A Study About The Rajput Ethnic Group During The Mughal Empire Period

Among many ethnic groups of Mughal India, the Rajputs were famous for its militarism and military skill. They winned the Mughal Empire’s favor. During the pre-Mughal period the Rajput had been ever an autonomic and armed band which was characterized by openness and fluidity. However, in the 16th century, the Rajputs came to change as the Mughal Empire became more and more powerful.The paper investigates the rolls played by the Rajputs during the Mughal Empire and their transition in terms of the relation between ethnic group and military empire. During the Akbar period the Rajput ethnic group throughed four ways:the military conquest of Akbar,the political marriage with the empire,tolerant religious policy,Mansabdar system,experienced the transition from a Kshatriya warrior group to an imperial aristocracy. But during the Aurangzeb period the good relationship between the Rajput and the empire came to the end. Their relationship was transformed from assimilation to rivalry. Consequently the reversion quickened up the decline and breakup of the Mughal empire. Hence the study of the Rajput ethnic group has an important significance to understanding the rise and fall of the Mughal empire as an early modern one.