The Decline Of The Mughal Empire History Essay

The Decline Of The Mughal Empire History Essay The Mughal Empire was a royal Muslim imperial power of the Indian subcontinent which began in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. It was said to be the first large empire in India since the Gupta Empire. It is approved by many scholars that the Mughal empire was the greatest, richest and most long-lasting Muslim dynasty to rule India. The Mughal emperors, with few exceptions, were among the worlds most creative minded rulers, they were famous for the creation and management of one of the greatest empires. The extended existence of the Mughal empire can be contributed to a number of factors. The Mughal Empire gave the history of India a chapter full of great accomplishments and massive power. Unfortunately, due to the irreparable mistakes of the Mughal emperors such as Aurangzeb, all of that great accomplishments was simply gone with the wind. The Mughal Empire reached its utmost level in the time of the most powerful Aurangzeb; the last great Mughal emperor. He ruled a large landmass in India which was under the Mughal rule. Aurangzeb also expanded the borders of the Mughal Empire to the point where effective governing was nearly impossible. (Puzak, 2005). Aurangzeb, was much more traditional in his Islamic practices. He reinstituted the jizya, or tax on non-believers on the Hindu majority and destroyed their temples, he didnt allow any Hindu festivals to take place, Hindus had to pay taxes to visit their holy sites, and singing and dancing in general was forbidden. Aurangzeb was more concerned in promoting Islam than maintaining stability in the empire, and religious tension between Hindus and Muslims increased; he encouraged the studying of Islam and discouraged other religions. The main causes of rebellion were political, not only religious. Aurangzeb religious policies surely did not lend a hand to his empire, but the y were not sufficient to cause the whole empire to fall into decline. One of the major causes that led to the decline of the Mughal Empire was the weak successors that could not unite the huge empire after him. After the death of Aurangzeb, various provinces became independent of the central Authority. Therefore, gradually the Mughal Empire have fallen apart. Before Aurangzebs death, he left a will which he divided his empire between his successors. In spite of this, a war took place among his successors for the throne. The Mughal Empire was very powerful and strong. Unfortunately, after the death of Aurangzeb, the Mughal Empire shrunk. A series of rulers came to power who were incapable of confronting the great wave of discontent that was then sweeping the empire. (Berinstain, 1997). All of the Mughal emperors were getting weaker and lacked the character, motivation and commitment to rule the empire strongly, and they were incapable to face the challenges and were unable to detain the declining empire from its fall. The lack of any definite law of succession was another significant reason that led to the decline of the Mughal Empire. The war of successions led to the ultimate fall of the Mughal Empire. The Mughals financial status had became terrible and hard to deal with. They had used up a large amount of the empires money and reserves, ending up with an economic failure. Not only that, it also led to aggression, and loss of money and status of the empire over a period of time. The fall of the Mughal rulers had also led to some ethical issues and conflicts. The nobles in the early stages of the Mughal Empire, preformed some helpful actions and they were well known and respected for their amazing achievement and skills in both war and peace. But the nobles in the late stages of the Mughal Empire were selfish and self centered. The nobles who were once honest, loyal and talented turned out to be so selfish and greed. The weakening of the nobles had a massive effect on the army. The soldiers had identified themselves with different ethnic group instead of identifying themselves as Indians and part of the Mughal society. Widespread Bribery in the court administration, taking bribes became so popular, which caused the damage of the entire government. When Aurangzeb died, his son succeeded him. The son of Aurangzeb was really old by the time he was declared as a Mughal emperor. He only lived few more years after ascending the throne. The government was so weak and wasnt stable at that time. The Empire was a quite easy target for others to invade the country. The death of Aurangzeb and the short reign of his son led to the end of the Mughal empire and the beginning of the British Rule. Many actions of the British also caused the decline, especially that of the economy. A company named the East India Company was owned by the British. The British took over money from the hands of local Indian landowners and gave it to the East India Company officials, causing the damage of the healthy local industries, and took away the land of many peasants, killing one-third of the population in areas under the British control. Increased interruption along with the financial bankruptcy, created a period of social conflict. Rebellions existed in so many different areas in the 19th century. There reasons of this rebellion varies. Later on, the British were able to contribute with the loyal Sikh in order to shut down the rebellion that was occurring. Â  To put it briefly, the Mughal Empire was one of the greatest and largest empires in history. They ruled a large landmass in India and ruled millions of people at that time in history. India was much larger and became united under one rule. The Mughal gave India a very rich culture and brilliant architecture and great accomplishments. There were many Hindu and Muslim areas that were split all over India until the Mughal empire was established. Unfortunately, the Mughal Empire faced many difficulties, and by the turn of the 19th century, had weakened significantly and slowly disintegrated into dust. Even when the empire no longer exists today, the memories of the great emperors will last forever and will never fade away.

Ethics †Morality Essay

5. FAIRNESS. Ethical executives strive to be fair and just in all dealings. They do not exercise power arbitrarily nor do they use overreaching or indecent means to gain or maintain any advantage nor take undue advantage of another’s mistakes or difficulties. Ethical executives manifest a commitment to justice, the equal treatment of individuals, tolerance for and acceptance of diversity. They are open-minded; willing to admit they are wrong and, where appropriate, change their positions and beliefs. A person who is caring exhibits the following behaviors: * Expresses gratitude to others * Forgives others * Helps people in need * Is compassionate A person who is fair exhibits the following behaviors: * Is open-minded and listens to others * Takes turns and shares * Does not lay the blame on others needlessly * Is equitable and impartia A person who is trustworthy exhibits the following behaviors: * Acts with integrity * Is honest and does not deceive * Keeps his/ her promises * Is consistent * Is loyal to those that are not present * Is reliable * Is credible * Has a good reputation . FAIRNESS Fairness is a tricky concept. Disagreeing parties tend to maintain that there is only one fair position – their own. But while some situations and decisions are clearly unfair, fairness usually refers to a range of morally justifiable outcomes rather than discovery of one fair answer. Process A fair person uses open and unbiased processes for gathering and evaluating information necessary to make decisions. Fair people do not wait for the truth to come to them; they seek out relevant information and conflicting perspectives before making important decisions. Impartiality Decisions should be unbiased without favouritism or prejudice. Equity It is important not to take advantage of the weakness, disadvantage or ignorance of others. Fairness requires that an individual, company, or society correct mistakes, promptly and voluntarily. 5. CARING Caring is the heart of ethics. It is scarcely possible to be truly ethical and not genuinely concerned with the welfare others. That is because ethics is ultimately about our responsibilities toward other people. Sometimes we must hurt those we care for and some decisions, while quite ethical, do cause pain. But one should consciously cause no more harm than is reasonably necessary. Charity Generosity toward others or toward humani heerfulness The quality of being cheerful and dispelling gloom Generosity Liberality in giving or willingness to give Helpfulness The property of providing useful assistance or friendliness evidence by a kindly and helpful disposition PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY Another basic customer right involves our taking personal honesty and responsibility for the products and services that we offer. There’s probably no issue that will more seriously affect our reputation than a failure of responsibility. Many ethical disasters have started out as small problems that mushroomed. Especially in service businesses, where the ‘‘products’’ are delivered by individuals to other individuals, personal responsibility is a critical issue.

Food Inc. Case Study Essay

1. How has technology been applied to the food production process? Give/describe at least 3 examples. In the last 50 years, technology has completely changed the way we eat. When we think about farming, we think red barns, green grass, free-roaming animals, etc. Farming, now-a-days, is far different than the image the industry has lead us to believe. Farming has become a highly industrialized and mechanized business. The reality is our food is no longer coming from farms; it’s coming off assembly lines in factories, just like automobiles. Due to the high demand for certain types of foods, technology has allowed us to change the way we grow our food. Through genetic engineering, scientists have been able to introduce genetically modified organisms (GMO’s) into the food system to help with the shortage of food. Take for instance, the chicken. In 1950, it took farmers 70 days to raise a chicken. Now, it takes half the time, only 48 days. Not only can farmers grow chickens faster, they can grow them to be bigger. To meet the needs of consumers’ preferences for white meat, scientists made specific changes to the chickens’ DNA that made it possible to redesign the chicken to have larger breasts (Wikipedia.org). Another area where technology was applied to our food production process was through crops. In the 1930’s scientists developed a hybrid seed for corn, this hybrid had stronger stalks that resisted being blown over and it allowed farmers to plant the crop closer together (Food, Inc. Discussion Guide). Resulting in higher yields, â€Å"100 years ago a farmer in America could grow maybe 20 bushels of corn on an acre. Today, 200 bushels is no problem† (Food, Inc.). With the surplus of corn, scientists were able to develop more uses for it. A couple of examples include corn-based ethanol fuel, high-fructose corn syrup, maltodextrin, etc. Even though the technological advances mentioned above are astounding, one can’t help but wonder how these changes are aff ecting society. 2. How has business influenced government in the agricultural / food industry? Give at least 3 examples from the documentary. Monsanto has influenced government in many ways when it comes to the agricultural / food industry. Michael Pallon, an American author / journalist / activist, states â€Å"There has been this revolving door between Monsanto’s corporate offices and the various regulatory and judicial bodies that have made the  key decisions.† (Food, Inc.). For example, Justice Clarence Thomas (1991 – Present) was an attorney for Monsanto from 1976 – 1979 and wrote the majority of the opinion that refused farmers from cleaning and saving their own seed (Food, Inc.) Monsanto also had very close ties to the Bush and Clinton Administration. These ties eliminated the political debates over the extreme change in our food system. â€Å"For the last 25 years, our government has been dominated by the industries that it was meant to be regulating† (Food, Inc.). Take for example, Michael Taylor King, a Spaulding lawyer from 1994 – 1991. He advised his client, Monsanto, on GMF labeling. Then in 1991, he became the Deputy Commissioner for Policy and oversaw the FDA’s decision not to label GMF’s. As stated in the film, there is too much centralized power. Farmers are going into more and more debt with each year passing and what’s truly sad about the whole situation is they have no control over the businesses they worked tooth and nail for. 3. What is the FDA’s most current policy on genetically engineered foods? If you use a quote, then use two paragraphs or more to support the quote.  According to Noelle Cremers with the California Farm Bureau the FDA’s most current policy regarding genetically engineered foods is as follows, â€Å"And if I can point out the reason that we are concerned with labeling is it creates unnecessary fear in a consumer’s mind. Until the industry has an opportunity to educate why we want to use this technology and the value of the technology, we don’t feel that consumers just having a warning label will help them† (Food, Inc.). The problem with this is it violates consumer’s rights. As stated in the â€Å"consumer’s Magna Carta† that was spelled out by President John F. Kennedy, consumers have four basic rights, the right to be informed, the right to safety, the right to choose, and the right to be heard (Carroll and Buchholtz 392). The FDA is violating at least three of consumer’s rights by not labeling for GMO’s. Starting with the right to be informed, which â€Å"refers to the consumer’s right to know about a product, its use, and the cautions to be exercised while using it† (Carroll and Buchholtz 392). Without labeling, consumers have no clue what they are consuming, they are not informed. Next, the FDA is violating consumer’s right to safety which refers to concerns of  a product being dangerous (Carroll and Buchholtz 392). Even though GMO’s were discovered in the 1970’s, approximately 40 years ago, there is little to no research proving these products are safe for us to consume. Are they trying to cover up the fact that they are dangerous? Lastly, they are not allowing consumers the right to choose. Without full disclosure of GMO’s, how can one make an accurate choice? As far as the right to be heard, the FDA is hearing consumer’s desires and grievances towards the labeling of GMO’s, they’re just not listening. 4. What evidence do you see in the documentary that business is taking a more proactive, socially responsible stance to food production? To prove it is possible for businesses to have a proactive, socially responsible stance in the way food is produced, the documentary focused on two companies, Polyface Farms and Stonyfield Farms. Joel Salatin, owner of Polyface Farms, is hitting the nail on the head when it comes to being a socially responsible business owner. He’s upholding his economic responsibility to be profitable. He may not be striving to have his food sold at Wal-Mart, but he is charging customer’s fair prices for the quality of food he is providing. Polyface Farms is being legally responsible by obeying all laws. Although, the United States Department of Agricultural did try shutting them down because their operations are open to the air and it is considered to be unsanitary. However, he had his workplace cultured at a local microbiology lab and the results averaged 133 colony forming units, where the cultures from stores averaged 3600 colony forming units. In microbiology, colony-forming unit (CFU) is an estimate of viable bacterial or fungal numbers. Unlike direct microscopic counts where all cells, dead and living, are counted, CFU estimates viable cells (Wikipedia.org). Lastly, Polyface farms is withholding there ethical standards high. Some could argue that killing animals for food is wrong, but that is a completely different subject. The company is showing respect to the planet, their workers, the animals, and their consumers. In the documentary Joel Salatin states, â€Å"I mean, a culture that just views a pig as a pile of protoplasmic inanimate structure to be manipulated by whatever creative design that humans can foist on that critter will probably view individuals within its community and other cultures in the community of  nations with the same type of disdain, disrespect and controlling-type mentality.† (Food, Inc.). That statement alone proves he is ethically responsible. The documentary also focused on Stonyfield Farms as a socially responsible company. Gary Hirschberg, the COO of Stonyfield Farms states, â€Å"When we started out, we were a seven-cow farm. We wanted to prove that business could be part of the solution to the globe’s environmental problems. At the same time we had to prove that we could be highly profitable† (Food, Inc.). Stonyfield is the third largest yogurt brand in America, and they are the most profitable, e.g. they’re being economically responsible. The company is proving to be ethically responsible by providing organic yogurt, quality products, to the consumers at a responsible price, and you can tell in the documentary that their animals are being treated with respect. The cows were roaming free and were very clean, the farm had red barns that were kept nicely, and the grass was green. More and more companies today, are sprinting into the organic business. They are starting to realize that consumers are waking up and seeing behind the veil the food industry has put up. Consumers want to be healthy, be respected as both consumers and worker, and they want to preserve our environment for future generations. Works Citied Carroll, Archie B., and Buchholtz, Ann K. Business and Society: Ethics, Sustainability, and Stakeholder Management. 8th ed. Mason, OH: Cengage, 2012. â€Å"Colony-forming Unit.† Wikipedia.org. 4 February 2014. 18 March 2014 < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony-forming_unit> Food, Inc. Dir. Robert Kenner. Perf. Robert Kenner; Richard Pearce; Eric Schlosser; Melissa Robledo; William Pohlad; Jeff Skoll; Robin Schorr; Diane Weyermann; Elise Pearlstein; Kim Roberts; Michael Pollan; Gary Hirshberg; Joel Salatin; Mark Adler. Los Angeles, CA : Magnolia Home Entertainment, 2009. DVD. â€Å"Food, Inc. Discussion Guide.† Takepart.com. 15 March 2014 â€Å"Genetically Modified Food.† Wikipedia.org. 17 March 2014. 18 March 2014 < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetically_modified_food >

The Distorted Images in Heart of Darkness - 4513 Words

The distorted images in Heart of Darkness Abstract In Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad exposes the evil of the imperialism and pays sympathy to the oppressed Africans. But affected by imperialist ideology, he serves as a racist and a defender of the imperialism when he attempts to condemn the colonizers. This paper will be analyzing the distorted images in Heart of darkness from the perspective of post-colonialism and Orientalism theory. The present paper is divided into five parts: Part 1 is a brief introduction of the author as well as the main idea of the novella. It also makes a clear the writing purpose of the thesis. Namely, to reveal and study Conrad’s imperialist thought in light of the analysis of the distorted images in the†¦show more content†¦Achebe says that â€Å"Heart of Darkness portrays the image of Africa as ‘the other world,’ the antithesis of Europe and therefore of civilization, a place where man’s vaunted intelligence and refinement are finally mocked by triumphant bestiality†. (15) Savagery and primitiveness which are the distorted images of Africans are evidently represented in the novella. 2.1 The distorted African men. 2.1.1 The word â€Å"nigger† Conrad’s attitude toward the black natives can easily be found from his vocabulary usage. When he describes the natives, he seldom uses the common word â€Å"blacks† to show his respect toward them. For him, they are no more than â€Å"niggers†. According to Dorothy Hammond and Alta Jablow the word â€Å"nigger† had fallen into disrepute by the 1880’s, so there is little doubt that Conrad would have been aware in 1898 that the word â€Å"nigger† was insulting (53). But, he still uses it in his novel. Conrad expresses deep sympathy for the native blacks, but he appears to accept the inequality between white people and black people. Conrad would not use the word â€Å"brother†, and the farthest he would go was â€Å"kinship† in Heart of Darkness (Achebe 11). Recognizing this fundamental flaw in Conrad, Achebe thus labels the white European author a â€Å"thoroughgoing racist† (11). The na rrator in Hear of Darkness is Marlow not the author Conrad. But actually, Marlow is the speaker of Conrad, whose narration shows the attitude of the author. 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