Medieval History New NCERT Notes | Class 12

Team Shashank Sajwan

THEME 5 - THROUGH THE EYES OF TRAVELLERS

PERCEPTIONS OF SOCIETY (c. TENTH TO SEVENTEENTH CENTURY)

AL-BIRUNI AND THE KITAB-UL-HIND

● Al-Biruni was born in 973, in Khwarizm in present-day Uzbekistan.
● Al-Biruni received the best education at the time.
● Al-Biruni’s Kitab-ul-Hind, written in Arabic, is simple and lucid.
● Al-Biruni’s expertise in several languages allowed him to compare
languages and translate texts.
○ He translated several Sanskrit texts, including Patanjali’s
work on grammar, into Arabic.
○ For his Brahmana friends, he translated the works of Euclid
(a Greek mathematician) into Sanskrit.
● Metrology is the science of measurement.
● The term “Hindu” was derived from the Old Persian word, used c.
sixth-fifth centuries BCE, to refer to the region east of the river Sindhu
(Indus).
● Turks referred to the people east of the Indus as “Hindu” , their land as
“Hindustan”, and their language as “Hindavi”.

IBN BATTUTA’S RIHLA

● Ibn Battuta’s book of travels, called Rihla, written in Arabic,
provides extremely rich and interesting details about the social
and cultural life in the subcontinent in the 14th century.
● This Moroccan traveller was born in Tangier into one of the most respectable and
educated families known for their expertise in Islamic religious law or shari’a.
A boat carrying passengers, a terracotta sculpture from a temple in
Bengal (c. seventieth- eighteenth centuries).

Shashank Sajwan | 1
FRANCOIS BERNIER - A DOCTOR WITH A DIFFERENCE
● Once the Portuguese in India in about 1500, a number of them wrote
detailed accounts regarding Indian social customs and religious
practices.
● Francois Bernier, a Frenchman, was a doctor, political philosopher and historian.
● He was in India for twelve years, from 1656 to 1668.
● He was associated with the Mughal court, as a physician to Prince
Dara Shukoh, the eldest son of Emperor Shah Jahan, and later as
intellectual and scientist, with Danishmand Khan, an Armenian
noble at the Mughal court.
A seventeenth century painting depicting Bernier in European clothes.

AL-BIRUNI'S ACCOUNT OF THE SYSTEM OF VARNAS:

● The highest caste is the Brahmana, of whom the books of the Hindus tell us that
they were created from the head of Brahman.
○ And as the Brahman is only another name for the force called nature, and the
head is the highest part of the body, the Brahmana are the choice part of the
whole genus. Therefore, the Hindus consider them as the very best of
mankind.
• The next caste is the Kshatriya, who were created, as they say, from the shoulders
and hands of Brahman. Their degree is not much below that of the Brahmana.
● After them follow the Vaishya, who were created from the thigh of Brahman.
● The Shudra, who were created from his feet.

Shashank Sajwan | 2
 ● Between the latter two classes there is no very great distance. Much, however, as
these classes differ from each other, they live together in the same towns and
villages, mixed together in the same houses and lodgings.

IBN BATTUTA AND THE EXCITEMENT OF THE UNFAMILIAR

● By the time Ibn Battuta arrived in Delhi in the fourteenth century.
● Ibn Battuta’s strategies of representation are evident in the ways in
which he described the coconut and the paan, two kinds of plant
produce that were completely unfamiliar to his audience.
● Ibn Battuta’s account states that most cities had crowded streets and bright and
colourful markets that were stacked with a wide variety of goods.
● Ibn Battuta described Delhi as a vast city, with a great population, the largest in
India.
● Most bazaars had a mosque and a temple, and in some at least, spaces
were marked for public performances by dancers, musicians and
singers.
● Indian textiles, particularly cotton cloth, fine muslins, silks, brocade
and satin, were in great demand.
● The postal system was so efficient that while it took 50 days to reach
Delhi from Sind, the news reports of spies would reach the Sultan
through the postal system in just 5 days.
○ The foot post is quicker than the horse post; and often it is
used to transport the fruits of Khurasan which are much
desired in India.
Ikat weaving patterns such as this were adopted and modified at several
coastal production centres in the subcontinent and in Southeast Asia.

BERNIER AND THE “DEGENERATE” EAST

● Francois Bernier belonged to a different intellectual tradition.
● Bernier’s travels in the Mughal Empire are marked by detailed
observations, critical insights and reflection.
● He constantly compared Mughal India with contemporary
Europe, generally emphasising the superiority of the latter.
● According to him, one of the fundamental differences between
Mughal India and Europe was the lack of private property in land
in the former.
● He described Indian Society as consisting of undifferentiated masses
of impoverished people, subjugated by a small minority of a very

Shashank Sajwan | 3
 rich and powerful ruling class.
● He saw the Mughal Empire – its king was the king of “beggars and
barbarians”; its cities and towns were ruined and contaminated with “ill
air”; and its fields, “overspread with bushes” and full of “pestilential
marishes”.
● Concept of the Asiatic mode of production by Karl Marx in the
nineteenth century. He argued that in India (and other Asian
countries), before colonialism, surplus was appropriated by the
state.
● Bernier’s preoccupation with projecting the Mughal state as tyrannical is obvious, his
descriptions occasionally hint at a more complex social reality.
● Merchants often had strong community or kin ties, and were organised
into their own caste-cum occupational bodies.
● In western India these groups were called mahajans, and their chief, the
sheth. In urban centres such as Ahmedabad the mahajans were
collectively represented by the chief of the merchant community who
was called the nagarsheth.
● Other urban groups included professional classes such as physicians
(hakim or vaid), teachers (pundit or mulla), lawyers (wakil), architects,
musicians, calligraphers, painters, etc.
● Large halls are seen at many places, called Karkhanas or workshops for the artisans.

THE CHILD SATI

This is perhaps one of the most poignant descriptions by Bernier:
● At Lahore I saw a most beautiful young widow sacrificed, who
could not, I think, have been more than twelve years of age. The
poor little creature appeared more dead than alive when she
approached the dreadful pit: the agony of her mind cannot be
described; she trembled and wept bitterly; but three or four of the
Brahmanas, assisted by an old woman who held her under the
arm, forced the unwilling victim toward the fatal spot, seated her
on the wood, tied her hands and feet, lest she should run away,
and in that situation the innocent creature was burnt alive. I found
it difficult to repress my feelings and to prevent their bursting
forth into clamorous and unavailing rage.

Shashank Sajwan | 4
Shashank Sajwan | 5
 THEME 6 - BHAKTI-SUFI TRADITIONS

CHANGES IN RELIGIOUS BELIEFS AND DEVOTIONAL TEXTS (c. EIGHTH TO

EIGHTEENTH CENTURY)

A MOSAIC OF RELIGIOUS BELIEFS AND PRACTICES

● The most striking feature of this phase is the increasing visibility of a
wide range of gods and goddesses in sculpture as well as in texts.
● Historians suggest that there were at least two processes at work, one
was the process of disseminating Brahmanical ideas. The second
process at work- that of the Brahmanas accepting and reworking the
beliefs and practices of these and other social categories.
● At Puri, Orissa, where the principal deity was identified, by the
twelfth century, as Jagannatha (literally, the lord of the world), a
form of Vishnu.
● The terms great and little traditions were coined by a sociologist
named Robert Redfield in the 20th century to describe the cultural
practices of peasant societies.
Jagannatha (extreme right) with his sister Subhadra (centre) and his brother Balrama (left)

POEMS OF PRAYER EARLY TRADITIONS OF BHAKTI

● Poets, Saints emerged as leaders around whom there developed a community of
devotees.
● At a different level, historians of religion often classify bhakti traditions into two
broad categories; Saguna (with attributes) and Nirguna (without attributes).
● Shiva, Vishnu and his avatars (incarnations) and forms of the goddess or Devi.
● Nirguna bhakti on the other hand was worship of an abstract form of God.
● Some of the earliest bhakti movements (c. 6th century) were led by the Alvars
(literally, those who are immersed in devotion to Vishnu) and Nayanars (literally
leaders who were devotees of Shiva).
○ They travelled from place-to-place singing hymns in Tamil in praise of their
gods.
○ Some historians suggest that the Alvars and Nayanars initiated a movement
of protest against the caste system and the dominance of Brahmanas or at

Shashank Sajwan | 6
 least attempted to reform the system.
○ One of the major anthologies of compositions by the Alvars, the Nalayira
Divyaprabandham.
○ By the 10th century the compositions of the 12 Aalvars were compiled in an
anthology known as the Nalayira Divyaprabandham (“Four Thousand Sacred
Compositions”).
○ The poems of Appar, Sambandar and Sundarar form the Tevaram, a
collection that was compiled and classified in the 10th century on the basis of
the music of the songs.
● The Cholas (9th-13th centuries) supported Brahmanical and bhakti traditions, making
land grants and constructing temples for Vishnu and Shiva.
○ Shiva temples, at Chidambaram, Thanjavur and Gangaikondacholapuram,
were constructed under the patronage of Chola rulers.
● Kings also introduced the singing of Tamil Shaiva hymns in the temples.
An image of Shiva as Nataraja

THE VIRASHAIVA TRADITION IN KARNATAKA

● In the 12th century, a new movement in Karnataka, led by a Brahamana named
Basavanna (1106-68) who was initially a Jaina and a minister in the court of a
Chalukya king. His followers were known as Virashaivas (heroes of Shiva) or
Lingayats (weavers of the linga).
● Those who are revered include the Jangama or wandering monks.
● Our understanding of the Virashaiva tradition is derived from vachanas (literally,
sayings) composed in Kannada by women and men also who joined the
movement.
Here is a vachana composed by Basavanna:
When they see a serpent carved in stone they pour milk on it. If a real serpent comes, they
say: "Kill. Kill."
To the servant of the god who could eat if served they say: "Go away! Go away!' But to the
image of the god which cannot eat they offer dishes of food.

Shashank Sajwan | 7
NEW STRANDS IN THE FABRIC ISLAMIC TRADITIONS
● Arab merchants, for instance, frequented ports along the western coast in the first
millennium CE, while Central Asian people settled in the north-western parts of the
subcontinent during the same period.
● From the seventh century, with the advent of Islam, these regions became part of
what is often termed the Islamic world.
● Ulama (plural of alim, or one who knows) are scholars of Islamic studies. As
preservers of this tradition, they perform various religious, juridical and teaching
functions.
● The sharia is the law governing - the Muslim community in areas where customs
and traditions were different, qiyas (reasoning by analogy) and ijma (consensus of
the community) were recognized as two other sources of legislation.
● All those who adopted Islam accepted, in principle, the five "pillars" of the faith:
○ that there is one God, Allah
○ Prophet Muhammad is his messenger (shahada);
○ offering prayers five times a day (namaz/ salat):
○ giving alms (zakat); fasting during the month of Ramzan (sawm);
○ and performing the pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj).
● Matrilocal residence is a practice where women after marriage remain in their
natal home with their children and the husbands may come to stay with them.
● Turkish rulers were designated as Turushka rulers were people from Tajikistan and
Parashikha were people from Persia.

THE GROWTH OF SUFISM

● Early centuries of Islam a group of religious- minded people called Sufis.
● Sufis thus sought an interpretation of the Quran on the basis of
their personal experience.
○ The Sufis began to organise communities be a teaching hospice
or Khangah (Persian) controlled by a teaching master known as
shaikh (in Arabic), pir or murshid (in Persian). He enrolled
disciples (murids) and appointed a successor (khalifa).
○ Sufism is an English word coined in the 19th century. The
word used for Sufism in Islamic texts is tasawwuf.
● Of the groups of Sufis who migrated to India in the late 12th
century, the Chishtis were the most influential.
● The khangah was the centre of social life.
○ It comprised several small rooms and a big hall (jama’at khana).
● Pilgrimage, called ziyarat, to tombs of sufi saints is prevalent all
over the Muslim world.
○ This practice is an occasion for seeking the sufi’s spiritual grace (barakat).
○ Most revered shrine is that of Khwaja Muinuddin,
popularly known as “Gharib Nawaz” (comforter of the
poor”).

Shashank Sajwan | 8
 ● Amir khusrau (1253-1325), the great poet, musician and disciple of
Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya gave a unique form to the Chishti sama’
introduced the qual (Arabic word meaning “saying”), a hymn sung at
the opening or closing of qawwali.
● Prem-Akhyan (love story) Padmavat composed by Malik Muhammad
Jayasi revolved around the romance of Padmunu and Ratansen, the
king of Chittor.
● A major feature of the Chishti tradition was austerity, including
maintaining a distance from worldly power.
● The Sultans in turn set up charitable trusts (auqaf) as endowments for
hospices and granted tax-free land (inam).

NEW DEVELOPMENT PATHS DIALOGUE AND DISSENT IN NORTHERN

INDIA
● Kabir (c. 14th -15th centuries) is perhaps one of the most outstanding
examples of a poet-saint who emerged within this context.
● The Kabir Bijak is preserved by the Kabirpanth (the path or sect of
Kabiri) in Varanasi and elsewhere in U.P: the Kabir Granthavali is
associated with the Dadupanth in Rajasthan.
● Baba Guru Nanak (1469-1539) was born in a Hindu merchant family
in a village called Nankana Sahib near the river Ravi in the
predominantly Muslim Punjab.
● He advocated a form of nirguna bhakti.
● He rejected sacrifices, ritual baths, image worship, austerities and
the scriptures
● of both the Absolute or “rab” had no gender or form.
● The 5th preceptor, Guru Arjan, compiled Baba Guru Nanak’s hymns.
● These hymns are called “Gurbani”.
● In the late seventeenth century, the tenth preceptor, Guru Gobind
Singh, included the compositions of the ninth guru, Guru Tegh
Bahadur, and this scripture was called the Guru Granth Sahib. Guru
Gobind Singh also laid the foundation of the Khalsa Panth (army of
the pure) and defined its five symbols: uncut hair, a dagger, a pair
of shorts, a comb and a steel bangle. Under him the community got
consolidated as a socio-religious and military force.
● Mirabai (c. 15th-16th centuries) is perhaps the best-known woman
poet within the bhakti tradition.
● Her songs continue to be sung by women and men, especially those

Shashank Sajwan | 9
 who are poor and considered “low caste” in Gujarat & Rajasthan.
● In the late 15th century, Shankaradeva emerged as one of the
leading proponents of Vaishnavism in Assam. His teachings, often
known as the Bhagavati Dharma because they were based on the
Bhagavad Gita and the Bhagavata Purana.
● His major compositions include the Kirtana-Ghosha.

THEME 7 - AN IMPERIAL CAPITAL VIJAYANAGARA

(c. 14TH TO 16TH CENTURY)

● Vijayanagara or “city of victory” was the name of both a city and an empire. The
empire was founded in the 14th century. It stretched from the river Krishna in the
north to the extreme south of the peninsula.
● It lived on in the memories of people living in the Krishna-Tungabhadra doab.
● Hampi, a name derived from that of the local mother goddess, Padmadevi.

THE DISCOVERY OF HAMPI

● The ruins at Hampi were brought to light in 1800 by an engineer and antiquarian
named Colonel Colin Mackenzie. An employee of the English East India Company, he
prepared the 1st survey map of the site.
● Colin Mackenzie became famous as an engineer, surveyor and
cartographer. In 1815, he was appointed the first Surveyor General of
India, a post he held till his death in 1821.

Shashank Sajwan | 10
RAYAS, NAYAKAS AND SULTANS
● According to tradition and epigraphic evidence two brothers, Harihara and Bukka,
founded the Vijayanagara Empire in 1336.
○ Vijayanagara Empire, contemporaries described it as the Karnataka
Samrajyamu.
● Cholas in Tamil Nadu and the Hoysalas in Karnataka.
○ These areas had extended patronage to elaborate temples
such as the Brihadishvara temple at Thanjanvur and the
Chennakeshava temple at Belur.
● From 1498 other actors appeared on the scene. These were the Portuguese, who
arrived on the west coast of the subcontinent.
● Vijayanagara was also noted for its markets dealing in spices,
textiles and precious stones.
● Gajapati literally means lord of elephants. This was the name of a ruling
lineage that was very powerful in Orissa in the 15th century.
● In the popular traditions of Vijayanagara the Deccan Sultans are termed
as ashvapati or lord of horses and the rayas are called narapati or lord
of men.
● The first dynasty, known as the Sangama Dynasty, exercised control till 1485.
● When they were replaced by the Tuluvas, Krishnadeva Raya
belonged to the Tuluva Dynasty.
● The land between the Tungabhadra and Krishna rivers (the Rachur
doab) was acquired in 1512.
● Krishnadeva Raya is credited with building some fine temples and
adding impressive Gopurams to many important South Indian
temples.
○ Krishnadeva Raya died in 1529.
● By 1542, control at the centre had shifted to another ruling lineage,
that of the Aravidu.
○ The focus of the empire shifted to the east where the
Aravidu dynasty ruled from Penukonda and later from
Chandragiri (near Tirupati).
● Among those who exercised power in the empire were military
chiefs who usually controlled forts and had armed supporters.
○ These chiefs were known as nayakas and they usually spoke
Telugu or Kannada.
○ The amara-nayaka system was a major political innovation
of the Vijayanagara Empire. It is likely that many features of
this system were derived from the iqta systems of the
Delhi Sultanate.
○ These were military commanders who were given
territories to govern by the raya.
○ They sent tribute to the king annually and personally
appeared in the royal court with gifts to express their
loyalty.
● In the 17th century, many of these nayakas established
independent kingdoms. This hastened the collapse of the central

Shashank Sajwan | 11
 imperial structure.
● Amara is believed to be derived from the Sanskrit word Samara,
meaning battle or war. It also resembles the Persian term amir,
meaning a high noble.

VIJAYANAGARA THE CAPITAL AND ITS ENVIRONS

● Italian trader Nicolo de Conti, an ambassador Abdur Razzaq sent
by the ruler of Persia, a merchant Afanasli Nikitin from Russia, all
of whom visited the city in the 15th century.
● Most striking feature about the location of Vijayanagara is the
natural basin formed by the river Tungabhadra which flows in a
north-easterly direction.
● One of the most prominent waterworks to be seen among the
ruins is the Hiriya canal.
○ This was apparently built by kings of the Sangama Dynasty.
● Abdur Razzaq, who was sent to Calicut (present-day Kozhikode) in
the 15th century, was greatly impressed by the fortifications, and
mentioned seven lines of forts.
○ Most significant about this fortification is that it enclosed
agricultural tracts.
○ The arch on the gateway leading into the fortified
settlement as well as the dome over the gate are regarded
as typical features of the architecture introduced by the
Turkish Sultans. Art historians refer to this style as Indo-
Islamic.

THE ROYAL CENTER

● Royal centre was located in the south-western part of the
settlement. Although designated as a royal centre, it included over
60 temples.
● About 30 building complexes have been identified as palaces.
● Most beautiful buildings in the royal centre are the Lotus Mahal,
named by British travellers in the 19th century.
● One of the spectaculars of these is one known as the Hazara Rama temple.
● The Vitthala temple, the principal deity was Vitthala, a form of
Vishnu generally worshipped in Maharashtra.

Shashank Sajwan | 12
 ● In 1976, Hampi was recognized as a site of national importance.

THEME 8 - PEASANTS, ZAMINDARS AND THE STATE

AGRARIAN SOCIETY AND THE MUGHAL EMPIRE (c. 16TH- 17TH CENTURIES)

PEASANTS AND AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIONS

● Our major source for the agrarian history of the 16th centuries are documents from
the Mughal Court.
○ Most important chronicles were the Ain-i-Akbari (in short, the Ain) authored
by Akbar’s court historian Abu’l Fazl.
○ Indo-Persian sources of the Mughal period most frequently
used to donate a peasant was raiyat (plural, riaya) or Muzarian.

Shashank Sajwan | 13
 In addition, we also encounter the terms kisan & asami.
● There were two types of peasants- khud-kashta and pahi-kashta.
○ The former were residents of the village in which they held
their lands. The latter were non-resident cultivators who
belonged to some other village.
○ People become pahi-kashta either out of choice-for example,
when terms or revenue in a distant village were more
favourable-or out of compulsion-for example, forced by
economic distress after a famine.
● Areas which received 40 inches or more of rainfall a year were
generally rice-producing zones, followed by wheat and millets,
corresponding to a descending scale of precipitation.
○ Tobacco plants, which arrived first in the Deccan, spread to
northern India in the early years of the 17th century.
○ Agriculture was organised around two major seasonal cycles,
the kharif (autumn) and the rabi (spring).
○ We often come across the term jinis-i-kamil (literally, perfect crops) in our
sources.
○ Maize (makka), for example, was introduced into India via
Africa and Spain and by the 17th century it was being listed as
one of the major crops of western India.

THE VILLAGE COMMUNITY

● We have seen the peasants hold their lands in individual ownership.
● There were three constituents of this community – the cultivators,
the panchayat, and the village headman (muqaddam or mandal).
● There was a sizable number who worked as menials or agricultural labourers
(major).
● In Muslim communities menials like the halalkhoram (scavengers)
were housed outside the boundaries of the village; similarly the
mallahzadas (literally, sons of boatmen) in Bihar were comparable to
slaves.
● The panchayat was headed by a headman known as muqaddam or
mandal.
● Marathi documents and village surveys made in the early years of
British rule have revealed the existence of substantial numbers of
artisans, sometimes as high as 25 per cent of the total households in
the villages.
● Craft production- such as dyeing, textile printing, hacking and firing
of pottery, making and repairing agricultural implements.
● Village artisans- potters, blacksmiths, carpenters, barbers, even
goldsmiths- provided specialised services in return for which they were
compensated by villagers by a variety of means.
● Records tell us of Zamindars in Bengal who remunerated Blacksmiths,
carpenters, even goldsmiths for their work by paying them “a small daily
allowance and diet money”. This later came to be described as the
jajmani system.

Shashank Sajwan | 14
WOMEN IN AGRARIAN SOCIETY
● Men tilled and ploughed, while women sown, weeded, threshed
and winnowed the harvest.
● Pargana was an administrative subdivision of a Mughal province.
● Peshkash was a form of tribute collected by the Mughal state.

THE ZAMINDARS
● Zamindars who were landed proprietors who also enjoyed certain
social and economic privileges by virtue of their superior status in
rural society.
● The zamindars held extensive personal lands termed milkiyat, meaning property.
● They could often collect revenue on behalf of the state, a service for
which they were compensated financially.
● Most zamindars had fortresses (qilachas) as well as an armed
contingent comprising units of cavalry, artillery and infantry.
● A combination of factors also allowed the consolidations of clan-
or lineage-based zamindars.

LAND REVENUE SYSTEM

● Revenue from the land was the economic mainstay of the Mughal Empire.
● The office (daftar) of the diwan who was responsible for supervising
the fiscal system of the empire.
● The zamindari system was abolished in India after Independence.
● Amin was an official responsible for ensuring that imperial regulations
were carried out in the provinces.
● Polaj is land which is annually cultivated for each crop in succession and
is never allowed to lie fallow.
● Parauti is land left out of cultivation for a time that it may recover its
strength.
● Chachar is land that has lain fallow for three or four years.
● Banjar is land uncultivated for five years and more.
● The Mughal administrative system had at its apex a military-cum-
bureaucratic apparatus (mansabdari) which was responsible for looking

Shashank Sajwan | 15
 after the civil and military affairs of the state.

THE FLOW OF SILVER

● The period between the 16th and 18th centuries was also marked by a remarkable
stability in the availability of metal currency, particularly the silver rupya in India.
● An Italian traveller, Giovanmi Careri, who passed through India c.
1690, provides a graphic account about the way silver travelled
across the globe to reach India.

THE AIN-I AKBARI OF ABU’L FAZL ALLAMI

● The Ain-i Akbari was the culmination of a large historical,
administrative project of classification undertaken by Abu'l Fazl at the
order of Emperor Akbar.
○ It was completed in 1598, the forty-second renal year of the
emperor, after having gone through five revisions.
● The Ain was part of a larger project of history writing commissioned by
Akbar. This history, known as the Akbar Nama, comprised three books.
○ The Ain gives detailed accounts of the organisation of the court,
administration and army, the sources of revenue and the
physical layout of the provinces of Akbar's empire and the
literary, cultural and religious traditions of the people.
○ The Ain is made up of five books (dafatars), of which the first
three books describe the administration.
■ The first book, called manzil-abadi, concerns the
imperial household and its maintenance.
■ The second book, sipah-abadi, covers the military and
civil administration and the establishment of servants.
■ The fourth and fifth books (daftars) deal with the
religious, literary and cultural traditions of the people of
India and also contain Akbar's “auspicious sayings”.
● Manuscript was revised five times by the author and would suggest a
high degree of caution on the part of Abu’l Fazl and a search for
authenticity.

Shashank Sajwan | 16
 THEME 9 - KINGS AND CHRONICLES

THE MUGHAL COURTS (c. 16TH- 17TH CENTURIES)

THE MUGHALS AND THEIR EMPIRE

● The name Mughal derives from Mongol.
● Babur, the first Mughal ruler, was related to Ghenghiz Khan from his mother’s side.
● Over the past centuries the word has been frequently used- even the
name Mowgli, the young hero of Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book, is
derived from it.
● The founder of the empire, Zahiruddin Babur, was driven from
his Central Asian homeland, Farghana, by the warring Uzbeks.
● His successor, Nasiruddin Hyumayun (1530-40), (1555-56) expanded
the frontiers of the empire.
● Many considered Jalaluddin Akbar (1556-1605) the greatest of all the

Shashank Sajwan | 17
 Mughal emperors, for he not only expanded but also consolidated his
empire, making it the largest, strongest and richest kingdom of his
time.
● Akbar had three fairly able successors in Jahangir (1605-27), Shah Jahan (1628-58)
& Aurangzeb (1658-1707), much as their characters varied.
● After 1707, following the death of Aurangzeb, the power of the dynasty diminished.
● In 1857, the last scion of this dynasty, Bahadur Shah Zafar II, was
overthrown by the British.

THE PRODUCTION OF CHRONICLES

● Mughal court chronicles were written in Persian.
● Turkish was their mother tongue. Their first ruler Babur wrote
poetry memoirs in this language.
● Akbar was consciously set out to make Persian the leading
language of the Mughal court.
● A new language, Urdu, sprang from the interaction of Persian with Handavi.
● Chaghtai Turks traced descent from the eldest son of Ghenghiz Khan.
● Mughal official histories such as the Akbar Nama were written in Persian; others,
like Babur’s memoirs, were translated from Turkish into the Persian Babur Nama.
● Calligraphy, the art of handwriting, was considered a skill of great importance.
● Akbar’s favourite was the nastaliq, a fluid style with long horizontal strokes.
A folio in nastaliq, the work of Muhammad Husayn of Kashmir.

THE AKBAR NAMA AND THE BADSHAH NAMA

● Akbar Nama and Badshah Nama (the chronicle of a King) are the most well-known.
● The author of the Akbar Nama, Abu’l Fazl grew up in the Mughal capital of Agra.
○ Beginning in 1589, Abu’l Fazl worked on the Akbar Nama
for 13 years, repeatedly revising the draft.
○ The Akbar Nama is divided into 3 books of which the first two
are chronicles.
○ The third book is the Ain-i Akbari. The first volume contains the
history of mankind from Adam to one celestial cycle of Akbar’s
life (30 years). The 2nd volume closes in the forty-sixth regnal
year (1601) of Akbar.
● A pupil of Abu’l Fazl, Abdul Hamid Lahori is known as the author of Badshah Nama.
● A diachronic account traces developments over time, whereas a
synchronic account depicts one or several situations at one
particular moment or point of time.
● The Asiatic Society of Bengal, founded by Sir William Jones in 1784.

Shashank Sajwan | 18
 ● In the early 20th century, the Akbar Nama was translated into
English by Henry Beveridge after years of hard labour.

THE IDEAL KINGDOM

● Mughal artists, from the 17th century onwards, began to portray
emperors wearing the halo, which they saw on European
paintings of Christ and the Virgin Mary to symbolise the light of
God.
● Abu’l Fazl describes the ideal of sulh-i kul (absolute peace) as
the cornerstone of enlightened rule.
● In sulh-i kul all religions and schools of thought had freedom of
expression but on condition that they did not undermine the
authority of the state or fight among themselves.
● Akbar abolished the tax on pilgrimage in 1563 and jizya in 1564 as
the two were based on religious discrimination.
Jahangir presents Prince Khurram with a turban jewel scene
from Badshah Nama painted by the artist Payag.

• One of the favourite symbols used by artists was the motif of the lion
and the lamb (or cow) peacefully nestling next to each other.

CAPITALS AND COURTS

● The heart of the Mughal Empire was its capital city, where the court assembled.
● During the 1560s, Akbar had the fort of Agra constructed with red
sandstone quarried from the adjoining regions.
● In the 1570s, he decided to build a new capital, Fatehpur Sikri.
● The enormous arched gateway (Buland Darwaza was meant to
remind visitors of the Mughal victory in Gujarat). In 1585, the
capital was transferred to Lahore.
● In 1648, the court, army and household moved from Agra to the
newly completed imperial capital, Shahjahanabad.

Shashank Sajwan | 19
 ● Axis Mundi is a Latin phrase for a pillar or pole that is visualised as
the support of the Earth.
● Chahar taslim is a mode of salutation which begins with placing the
back of the right hand on the ground.
● Jharokha darshan was introduced by Akbar with the objective of
broadening the acceptance of imperial authority as part of popular
faith.
● Public hall was called diwan-i am, and diwan-i khas was to hold
private audiences and discuss confidential matters.

Prince Khurram being weighed in precious metals in a ceremony

called jashn-i wazn or tula dan.
• The solar and lunar birthdays of the monarch and Nauroz, the
Iranian New Year on the vernal equinox.

THE IMPERIAL HOUSEHOLD

● The term “Harem” is frequently used to refer to the domestic world of the
Mughals.
● Polygamy was practised widely in the Indian subcontinent, especially
among the ruling groups.
● In Mughal households, a distinction was maintained between wives
who came from royal and aristocratic families (begams), and other
wives (aghas) who were not so noble by birth.
● Shah Jahan’s daughters Jahanara and Roshanara enjoyed an annual
income often equal to that of high imperial mansabdars.
● Humayun Nama written by Gulbadan Begum. Gulbadan was the
daughter of Babur, Humayun’s sister and Akbar’s aunt.

Shashank Sajwan | 20
THE IMPERIAL OFFICIALS
● The officer corps of the Mughal was described as a bouquet of flowers (guldasta)
held together by loyalty to the emperor.
● The Rajputs and the Indian Muslims (Shaikhzadas). The first to join was a Rajput
chief, Raja Bharmal Kachhwaha of Amber, to whose daughter Akbar got married.
● Akbar’s finance minister, Raja Todar Mal, belonged to the Khatri caste.
● Akbar, who designed the mansab system, also established spiritual
relationships with a select band of his nobility by treating them as his
disciples (murid).
● The Mir Bakshi (paymaster general), diwan-i ala (finance minister) and
sadr-us sudur (minister of grants or madad-i mash and in charge of
appointing local judges or qazis), were the important ministers.
● Nobels stationed at the court (tainat-i rakab) were a reserve force to
be deputed to a province or military campaign.
● Tajwiz was a petition presented by a nobleman to the emperor,
recommending that an applicant be recruited as mansabdar.
● The mir bakhshi supervised the corps of court writers (wagia nawis)
who recorded all applications and documents presented to the court,
and all imperial orders (farman).
● In addition, agents (wakil), of nobles and regional rulers recorded the
entire proceedings of the court under the heading "News from the
Exalted Court" (Akhbarat-i, Darbar-i Mualla) with the date and time of
the court session (pahar).
● The division of functions established at the centre was replicated in
the provinces (subas) where the ministers had their corresponding
subordinates (diwan, bakhshi and sadr). The head of the provincial
administration was the governor (subadar) who reported directly to
the emperor.
● The sarkars, into which each suba was divided, often overlapped with
the jurisdiction of faujdars (commandants) who were deployed with
contingents of heavy cavalry and musketeers in districts. The local
administration was looked after at the level of the pargana (sub-district)
by three semi-hereditary officers, the qanungo (keeper of revenue
records), the Chaudhuri (in charge of revenue collection) and the gazi.
● Each department of administration maintained a large support staff
of clerks, accountants, auditors, messengers, and other
functionaries who were technically qualified officials, functioning in
accordance with standardised rules and procedures, and generating
copious written orders and records.
● Persian was made the language of administration throughout, but
local languages were used for village accounts.

BEYOND THE FRONTIERS

● Qandahar was a bone of contention between the Safavids and the Mughals.
● Part of Ottoman Arabia where the important pilgrim centres of Mecca
and Medina were located.
● The Jesuit accounts are the earliest impressions of the Mughal court

Shashank Sajwan | 21
ever recorded by European writers.

Shashank Sajwan | 22