From Plassey To Partition And After (Paperback)

chapter one
Transition of the Eighteenth Century

1.1. DECLINE OF THE MUGHAL EMPIRE
Founded by Zahiruddin Babur in 1526 and expanded to its full glory by Emperor Akbar in the second half of the sixteenth century, the Mughal empire began to decline rapidly since the reign of its last great ruler Aurangzeb (1658--1707). Even in the first half of the sev- enteenth century its capital Delhi was considered to be the major power centre in the entire eastern hemisphere; but within fifty years the signs of decline of this mighty empire were unmistakably visible. Some historians ascribe Aurangzeb's divisive policies for this rapid decline-particularly blamed are his religious policies, which alien- ated the Hindus who constituted the majority of the subject popula- tion. His expansionist military campaigns in western India against the two autonomous states of Bijapur and Golconda and against the Marathas are also believed to have sapped the vitality of the empire. But some other historians believe that the roots of Mughal decline lay in institutions and systems intrinsic to Mughal administration, rather than in personalities or specific policies.
There is, however, less dispute about the fact that the process of decline had set in during the time of Aurangzeb and that it could not be arrested by his weak successors. The situation was further wors- ened by recurrent wars of succession. The Mughal army was weak- ened, allegedly because of a lamentable dearth of able commanders; there was no military reform and no new technology. This weaken- ing of the Mughal military power encouraged internal rebellions and invited foreign invasions. The Marathas under Shivaji had time and again challenged Aurangzeb's imperial rule. After his death the Maratha plunders increased-in 1738 they plundered even the sub- urbs of Delhi. This was followed by the Persian invasion under Nadir Shah in 1738-39 and the sack of Delhi, which was a tremen- dous blow to the prestige of the empire. A brief recovery followed and the first Afghan invasion in 1748 was repelled.