Hi all,
I have been getting into history recently from the Indian sub-continent, and what I can’t seem to understand is how the Mughals, hailed for their supremacy in the Indian sub-continent, somehow fell to the British rather swiftly? Also, where did the Mughals go after being overthrown? I can’t seem to find much information about this online.
Any information is appreciated.
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I’m assuming you’re not indian if you’re asking that. So I’d suggest reading “History of Medieval India: 800-1700” by Satish Chandra for a detailed understanding. He is often recommended in the history syllabi for college students.
I’ll keep the answer here short. The British had earlier arrived in India in 1600s for the sole purpose of trading. But of course there were other Europeans who were vying for trade privileges too. Initially, when the Mughal emperors were comparatively more powerful, the British did not in fact pose much threat. Which is why, you don’t really see the expansion of the British in India until after Aurangzeb, the 7th Mughal emperor, died.
Before that, during Jahangir’s time, the British fought for the control of Surat with another European Trading Company (i can’t recall with whom, I’m assuming the Portuguese). This, Jahangir, who was initially uninterested in British, took a liking to them and permitted them to set up a trading company. However, the Mughals since the time of Jahangir, started facing their own internal struggles. Qandahar was lost, the vassals started revolting and even the princes were revolting. Most of their energy was spent trying to deal with rebellions inside the kingdom. Aurangzeb infamously directed his entire energy towards Deccan and the Marathas, thus weakening Mughals considerably. The issue is the latter kings were not sharp enough to control the vast empire after Aurangzeb. His immediate succesor Bahadur shah was good. But he died after about half a decade. The rest that followed were weak. Lots of internal squabbles and the nobles began exerting their own control.
The British at the time focused mainly on the coastal trading posts and so were not perceived as a danger. Even during the reign of Jahangir, Shah Jahan and Aurangazeb, all they did was trying to get maximum trading rights. That’s all. But after the death of Bahadur Shah, with the quick succession of weak rulers, nobles interfering, important provinces breaking off, attacks of nadir shah and ahmed shah abdali, the Mughals were quite reduced in the power they held.
In 1757, they fought the battle of Plassey alongside 2 others, the British won. And that was basically the turning point in the British colonialism in India. It is after this that they began expanding their territories.
The main reason for their victory was that the army was well trained, paid well, and most important, the generals since the time of Clive were very good and battle hardened. The Mughals were nowhere close to them, considering they devoted half of their energy towards internal squabbles. Those who were good like the Bengal Nawab, they were defeated by several policies and outright treachery.
The Mughals remained in Delhi, slowly becoming mere figureheads. After the 1857 war, bahadur Shah’s 2 sons were executed, and the king himself was sent to rangoon prison (burma/myanmar). We can’t really trace the direct lineage now. There are people who claim to be his descendants but there’s no proof. Also, since India does not recognise titles and royal families, claims of descendence won’t bring much gains either