4. The Mugual Empire

4. The Mugual Empire: 

Q1: Match the following:

1. Mansab	(a) Marwar
2. Mongol	(b) Governor
3. Sisodiya Rajput	(c) Uzbeg
4. Rathor Rajput	(d) Mewar
5. Nur Jahan	(e) Babur
6. Subadar	(f) Rank

Answer:
1. Mansab - (f) Rank
2. Mongol - (c) Uzbeg
3. Sisodiya Rajput - (d) Mewar
4. Rathor Rajput - (a) Marwar
5. Nur Jahan - (e) Babur
6. Subadar - (b) governor


Q2: Fill in the blanks.

(a) The capital of Mirza Hakim, Akbar's Half brother, was __________
(b) The five Deccan Sultanates were Berar, Khandesh, Ahmadnagar, ___________ and ___________.
(c) If zat determined a mansabdar’s rank and salary, sawar indicated his ____________ .
(d) Abul Fazl, Akbar’s friend and counsellor, helped him frame the idea of ____________________ so that he could govern a society composed of many religions, cultures and castes.

Answer: (a) Kabul
(b) Bijapur, Golconda
(c) Cavalrymen
(d) Sulh-i-kul (or universal peace)


Q3: What were the central provinces under the control of the Mughals?

Answer: The central provinces under the control of the Mughals were:

• Lahore,
• Panipat,
• Delhi,
  
• Agra,
  
• Mathura,
  
• Amber,
  
• Ajmer,
  
• Fatehpur Sikri,
  
• Chittor,
• Ranthambhor and
  
• Allahabad.
  

Q4: What was the relationship between the mansabdar and the jagir?



Answer: Mansabdars were given rights to collect revenue from the lands (called jagir) allotted to them. The revenues collected were their salaries. Revenue was collected by their servants while Mansabdar had to serve outside their jagirs.

Q5: What was the role of zamindar in Mughal administration?

Answer: Role of zamindar in Mughal administration:

1. Zamindar were intermediaries, whether they were local headmen of the village or powerful cheiftains.
2. On behalf of Mughal administrators, zamindars used to collect taxes from the peasants .
3. Zamindars exercised a great deal of power. The exploitation by Mughal administrators could drive them to rebellion.

Q6: How were the debates with religious scholars important in the formation of Akbar’s ideas on governance?

Answer:

1. The debates gave Akbar the idea about the religion and social customs of different people.
2. These debates made him realise that religious scholars who emphasised ritual and dogma were often bigots.
3. The religious teachings often created divisions and disharmony amongst his subjects.
4. With the help of his counsellor Abul Fazl, Akbar decided to work out new policy of governance. He he proposed the idea of sulh-i kul ''universal peace'' i.e., religious tolerance.

Q7: Why did the Mughals emphasise their Timurid and not their Mughal descent?

Answer: Following were the main reasons why the Mughals did not emphasise their Mongol lineage:

1. Mughals did not like to be called Mughal or Mongol. This was because Mongol ruler Genghis Khan’s memory was associated with the massacre of innumerable people.
2. Uzbegs, another Mongols tribe was a competitor of Mughals.
3. Mughals were proud of their Timurid ancestry because their great ancestor had captured Delhi in 1398..

Q8: How important was the income from land revenue to the stability of the Mughal Empire?

Answer:

1. The main source of income available to Mughal rulers was tax on the produce of the peasantry collected by rulers.
2. Akbar's revenue minister, Todarmal, carried on a careful survey of crops, yields, prices and areas cultivated for ten years.
3. On the basis of their data, tax was fixed on each crop in cash.
4. Each province was divided into revenue circle with its own schedule of revenue rates for individual crops. This revenue system was known as zabt.

Q9: Why was it important for the Mughals to recruit mansabdars from diverse backgrounds and not just Turanis and Iranis?

Answer: Mughal empire expanded to encompass different religion as they recruited Mansabdars from diverse bodies of people from a nucleus Turanis and Iranis nobles. They expanded to include Indians, Muslims, Iranis, Afghanis, Rajputs and Maratahas.


Q10: Like the Mughal Empire, India today is also made up of many social and cultural units. Does this pose a challenge to national integration?

Answer: India today is full of diversity in terms of language, religion, caste and creed. For national integration it is a challenge. India being a secular republic has addressed this challenge by proviading social equality constituionally.


Q11: Peasants were vital for the economy of the Mughal Empire. Do you think that they are as important today? Has the gap in the income between the rich and the poor in India changed a great deal from the period of the Mughals?

Answer: Even today, agriculture is the primary source of income in India. In present context peasant play an important role in the economy of India. As compared to Mughals period, incomes have increased, but the widening gap between the rich and the poor still pose a challenge.


Q12: How was Humayum's relationship with Safavid Iran different from Akbar's?

Answer: Humayun received help from the Safavid Shah to recapture Delhi in 1555. While Akbar, during his expansion campaign, seized Qandahar from Safavids in 1585-1605.


Q13: Did the annexation of Golconda and Bijapur in Aurangzeb's region end hostilities in the Deccan?

Answer: Despite the annexation of Golconda and Bijapur in Aurangzeb's region, it did not end the hostilities in the Deccan. Marathas started gurreilla war against him. Aurangzeb had to personally manage the campaigns in Deccan for a long period of time.


Q14: Who wrote Akbar Nama?

Answer: Abul Fazl. He wrote a three volume history of Akbar’s reign titled, Akbar Nama.

Q15: Define Dogma.

Answer: A statement or an interpretation declared as authoritative with the expectation that it would be followed without statement.


Q16: Who is called Bigot?

Answer: An individual who is intolerant of another person’s religious beliefs or culture is called as bigot.


Q17: What is primogeniture?

Answer: It is a kind of belief followed by many dynasties as a rule of inheriance where the eldest son inherited his father’s estate.