Nadir Shah’s Invasion

Causes of the Invasion

• Negligence of the North-west Frontier: Aurangzeb was alert in the defence of the North-west frontier. But after 1707, the administration of Kabul and Ghazni became lax. For example, the salary of the soldiers was not paid for the last 5 years.
• Unkept Promise: Nadir Shah had entered into an agreement with the Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah not to give shelter to the fugitive Afghans in Kabul. This promise was not kept by the Mughals.
• Abuse of Emissaries: The embassy sent by Nadir Shah to Delhi was attacked by the Mughal soldiers. Moreover, the practice of exchange of ambassadors with the Persian court was discontinued by the Mughals.
• Lure of Wealth: Nadir Shah was allured by the wealth of India.
• Invitation: He was invited to invade India by the Indian Amirs. This ensured him of the rot that had set in the Mughal Empire.

Course of invasion

• Consequently, Nadir Shah started the campaign in 1738. He dashed into Lahore without much resistance. The alarmed Mughal Emperor tried to gather force along with Nizam-ul-Mulk and Saadat Khan. But disunity, lack of planning, mutual jealousies led to the defeat of the Mughal forces in the Battle of Karnal (February, 1739). Nadir Shah marched to Delhi and ransacked it. His total plunder was estimated to be around 70 Crores. He carried away the famous Koh-i-Noor diamond and the Peacock Throne of Shah Jahan.

Impact of Nadir Shah’s Invasion

• Apart from the financial loss, it eroded the prestige of the Mughals. The Marathas and the foreign trading companies took advantage of this later.
• The central administration was paralysed.
• The impoverished nobles tried to recover their losses by rack-renting peasants. They fought for rich jagirs.
• The loss of Kabul and areas west of Indus exposed the Empire to the threat of invasions from North-west.

Ahmed Shah Abdali’s Invasion

Details

• • In 1747, after the assassination of Nadir Shah, Ahmed Shah Abdali declared himself the ruler of Qandhar. Soon he formed the modern kingdom of Afghanistan. He invaded India number of times between 1748 to 1767. He fought and defeated the Marathas in the Third Battle of Panipat in 1761.
• Impact of Abdali’s Invasions

• • Abdali’s invasions hastened the downfall of the Mughal Empire.
  • The frequency of the raids paralysed the administration.
  • The finance of the Empire was weakened.
  • Importantly, it gave a big blow to the Maratha ambition of controlling the Mughal Empire.
  • The confusion created by the raids led to the rise of regional powers like, the Sikhs, the Rohillas etc.