Assembly elections are going on in five states of the country, West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. Out of these five, there are 3 states Assam, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, where the Mughals were never able to capture. Kolkata (then Calcutta), the capital of West Bengal, was definitely the center of the Mughals and later of the British. At that time, Mughal emperor Alamgir II was ruling and the Nawab of Calcutta was Siraj-ud-Daula, who lost his throne after being betrayed by his own commander Mir Jafar.
Let us turn the pages of history and try to understand what were the reasons due to which the Mughal rulers could not capture Assam along with Tamil Nadu and Kerala even if they wanted to.
Why did the sword of the Mughals become blunt in South India-Assam?
The Mughal emperors ruled North India for a long time, but when it came to South India and the North-East, their swords became blunt. The main reasons behind this were the geographical position of the South, the passion of the Marathas, the Ahom warriors in Eastern India and the Mughals’ own weaknesses. For this reason, no color of the Mughals could be seen on today’s Kerala. The local princely states like Travancore, Cochin, Calicut etc. were successful in protecting themselves very strongly.
There were many reasons behind not being able to capture the south.
Similarly, today’s Tamil Nadu used to be a part of the Vijayanagara Empire. When this empire weakened, many small heroes emerged. Around the 18th century, the Nawabs of Karnataka took over most of present-day Tamil Nadu, which was directly under the Nizam of Hyderabad. After this they all became independent.
On searching the history books, it is found that the Mughal emperors could not completely capture South India and Assam due to the following five reasons. Although, he tried hard. Aurangzeb spent about 25 years but could not achieve anything concrete.
1: Difficult geographical conditions
The Mughal army was accustomed to fighting in open fields. The flat plains of North India were suitable for their horsemen. In contrast, the Deccan region of the south was full of rugged mountains and dense forests. At the same time, Brahmaputra Valley of Assam was known for its swamps and heavy rains. Aurangzeb tried a lot in South India during his time but he did not get the success he wanted.
Mughal emperor Aurangzeb spent the last 25 years of his rule in conquering the south, but remained empty handed.
Historian Satish Chandra has written in detail in this regard in his book Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals. They say that the heights of Deccan and the impenetrable forts there had broken the supply chain of the Mughals. The Mughal armies used to get lost in the ghats and forests of the south, due to which their strength was greatly reduced.
2: Guerrilla warfare policy
The Ahom kings of Assam and the Marathas of Maharashtra used guerrilla warfare against the Mughals very well. Ahom commander Lachit Borphukan had badly defeated the Mughals in the battle of Saraighat (1671). The Assam Navy took advantage of the Brahmaputra river and defeated the Mughals in water.
flexible Borphukan.
Historian Jadunath Sarkar explains in detail in his book History of Aurangzeb that the Marathas never fought directly with the Mughals. They would loot the Mughal convoys, hide in the mountains and then attack suddenly. The huge army of the Mughals could not give a proper response to this agile strategy. Many times this happened due to lack of familiarity with the routes and sometimes due to sudden attacks. It kept happening again and again.
3: Religious and political policies of Aurangzeb
Mughal emperor Aurangzeb spent the last 25 years of his rule in conquering the south, but his Deccan policy proved suicidal for the Mughals. He destroyed the Shia princely states like Bijapur and Golconda, but due to this, the walls which were acting as a buffer state against the Marathas collapsed. The result was that the Mughals became the direct target of the Marathas. Aurangzeb’s hardline policies also pitted the local Hindu chieftains and common people of the south against the Mughals.
Aurangzeb’s hardline policies pitted the Hindus of the south against the Mughals.
4: Local resistance and invincible spirit
The Ahom Empire ruled Assam for about six hundred years. He faced 17 attacks from the Mughals but never accepted defeat completely. Similarly, even after the fall of the Vijayanagara Empire in the south, the regional heroes and the Maratha Empire continued to fight to protect their culture and land. Jadunath Sarkar writes that Aurangzeb did register victory in the south, but it was only a paper victory. As soon as the Mughal army withdrew from an area, the local people would revolt again.
5: Economic burden and weakness of administration
The distance from Delhi to Kanyakumari was very long. In that period the means of communication were limited. Fighting the war in the south was taking a toll on the Mughals’ economy. The salaries of the soldiers started falling due and the Mughal Mansabdars started fighting among themselves. According to Satish Chandra, the entire treasury of the Mughals was emptied in the wars in the south. The administration had become so weak that it became impossible to control the southern provinces, thousands of miles away from the capital.
In short, the hilly terrain of the south, the marshy roads of Assam, the courage of the Maratha-Ahom warriors and the economic decline of the Mughals were some of the reasons that kept the map of India forever out of the complete control of the Mughals. The Mughals tried hard, but they could never suppress the self-respect of the south and the soil of Assam.
Also read:Why did Dara Shikoh become immortal in history even after losing to Aurangzeb?