CIVIL SERVICES (PRELIMS) EXAM SPECIAL

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on Indian History
Mughal Empire - V (Jahangir)
1. Jahangir was born to Maryam-uz-Zamani and
Akbar on August 30, 1569. He was named Sultan Muhammad Salim after Shaikh Salim Chishti of Fatehpur Sikri.
Akbar, however, called him Shaikhu Baba.
2. Abdur Rahim Khan Khana, a profound scholar of
Arabic, Turki, Persian, Sanskrit and Hindi, as also a soldier
and diplomat of no mean order influenced Jahangir the most
and moulded his thoughts. Most of Jahangirs education took
place under Abdur Rahim.
3. At the age of 15, Jahangir was married to his cousin
Manbai, daughter of Raja Bhagwan Dass of Amber. The
ceremony was performed both according to Hindu and
Muslim rites.
4. Jahangir gave Manbai the title of Shah Begum. She
committed suicide in 1604 owing to her son Khusravs unfilial conduct towards her husband.
5. Jagat Gosain or Jodhabai, daughter of Mota Raja
Udai Singh was also among the most important of several
wives of Jahangir.
6. Salims loose morals and addiction to wine and
other degrading pleasures enraged Akbar, who then tried to
bring him round by threat of punishment. The estrangement
led to open revolt by Salim. When Akbar set out of South to
reconquer Khandesh, Salim made a dash for Agra in order to
capture the huge treasure. He was, however, foiled in his
attempt and subsequently went to Allahabad and set up his
court there. He brought a part of Bihar under his control and
set himself up as an independent king.
7. Akbar sent Khwaja Muhammad Sharif, a playmate
and friend of Prince, to Allahabad on a mission of peace. But
Salim won him over and appointed him chief minister.
8. The fact that Akbars second son, Murad, was
already dead and his third son, Daniyal, was visibly dying
made Akbar weak and forced him to take forget and forgive
Salims follies. Salima Begum, Jahangirs step-mother, ultimately persuaded the prince to return to his path of duty.
9. After Akbars death in 1605, Prince Salim acceded to
the throne and assumed the title of Nuruddin Mohammad
Jahangir Padshah Ghazi.
10. Immediately after coronation, Jahangir prohibited
levy of many cesses, called tamgha, mir bahri, etc.
11. Jahangir also abolished the punishment of cutting
nose and ears.
12. Jahangir also prohibited the slaughter of animals

on certain days in the year and two days in every week, that
is, Thursday, which was his accession day, and Sunday, the
day of Akbars birth.
13. Jahangir caused a gold chain with bells to be hung
between the Shah Burj in the Agra Fort and a post on the
road near the bank of Yamuna, so as to enable suitors for justice to ring the bell and approach the emperor without the
mediation of any officer or servant.
14. Within a few months of Jahangirs accession his
eldest son Khusrav revolted. Due to the past conduct of
Khusrav, Jahangir had confined him to one corner of Agra
fort. On April 6, 1606, on the pretence of a visit to Akbars
mausoleum at Sikandra, Khusrav proceeded rapidly
towards Delhi. On his way he was joined by Husain Beg
Badakhshi. Passing by Delhi, he made his way towards
Lahore and on the way was joined by Abdur Rahman, the
diwan of that province. At Taran Taran, the prince
obtained benediction of Guru Arjan Dev, the fifth Guru of
Sikhs.
15. On reaching Lahore, Khusrav found the fort put in
a state of defence by the governor Dilawar Khan. Jahangir
sent a contingent of troops under Shaikh Farid, as also proceeded himself towards Lahore. The parties engaged in a
fight on the plain of Baharowal. Khusrav was defeated and
forced to flee towards Kabul. He was, however, captured by
Jahangirs forces, along with Husain Beg and Abdur
Rehman.
16. Jahangir imposed a fine of Rs two lakh on Guru
Arjan Dev for bestowing benediction to Khusrav. The Guru,
however, refused to pay and was consequently put to death.
The Gurus death estranged Sikhs from the Mughals and led
to their rebellion in the time of Aurangzeb.
17. The most fateful consequence of Khusravs rebellion, followed by internal disturbances in the country, was
the encouragement of the Shah of Persia to make a bid for
the capture of fortress of Kandhar.
18. Kandhar was a bone of contention between Persia
and India during the medieval age. Kandhar was a gateway
and a natural base of operations for a Persian or Central
Asian invader. Its commercial importance was no less great.
It connected the principal trade routes from India to Central
Asia and Europe. Babur, who was aware of Kandhars
importance, captured it in 1522. After the death of
Humayun, Kandhar passed out of Mughal control, but
Akbar recovered it in 1594.

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CIVIL SERVICES (PRELIMS) EXAM SPECIAL

19. In 1611, Jahangir married a widow named Mehrun-nisa, who was given the title of Nur Mahal, subsequently changed into Nur Jahan. She began exercising unbounded influence on the emperor and the administration of
Mughal empire.
20. Nur Jahan was daughter of Ghiyas Beg, a Persian
adventurer in Akbars court, who was honoured with the
title of Itimad-ud-daulah.
21. Within a few years of her marriage, Nur Jahan
organized a party of her own and took the reins of the government in her hands. The party was known as Nur Jahan
Junta and consisted of herself, her parents, her brothers and
prince Khurram, who was the husband of her niece.
22. Nur Jahan exercised healthy influence on Jahangir.
It was owing to her influence that Jahangir restrained himself from excessive drinking. Her influence over Jahangir
was good and benefited the poor and the needy, as also the
votaries of letters and art.
23. On political and administrative affairs the influence
of Nur Jahan was negative. Her dealings with Prince Khurram and Prince Shahryar almost convulsed the empire in a
civil war.
24. Akbar could not conquer the whole of Mewar due
to stiff resistance from Rana Pratap. Infact, Rana Pratap was
able to recover a considerable portion of his territory before
his death in 1597. In 1605, Jahangir deputed his second son
Parwez to reduce Rana Prataps son Rana Amar Singh to
submission. A tough battle was fought at the pass of Dewar
but it proved indecisive.
25. Sagar, an uncle of Rana Amar Singh, who had
deserted his nephew and lived as a pensioner at the Mughal
court, accompanied Prince Parwez in the expedition to
defeat Rana Amar Singh.
26. In 1608, Jahangir sent another force, this time under
Mahabat Khan, to subdue Rana Amar Singh. He also failed
in the mission.
27. In 1609, Abdulla Khan was appointed incharge. He
defeated Prince Karan but was, in turn, beaten by Rajputs at
Ranpura, the northernmost key-point of Mewar.
28. Jahangir appointed Raja Basu to defeat Rana Amar
Singh but he too failed. Raja Basu was then replaced by
Mirza Aziz Koka and in 1613 Jahangir personally moved to
Ajmer to be near the scene of action and exert pressure. The
supreme command of the Mughal army was now entrusted
to Prince Khurram. In the constant struggle both sides lost
heavily but the Rajputs suffered more due to famine. The
resources of tiny Mewar exhausted and Amar Singh offered
negotiations.
29. A treaty of peace was concluded between Rana
Amar Singh and Jahangir in 1615. Rana recognized
Jahangir as his suzerain. Jahangir restored all the territory to
Rana, including Chittor, that had been seized during
Akbars reign. The Rana was not obliged to attend the imperial durbar and, unlike other Rajput chiefs, the Rana was not
required to enter into a matrimonial alliance with the
Mughal ruling family.
30. The treaty of 1615, for the first time, brought the

end to the long-drawn struggle between Mewar and Delhi.

The Rana of Mewar hereafter remained loyal to the Mughal
throne, till Aurangzeb, by his thoughtless policy, drove Raj
Singh in an open rebellion.
31. Jahangir adopted Akbars policy of conquering
the whole of India and bringing it under the rule of his
dynasty.
32. In 1608, Jahangir directed the Khan Khana to
conquer the remaining parts of South. But, he could make a
little headway due to stiff resistance of Malik Ambar, the
prime minister of Ahmadnagar. He used the guerilla warfare very effectively to defeat the Mughal army.
33. In 1616, Jahangir made Prince Khurram
incharge of the southern command and himself moved to
Mandu with all his court to be near the scene of warfare.
Overawed by superior force, Malik Ambar at once
opened for negotiations. A treaty was signed in 1617
under which Malik Ambar ceded all the territory of Balghat, which he had recently seized from Mughals, as also
surrendered the fort of Ahmadnagar. Jahangir was overjoyed with Khurrams success and conferred on him the
high sounding title of Shahjehan.
34. The treaty of 1617 was brushed aside by Malik
Ambar in 1620 when he formed a league with Bijapur and
Golkunda and launched an attack on Mughal commander
Khan Khana. Jahangir again deputed Shahjehan to take
charge of the operation, who successfully forced Ambar to
submission. The kingdoms of Ahmednagar, Bijapur and
Golkunda were also made to pay a tribute to the emperor.
35. Jahangir lost Kandhar in 1622 to Perisan rulers due
to infighting among the Nur Jahan Junta, as also the
estranged relations between Shah Jehan and Nur Jahan, and
subsequent rebellion of Shah Jehan.
36. The three-year-old rebellion of Shah Jehan convulsed the empire with a civil war and caused a considerable loss of money and men. It came to an end in April 1626
after Shah Jahan, faced with nothing but destruction, decided to surrender and seek emperors pardon.
37. The entire operation of dealing with Shah Jahans
rebellion was undertaken under Mahabat Khan, the greatest soldier and diplomat of the Mughal empire.
38. Difference between Nur Jahan and Mahabat
Khan compelled Mahabat Khan to bring Jahangir under
his control by a coup d etat and thus deprive Nur Jahan of
power in the State. He was helped in this by mostly Rajput
soldiers.
39. Mahabat Khan remained the de facto ruler for 100
days, before Jahangir managed to overthrow him and take
charge. Mahabat Khan was not a very capable administrator
and this led to his fall.
40. After regaining his freedom from Mahabat
Khan, Jahangir, whose health had completely broken
down, set out for Kashmir in March 1627. But he could
not regain health in Kashmir and decided to return to
Lahore. During his return journey he was taken ill and
died on November 7, 1627 near Bhimbar. He was burried
at Shahdara near Lahore.

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