Emergence of New States After Mughal - Hyderabad

Introduction

The Mughal empire began in 1526 with Babur as the first Mughal ruler. After Babur, the next Mughal emperors were Humayun, Akbar, Jahangir, Shah Jahan and Aurangazeb. During this time period, the Mughal empire flourished at its peak. It was only after the death of Aurangzeb, that the empire started declining. By the eighteenth century, the Mughal Empire was bifurcated into independent regional states.

It can be broadly categorised into three segments −

• The old Mughal provinces

• The regional autonomous states, Watan Jagirs like the Rajputs

• Other states like the Sikhs, Marathas, Jats, etc.

This tutorial is all about the emergence of the new state- Hyderabad. Hyderabad was a part of the old Mughal provinces, along with Awadh and Bengal. The founders of these provinces were Mughal Subadars appointed by the Mughal rulers. They were placed at high positions in the Mughal court and this helped them form independent states when the Mughal empire grew weak. Though they became independent, the founders of these old Mughal provinces did not break the formal ties with Mughals.

Reason behind the Emergence of Hyderabad

Many external and internal factors led to decline of the Mughal empire, which ultimately led to the emergence of new states, one was Hyderbad under the leadership of Nizam-ul- Mulk Asaf Jha. One of the fundamental reasons was the depletion of financial reasons due to the constant war led by Aurangzeb with the Deccan provinces.

Another factor behind the fall of the Mughal empire was the decentralisation of the political authority of the Mughal empire between the mansabdars, subadars, and local chieftains. Mansabdars and subadars were equipped with military and administrative powers of their respective provinces, and after the Mughal empire grew weak they took over the political and economic powers of the provinces as well. This led to the rise of powerful rebellions by the peasants against the mounting taxes as they now had more economic resources compared to earlier times due to the non-payment of taxes to the Mughal empire.

During the reign of Muhammad Shah, Nadir Shah from Persia invaded Delhi in 1739, and later between 1748 and 1761, Afghan ruler Ahmad Shah Abdali raided and plundered Northern India five times. Apart from these external reasons, the internal conflict and conspiracies between the Irani and Turani factions of nobles shattered the roots of the strong Mughal empire. All these reasons caused the emergence of new states and the old Mughal provinces of Hyderabad, Awadh, and Bengal became independent during the 18th century.

How Hyderabad was formed

Who was Asaf Jha?

Asaf Jha was a powerful governor in the court of the Mughal emperor Farrukh Siyar. Asaf Jha had a zat rank of 7000, which made him a very important member of the Mughal court. Initially, he was the subadar of Awadh province, and later took over the governorship of the Deccan province. Asaf Jha was given full control over the financial and political administration of the Deccan region.

Farukkh Siyar was not a powerful Mughal Emperor. During his reign, the nobles of the Mughal court grew powerful and roughly took charge of the overall functioning of the Mughal empire. Asaf Jha was one such powerful member of the Mughal court. The Mughal emperor entrusted him with the governorship of Awadh, a province in Northern India, and later made him the governor of Deccan. As Deccan governor, he started gaining full financial and political control over the region. The growing turmoil in the Deccan region during that time along with the increased competitiveness of the court nobility gave him the added advantage to become the actual ruler of Hyderabad.

Asaf Jha to secure their independence as the ruler of Hyderabad recruited skilled administrators and soldiers from Northern India in the regions of the south. Being a governor himself, he also started appointing mansabdars in his province and granted land grants and jagirs. Formally, Asaf Jha was still working for the Mughal Emperor, and due to the weak administration from Delhi, he started ruling independently without any formal approval from the Mughal Emperor in Delhi. Also, the decision taken by Asaf Jha regarding the Hyderabad region was hardly confirmed by the Mughal Emperor.

Nizam-ul-Mulk Asaf Jha was constantly engaged in war with the Nayaka dynasty from the Telangana plateau regions and the Marathas in the west to expand their territory. Later, the Nizam tried to take control over the textile-producing areas on the Coromandel coast, which led to conflicts with the British.

Conclusion

The knowledge and experience of the Mughal administration and governorship in the Northern part of India helped Nizam-ul-Mulk Asaf Jha secure his position as the leader of Hyderabad province. The weakening of the Mughal empire and the increased turmoil in the Deccan regions paved a way for Asf Jha to become the ultimate ruler of Hyderabad. Moreover, Asaf Jha, being an important member of the Mughal court, started taking independent economic and political decisions for the Hyderabad region without any interference from the Mughal Emperor.

FAQs

Qns 1. How strong was Nizam’s army?

Ans. As per the description mentioned about Nizam’s army in 1790, Nizam of Hyderabad Asaf Jha had several thousand horsemen who received a nominal pay of Rs 100. Asaf Jha had a swaree of 400 elephants as well.

Qns 2. What is Jagir?

Ans. Jagir is a feudal land grant. It was given by the Mughal Emperor to jagirdars appointed by the emperor himself

Qns 3. What was the real name of Asaf Jha?

Ans. The real name of Asaf Jha was Chin Qilich Khan. The title Nizam-ul-Mulk was conferred to him by the then Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah in 1713.