Shahjahan

During the period between the death of Jahangir and the accession of Shah Jahan, the Mughal governor of the Deccan, Khan Jahan Lodi, with the intention of securing help in times of necessity, gave away Balaghat to the Nizam Shah.

After ascending the throne, Shah Jahan ordered Khan Jahan Lodi to recover it but as the latter failed, Shah Jahan recalled him to court. Khan Jahan turned hostile and rebelled. He took shelter with Nizam Shah. This infuriated Shah Jahan and he decided to follow aggressive policy towards the Deccan states.

Shah Jahan’s main concern was to recover the lost territories of the Deccan. He believed that independence of Ahmednagar was in the way of Mughal control in the Deccan. He decided to isolate Ahmednagar and win over Bijapur and Marathas. He was successful. Fath Khan son of Malik Ambar also made peace with Mughals. Now Mahabat Khan was appointed governor of Deccan. But the conflict with Deccan states continued.

Finally in 1636 treaties were signed with Bijapur and Golconda. The main points of agreement with Bijapur were:

  1. Adil Shah accepted the Mughal suzerainty.
  2. He was to pay 20 lakh rupees as indemnity.
  3. He was not to interfere in the affairs of Golconda.
  4. Mughal emperor was to arbitrate in case of any dispute between Bijapur and Golconda.
  5. Adil Shah to help Mughals in conflict against Shahji Bhonsle.

Golconda also made a separate treaty. According to this treaty:

  1. Golconda took oath of loyalty towards Mughal emperor. He agreed to include the name of the Mughal emperor in Khutba and exclude the name of Shah of Iran.
  2. Golconda agreed to pay two lakh huns per year to the Mughals.

The treaties ended the conflicts in the Deccan. The Mughals could expand their area of dominance to large parts of Southern India. A distinct change in Mughal policy came towards 1656-57 when the treaties were ignored.

Now, Shah Jahan asked Aurangzeb to conquer and annex the territories of Deccan kingdoms. It is argued by some historians that this change of policy was to exploit resources of the Deccan states for Mughals. However, this change did not benefit the Mughal empire in any substantial way and created more problems for future.