ICSE Class 8 Answered
Expert Answer
Three major causes for the decline of the Mughal empire:
Weak Successors of Aurungzeb: Most of Aurungzeb’s successors were pleasure loving, politically weak and inefficient. Therefore, they failed in managing the huge empire which their predecessors had built. As a direct result of this, the Mughal nobility became powerful and began to control the Mughal emperors like puppets. Some distant governors saw in this an opportunity to carve out an empire for themselves and hence declared their independence, further weakening and destabilising the central Mughal authority.
Wars of Succession: The Mughals did not have clear-cut rules of succession. As a result, whenever an emperor died, several of his relatives would lay a claim to the throne which would result in wars of succession. This led to severe destruction, drainage of the empire’s resources and gradual destabilisation of the central Mughal authority.
Politics at the Mughal Court: Because the Later Mughals were weak, there was a lot of political intrigue and rivalry at the Mughal court. The nobility was divided in four major groups – the Iranis from Persia, Turanis from Transoxiana, Afghans from the mountainous border regions across the Indus and the Hindustanis. The mutual jealousies and machinations of these groups greatly harmed the Mughal administration.
ANSWERED BY EXPERT ANSWERED BY EXPERT ANSWERED BY EXPERT ANSWERED BY EXPERT ANSWERED BY EXPERT ANSWERED BY EXPERT ANSWERED BY EXPERT ANSWERED BY EXPERT ANSWERED BY EXPERT ANSWERED BY EXPERT
