Chapter – 9

Kings and Chronicles

In this post, we have given the detailed notes of Class 12 History Chapter 9 (Kings and Chronicles) in English. These notes are useful for the students who are going to appear in class 12 board exams.

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Rulers and Chronicles

• In this lesson, we will mainly learn about the Mughal rule and its history.
• The Mughal rule was established by Babur by defeating the last king of the Delhi Sultanate, Ibrahim Lodi.
• Like the Delhi Sultanate, the Mughal rule was also a Muslim rule and these rulers also ruled India for a long time.

Mughal Rule

Founder (Babur)

• Babur’s ancestors were the rulers of Fergana located in Central Asia.
• Babar’s father’s name was Umar Sheikh Mirza and mother’s name was Qutlug Nigar Khanum.
• Babur’s father-in-law belonged to Timur’s lineage while his mother-in-law belonged to Genghis Khan’s lineage.
• Babur did not like to call himself Mughal.
• He considered himself a Taimur
• The word Mughal was not used anywhere during the entire Mughal rule.
• This rule was given the name Mughal by the British during the 16th century, since then this rule is called Mughal rule.

Establishment of Mughal Rule

• In the early 16th century, Babur moved south from Central Asia and established his rule in Kabul.
• Babur made his way to India in 1526.
• At that time India was ruled by Delhi Sultanate and Ibrahim Lodi of Lodi dynasty was the Sultan of Delhi Sultanate.
• Battle of Panipat took place in 1526 between Babur and Ibrahim Lodi, it is called the First Battle of Panipat.
• First battle of Panipat
  • Babur used ammunition in the first battle of Panipat, due to which he won very comfortably.
  • Ibrahim Lodi was defeated in the war and Babur’s rule was established over the Delhi Sultanate, from where the Mughal Empire started.

Mughal Rulers

Babur (1526-1530)

• Babur ruled India from 1526 to 1530
• He fought the main four battles during this period.

First Battle of Panipat – 1526

• Babur established the Mughal Empire by defeating Ibrahim Lodi in this war.

Khanwa – 1527

• This war took place between Rana Sanga (Rajput ruler) and Babur.
• Rana Sanga bravely faced Babur but Rajput army could not stand in front of Babar’s ammunition.
• Rana Sanga somehow escaped so that he could face Babur again.
• But later some of his own relatives killed him by giving him poison.

Chanderi – 1528

• Rajput power was almost over after the battle of Khanwa.
• In view of this, Babur fought the Chanderi war against the remaining Rajputs, in this war Modini Rai led the Rajputs.
• But Rajput could not win from Babur and in this war also Babur was victorious.

Ghaggar – 1529

• Ibrahim Lodi’s brother Mahmud Lodi occupied Bihar along with the Afghans.
• He was now Babur’s only rival.
• In 1529, Babur crushed the combined army of Bengal and Bihar in battle and won
• After this Babur died due to illness in 1530.

Humayun (1530-1540, 1555-1556)

• Humayun became the next ruler of the Mughal dynasty after Babur.
• Humayun ruled gracefully till 10 years after coming to rule
• But in 1540 Sher Shah Suri defeated Humayun and Humayun had to escape.
• Humayun escaped and fled to Iran
• After the death of Sher Shah Suri, Humayun returned in 1555 and defeated the descendants of Sher Shah Suri and re-established Mughal rule.
• Humayun died after 1 year of this war.

Akbar (1556 to 1605)

• Akbar took over the Mughal rule after Humayun
• Akbar is considered one of the greatest kings of the Mughal Empire.
• During this period the Mughal Empire extended to the Hindu Kush.
• Akbar put an end to all kinds of religious discrimination present in his empire.
• Ease of tax system for farmers
• Tax waived in many difficult situations
• Because of all these works, Akbar emerged as a great emperor and won the hearts of the people through his actions.
• Akbar ruled till 1605, after his death, Jahangir became the next ruler.

Jahangir (1605 to 1627)

• Nur Jahan (Jahangir’s wife) had a deep influence on the rule of Jahangir.

Shah Jahan (1628 to 1658)

Aurangzeb (1658 to 1707)

• after 1707
• After the death of Aurangzeb in 1707, many rulers came but none were as powerful as their ancestors.
• Gradually the Mughal rule started moving towards its decline and one of the main reasons for this was the increasing influence of the British rule.
• The last ruler of Mughal rule was Bahadur Shah Zafar II.

Capitals of the Mughal Empire

• The capitals had a different importance during the Mughal rule, the capitals were always given a special form.
• It showed the glory of the Mughals
• Agra
  • Babur established his capital at Agra after defeating Ibrahim Lodi in 1526.
  • Even during Humayun’s time, the capital remained Agra.
  • Even when Akbar took over the throne, the capital was still Agra.
  • Agra Fort was built by Akbar in this period.
  • Agra Fort was built by Akbar in 1560.
  • Agra Fort is one of the most important buildings of the Mughals

Fatehpur Sikri

• In 1570, Akbar changed the capital from Agra to Fatehpur Sikri.
• Akbar built a white marble mausoleum for Shaikh Salim Chishti next to the Buland Darwaja and Jumma Masjid at Fatehpur Sikri

Lahore

• After this period there was an increase in rebellion and external aggression in the western region of India (present-day Pakistan), due to which Akbar had to go to that area with his army.
• For this reason, Akbar once again changed the capital and made Lahore his new capital.
• Lahore remained the capital till the time of Shah Jahan.

Shahjahanabad (present Delhi)

• In 1648, Shah Jahan built a new city named Shahjahanabad, it was located in present Delhi.
• Many beautiful gardens in Shahjahanabad were built on the basis of Charbagh method.
• During this time the Red Fort located in Delhi was also constructed.
• In this way Shahjahanabad (present Delhi) became the last capital of the Mughals.
• All the Mughal rulers always built big and beautiful buildings in their capitals. This shows that the Mughal rulers considered the capitals as the heart of their rule.

Chronicles (chronicles of history)

• The articles which tell about the history of a region are called chronicles.
• All the chronicles of the Mughal Empire have been found in the form of manuscripts.

Manuscripts

• All those articles which are written by hand are called manuscripts.
• Many chronicles were prepared by the Mughal kings.
• These chronicles were composed by the Mughal kings so that the coming generation could get information about the Mughal rule.
• All these chronicles give important information about the Mughal Empire.
• Main chronicle
  • In Babarna
  • Akbarnama
  • Alamgirnama

Creation of Chronicles

Author

• Some writers were appointed to compose chronicles during the Mughal period.
• These writers were called court writers.
• All these chronicles were composed by these court writers.

Style

• Mughal chronicles were composed keeping the king in the centre, that is, everything written inside the chronicles revolved around the king.
• These used to describe the king and the events related to him.
• Along with this, information about the royal family, aristocracy, war, administrative system and court etc. has also been given.

Writing style (nostalgic style)

• These chronicles were composed in Nastalik style, Akbar liked this style very much.
• The person who wrote in this style was called a calligrapher.
• This style was written in a long flat flowing manner.
• A reed with a 10 mm tip was used for writing, it was called a pen.
• This pen was written by dipping it in ink
• A small incision was made in the middle of its tip so that this pen could easily absorb the ink.

Language

• Babar

  • Babur gave importance to the Turkish language during the early Mughal period.
  • Babur got all his poems and memoirs written in Turkish language.
  • Baburnama was also composed in Turkish language.

• Akbar

  • Akbar made Persian the main language of the court
  • All those who had a good grasp of the Persian language were given high positions in the court.
  • The entire royal family and the main members of the court all used the Persian language.
  • Gradually, Persian became the main language of the state and it was also used in administrative areas.
  • Akbarnama was composed in Persian language only.
  • Akbar also got Baburnama translated into Persian language.
  • The Mughal emperors also ordered the translation of Sanskrit texts such as Mahabharata and Ramayana into Persian language.
  • The Mahabharata was translated into Persian and named as Razmanama (Book of Wars).
  • There were also some Hindu speaking people at that time, when there was a dialogue between these Hindu speaking people and Persian
  • peaking people, both of them adopted each other’s words, which led to the rise of a new language Urdu

• Composition

  • In the Mughal period all chronicles were made by hand.
  • These were manufactured in the royal book mines.
  • This is where these books were kept
  • These chronicles were composed by many people together.
  • paper maker – to prepare the page
  • Koft Gaar – To brighten the page
  • painter – to create pictures
  • book binding
  • It took many years and many people’s effort to prepare a manuscript.
  • But the credit for the creation of this manuscript was given to only a few people.
  • for example
    • Painters and calligraphers got respect and rewards in the society
    • Whereas artisans like paper makers and binders did not get any special respect.

Painting

• Beautiful paintings have been used in all chronicles made during the Mughal period.
• Pictures were used to enhance the beauty of chronicles
• While composing the chronicles, the place where the drawings were to be made, the calligrapher used to leave the spaces there and later the painters made the paintings on those places
• Abul Fazal, the author of Akbarnama, has described painting as a magical art.
• He said that because of painting, inanimate objects come to life and they appear to be alive.

Akbarnama

• Akbarnama was composed by Abul Fazl
• Abul Fazl was an expert in Arabic, Persian, Greek philosophy and Sufism.
• He was an independent thinker and always opposed orthodox Ulama views.
• Impressed by the ideas and knowledge of Abul Fazl, Akbar appointed him as his advisor and entrusted the responsibility of writing the kbarnama.
• Akbarnama was started by Abul Fazl in 1589 and he worked on it for 13 years
• The Akbarnama describes the geographical, administrative, cultural and social features of Akbar’s empire.
• It also gives information about major political events.
• The Akbarnama is divided into three volumes.
  • First Volume (Part)
    • It describes human history from primitive times to the reign of Akbar.
  • Second Volume (Part)
    • This part describes from the beginning of Akbar’s reign till 1601, the 46th year of his rule.
  • Third Volume (Part) – Aina Akbari
    • The third part of the Akbarnama is called Aina-e-Akbari.
    • It is one of the most prominent part of Akbarnama
    • It is also called the soul of Akbarnama.
    • It contains many information about the Mughal Empire during the reign of Akbar.
    • Mainly it describes the agricultural system of that period, fortifications, court scene buildings, battles etc.
    • In this the Mughal Empire is depicted as a mixed culture empire in which each person can practice his religion.
    • It is one of the most important chronicles of the Mughal period.

Badshahnama

• It was composed by Abdul Hameed Lahori
• Abdul Hameed Lahori was a disciple of Abul Fazl.
• Abdul Hamid Lahori was appointed by Shah Jahan to write his history according to the style of Akbarnama
• Badshah Nama is also divided into 3 days
• Each book (Part) describes 10 Lunar Years.

Mughal Manuscripts and British Rule

• The British studied the manuscripts related to Indian history to better understand the history of India
• It was during this period that William Jones founded the Asiatic Society of Bengal in 1784.
• This society edited, published and translated many Indian manuscripts.
• The Akbarnama was translated into English by Henry Beveridge in the early twentieth century.

Religious Status of the Mughal Empire – Sulh-i-Kul

• According to Mughal chronicles, the Mughal Empire was divided into many religious communities like Hindus, Muslims and Jains.
• The emperor in the state was above all these religious organizations.
• He acted as a mediator between these organizations in case of any problem so that justice and peace prevail
• Everyone within the state had the freedom to practice their religions
• Jaziya tax
  • During this period a religious tax called Jaziya was levied on the residents of the state.
  • This tax was levied on the basis of religion; hence it is called religious tax.
  • Under this tax, all non-Muslim people i.e., all those people who are not Muslims had to pay tax to the king, this was called Jizya tax.
  • This tax was levied only on non-Muslim people.
  • Jizya tax was abolished by Akbar in 1564
  • But the Jizya tax was reintroduced by Aurangzeb.

Mughal Court

Important information about the Mughal court is obtained from the chronicles

• King

  • The emperor was at the centre of the Mughal rule, the entire administration was run in his name.
  • Inside the Mughal court, the emperor’s loved ones used to attend, it was the emperor’s advisor, general or policy maker.
  • According to the distance of the seat of any person from the throne of the emperor, the status of that person was determined.
  • That is, the person who used to sit near the emperor was dearer to the emperor and had a higher stature.

The rules for speaking and sitting in the court were fixed

• • No person could leave his place after sitting on the throne of the emperor
  • If anyone violated these rules, he was punished.

Ways of Greeting

• The status of a person was known according to the manner of greeting in the Mughal period.
• At that time there were mainly three types of greetings
  • Prostrate
    • In this, people used to bow down on their knees by touching their heads to the ground.
  • four Taslim
    • It was started by Shah Jahan
    • In this, greeting was done by sitting on the knees and with hands facing in front.
  • Land Bossy
    • According to the method of this greeting, people used to choose the ground by sitting on their knees and bowing down to the person in front.

King’s Day

• The emperor used to start his day with religious worship.
• Jharokha Darshan
  • After this, he used to stand on a small balcony, the balcony was facing east.
  • A crowd of people used to stand under this balcony to have a glimpse of the king.
  • This was called Jharokha Darshan, its practice was started by Akbar.
  • Its main purpose was to reconcile the subjects and to create confidence in their mind.
  • Jharokha Darshan used to last for about 1 hour, after which the king used to go to the Diwan-i general public meeting.
• Diwan-e-Aam (Public Assembly)
  • king’s day
    • Here the problems of the general public were solved after listening to them.
    • All the officers of the state used to present their work-related reports in this meeting.
    • The king used to spend about 2 hours here
• Deewane Khas
  • In Deewane Khas, the king’s favourite and main people used to be
  • Here the king used to discuss confidential issues.
• Festival
  • During the time of festivals, the court was decorated very beautifully during the Mughal rule.
  • was decorated all around
  • There were mainly three festivals celebrated in the Mughal Empire
    • ruler’s birthday
      • On the occasion of the ruler’s birthday, the ruler was weighed with various valuables.
      • After weighing, all these things were donated to the general public.
    • spring arrival
    • Nowroz
• Titles
  • In the Mughal Empire, people were given different titles according to their qualifications.
  • During Babur’s period mainly Iranian and Turkic people were more important.
  • Akbar selected people according to their merit.
  • People of all religions were included in the aristocracy (state bureaucracy) during the time of Akbar.
• Gift
  • Many gifts were given by the emperor during the Mughal rule.
  • Whenever the king was impressed by a person, he praised him by giving him gifts.
  • main gift
  • Jama
    • Jama was a garment for wearing it was gifted by the king
    • It was worn by the king, that is why it was considered a blessing of the king. 
  • Sarappa (head to toe)
    • This gift used to have three parts
    • Jama Turban and Patka
    • Sometimes gem studded jewellery was also gifted by the king.
    • In some special circumstances, the emperor used to give a gem-studded necklace with lotus flowers as a gift.
• Royal Family
  • The Mughal family consisted of the emperor’s wives, concubines, near and distant relatives and slaves.
• Marriage
  • During the Mughal rule, marriage was a good way to build political relations and establish friendship.
  • Polygamy was prevalent mainly in that period, that is why emperors used to have many wives.
  • There used to be mainly three types of wives
• Queen
  • The women coming from the royal family were called Begum, they had a special place in the family.
• Agha
  • Women who did not belong to the royal family were called Aghas, their status was lower than that of Begum.
• Agacha
  • These used to be the concubines of the king, their status was the lowest, they were given monthly allowance and gifts to stay with the king.
• Slave
  • There used to be many slaves and slaves in the Mughal family.
  • He used to be proficient in all kinds of work
  • Their main job was to serve the members of the royal family.

Status of women

• The position of women in the Mughal court was empowered
• chief women of the Mughal family
• Gulbadan Begum
  • She was the daughter of Babur and sister of Humayun.
  • It was known of Turkish and Persian languages.
  • It was he who wrote Humayunnama
• Noorjahan
  • Nur Jahan was the wife of Jahangir
  • It belonged to Iran and
  • Nur Jahan had a deep influence on the rule of Jahangir.
• Jahanara Roshanara
  • Chandni Chowk located in Shahjahanabad (present day Delhi) was designed by Jahanara
  • He designed many important buildings and gardens.
  • Jahanara also carried on trade from Surat port.

Royal Bureaucracy (elite)

• In the Mughal Empire, the ruler depended on the bureaucrats to run his rule.
• All these bureaucrats were called aristocrats
• All these bureaucrats were loyal to the king
• In this, equal recruitment was done from all the sections.
• Rajputs and Indian Muslims were included in the aristocracy for the first time in 1560. The first to join was a Rajput chieftain, Raja Bharmal Kachwaha of Amber.
• Iranians held high positions during Jahangir’s time because their influential queen Nur Jahan was Irani.

Provincial government

• In the provinces too, the functions were divided like the centre
• The head of the provincial administration was the governor or subedar, who was directly responsible to the emperor.
• In this whole system, all the information was kept in writing.
• The main language of administration was Persian i.e., all documents were written in Farsi.
• Many documents were also written in local languages ​​at the village level.

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