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Mughal Empire (1526–1857)

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northern India, being then under mainly Muslim rulers, fell to the superior mobility and firepower of the Mughals

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resulting Mughal Empire did not stamp out the local societies it came to rule, but rather balanced and pacified them through new administrative practices

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it's one thing to create a regime as the Mughals did, it's another thing to sustain it, which they accomplished through three basic pillars

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1. used marriage to combine households into nuptial alliances to create bonds of loyalty by forging kinship networks

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2. aristocratic nature of the empire drawing wealth from peasants

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used tax collectors called zamindar

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3. use of the military

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Mughal Empire was pluralistic

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predominantly Muslim

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mostly Hindu

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Sikh (follower of Sikhism, from the Punjab region)

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Akbar (1542-1605)

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Mughal Emperor from 1556 until his death

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third and greatest ruler

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Mughal Empire reached acme under him

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established a centralized system of administration throughout his empire and adopted a policy of conciliating conquered rulers through marriage and diplomacy

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had several wives

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used marriage and kinship networks as a way of stitching together a regime

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court was multi-demoninational

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architecture had Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist and Persian traits

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half century of order and wealth

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apex in 1605 when he died

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he rules by forced, a period of violence and warfare

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many military campaigns against hold-out provinces

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his regime used symbols

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1. the peacock throne

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exemplified the power and majesty of the emperor

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buckets of diamonds

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silk canopy

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the source of a great ceremonial display

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doing the same as Louis IV was doing in France: creating ostentation

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2. Taj Mahal

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for his wife

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very strong Persian flavors

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was a symbolic mirage, by the time it as built there was much tension

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Deccan Wars (1680-1707)

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longest recorded military engagement in the history of India

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war ended in 1707 with a victory for the Marathas

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armies with several thousand elephants

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had to bring in more revenues to continue war

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was a cycle of war and debt, similar to Europe at that time

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local magnates start to defect from the system

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this breakdown combines with the Europeans who are hovering around the coast of India aggravating the decentralization of India

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the weakening of the Mughal authority creates a vacuum

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Europeans make deals with aristocrats who are trying to free themselves from the burdens of Mughal authority

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by 18th century, a critical focus of this was the production of cotton

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a crucial staple of making new forms of textiles in Europe

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England used silver from Peru to pay for the cotton

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result was a vast new trading emporia, like Bombay and Madras

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the firm that began to dominate this business was The East India Company

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founded in 1689

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product of this mercantilist age

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sometimes would confront the Mughals

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company actually didn't have the strength to defend itself against the Mughal Empire, in fact got spanked in its first military confrontation

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Europeans quickly learned that they had to challenge Mughal authority through alliances

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slow but inexorable erosion of central power merging with global forces, warlords allying with European merchant capitalists, a toxic combination for the Mughal Empire, culminating in the defection one by one of local regional power brokers.