The Mughal Empire showed decline from the days of Aurangzeb

 Decline of the empire

The Mughal Empire showed decline from the days of Aurangzeb .The highly centralized administration and the vastness of the empire created many problems. Aurangzeb’s successors were weak and not capable men. The weakness of the Mughal officers, their corrupt practices and moral decay could not help provide the necessary firmness. As the Mughals did not develop naval power, the Europeans could easily penetrate into India. Over the issue of succession to the throne, three were no clear rules and wars of succession after Aurangzeb weakened the empire.

Aurangzeb’s centralized personal administration and his religious practices paved the way for the empire’s disintegration. He gave up the policy of religious tolerance followed by Akbar. The Sikh Gurus like Arjun dev and Tej Bahadur were sentenced to death by the Mughal rulers, the former by Jahangir and the latter by Aurangzeb. This led to the rise of Sikh militancy under Guru Govind Singh. The long Deccan campaign 1681 to 1707 exhausted the physical and economic power of Aurangzeb.

 He could not suppress the power of the Marathas. The Mughal Subedars also turned disloyal and revolted. Aurangzeb did not encourage music, art and architecture, and thus the cultural glory of the empire also declined with him.