1. Divide Akbar’s reign into three periods and give details about them.
   Or
   Mention the major campaigns and events of Akbar’s reign.
   Answer: Akbar’s reign can be divided into the following three periods.

• 1556-1570. Akbar became independent of the regent Bairam Khan and other members of his domestic staff. He launched military campaigns against the Suris and other Afghans, against the neighbouring kingdoms of Malwa and Gondwana to suppress the revolt of his half brother Mirza Hakim and the Uzbeks. In the year 1568, he seized the Sisodiya Capital of Chittor and in 1569 Ranthambhor.
• 1570-1585. Military campaigns in Gujarat were followed by campaigns in the east in Bihar, Bengal, and Orissa. These campaigns were complicated by the 1579-1580 revolt in support of Mirza Hakim.
• 1585-1605. During this period Akbar expanded his empire. He launched campaigns in the north-west. Qandahar was seized from the Safavids and Kashmir was annexed. Kabul was seized after the death of Mirza Hakim. Afterward, Akbar started his campaigns in the Deccan and soon he annexed Berar, Khandesh, and parts of Ahmadnagar.

2. Write a short note on Akbar’s administrative policies.         [V. Imp.]
   Answer:  Akbar’s administrative policies were mentioned in Abul Fazl’s book the Akbar Nama, particularly in its third and last volume, the Ain-i Akbari In the book Abul Fazl explained that the empire was divided into provinces known as Subas, governed by a Subadar. The Subadar carried out both political and military functions. Each province also had a financial officer or Diwan. For the maintenance of peace and order in his province, the Subadar was supported by several officers, for example

• The military paymaster also is known as Bakhshi.
• The minister in charge of religious and charitable patronage or
• Military commanders called Faigdars, and
• The town police commander called Akbar’s nobles commanded huge armies and had access to large amounts of revenue.

Akbar wanted to govern his empire peacefully. Hence he gave utmost importance to the idea of tolerance because it did not discriminate between people of different religions in his realm. He held religious discussions with the Ulama, Brahmanas, Jesuit priests who were Roman Catholics and Zoroastrians and came to the conclusion that the idea of sulh-i kul or ‘universal peace’ would work effectively. This idea focused on a system of ethics, honesty, justice and peace. These values were universally accepted.
Thus, Akbar’s administrative policies were based on considerate ideas,

3. Who were mansabdars? What were their responsibilities?
   Answer: The Mughals recruited diverse bodies of people in order to run the empire smoothly. Those who joined Mughal service were enrolled as mansabdars.

The term mansabdar referred to an individual holding a mansab, meaning a position or rank. It was a grading system used by the Mughals to fix rank, salary and military responsibilities.

The mansabdars were assigned to military responsibilities. For this they maintained a specified number of sowar or cavalrymen. The mansabdar brought his cavalrymen for review, got them registered, their horses branded and then received money to pay them as salary.

4. Why did the peasantry suffer a lot during the last years of Aurangzeb’s reign? [V. Imp.]
   Answer: Mansabdars, recruited by the Mughals to discharge Mughal services, received their salaries as revenue assignments known as jagirs. But most mansabdars did pot actually reside in or administer their jagirs. They only had rights to the revenue of their assignments which was collected for them by their servants while they served in some other part of the country.

Akbar managed to carefully assess these jagirs so that their revenues were roughly equal to the salary of the mansabdar. But Aurangzeb failed to do this. During his reign the actual revenue collected was often less than the granted sum. There was also a huge increase in the number of mansabdars, which meant a long wait before they received a jagir. These created a shortage in the number of jagirs.

As a result, many jagirdars tried to extract as much revenue as possible while they had a jagir. As Aurangzeb could not control these developments, the peasantry suffered a lot. They had to give the revenue under all circumstances which made their life miserable.

5. Write in brief about the Mughal Empire in the 17th century and afterward.[Imp.]
   Answer:
   (a) The influence and power of the Mughals were at the height during the 17th century. The sheen of their administrative and military efficiency brought great economic and commercial prosperity to the Empire. They had a huge treasure of wealth. They led a highly luxurious life. But the common mass had to face the curse of poverty.

( b) The Mughal emperors and their mansabdars spend a great deal of their income on salaries and goods. This expenditure benefited the artisans and peasantry who supported them with goods and produce. But the scale of revenue collection left very little for investment in the hands of the peasants and artisans. The poorest among them led a very miserable life. It was not possible for them to invest in additional resources like tools and supplies in order to increase productivity. However, the wealthier peasantry and artisanal groups, the merchants, and bankers profited in this economic world.

(c) The Mughal elites exercised a great deal of power in the late 17th century. With the decline of Mughal power and influence, many nobles became independent. They constituted new dynasties and held command of provinces, such as Hyderabad and Awadh.