Decline of the Mughal Empire — Responsibility of Aurangzeb

How Aurangzeb’s Policies Led to the Decline of the Mughal Empire

The Mughal empire declined rapidly after the death of Aurangzeb. The Mughal court became the scene for faction fighting among the nobles, and soon ambitious provincial governors began to behave in an independent manner.
The Maratha depredations extended from the Deccan to the heartland of the empire, the Gangetic plains.
The weakness of the empire was proclaimed to the world when Nadir Shah imprisoned the Mughal emperor and looted Delhi in 1739.

It has been said that Aurangzeb offered the kingdom to Shahu on condition of his turning a Muslim. Contemporary records do not support this. If Aurangzeb had wanted to convert Shahu to Islam, he could have done so while he was his captive during the preceding 13 years. Normally, a converted Hindu prince lost the right to his kingdom.
There has been a good deal of discussion among historians about the extent to which the downfall of the Mughal empire was due to developments after the death of Aurangzeb and to what extent it was due to his mistaken policies. Recent trends view his reign in the context of the economic, social, administrative, and intellectual situation prevailing in the country, as well as the developing international trends before and during his reign.

The working of economic and social forces in medieval India has yet to be fully understood. Trade and commerce were expanding in India during the seventeenth century, and handicraft production was keeping pace with the growing demand.
The area under zabti, where the system of measurement was followed, expanded according to official Mughal statistics. There is some evidence that the total area under cultivation expanded due to population growth, the working of economic forces, and the administrative policies pursued by the Mughals.
The basic reasons for the limited expansion were social and partly administrative. Since the population of the country during the period is estimated to be about 125 million, there was plenty of surplus cultivable land available.

The number of mansabdars rose from 2,069 at the time of Jahangir’s accession in 1605, to 8,000 in 1637 during Shah Jahan’s reign, and to 11,456 during the latter half of Aurangzeb’s reign.
The zamindars, who as a class had become more powerful and influential, were in no mood to submit to the illegal exactions of the nobles.
The crisis of the jagirdari system put the nobility under pressure.

In the political field, Aurangzeb committed several serious mistakes. He failed to understand the true nature of the Maratha movement and disregarded Jai Singh’s advice to befriend Shivaji.
Aurangzeb failed to solve the Maratha problem and thus left an open sore.
Aurangzeb has been criticized for failing to unite with the Deccani states against the Marathas or for conquering them, thereby making the empire so large that it collapsed under its own weight.

Aurangzeb’s reign, characterized by his inability to effectively manage the empire’s internal and external challenges, his failure to adapt to changing socio-economic conditions, and his alienation of key political groups, significantly contributed to the rapid decline of the Mughal Empire.