Sunday, January 5, 2025
Islamabad (UrduPoint News International/ Pakistan Point News - DW Urdu - 05 January 2025) In this article, we will mention three empires. Which went through stages of rise and fall and left their marks in history. The first was the Roman Empire, which was based on military power. Their series of conquests was endless. The result was that the empire became extremely large, which began to face difficulties in its arrangements.
Soldiers from conquered nations also joined the army, which led to a change in military alliances and war tactics.
On the other hand, when Roman officials in the conquered areas started collecting money. They looted their resources and treated them with contempt in their daily lives, rebellions began in the occupied areas.
When news of the rebellion was received from everywhere, the Roman ruling class failed to eliminate them.
The result was that in 410 AD, Germanic tribes occupied Rome.
In the early period, the Roman Empire was divided into two parts. Western and Eastern. When the Western Empire fell, as a result, feudal lords in Europe formed their own small states. This division ended the unity of Europe. Feudal lords lived in their castles, where they had their own armies.
Feudal lords also fought among themselves, due to which armies plundered villages and towns and it was difficult for a common man to live a peaceful life.
During this period of the Middle Ages, the political power of the rulers fell into chaos. While the Church emerged as a powerful institution. Society became strongly religious. The rulers of Europe became subordinate to the Pope and European society continued to decline.
The decline of the Roman Empire also left Europe culturally backward.
Another historical example of decline is the Mongol Empire, which was established by Genghis Khan (d. 1227) and expanded with the help of military force. After that, his successor Kublai Khan (d. 1294) established his rule in China. Hulagu Khan (d. 1265) reached the Ismaili fortress of "Al-Mu't" while wreaking havoc in Central Asia.
Here he burned their library. From there he came to Baghdad and in 1256 killed the Caliph and burned the library of Bayt al-Hikmat and massacred the citizens.
The Mongols reached their peak when they conquered Eastern Europe and defeated the rulers of Russia, setting up a large tent for their rule and residence, which became known as the "Golden Horde".
From here, the Mongol chieftains ruled the Russian states and the Russian rulers came to the Golden Horde to pay tribute to them.
Like other empires, the Mongols also gradually declined. The Ming Khan expelled them from China. The Russian princes together defeated the Golden Horde in 1380 and ended the Mongol rule.
After that, the Mongols ruled in Iran, where they were called "Ilhans" and converted to Islam and were confined to their homeland Mongolia. Although the Mongols made many conquests, they did not create anything in terms of civilization and culture.
When their empire ended, they left behind a legacy of conquests and massacres.
The third empire that we would like to mention was that of the Mughals in India. They had established their rule over almost a large part of India. But the weakness of their empire was revealed when Aurangzeb died in 1707. Because there was no law of succession among the Mughals.
Therefore, after the death of each emperor, there was a civil war among the successors. These continuous civil wars destroyed political stability. Tax revenues decreased. Due to this, the ruling class had to face economic difficulties. When the administrative conditions deteriorated, the common people were the most affected, who were suffering from hunger and poverty.
Due to the weakness of the empire, the Marathas, Jats, Sikhs and Rohilla Pathans revolted.
The Mughal emperor had neither the army nor the capital to put down these revolts. Meanwhile, in 1757, the East India Company strengthened its political power by winning the Battle of Plassey. In 1764, the Mughal emperor granted the company the right to collect taxes in Bengal and Orissa. After that, the Mughal emperor sometimes remained a vassal of the Marathas and sometimes of the British.
Therefore, when the Mughal Empire fell into decline, it too broke up and divided into small states.
The states of Oudh, Murshidabad and the Deccan were large, but small states were spread all over the country. The decline had destroyed the unity of India. This was the reason why the Company did not face any resistance in India.
In this context, it can be asked whether even in the present era, if big countries are in decline, can they also be broken into pieces?
Note: The opinions expressed in any blog, comment or column of DW Urdu are the personal opinions of the author, with which DW does not necessarily agree.
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