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Aurangzeb (1658 CE-1707 CE) neither Babur nor Humayun had the time to
The sixth ruler of the Mughal Empire restructure it. He modelled his administration on the
was Aurangzeb. He assumed the title pattern of Sher Shah. Akbar reorganised the
of Alamgir (conqueror of the world) government according to the needs of the time. The
Badshah (emperor) and ghazi (holy system he devised had some novel features. The
warrior). functions and responsibilities of the various
departments were carefully laid down so that they did
Under his rule, the Mughal Empire
not encroach on each other. He also, ensured that they
expanded to the entire Indian sub-
continent barring the southernmost Aurangzeb supported and balanced each other. Thus, he devised
a system of checks and balances.
tip of India. However, Aurangzeb’s
reign was also marked by numerous revolts by the All civil and military powers of the state were
Jats, the Satnamis and the Bundelas. These revolts concentrated in the hands of the king. Akbar
were crushed by Aurangzeb. abolished the influence of ulema in the adminis-
tration. The emperor was assisted in the discharge of
Aurangzeb spent around 26 years of his reign trying to
his imperial functions by a number of ministers such as
bring the Deccan under his control. This was the time
Wazir, Diwan, Mir Bakshi, Sadr, etc.
when the Marathas were ascending in the Deccan. So
they came in direct conflict with the Mughals. The Provincial Administration: The empire was divided
Mughals carried on a long campaign against the into Subas (provinces), each governed by a Subadar.
Marathas. The Marathas were first led by Rajaram and The Subas were divided into Sarkars (districts) and the
then by his wife Tarabai. Though the Mughals won sarkars into parganas, each made up of number of
Bijapur and Golconda, the victories came at a heavy villages. At the provincial level, a region was divided
price. His Deccan policy was turning out to be very into jagirs which were held by various military
expensive. So he raised the land revenue from 1/3rd officials.
to 1/2nd of the total produce. He also imposed the Mansabdari system: There existed a large number of
jaziya on non-Muslims in 1679 CE to provide more vassal states in between the provinces or on their
funds to the state. borders, whose rulers acknowledged the suzerainty of
Aurangzeb’s policies also antagonised the Rajputs and the Mughal emperor. Such rulers were enrolled as
turned them hostile towards the Mughal Empire. So, mansabdars. They were permanently represented at
Aurangzeb lost the loyalty of a majority of Mughal the imperial court through their agents under
allies. He even antagonised the peace-loving Sikh obligation to render service to the empire. There was
community when he ordered the execution of Guru no clear-cut demarcation between the civil and
Tegh Bahadur over his refusal to embrace Islam. military functions of the soldiers. They performed
various police as well as military duties. They
His death in 1707 marked virtually the end of the great
defended borders, manned the forts and also fought
Mughals. It was followed by a war of succession
battles. In times of peace, they served as police
among his sons and a gradual weakening of the
personnel and took care of law and order. Some
mughal dynasty.
mansabdars were paid in cash, but mansabdars
Mughal Administration generally received jagirs.
Akbar can be regarded as the real founder of the
Decline of the Mughal Empire
Mughal system of government and administration. It
was essentially different from the traditional Islamic After the death of Aurangzeb, his successors, known
model of rule. While the Islamic state was usually a as the later Mughals, were unable to hold the empire
together. The nobility of the later Mughal emperors
theocratic state, Akbar laid the foundations of a
were not very efficient. The Jats and Sikhs
secular state.
strengthened their position in the meantime. The
Central Administation: Akbar had inherited the
Mughal soldiers in the Deccan were weary and
structure of the Delhi Sultanate government since
mutinied. The Deccan could never be completely
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