Mughal Empire First Phase : Babur and Humayun

2020-04-27 12:26:26

Empire Builder in North India, Turko-Mongol theory of sovereignty.

Babur (1526-1530)

Who Was Babur and Who Were the Mughals?

#todo

Early Life of Babar and Struggle for Samarkand.

There was a tripartite struggle for transoxiana/Samarkand which was captured by Sahbani khan after defeating Babar and late Mongol Khans to fixate his position at Samarkand.
Unable to defeat Shaibani Khan he had to move towards Hindu Kush.
@ Shaibani khan had used the Uzbek technique of Tulghuma/Wheeling tactics against Babar which he used against Ibrahim Khan.
Babar captured Kabul and Ghazni in 1504 it gave him and his begs a breathing space.

Rushbrooke Williams : He could turn eye his eyes west to Samarkand or east to Hindustan

After he captured Kabul. Shahbani khan occupied Herat. Sensing trouble at frontier of Iran. Safavid Shah Ismail marched against him and defeated him at Merv.
Babur forged good relations w/ Safavid Shah. And with the help of Persian army occupied Tranoxiana. But day to day interference by Persian on court made him aloof.
Persian were defeated by Uzbeks later. Babur had to withdraw from Transoxiana and had to turn towards India. This was in 1514.

Invasion of Hindu Kush and Conquest of India.

Babar in his memoir has mentioned that he immediately made a move into Hindustan in 1504 but this was more of a foray to extract levies from Afghan chiefs.

Reasons for the Invasion of India

Babur’s repeated failure to capture Samarkand as mentioned above.
Political Situation in India :
- Sikandar Lodhi had died and the empire was split b/w Ibrahim and his brother Jalal. Ibrahim soon captured Jalal and executed him -> led to rebellion from older Afghan nobles.
- Meanwhile Rana Sanga estd power in Eastern Malwa.
Revival of Power of Uzbeks around Transoxiana
Financial Difficulties :

Abul Fazl : Babur ruled over Badakshan, Kabul and Qandahar that did not yield sufficient income to maintain army
- The revenue realised form exports and import of goods from Kabul was not enough to meet the needs of Babur, his begs and the army

@ Bajaur expedition marked the beginning of Baburs efforts to conquer India. Babur used wholesale massacre against Bajauris who were mostly afghans which as per Rushbrooke Williams was to teach them a lesson.
Babur had invaded India 4 times before Panipat. Bhira in 1519-20, Sialkot in 1520 and Lahore in 1524 and Panipat.
B was invited by Daulat Khan Lodhi a noble to invade India expecting him to withdraw.

Battle of Panipat 20 April 1526

Before Panipat in 1524 Babur started supporting Alam Khan’s claim for Delhi to rival Ibrahim.
Later Alam Khan revoked B support and along w/ Daulat Khan Lodi attacked Delhi but was defeated by Ibrahim.
Babur by then had strengthened his flank by capturing Balkh and Kandahar.
After reaching panipat he fortified his position by digging a ditch at his left and towards his right was Panipat city.
~ On the front he ussed the Rumi (Ottoman) method of joining carts together by ropes and b/w every two carts were breastworks used by matchlockmen to fire.
- He was 1st in India to use artillery, Ottoman gunners Ustad ALi and Mustafa.
- His mounted archers kept Ibrahim engaged while using the Tulghuma/ wheeling/ flanking the position of Ibrahim from sides and rear.
Politically the battle was not decisive since he had to contend w/ powers of Rana Sanga and other Afghans.
But it smashed the power of Lodis, gave him much needed treasures opened up the entire Gangetic valley upto Jaunpur to conquer.

Struggle w/ Rana Sanga of Mewat and other Problems of Babur

Local population was very hostile since the sack of Delhi by Timur was still fresh.
Many inhabitants had deserted towas and villages had taken to robbery.
His begs found India to be a foreign country.
~ His 2 biggest dangers were Rana Sanga and the Eastern Afghans.
! Rana Sanga along with Hasan Khan Mewati and Mahmud Lodi made an alliance against Babur making a Rajput-Afghan alliance.
B gave it a religious color by calling it a Jihad, renounced drinking wine, and after the war allowed Begs to go back to Kabul if they wanted.
$ Ferishta and Badauni talked about the fear among Baburs men of the Rajput army.
& They met at Khanwa on 17th March 1527. Where Babur emerged victorious. #important
At Khanua he used the same tactics as Panipat of Rumi and Tulghuma. RS had not learnt from B’s win at Panipat.

Rushbrooke Williams : Powerful confederacy of Mewar was shattered by a single defeat and ceased to become a dominant factor in politics of Hindustan.
The Afghans under Nusrat Shah coalesced against Babur but were defeated.

Consolidation of Rules and Subjugation of Regional Rulers

B first dealt w/ Afghan iqtadars or commanders of forts, towns on countryside. Followed a policy of force and concilliation by giving them parganas at different places.
Afghans of Eastern UP who have been rebellious even against Ibrahim were tried to be conquered by sending Humayun but he later withdrew against Sanga’s threat.
Bihar and Bengal : Afghan rebels saw these areas as sanctuaries where they could retreat/regroup to resist Mughals. B. defeated these Kingdoms at battle of Ghaghra in 1529.

Significance and Impact of His Advent

Political : Indian became center of Central Asian politics, earlier Afghanistan used to be the base of operations now Delhi became hub of strategic control and foregin policy.
Economic : Strengthened India’s foreign trade and inc IN share in Central Asian Trade.
Introduced use of cannons/artilery and muskets. New methods of fighting, skillful generalship, organisation etc was introduced.
Helped establish the prestige of Crown.

Turko-Mughal Theory of Sovereignty. What Was It? How Did it Originate and Develop?

#todo

Humayun (1530-1540)

Problems Faced by Him during Succession.

Unsettled state of administration and stretched finances.
- H took certain steps to organise the govt and court society. He divided court society into administrative, ecclesiastical and cultural sections.
- A form of grades were given through dividing arrows of different quality and numbers.
- ~ He instituted a drum of justice/ tabl i adl so that people could bring grievances to him.
- Remitted tamgha and other cesses for foreign traders.
Ambitions of begs who wanted to assert themselves. Ex Khalifa Nizamuddin wanted Mehdi Khwaja to become ruler.
Various Timurid princes such as Zaman Mirza who had joined B after being expelled from Uzbek.
@ His brothers such as Kamran’s airs of independence. Kamran soon after B death occupied Lahore. Humayun was more concerned with Eastern Afghans so he confirmed it and also gave him Hisar Firouza as Iqta. This encouraged his other brothers Askari and Hindal.
Eastern Afghans from UP, Bihar, Bengal which culminated into his defeat by Sher Shah in 1535.
Bahadur Shah of Gujarat.

Tussle with Bahadur Shah of Gujarat

H after capturing Kalinjar in Bundelkhand came into conflict with BSoG who had captured Mandu.
H had a brief encounter with Sher Khan where he was defeated and had offered to serve under the emperor. However, BS was a bigger threat.
BS had employed a lot of begs, timurid princes as refugees this had irked H. He had also gained victories against other rulers.
Had employed Ottomons Rumi Khan and Khwaja Safar as master gunners.
Bahadur Shah of Gujarat formed an alliance with with various enemies of Humayun namely Sher Shah, Nusrat Shah, Alauddin Lodi etc.
He also gave shelter to Mughal rebel Muhammad Zaman Mirza.
BS was 1st to start hostilities by Siege of Chitoor. Maharani Karnavati is said to have sent H rakhi to help her.
Humayun invaded Gujarat in 1535 and sacked Mandu but was defeated in Ahmedabad.
Champanir fort was captured and plundered.
Bahadur Shah was murdered in 1537. ^d7140e

Humayun’s Defeat against Sher Shah

After BSoG’s death the Afghans looked to Sher Shah for leadership.
Abul Fazl talks about H worries relating to Sher Khan. Who had captured Gaur in Bengal.
H looked to SS as merely another Afghan chief but SS thought of himself as an independent ruler.
H wanted to capture Bengal due to its vast treasures and to try recreate the Delhi Sultanate. Plan was ill conceived
Sher Shah’s prestige had greatly increased after his victory in Surajgarh over Mahmud Shah of Bengal and earlier in 1532/33 over Nusrat Shah.
SS had captured Banaras, attacked Chuna, Jaunpur and Mughal forces at Kannauj and Sambhal.
@ Humayun was defeated first at Battle of Chausa/Karmansa in June 1539 after Kamran had refused to help with troops and again at Kannauj May 1540.

Why Did Humayun Lose?

hostility of his brothers especially Kamran and Askari Mirza.
Tactically inferior to Sher Shah. Underestimated Afghan Challenge who could unite under a capable leader.
Lacked fiancial resources.
Fractitius Nobles who did not want to serve areas away from Agra/Delhi.

Humayun was sheltered by Raja Maldeo and Rana Birsal before moving to Persia for Shah Tahmasp’s help.
Humayun wrested Qandahar in 1544 and then Kabul w/ Shah’s help. Which gained him the support of many nobles.
Kamran fled Kabul and was captured and blinded after repeated rebellions.
From Kabul he first captured Lahore and then Sirhind occupying Delhi in June 1555.
He died in Jan 26 1556.

PYQs

Mughal Empire, First phase: Babur and Humayun

Write a short essay on: “The empire-builder in North India of the sixteenth century.” [1989, 20m]
Comment on the Turko-Mongol theory of sovereignty. To what extent was it adopted by Babur and Humayun? [2010, 30m]

Divine theory of Kingship,
King paternalist figure, more than leader, absolute power, no religious/ sectarian bigotry, supernatural qualities ex Scourge of god,
Timur religious - Genghis not,
decentralisation of power later, Babur - Mongol descent, hereditary monarchy,
state a family property, not follow division of empire.
Humayun - claim divinity, was centre of world, justice, divided empire