Civil Services (Prelims) Examination Special
Quick Revision Notes

Mughal Empire - I (Indian History)

31. On January 24, 1556, Humayun died following an accidental fall from the staircase of his library in Delhi.

32. On February 14, 1556, at the age of 13, Akbar was proclaimed as the successor of Humayun.

33. At the time when Akbar ascended to the thrown, the country had ceased to enjoy the benefits of reforms of Sher Shah Suri, through the follies and quarrels of his successors, and was also effected by a terrible famine.

34. At the time when Humayun died, Potuguese were in possession of Goa and Diu. The Suris were still in occupation of the Sher Shah’s dominion. From Agra to Malwa, and the confines of Jaunpur, owned the sovereignty of Adil Shah. Delhi to the smaller Rohtas on the road to Kabul was in hands of Shah Sikander. The borders of the hills to the boundaries of Gujarat belonged to Ibrahim Khan. Sind and Multan had become independent from the imperial control. Orissa, Malwa, Gujarat and the local chieftains of Gondwana had also became independent. South of the Vindhyas lay the extensive Vijayanagar empire and the Muslim Sultanates of Khandesh, Berar, Bidar, Ahmadnagar and Golkunda expressed no interest in northern politics.

35. Hemu, general and minister of Adil Shah Suri opposed the Mughals soon after accession of Akbar.

36. Hemu occupied Agra and Delhi by defeating Tardi Beg, the Mughal governor of Delhi.

37. Hemu assumed the title of Raja Vikramjit or Vikramaditya after his victory in Delhi.

38. Akbar, alongwith his trusted guardian Bairam Khan, challenged Hemu at Panipat, resulting in the second battle of Panipat. A chance arrow hit in the eye resulted in Hemu falling unconscious, which led to his soldiers dispersing in confusion. The battle marked the real beginning of the Mughal rule in India and set it on the path of expansion.

39. Sikander Suri surrendered to Akbar in 1557 and was granted a fief in the eastern province. He was later expelled by Akbar and died as a fugitive.

40. Ibrahim Suri, after wandering from place to place, found asylum in Orissa, where he was killed about 10 years later. With his death there remained no one from the Suri clan to challenge Akbar’s claim to sovereignty. Sher Shah Suri

41. Sher Shah Suri effected the revival of Afghan power and established a glorious, though short, regime in India by ousting the newly established Mughal authority.

42. Originally, Sher Shah’s name was Farid. His grandfather, Ibrahim, was an Afghan of Suri tribe and lived near Peshawar. His father’s name was Hassan.

43. Farid was conferred the title of Sher Khan by Bahar Khan Lohani, independent ruler of Bihar, for having shown gallantry by killing a tiger singlehanded.

44. Sher Shah joined the Babur’s camp in April 1527 and remained in it till June 1528. In return for his services, Babur restored the jagir of Sasaram to him.

45. The war against allied troops of Bengal Sultan and the Lohanis of Surajgarh, on the banks of Kiul river was a turning-point in the career of Sher Shah. It made him the undisputed ruler of Bihar.

46. The victory in battle with the Mughal forces led by Humayun, at Chaunsa near Buxar, led to Sher Shah becoming de facto ruler of the territories ruled by the Mughals.

47. On May 17, 1540, in the Battle of Kannauj, Sher Shah’s forces gave a crushing defeat to Humayun’s forces and the sovereignity of India once again passed to the Afghans.

48. Sher Shah died on May 22, 1545 from an accidental explosion of gunpowder.

49. Sher Shah divided his empireinto 47 units (sarkars), each of which was sub-divided into several paraganas.

50. The paragana had one Amin, one Shiqdar, one treasurer, one Hindi text writer and one Perisan writer to keep accounts.

51. Shiqdar-i-Shiqdaran and Munsifi- Munsifan supervised the works of the paragana officers.

52. Sher Shah’s land revenue reforms have unique importance in the administrative history of India. They served as the model for future agrarian systems.

53. Sher Shah settled the land revenue directly with the cultivators, the State demand being fixed at one-fourth or onethird of the average produce, payable in either kind or cash.

54. For actual collection of revenue the services of officers like Amins, Muqadams, Shiqdars, Qanungos and the Patwaris were taken.

55. The rights of tenants were recognised and the liabilities of each were clearly defined in the kabuliyat (deed of agreement) and the patta (title-deed).

56. Sher Shah connected the important places by a chain of excellent roads. The longest of these was the Grand Trunk Road, which still survives and extended from Sonargaon in East Bengal to the Indus. One road ran from Agra to Burhanpur, another from Agra to Jodhpur and a fourth from Lahore to Multan.

57. Sarais or rest-houses were set-upat different places along the roads. These also served the purpose of post-houses. 58. Sher Shah re-organised the army, borrowing largely the main principles of Ala-ud-din Khilji’s military system.

59. After Sher Shah’s death, his son Jalal Khan was proclaimed king under the title of Sultan Islam Shah, commonly known as Salim Shah.

60. Salim Shah was a strong and efficient ruler but he died young in November 1554 and disorder soon followed.

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