The history of India is incomplete without the Mughals. The Mughals ruled India for more than 300 years. From Babur, Akbar and Shahjahan to Bahadur Shah Zafar, many Mughal rulers ruled India from the throne of Delhi. But many questions are still missing from the pages of history, why did the Mughals come to India? How did the Mughals establish the Mughal Empire in India? How did foreign powers rule India for so long during the reign of Rajputs and Marathas? After all, what is the real story of Mughal history? Let us understand this in some detail.
Establishment of the Mughal Empire
Friends, if Babar had not come to India, the Mughal Empire would not have been established in India. Grand buildings like Red Fort, Taj Mahal would never have been seen in India. Babar's real name was Zaheerul Mohammad. He was born on 14 February 1483 in Farzana. Farzana today comes under Uzbekistan. Babar is also considered a descendant of Taimur and Genghis Khan. At the age of only 12, Babar started assuming the throne of Farzana. This did not please some of Babar's relatives and uncles and they started conspiring to remove Babar. Babur was evicted from Farzana and Samarakan. Many years later, in the year 1504, Babar conquered the Afghan capital Kabul and established his power. But Babur was not going to be satisfied with just Kabul. He wanted to expand his empire. Babar knew that if he wanted to expand the empire, it would also require wealth and at that time hardly anyone else had more wealth than India. At that time India was called the golden bird of the world. In 1525, Babur started working on a plan to enter India. He turned to India with the aim of enslaving India and ruling here.
Babar's reign
At that time, King Ibrahim Lodi of Lodi dynasty was ruling India. Apart from this, the rule of Rajputana was going on in Rajasthan, while the Vijayanagar umpire was expanding its presence in the South. Ibrahim Lodi was very eccentric. To remove him from the chair, his uncle Alauddin Lodi and Punjab Governor Daulat Khan made a plan and sent an invitation from Kabul to Babar to come to India. It seemed as if Babar was waiting for this opportunity and immediately turned towards India with his army. On 15 December 1525, he crossed the Indus River. Babar had a troop of only 12,000 soldiers. Babur started conquering the Punjab province as soon as he crossed the Indus River. Babar had a powerful army as well as artillery and gunpowder. The Battle of Panipat was the first battle fought on Indian soil in which gun powder was used. Babar was also a skilled army commander. He had a lot of experience in war. Besides, his strategy was also amazing. On the other hand, Ibrahim Lodi had a huge army of 1 lakh soldiers. In which there were foot soldiers, elephants, horses, bullock carts, everything. Babar's courage did not waver even after seeing such a large army. He was considered a very brave warrior. Babar is still known as a great warrior throughout Afghanistan and Uzbekistan including Kabul. His effigies are also installed at many places. The people there are told that Babar had conquered India with a very small army. Panipat is located at a distance of about 60 km from Delhi and is currently a district of Haryana. Babar started challenging Ibrahim Lodi for war. He had already made his strategy. He dug a ditch in the enemy territory, so that Lodi's army could not spread much and Babar's army could get an easy target. Some people of Babar's army said that we should return but Babar flatly refused to go back. He said that since we have come so far, we will not return without conquering Delhi. Babar also used to plan his army very well. Scouts used to stand at the forefront, who used to convey the news of the enemy army to Babar. The bullock carts would be parked in a line behind him. All the bullock carts were tied with leather belts and small gaps were left in them. In those gaps, soldiers used to stand with bows and arrows and cannons were also deployed at small distances in between. The bows and arrows that the soldiers had were also not ordinary. It took a lot of strength just to pull the string. An arrow could travel a distance of 600 meters, which is equivalent to about seven football stadiums. Every five seconds the soldier could fire an arrow and one arrow could create 4000 pounds of force. Babar had a well organized army. On the other hand, Lodi's army also camped in the field. In which there were more than 1 lakh soldiers, but historians called Lodi's army not an army but a fair. Both Babar and Lodi were waiting for the front army to attack first. Babar knew that if he attacked first, his chances of winning would be reduced.
On the night of 19 April 1526, he sends a small contingent of his army to Lodi's camp. As soon as some soldiers reached near Lodi's camp, Lodi's army attacked them. Babar's soldiers returned and some soldiers also died. Lodi became happy with this and started thinking that it was quite easy to defeat Babar's army. But in reality Babar had just thrown the bait to catch fish. On the morning of 21 April 1526, Lodi's army attacked Babar's army. Lodi's army fell into the trenches made by Babur's soldiers. In the time it took them to get out of there, Babar ordered the firing of the cannon. Lodi had deployed 300 elephants at the forefront of the army. He felt that the elephants would soon defeat the army in front but exactly the opposite happened. Due to the sound of cannon mines, the elephants lost their balance and started harming their own army. Many soldiers of his own army were crushed to death by elephants. Besides, his army was also being harmed by artillery. Within a short time, Babar's entire army was seen dominating Lodi. The battle continued for several hours, by evening Lodi was killed and his severed head was presented before Babar. After this war, Babar got a lot of wealth. Historians say that Babar had distributed all the money won among the public and after this, the public was happy and gave him the title of Qalandar.
In 1526, at the age of 43, Babur established the Mughal Sultanate in Delhi after defeating Lodi. Rajputs opposed him. After the battle of Panipat, Babar fought three big battles – Battle of Khanwa, Battle of Chanderi and Battle of Khagra, he won all of them. But he died on 26 December 1530. After his death, Babar was first buried in Agra. But according to his last wish, he was later buried in Kabul, where his tomb named Bagh-e-Babar still remains.
Humayun's reign
After Babar, Humayun was made the emperor of Delhi. Humayun also had three more brothers. They were also handed over different states. Humayun was considered a very calm king and he always took any decision only after careful consideration. But the mind of Humayun's brothers was always busy in conspiracy. The three brothers used to plan together how to get the throne of Delhi from Humayun and many times there was war between the brothers. Humayun also faced fatal attacks many times. In 1539, Humayun had to fight a fierce battle in Chausa and in 1540, Humayun also had to fight in Bilgram. Humayun was defeated in this war and Sher Shah won and due to defeat in the war, Humayun had to flee India to save his life. For some time he lived in disguise in Sindh. Humayun married Hamida Bano and gave birth to Mohammad Jalaluddin Akbar. While staying out of India for about 15 years, Humayun had prepared a huge army. In the year 1555, Humayun again succeeded in conquering Delhi, but in the same year, while climbing the stairs in the library, his foot slipped and he died. After the death of Humayun, the Mughal Empire faltered and King Hemu attacked Delhi. At that time, Akbar was only 12 years old and he could not do anything against King Hemu's army, but the Mughals had a loyal commander. Whose name was Bairam Khan, Bairam Khan prepared an army and gave information about war skills to Akbar.
Akbar's reign
Defeated King Hemu in the second battle of Panipat in 1556. At the age of 13, Akbar ascended the throne of Delhi. Akbar was considered a secular king. As soon as he became king, he started winning the hearts of the people. In 1568 he conquered Chittor, but for this Akbar had to work hard. After conquering Delhi, Akbar wanted to conquer Rajasthan by any means. Because the Rajputs of Rajasthan were considered very brave and Akbar knew that if he conquered Rajasthan then it would not be too difficult to conquer the whole of India. The artisans of Rajasthan had expertise in making weapons. Whereas Akbar's army used weapons made of Damsham steel, which were specially made to pierce the enemy's chest in battle. Akbar also used to dress his elephants with iron armor called Jeera Bakhtar. He was very fond of elephants. If someone had to be sentenced to death, he would have him crushed under the feet of an elephant. Chittor was the strongest kingdom of Rajasthan. Chittor fort was considered an impregnable fort. To reach there, Akbar made a plan. He dug a tunnel through which his soldiers reached the fort. Chittor fort was on a hill. It could not be reached there directly. Chittor's soldiers would spot the enemy from a distance and fire arrows from above. But Akbar was haunted by the ghost of victory and after continuous efforts, he conquered the fort of Chittor on 25 February 1528. After this victory, his empire spread over an area of 25 lakh square kilometers. His army also began using match-lock guns, which were known to strike terror into enemy forces from a distance. Many of Akbar's guns are still adding to the glory of museums.
Akbar was also very fond of architecture. He built a city named Fatehpur Sikri, 250 km away from Delhi and about 40 km away from Agra. He built many gardens and palaces in this city. He wanted to shift his capital here. To ensure that there was no shortage of water in Fatehpur, a dam was built and with the help of engineers, machines were built to deliver water to the fort, that machine was a unique example of engineering at that time. It is said that Akbar himself had prepared the map of the city and he himself had worked for a few days with the laborers to build the city. It took 16 years to settle Fatehpur Sikri but the city soon became deserted. Friends, Akbar was an illiterate Mughal emperor. He abolished the Jizya tax imposed on Hindus. In the year 1605, Akbar dies due to food poisoning.
Jahangir's reign
After Akbar, the command of Delhi came into the hands of Salim. Salim was actually a debauched type of person. Salim also did not like his name and changed his name to Jahangir. Jahangir had a strong hatred for unjust people. He used to give the harshest and cruelest punishment to the criminals. Jahangir had a total of 20 marriages in his lifetime. Manbai was the most famous queen but Jahangir loved Noorjahan the most. It was during the reign of Jahangir that the British came to India and established the East India Company and asked for permission to do business. Jahangir had many children from 20 wives but only one of his sons survived, named Khurram Khan alias Shahjahan. After the death of Jahangir in 1627, Shahjahan became the emperor of Delhi.
Shahjahan's reign
During the reign of Shahjahan, the whole of India including Delhi progressed rapidly. One fourth of the world's goods were being produced in India alone. Delhi became stronger economically. Art and architecture also got a lot of promotion in that period. Many unique examples like Moti Masjid, world famous Taj Mahal, Red Fort of Delhi, Diwan Aam and Diwan Khas were built by Shahjahan himself. Shahjahan also built a peacock throne for himself. In which many precious diamonds were studded, but in 1639, King Nadir Shah of Iran defeated Shahjahan in the war and after this Nadir Shah took back the Peacock Throne with himself. When Shahjahan started growing old, he decided to hand over his kingdom to his sons. Shahjahan handed over the throne of Delhi to his elder son Dara Shikoh. Dara Shikoh respected all religions and was a well-liked king. But as soon as Dara Shikoh became the king, Aurangzeb, the third son of Shahjahan, could not digest it. Aurangzeb waged war against his brother in 1658 and became the king of Delhi.
Aurangzeb's reign
As soon as he became the emperor, Aurangzeb imprisoned his father in Agra Fort and killed his brother. Aurangzeb was so cruel. You can guess this from the fact that after his brother's death, Aurangzeb had slit his throat and taken him to his father. As soon as Aurangzeb became the king, he started torturing Hindus. Temples were demolished at many places, mosques were built and many Hindus were forcibly converted. Massacres were taking place everywhere during his reign. Many Hindu kings including Maratha Marwara Rajputs did not like these things and raised the alarm for war against Aurangzeb. Aurangzeb was injured in the war and remained bedridden for about three months and died in bed in 1707. After the death of Aurangzeb, the Mughal Empire gradually started moving towards darkness.
After this, many Mughal emperors became emperors in Delhi but none of them had what all the Mughals till now had. Bahadur Shah I ruled from 1707 to 1712. After that, there were many kings including Jahandari Shah, Farooq Siyar, Mohammad Shah Rangeela, Alamgir Shahja III, Akbar II. No one ruled for a long time and the kings of Delhi kept changing in a very short period of time. On the other hand, the British were continuously becoming stronger and the rule of the Mughals had come to an end in many states. The last ruler of the Mughals was Bahadur Shah Zafar II. Who died in Myanmar in 1822, but the Mughal Empire had come to an end even before the death of Bahadur Shah Zafar. The year 1857 is considered to be the last period of the Mughal Empire in Delhi.
By Anil Paal
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