In the eighteenth century, when the Mughal Empire was torn apart by the incompetence of the later Mughals and the selfishness of the nobles, far-reaching events were taking place in Persia. There was always the possibility of an invasion from the Persian side on the north-west. The mighty Safavi Empire of Persia was in decline and its capital Isfahan was captured by the Afghans. The one who liberated Persia from the Afghans was Nadir Quli, who is famous in history as Nadir Shah. This same Nadir Shah invaded India and defeated the Mughals in the battle of Karnal and made the hollowness of the empire completely clear.
Nadirkuli's Early Life (Early life of Nadirkuli)
Nadirkuli was born in 1688 in Khorasan, north-eastern Iran. His father Imamakuli was a simple farmer of Turkman caste who supported his family by sewing coats and hats from sheep skin. Nadir Quli had to spend his early life in great trouble as his father died in his childhood.
Nadir and his mother are said to have been imprisoned and enslaved by the Uzbeks (Tatars). After spending four years in prison, Nadir somehow escaped from the prison and joined the Afshar clan. Within days he became the chief of an armed gang and married two daughters of a local chief, Baba Alibeg.
Rise of Nadirshah in Persia (Nadir Shah's Rise in Persia)
When Nadir captured Nishapur in 1727 AD and expelled the Afghans from there, the people of Persia welcomed him as a liberator. Nadir possessed military aptitude as well as political foresight. He did not consider ascending the throne of Persia, but instead supported Shah Tahmasp, the successor of the Safavi dynasty. Shah Tahmasp was also impressed by Nadirkuli's talent and took him into his army. As the commander of Shah Tahmasp, Nadir not only drove the Afghans out of Persia, but also protected Persia from the Ottomans and Russians on the strength of his continuous military campaigns. Due to the success of his military campaigns, he was called 'Napoleon of Persia ' is called.
Impressed by Nadirkuli's achievements, Shah Tehmasp not only gave him half his kingdom, but also gave him the right to carry a currency in his own name along with a jeweled crown and 'Tehamasp Coolie Khan Also given the title of ' (servant of Tahmaspa).
Nadirquli recorded spectacular victories against the Afghans in the east, but Shah Tehmasp was defeated by enemies in the west and had to return some of the territories conquered by Nadir to the Ottomans. This made Nadir very angry. In 1732 AD, with the support of the public and the courtiers, he placed Abbas, the younger son of Tahmasp, on the throne. In 1736 AD, after the death of Shah Abbas, the last emperor of the Safavid dynasty, Nadirkuli ascended the throne of Persia under the name of Nadirshah and called himself 'Shah ' declared.
Cause Nadirshah to attack (Due to Nadir Shah's Invasion)
Nadir Shah was an ambitious ruler and wanted to expand his kingdom in his neighbourhood. After being satisfied with the direction of the west, he concentrated towards the east and invaded India in 1739 AD. There were many reasons for Nadir Shah's invasion of India.
One, Nadirshah needed money to continue his military campaigns. He was aware of the immense wealth of India. The money looted from India could have been the solution to this problem. Therefore the main objective of his attack on India was to get money.
Secondly, with the disintegration of the Mughal Empire, the security arrangements on the North-West Frontier were also very loose. Nadir was aware of the military weakness of the Mughal Empire. He knew that the Mughal power had been eroded due to internal conflicts. The example of Babur was in front of him and possibly some nobles of the Mughal court had also invited him to come to India. Contemporary writer Rustam Ali writes that 'Nizamulmulk and Burhanumulk, who were the head of the Mughal party, invited the Iranian emperor to lay the foundation of the new empire because in the weak position of the Mughals, he was in danger of establishing the power of the Bhonsles and the Marathas. .'
Third, one of Nadir's major goals was to conquer Kandahar. In order to isolate the Afghan rulers of Kandahar, he wrote a letter to the Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah that the Afghan rulers of Kandahar should not be given shelter in Kabul. Muhammad Shah had given such a belief, but when Nadir Shah attacked Kandahar in 1738 AD, some Afghans from there fled and took refuge in Ghazni and Kabul. Nadir Shah's soldiers respected the boundaries of the Mughal Empire and did not pursue Afghan fugitives to Kabul and Ghazni.
Fourth, Nadir Shah sent his emissary to Delhi to seek clarification from the Mughal Emperor about the fugitive Afghans. But but the Mughal soldiers killed the messenger and his companions in Jalalabad. Nadir Shah considered it diplomatic indecency and made it the reason for the attack on India.
Urgent Reason: The immediate reason for Nadir's invasion of India was the demand for compensation. After the conquest of Kandahar in 1737 AD, he had demanded one crore rupees from the Mughal emperor as compensation. He also reminded that Humayun had promised money every year in return for Iranian aid, which the Mughal emperor did not give. To get an answer to this demand, the envoy of Nadir Shah remained in the Mughal court for a year and the Mughal emperor kept on evasive. Finally Nadir Shah decided to attack India.
Nadirshah's invasion of India (Nadir Shah invaded India)
Nadir Shah had always demonstrated that he was a friend and well-wisher of the Mughal emperor. He announced that he was going to save the Mughal Empire from the southern infidels (Marathas) and punish the Afghans.
Nadir entered Ghazni city on 11 June, 1738 AD and captured Kabul on 29 June, 1738 AD. After this he reached Peshawar by crossing the Khyber Pass. Mughal ruler of Peshawar Nasir Khan surrendered without any resistance. On his apology, Nadir appointed him governor of Kabul and Peshawar. After this, Nadir Shah crossed the Indus river at the place of Attock and entered Lahore.
Mughal Governor of Lahore Zakaria Khan He did not have enough power and did not get any help from the Mughal emperor. As a result, he also surrendered without fighting and got the post of Governor of Lahore by paying 20 lakh rupees and his elephant as a tribute.
Nadir Shah reached Sirhind on February 16, 1739 AD by appointing his representative in Punjab. From there he traveled to Karnal via Ambala, Azimabad, where he fought with the Mughal army.
The Mughal emperor neither sent any military aid to Kabul or Punjab nor made any attempt to stop the invader. At present, some nobles in the Mughal court were assuming that after taking over Punjab, the Shah would go back. But when the nadir moved towards Delhi, everyone's hands and feet swelled. In a hurry, the Mughal emperor asked for help from the Marathas, Rajputs, Afghans, but no one showed any interest in giving help. There was no unity even among the nobles of the court. Nizamulmulk had 2,000-3,000 foot soldiers, but he was concerned about his kingdom in the south. The food tour was insisting on taking the help of the Marathas. Saadat Khan, the Nawab of Awadh was called. There was also a difference of opinion on the question of the commander and in the end the emperor Muhammad Shah himself had to take over the post of commander.
War of Karnal , 1739 AD (Battle of Karnal, 1739 AD)
The Mughal emperor was terrified by Nadir Shah's swift attack. The Mughals had no definite plan of action and no definite leader. The Mughal emperor Nizamulmulk, accompanied by Kamaruddin and Khan-i-Dauran with an army of 80,000, went to fight the invader. Soon the Nawab of Awadh, Saadat Khan also joined him. The weakness of the Mughals can be estimated from the fact that the emperor did not even know where the invader was. He came to know about the attacker when the soldiers of Nadirshah's forward squad attacked Saadat Khan's transport vehicles.
The battle of Karnal was fought between Nadir Shah and Muhammad Shah on February 24, 1739 AD. Shah did not face any difficulty in facing this disorganized army and the war was decided within three hours. Nadir's army was smaller than that of the Mughals, but the Persian army was victorious due to its ammunition. Khan-i-Daur was injured in the battle, while Saadat Khan was taken prisoner.
Conversation with Nadir Shah and the selfishness of the Mughal courtiers (Treaty Negotiations with Nadir Shah and Selfishness of Mughal Courtiers)
Nadirshah was easily conquered . On the advice of Saadat Khan, Nizam-mul-mulk was called from the Deccan and negotiations began to give money. Nadir Shah demanded twenty crore rupees, but in the end it was decided that the emperor would give fifty lakh rupees to Shah, 20 lakh immediately and returning in three installments of 10 lakh each at Lahore, Attock and Kabul. In the meantime, the injured food and tour died, leaving the post of Mirbakshi vacant. The form of selfishness and mutual hatred shown by the Mughal chiefs at this time was probably never seen in the history of India. In the end, the emperor appointed Nizamulmulk to the post of Mirbakshi.
Saadat Khan himself wanted to become Mirbakshi, but when he was deprived of this post, he met Nadir Shah and said that if you attack Delhi, you will get 20 lakhs, not 20 lakhs. crore can be found. Nadir Shah had already got an idea of Mughal politics from the Nizam. He had asked the Nizam that how the Marathas could win such a large part of the Mughal Empire under the brave warriors like you, then the Nizam had clearly told that all this happened due to the factionalism of the court, so he went to the Deccan in grief. was.
Turk Invasion of India:Mahmud Ghaznavi (Turk Invasion of India:Mahmud Ghaznavi)
Persian rule over Delhi (Persian Rule over Delhi)
Nadirshah left for Delhi and that 20 Reached Delhi on March, 1739 AD. The Khutba in the name of Nadir Shah was read in Delhi and coins were issued in his name. The Mughal Empire ended and the Persian Empire began.
Delhi's loot and murder (Delhi's Loot and Slaughter)
The emperor was negotiating a treaty with Nadir Shah. Then on March 22, 1739, there was a fight between the soldiers of Nadir and the merchants of Galle in Delhi. Meanwhile, rumors spread in the city that Nadir Shah was dead, leading to a stampede in Delhi and 700 soldiers of the Persian army were killed. Enraged by this, Nadir Shah ordered the slaughter. The massacre lasted for five hours in which 20,000-22,000 people died. In the end this order was withdrawn at the request of Muhammad Shah, Wazir Kamaruddin and Nizam.
Nadirshah stayed in Delhi for 57 days and looted Delhi to its fullest. He demanded Rs 20 crore from Saadat Khan. Due to not being able to fulfill this demand, Saadat Khan committed suicide by consuming poison. Saadat Khan's successor Safdarjung gave 2 crore rupees. Nadir received about 30 crore rupees in cash and a lot of gold, silver, diamonds and jewels etc. Fraser says that he took away goods worth 70 crores from India, including Shah Jahan's Takht-i-Taus and the famous Kohinoor diamond. The main objective of Nadir was to collect the necessary funds for his army, which he had got. It is said that on his return from Delhi, he had got so much money that he did not collect any tax from the public for the next three years.
The Return of Nadirshah (Return of Nadir Shah)
Prior to departure, Nadir Shah crowned Muhammad Shah with his hand, proclaimed Mughal emperor and returned the right to read the Khutba and issue coins. The Mughal emperor married his daughter to Nadir Shah's son Nasirullah Mirza. In addition, Muhammad Shah also donated all the land west of the Indus river to Nadir Shah and promised to pay an annual tax of twenty lakh rupees. The emperor also promised that Nadir Shah's army across Sindh would not get any opportunity to complain. Nadir Shah ordered the Amirs to obey the Emperor and promised military assistance to Delhi if needed.
Nadirshah had to face many difficulties in his return. On the way, he was harassed a lot by the Jats and Sikhs of Punjab and some of his belongings were also looted. This loot money did not remain in his treasury for long. Nadir Shah was assassinated by his own bodyguards near Mashhad on 19 June 1747, and his empire soon disintegrated.
Muhammad Ghori's Invasions:The Foundation of Turk Power in India (Muhammad Ghori’s Invasions:The foundation of Turk Power in India)
results of Nadirshah's attack (Results of Nadir Shah's Invasion)
The invasion of Nadirshah was a severe blow to the Mughal Empire. This invasion accelerated the pace of the decline of the empire with economic losses. The country had to suffer severe economic loss due to this invasion. नादिरशाह लगभग 30 करोड़ रुपया नकद एवं सोना चाँदी, हीरे-जवाहरात के साथ 100 हाथी, 7000 घोड़े, 10,000 ऊँट, 100 हिजड़े, 130 लेखपाल, 200 अच्छे लोहार, 300 राजगीर, 100 संगतराश और 200 बढ़ई भी ले गया। वह मयूर सिंहासन और कोहिनूर हीरा भी ले गया।
आक्रमण से मुगल साम्राज्य की प्रतिष्ठा धूल में मिल गई। मुगल सम्राट पूर्ण रूप से शक्तिहीन हो गया और स्थानीय शासक स्वतंत्र शासकों की भाँति व्यवहार करने लगे।
नादिरशाह के आक्रमण से मुगल साम्राज्य का खोखलापन स्पष्ट हो गया जिससे मराठों की महत्वाकांक्षाओं में वृद्धि हुई और मुगल अमीर भी यह अनुभव करने लगे कि मुगल साम्राज्य को बचाने के लिए मराठों से सहयोग लेना आवश्यक है।
शक्तिशाली मुगल साम्राज्य ने यूरोपियनों पर नियंत्रण रखा था। मुगल साम्राज्य का खोखलापन स्पष्ट होने से उनकी महत्वकांक्षाओं में वृद्धि हुई। वे सुरक्षा के नाम पर सैनिक एकत्रित करने लगे और अपने केंद्रों की किलेबंदी करने लगे। यद्यपि नादिरशाह का आक्रमण मुगल साम्राज्य के पतन का कारण नहीं था, किंतु यह आघात इतना भीषण था कि मुगल सत्ता का सम्मान नष्ट हो गया और प्रांतीय अधिकारी पूर्ण रूप से स्वतंत्र हो गये।
पंजाब और सिंधु क्षेत्र के पृथक् हो जाने से उत्तर-पश्चिम सीमा की सुरक्षा का प्रश्न गंभीर हो गया। नादिरशाह ने युद्ध में हल्की तोपों, जजायत, रहकला, शीघ्र चलनेवाली बंदूकों का प्रयोग किया था। यह सामरिक प्रणाली में परिवर्तन था। दुर्भाग्य से मराठों ने इस परिवर्तन से कुछ नहीं सीखा और वे सामरिक दृष्टि से पीछे रह गये। रुहेलों ने इस पर ध्यान दिया और मराठों के विरुद्ध इसका प्रयोग किया।
<दिल्ली सल्तनत :गुलाम वंश
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