Decline of Mughal Empire:

• Mughal rulers did not have a definite law of succession.

  • This led to in-fighting among princes on the death of an emperor.

  • Aurangzeb, with the intention of avoiding such a fight, divided the empire among his three sons but this strategy failed.

  • Fighting broke out between his sons and eventually Prince Muazzam established himself as Emperor. However, he ruled as a weak ruler for a few years, and then his four sons fought for the throne.

  • The victor, Jahandar Shah was murdered within a year.

  • These wars of succession became a permanent tradition, and caused division in the army.

  • They also resulted in waste of resources that should have been spent on defending and developing the Empire.

• With the death of Aurangzeb, the huge Mughal Empire began to shrimping size under inefficient and corrupt rulers.

  • This made empire vulnerable to invasions.

  • Modern day Afghanistan was shared between the Persians and Mughals for long time.

  • Seeing the weak successors of Aurangzeb, the Persian ruler Nadir Shah Durrani invaded and sacked Delhi in 1738-39. The invasion was primarily a looting raid as Nadir Shah took away wealth, gold, jewellery and the famous Peacock Throne.

  • Similarly, the Afghan fighter Ahmed Shah Abdali followed Nadir Shah, and attacked various parts of the empire between 1748 and 1767 that were under the Maratha rule.

  • His attacks, too, were aimed at plundering the Indian wealth like Nadir Shah.

• The British East India Company (EIC) reached India in 1600 AD when the Mughal Empire was nearing its peak.

  • The British had primarily come for trade in India.

  • Initially, their trade benefited Indians, too, but gradually the British began to enjoy monopoly on trade.

  • With time, the money thus earned was used to manufacture more sophisticated weapons.

  • Being the first beneficiary of the Industrial Revolution, they had more advanced weapons and were gifted with superior military skills.

  • With this they had a strong sense of success.

  • The Mughals, on the other hand, did not excel in science and technology.

• Moreover, the inherent disunity among Indians was also exploited by the British.

  • In the 18th century, many provinces had broken away from the central Mughal authority.

  • Gradually, the British were able to keep their own armies and expand their influence over various Indian territories that were previously part of the Mughal Empire.

• Rise of Marathan power also contributed to the Mughal decline.

  • The Maratha Empire was founded by the ferocious Marathan commander Shivaji in the 1670s.

  • They defeated the Mughal army in 1737 outside Delhi. During the first six decades of the 18th century, they were the most powerful and established community in India that was ready to fill in the power vacuum created by the declining Mughal rule.

  • Aurangzeb spent about 25 years in the Deccan desperately trying to eliminate the Marathas.

  • On his return, he found the state treasury almost empty and this added to his difficulties.

• Historians also blame the prejudiced and intolerant policies of Aurangzeb, who adopted strict measures against the non-Muslims.

  • He imposed the tax Jiziya on the non- Muslims that had earlier been abolished by Akbar.

  • He also demolished a number of Hindu temples, and adopted a harsh attitude towards the Sikhs.

  • He banned many activities such as painting, music, drinking, gambling and dance that had been part of the Indian culture and society.

  • He also tried to ban the Hindu custom of Suttee, burning widow alive on the cremation of her husband.

  • In order to meet huge expenses of military campaigns, he imposed heavy taxes that made him more unpopular.

  • As a result, his successors found it quite difficult to rule the empire.

• Weak successors of Aurangzeb fell victim to extravagant and luxurious lifestyles and paid little attention to the defence and consolidation of the empire.

  • They became morally corrupt and comfort-loving, and could not overcome the difficulties faced by various parts of the huge empire.

  • This complacence is the usual result of continued successes of major empires, and the Mughals were no exception to this.

  • Negligence of the weak later Mughals to the state affairs also contributed to the fall of the Mughal Empire.

Defeat of Marathas:

• Marathas emerged as strong rivals to the Mughal rule.

  • They ruled a greater part of India than Mughals from 1674 to 1818.

  • Their victorious journey began in 1737 when they defeated the Mughal army outside Delhi, and soon they were ruling several parts of northern India up to Bengal.

  • By the middle of 18th century they were the most powerful people in India.

  • However, in the absence of a sustainable administrative system, they too, like Mughals, found it difficult to govern such a huge area effectively.

  • The central government gradually began to lose its control over many provinces.

• Maratha families, driven by lust for short term power, started allying themselves with the local rulers instead of remaining loyal to the Peshwa seated in Pune.

  • This weakened their power over state affairs, and they became victims of disunity and disloyalty.

  • Bajirao-II, the son of Raghunathrao was an inefficient Peshwa.

  • He failed in uniting the Maratha Sardars, and internal conflict among the Sardars weakened the power of the Marathas in various parts of their kingdom.

  • Another Peshwa Madhavrao granted semi-autonomy to the strongest of Sardars, and created a confederacy of Maratha states.

  • This policy also backfired, and with time the semi-autonomous Sardars became fully autonomous.

• The Afghan invader Ahmed Shah Abdali defeated Marathas in the third and last battle of Panipat in 1761.

  • Abdali’s army had 41,800 cavalry and 38,000 infantry along with other troops.

  • The Marathan army comprised 55,000 cavalry with only 15,000 infantry.

  • Abdali, a military genius, used his numerically superior army with great tactics, and inflicted defeat on the Marathas.

  • They lost several soldiers and leaders including the Peshwa.

  • This marked an end of the Marathan ambitions.

  • The British intervened in 1775 in Peshwa family succession struggle in Pune.

  • This led to three Anglo-Maratha wars, 1775 to 1818.

  • Finally, by 1818, the British had completely defeated them.