Question

Consider the following statement:
i)Shah Jahan was the last powerful Mughal Emperor.
ii)The Mughal Empire started weakening after the death of Aurangzeb.
Which of the above Statement/s is /are correct?
A.Only ii)
B.Only i)
C.Both are correct.
D. Neither are correct.

Answer 1

Hint:It was founded by Babur after defeating Lodi in the Battle of Panipat. Both Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb belong to Mughal Empire. It was a large Empire before the outbreak of Marathas.

Complete answer:
 Shah Jahan was the fifth ruler of Mughal Empire . He succeeded his father Jahangir who had four sons. After Jahangir , rivals between four sons occurred and Shah Jahan was the winning son. He killed all the rivals. He built several important monuments which include Taj Mahal, the symbol of love. His period is regarded as the Golden Age of Mughals. He had four sons. His treasury had the important jewels like Kohinoor diamond and Peacock Throne. The Kohinoor diamond was taken by the British before the Independence of India. He controlled a large land in the Indian subcontinent.
Let us discuss Aurangzeb. He succeeded his father Shah Jahan. He was the winning son among other sons. His period was not at peace due to the activity of Marathas and Sikhs. During his period ,the treasury was frequently raided and emptied by Marathas . Shivaji is the ruler of the Maratha Empire. Aurangzeb was the last powerful ruler of the Mughal Empire. After his death, his empire started declining. It was mainly due to the Chhatrapati Shivaji who was the founder of the Maratha Empire. It was a powerful Empire and reasons for several problems to British and Mughals. He had a large army to counter his enemies. Chhatrapati Shivaji introduced the guerrilla warfare strategy. He also had another name called “Mountain rat “by Aurangzeb. He and his generals followed the guerrilla tactics of attacking enemy forces and then the retreat into the mountain forts. Mountain forts played a major role in their military operations. Aurangzeb could not maintain a large territory due to the activity of Shivaji.

Hence, the correct answer is option (A).

Note:Mughal Empire lasted until the Great revolt . Bahadur Shah II was the last emperor of the Mughal Empire. Mughal Empire was rich and had a good economic condition. But , they were raided by Marathas and the most precious treasures were taken away by the British.