Fall of Empire
The Mughal Empire began in 1450 and came to an end in 1754. Jahan's son Aurangzeb was the last great Mughal Emperor. Aurangzeb was largely responsible for the downfall of the empire.
He expanded to far covering almost all of India and parts of South Asia. This caused the communication to become very difficult and the distances eventually became too large. The empire had simply become too big to be successfully governed. Then the empire began to have some financial troubles, not just because of it being too large, but there were other reasons too. Aurangzeb taxed too much after the civil war (between the Muslims and Hundi) because they didn’t have enough money left due to the supplies for the war. There also was neither enough money nor jagirs to assign to various officers. They soon became in debt.
The empire also had some unwanted invaders before the fall. The invasions of Nadir Shah and Ahmad Shah Abdali (Persian invaders) proved fatal for the Mughal Empire. Not only were the Indians defeated but their weakness was exposed and India became as easy prey to other foreign powers too.
The Europeans, especially the British, played an important role in putting an end to the Mughal Empire. They first obtained a freeman to trade with India, but gradually began interfering in Indian politics and gradually set up a British empire in India that lasted for 200 years.
The Mughal Dynasty also suffered from a grave internal problem. The problem was succession. Sons revolted against fathers to capture the throne. Brothers fought the wars of succession. Jahangir, as prince Salim, revolted against his father Akbar. Shah Jahan revolted against Jahangir. The fratricidal wars among the brothers were of a more serious nature. Shah Jahn killed his brother. Aurangzeb came to the throne by killing his brothers. The disease became more serious. For a Mughal Prince, there were only two alternatives, namely, either the throne or the coffin. As they fought rapid wars, the Empire lost its vitality quickly. No Emperor could rule in peace.
He expanded to far covering almost all of India and parts of South Asia. This caused the communication to become very difficult and the distances eventually became too large. The empire had simply become too big to be successfully governed. Then the empire began to have some financial troubles, not just because of it being too large, but there were other reasons too. Aurangzeb taxed too much after the civil war (between the Muslims and Hundi) because they didn’t have enough money left due to the supplies for the war. There also was neither enough money nor jagirs to assign to various officers. They soon became in debt.
The empire also had some unwanted invaders before the fall. The invasions of Nadir Shah and Ahmad Shah Abdali (Persian invaders) proved fatal for the Mughal Empire. Not only were the Indians defeated but their weakness was exposed and India became as easy prey to other foreign powers too.
The Europeans, especially the British, played an important role in putting an end to the Mughal Empire. They first obtained a freeman to trade with India, but gradually began interfering in Indian politics and gradually set up a British empire in India that lasted for 200 years.
The Mughal Dynasty also suffered from a grave internal problem. The problem was succession. Sons revolted against fathers to capture the throne. Brothers fought the wars of succession. Jahangir, as prince Salim, revolted against his father Akbar. Shah Jahan revolted against Jahangir. The fratricidal wars among the brothers were of a more serious nature. Shah Jahn killed his brother. Aurangzeb came to the throne by killing his brothers. The disease became more serious. For a Mughal Prince, there were only two alternatives, namely, either the throne or the coffin. As they fought rapid wars, the Empire lost its vitality quickly. No Emperor could rule in peace.