Causes that led to to the decline of Mughal Empire

1. Court Politics

1.1. The court comprised four group nobles-Iranis , Hindustanis ,Afghans and Turanis. There was constant struggle among them which affected the administration of the kingdom.

2. Jagirdari System

2.1. The nobles had jagirs for their services, by the 18th century the no of nobles was a lot and there were less jagirs and they received less income which led to a lot of rivalry.

3. Agrarian Crisis

3.1. The jagirs had a lot of pressure put on them and the agricultural economy began to face a crisis. The peasants protested against the state to pay the revenue.

4. Foreign Invasions

4.1. Nadir Shah invaded India and took with him the peacock throne and Kohinoor diamond. Ahmad Shah Abdali as well invaded and he plundered north India to Delhi. The British took control of the empire which led to the decline of the empire.

5. Deteriorating nobility

5.1. The strength of the empire was in the hands of the organisation of the nobility. The selfishness of nobility led to corruption in administration and economic bankruptcy.

6. Weak successors

6.1. The successors of Aurangzeb were weak and lived a luxurious life an provincial governors took advantage of this situation set up independent provinces.

7. Wars of succession

7.1. Aurangzeb left the empire in a horrible state which led to many problems and was very difficult to fix.

8. Economic Bankruptcy

8.1. this was a major cause which led to the decline as the deccan campaign put great strain on Mughal treasury and it eventually lead to economic bankruptcy.

9. Aurangzeb's Policies

9.1. He didn't have a good relationship with Hindu's which damaged the stability of the kingdom. Aurangzeb hostility wasn't good with the Maratha's.

10. Weak administration and military

10.1. The empire had a mansabdari system where there were mansabdars who received jagirs as payment. Later there were more mansbdars which meant they received less jagirs. This weakened the strength of the empire.