Gujarat Subah

Gujarat Subah Gujarāta subā (Gujarati)
Province of Mughals
1573–1756
Gujarat Subah depicted in map of Mughal Empire by Robert Wilkinson (1805)
Capital	Ahmedabad
• Type	Viceroyalty
Historical era	Early modern period
• Established	1573
• Disestablished	1756
Preceded by Succeeded by Gujarat Sultanate Maratha Confederacy
Today part of	India

The Gujarat Subah (Persian: صوبه گجرات) was a province (subah) of the Mughal Empire, encompassing the Gujarat region. The region first fell under Mughal control in 1573, when the Mughal emperor Akbar (r. 1556–1605) defeated the Gujarat Sultanate under Muzaffar Shah III.

Muzaffar tried to regain the Sultanate in 1584 but failed. Gujarat remained the Mughal province governed by the viceroys and officers appointed by the Mughal emperors from Delhi. Akbar's foster brother Mirza Aziz Kokaltash was appointed as the subahdar (viceroy) who strengthened Mughal hold over the region. The nobles of former Sultanate continued to resist and rebel during the reign of the next emperor Jahangir (1605–1627) but Kokaltash and his successor subahdars subdued them. Jehangir also permitted the British East India Company to establish factories in Surat and elsewhere in Gujarat. The next emperor Shah Jahan (1627–1658) expanded his territories in south and his subahdars made hold over Kathiawar peninsula including Nawanagar. Shah Jahan had also appointed his prince Aurangzeb, who was involved in religious disputes, prince Dara Shikoh and later prince Murad Bakhsh as subahdars. Following battle of succession, Aurangzeb (1658–1707) came to the Mughal throne and his policies resulted in revolts and discontent. During his reign, the Maratha Kingdom under Shivaji raided Surat (1666) and their incursions in Gujarat started. Till then Gujarat prospered due to political stability, peace and growing international trade.^[1]

During the next three emperors (1707–1719) who had brief reigns, the nobles became more and more powerful due to instability in the Delhi. The royals of Marwar were appointed viceroys frequently. During the reign of the emperor Muhammad Shah (1719–1748), the struggle between the Mughal and Maratha nobles were heightened with frequent battles and incursions. The south Gujarat was lost to the Marathas and the towns in north and central Gujarat was attacked on several occasions with frequent demand of tributes. The Marathas continued to grow their hold and the frequent change of viceroys did not reverse the trend. The competing houses of Marathas, Gaekwads and Peshwas engaged between themselves which slow down their progress for a while. They later made peace between themselves. During the reign of the next emperor Ahmad Shah Bahadur (1748–1754), there was nominal control over the nobles who acted on their own. There were frequent fights between themselves and with Marathas. Ahmedabad, the capital of province, finally fell to the Marathas in 1752. It was regained by noble Momin Khan for a short time but again lost to the Marathas in 1756 after a long siege. Finding opportunity, the British captured Surat in 1759. After a setback at Panipat in 1761, the Marathas strengthened their hold on Gujarat. During this fifty years, the power struggle between the Mughal nobles and Marathas caused disorder and the decline in prosperity.^[1]