Here are expected questions from class 7 history chapter 4 | The Mughal Empire

1. The Red Fort from where the Prime Minister addresses the nation on Independence Day used to be the residence of ……………………….

Mughal Emperors

2. Why was it difficult to rule the Indian continent in the Middle Ages?

It was difficult for any dynasty to rule the Indian Subcontinent for long periods of time in the Middle Ages because India was an extremely large country with people of diverse cultures, languages and traditions.

3. How powerful were the Mughals? / What is the significance of Mughals in the history of India?

Mughals were the first dynasty who managed to rule almost the entire Indian subcontinent for the first time in history. In the second half of the 16^th century they expanded their kingdom from Agra and Delhi and towards the end of the 17^th century, almost the whole of Indian subcontinent was under their rule. The ideas of governance and administrative mechanisms they employed are still relevant today.

4. What is the significance of Red Fort?

Red Fort used to be the residence of Mughal emperors. Today it is a powerful national symbol as the Prime Minister addresses the nation from its ramparts on Independence Day.

5. Who were Mughals?

From their mother’s side Mughals descended from Genghis Khan, the powerful Mongol king who ruled over parts of China and Central Asia in the first quarter of 13^th century. From their father’s side they were the successors of Timur who ruled Iran, Iraq and Turkey. The Mughals did not want to be associated with Genghis Khan because he was a cruel ruler who killed countless people. However, they were proud of their Timurid ancestry especially because Timur had captured Delhi in 1398.

6. Who captured Delhi in 1398?

Timur

7. Who was the first Mughal emperor?

Babur

8. Babur became the ruler of ……………………………. in 1494 when he was only 12 years old.

Ferghana

9. The invasion of whom forced Babur to leave Ferghana?

The Mongol group Uzbegs

10. Write a short note of Babur

Babur was the founder of the Mughal Empire in India. In 1494 he became the ruler of Ferghana at the age of just 12. However, due to the invasion of the Mongol group, Uzbegs, he had to leave Ferghana and spent years wandering. In 1504, he captured Kabul and in 1526 at the first battle of Panipat, he defeated Delhi Sultan Ibrabim Lodi and captured Delhi and Agra. In 1527, he defeated Rana Sanga, the Rajput ruler at Khanua and in 1528, he defeated the Rajputs at Chanderi. Babur died in 1530 but before that he had established control over Delhi and Agra.

11. Write a short note on Humayun

Humayun was the son of Babur. He became Mughal emperor in 1530 after the death of his father. Humayun faced many threats from Afghan competitors and was defeated by Sher Khan at Chausa in 1539 and Kanuaj in 1540. These defeats forced him to flee to Iran. In Iran he received the help of Safavid Shah. Humayun recaptured Delhi in 1555 but died in the next year in an accident.

12. Name the ambitious brother of Humayun who weakened his cause against Afghan competitors?

Mirza Kamran

13. Who was the half brother of Akbar who revolted against him?

Mirza Hakim

14. Describe the reign of Akbar

Akbar became the Mughal emperor in 1556 after the death of his father Humayun. Shortly after, he became independent of the regent Bairam Khan and launched military campaigns against Suris, Afghans, Uzbegs and the neighbouring kingdoms of Malwa and Gondwana. He seized Chittor in 1568 and Ranthambhor in 1569. Later he launched campaigns in Gujarat, Bengal, Bihar and Odisha. Akbar expanded his empire between 1585 and 1605. He annexed Qandahar, Kashmir and Kabul. Akbar also launched campaigns in Deccan and annexed many territories.

15. From whom did Akbar seize Qandahar?

Safavids

16. Akbar’s half brother Mirza Hakim ruled over …………………………..

Kabul

17. Chittor was the capital of ………………………….

Sisodiyas

18. Who was the ruler of Mewar who accepted Mughal Service?

Amar Singh

19. Write a short note on Jehangir’s reign

Jehangir became the emperor in 1605. During his reign, the Sisodiya ruler of Mewar, Amar Singh, accepted Mughal service. His campaigns against the Sikhs, the Ahoms and Ahmadnagar were not particularly successful. His son Prince Khurram who later became Shah Jahan rebelled against Jehangir during the last years of his reign.

20. Write a brief note on Shah Jahan

Shah Jahan became the Mughal emperor in 1627. He defeated the Afghan noble Khan Jahan Lodi and also launched campaigns against Ahmadnagar. He defeated the Bundelas. His campaign to seize Balkh from Uzbegs were not successful. He also lost Qandahar to Safavids. In 1658, Shah Jahan’s sons fought against one another for power. Aurangzeb succeeded and killed his three brothers. Shah Jahan was imprisoned for the rest of his life.

21. Write a brief note on the reign of Aurangzeb

He ruled from 1658 to 1707. He defeated the Ahoms in 1663 but they rebelled again in the 1680s. His campaigns against Yusufzai and the Sikhs were temporarily successful. His campaign against Sivaji was also successful initially. However, Sivaji escaped from Agra, declared himself an independent king and resumed his campaigns against the Mughals. The Marathas also supported Prince Akbar who rebelled against Aurangzeb. He finally fled to Iran.

22. Describe the Mughal traditions of succession

The Mughals did not believe in primogeniture in which the eldest son would succeed his father. Instead, they followed the coparcenary inheritance where the inheritance was divided among all the sons.

23. Describe Mughal rulers’ relations with other rulers

The Mughals regularly launched campaigns against other rulers who refused to accept their authority. When they became more and more powerful many other rulers like Rajputs joined them voluntarily. The Rajputs, for example, married their daughters to Mughal emperors and received high positions. The Sisodiyas of Mewar refused Mughal authority for a long time. Although Mughals defeated them in the end, they made sure that the Sisodiyas were treated respectfully and their land was given back as assignments. In other words, the Mughals defeated their enemies but most of the time they took care not to humiliate them. This policy helped them extend their control over many other rulers.  

24. Who were mansabdars?

As the Mughal empire became bigger, they recruited people of diverse backgrounds including Iranians, Indian Muslims, Afghans, Rajputs, Marathas and other groups. Those people who joined Mughal service were called mansabdars.

A mansabdar is a person who occupies a position or rank. It was a grading system that Mughals used to fix the rank, salary and military responsibilities of these individuals. Zat was the numerical value used to determine the rank and salary of mansabdars.

Each mansabdar had to maintain a certain number of cavalrymen. They would bring their cavalrymen to the court, get them registered and their horses branded. The Mughals paid them money to pay as salaries to their cavalrymen. Mansabdars usually received their salaries as revenue assignments called jagirs.

25. How did mansabdars receive their salaries?

Mansabdars received their salaries as revenue assignments or jagirs. However, they did not reside in these jagirs or administer them. Instead, they collected revenues from these jagirs through their servants while they served in some other parts of the country.

26. Write a short note on zat

Zat was a numerical value used to determine the rank and salary of mansabdars. Those with higher salaries had a more prestigious position in the country and received higher salaries. During Akbar’s reign there were 29 mansabdars with a rank of 5,000 zat. During Aurangzeb’s time, this number rose to 79 and that meant more expenditure for the state. During Akbar’s reign the salary paid to the mansabdar was roughly equal to the revenue that can be collected from their jagir.

27. The poor peasantry was exploited during Aurangzeb’s reign. Why?

The number of mansabdars increased during Aurangzeb’s time. Also, the revenue collected from the jagirs were less than the salary paid to the mansabdars. The increase in the number of mansabdars created a shortage of jagirs and hence often each mansabdar had to wait a long time before they could receive a jagir. This also meant that those who received a jagir tried to extract as much revenue as possible from it while they were in possession of it. Aurangzeb could not control these developments during the last years of his reign and poor peasantry had to suffer a lot because jagirdars forced them to pay more than they could.

28. What was the main source of income for Mughal emperors?

The main source of income for Mughal emperors was tax on the produce of farmers. Farmers usually paid taxes through the village headman or chieftain called zamindars.

29. Who was the revenue minister of Akbar?

Todal Mal

30. What is zabt?

Tax on each crop was fixed during Akbar’s reign. Each province was divided into revenue circles and each of them had their revenue rates for individual crops. This revenue system was called zabt. It was prevalent in areas where the administers could survey the land carefully.

 31. Who is the author of Akbar Nama?

Abul Fazl

32. What is the significance of Ain-i-Akbari?

Ain-i-Akbari is the third volume of Akbar Nama and deals with Akbar’s administration, household, army, revenue and geography of the country.

33. What are subas?

During Akbar’s reign the empire was divided into provinces called subas. Each subas was governed by a subdar who had political and military duties.

34. Name the factors that led to the collapse of Mughal empire

Akbar’s nobles commanded large armies and had access to large amounts of revenue. While initially, they were loyal to the empire, towards the end of the 17^th century, they started building their own independent networks to serve their interests. Often times, zamindars and peasantry of the same caste revolted against the empire whenever they felt that the administrators were exploiting them. These revolts also weakened the Mughal empire.

35. Name the place where Akbar discussed religion with Ulama, Brahmins and Jesuit priets

Ibadat Khana

36. What is sulh-I kul or universal peace?

Akbar’s interaction with religious heads of various faiths convinced him that those who emphasized rituals and dogma were bigots. He felt that their teachings divided people. In his empire we wanted to practice the idea of tolerance or sulf-i kul which did not discriminate people of different religions. Instead, it focused on a system of ethics like honesty, justice and peace.