The Mughal Empire Class 7 Notes CBSE History Chapter 4 [Free PDF Download]

It was challenging to rule the Indian subcontinent in the Middle Ages because of the diversity of culture and people who lived here. However, by unifying the subcontinent and establishing a strict imperial government, the Mughals completed the seemingly impossible task, even in a short period of time. Babur was the first Mughal Emperor who ruled old Delhi by winning against Ibrahim Lodi at the battle of Panipat in 1527. The Mughals expanded their territory between the 16th century and 17th century.

Who Were The Mughals?

Essentially, the Mughals are descendants of two famous lineages of leaders. From the maternal side, they were descendants of Genghis Khan, and from the paternal side, they were the Descendents of Timur.

Mughal Military Campaigns

• The first Mughal Emperor was Babur. He seized Delhi in 1526 by overthrowing Ibrahim Lodi's rule in the Panipat Battle. 

• Humayun distributed the inheritance according to his father's wishes. Sher khan defeated him in the battle of Chausa and Kannauj. This forced him to flee to Iran, but he recaptured Delhi in 1555.

• Akbar launched several military campaigns against the Afghans, neighbouring kingdoms and suppressed his half-brother's revolt. During his reign, he captured Rantambor, Bihar, Chitor, Kashmir, Bangladesh, and Beral Khandsh.

• Jahangir continued the campaigns started by Akbar. Additionally, he also undertook campaigns against Sikhs and Ahoms.

• Shah Jahan seized Ahmedabad and Bijapur. Mughal campaigns were still successfully launched. Shah Jahan defeated Khan Jahan Lodi, who was an Aghan Rebel. 

• Aurangzeb started a long-winded battle in Deccan. His campaigns in the northwest against the Sikhs and Yusufzais were temporarily successful.

Succession Traditions of The Mughals

• The Mughals were not believers in primogeniture rule, in which the eldest son is the heir to the father's property. 

• The children follow the custom of common inheritance rules.

Mughals Connections With Other Leaders

• The Mughal leaders heavily campaigned against the rulers who refused to accept their government. 

• As the Mughal government grew stronger in India, other rulers voluntarily joined in to serve them. For example, the Rajputs. 

• Mughals distributed jagirs and mansab to boost their expansion plans. 

• The tax imposed on the peasantry produce was the primary source of income for the Mughal Rulers.

Akbar's Policies

• Akbarnama contains all of Akbar's works. Abul Fazal wrote this book.

• He divided his kingdom into sabhas which means provinces, and a Subedar oversaw it.

• Akbar's aristocrat's controlled enormous armies and had access to vast sums of revenue. 

• He began a religious conversation with the Brahmanas, Jesuit priests who were Zoroastrians and Roman Catholics, and Ulemas in Fatehpur Sikri.

• The meetings were held in Ibadat Khana.

• This led Akbar to the idea of universal peace or Sulhi-Kul. 

• Both Jahangir and Shah Jahan followed this principle.

• Akbar recognized that religious scholars often emphasized dogma and rituals as being intolerant.

The Mughal Empires In The 17th Century And After

• The military efficacy and managerial policies of the Mughal Empire led to tremendous commercial and economic prosperity.

• The Mughal leaders and their mansabdars invested vast amounts on goods and salaries.

• The jagir is the distribution of income assigned to the mansabdars in the form of wages. 

• The tax imposed on the peasantry produce was the primary source of income for the Mughal Rulers.

• In this economic world, major artisanal groups, as well as richer peasants, bankers and merchants, often profited.

• In the late 17th century, the Mughal dynasty declined and independent provinces such as Awad and Hyderabad were established.

Who Exactly Where The Mughals: An Insight

The Mughals were the descendants of 2 different but very great lineages of different rulers who were named Genghis Khan (death in 1227) and the Mongol rule that ruled over Central Asia and China. The Mughals didn’t really like the name Mughals as this was associated with the memory of Genghis Khan and the massacre of many people.

Mentioned below are the rulers of the Mughal dynasty who were known throughout history. Students can refer to the class 7 history Mughal Empire notes for more information.

• Babur (1526-1530): Known to be Genghis Khan’s direct descendant, through Timur. Founder of the Empire of Mughals after winning the Battle of Panipat and Khanwa.

• Humayun (1530-1540): Had his reign interrupted by some rulers of the Suri Dynasty. He was inexperienced and pretty young at the time. He was defeated by Sher Shah Suri which led to the rule of the Suri Dynasty.

• Humayun (1555-1556): He restored his rule which was more effective than the last time only to leave the empire to Akbar, his son.

• Akbar (1556-1605): Akbar was considered to be one of the youngest rulers of the Mughal Dynasty and came to rule when he was 13 years old. With the aid of Bairam Khan, Akbar defeated king Hemu during the 2nd Battle of Panipat. Also, Akbar defeated many kings during the Siege of Ranthambore and Chittorgarh. He was also considered to be one of the most successful rulers of the Mughal dynasty.

• Jahangir (1605-1627): He was responsible for the opening up of relations with members of the East India Company.

• Shah-Jahan (1628-1658): Mughal Architecture and Art reached a pinnacle of success under the rule of Shah Jahan. Not to mention that he was responsible for the creation of most of the beautiful architectural gems known as the Jama Masjid, Jahangir Mausoleum, Taj Mahal, the Shalimar Gardens situated in Lahore, and the Red Fort. Unfortunately, Shah Jahan died under captivity which was insinuated by his very own son Aurangzeb. Have a look at the Class 7 History Mughal Empire notes for more details.

• Aurangzeb (1658-1707): Aurangzeb was responsible for reinterpreting Islamic law. He was also the person behind the presentation of Fatawa-e-Alamgiri. Most diamond mines were captured by the Sultan of Golconda under the rule of Aurangzeb. He spent almost half the time of his rule in war with the Maratha Empire. The ending of the rule of Aurangzeb truly marked the end of the rule for the Mughal Empire.

So, these were some of the details about the Mughal empire and the rulers. More information can be found with The Mughal Empire Class 7 CBSE notes.

The Relation of Mughal with Other Rulers

The Mughal dynasty rulers would campaign very fiercely and almost constantly against all the other rulers who were not in compliance with their rule. However, with the increase in power of the Mughals, most of the Kingdoms made a voluntary effort to associate with them. One of the examples of such a case was with the Rajputs who agreed to get their daughter married to the Mughal rulers in order to receive some higher positions in the court. But then there were some of them who resisted as well. To be honest, the Mughal Relations with other rulers were pretty much hard to define. The Rajputs of Mewar known as the Sisodiya Rajputs didn’t agree to accept the rule of the Mughal.

Upon defeated in the war by Mughals, they were treated very honourably and provided with their land as some assignments. This particular balance between the defeat of the opponents but not the humiliation did help a lot when it came to extending the influence of the Mughal emperors over the other kings. However, this task of keeping the balance and that too at all times was definitely a very difficult task. Students can have a look at The Mughal Empire Class 7 notes for more information.

The Mughals continued to rule till the 17th century with great results and there were many changes made to the system during the rule of each emperor. All of the details for which can be found in the Class 12 history Chapter 4 notes. Students can refer to these notes to find more information.