Military Conquests of Jahangir

Soon after ascending the Mughal throne, Jahangir, the fourth Mughal Emperor, allowed a chain with bells to be hung outside his palace to enable petitioners to bring their grievances to the notice of the emperor himself. He promulgated twelve edicts or ordinances for the general welfare and better government of the empire. Although these ordinances confirmed Jahangir’s desire to continue his father Akbar’s liberal policies, in practice they remained ineffective.

At the beginning of his reign in 1606, Jahangir has to face the rebellion of his son Khusrau in Lahore. Khusrau has the blessings of some of the powerful nobles of the empire. Khusrau’s rebellion was personally suppressed by Jahangir. Khusrau was captured, blinded, confined and subsequently killed by Khurram (name of Shah Jahan, the fifth Mughal Emperor, before his ascension to the Mughal Throne) in 1622.

The fifth Sikh Guru Arjan, who had given shelter to Khusrau at Taran Taran, was fined. When he refused to pay the fine, he was executed by Jahangir. This was an unwise political decision because this sowed the seeds of acrimonious relations between the Mughals and the Sikhs.

The first military campaign undertaken by Jahangir was against Rana Amar Singh, son of Rana Pratap of Mewar. The Mughal expeditions sent against Mewar in 1606 and 1608-09 proved indecisive, but in 1613-14 the campaign led by Khurram (third son of Jahangir) proved decisive and Rana Amar Singh submitted to the Mughals in 1615. Jahangir offered most liberal terms to Mewar and thus ended a long struggle between Mewar and the Mughals. The emperor installed two life-size marble statues of Rana Amar Singh and his son Karan in the garden of his palace at Agra. However, the glory and pride of Mewar was gone.

Jahangir pursued Akbar’s plan of territorial expansion in the Deccan. The first target was a half-conquered Nizam Shahi kingdom of Ahmadnagar. However, during the reign of Jahangir the situation in Ahmadnagar had undergone a sea change for the better thanks to the untiring efforts and ability of the Abyssinian Prime Minister Malik Ambar. From 1608 onwards a number of military expeditions were sent by Jahangir against Ahmadnagar but in spite of the expenditure of millions of rupees and loss of thousand of lives, the Mughal frontier in the Deccan did not advance a single mile beyond the limits achieved in 1605.

Subjugation of the Kangra Fort was another military achievement by Jahangir. The fort surrendered to the Mughal rule on November 16, 1620. Jahangir visited the fort next year and ordered the slaughter of a cow here and the construction of a mosque within the fort.

The greatest failure of Jahangir’s reign was the loss of Kandahar to Persia. Kandahar was the bone of contention between the Mughals and the Persians. Shah Abbas of Persia (1587-1629), one of the greatest rulers of his time, outwardly professing friendship towards the Mughals, captured Kandahar in June 1622. The loss of Kandahar dealt a severe blow to the Mughal prestige in Central Asia.