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This is no ordinary man. He is the Emperor of India! The last drop of that bloodline which once ruled the wealthiest empire in the world!
Explore the rise and fall of the Mughal Empire, from Babur's conquest to its decline under British rule, in this detailed 40-minute history.
Key Takeaways
- Babur’s conquest of India was driven by survival, not desire, and was aided by superior military technology.
- Internal strife and lack of meritocracy weakened the Mughal state from within.
- The Mughal Empire’s decline was accelerated by external invasions and the rise of regional powers like the Marathas.
- Despite political collapse, the Mughal cultural and civilizational influence persists in modern India.
- The British exploited existing divisions and weaknesses to establish control over India.
What the video covers
- The video narrates the story of the Mughal Empire, focusing on its founder Babur, a refugee with the bloodline of Timur and Genghis Khan.
- Babur's military genius and use of gunpowder technology helped him conquer India despite being outnumbered.
- The empire's early struggles, including Babur's ambivalence toward India and his battles against Ibrahim Lodi and Rana Sanga, are highlighted.
- Humayun, Babur’s son, faced defeats and exile but laid the foundation for the empire’s future.
- The rise of Akbar the Great is introduced as a turning point in Mughal history.
- The video discusses the internal flaws of the Mughal monarchy, including distrust, infighting, and corruption among nobles.
- It covers the decline of the empire due to military defeats, loss of discipline, and opportunistic invasions by figures like Nadir Shah and Ahmad Shah Abdali.
- The impact of the Marathas and the British East India Company on the weakening of Mughal power is explored.
- The video questions whether the decline was due to external enemies or internal decay and highlights the lasting cultural legacy of the Mughals.
- It ends by reflecting on the ideological failures and structural weaknesses that led to the empire’s fall.
Chapters
- 00:00Introduction: The Last Mughal Emperor and the Empire's Legacy
- 01:25Babur: The Refugee Founder of the Mughal Empire
- 02:47Babur's Military Campaigns and Conquest of India
- 05:10Humayun's Reign and Challenges
- 07:32The Rise of Akbar and Mughal Consolidation
- 18:52Internal Flaws and Decline of the Mughal Empire
- 22:57External Threats: Invasions and Maratha Resistance
- 26:18The Fall of the Mughals and British Ascendancy
- 37:58Legacy and Cultural Impact of the Mughal Empire
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
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He, before whom the British would bow their heads... and beg for permission! But today, this last scion of that dynasty...
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He, before whom the British would bow their heads and beg for permission! But today, this last scion of that dynasty...
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Homeless, in ruins... but why? Why did the Mughals have to face such humiliation and helplessness?
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is begging for his life before those very Britishers! This is the last Mughal Emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar!
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Today on Dareecha, we will tell... the story of the rise and fall of the Mughal Empire!
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Homeless, in ruins... but why? Why did the Mughals have to face such humiliation and helplessness?
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and it will be harsh! The story of the Mughal Empire does not begin with a great victory...
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Was this a British conspiracy? The betrayal of their own... or something else? Were the Mughals defeated by external enemies, or was there something inside that hollowed them out?
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History calls him the founder of the Mughal Empire, but the truth is, he was just a refugee... that’s it!
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Today on Dareecha, we will tell the story of the rise and fall of the Mughal Empire!
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But it was not his destiny to own even a piece of land... but why?
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Today, their achievements will be praised, but hold onto your hearts, because there will be criticism too...
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his obsession was Samarkand, the city of his great-grandfather Timur! He conquered Samarkand three times. yes! Three times, and three times he had to leave the city...
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and it will be harsh! The story of the Mughal Empire does not begin with a great victory...
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with only a few loyal men by his side, that’s all! Babur had an interesting habit, he wrote a diary...
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or a celebration, but with the tears of a defeated prince whose name was Babur!
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so in despair, he took the path to the South. He was a genius in military terms...
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History calls him the founder of the Mughal Empire, but the truth is, he was just a refugee. That’s it!
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He did not take this journey out of desire, consider it Babur’s compulsion... this was his Plan B, because he needed a country to survive!
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In his veins ran the blood of two great conquerors: Timur from his father’s side and Genghis Khan from his mother’s!
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So Babur moved forward, kept moving... until in April 1526, he stood on the field of Panipat near Delhi!
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But it was not his destiny to own even a piece of land. But why?
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It is said that Babur had only 12,000 soldiers... and in front of him was an army twice, perhaps three times the size!
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Babur conquered India, so why do we say this? Because the truth is, Babur’s destination was never Delhi.
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consider them the tanks of that era, against which not just Babur, but great cavalrymen could not stand!
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His obsession was Samarkand, the city of his great-grandfather Timur! He conquered Samarkand three times. Yes! Three times, and three times he had to leave the city...
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and had brought their technology with him! The Baburi army had cannons and matchlocks... this was his secret weapon!
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sometimes defeated by the Uzbeks, sometimes due to other reasons! And then came the time when he was hiding in the mountains of Central Asia...
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For the first time in India, a sound echoed, that had never been heard before!
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with only a few loyal men by his side. That’s all! Babur had an interesting habit: he wrote a diary...
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the beasts that came to crush Babur’s army... turned back and trampled their own troops in panic!
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which later came before the world as Tuzk-e-Baburi! In this book, he wrote: "I am wandering from one place to another... like a ball!" The doors of the North had closed on him...
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The man who failed in his homeland, the serial loser Babur... succeeded in a new country...
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so in despair, he took the path to the South. He was a genius in military terms...
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Actually, "Mughal" is the Persian word for Mongol... In India, they were called Mughals... because every Turkic-speaking military elite coming from Central Asia was called a Mughal!
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so he conquered Kabul and established a small state! And from there, he turned towards India...
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so Babur must have found peace? Absolutely not! This is the strange contradiction of his story; Babur did not like India at all!
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He did not take this journey out of desire. Consider it Babur’s compulsion. This was his Plan B, because he needed a country to survive!
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But whether he liked it or not, Babur did not go back... Now Delhi was Babur’s, Agra was Babur’s, places that might be easy to conquer, but very difficult to hold!
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Anyway, a person can survive anywhere and in any condition. But the minds of the ambitious are wired differently!
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Perhaps because during the Delhi Sultanate era,... it wasn't possible for him to do it himself to attack Delhi!
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So Babur moved forward, kept moving... until in April 1526, he stood on the field of Panipat near Delhi!
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Perhaps thinking this, Rana Sanga invited Babur to attack Lodi... but when the occupation happened, he stood up as the biggest opponent!
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Yes! Babur had arrived at the gates of India, and here he faced the Sultan of Delhi, Ibrahim Lodi!
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Babur was so nervous that he swore off alcohol... he even vowed that if he won, he would abolish taxes for every Muslim!
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It is said that Babur had only 12,000 soldiers, and in front of him was an army twice, perhaps three times the size!
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But now, a repentant Babur came forward... In the Battle of Khanwa, he faced Rana Sanga, and what a fight it was!
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In fact, in Tuzk-e-Baburi, Babur writes that Ibrahim’s army was 100,000 strong! Even if not, he certainly had war elephants...
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But even after doing all this, he could not rule Delhi for long! Just three years after this great victory, in December 1530, he died, at the age of only 47!
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consider them the tanks of that era, against which not just Babur, but great cavalrymen could not stand!
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Babur’s son was completely different from him! Consider that he wasn't made for kingship... a very noble, soft-hearted, and slightly superstitious man!
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But Babur had something India had never seen before: a game-changer technology, gunpowder! Babur was very impressed by the Ottomans...
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Perhaps that is why he couldn't manage the empire... because he faced the most intelligent man in India...
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and had brought their technology with him! The Baburi army had cannons and matchlocks. This was his secret weapon!
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In the battles of Chausa and Kannauj, Humayun’s army was defeated so badly... that he barely escaped with his life!
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When, after days of waiting, the battle finally began, and Lodi’s elephants advanced, Babur gave a signal...
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This was a very shameful chapter in Mughal history! Their king was running, in the heat of Rajasthan, in the deserts of Sindh...
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For the first time in India, a sound echoed that had never been heard before!
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because no one wanted to see him! This was the reality of that time... prove yourself on the battlefield...
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The thunder of cannons, as if the trumpet of doom had been blown! The explosions and smoke drove the elephants mad...
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at a place called Umerkot, a son was born to Humayun! He was named, Akbar!
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the beasts that came to crush Babur’s army turned back and trampled their own troops in panic!
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Who knew that this child would become India’s greatest king... called Akbar the Great! Anyway, that time would come when it would come...
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Lodi’s army turned into piles of corpses within hours or fled the field! In just half a day, the fate of India was decided!
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where the Safavid Empire ruled! Safavid King Tahmasp gave Humayun refuge... but it is said he exacted a heavy price!
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The man who failed in his homeland, the serial loser Babur, succeeded in a new country...
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we will tell you about the Safavid Empire in a separate video! So, whether Humayun changed his sect or not, we cannot say...
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he had laid the foundation of a great empire, the Mughal Empire! But an interesting fact: they never called themselves Mughals!
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and took back Kandahar and Kabul! Then he tried to take Delhi, but it took him 15 years...
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Actually, "Mughal" is the Persian word for Mongol. In India, they were called Mughals because every Turkic-speaking military elite coming from Central Asia was called a Mughal!
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Whatever it was, after a long gap, the Mughal Empire came alive again! But look at destiny, after so much hard work and effort...
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The truth is, the Mughals never called themselves Mughals. They called themselves Timurids! So after this great victory, the Mughal, or Timurid Empire was formed...
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One evening, he fell in his library... and received such a head injury that he passed away within three days!
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so Babur must have found peace? Absolutely not! This is the strange contradiction of his story: Babur did not like India at all!
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The Mughal Empire was reborn... but before it could strengthen, it became an orphan once again!
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He didn’t like the people here, nor the horses, nor the fruit, nor the food, nor the weather, nothing!
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and became the King of India under the name Hemchandra Vikramaditya! Mughal armies were now scattered, fleeing!
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But whether he liked it or not, Babur did not go back. Now Delhi was Babur’s, Agra was Babur’s, places that might be easy to conquer, but very difficult to hold!
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Khan-e-Khanan Bairam Khan! The Mughal military commander and the guardian of 13-year-old Akbar! He took the prince, and came to the field of Panipat with the entire army!
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In March 1527, the Rajput King Rana Sanga reached Delhi, the same Rana Sanga who had once invited Babur to attack Ibrahim Lodi!
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There, in November 1556, it was to be decided... if the Mughals would remain or not?
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Perhaps because during the Delhi Sultanate era, it wasn't possible for him to do it himself to attack Delhi!
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What happened was that Hemu’s army was wreaking havoc, close to victory... Mughal feet were about to crumble, when suddenly an arrow came straight and hit Hemu’s eye!
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But these new Mughals, whose hearts weren't even in staying here, seemed easy to defeat!
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Victory turned into defeat! And thus Akbar, whom no one even knew yesterday... was now the Emperor of India!
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Perhaps thinking this, Rana Sanga invited Babur to attack Lodi, but when the occupation happened, he stood up as the biggest opponent!
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he had to become Indian! Then Akbar changed the policy, he put the sword in the sheath and took out the dagger of politics!
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His Rajput Confederation gathered an army of 100,000. It included both Hindus and Muslims. It was an army that struck terror!
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With this one move, the modd of India changed... the warriors here became the greatest protectors of the Mughals!
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Babur was so nervous that he swore off alcohol. He even vowed that if he won, he would abolish taxes for every Muslim!
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Okay, if it had stopped here, it would have been enough... but the intoxication of power is such that no drug in the world can match it!
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Yes! This was the same Babur who used to say: “Babar ba aish kosh ke alam dobara neest!” Oh Babur, enjoy these moments, for there is no second life!
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my power would be secure forever! He did not know how to read or write...
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But now, a repentant Babur came forward. In the Battle of Khanwa, he faced Rana Sanga, and what a fight it was!
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but due to the actions of court clerics, doubts arose in his mind! The court clerics could have handled him...
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Here too, Babur’s artillery became the decisive factor! Babur won again. By eliminating the two biggest claimants to the throne of Delhi, he proved that Delhi was now only his!
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called Din-e-Ilahi! A cocktail, which included Islam, Hinduism, Christianity,... and Buddhism, all of them! Did Akbar really invent a new religion?
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But even after doing all this, he could not rule Delhi for long! Just three years after this great victory, in December 1530, he died at the age of only 47!
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but this was his policy, whether named or not... eventually, it was indeed a new religion!
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After him, Babur’s favorite son Humayun became king. Just as the offspring of a tyrant like Timur were very different...
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but the truth is, it proved to be a major blow to Islam and Muslims!
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Babur’s son was completely different from him! Consider that he wasn't made for kingship. A very noble, soft-hearted, and slightly superstitious man!
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And people follow the religion of their rulers... when the religion of the elite becomes like this, imagine the state of those below?
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He was more interested in the movement of stars than in politics! And to grip India, it was necessary for your mind to work in a military manner!
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Because of Akbar’s policy, the era of wars had passed... now was the era of art, and yes! Of justice too!
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Perhaps that is why he couldn't manage the empire, because he faced the most intelligent man in India...
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Any petitioner, day or night, could pull this chain... and ask the King directly for justice!
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Sher Khan, alias Sher Shah Suri! An Afghan leader who kicked the Mughals out of India!
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Whether justice was served or not, we cannot say... but given the peace of that era, it seems the chain was doing its job!
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In the battles of Chausa and Kannauj, Humayun’s army was defeated so badly that he barely escaped with his life!
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but later it dug the grave of the Mughals! It was 1615, when a white man appeared in Jahangir’s court,...
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The empire was finished, not for one or two years, but for 15 years! That’s as long as three terms of a democratic government today!
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A king like Jahangir, whose very name meant "Conqueror of the World"... what threat would he feel from a small merchant?
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This was a very shameful chapter in Mughal history! Their king was running, in the heat of Rajasthan, in the deserts of Sindh...
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that would eat up all of India! He was not signing a trade agreement... but the death certificate of the coming generations!
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he had no army, no throne, and no government! He couldn't go to Kabul, nor anywhere else...
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Anyway, after Jahangir came, Shah Jahan... and the Mughals reached their peak... consider this the Golden Age of India!
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because no one wanted to see him! This was the reality of that time. Prove yourself on the battlefield...
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With this wealth, Shah Jahan did things... that amaze the world to this day! He built the Taj Mahal...
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otherwise, even your brother is not yours! So in this running around, in the desert of Sindh...
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Then the Red Fort, Jama Masjid, Shalimar Gardens! Then he built the Peacock Throne... the world’s most precious diamonds were in his treasury...
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at a place called Umerkot, a son was born to Humayun! He was named Akbar!
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When Shah Jahan grew old after ruling for 30 years... his own sons made his life a living hell!
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Yes! Akbar was not born in a palace. He was born in wandering, in exile, in anonymity!
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while the most capable was Aurangzeb! Shah Shuja and Murad Bakhsh were there too... and while the father was still alive, these sons fought amongst themselves!
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Who knew that this child would become India’s greatest king, called Akbar the Great! Anyway, that time would come when it would come...
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He imprisoned his father, Shah Jahan, in the Agra Fort... where he spent the last 8 years of his life!
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right now Humayun was fighting for his life! He had only one hope, the neighboring country Iran!
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the father who did not stop his sons from fighting... eventually became the target of their fight himself!
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Where the Safavid Empire ruled! Safavid King Tahmasp gave Humayun refuge, but it is said he exacted a heavy price!
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The last great Mughal Emperor, Aurangzeb Alamgir! Who took the empire to such heights... from where only one path remained: the path of decline!
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He asked him to change his sect! But why? Because the Safavid government was like that...
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Yes! Aurangzeb Alamgir! History's most misunderstood king! A king who has been dead for more than 300 years...
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we will tell you about
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But why? Is this a narrative spread by the British... or propaganda by Hindutva followers?
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Let's find the truth: First of all, if Aurangzeb was such a Hindu-hater,... why was the number of Hindu generals in his army higher than even Akbar?
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During Aurangzeb’s time, about 33 percent of the Mughal administration was Hindu... the highest in all of Mughal history!
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Another point, it is said he broke temples... Yes! He broke them, but which ones?
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Only those where plans for rebellion against him were being made... where conspiracies were born!
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This was the same Aurangzeb, who built dozens of temples and Gurdwaras too... gifted them official estates and lands, and the decrees issued for this, exist to this day!
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The truth is, Aurangzeb was not the enemy of any religion... he was the enemy of the state's enemy!
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Whether it was his own brother, or a Raja, or a religious leader! Before the writ of the state, no one mattered!
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And personally, what was Aurangzeb like? Shah Jahan was the builder of the Taj Mahal...
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but Aurangzeb did not believe in such luxury! If he built anything, it was mostly mosques, the most important and prominent being Lahore’s Badshahi Mosque!
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Personally too, Aurangzeb was different from all other Mughal kings! For whose ancestors wine and women were common...
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in their lineage came a dervish and simple man like Aurangzeb! Even before dying, he willed that no tomb be built over his grave...
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it should remain raw earth! He is the only one among the major Mughal kings who has no mausoleum, no shrine!
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Then he was the one who compiled Islamic laws for the rule of law, called Fatawa-e-Alamgiri!
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Many people won't like many things about him... there are people who don't even like Akbar...
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flaws exist in every king! Monarchy itself is the biggest evil... so what further good? And what evil?
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So under Aurangzeb, the Mughal Empire reached its peak... consider this the largest India in modern history!
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Almost all of India was at his feet... it had truly become a superpower! Militarily, no power in India could match the Mughals...
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but economically outside the country, no one could rival it... more than one-fourth of the world's economy belonged to Mughal India!
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But, this is the point where this great king made a great mistake! Aurangzeb expanded the empire so much, made it so big...
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that managing it became not just difficult, but impossible! In today’s language, this is called Strategic Overstretch!
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Aurangzeb spent the last 26 years of his life,... yes, 26 years!, fighting wars in South India!
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He stayed away from the capital Delhi, away from Agra! He gave so much time to his obsession that...
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the time to save the empire ran out! The result? Administration in the North weakened!
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Due to the absence of a strong king, corruption increased! Feudal lords became powerful! And most importantly, continuous wars were draining the Mughal treasury!
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The Golden Sparrow was now panting! The Marathas under Shivaji’s leadership, were fighting a guerrilla war...
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a war for which even Aurangzeb’s massive army had no answer! Why? Because remember one thing...
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you cannot kill a fly with a cannon, and that is exactly what Aurangzeb was doing!
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Until in 1707, after ruling for nearly 50 years, Aurangzeb was on his deathbed! And perhaps here he realized...
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what would happen after he was gone? In the final letters he wrote to his sons, we see a strange despair!
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He wrote... "I want there to be no fight for power between you two... but still, I can see that after I go, there will be much bloodshed!" This was the admission of defeat by a Titan!
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At the age of 90, Aurangzeb passed away... and the moment his eyes closed... consider the sun of the Mughal Empire’s rise set as well!
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What was the reason for this decline? Were Aurangzeb’s sons incompetent? Or was there a fault in the Mughal system?
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Before moving forward, let's do some critical analysis! Let’s look at those mistakes that turned India from a peak power into a colony!
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After Aurangzeb, the decline of the Mughal Empire began suddenly... but no, it didn't happen suddenly, these were centuries-old diseases...
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breeding inside, which had now surfaced! We have always heard that the British were very clever...
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their technology was better, or traitors were born among us... whatever happened was because of them!
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This is all true, but it is not the whole truth! The fact is, the Mughals made some historical mistakes during their peak,...
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which cut their very roots! If these mistakes hadn't happened, perhaps things wouldn't have reached this level!
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The first and biggest mistake was: The Ideological Vacuum! Look closely at the map of the Muslim world!
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Wherever Arab conquerors went: Egypt, Syria, Iran, North Africa... wherever they went, they didn't just conquer land, they won hearts!
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Those areas became either 100% or majority Muslim areas! The language, culture, thinking there,... everything molded into the framework of Islam!
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But what happened in India? From the Ghurids to the Mughals... they ruled here for about 800 years...
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no nation in the world has ruled a place for so long,... yet remained a minority!
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But when the Mughals came, when they peaked,... when they declined, when they finished... Muslims were in the minority, remained in the minority, and are so to this day!
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Why? The answer is very bitter... but the truth is that the Mughals, as a state...
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never made any organized and serious effort to spread Islam! No! I am not saying spread it by the sword...
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Islam has not spread by the sword, nor can it! I am saying, prepare the ground where Islam gets a chance to move forward?
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You will say monarchies are like that... their priority isn't religion, it was solely to collect revenue, that’s it!
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No! where the King’s name is mentioned in the Friday sermon... where he is called the Shadow of God...
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that state creates no system for the propagation of faith? This is huge negligence, a failing, rather, a crime!
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Among Mughal kings, Akbar crossed the line... to unite the state, he released the gimmick of Din-i-Ilahi!
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Meaning, the government of Muslims started weakening the roots of Islam itself! By the time Aurangzeb came, it was too late!
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Such a vast gulf had been created in society... that fixing it was beyond Aurangzeb, or anyone else!
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If Mughal kings had used the state's power and resources... for the propagation of religion, perhaps...
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the map of the subcontinent would be different today! This was their biggest ideological failure!
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Second mistake, They completely neglected the sea! This was the Mughals' most surprising, rather I would say, foolish negligence!
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They came from Central Asia, they were kings of mountains and plains... perhaps that's why their minds were also landlocked!
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The temperament of India itself was like that... people here weren't used to venturing out of their land!
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So neither the Mughals nor the locals understood that the world was changing! Now the threat wouldn't come from the Khyber Pass...
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but it was coming via the sea route! Vasco da Gama had reached India... British, French, Dutch, Portuguese, all came by sea!
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Europe was becoming a naval superpower, but the Mughals? From Akbar to Aurangzeb, the world’s richest kings...
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never even thought of building their navy! And the third and most dangerous mistake... The Law of the Jungle for power!
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Every successful empire in the world has a law: who will come after the King?
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The eldest son? Or whoever the King chooses? But the Mughals had no such law!
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Their constitution consisted of just one sentence... TheThrone or the Funeral! In the system of monarchy, there is no kinship...
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respect for the father, love for the brother, affection for sons,... all this is for common people like us!
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In monarchy, everyone is an enemy to each other... that's it! This is why after the death of every king...
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rather, even before he died, a terrible Civil War would begin! The empire would split into two, three or four parts!
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The country’s best princes, best generals, and best soldiers, who should have been used against the enemy, would die fighting each other!
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The treasury would empty! Administration would halt! Public trust would vanish! Think about it, if power is not transferred peacefully...
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transfer of power, whether every two, five, six, eight years... or even thirty-forty years later... what will happen?
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Exactly what happened in the Mughal era... Jahangir rebelled against his father Akbar! Jahangir’s son Khusrau raised the sword against him!
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And Aurangzeb? He crossed all limits... stopping only after imprisoning his father and killing all three brothers!
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This was a bloody cycle, that never stopped! This system poisoned every relationship... but also birthed an atmosphere of fear!
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The King feared his brothers, the son feared the father! And even a minister feared another minister!
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This atmosphere turned the entire Mughal elite into psychological patients! So when the house is on fire from the inside...
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outsiders will definitely take advantage! The Mughal Empire looked like a sturdy tree from the outside...
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very strong, very magnificent... but these three mistakes had eaten it from the inside like termites!
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And as soon as Aurangzeb’s eyes closed... a storm came to topple this hollow tree!
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Not from outside, but also a storm rising from within! Battle after battle created such an environment...
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that the best job became that of a mercenary; a hired killer! There was a new culture in India: The system of "Might is Right"!
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Or rather, it would be better to say... "He who has the money... owns the soldier!" We often get emotional and say the British occupied us...
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but the truth is, the British didn't conquer us, they bought us! Why? Because at that time, the Indian soldier did not fight for the state...
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he fought for a salary! Here, even a poet like Ghalib says: “Sau pusht se hai pesha-e-aaba sipah-gari, Kuch shayari zariya-e-izzat nahin mujhe.” Meaning, Ghalib doesn't feel honor in poetry...
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he takes pride in soldiering! What was this soldiering? Who will pay us more? We will fight for him!
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It made no difference to them whether their master was a Mughal... a Maratha, Hindu, Muslim, or a white man!
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There was just one condition, the payment had to be on time! And when it came to paying on time...
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number one in that era was: The East India Company! The Mughal treasury was empty, Kings didn't have money to pay soldiers...
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they were rebelling, looting their own generals! But on the other side, the British corporate company system was solid!
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On the first of every month, the soldier got his salary... got a uniform, got rations!
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The result? India’s best fighters... Purbiyas Rohillas, Rajputs Gorkhas... started enlisting in the British army!
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Look at the irony, the British conquered India using Indians themselves! In their army, 90 percent of the soldiers were natives!
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Our own people, for a few coins, were trading their and our freedom! At that time, there was no concept of an India, or a Pakistan...
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only the concept of "Namak Halali" (being true to the salt)... and the Company was providing the salt!
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But it wasn't just soldiers, big Nawabs and Wazirs were also on sale! The kings who came after Aurangzeb, called the "Lesser Mughals"...
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Bahadur Shah I, Jahandar Shah, Farrukhsiyar... were not kings, they were puppets, that’s all! Real power was in the hands of their ministers...
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they sat whoever they wanted on the throne, removed whoever they wanted... Kingship had become a spectacle!
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Seeing this chaos, the empire's strong ministers decided... the ship was sinking, separate your own boats!
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Nizam-ul-Mulk Asaf Jah, the most capable Mughal minister... left Delhi for the Deccan and established a separate state in Hyderabad!
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Saadat Khan, set up his own state in Awadh! Bengal, Mysore, Marathas, all separated! Now India was no longer one country...
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it was never really one country anyway... but the Mughals had stitched it together, but for how long?
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Now everyone was separating, and fighting amongst themselves! Marathas with Mughals, Nizam with Marathas, someone with someone else!
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And the British, stood on the side laughing! They used one against the other, sold them weapons...
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and in the end, swallowed both! This was their classic policy: Divide and Rule! But remember, the British didn't create the division...
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we created the division ourselves! They just took advantage of it! But before them, another opportunist cleaned house as soon as he got the chance!
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A storm, that turned whatever was left of Mughal honor into dust! His name was: Nader Shah!
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This was the moment when the funeral of Mughal honor was held... As poe said: Dignity had departed from the House of Timur!
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Just 12 years after Aurangzeb’s death... a man sat on the throne who was the biggest joke in Mughal history!
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Muhammad Shah Rangeela (The Colorful)! Understand by the name itself! This was the king who abandoned governance and took up culture!
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He would get news that the enemy had crossed the border, he would say... “Hanooz Dilli door ast” meaning Delhi is still far away!
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He stayed intoxicated, lost in dance and music... always joking, poetry, melodies and colors! He turned the music up so high...
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that the thunder of the coming storm was drowned out by his voice! In 1739, the King of Iran Nader Shah entered India!
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The Mughals had an army of hundreds of thousand... but that was only on paper!
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In the Battle of Karnal, this army was defeated in just three hours... yes! Just three hours, defeated by Nadir Shah’s troops Muhammad Shah, who had probably never seen sunlight...
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now stood as a prisoner before Nadir Shah! This was the Mughals' military death... those Mughals whose success was primarily due to their military might...
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superiority on the battlefield, their honor bit the dust! Nadir Shah entered Delhi! Then a massacre happened in this city...
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30,000 people were killed in one day! And then, the Mughal treasury was swept clean!
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What did he take with him? The Peacock Throne built by Shah Jahan... the world-famous Koh-i-Noor diamond...
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and so much gold, silver, and jewels... that hundreds of elephants, camels, and horses fell short to carry it!
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History tells us that Nadir Shah after returning to Iran... did not collect taxes from his people for three years...
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because he had looted so much from India! So this was the day when the Mughal Empire's back was broken!
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They were no longer kings, they had become beggars! And this was the perfect opportunity for the East India Company to advance...
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First, it captured Bengal in 1757... defeated Siraj-ud-Daulah in the Battle of Plassey,... and thus formally became part of the Great Game of India!
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Here the Mughals got a chance... just as Yusuf ibn Tashfin gave the Muslims in Spain a last chance to recover!
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Exactly such a lifeline was given by Ahmad Shah Abdali! In 1761, he defeated the Marathas in the Third Battle of Panipat...
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but the Mughals couldn't take advantage of this chance either! Because their system had rotted so much that there was no possibility of recovery!
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And finally, the last curtain of Mughal might fell! With the defeat in the Battle of Buxar against the British in 1764,...
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the rule of the Mughal King ended! Now he was just a pensioner of the British...
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his job was just to sit in the Red Fort, organize poetry recitals... and collect his pension, that’s all!
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Until finally, this chapter is also ended in 1857! When India rebelled against Company Raj...
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which we call the War of Independence 1857 today! Everyone made the old Mughal King Bahadur Shah Zafar their leader...
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but, by then it was too late! These were tasks to be done much earlier...
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when it was time to show unity, time to sit together... they destroyed their own power fighting each other...
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Now when the Britishers had become very powerful, there was no use rising against them!
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There was no discipline, no modern weapons, and no vision! In war, passion and spirit alone are not enough...
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look at history, passion and spirit will only help you... when there is discipline, modern weaponry, and vision!
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So, exactly what was feared happened, The British crushed the rebellion badly! And because the leader of the rebellion was a Muslim King...
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the punishment was also meted out mostly to Muslims! From every tree in Delhi, the corpse of a scholar or soldier was hung!
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And the King was arrested! And then an atrocity was committed that shamed humanity! The British forces cut off the heads of Bahadur Shah Zafar’s sons and grandsons...
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decorated them on a tray, and presented them as breakfast! And then the King was exiled and sent to Burma...
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where he spent the last years of his life in a small room! And he wrote the elegy of his helplessness himself...
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How unfortunate is Zafar, for his burial... he couldn't even find two yards of land in the street of his beloved!
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The first Mughal King (Babur) was buried outside India... and the last Mughal King too!
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The lamp of an empire that lasted for 300 years was extinguished forever! But did the Mughals really end?
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Or are they still alive in our culture, in our civilization,... in our language, our food, even in our DNA today?
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The Mughals left, the Red Fort emptied, the princes became beggars! But, did the Mughals really finish?
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No! Even today, when we speak Urdu, we are speaking the language of the Mughals!
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When we eat Biryani or Korma, we are tasting their flavor! When we wear a Sherwani, we are wearing their dress!
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They didn't just give us buildings, they gave us a civilization, an identity... on the basis of which the Muslims of the subcontinent later said...
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We are a separate nation! If there were no Mughals,... perhaps today Muslims in the subcontinent wouldn't have an identity...
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the same political identity that became the foundation of Pakistan! This is their favor upon us!
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But... wait! We didn't just take virtues from them, we inherited their flaws too! Even today, that "Mughal Virus" exists in our blood...
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which did not build institutions, but built personalities, built Kings! Even today, we cannot strengthen institutions...
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we just wait for one leader, one Messiah,... who will come and wave a magic wand to fix everything!
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We are still mentally subjects, not citizens! Second flaw, Flattery and Recommendation! In the royal system, especially in the Mughal court, merit didn't work...
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flattery and recommendations worked, that’s all! To this day, our entire system runs on recommendations, slips, and connections!
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This is that court culture which has entered our DNA! Flaw number 3 War with our own!
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Among Mughals, even brothers fought each other for power... and to this day, our politics, our institutions, and our political parties...
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remain busy bringing each other down! The Mughal Empire is a mirror, in it, we see our past...
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and sadly, our future too! They were the world’s biggest economic power... but distance from religion, technology, and discipline made them slaves!
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Today we have the atom bomb, an army, resources... but do we have the system that keeps nations alive?
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The decision is yours! Because the story of the Mughals has ended... but our story is still being written!
Topics:Mughal EmpireBaburHumayunAkbar the GreatIndian historyTimurGenghis KhanBritish IndiaMughal declineMughal military
