1 - The Mughal Empire

Summary

The economic activities of the Mughal empire derived from the basic urges which created and sustained it as well as the structure of polity devised for their fulfilment. A recent work has used the not-too-felicitous term ‘conquest state’ to characterize the empire. The term has, however, the virtue of pinpointing the fact that the state was created by, and largely existed for, acts of conquest. Quest for glory, a spirit of adventure and ego-satisfaction on a mammoth scale may have all played their parts in inducing these acts. Yet the uncomplicated desire of a small ruling class for more and more material resources – an almost primitive urge to consume and acquire – was beyond doubt the primary condition on which the empire established itself. The now familiar efforts to play down the economic urges behind later empires would have little relevance to the Mughals: their economism was simple, straightforward and almost palpable. And there was no containing it until it collapsed under the weight of its own contradictions. The greed for empire was not amenable to self-control: Shāhjahān, for instance, was content to have Bijapur and Golconda as tributary states, but the court faction in favour of annexation, attracted by the great wealth of the southern states, inevitably prevailed. Expansion was also in the logic of things. The empire, held together by force, needed a vast machinery of coercion and, hence, adequate resources to sustain it. And as it expanded to ensure adequate supply of resources, its needs increased more than in proportion.