AKBAR THE GREAT MOGUL (original) (raw)
"Akbar's History of the Timurids"
Iran 59.2 (2021), pp. 203-224, 2021
In around 1584, while based in his capital at Fatehpur-Sikri, Akbar commissioned a history of Timur and his successors, including his own reign up to that date. The result, the Tarikh-i Khandan-i Timuriyya, an impressively large and heavily illustrated manuscript, now preserved in Patna, with 132 full-page paintings on 332 folios, has not received the same level of attention as Akbar's other historical commissions from around the same period, notably the Tarikh-i Alfi and the Baburnama. In particular, little or no attention has been paid to the text. This paper seeks to put the manuscript both in its immediate historical and historiographical context and in its relationship with these other illustrated works, created to celebrate Akbar's political and spiritual authority and dynastic inheritance. It can be shown that the portion of the Tarikh-i Alfi that covers the same periodincluding the reigns of Babur, Humayun and Akbardraws almost verbatim on the Khandan-i Timuriyya. This suggests that the same author might have been responsible for both works and is consistent with other indications that the production of the manuscript might have been later than generally supposed.
In the midst of millenarian chaos, the charismatic presence of Akbarthe perfect ruler
Scroll, 2021
The Tarikh-i-Alfi is the first among the great historical manuscripts produced in the Mughal kitabkhana under Akbar. It was followed by the Tarikh-i-Khandan i Timurriya, the Chingiznama, the Baburnamas and the Akbarnamas among other fine illustrated manuscripts of both newly-written and classic historic texts. As the History of a Thousand Years (Alf) the Tarikh recounts the rulers and caliphs of the first millennium of Islam and was meant to be ready in time for 1000 AH. In this article, I discuss the unusual format of the illustrations by studying several surviving pages.
Narratives of Akbar's Sieges and the Construction of Mughal Universal Sovereignty
The World of the Siege: Representations of Early Modern Positional Warfare, eds. Anke Fischer-Kattner and Jamel Ostwald (Brill)), 2019
This chapter looks at Mughal sieges through the lens of literary representation. It focuses on five imperial sieges - ones that the third Mughal emperor Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar (r. 1556-1605) - led in person in course of his long rule spanning almost half a century. These are the sieges of Mankot (1557), Chitor (1567-68), Ranthambhor (1569), Surat (1572-73), and Patna (1574). The chapter analyses the politics of narrativisation of these sieges in three imperial chronicles - Muhammad Arif Qandahari's Tarikh-i Akbari, Khwaja Nizamuddin Ahmad's Tabaqat-i Akbari, and Abul Fazl's Akbarnama. It traces how exactly these chroniclers used their literary descriptions of these sieges as sites for the construction and memorialisation of the greatness of Akbar as a universal ruler.
Akbar and his religious thoughts
Abu'l-Fath Jalal ud-din Muhammad Akbar, popularly known as Akbar I literally "the great"; 15 October 1542]– 27 October 1605) and later Akbar the Great (Urdu: Akbar-e-Azam; literally "Great the Great") was Mughal Emperor from 1556 until his death. He was the third and one of the greatest rulers of the Mughal Dynasty in India. Akbar succeeded his father,Humayun, under a regent, Bairam Khan, who helped the young emperor expand and consolidate Mughal domains in India. A strong personality and a successful general, Akbar gradually enlarged the Mughal Empire to include nearly all of the IndianSubcontinentnorth of the Godavari river. His power and influence, however, extended over the entire country because of Mughal military, political, cultural, and economic dominance. To unify the vast Mughal state, Akbar established a centralised system of administration throughout his empire and adopted a policy of conciliating conquered rulers through marriage and diplomacy. In order to preserve peace and order in a religiously and culturally diverse empire, he adopted policies that won him the support of his non-Muslim subjects. Eschewing tribal bonds and Islamic state identity, Akbar strived to unite far-flung lands of his realm through loyalty, expressed through a Persianised culture, to himself as an emperor who had near-divine status.
Akbar the Great (1542–1605) and Christianity. Between religion and politics
Orientalia Christiana Cracoviensia, 2011
Akbar the Great (1542-1605) and Christianity. Between religion and politics The second half of the 16 th century, during the reign of India's third, and widely regarded as the greatest, ruler of the Mughal dynasty, Jalāl ud-Dīn Muḥammad Akbar, was also the time when the Europeans were becoming increasingly present on the Indian Subcontinent. Especially active among them were the Portuguese-both in the political and economic sense as well as in the cultural and the religious dimension. After reaching India with the expedition of Vasco da Gama in 1498, the Portuguese very quickly-already in 1505-started their expansion on the Western cost of the Subcontinent and throughout the next thirty years conquered the territories of Goa (where they established a powerful trading post and which also became the seat of the viceroy and council appointed by the Portuguese king in Lisbon), and Diu. From 1558 the Portuguese forces occupied also Daman, which was an important port on the Cambay Gulf, and thus created a great problem for the Mughals, especially after the annexation of the rich and prosperous province of Gujarat into the Mughal Empire in 1572. The Portuguese naval dominance over the Arabian Sea caused that no Indian ship could sail without the so-called cartaz or special pass for safe conducts. For Indian Muslims this situation was especially oppressive since the ports of the Western coast were the point of embarkation for pilgrims going to Mecca. 1 The conflicts (also the armed ones) between the Mughal authorities of the province and the Portuguese happened during the whole of the Akbar's reign.
The Jesuit Antoni de Montserrat, European Interpreter of Emperor Akbar
Foreword to: The Writings of Antoni de Montserrat at the Mughal Court, edited by João Vicente Melo, Translated by Lena Wahlgren-Smith , 2023
on Akbar, King of the Mughals (Relaçam do Equebar, rey dos Mogores) A Report on Akbar, King of the Mughals 71 Commentary on the Embassy to the Mughal Court Foreword: The Jesuit Antoni de Montserrat, European Interpreter of Emperor Akbar The Mughal emperor Jalal-ud-din Akbar (1542-1605), heir to the Timurid dynasty that conquered much of India in the sixteenth century and who reigned with remarkable energy and success for over fifty years, between 1556 and 1605, has traditionally been perceived as one the greatest Indian rulers. Not only did Akbar dramatically expand and consolidate the territories controlled by the dynasty beyond their core in northwest India, from Kabul and Kandahar (in modern Afghanistan) in the west to Bengal in the east, and from Kashmir in the north to Sind, Gujarat, and the northern Deccan in the south; he also created the imperial structures of a patrimonial-bureaucratic state that would serve his successors until the eighteenth century, with a particularly bold and successful policy of incorporating the defeated Rajputs, who as Hindu subjects were considered by more orthodox Muslims as mere idolaters, into the ruling military elite (he even married a Rajput princess who was the mother of his heir, Salim [1569-1627], future emperor Jahangir [r.1605-27]). Akbar was also a remarkable patron of the arts, distinguished for example by sponsoring a vast program of production of illuminated manuscripts in Persian that incorporated many classics of Iranian and Indian literature and history, including translations from the Sanskrit and Turkic languages (he was reputedly illiterate, but this was no obstacle to a passion for having books read to him).1 In this respect, under his direct patronage, poetry, painting, and architecture all evolved toward new forms that combined the rich Timurid traditions of Persianate courtly culture with local Indian artistic elements. Finally, Akbar was also original in the way he engaged with religion. In particular, he widened the scope of his Muslim religiosity, tinged with Sufi themes (as was already characteristic of the Timurids), by seeking to incorporate the various religious traditions-biblical or non-biblical-found in India into a syncretic
Columbia University Press, 2022
Any king who learns wisdom and persists in his consecration of the Light of Lights, as we said before, will be given the Great Royal Light (kiyān kharra) and the luminous light (farra). Divine light will bestow upon him the robe of Royal Authority and of majesty. He will become the natural ruler of the world. He will receive aid from the lofty realm of heavens. Whatever he says will be heard in the Heavens. His dream and his personal inspirations will reach perfection.
Commemorating Humayun: Emperor Akbar, the Akbarnama and the Tomb of Humayun (c.1570–1605)
This essay discusses the commemoration of the Mughal emperor Humayun (r. 1530–40, 1555–56) by his son Akbar (r. 1556–1605), focusing both on Akbar’s practice of visiting the tomb and the way in which these tomb-visits were dealt with by contemporaneous chroniclers. The article shows how Akbar’s chief ideologist, Abu’l Fazl, misrepresented Akbar’s history of visiting his father’s tomb, predating these visits by decades and exaggerating their extent. This manipulation of history formed part of Akbar’s broader effort to present himself as a sacred ruler who was unchallenged by his own dynasty.
In the closing years of the sixteenth century in India, there was an unexpected burst of portraits of medieval Indian men drawn from life that appeared in illustrated manuscripts, patronized by the third Mughal emperor 1 Akbar (r. 1556–1605). The portraits included Turko-‐‑ Mongol ancestors of Akbar who ruled in central Asia during the Timurid dynasty (1350–1507); 2 Akbar's immediate ancestors, Babur and Humayun; 3 the men of Akbar's court belonging to several different cultural and regional backgrounds; 4 and Emperor Akbar himself. During Akbar's reign, hundreds of thousands of folios were produced (for assembling into albums and manuscripts) 1 The Mughals were the descendants of Turko-‐Mongol sultans of the Timurid dynasty who ruled in central Asia from the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries. The Mughals ruled in India from 1526, when Babur defeated the Lodhis and established the empire. The last emperor of the Mughal dynasty was Bahadur Shah II, who was exiled by the British empire in 1857. 2 The Timurid dynasty began in 1370 under the reign of Shah Timur (r. 1370–1407) in central Asia. The Timurid princes were great patrons of Persian literature and patronized several brilliantly illustrated manuscripts during their reigns. Beatrice Forbes Manz notes that the cultural revival that began under Shahrukh (r. 1405–1447) reached its zenith under Sultan Husayn Bayqara (r. 1470–1506), who turned Herat into a " shining centre of cultural patronage "
The reign of Emperor Akbar continues to be a subject of debate among historians, particularly regarding his religious policies. Two key contemporary chroniclers, Abul Fazl and Abdul Qadir Badaoni, offer contrasting perspectives on Akbar’s reign. Both contemporary chroniclers offer invaluable, albeit biased, insights into Akbar’s reign. Together, their accounts offer a nuanced, complex view of Akbar’s era, with each historian reflecting the political and religious tensions of the time. Modern interpretations of Akbar must consider the context of these sources to form a more balanced understanding of his reign.
FATHER MONSERRATE'S ACCOUNTS OF AKBAR'S EMPIRE: WAR, RELIGION AND JUSTICE
Trans Stellar Journals, 2021
History is an intricate interpretation and scrutiny of bygone occurrences. As mankind has progressed and evolved, this led to the birth of a functioning community, a society. To understand humanity, the determining factor would be to fathom the characteristics and functioning of society. Various historians have written their experiences about the society that they resided in. One such account is that of Father Monserrate, who wrote during the reign of Akbar, one of the most prominent Mughal emperors. He was very enthusiastic to learn about various religions in his reign. Father Monserrate's commentary was a first-hand experience and so it became a primary source to understand and study the society as well as the Jesuit order during Akbar's reign. The objective of the research paper is to provide an objective view of how war, religion and justice influenced society during Akbar's reign. Various religious sites, rituals, and practices are explored in detail in these journals. These are mapped with modern practices for better identification in this paper. Similarly, we also analyse the broad spectrum of encounters and occurrences that the author came across as a Jesuit missionary at court. The nature of war in the Mughal era is explored in detail through Akbar's war with his brother Mirza Hakim. The Jesuit mission's frequent public religious debates with Akbar and his court also provide insights into questions about society, cultural diversity, and varied perceptions related to religion and social order in the Mughal empire by taking references from Father Monserrate's accounts. All this is laid out in this paper through the use of travel literature and literary analysis.
Reimagining the Mughal Emperors Akbar and Aurangzeb in the 21st Century
Journal of South Asian Studies, 2021
The paper focuses on the reigns and policies of the two Mughal Emperors, Akbar and Aurangzeb, and analyses how they have been remembered in the wider social memory. While Akbar is glorified as a 'secular' and 'liberal' leader, Aurangzeb is often dismissed and ridiculed as a 'religious bigot', who tried to impose the Shari'ah law in diversified India. The paper traces and evaluates the construction of these two grand narratives which were initially formed by the British historians in colonial India and then continued by specific nationalist historians of India and Pakistan, after the independence of the two nation-states. By citing some of the most popular misconceptions surrounding the two Mughal Emperors, this study attempts to understand the policies of these two emperors in a wider socio-political narrative and attempts to deconstruct these ‘convenient’ misinterpretations. Concluding the analysis of how these two emperors are viewed differently in both...
A Padshah like Manu: Political Advice for Akbar in the Persian Mahābhārata
Philological Encounters, 2020
In the late sixteenth century, the Mughal Emperor Akbar sponsored the translation of more than one dozen Sanskrit texts into Persian, chief among them the Mahābhārata. The epic was retitled the Razmnāma (Book of War) in Persian and rapidly became a seminal work of Mughal imperial culture. Within the Razmnāma, the Mughal translators devoted particular attention to sections on political advice. They rendered book twelve (out of eighteen books), the Śānti Parvan (Book of Peace), into Persian at disproportionate length to the rest of the text and singled out parts of this section to adorn with quotations of Persian poetry. Book twelve also underwent significant transformations in terms of its content as Mughal thinkers reframed the Mahābhārata's views on ethics and sovereignty in light of their own imperial interests. I analyze this section of the Razmnāma in comparison to the original Sanskrit epic and argue that the Mughal translators reformulated parts of the Mahābhārata's political advice in both style and substance in order to speak directly to Emperor Akbar. The type of advice that emerged offers substantial insight into the political values that Mughal elites sought to cultivate through translating a Sanskrit work on kingship.
South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies, 2018
The present article is a study of the process of Mughal empirebuilding in early modern North India using war as the point of entry. Specifically, it focuses on three sieges from the early years of Akbar's reign-Chitor (1567-68), Ranthambhor (1569) and Kalinjar (1569). It teases out certain aspects of these sieges and discusses them at length individually. Bypassing historiographically-popular themes like combat and technology, it explores less-probed issues such as the fate of defeated enemies, the involvement of zamindars and mansabdars, military finance and the role of quasi-military labour in imperial military campaigns. In the process, it strives to write a social, cultural and economic history of Mughal military expansion focused primarily on the second half of the sixteenth century.
Political and religious challenges faced by Akbar.
Akbar has been seen as one of the greatest rulers of the Mughal dynasty in India. He came to the throne in 1556 upon the death of his father Humayun. The time at which he ascended the throne was a particularly unstable period, when the still developing Mughal state was confronting a great deal of problems – both political and religious. The challenges came not only from the ruling groups but also from indigenous forces in Hindustan. Akbar has been credited with the establishment of the institutional basis of the state and the crystallization of its ideological and political stance. Before we analyse the challenges faced by Akbar, it is helpful to look at the primary contemporary sources and how they influence our perception of Akbar. Abul Fazl's Akbarnama and Ain-i-Akbari are the two primary accounts giving what can essentially be seen as the official position on various affairs. Abul Fazl was in favour of Akbar's ideology and being the court chronicler has presented him in a very positive light. As a corrective to Fazl's almost eulogical work is Abdul Qadir Badauni's Muntakhab-ut-tawarikh. Badauni was also at Akbar's court, but he was a man of orthodox beliefs, who did not endorse Akbar's liberal ideology and is hence overly critical of his policies. There are however many things mentioned in his account like the Mahzarnama, which are not present in Badauni, thereby giving us a complete picture of Akbar. Another source is Nizamuddin Ahmad's Tabaqat-i-akbari. We also have the accounts of the Jesuit missionaries at Akbar's court. Their accounts however are restricted due to their lack of local knowledge. Also, they held a grudge against Akbar who never promoted Christianity the way they would have expected him to. Hence, they too look upon his policies with a prejudiced eye. We need to study these sources in conjunction in order to arrive at a more or less accurate picture of the time. When Akbar ascended the throne at Kalanaur on 14 February, 1556, he had only a tenuous hold on the Punjab and the Delhi-Agra area. What can be called Mughal political patterns and institutions developed during the first half of Akbar's reign. Babur had brought the Timurid dynasty to India but could not develop distinctively Mughal institutions, practices, and political and cultural styles. Akbar's reign saw the development of a new set of administrative institutions, a new conception of kingship and the constitution of government, a new military system, and new norms of political behaviour. Douglas Streusand believes that evolution of Mughal institutions under Akbar are characterized by the element of compromise. The regime survived because it satisfied both the ruler and the members of the political elite. It represented a compromise between the ideals represented in the rituals and texts which propounded the constitution and economic and military realities, and also between the desires and expectations of the ruler and the nobility. Akbar created the Mughal Empire from two sets of components, what he found in Hindustan and what his father had brought with him from Central Asia. He synthesized these two legacies to produce a distinctly Mughal