The Mughal Empire

The Mughals descended from Genghis Khan through their mother's side and Timur through their father's. Babur defeated Ibrahim Lodi at Panipat in 1526 and founded the Mughal Empire. His son Humayun was defeated by Sher Khan at Chausa (1539) and Kanauj (1540), fled to Iran and recaptured Delhi in 1555. Akbar became emperor in 1556 at the age of 13 and ruled until 1605, followed by Jahangir, Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb, after whose death in 1707 the empire declined. The Mughals did not follow primogeniture but the custom of coparcenary inheritance, dividing inheritance among all sons, which caused succession wars. Akbar organised the empire into provinces called subas, each governed by a subadar assisted by the diwan, bakhshi and sadr. Nobles served as mansabdars, holding a rank (zat) and a number of cavalrymen (sawar), and were paid through revenue assignments called jagirs. Todar Mal's revenue survey fixed a tax on each crop under the zabt system. Through the Ibadat Khana discussions at Fatehpur Sikri, Akbar developed the idea of sulh-i kul, universal peace, described in the Akbar Nama.

Detailed Worksheet: The Mughal Empire Section A - Definitions (10 marks) 1. What was a mansabdar? What were zat and sawar? (2 marks) 2. What was a jagir? (2 marks) 3. What was the zabt system? Who introduced the revenue survey? (2 marks) 4. Distinguish between primogeniture and coparcenary inheritance. (2 marks) 5. What was sulh-i kul? (2 marks) Section B - Calculations and Applications (15 marks) 6. Arrange the Mughal emperors in order with their reign dates: Shah Jahan, Babur, Aurangzeb, Akbar, Humayun, Jahangir. (3 marks) 7. Akbar was born in October 1542 and became emperor in February 1556. (i) How old was he then, in completed years? (ii) For how many years did he rule, until 1605? (iii) He died in October 1605; how old was he? (3 marks) 8. A mansabdar held a zat rank of 5000 and a sawar rank of 3000. (i) What did the zat rank show? (ii) How many cavalrymen was he expected to maintain? (iii) If each cavalryman needed 2 horses, how many horses did he need? (3 marks) 9. Todar Mal's survey used crop yields and prices from 1570 to 1580. (i) For how many years was data collected? (ii) Why was this data needed? (iii) Name the unit of the revenue system that was surveyed. (3 marks) 10. State the role of each official in a suba: (i) subadar (ii) diwan (iii) bakhshi (iv) sadr (v) faujdar (vi) kotwal. (3 marks) Section C - Diagrams (10 marks) 11. On an outline map of India, mark Agra, Delhi, Fatehpur Sikri, Lahore, Panipat and Chittor, and shade the approximate extent of the empire in 1605. (4 marks) 12. Draw a timeline from 1520 to 1710 marking the reigns of the six great Mughal emperors and the battles of Panipat (1526) and Chausa (1539). (3 marks) 13. Draw a flowchart of Mughal provincial administration from the emperor to the subadar and the officials below. (3 marks) Section D - Analysis and Higher-order Thinking (15 marks) 14. Akbar held discussions in the Ibadat Khana at Fatehpur Sikri with scholars of many religions. (i) Which religions were represented? (ii) What idea emerged from these discussions? (iii) How did it help govern a diverse empire? (iv) Which historian wrote about it? (v) How did later rulers like Jahangir follow it? (5 marks) 15. The Mughals had relations with the Rajputs. (i) How did marriage alliances help? (ii) Which Rajput clan resisted Mughal authority for long? (iii) How were Rajputs honoured after they submitted? (iv) Why was this policy wise? (5 marks) 16. After 1707, the Mughal empire weakened. (i) Why did wars of succession happen? (ii) How did the mansabdari system face problems under Aurangzeb? (iii) What happened to the peasants? (iv) Name two reasons for the decline. (5 marks) Instructions: Time allowed 2 hours. Attempt all sections. Use correct dates and Mughal terms in your answers.