The Decline of the Mughal Empire
The great Mughal Empire,
the envy of its contemporaries, for almost two centuries, declined and disintegrated
during the first half of the 18th century. The Mughal Emperors lost their power
and glory and their empire shrank to a few square miles around Delhi. In the
end, in 1803, Delhi itself was occupied by the British array and the proud
Mughal Emperor was reduced to the status of a mere pensioner of a foreign
power. A study of the process of decline of this great Empire is most
instructive. It reveals some of the defects and weaknesses of India’s
medieval social, economic and political structure which were responsible for
the eventual subjugation of the country by the English East India Company.
