Faith, Opposition and Decline: The Mughal Empire After Akbar
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Flip to reveal answersWhat did Akbar abolish in 1564 to win Hindu support?
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Question
What did Akbar abolish in 1564 to win Hindu support?
Answer
The jizya (tax on non-Muslims).
Question
Din-i-Ilahi
Answer
A syncretic court faith created by Akbar in 1582, blending Islamic, Hindu, and other ideas to bind nobles to him personally.
Question
What did Aurangzeb do in 1679 that reversed Akbar's religious policy?
Answer
He reimposed the jizya tax on non-Muslims.
Question
Why did the Sikh community become militarised against the Mughals?
Answer
Aurangzeb executed Guru Tegh Bahadur in 1675 for refusing to convert to Islam, pushing the Sikhs under Guru Gobind Singh towards armed resistance.
Question
Who led Maratha resistance against the Mughals from the Deccan?
Answer
Shivaji, who declared himself an independent king in 1674 and used guerrilla tactics against Mughal territory.
Question
Mansabdari system
Answer
The Mughal administrative system that ranked nobles by military and administrative duty, used to organise both the army and tax collection.
Question
What major monument did Shah Jahan complete in 1653?
Answer
The Taj Mahal, built as a mausoleum for his wife Mumtaz Mahal.
Question
Process: how did religious policy affect the Rajput alliance over time?
Answer
Akbar's marriages and mansabdar ranks won Rajput loyalty → Aurangzeb's temple destruction and jizya reversed this → Rajputs of Marwar rebelled from 1679.
Question
Name two internal forces of Mughal decline by 1712.
Answer
Costly Deccan wars draining the treasury, and succession wars with no fixed rule of inheritance.
Question
Name two external forces contributing to Mughal decline.
Answer
Growing European trading company presence (British and French East India Companies) and expanding Maratha power.
Question
Compare Akbar's and Aurangzeb's approach to Hindu subjects.
Answer
Akbar: cooperation — abolished jizya, married Rajput princesses, created Din-i-Ilahi. Aurangzeb: orthodoxy — restored jizya, destroyed some temples, alienated former allies.
Question
How did Aurangzeb come to power in 1658?
Answer
He imprisoned his own father, Shah Jahan, and defeated his brothers in a war of succession, showing the empire's lack of a fixed inheritance rule.
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Topic 20.4 hub
The rise and fall of the Mughal Empire (1526–1712)
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