Bihar during the Mughal Period

• Babur was the founder of the Mughal dynasty in India. On April 21, 1526 AD, Babur defeated Ibrahim Lodi, the last Sultan of the Delhi Sultanate in the field of Panipat and killed him and laid the foundation of the Mughal Empire.
• In order to expand his empire, Babur appointed Muhammad Shah’s son Jalal Khan as the administrator of Bihar.
• Babur wrote his biography Tuzuk-e-Babrior Baburnama in Turkish language.
• In 1532 AD, Humayun attacked Chunar fort for the first time. The end of the power of the Nuhanis in Bihar began when Humayun defeated the Afghans at Dohra Sarai in 1532 AD.
• On March 12, 1576, Todar Mal, Muzaffar Khan and Hussain Ali Khan together defeated Dawood and merged Bengal and Bihar into the Mughal Empire.
• The names of Taj Khan Karamani, Sulaiman Khan and Daud Khan Karamani are included in the Afghans who exercised control over. Bihar after Sher Shah. These rulers kept their hold on Bihar till 1580 AD.
• Mughal ruler Akbar invaded the region of Bihar in 1574 AD. At this time the ruler of this place was Daud Khan.
• Around 1580 AD, the Mughal emperor Akbar made Bihar a suba or province of the Mughal Empire and appointed Khan-e-Khanum Munim Khan as the governor of Bihar.

• Under the Mughals, Bihar province was divided into many sarkars and each sarkar into many

Akbar (1556-1605 AD)

• In 1582 AD, during the reign of Akbar, there were seven Sarkars and 200 Parganas.
• Man Singh made Rohtas his capital.
• After Man Singh, Saeed Khan remained the Mughal governor till 1594-98 AD.
• Akbar divided the Mughal Empire into 12 subas.
• Bihar was mainly affected by the rebellion of Jahangir (Salim) in the last years of Akbar’s reign.
• At this time, Asad Khan was removed from the post of Governor of Bihar and Asaf Khan was appointed to this post.

Jahangir (1605-1627 AD)

• After becoming the Mughal ruler, Jahangir appointed Lal Baig alias Baz Bahadur as the Subedar (Prantpati) of Bihar.
• Baj Bahadur successfully suppressed the rebellion of Raja Sangram Singh of Kharagpur and built a mosque and a Sarai named Noorsarai in Darbhanga.
• This inn was built for the stay of Mehrunnisa (Noor Jahan) on her way to Delhi from Bengal.
• Baz Bahadur was given the title of Quli Khan by Jahangir and was made the governor of Bengal in 1607 AD. After this, Islam Khan became the governor of Bihar.
• Abdur Rahman or Afzal Khan, the son of Abul Fazl, became the governor of Bihar in 1608 AD, who successfully suppressed the rebellion of a fakir named
• Afzal Khan died in 1613 AD.
• Nur Jahan’s brother Ibrahim Khan Kakar was appointed as the Subedar of Bihar in 1615 AD.
• The tomb of Makhdum Shah Daulat, built by Ibrahim Khan Kakar in 1616 at Maner near Patna, is the best example of Mughall architecture in Bihar In this, the characteristics of Akbar’s co-ordinated Mughal style are clearly visible.
• Two Aspa and Singh Aspa practice was started by
• At the time of Jahangir, in 1621 AD, Shahzada Parvez was the first prince to become the Subedar or Prantpati (Governor) of Bihar. After wards this post was given only to the princes.
• Shah Jahan (Prince Khurram) rebelled against Emperor Jahangir and snatched Patna, Rohtas etc. from Prince Parvez during 1622-24 and appointed Khanedurran (Bairam Beg) as the Subedar of Bihar.
• The last Subedar of Bihar during the reign of Jahangir was Mirza Rustum Safabi (1626-27). After this, Khan-e-Alam and Mirza Safi Saif Khan were respectively appointed Subedar in Bihar.
• Saif Khan built a madrasa in Patna in 1628-29, which is currently also known as Saif Khan’s Madrasa.

Shah Jahan (1628-1658 AD)

• Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan appointed Abdullah Khan Bahadur Firoz Jungas the Subedar of Bihar in 1632 AD during his reign.
• Firoz Jung suppressed the rebellion of Raja Pratap the Ujjaini ruler of Bhojpur and brought his kingdom under the Mughal Empire.
• After Abdullah Khan, Shah Jahan appointed Mumtaz Mahal’s brother Shaista Khan (1639-43) as the governor of Bihar.
• After this, Azam Khan, Zafar Khan and Zulfikar Khan (1656-57 AD) were appointed as governors of Bihar.
• At the behest of Prince Dara, Shahjahan appointed Alivardi Khanas the Subedar of Bihar in 1657 AD, who started supporting Prince Shuja at the time of Shahjahan’s illness.
• Under the leadership of Prince Suleman Shikohand Mirza Raja Jaisingh the royal army defeated Prince Shuja, but in the battle of Samugarh
• Aurangzeb defeated Prince Dara and handed over Bihar to Prince Shuja.
• Historian A. L. Srivastava in his book ‘Mughaltime India’has considered Shah Jahan’s reign as the golden age of the Mughals.

Aurangzeb (1658-1707 AD)

• The Mughal emperor Aurangzeb appointed Daud Khan Qureshi (1659- 64 AD) as the governor of Bihar.
• At the time of Aurangzeb, a city named Daudnagar (present day Aurangabad district) was established in Gaya district and Darul Adl (Court of Justice) was built in Patna.
• Lashkar Khan became the governor of Bihar after Daud Khan in 1665.
• At the same time, the French traveler Bernier came to Bihar, who considered Patna as one of the largest cities of India.
• Meanwhile, there was a severe famine in Bihar, which has been mentioned by British traveler John Marshall and Dutch traveler De-Graffy.
• Aurangzeb’s third son Shahzada Azam got the governorship of Bihar for some time in 1677 AD and after that Mirza Fakirullah alias Saif Khan became the governor of Bihar, during whose reign the British factory in Patna was looted.
• In 1702, Aurangzeb appointed his favorite grandson, Prince Azim, as the governor of Bihar.
• Azim rebuilt Patna and named it Azimabad.
• The succeeding Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah appointed Prince Azimushan. as the Subedar of Bihar and gave Farrukhsiyar the post of Naib in Bengal.
• Farrukhsiyar came back to Bihar from Bengal in 1711 AD.
• Farrukhsiyar was the first Mughal emperor who was coronated in Patna (Azimabad), the capital of Bihar in 1713 AD.
• Subedar Fakhruddaula launched a military campaign against Udwant Singh of Chhotanagpur, Palamu and Jagdishpur.
• Fakhr-ud-daulah built a mosque named Darul Adal at Khwaja Kala in Patna.
• During the reign of Farrukhsiyar, the supremacy of the Nawabs of Bengal was established over Bihar, yet the Nawab of Bengal took over the direct administration of the territories of Bihar, Bengal and Orissa in 1733 AD.
• Patna, Biharsharif and Bhagalpur were the main centers of Persian education in Bihar during the medieval period.
• The mausoleum of Malik Ibrahim at Biharsharif is built in Mughal style.
• Itmaduddaulah’s tomb was built by Nur Jahan between 1622-28 AD after the death of her father. It is situated in Agra. This is the first work, which is completely made of marble. The ‘Pietradura style’ of decoration has been used in this. It is also considered the predecessor of the Taj Mahal.
• Farrukhsiyar, the son of Azim-us-Shan, was born in Patna.