Page 90 - SST Class 07

Independent States in

Eighteenth Century 12

q Causes of decline of the Mughal empire q Later Mughals
q New political formations

Introduction Muhammad Shah spelt doom. He plundered India
and took away a large booty from here, including
The Mughals ruled a large part of the territory of
the Kohinoor and the Peacock Throne in 1739.
India during the medieval period. The power of the
These invasions continued which drained the
Mughals declined due to incapable later Mughal wealth and strength of India. Nadir Shah’s
rulers and other reasons. Aurangzeb made many
invasions were succeeded by those of Ahmad
political blunders which led to the disintegration
Shah Abdali. He was defeated by the Mughals, but
and untimely decline of the Mughal empire. After he continued to raid India and occupy some
the death of Aurangzeb in 1707, the Mughal empire
provinces. The Afghan forces defeated the
declined. After his death, many independent
Marathas in the third battle of Panipat in 1761.
political formations began to rise in the eighteenth However, the Afghans could not occupy Lahore
century.
from the Sikhs.
Besides the central Mughal rule, many other
happenings were taking place here which were
shaping the course of history of India. We shall
study these happenings very briefly.

CAUSES OF DECLINE OF THE MUGHAL EMPIRE
The glorious rule of the Mughals witnessed a
downfall due to wrong policies of Aurangzeb. He
Aurangzeb Peacock Throne
prejudiced against the Hindus in many ways. He
Info Bits
destroyed their temples, forced them to convert to Info Bits
Islam, taxed them heavily with Jaziya (or poll tax)
and put severe restrictions on their trade and The Kohinoor is a diamond which is now in the
agriculture. There was no clear law of succession; possession of the British. The Peacock Throne was
so, whenever a ruler died, the war of succession a fine throne, studded with precious gems, on
took place in which many worthy princes were which Jahangir sat in his court.
killed. This trend started after the death of
Jahangir, and this trend strengthened under the LATER MUGHALS
later Mughals, due to which the Mughal empire After Aurangzeb’s death in 1707, a war of
declined. succession began in which his eldest son came to

Invasions from the north-west also proved an throne by the name of Bahadur Shah. He ruled
important cause for the decline of the Mughals. only for four years and was succeeded by
Nadir Shah’s invasion during the rule of Jahandar Shah, who ruled only for one year. He
was followed by Farrukhsiyar and then by
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