Mughal Military Campaigns

Introduction

The Mughal empire came into existence with Babur in 1526 after he won the First battle of Panipat with Ibrahim Lodi. Babur had to lead several military campaigns to consolidate the empire. His campaigns included the Battle of Khanwa in 1527, the battle of Chanderi in 1528 and the Battle of Ghagra in 1529. After him, his son Humayun came into power in 1530. Humayun faced a crushing defeat from Afghan chief Sher Shah in the battle of Chausa in 1539 and the battle of Kanauj in 1540. As a result, the Mughal Empire came to a halt for 15 years.

But in 1555, Humayun re-established the Mughal Empire with the help of Safavid Shah. Then Akbar succeeded the Mughal throne in 1556; for him, it took almost two decades to consolidate his power and bring central and northern India under his rule. Major military campaigns of his reign included the Second battle of Panipat in 1556 and the battle of Haldighati. After Akbar, his successors like Jahangir, Shahjahan and Aurangzeb also led several military conquests in order to expand the empire in Mewar, Deccan, Kangra and Bengal.

The reason behind the success of Mughal military campaigns was that they had very well well-trained and gunpowder tactics in which they used cannons to defeat their rivals.

Three Times When the Mughal Military Juggernaut Ran up Against the Immutable Force of the Nature

The Mughal army was apprehensive of two seasons, namely winter and monsoon. The fear of environmental forces was so intense that many times it had either slackened the military campaigns or stopped the powerful force of the empire and even failed their territorial expansion to some extent. We will study in detail the three instances where Mughal military juggernauts refused to carry on campaigns due to the fear of seasons in those regions.

A Campaign Headed by Prince Murad Bakhsh in Balkh

During the seventeenth century, the Mughal emperor Shahjahan sent a military expedition to conquer Balkh, an Uzbek city (Modern day Afghanistan), headed by his younger son, prince Murad Bakhsh. This was Mughal's ancestral land which was captured by Uzbegs during Babur's times. As soon as the Mughal army reached Balkh, the ruler ran away, and Murad easily captured the area.

Eventually, Murad decided not to stay any more in that area. Therefore, he sought the permission of his father by sending him a request to transfer him from that area. The reason for the request for the transfer was that winter was approaching in Central Asia at that time, in which it was hard to survive with a large army. It was extremely difficult for them with snow all around, which could block roads for several months, thus, creating logistic problems as well as feeding the large army along with horses used in the cavalry.

Shahjahan did not approve his son's appeal and asked him to remain there. Even after that, Murad set off for a return journey by leaving his subordinates there. This made Shahjahan very angry, and he removed him from the court and called his mansab.

Mughal's Military Campaign in Kashmir

It was Mughal emperor Akbar who sent a military expedition to conquer Kashmir under the commander-in-chief, Muhammed Qasim Khan, who defeated the Chak dynasty of Kasmir in 1586. Gradually, during the conquest of Kashmir, the Mughal troops started refusing to venture out due to the extreme winter, as a result of which Qasim Khan himself had to go out to confront enemies.

The Mughal armies in Kashmir found it difficult to deal with the freezing cold along with rugged terrain and unbearable conditions with less or no food supply. These Mughal soldiers were accustomed to a warmer climate with plain land. But this expedition of Kashmir made it difficult for them to sustain in extremely cold environmental conditions and travel through narrow alleviated terrains. At the same, they were constantly attacked by Kashmiri nobility, which were supporters of the Chak dynasty.

Mughal Conquest of Assam

Along with the winter, the Mughal soldiers dreaded monsoon season, which is evident from the Mughal advancement in Assam. In 1662 Aurangzeb sent an army under commander-in-chief Mir Jumla. The Mughal army succeeded in conquering the area and forced Ahoms to take refuge in the hills by making a treaty with them in 1663. And by the end of this campaign, Aurangzeb issued a Farman from the Mughal court to Assam to choose two officers from Assam's campaign as subedar and faujdar. The officers refused to accept the position due to the adversities of the climate faced them during the conquest, which included heavy rainfall causing flooding in the region, making it difficult for them to sustain.

Realizing the weakness of Mughal soldiers, Ahom made use of the situation; they came out of their refuge and started attacking Mughal invaders. In addition to this, continuous heavy rainfall broke down the troop's connections of communication with each other and also affected the line of supply of food grains. All of these led the imperial army to flee from Assam.

Conclusion

The Mughal military campaigns started in the late fourteenth century and continued almost the eighteenth century. Although the Mughals succeeded in almost all their conquests, sometimes they came across many adversities in the form of rebellion within their empire and continuous external pressure. Along with this, environmental factors also added challenges for Mughal military troops. As a result, the campaigns had to discontinue at times for adverse situations like in Balkh by Murad and Kashmir campaigns.

Overall, the Mughals made successful military campaigns and expanded the empire in almost the whole of the Indian subcontinent, including Kabul, Kandahar, lower Sind and Baluchistan, through a series of wars.

FAQs

Q1. Who were Ahoms?

Ans. Ahoms were the groups of tribal people who shifted to Assam. They defeated the traditional landowning class of Assam, i.e., bhuiyans. They also conquered the Chhutiyas and Koch-Hajo in the sixteenth century. Ultimately, they built a new large state in the Brahmaputra valley by subjugating many tribes of the region.

Q2. Between whom and when was the battle of Haldighati fought? Who won the battle?

Ans. The battle of Haldighati was fought between the Rajput forces of Rana Pratap and Akbar in 1576 CE. The Mughal army under the command of Raja Man Singh defeated the Rana Pratap.

Q3. Explain Humayu's battle against Sher Shah.

Ans. Humayun attacked the fort of Chunar, which was the stronghold of Sher Shah, but he could not complete that invasion at Chunar as he had to concentrate on Gujarat. Taking advantage of Humayun's preoccupation in Gujarat, Sher Shah started consolidating his position in Bengal and Bihar.

Sher Shah faced Humayun in a battle in Chausa in 1539. He launched a sudden attack on the Mughal army and routed it. After this, Sher Shah confronted Humayun in the east of Agra at Kanauj. Here also, Sher Shah defeated Humayun and became the master of Agra and Delhi and replaced the Mughal empire with the Sur dynasty of Afghan for 15 years.

Q4. Who was a Faujdar in Mughal era?

Ans. During the Mughal era, the Faujdar was a title given to the head of a garrison in the military. Later, during Akbar's reign, these faujdars were made heads of the districts or sarkars.

Q5. What do you understand by cavalry?

Ans. Cavalry comprised the military force trained to fight to ride on horseback.