Q. Regarding the military campaigns and the status of Qandahar during the mid-17th century, consider the following statements:
1.Qandahar was permanently lost to the Persians during the reign of Jahangir, and Shah Jahan was subsequently unable to recapture it despite multiple large-scale military sieges.
2.Shah Jahan’s disastrous Central Asian campaign (Balkh and Badakhshan) was the immediate precursor to the final Persian reconquest of Qandahar in 1649 CE.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer: B
Notes:
Explanation:
- Statement 1: Incorrect. Qandahar was lost to Persia once under Jahangir (1622 CE), but the Mughals recaptured it in 1638 CE during Shah Jahan’s reign (by Ali Mardan Khan). It was permanently lost again to Shah Abbas II of Persia in 1649 CE, from which point Shah Jahan (and later Aurangzeb) failed to recover it.
- Statement 2: Correct. The expensive and poorly executed Balkh and Badakhshan campaign (1646-47 CE) thoroughly exhausted the Mughal treasury and demoralized the army, leaving it vulnerable. The Persians exploited this weakness to successfully seize Qandahar in 1649 CE.
