of 12.
This part also covers his struggle and defeat to his rivals in Central Asia.

The battles of Samarkand and Bukhara have been mentioned.
Babur, informs us of his mistakes that led to the losses and his ultimate expulsion.

He also tells us of his conquest of Kabul (1504) and Kandhar in (1522).
He informsusthat he was invited to India bythedisgrunt led nobles of Ibrahim Lodhi and other Indian rulers such as,

Daulat Khan Lodhi
Adil Khan Lodhi
Dilawar Khan Lodhi
Rana Sangha

Second Part

It talks about Indian rulers and Babur's clashes with them.
Babur has mentioned 5 Indian rulers:

Ibrahim Lodhi- Delhi - Babur has praised him, but also called him novice.
Bahadur Shah- Gujrat
Nusrat Shah- Bengal
Rana Sanga- Mewar
Krishna Deva Raya- Vijayanagra - Babur has praised him the most, and called him the ablest administrator and best general among all Indian kings.

Third Part

Here, Babur discusses India, its flora, fauna, climate, people and diverse culture. He appears to be a better writer in this part.

He is pleased with India's animals, especially the elephant which he encountered for the first time.

He was very fond of mangoes.
Hewassurprisedtosee India'swealth,andusedtheterms"lakh","crore",and

“arab" to describe it.”

However, he did not like India's hot and humid climate.
According to him, Indians lack a sense of fashion, and they 'roamed around naked'.

He says that Indian cities did not have gardens like those in Central Asia and Persia.

He also misses his favourite flowers, the Jasmine and the Rose.
He was extremely displeased with the lack of quality wines in India

Important battles in India

1526 - Battle of Panipat against Ibrahim Lodhi.
1527 - Battle of Khanwa against Rana Sanga, near Fatehpur Sikri (declared as jihad).
1528 - Battle of Chanderi against Medni Rai, another Rajput chief.
1529 - Battle of Ghaggar (Bihar) against the Afghans, led by Mohammed Lodhi. Emergence of Babur Babur became the ruler of Fergana (1494) at a young age when his father Omar Shaikh Mirza died accidentally.

Babur was ambitious since childhood. He was eyeing Samarkand which was under his uncle, the ruler of Herat. So he attacked Samarkand but his uncle defeated him with the help of the Uzbek ruler, Saibani Khan Uzbek.

Babur, later, succeeded in conquering Samarkand with the help of the Shia Safavid ruler, Shah Ismail, although very soon he vacated it.

Impact of Central Asian politics on the Mughals The Mughal rulers themselves were Sunni, but since they were allies of the Shia Safavid Empire, they distanced themselves from both the Sunni alliance (Uzbek and Ottoman Empire) and Sunni fanaticism.

Babur's Invasion Babur writes in the Tuzuk-i-Baburi right from his conquest of Kabul (1504) he dreamed of ruling India.

Reason

Kabul was economically backward, so Babur was attracted towards India's wealth.
North India was politically fragmented and the Afghan nobles were in a power struggle

against the Sultan.

As the legitimate successor of Timur, Babur had a claim over Punjab.

Babur's conquest of Hindustan

His campaign started with the battle of Bhira in 1518 and after the fifth invasion he finally captured Punjab.

Then he defeated Ibrahim Lodi in the Battle of Panipat in 1526 and captured Delhi and Agra.

But hisvictory couldn't be considered complete before he defeated Rana Sanga at Khanwa in 1527, Medini Rai at Chanderi (1528) and the Afghans at Ghagghar (1529).

Reasons behind the success of Babur

Political fragmentation in North India and differences between various states.
The main cause behind the failure of the Afghans was the lack of the centralisation in the

Afghan political system, the differences between the Sultan and the nobles as well as the undisciplined nobles.

Demonstration of superior combat technology by Babur, e.g. linking the Tulgama warfare

system with artillery.

Impact of Babur's conquest of Hindustan

Re-established the prestige of the crown, that is, the position of the king became much

stronger than the nobles.

Due to the use of artillery by Babur, better control over the provincial authorities by the

central government became possible. This also encouraged administrative centralization.

Control over Kabul and Qandhar by an Indian ruler after a long period.
Powerful foreign policy and connection of Indian politics with that of Central Asia and

West Asia.

Hindustan's engagement with Central Asia and promotion of trade.

Do you agree with the statement that Babur was a dedicated warrior, not an empire-

builder?

It is beyond doubt that Babur possessed unparalleled military acumen. Throughout his life, he remained involved in many military conflicts and also had several military successes.

First, he captured Kabul and then after the battles of Panipat and Khanwa, he laid the foundation of the Mughal state.

It is true that he had insufficient time to properly focus on either strengthening the base of the newly founded Mughal state or to think in terms of territorial expansion.

But it is also equally true that Babur introduced certain measures which resulted in empire-

building in the future.

Before the advent of Babur in India, in North India there was an uneasy balance of power between Afghans and Rajputs.

Babur destroyed this balance in the battles of Panipat and Khanwa to establish Mughal primacy. So, empire-building in the north became possible in the future.

In order for the empire to survive, it was essential to deny the Mongol succession rule in India.

Under the Mongol succession rule, the empire had to be divided among all the successors. Babur rejected it and advised Humayun not to enforce it after his death.

Babur infused a new spirit into the government as well.

Actually, the structure of the Afghan government was based on a confederate system in which the position of a monarch was weak Babur emphasised upon a centralised structure and took the title of Badshah.

In fact, in this system of government, no other noble could make the claim of equality with the monarch.

Apart from that, he selected a liberal social policy for the government in India.

Onceheadvised Humayunthatheshouldneverinterfereinthereligiouslifeof Hindus.

Such advice could become a precursor of the liberal religious policy of Mughals in India.

Likewise, he got his two sons Humayun and Kamran married with the Rajput princess from the family of Medini Rai.

So it was Babur who revealed the potential of Mughal-Rajput relations in future.

In the light of these arguments, we can say that Babur's steps prepared the way for empire-

building in future.

Tuzuk-i-Baburi as a source of history Tuzuk-i-Baburi is an autobiography of the Mughal ruler Babur, written in Chagatai Turk.

Positive aspect

It has wide significance as a source of study. It provides details of some major states of

India, such as Delhi, Gujarat, Bengal, Mewar, Vijayanagar and Bahmani.

It also mentions the prosperity of India and various professional groups and production

systems prevailing here.

Babur was interested in the geography of India. He has described the geographical

landscape, animals, birds, vegetation of India in detail.

He was also a connoisseur of human behaviour and nature and has given details about it.
In many places, he is completely honest in hiswriting. He has exposed the weakness of his

father and other relatives. At some places, he has revealed his own weaknesses also. On this basis, Tuzuk-i-Baburi appears to be close to the Confession of St. Augustine and that of Rousseau.

His sensibility as an author transformed a regional language into a rich literary language.

7.Hewasalsoagreatconnoisseurofartandarchitecture,buthedidnotlikethearchitecture of India because it lacked balance and proportion.

Limitations

Tuzuk-i-Baburi does not cover Babur's entire life. There are time gaps at many places.
Babur has manipulated the facts in his favour at many places. For example, in the Battle

of Panipat, he states that Ibrahim Lodhi's army was much larger than his army.

3.Heseemstobebiased against Indiansinmanyplaces.Forexample,accordingtohim,there is no lustre on the face of Indians, they are not intelligent. This description does not match the description of Amir Khusro.

Question

Does Babur appear to be a cultured person on the basis of Tuzuk-i-Baburi?

Humayun (1530-1555)

Sources His biography 'Humayun Nama' was written by sister Gulbadan Begum in Persian, during Akbar's reign.

Important events

1532 - he defeated the Afghans near Allahabad.
1534-hedefeated Bahadur Shah of Gujarat,andbuilt Dinpanah- Anewcityat Delhi.
1539 - he was defeated by Sher Shah Suri at the Battle of Chausa (Bihar)
1540 - he was defeated again by Sher Shah Suri at the battle of Bilgram (Kannauj)
1541 - he fled towards Rajasthan and married Hamida Banu Begum, a Persian lady, who gave birth to Akbar at Amakot (Sind).

After this, Humayun fled to Persia where he was given refuge to Shah Tamas I.

1555 -he returned to India with Persian help and recovered Delhi. However, he could only rule for 10 months before dying accidently.

Challenges before Humayun after becoming the ruler

His brother Kamran captured Kabul and Kandahar, then Lahore, Hisar Firoza and other

areas were also captured by him.

The foundation of the Mughal state, established by Babur, was very weak.
Humayun faced continuous revolt from Afghans.

Question: Was Humayun an incompetent king or an unfortunate one?

On the basis of traditional historiography, Humayun was declared to be lazy, lavish and addicted to opium. He spent his precious time building a new capital 'Dinpanah' in Delhi, neglecting the Afghan challenge.

Butonthebasisofthelatestresearchon Humayun,suchaviewhasseriouslybeenchallenged and certain hidden abilities in his personality have come to light.

Humayun presents a rare example not only in Indian history but also in the history of the world, of a king who lost his crown and then regained it. It was not possible without military ability and political acumen.

So far as the charge of opium taking is concerned, we shouldn't forget that he was not an exception. Almost all the Mughal emperors took opium. Even Babur, who before the battle of Khanwa took the oath not to take wine, depended on opium for the rest of his life.

Likewise, the decision to build a new capital 'Dinpanah' was also a far-sighted one. Actually, due to the political ambition of Gujarat ruler, Bahadur Shah, Agra was under constant threat.

So, it was a wise step to build an alternative capital in Delhi.

That'swhy Humayunshouldn'tbetakenasanincompetentrulerbutratherasanunfortunate ruler.

Shershah Suri

Rise of Sher Shah

By dint of his personal valour, entrepreneurship, diplomatic acumen and military talent, Shershah rose from being Jagirdar of Sasaram to the Badshah of Hindustan.

Sher Shah assimilated the elements of fox and the lion within his personality.

When we observe minutely, we come to know that even the material conditions of the time favoured him.

For example, firstly, he took advantage of the political confusion created by the continuous conflict between Mughals and Afghans.

Secondly, he made use of the Afghan rule of succession in his favour.

In the Afghan structure, succession was transferred from husband to wife. So, Shershah used this rule in his favour by marrying some prosperous Afghan widows.

Empire-building under Sher Shah

The processof political unification had already started when Sikander Lodhi annexed Jaunpur.

Then the process of political unification continued under Babur and Humayun. Later, Sher Shah brought it to its climax.

Shershah created a big empire that extended to the border of Kashmir in the North to Vindhya in the South and the Indus region in the West to Bengal in the East.

Administrative structure

The main challenge before Sher Shah was suppressing the Afghan legacy which worked as a major impediment in the way of administrative centralisation.

Sher Shah promoted administrativecentralisation by combiningthe Afghan structure of government with the Turkish one.

The Turkish model of administration was relatively more centralised than the Afghan model where centrifugal forces were more active.

He made it clear that the rule of Afghan succession wouldn't apply in government posts. Shershah gave emphasis on effective, transparent and active government.

Although he maintained the old departments under his government, he infused new strength into them. As we know, these departments existed even under the Sultans but Sher Shah heavily curtailed the power of the head of the departments.

For provincial administration, we can say that under Sher Shah, standard provincial administration didn't start.

In the actual sense, this was introduced by Akbar later.
Under the Sultans, a number of Siqs were clubbed together into an irregular administrative unit, known as Khitta or Vilayat.

The same tradition continued under Shershah.

We can give credit to Shershah for the introduction of standardised local administration in the form of Sarkar and Pargana, i.e. Siq was replaced by Sarkar.

At the level of Sarkar, he appointed two officers, Siqdar-i-Siqdaran and Munsif-i-Munsifan.Firstwasaccountable for general administration whilethe second for land revenue administration.

Likewise, at the level of Pargana, there were officers, Siqdar and Munsif. Siqdarwasresponsible for generaladministration and Munsifforlandrevenue administration.

The village was the lowest unit of administration and was guided by two local officers i.e. Muqaddam and Patwari.

Muqaddam was the head of the village while Patwari was a semi-government officer who maintained the documents of the land revenue.

Maqaddam wasn't a paid officer. Land revenue reforms under Sher Shah Objectives behind the reforms

To boost production
To augment state revenue
To give protection to the peasants.

Shershah believed that the peasants were the axis of production and if they remained dissatisfied, it would affect the whole process of production. Land measurement: -

Shershah re-introduced land measurement and for that, he made the Bigha and Gaz- i-Sikandari as a measuring unit.

His system is known as the Zabti system.
The system also accounted for soil fertility, according to which, land was categorised as good, average or bad.

The estimated production was adjusted as per the quality of land. Recognition of the Rights of tenants:-

Shershah introduced the system of Patta and Qabuliyat.

In Patta, the rights of the peasants were clearly mentioned but in Qabuliyat the liability of peasants was mentioned. Fixation of the rate of land revenue:-

Generally, 1/3 rd of the total production was fixed as land revenue.
In order to make the collection more convenient,he introduced a rate chart known as Ray.

Furthermore, apartfromtheregular rateof landrevenue,thereweresome additional taxes like Zaribana & Muhasilana.

Therate ofthefirstwas 2.5% ofthetotalproductionwhilethesecondone was 5% of the total production.

Alongwiththesetaxes,thestateusedtoimposean additionaltaxof 2.5 Serper Bigha which was safely stored in local state storehouses, so that the grains could be used at the time of exigencies.

Approach to Zamindars and Intermediaries:-

Unlike Alauddin Khilji,Shershahadopteda very pragmaticapproachto Zamindarsand Intermediaries.

Instead of suppressing them he preferred to have an effective check over them.

Roads and Sarais

Sher Shah Suri built long arterial roads in India including-:

Sonargaon to Attock
Agra to Chittorgarh via Jodhpur
Multan to Attock
Agra to Burhanpur

On each road, trees were planted for shade.
At a distance of every 2 Kos (18 Kilometres) a Sarai was built.

Approximately 1700 such Sarais were built.

These Sarais served multiple purposes.

Each sarai had a Barid (intelligence officer)
Each sarai also had a well provisioned stable and Dak Chowki.

According to Sarwani a message could be relayed from Bengal to Agra
in a single day.

Each Sarais had 2 chefs, one Brahmin and the other Muslim.

Food was provided free of cost to boarders.

The sarais had facilities for feeding and watering horses.
Each Sarai had a water well, which attracted locals.

This resulted in the roads and sarais becoming safer.
Gradually sarais started to serve as a marketplace, which eventually evolved into towns.

Thus, they helped in the growth of the market economy and contributed to urbanisation. Other reforms under Shershah:-

Shershahintroducedthe system of localresponsibilityforlocalcrime.i.e.Muqaddam (the head of the village) had to be convicted if he failed to divulge the name of the criminal.

In order to boost trade and commerce, he adopted some other measures as well.

He introduced standardcoinslikesilvercurrency,Rupiya, andcoppercurrency Dam.

Hestandardisedimportdutiesandtaxes.Sonowongoods,thetaxcould have been collected only at two points.

Shershah introduced some military reforms as well.

He introduced Chehra or Hulia as well as the system of Dagh (branding of horses). Was Sher Shah an innovator or a reformer?

The period of Sher Shah drew the attention of a number of scholars because he made remarkable achievements within a short span of 5 years.

Although, he infused a new spirit into all institutions, whether he was an institution builder or reformer needs to be investigated.

In central administration, Shershah maintained all departments i.e. Diwan-i-Wizarat, Diwan

i-Insha, Diwan-i-Arz and Diwan-i- Risalat.

But he promoted administrative centralisation through the curtailment of the power of officers.

As for provincial administration, we can say that Shershah couldn't introduce any standard model, rather standard provincial administration (Suba) started later under Akbar.

On the other hand, the credit for introducing standard local administration can be given to Shershah, like the units of Sarkar and Pargana.

But here also, we come to know that the old system Siq and Pargana already existed, Shershah simply restructured them.

Likewise, as for military reforms, Shershah introduced the Hulia and Dagh but these had earlier been introduced by Alauddin Khilji. So, Shershah simply reintroduced it.

The practice of land measurement had first been introduced by Alauddin Khilji but there remained certain loopholes which Shershah tried to remove.

Even in Sher Shah's system, some flaws remained, which Akbar tried to remove.
So land revenue reforms should be viewed as a process of gradual evolution and the entire credit shouldn't be given to Shershah.

In the light of above factors, Shershah appears to be a great reformer but not an innovator.

Akbar

Achievements

A great Empire-builder:-

He created a big empire that consisted of the region of Kashmir in North to Berar and Balaghat in the south and Kandhar in the west to Bengal in the east. So he combined a vast region of the North, North-West, East and the Deccan under a single empire.

A new theory of kingship:-

In Akbar's theory of kingship, one can see the pluralistic character of Hindustan. In other words, he tried to establish that the king shouldn't favour any social group or a particular class rather he should work for the betterment of all.

While describing Akbar's theory of kingship, Abul Fazl characterises it as 'Farr-i-Izadi' (Divine light) which directly emanates from God and falls on the king. Therefore, the role of intermediaries was automatically undermined.

In the whole of his writing on kingship, Abul Fazal never used the terms 'Dar-ul-Harb' (country of Idolater) or 'Dar-ul- Islam' (the country where Muslim rule prevails), as Akbar's theory of kingship was based on 'Dar-ul-Sulah' (peace for all).

A great Institution-builder:-

From central administration to local administration, Akbar established an efficient model of government.

In central administration, he created a new department called Diwan-i-Aala.
Apart from that, he introduced a standardised provincial administration.
His whole administrative structure functioned on two important formulas, i.e.-

Administrative uniformity
Check and balance

Above all, Akbar made a great innovation by introducing the Mansabdari-Jagirdari system.

Not simply that, he also developed an efficient land revenue system in the form of 'Ain-i-Dahsala'.

Central Administration Kingship

The Mughal Polity was based on the element of absolute monarchy, wherein the emperor was the fountainhead of all authority.

Akbar introduced the element of semi divine origin of kingship, by introducing concepts such as-

Farr-i-Izidi (Divine light) - According to him, the emperor's heart was the repository of divine light.Thus,he assumed the title of 'Zill-i-Illahi' (Shadow of God)

Insan-i-Kamil (Most rational man) - this notion emphasises that the Emperor has extraordinary capabilities, and is superior to the other man.

Imam-i-Adil (Leader of Justice) - The Emperor isinherentlya fair and just ruler.
Akbar Also introduced some new practices to emphasise the Emperor's semi- divine status, such as:

Sijda - prostration
Paibos - kissing the emperor's feet
Navroz - Festival to celebrate the Persian new year
Tuladan - Borrowed from the Krishnite legends - on special occasions,
the emperor was weighed against different things to be distributed among the poor.
Jharoka Darshan - Borrowed from Hinduism, the king would appear in
his window every morning and bless his subjects.
Sulh-i-Kul

It was the guiding principle of Akbar's Religious philosophy. It refers to the doctrine of universal peace, and also served as an essential pillar of his theory of kingship.

According to it-
All religions had equal rights to prosper and flourish within the empire.

There was to be no discrimination on the basis of religion.
It was the emperor who was holding the empiretogether, and in his absence, various religious communities would descend into communal violence.

Thus,it wasdesigned toachieve stability and religious peace aswell as
to reinforce the despotic authority of the emperor.
Succession - there was no fixed rule of succession.

The rule of primogeniture was not followed and succession was decided by competition among contenders for the throne, leading to frequent and destructive war of succession.

Nature of the State

War State

Such a state is built by conquest and preserved by armed might.
It has a large military establishment and there is no distinction between civil and military officials. The same official performs both duties.

Paper State

The large empire required a large efficient bureaucracy to manage its affairs.
Official business was conducted through written documents, records of which were meticulously maintained.

Portfolio system of administration - Different subjects of administration were placed under different departments.

Department Heads In Charge Of

Diwan-i-Wazirat Diwan-i Ala Revenue Diwan-i-Arz Mir Bakshi Military Diwan-i-Rasalat Muhatsib Muhtasib Foreign affairs and censor of public morals Diwan-i-Quza Qazi-ul-Quzat Judiciary Diwan-i-Insha Mir Manshi Government papers and royal correspondence Diwan-i-Saman Mir-us-Saman Imperial household and Mughal karkhanas Sadr-us-Sudur Sadar-i-Jahan Charitable and religious endowments (ecclesiastical department)

Provincial Administration

Subas (Provinces)

They were headed by the Subedar/ Sipahsalar (provincial governor), whose main duty was to maintain law and order.

Diwan was the chief finance officer.
Bakshi was the chief military official.
Judicial administration was overseen by the Qazi.

Sarakars (Districts)

Headed by Faujdars responsible for the maintenance of law and order.
Amalguzars were in charge of revenue administration.

Praganas (Revenue Circles)

Revenue units headed by Shiqdar responsible for the maintenance of law and order

Amil/ Karori was in charge of revenue collection.
Fotedar was the treasuryofficial. His responsibility was to oversee the smooth remission of the revenue collected to the imperial treasury.

Gaon (Village)

Zamindars were local landowners who acted as intermediaries between the state and the villages.

They collected revenue in the exchange for a commission and enjoyed tax exemptions.

As Chaudhris they also had policing powers.
However, they were not part of the Mughal bureaucracy. During Akbar's period, there were 15 subas. By the time of Shahjahan, the empire had expanded and there were 22 subas. During Aurangzeb's reign, there were 21 subas.

Revenue administration Different systems of land revenue assessment and collection were used in different parts of the Mughal empire. This was done to account for the vastness of the empire and its geographical and cultural diversity.

Nasq/ Nasaq - The revenue demand was raised on the basis of previous year's production.

Batai/ Galla Bakshi - Revenue was collected, based on the current year's production.

Khet Batai - Standing crops were divided.
Lank Batai - The crops were harvested and stocked before being divided
Ras Batai - Grain was beaten and collected before being divided.

Zabti - Introduced by Sher Shah Suri.

Revenue was estimated on the basis of measurement of sown area and assessment of the quality of land.

Jama was the estimated revenue while Hasil was the realised revenue.
The fluctuations between Jama and Hasil was a major concern for the crown. Todarmal Bandobast/ Ain-i-Dahsala Akbar introduced the Todarmal Bandobast/ Ain-i-Dahsala designed by Raja Todarmal to minimise the gap between Jama and Hasil.

The Features of this arrangement were-

The system was based on the survey and measurement of the sown area.
The rate of land revenue was fixed at half of the estimated production.
The average production of the previous 10 years was taken to estimate the current year's production.

Land was divided into 3 categories on the basis of frequency of cultivation -

Polaj- Cultivated every year
Parauti- left fallow of 1-2 year after every crop
Chachar- left fallow for 3-4 years after every crop

Each of these categories was subdivided into three subclasses of Good, Average and Bad, based on soil fertility.

The average production from these subclasses was applied to make an estimate of production.

Revenue was collected in cash.
Dasturs(regionalpricecircles)werecreated toconverttherevenuedemandintocash form.

Price lists called the Dastur-i-Amal were created for each Dastur by taking an average of the prevailing price over the previous 10 years.

Akbar continued the policy of issuing Patta and Qabuliyat to farmers.
Ain-i-Dahsala- System incentivised the expansion of agriculture

4-5 year tax holiday was given for Banjar land (culturable wasteland).
Further, at least 50% of donated land was to be Banjar land.

Sondhar loans were given to farmers in times of famine.

Significance

The Ain-i-Dahsala System allowed Akbar to maintain a large standing army which could be used to expand the empire and maintain border security.

Italsoallowedthestatetoundertakemassiveconstructionprojects,further,ithelped in the integration of zamindars into the state, thus, reducing the possibility of rebellion.

However, the breakdown of the compact between the state and the peasantry due to the sudden rise in revenue burden later led to frequent agrarian revolts by groups such as the Jats, Sikhs, Satnamis.

Mansabdari System Objectives

This system was originally created by Chengis Khan and was modified for Indian conditions by Akbar.

Its objective was to provide effective administration by arranging Mughal military aristocracy and bureaucracy into a merit based hierarchy.

It was also designed to strengthen the emperor's centrality and streamline military administration.

Elements

It was a dual rank system, that is, each Mughal official was assigned 2 ranks

Zat- it denoted the personal rank of the Mansabdar, varying from 10 to 5000. It determined the Mansabdar's seniority and salary.

Sawar- It represented the military duties of the Mansabdars in terms of the number of horsemen they maintained, ranging from 10 to 5000.

During Akbar'sreign,33 grades of Mansabdarswere arrangedinahierarchyof 10 Zat - 10 Sawar to 5000 Zat to 5000 Sawar.

Each rank had 3 grades-

Sawar rank = Zat rank
eg. 5000 Zat - 5000 Sawar
½ Zat rank < Sawar rank < Zat rank
eg. 5000 Zat - 3000 Sawar
Sawar rank < ½ Zat rank
eg. 5000 Zat -2000 Sawar.
Dah-Bishti System - It was used to determine the ranks of common cavalrymen/ footsoldiers.

On average, each horseman had to have two horses, to ensure a contingency mount.

There were three ranks for every unit of 10 cavalrymen-

Seniormost three soldiers had to maintain three horses each.
Intermediate 4 soldiers had to maintain two horses each.
Junior-most 3 soldiers had to maintain one horse each.

Thus, there were to be 20 horses for 10 men.

Salaries - Mansabdars could either be paid in cash or jagirs - land revenue assignments.

Those paid in cash were called Naqadi Mansabdars.
While those who paid through jagirs were called Jagirdar.
Jagirs were of two kinds-;

Tankha Jagirs-Itwasnon-hereditaryandnontransferable,andalways
situated outside of Mansabdar's jurisdiction.
Watan Jagirs- It was hereditary and transferable, and situated within
the Mansabdar's jurisdiction.
These were exclusively given to Rajputs.
The Mughal Mansabdari was quite heterogeneous , consisting of several ethnic, religious and linguistic groups, such as-

Turanis - Turkish noblemen belonging to Central Asia
Iranis - Persian nobleman
Afghans
Hindustanis/ Shaikhzadas - Indian Muslim converts
Deccanis
Rajputs

The system strengthened the Emperor's position by ensuring the loyalty of the nobility.

All important assignments, transfers, promotions, demotions and dismissals were done by the emperor.

The success of the system depended upon-

The Emperor's personal qualities
The constant expansion of empire so that more land could be distributed as jagirs

During Akbar's reign the Mansabdari had only 5000 members, with very few having ranks more than 1000.

Bythetimeof Shahjahan,thetotalnumberof Jagirdarhadincreasedto 14,000 and were being given ranks as high as 40,000 Zat - 40,000 Sawar.

This led to increasing shortage of Jagirs which gradually precipitated the Jagirdari crisis.

To addresses this issue, some innovations were introduced-

Du-Aspa -- Si-Aspa (2 horse- 3 horse)

Under Jahangir,some Mansabdarsweregivenanadditionalrankof Du- Aspa -- Si-Aspa and would have to maintain twice or thrice horses customarily required.

This was done so that a large number of horses could be maintained
without giving a higher Zat rank to Mansabdars.
Additional cash payment was made to provide for the added expense.

Monthly Scale

Introduced by Shahjahan, under which Mansabdars were categorised
as 6 months, 9 months or 12 months Jagirdar.
Jagirs were assigned proportionally with reduction in Sawar duties. However, the problem assumed crisis proportions during Aurangzeb's reign and ultimately led to the empire's disintegration.

Religious policy of Akbar The religious policy of Akbar went through a long evolution and emerged as a standard for those who aspired to rule in India. It was based on Akbar's realisation of the pluralistic character of Hindustan.

The factors which shaped the religious policy of Akbar are: -

Liberal Mongol tradition
The impact of Sufi-Bhakti tradition
Influence of his mother Hamida Banu Begum and mentor Abdul Latif
Apart from that, Akbar's religious policy was guided by his political ambition as well.

He was inclined to form a composite and unified aristocratic class comprising various racial and communal groups.

Different stages in the religious policy of Akbar :-

The first stage ( 1556-1570):-

During this stage Akbar remained an orthodox Sunni Muslim in his personal conviction but still he maintained a liberal religious policy in his statecraft.

He banned the war captives being forcefully converted to Islam from 1562,
the abolition of the pilgrimage tax in 1563,
the abolition of Jizya in 1564. The second stage (1570-1579):-

During this period, Akbar was inspired by mystical ideas, that's why he experimented with the 'Ibadatkhana' (a place for open religious discourses).

He laid the foundation of Ibadatkhana in 1575 and there he introduced the system of religious conversation and debates.

Initially, these debates were confined to Islamic texts and culture, but later it was openedfordifferentreligioussects i.e.Hinduism,Jainism,Christianity,Zoroastrianism etc.

So, in one sense, nearly 300 years before the religious parliament of Chicago, Akbar successfully experimented with a religious assembly.

Although, on the one hand, Akbar propagated the mystical ideas and religious universalism through the debates of Ibadatkhana but simultaneously, he tried to strengthen the political power and position of the throne with the help of some Islamic institutions.

In June 1579, Akbar read the 'Khutba' in his name in the Jama Mosque at Fatehpur Sikri.

In this way, Akbar tried to usurp the position of chief Ulema.

In September 1579, Akbar proclaimed a 'Mahzarnama'.

Accordingtothisdeclaration,iftherewasadifferenceamongdifferent Ulemas on any religious issue, Akbar, being 'Insan-i-Kamil', could choose any of the views. Insan-i-Kamil means the most rational person.

Not simply that, Akbar authorised himself to issue new orders in the interests of the state while neglecting all advice.

On the basis of Mahzarnama, Akbar took titles like 'Imam-i-Adil' & 'Insan-i-Kamil'.

So even in the matter of foreign policy, he asserted parity with the Persian Emperor and Ottoman Caliph.

The British scholar Smith coined the term 'Decree of Infallibility' for Mahzarnama.

He emphasised that by introducing Mahzarnama, Akbar tried to attain the status of The Prophet, but upon observation, we find that Smith was mistaken in his analysis of the Mahzarnama.

In fact, through Mahzarnama, Akbar was trying to undermine the role of the Ulemas and bring relations between Hindus and Muslims directly under his control.

But orthodox ulemas were not ready to accept the changed situation. They, in association with disgruntled nobles, revolted against the state.

Third stage (after 1579): -

Akbar was able to suppress the revolt but realised his error in using religion to fulfil his non-

religious objectives. So now, Akbar tried to undermine religion in statecraft.

During this stage, the basis of Akbar's religious policy was prepared by his experience of the last 20 years as well as the failure of his prior policy.

In 1582, Akbar introduced his famous 'Din-i-Ilahi'. Earlier it was known as the 'Tauhid-i-Ilahi'.

On observing minutely, we find that it was neither a separate sect nor a religious creed. It wasn't ritualistic in nature. Its method was very simple and easily applicable. Akbar opened its gate for all.

Normally, under this, there were two stages of the spiritual development of the

'Ilahia'. During the first stage, followers simply received Shasta (Allah Hu Akbar) from Akbar personally. In the second stage, the devotee submitted before him, their property, their honour, their religion and their life.

So far as the number of followers is concerned, the number of common followers who were at the first stage of initiation wasn't more than a thousand, while the number of those who reached up to the second stage was nearly 18 among Muslims and Birbal was the single among Hindus.

Do you agree with the idea of Smith that Akbar's Din-i-Ilahi was a monument of folly?

Din-i-Ilahi of Akbar is a unique example of a religious and spiritual initiative taken by a monarch to promote religious harmony in his multi-racial, multi-lingual and multi-regional empire. The true nature of such an initiative couldn't be perceived by Smith so he called it a folly.

In fact, the mistake in his perception was guided by a number of factors.

First, Smith did not have the neutral source material. For example, the writings of

Badauni and that of Portuguese Christian priests both were anti-Akbar in their approach for different reasons. Badauniwas irritated with the rational policy of Akbar and Christian priests were irritated because Akbar didn't accept Christianity.

Secondly, the followers of Din-i-Ilahi were very limited in number and Smith took numerical strength as the criterion for evaluation of success or failure of Din-i-Ilahi.

Thirdly, the writing of Smith reflected the common prejudice of British authors against the Mughals, who left a rich legacy against which the British had to carry out a long struggle.

In fact, Din-i-Ilahi should be evaluated from a different perspective.

Through Din-i-Ilahi,Akbar tried to promote his political ambition. It wasn't a different religious sect rather it was an attempt to undermine the role of religion in statecraft.

In other words, through Din-i-Ilahi, Akbar presented a code of conduct on the basis of which nobles from different classes and communities could be linked to the state.

Apart from that, Akbar also tried to ensure the personal loyalty of the nobles to the institution of monarchy.

So, the success of Din-i-Ilahi can't be evaluated on the basis of numerical strength of its followers rather on the basis of Akbar's intention behind it.

Furthermore, the Safavid rulers of Persia also made such attempts. So, we can't agree with the view of Smith that Din-i-Ilahi is a monument of folly.

Policy towards non-Muslims/ Rajput policy:-

Hindunoblescouldhavebeeninductedintoroyalservice under Muslimrulersforalong time.

Even marriage between Muslims and Hindus wasn't a new thing but Akbar certainly gave a new orientation to state policy towards Rajput or Hindu nobles. In fact, he successfully assimilated this warrior class within the Mughal's system of government.

Factors encouraging his Rajput policy

He was inclined to break the power of Afghans in India.
To break the monopoly of Mughal nobles.

Akbar wanted to enter into the largest military market in India.
The region of Rajasthan had economic and strategic importance and it was rich in certain

minerals.

Methods of Akbar

Akbar employed the policy of carrot and stick to Rajput nobles.

Rajput states which submitted before him were restored to their rulers as 'Watan Jagir'.

Akbar also inducted them into royal service and they were given the higher Mansabs.
Akbar preferred matrimonial relations as a cementing force but it wasn't compulsory.

As a policy of stick, Akbar didn't hesitate to suppress those states which were not ready

to submit before him e.g. Mewar.

Benefit for Mughals:-

The social base of the Mughal Empire widened as even Rajput nobles came to support the

empire.

Asaresultofthepragmaticpolicyof Akbartowards Rajputs,the arch-enemyof theempire

was converted into powerful friends and the Rajput nobles became a pillar for Mughals and their empire.

Underline the difference in Akbar's Rajput policy with respect to his predecessors.

It is true that the policy towards non-Muslim nobles in India was not the product of a single ruler and a single time period, rather it was the product of gradual evolution.

However, we can't deny the fact that Akbar, by bringing a great deal of innovation in his policy, developed it as a model.

Akbar's predecessors like Babur and Humayun and even earlier sultans used to induct Hindu nobles into royal service and some of them even maintained matrimonial relations with them.

For example, Babur got his two sons married to Rajput princesses of the same family. Likewise, Shershah got his son, Islam Shah, married to the daughter of a Rajput king Maldeo.

But Akbar adopted a more effective policy towards Rajputs.
Akbar inducted those Rajput nobles into Mughal service who submitted before him and provided them a greater incentive to ensure their loyalty.

Their own regions were given to them as a Watan Jagir.

Likewise, while Akbar preferred matrimonial relations with the Rajputs but never made it a compulsion.

Furthermore, once the matrimonial relation was established, Akbar maintained this relation very warmly.

He gave religious freedom to his Rajput wives and also permitted them to maintain deep relations with their father's house.

In this way, Akbar brought innovation in relation with Rajput. Contribution to social reforms: -

Akbar took interest even in social reforms. He increased the age of marriage for both boys and girls.

He even tried to discourage the Sati system or at least to stop the self-immolation of those women who didn't have any children.

Cultural contribution: -

He was a great patron of literature and art. His court was adorned by several scholars.

He encouraged not simply Persian literature but also Indian literature.
He established a translation department which translated a number of Sanskrit texts into Persian.

He also encouraged Indian elements in architecture, painting and music. Q. Evaluate the achievements of Akbar as a national ruler.

Akbar can be given the credit for being a national ruler on the ground that he created an all India model.

Creation of an all India empire
Tried to develop a uniform model of government from central to local administration
He developedatheoryof kingship aswellasaliberal religious policy which suitedthe environment and character of Hindustan which was multilingual, multicultural and multi-communal.

He promoted a composite culture. But while using the term national we must be conscious of some details.

A nation requires good integration between the state and the society. Therefore, during the period of Akbar, the term 'nation' appears to be far ahead of his time.

Furthermore, whatever unity Akbar obtained within his empire, was on the level of nobles not on the level of common people. So, the word 'national' should be used with some reservations.

Jahangir (1605 - 1627)

Rajput policy: -

His Rajput policy reflected more continuity than change.
He maintained good relations with Rajputs. He continued to induct them into royal service and even continued matrimonial relations.

However, he favoured the Bundela Rajputs over the Kachhwahas.
In one way, it was justified because the over-importance of the Kachhawa family was creating friction in the relationship with other Rajput families.

Religious policy: -

Jahangir, as a whole, maintained the liberal religious policy of Akbar.
Even after Akbar, he continued to promote Din-i-Ilahi by giving Shasta.
Likewise, he also gave a large donation to Bir Singh Bundela for building Hindu temples at Mathura, Vrindavan and Banaras.

He even permitted his grandson to adopt Christianity.
But certain steps taken by him put a question mark on his liberal policy.

For example, he tortured Guru Arjandeva to death.
On one occasion he demolished the Boar statue at Pushkar.
Likewise, he banished Digambar saints from Gujarat. Deccani policy:-

Itwas Akbarwhofirstsetfootin the Deccan,snatched Berarand Balaghat,andthenannexed Khandesh.

Jahangir did not have any specific ambition in the Deccan, rather he simply wanted to maintain control over the regions conquered by Akbar.

In the meantime, Malik Amber, emerged as the prime minister of Ahmadnagar.

With the combined power of Ahmednagar, Bijapur and Golconda, he expelled the Mughal Subedar, Abdul Rahim Khan-i-Khanan, from the Deccan.

Then Jahangir sent Khurram to suppress the revolt.

He restored the Mughal power by defeating the combined forces of Ahmednagar, Bijapur and Golconda.

Jahangir awarded him the title of 'Shah Jahan' to commemorate this victory.
But even now, Jahangir did not claim more territory from the defeated powers.

It amply shows that Jahangir wasn't having any further territorial ambition in the Deccan.

Shahjahan (1628 - 1658)

Rajput policy:-

We can underline a slight change in the Rajput policy of Shahjahan.

Although he continued to employ Rajput nobles into Mughal service, he discouraged matrimonial relations with them.

Religious policy:-

Even in his religious policy, Shahjahan seemed to have made a departure from the liberal outlook of Akbar and Jahangir.

He showed a sense of religious orthodoxy and promoted Islam.

He nullified the marriages of Muslim girls to Hindu men in Kashmir and decreed that they would remain void, till they were performed again with Islamic customs.

Some instances of temple demolition also took place at Orchha.
He also tried to revive the pilgrimage tax but after the advice of Kavindracharya (saint of Mathura), he withdrew the change.

However, he displayed religious liberalism during the later phase of life, probably under the influence of Dara Shikoh and Jahanara Begum.

Deccan policy: -

Shortlyaftertheenthronementof Shahjahan,Khan-i-Jahan Lodhi,thegovernorof the Deccan revolted with the help of Murtaza Nizam Shah, the ruler of Ahmadnagar.

Thus, Shahjahan decided to annihilate Ahmednagar completely. He believed that this was the only solution for the Deccani problem.

The rebellion was crushed, and in 1633, Ahmednagar was annexed.
But soon after this, he made a very strong diplomatic gesture towards Bijapur and Golconda because he knew that their support was necessary to give legitimacy to the Mughal conquest of Ahmednagar.

In 1636, a historical agreement was signed. It's important provisions were-

Bijapur was given one-third of the territory of Ahmednagar in return for a payment of 80 Lakh Rupees.

Bijapur and Golconda were given the right to expand in the south at the cost of Nayakasandwhateverregiontheyconquered,wouldbedivided 2:1 i.e.two parts to Bijapur and one part to Golkonda.

But in 1656, Shahjahan reversed his prior commitments. Subsequenteventsprovedthatthereversalofthetreatyby the Mughal Emperorwouldresult in the Deccan crisis.

Aurangzeb (1658-1707)

In the evaluation of Aurangzeb, one can find different approaches to historiography -

Traditional approach
Marxist/ New approach

Traditional approach:-

Scholars like Sir Jadunath Sarkar, S.R. Sharma and others belong to this school.
Accordingtothisapproach,Aurangzebwaspresentedasan antithesisto Akbar.Itwas his orthodox religious policy and prejudiced Rajput policy which became instrumental in the decline of the Mughal Empire.

About his religious policy, it has been emphasisedthat Aurangzeb tried to rule in strict adherence with Sharia law from the very beginning and that there was no change in his policy throughout his career.

Likewise,his Rajputpolicywasprojectedas partof hisanti-Hinduagenda and it was emphasised that this proved very costly for the empire. Marxist/ New approach:-

After the 1950 s, a new trend in historiography emerged. According to this new historiography, the role of an individual shouldn't be over- emphasised as a factor of

change rather it should be evaluated in the context of the objective material factors.

So now they emphasised on the objectives behind and the impacts of the religious, Rajput and Deccan policies of Aurangzeb.

In this way, the new historiography created the background for the re- evaluation of the religious policy, Rajput policy as well as Deccan policy of Aurangzeb.

Religious Policy of Aurangzeb Stage One (before 1679): -

It is true, in his personal conviction, Aurangzeb was an orthodox Sunni Muslim, but it is

equally true that his policy and programmes were guided not only by his orthodox mind but also by the circumstances of which he was a product.

For example, in one sense, the basis of his orthodox religious policy was prepared in the course of his war of succession itself.

During the war of succession with Dara Shukoh, he gave the slogan 'Islam vs Heretics' i.e. Aurangzeb vs Dara Shukoh. Thus, he raised the expectations of ulemas and orthodox Muslims, winning their support. It was natural for him to appease these sections.

Butinitially,hetriedtoappeaseorthodox Muslimsandulemaswithoutantagonising Hindus.

So, he started a purification programme within Islam and banned all intoxicants, striking off Kalima from coins, banning the Tika ceremony and Tuladan etc.

Then he took some measures which could be perceived as harsh but for every such

measure, individual factors could be identified.

For example, he banned history-writing as well as music. According to Marxist historians, this was an economic measure, with the objective of shedding off some burden on the treasury.

He dismissed the Hindu officers from the post of Karori for sometime. This step was guided by the objective to promote employment among the Muslim youth.

He ordered the governor of Banares and Thatta to demolish some temples. But this also, was a reaction against rebellions in these regions.

Stage Two (1679-1687): -

The second stage in his policy started in 1679 when he revived the Jizya.

On the basis of observations made by Manucci, some modern scholars had tried to establish that the imposition of Jizya was the result of the economic compulsions of Aurangzeb.

Butthisviewisnotconvincingbecausetheamountcollectedas Jizyawas spent for the promotion of Islam at the discretion of the ulemas. So, there was no question of its replenishing the royal treasury.

During the second half of his rule, Aurangzeb became entangled in Deccani issues. According to Shariyat, the bloodshed of Muslim brethren was prohibited. On this pretext, some important ulemas refused to issue Fatwa against Deccani states.

He needed a way to win their support. It was in this context that Jizya was revived.

The decision to re-impose the Jizya was also motivated by another factor.

By thisperiod, anumberof revolts against the Mughalshadbeenorganised at the local level, such as the Jat revolt, Rajput revolt, Satnami revolt, etc. by the Hindu community.

Stage three (1687-1707):-

Once again we can underline a shift in his policy towards non-Muslims after 1687 after he conquered the state of Bijapur and Golconda.

Bhim Sen, a scholar whoaccompanied Aurangzeb to the Deccan, informs us that after conquering Bijapur and Golconda, Aurangzeb didn't demolish any temples.

He also abolished Jizya in the Deccan in 1704.

Although the pretext behind this was recurring famine, the actual reason was that Aurangzeb needed the support of Hindu Nayakas against the Marathas. So, there is no reason to accept that neither age nor experience brought any change in the religious policy of Aurangzeb.

Rajput Policy

In 1679, after the demise of Jaswant Singh, the ruler of Jodhpur, the question of succession appeared.

Theinterventionof Aurangzeb inthismatterresultedinanopenconflictbetween the Mughal Empire and the Rathods of Jodhpur under Durga Das. Later even Sisodias of Mewar joined the Rathods in this fight.

Traditionally, about the Rajput policy of Aurangzeb, there are two general perceptions-

I. Aurangzeb reversed the Rajput policy of his predecessors.

II. The reversal of Rajput policy by him resulted in the disintegration of the empire.

But the view mentioned above isn't convincing on following grounds

Firstly, Aurangzeb didn't reverse the Rajput policy of Akbar. We have sufficient reasons to prove it.

Aurangzeb continued to induct Rajputs in royal service. Not simply that, under Aurangzeb, high Zat and Sawar ranks were enjoyed by two Rajput nobles i.e. Raja Jai Singh and Jaswant Singh.

Further, since the time of Jahangir, after recalling Man Singh from Bengal, no Rajput Mansabdar had been given the post of Subedar. It was Aurangzeb who appointed Jai Singh and Jaswant Singh to that post. So, the idea of reversal of Rajput policy doesn't appear to be convincing.

Secondly, even the impact of the conflict between Aurangzeb and Rajput states shouldn't be overestimated.

Even after Aurangzeb lost the support of the Rathods and Sisodiyas, he continued to enjoy the support of Ranthambhore, Amber, Bundi, and Kota states.

Apart from that, when Jagat Singh, the successor of Rana Raj Singh of Mewar, withdrew himself from this conflict then the scope of this conflict remained much limited.

Deccani policy of Aurangzeb Traditionally, the Deccan policy of Aurangzeb was evaluated by Sir Jadunath Sarkar.

Aurangzeb's Deccan policy was treated as if unrestricted expansion was simply a matter of choice for him.

He tried to prove that Aurangzeb's empire collapsed under its own weight.
Aurangzeb was compared to a python that swallowed more than it could digest.
He declared further that as Spanish Ulcer ruined Napoleon so Deccani Ulcer ruined Aurangzeb.

But after deep observation, we find that territorial expansion was not only a matter of choice, rather it was a matter of material compulsion for almost all Mughal rulers, not only for Aurangzeb.

For example, if Akbar brought the region of Berar, Balaghat and Khandesh under his control, it was not simply to fulfil his imperialistic desire but also to control the trade of Gujarat and Malwa.

Likewise, in 1656, when Shah Jahan reversed the treaty of 1636, setting the stage for Southward expansion by Aurangzeb, one of the reasons behind it was to have effective control over the trade of the Coromandel coast.

In fact, in the second half of the 17 th century, the mercantile traffic on the Coromandel coast was almost 4 times larger than that on Gujarat coast.

Aurangzeb's Deccan policy should be viewed in this context as well.

Inthisway,Aurangzeb's Deccanpolicywasapropermixbetweenimperialisticdesign and material compulsion.

But it is also true that, through several personal mistakes, he brought the situation from bad to worse in Deccan.

For example, he failed to perceive the popular character of the Maratha movement and the brutal execution of Sambhaji proved to be unwise. Critically examine the impact of Deccani policy: -

Negatives: -

Aurangzeb remained wholly involved in the Deccan imbroglio for 25 long years, so

overall administration slackened.

Due to his involvement in Deccan, he continued to appoint Mansabdars on a massive

scale from among the Deccani nobles. So it intensified the demand for more and more Jagirs.

Whenthe Mansabdarisystemwasextendedtowardstheinfertileregionsof Deccan,

the crisis intensified further.

Positives: -

The Deccanexpeditionof the Mughals,don'tpresentsimplyastoryofall-roundfailure,rather they produced some positive results as well.

As a result of Mughal influence, the Zabti system was extended to the Deccan region

as well.

As the Mughal empire declined, there appeared some regional states like the

Marathas, Hyderabad and Mysore, which provided efficient government in the Deccan.

Beforethe Mughalconquestof the Deccan,goldwasthemaincurrencyin South India,

while in North India silver currency was dominant. But after the advent of Mughals, monetary unification became possible, as silver currency was introduced as the main currency in South India as well.

Revolts against Aurangzeb:-

A series of revolts in the 1670 s onward occurred, some important revolts were -

Jat Revolt:- In 1669, under Gokul Jat and in 1685 under Raja Ram Jat. Both were the

Zamindars of Mathura.

Satnami Revolt:- Satnamis were the followers of St. Kabir and the majority of them

were cultivators belonging to the lower castes. In 1672, they revolted against the state.

Afghan revolt:- Afghans consisted of different tribes, and from time to time one or

other tribe revolted. Earlier this revolt took place under Bhagu. Then in 1672, once again there was a rise of Afghans under Akmal Khan.

Rajput Revolt:- Rathods of Jodhpur revolted under the leadership of Durga Das in

1679, later joined by Rana Raj Singh of Mewar.

Maratha Revolt:- Throughout his life, Aurangzeb faced the challenge of Marathas.

Nature of these revolts:-

About the nature and character of such revolts, there emerged much controversy.

Some of the scholars tried to project them as a reaction against the religious orthodoxy of Aurangzeb.Theypointout that exceptthe Afghan revolt,all otherrevoltsare associated with the Hindus.

But such aview doesn'tappear to beconvincing.The basiccausesbehind these revoltswere politicaland economic.Itisadifferentmatterthattheywereorganisedwithintheframework of religion.

The fact that the whole of the Mughal administration, even under Aurangzeb, was running mostly on the pillar of Hindu officers, cannot be ignored.

Rajput Mansabdars enjoyed the highest position under the empire. After closer examination, we come to realise that for every such revolt, an individual reason was accountable.

For example, in the case of Jat, Satnami, Sikh and Maratha revolts, agrarian discontent was a major factor.

On the other hand, Afghans appear to have been guided by a strong sense of tribal independence.

While in Rajputs' case, the revolt was the reaction against the intervention of the Mughal Empire into the matter of succession.

Q. Do you take the Mughal Empire as a centralised state?

Some historians such as Irfan Habib, Athar Ali etc. hold that Mughal administrative structure was highly centralised. This centralization is manifested in the efficient working of land revenue system, mansab and jagir, uniform coinage, etc.

But Stephen P. Blake and J.F. Richards, while they accept the centralisingtendencies, point out that the Mughal Empire was 'patrimonial bureaucratic'. For them,

everything seemed centred around the imperial household and the vast bureaucracy.

For Streusand, despite being centralised near the core areas, the Mughal structure was less centralised at its periphery.

Chetan Singh supports this view. He is of the opinion that even in the 17 th century the Mughal Empire was not very centralised.

For him, the centralised structure controlled through the efficient working of the jagirdari system seems to hold little ground.

Accordingtohim,jagirtransferswerenotasfrequent astheyappear,andthe localelementsattheperipherywerequitesuccessfulininfluencingthepolicies at the centre.

Conclusion

The extent to which the Mughal Empire was centralised in practice can be a matter of debate.

However, theoretically the Mughal administrative structure seems to be highly centralised and bureaucratic in nature.

The Emperorwas thefountainhead of allpowers,andbureaucracywasmere 'banda- i dargah' (slaves of the court).

In spite of the vast range of powers enjoyed by the central ministers, they were not allowed to usurp and interfere in each others' jurisdiction nor to assume autocratic powers.

The Mughals through a system of checks and balances prevented any minister or officer from gaining unlimited powers.

Administration under Mughal was constituted on the basis of two principles:

administrative uniformity, and
check and balance.

In central administration, there were four important officers i.e. Diwan-i-Ala, Mir Bakshi, Mir-i-Saman, and Sadr-us-Sudr.

Here the government was conscious about demarcating the powers and responsibilityofdifferentdepartmentsanditwasalsoequallyconscious about having the proper check on the head of the department.

For example, Diwan-i-Ala was responsible for the assessment and collection of revenue and maintained the accounts of income and expenditure.

In order to maintain a check on the department, Akbar appointed an officer of humble origin.

Sometimes he even appointed half adozen Diwans in order to maintain check and balance within the department.

Mir Bakshi used to enjoy all the powers pertaining to the military department.

However, the supreme command of the army remained in the hands of the Emperor.

Further, while Mir Bakshi used to recommend the candidates for the post of Mansabdars, a Mansabdar could be appointed only by the Emperor himself, after an interview.

Mir Bakshi also used to recommend the salary, but the salary was released by the Diwan-i-Ala.

Mir-i-Saman, was responsible for the supply of all the essential commodities to the royal palace. Royal Karkhanas were also under his supervision.

In order to maintain the proper checks over the department, its annual accounts were scrutinised by the department of Diwan.

Lastly, the Sadr-us-Sudr was responsible for religious endowments. This department used to distribute land grants (Waqf) and Wazifa (cash).

Effective checks were maintained by having the accounts scrutinised by the Diwan.

Provincialadministrationwassupposedtobeareplicaofthecentraladministration. The standard provincial administration was introduced for the first time by Akbar.

Subedar/Nazim wasappointed asthe head of administration. Apart fromhim, provincial Diwan, provincial Bakshi and provincial Qazi were associated with the provincial administration.

In order to maintain a proper check and balance even in provincial administration, some steps were taken.

The Subedar was officially the head of administration, but sometimes an officer with higher Mansabdar rank was appointed as Diwan.

Likewise, the provincial Bakshi was given the responsibility of espionage. He was authorised to pass sensitive information directly to the centre, bypassing the Subedar.

At the level of Sarkar, an officer Faujdar, was appointed for the supervision of the whole administration.

Sometimes more than one Faujdar was appointed in the same Sarkar. Agrarian structure under Mughals When we observe rural structure under Mughals, we find a clear cut division and hierarchy among the peasantry.

The higher peasants who owned and cultivated their own land were termed 'Khud Kasht' in North India, 'Mirasdar' in Maharashtra, 'Gharhul' in Rajasthan.

There were also lower peasants who did not have land and they worked as sharecroppers on other's fields. They were termed as 'Pahikast' in north India.

Beneath the Pahikast, there was another level of the peasants who were known as 'Mujarian'.Theywere just marginal farmers asthey were havinga small tract of land.

So, they worked on others' fields as agricultural labour also.

Other than Mujarian there was a large band of agricultural labour who worked as the wage labour in the agricultural field.

Above peasantry, there was a hierarchy of landlords (middle men) who were associated with the collection of revenue.

Under the Delhi Sultanate different names were given to the Zamindars in different regions. For example, Khut and Muqaddam in north India, Satrahavi and Viswi in Awadh and Banth in Rajasthan.

But during the Mughal period they were known by a single name, Zamindar.
According to Sir Jadunath Sarkar, the category of Zamindars were

Primary Zamindars
Secondary Zamindars
Autonomous Zamindars/ Rajas / {Highest Status}

Primary Zamindars, apart from being the collector of revenue, were themselves cultivatorsaswellwhilethesecondary Zamindarsand Rajaswereassociatedonly with collection of revenue.

How did the Mughal state influence rural structure?

The Mughal Empire was in search of more and more resources so, in comparison to other regimes, it tried to penetrate the countryside more actively and efficiently.

Increasing the movement of officers in rural areas, measurement of land, and then determining land revenue accordingly ended the seclusion of villages.

Towards Zamindars, Akbar had a very specific policy.

The autonomous Hindu kings were encouraged to join the Mughal Mansabdari.

On the other hand, his policy towards smaller Zamindars wasdifferent.In fact, his emphasis was to convert more and more Khidmati Zamindars into Kharaj giving Zamindars.

Mughal state encouraged the collection of revenue in cash. It encouraged the production of cash crops in the rural areas. Thus it created further differentiation among the peasantry.

Crafts production was encouraged during this period as there was the expansion of internal and external trade.

Dueto the heavydemand of craft production,merchantseven involved village handicrafts into the production of merchandise goods.

It gave a jolt to the self-sufficient nature of village economy, popularly known as Jajmani System.

Agrarian Economy

Under the Mughal empire, agrarian production was in good condition. India was among selected countries in the world where the larger part of cultivable land was available.

Furthermore, due to a wide range of climatic conditions as well as the availability of the different quality of soil, there was a scope for different crops. Abul Fazl in his Ain- e-Akbari presented a long list of crops.

During the Mughal period, the cash crops of Opium, Indigo, Cotton and Sugarcane were important items. Then in the beginning of the 17 th century, the Portuguese

introduced Tobacco in India. By the end of the 17 th century, itsproduction expanded.

It was in the 17 th century itself that even maize was introduced in India.
Even the production of coffee started in India. Likewise, silk production was an important item in Bengal, Assam, Kashmir, and western India. Bengal was definitely

the main centre of production where the production started from the 15 th century onwards.

By the 18 th century, even some new cash crops like red chilli and potatoes were introduced. Apart from that, several fruits were also introduced e.g. pineapple, cashew nut, papaya.

At that time, for irrigation different methods were in use e.g. Sakia (Persian wheel) was already in use, drawing water from wells i.e. lever system. Furthermore, for

irrigation, even canals were built. The state used to give economic assistance to the peasantry for digging wells.

Furthermore, the state was interested in developing barren land through the resettlement of the peasantry in that region.

Decline of Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire remained unparalleled in its geographical reach, political stature and grandeur during the medieval period. So naturally, its decline attracted a large number of scholars who tried to interpret its decline in their own respective manner.

Someearlierscholarslike Irwinand Jadunath Sarkar triedtoexplainthedeclinein the context of the role of personality i.e. Aurangzeb's orthodox policy and reactions against it.

While some scholars focused on the incompetency of later Mughal rulers, irresponsible and characterless Mughal aristocracy as the factor behind the decline of the Mughal Empire. But in course of time, such views lost their lustre.

From 1950 onwards, the debate about the decline of the Mughal Empire came to hover around institutional factors. Normally the Aligarh School of Historiography had talked in terms of crisis for the decline of the Mughal Empire.

It was in this context, Satish Chandra and Irfan Habib presented the theory of Jagirdari crisis and Agrarian crisis respectively.

Then Professor Noorul Hasan focussed upon zamindars under Mughals.
Even Athar Ali made a study of Jagirdari system under Mughals.

Later in the 1970 s, some scholars like M.N. Pearson, P. Hardy and J.F. Frederick, etc. gave a partial challenge to the view of Aligarh scholars and they started to talk in terms of Mughal involvement in Deccan as the important factor behind the decline.

But even these scholars couldn't modify the view of the crisis and the whole process of decline continued to be discussed in the terms of the crisis itself.

Recently, inthestudyofthedeclineof the Mughal Empire,therehasbeenarise of revisionist historiography. It tried to give a serious challenge to the view of crisis. Rather it started to talk about economic prosperity at the regional level.

For that, a region-centric view was adopted in the study of the decline of the Mughal Empire.

Muzaffar Alam, Chetan Singh, Karen Leonard, Sanjay Subrahmanyan, etc. adopted a new paradigm for the study of decline of the Mughal Empire. Now it has been

emphasised that during the early 18 th century there was the rise of certain prosperous economic regions like Bareilly, Awadh, Bengal, etc.

Two factors contributed to economic prosperity at regional level.

One was the influx of silver due to European trade and
The second was the production of cash crops.

According to this school, different regions always felt the pressure from the Mughal Empire and were compelled to submit a major part of the surplus to the centre.

Consequently, the empire started to collapse and provincial states like Bengal, Awadh, Hyderabad, etc. came into existence.

When we take all the views mentioned above into consideration, we find that it will be too simplistic to rely on any single view.

The Mughal Empire was one of the largest empires to have existed in Indian history. Likewise,ithadtofaceanumberofinternalaswellasexternalchallenges.Therefore, its decline might have been caused by a complex process, not by a single factor.

In some regions, the disruption in Jagirdari and agrarian system might be the cause and in some other regions, the economic prosperity might have encouraged

separation and once theprocess of the dismemberment started, incompetent rulers could have intensified the process by adopting faulty policies.

Simultaneously, foreign invasions also added fuel to the fire.