Theme 5: Mughal Empire

9
TEACHER’S RESOURCE 29

Akbar

2. Rana Pratap Singh

KEY TO IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
3. religion
Discuss (Page 91) 4. Din-i-Ilahi
5. Persian
Some hints:
The two systems are very similar because they were D. State whether the following are true or false:
both devised by Raja Todar Mal. Thus, the land tax 1. False 2. True 3. True
was assessed on the basis of fertility and a third of the 4. False 5. True
produce was levied as tax. Measures were in place E. Answer the following questions in one or two
for situations of drought and bad harvests. words/sentences:
Think and Answer (Page 92) 1. As Akbar was only 13 years old when he
ascended the throne, Bairam Khan played
Answers will vary. Some hints:
the role of his regent and looked after the
Students should reason out their answers with affairs of the government on his behalf.
supporting facts drawn from what they have learnt. 2. The Second Battle of Panipat crushed the
Afghan power and removed the threat to
Values and Life Skills (Page 94) Akbar’s throne.
Some hints: 3. Akbar wanted to bring the entire country
The personality and wisdom of a leader is important under his control, so he embarked on a
for the establishment of a strong and powerful policy of conquest and annexation.
secular state. Akbar’s great desire was to unite the 4. Akbar followed a policy of friendship with
diverse races in India into one nation where everyone the Rajputs because he knew that Delhi and
would enjoy equal status. Throughout his reign, he Agra could never be safe until the Rajputs
followed a policy of religious tolerance and won the were subdued. He also knew that the
respect, affection and support of his Hindu subjects, friendship and support of the Rajputs would
in general and the Rajputs, in particular. help strengthen and expand the Mughal
empire.
5. The memory of Rana Pratap Singh is still
KEY TO TEXTBOOK QUESTIONS
honoured in Rajasthan for his bravery and
A. Fill in the blanks: courage and his heroic lifelong struggle to
free Mewar from Mughal control.
1. 1556 ce, Bairam Khan, Hemu
6. The term ‘mansab’ means office or rank
2. Diwani-i-Khas, Diwani-i-Aam
and a mansabdar is a holder of a rank in the
3. 15, districts
administration.
4. Todar Mal’s Bandobast
7. The emperor had the power to appoint and
5. 14, 16
dismiss the mansabdars.
6. Faizi, Raja Birbal
8. Akbar abolished the jizya tax which was
B. Match the following: imposed on non-Muslims.
1. (d); 2. (c); 3. (a); 4. (e); 5. (b) 9. The Mahzar gave Akbar the power to choose
between different interpretations of Islamic
C. Choose the correct answer: law.
1. 13 10. Akbar encouraged the study of secular
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subjects in order to promote religious parts of his territories before his death,
harmony. but not Chittor.
3. To join together all the provinces in the vast
F. Answer the following questions briefly:
Mughal empire into a uniform unit, a strong
1. Akbar ascended the throne in 1556 ce. centralized government was set up. The
The Mughal throne was unstable and emperor was an extremely powerful figure.
insecure, threatened by enemies on all sides. His decisions on all matters—military,
Adil Shah, the nephew of Sher Shah, was political, administrative and judicial—
determined to capture the throne of Delhi were final. His word was law. He was the
and re-establish Afghan rule. The Rajputs commander-in-chief of the armed forces and
had become powerful and were waiting the supreme judge on all matters of justice.
for suitable opportunities to expel the He was assisted by a team of ministers
Mughals from India. Kabul was occupied and officials. The appointment, promotion
by Akbar’s halfbrother who was ruling as and dismissal of all officials, including
an independent king. commanders of the army, was the sole right
2. (a) When Rana Udai Singh refused to of the emperor. The success of this system
submit to Akbar’s offer of friendship, depended largely on the personality of the
the emperor marched against Chittor, emperor and his wisdom to choose the right
the capital city of Mewar. Rana Udai person for the right job.
Singh escaped to the hills, leaving 4. The emperor was assisted by a team of
the defence of Chittor to Jai Mal, the ministers and officials consisting of:
commander of the Rajput forces. For 4 • The wazir or diwan, head of the revenue
months, the Mughal army tried in vain department.
to capture the fort of Chittor. Resistance • The mirbakshi, head of the military
collapsed when Jai Mal was killed. All department and the paymaster of all
the Rajput women performed jauhar. mansabdars.
The heroic Rajputs rushed out in a • The chief sadr or qazi, the chief judge.
desperate bid to destroy the enemy. • The mirsaman, the supervisor of the
They perished fighting. royal household.
(b) The Rajputs of Mewar refused to • The vakil or prime minister who did not
submit to Akbar. Having lost Chittor, exercise any effective authority. Akbar
their capital city, they rallied around had reduced the vakil’s position to that
Rana Pratap, the valiant son of Udai of an advisory, ceremonial head.
Singh. After his escape to the hills, Udai 5. Five main features of the mansabdari system
Singh had built a new capital called were:
Udaipur. After Udai Singh’s death, • Every official in the imperial service
Rana Pratap carried on the struggle was given a rank or a mansab. The rank
against the Mughals. With a great deal depended on the nature and importance
of difficulty, Rana Pratap organized of the job. The lowest rank was that of
an army and clashed with the Mughal an officer in charge of ten horsemen,
forces in the Battle of Haldighati in while the highest mansab was that of
1576 ce. The Mughal forces were led an officer maintaining 7,000 horsemen.
by the Rajput chief, Raja Man Singh of The higher mansabs were reserved for
Amber. The Rajputs were outnumbered the members of the royal family.
and defeated by the Mughal army. • The mansabdars were appointed,
Rana Pratap took shelter in a mountain promoted or dismissed by the emperor.
fortress and continued his efforts to • They were given a salary in accordance
recover Chittor. He was able to recover with their rank. Later, they began to be
 TEACHER’S RESOURCE 31

paid in the form of jagirs. They were • If the crops failed due to drought or
entitled to a fixed amount of revenue flood, the state granted remission of
from the jagir as salary for themselves revenue.
and their troops. 8. Akbar adopted certain policies to transform
• A mansab or rank was not hereditary. the Islamic Mughal state into a secular one:
After the death of the mansabdar, the • Akbar abolished the jizya (poll) tax and
jagir reverted to the king, who granted the pilgrim tax. The jizya tax had been
it to someone else. imposed by earlier Muslim rulers on all
• The mansabdars did not have non-Muslim subjects only. It was greatly
any authority or responsibility of resented by the Hindus. The pilgrim tax
administering the jagir. had been imposed by earlier rulers on
6. Akbar maintained a standing army. The Hindus visiting places of pilgrimage.
cavalry was the most important branch of • Hindus were allowed to build temples,
the Mughal army. The mansabdars supplied celebrate festivals and worship freely.
the troops. The emperor also directly Akbar allowed his Rajput wives to
recruited and maintained a battalion of celebrate festivals such as Holi and
loyal and trusted soldiers. He maintained a Diwali and himself took part in the
corps of royal bodyguards and armed palace celebrations.
guards, a large number of war elephants • He gave high posts to talented and
and a wellorganized artillery. The system competent Hindus like Todar Mal,
of branding horses and maintaining a Birbal and Raja Bhagwan Das. Birbal
descriptive roll of the soldiers was adopted was his constant companion and trusted
by Akbar. friend.
7. The main features of Todar Mal’s Bandobast • He married Rajput princesses and
were: allowed them freedom of worship.
• Land was surveyed and measured with • He gave land grants to people of all
a bamboo jarib joined together with iron religions.
rings instead of the hemp rope used 9. In 1582 ce, Akbar formed a new religious
earlier. order called the Din-i-Ilahi or divine faith.
• The land was grouped into four It was a combination of the religious ideas
categories depending on whether it was of major religions. The objective was to
regularly or occasionally cultivated. establish a religious order which would be
It was classified further into good, acceptable to the Hindus, Muslims and other
middling and bad categories. communities, and to promote universal
• The average produce and the average brotherhood and national unity. The main
price over the past 10 years were features of this religion were belief in one
calculated. The revenue was calculated God and recognition of the emperor as God’s
on the basis of these averages. One third representative on earth. The Din-i-Ilahi was
of the average produce was the king’s more like a code of moral conduct. There
share. It could be paid in cash or kind, were no sacred books, no priestly classes,
though cash was preferred. no places of worship and no rituals.
• The revenue officers were instructed to 10. Akbar was impressed by the patriotism and
treat the peasants well. chivalry of the Rajputs. He realized that the
• Loans which could be paid back in support of the Rajputs was necessary to
easy instalments were advanced to build and maintain a large and stable empire.
the peasants to buy seeds, cattle and • Akbar treated the Rajputs with honour
implements. and equality and won their respect and
loyalty.
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• He strengthened his ties with the Mughal court. Raja Birbal was made
Rajputs through matrimonial alliances. the Hindi Kavi Raj or poet laureate in
He married the daughter of the Raja of Akbar’s court. The Ramacharitamanas
Amber. She was the mother of Jahangir, was written by Tulsidas, the greatest
Akbar ’s successor to the Mughal Hindi author in those times.
throne. He married several other Rajput (b) During Akbar’s long and peaceful reign,
princesses. He also married Prince many buildings were constructed.
Salim to the daughter of Raja Bhagwan Initially, the style of architecture was
Das. Persian, for instance, Humayun’s Tomb.
• He won their friendship, loyalty However, with the passage of time,
and cooperation by appointing Akbar’s architectural style became more
them to important posts of trust and and more Indian. Inspired by palaces
responsibility. Raja Man Singh was of Hindu rajas, Akbar’s later buildings
made a military commander and the reflect Rajput traditions. Fatehpur
viceroy of a large province. Sikri, Akbar’s new capital city, contains
• The jizya and pilgrim tax were abolished. many interesting Rajput-style buildings
• Akbar did not annex the kingdoms of made of sandstone. It is referred to as
the Rajput rulers after defeating them in a dream in stone. Among the many
war. They were allowed to retain their fine buildings are the Diwan-i-Khas,
kingdoms if they recognized Akbar as Panch Mahal, Jodha Bai’s Palace and
their overlord and paid him regular the Buland Darwaza. They had square
tribute. As a result of these measures, pillars, balconies and delicate stone
Akbar won the loyalty and support of screens through which the ladies of the
the Rajputs, who formed the backbone harem could see but could not be seen.
of a strong and stable empire. The famous Agra Fort was built in red
11. Two important social reforms introduced by sandstone.
Akbar were:
G. Picture study:
• He prohibited sati (but excluded cases
where sati was performed voluntarily 1. The emperor in the picture is Akbar.
or with the consent of the widow) and 2. Muslim clerics, Hindu scholars, Buddhist
legalized the remarriage of widows. and Jain monks, Parsi priests, Christian
• He discouraged child marriage. The missionaries, etc. assembled in the Ibadat
minimum age of marriage was raised Khana and explained the principles and
to 14 years for girls and 16 years for teachings of their respective religions.
boys. The consent of the bride and the 3. Akbar organized the assemblies to discuss
bridegroom had to be taken before a religious matters.
marriage was performed.
12. (a) Persian was the court language and KEY TO DO AND LEARN
the language of the upper classes.
Persian literature was encouraged by Use your imagination:
the Mughals. Faizi, the brother of Abul
Answers will vary. Some hints:
Fazl, was Akbar’s poet laureate and one
• It was a very interesting experience to witness
of the greatest Persian poets of Mughal
last night’s discussion in the Ibadat Khana. I am
times. bul Fazl was Akbar ’s court
honoured that the emperor included me in the
historian. He wrote the Akbarnama,
session.
which is an excellent historical work,
• Last night’s discussion was about the common
in Persian. Hindi was also used in the
features of different religions.
 TEACHER’S RESOURCE 33

• The emperor started the discussion by talking • Both their reforms were targeted towards
about how all religions teach us to live a good life every aspect of the economy such as trade,
and do our duty. irrigation etc.
• He invited the views of the religious leaders. • Both personally inspected their work and its
• One by one, they put forth the features of their progress.
faiths. • Akbar could have been inspired by Sher
• We came to realize that religions do have a lot in Shah’s issue of coin called the rupia. Thus, on
common. similar lines, he issued the gold coin called
• I was impressed by the emperor’s open mohur.
mindedness and how he respectfully allowed 4. The recipes and their origins can be researched
everyone to voice their opinions freely. online or in a library. Students can also visit
a bookstore and see books on various biryani
Project work: recipes and their history. Ask the students to
Some hints: present their findings and explain them through
1. Conduct this story reading session in one period. a presentation.
Divide the students in groups of four and allot 5. The material for this can be looked up online or
them a story each. The stories can be looked up in the library.
online or from the Amar Chitra Katha. 6. Students can take help from their art teacher for
2. Students can do this presentation in two this.
7. Organize a fashion show/parade. Divide the
parts—war and peace. The section on war can
students into two groups- one group can show
use maps to show the kingdoms that came into
the contemporary styles and the second group
conflict with Akbar and the ones he conquered.
can do the present-day fashion trends that are
It can have some slides on famous Rajput rulers
inspired by Mughal styles. Ask one group to
who clashed with Akbar, such as Maharana
arrange for makeup and hairstyling.
Pratap Singh. The section on peace can show
the kingdoms and rulers who became allies of
Akbar. It can show pictures of structures built KEY TO WORKSHEET IN OXFORD
by Akbar which have a clear Rajput influence EDUCATE
and miniature paintings where Rajput nobles
are present. 1. (c), 2. (d), 3. (e), 4. (a), 5. (b)
3. Ask the students to make the table according to
their analysis of the economic reforms of Akbar
and Sher Shah. Some hints:
• Akbar and Sher Shah’s economic reforms
were aimed at the welfare of the people.