A Short History of the Mughal Empire (I.B.Tauris Short Histories) Read online

  I.B.Tauris Short Histories is an authoritative and elegantly written new series which puts a fresh perspective on the way history is taught and understood in the twenty-first century. Designed to have strong appeal to university students and their teachers, as well as to general readers and history enthusiasts, I.B.Tauris Short Histories comprises a novel attempt to bring informed interpretation, as well as factual reportage, to historical debate. Addressing key subjects and topics in the fields of history, the history of ideas, religion, classical studies, politics, philosophy and Middle East studies, the series seeks intentionally to move beyond the bland, neutral ‘introduction’ that so often serves as the primary undergraduate teaching tool. While always providing students and generalists with the core facts that they need to get to grips with the essentials of any particular subject, I.B.Tauris Short Histories goes further. It offers new insights into how a topic has been understood in the past, and what different social and cultural factors might have been at work. It brings original perspectives to bear on the manner of its current interpretation. It raises questions and – in its extensive bibliographies – points to further study, even as it suggests answers. Addressing a variety of subjects in a greater degree of depth than is often found in comparable series, yet at the same time in concise and compact handbook form, I.B.Tauris Short Histories aims to be ‘introductions with an edge’. In combining questioning and searching analysis with informed history writing, it brings history up-to-date for an increasingly complex and globalized digital age.

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  ‘Michael Fisher’s A Short History of the Mughal Empire is a long overdue scholarly study of the Mughal period in early modern India. There has been no comparably cohesive study of the empire since the great John Richards brought out The Mughal Empire in the early 1990s. While it is described as a “Short History,” Fisher’s study is surprisingly comprehensive and detailed, successfully engaging much of the recent scholarship in Mughal studies and braiding it into a highly accessible and thorough narrative of imperial events. Fisher pays particular attention to creating a rich and thorough context for historical events; for example, his detailed exploration of early sixteenth century Hindustani politics and culture creates a richly contextualized setting for early Mughal raids and military conquest. Unlike earlier narrative histories of the Mughals, including that of Richards, Fisher’s work is sensitive to the critical political role played by women of the dynasty. He also proves willing to engage the highly complex religious identities and performances of the Mughals. Although this is essentially a political narrative, Fisher displays consistent interest in the power of language and poetry, of art and architecture. One of the most valuable sections of the book, and a great boon to teachers and their students, is the final chapter, “Contested Meanings.” Having very efficiently wrapped up the last hundred years of the disintegrating empire, Fisher halts the narrative flow to explore the meaning and debates of Mughal historiography, beginning with the writings of Mughal chroniclers and memoirists, moving to that of their contemporaries in the region and in Europe, into the period of the Raj and even engaging the treatment of the Mughals by post-independence historians, briefly tracking intellectual movements in the historiography of the modern nations of Pakistan and India. Fisher’s book will become the go-to resource for scholars of the Mughals and early modern South Asia and it holds great value for historians of Empire and the pre-modern Islamic world. A natural niche for Fisher’s book will be in the classroom, where the Short History will offer undergraduate and graduate students a lively yet exacting narrative of the Mughal dynasty, critically and intellectually examined. Fisher’s study is nuanced and insightful, and written in an authoritative but contemporary and engaging style that powerfully enhances its readability.’

  – Lisa Balabanlilar, Associate Professor of History, Rice University

  ‘Professor Fisher has done a great scholarly service by producing a comprehensive, up-to-date and insightful survey of Mughal history. It is detailed enough in its mention of sources, personalities, and concepts that serious students of the Mughal Empire can benefit from it. Yet it is also eminently readable, making it accessible to the general reader.’

  – A. Azfar Moin, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies,

  University of Texas at Austin

  ‘This erudite and accessible book wonderfully combines Michael Fisher’s decades-long experience thinking about the Mughals with the best insights of recent scholarship on the Mughal Empire. What emerges is a rich picture of a dynamic and evolving imperial state and society, shaped as much by contingency as by deliberate policies. A must-read for anyone interested in the Mughal Empire.’

  – Munis D. Faruqui, Associate Professor of South Asia Studies,

  University of California at Berkeley

  A Short History of …

  the American Civil War

  Paul Anderson (Clemson University)

  the American Revolutionary War

  Stephen Conway (University College London)

  Ancient China

  Edward L Shaughnessy (University of Chicago)

  Ancient Greece

  P J Rhodes, FBA (Durham University)

  Ancient Rome

  Andrew Wallace-Hadrill (University of Cambridge)

  the Anglo-Saxons

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  the Byzantine Empire

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  Alex Woolf (University of St Andrews)

  Christian Spirituality

  Edward Howells (Heythrop College, University of London))

  the Crimean War

  Trudi Tate (University of Cambridge)

  English Renaissance Drama

  Helen Hackett (University College London)

  the English Revolution and the Civil Wars

  David J Appleby (University of Nottingham)

  the Etruscans

  Corinna Riva (University College London)

  the Hundred Years War

  Michael Prestwich (Durham University)

  Irish Independence

  J J Lee (New York University)

  the Italian Renaissance

  Virginia Cox (New York University)

  the Korean War

  Allan R Millett (University of New Orleans)

  Medieval Christianity

  G R Evans (University of Cambridge)

  Medieval English Mysticism

  Vincent Gillespie (University of Oxford)

  the Minoans

  John Bennet (University of Sheffield)

  the Mongols

  George Lane (SOAS, University of London)

  the Mughal Empire

  Michael H Fisher (Oberlin College)

  Muslim Spain

  Alex J Novikoff (Rhodes College, Memphis)

  New Kingdom Egypt

  Robert Morkot (University of Exeter)

  the New Testament

  Halvor Moxnes (University of Oslo)

  Nineteenth-Century Philosophy

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  the Normans

  Leonie Hicks (Canterbury Christ Church University)

  the Ottoman Empire

  Baki Tezcan (University of California, Davis)

  the Phoenicians

  Mark Woolmer (Durham University)

  the Reformation

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  the Renaissance in Northern Europe

  Malcolm Vale (University of Oxford)

  Revolutionary C
uba

  Antoni Kapcia (University of Nottingham)

  the Risorgimento

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  the Russian Revolution

  Geoffrey Swain (University of Glasgow)

  the Spanish Civil War

  Julián Casanova (University of Zaragoza)

  the Spanish Empire

  Felipe Fernández-Armesto (University of Notre Dame) and José Juan López-Portillo (University of Oxford)

  Transatlantic Slavery

  Kenneth Morgan (Brunel University)

  Venice and the Venetian Empire

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  Published in 2016 by

  I.B.Tauris & Co. Ltd

  London • New York

  www.ibtauris.com

  Copyright © 2016 Michael H. Fisher

  The right of Michael H. Fisher to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or any part thereof, may not be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

  Every attempt has been made to gain permission for the use of the images in this book. Any omissions will be rectified in future editions.

  References to websites were correct at the time of writing.

  ISBN: 978 1 84885 872 5 (HB)

  ISBN: 978 1 84885 873 2 (PB)

  eISBN: 978 0 85772 976 7

  A full CIP record for this book is available from the British Library

  A full CIP record is available from the Library of Congress

  Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: available

  Contents

  List of Charts, Maps and Illustrations

  Note on Transliteration and Names

  Introduction: The Mughal Empire’s Dynamic Composition in Time and Space

  Timeline

  Part I: The Central Asian and Indian Origins of the Mughal Empire, 1526–40, 1555–6

  Chapter 1: Babur until His Conquest of North India in 1526

  Chapter 2: Indians and Emperor Babur Create the Mughal Empire, 1526–30

  Chapter 3: Emperor Humayun and Indians, 1530–40, 1555–6

  Part II: Establishment of the Mughal Empire under Emperor Akbar, 1556–1605

  Chapter 4: Emperor Akbar Makes Himself the Center of the Mughal Empire

  Chapter 5: Emperor Akbar and His Core Courtiers Build the Mughal Administration and Army

  Chapter 6: Emperor Akbar’s Courts, Ideologies and Wars, by Main Capital

  Part III: The Mughal Empire Established, 1605–1707

  Chapter 7: Emperor Jahangir and the Efflorescence of the Imperial Court, 1605–27

  Chapter 8: Emperor Shah Jahan and Building Up the Mughal Empire, 1628–58/66

  Chapter 9: Expanding the Frontiers and Facing Challenges under Emperor ‘Alamgir, 1658–1707

  Part IV: The Fragmentation and Memory of the Mughal Empire, 1707–the Present

  Chapter 10: The Thinning of the Empire, 1707–1857

  Chapter 11: Contested Meanings of the Mughal Empire into the Twenty-first Century

  Notes

  Bibliography

  List of Charts, Maps

  and Illustrations

  (unless otherwise noted, the work of the author)

  Cover: Emperor Jahangir (r. 1605–27) Shooting Poverty While Astride the Globe, attributed to Abu-al-Hasan, c. 1620–25 (detail). Courtesy Los Angeles County Museum of Art (M.75.4.28) www.LACMA.org

  Charts

  Chart 1: Mughal Emperors (with Reign) and Imperial Princes (to 1707)

  Chart 2: Later Mughal Emperors (with Reign)

  Maps

  Map 1: Babur’s World to 1526

  Map 2: South Asian Macro-regions and Main Physical Features

  Map 3: Major States and Regions as of 1526

  Map 4: Humayun’s World during His Indian Reigns

  Map 5: Akbar’s World on Accession, 1556

  Map 6: Fatehpur

  Map 7: Plan of ‘Exalted Fort,’ known as ‘Red Fort’

  Map 8: Major States and Regions, ‘Alamgir’s Reign

  Map 9: Padshahi Mosque and Lahore Fort Palace Complex

  Illustrations

  Tomb of the Emperor Babur, Kabul, c. 1844

  Sher Mandal, Built by Sher Shah, Site of Humayun’s Library and Fatal Fall

  Tomb of Maham Anaga and Adham Khan, Delhi, c. 1562

  Agra, from South West, Engraved by J. Walker from Painting by W. Hodges, 1793

  Humayun’s Tomb, Delhi, c. 1570

  Tomb of Salim Chishti in Fatehpur, Main Mosque, c. 1581

  Rare Partly Surviving Fatehpur Interior Wall Fresco (detail)

  Anup Talao with Columned Building in Background

  Columned Building Today and Transected

  A Square Silver Rupee of Emperor Akbar with ‘Allah-o-Akbar’ and ‘Jalal-ud-Din,’ 33rd Regnal Year, 996–7 H (1587–9 CE)

  Prince Salim Hunting (detail), by Muhammad Nasir al-Munshi, 1600–1604 (Allahabad period)

  Akbar’s Tomb, Sikandara, outside Delhi, c. 1890

  Jahangir’s Coins with Zodiac Images and Bust with Wineglass

  Caravanserai Gateway, Commissioned by Nur Jahan, Punjab, c. 1620

  Silver Rupee with Nur Jahan and Jahangir’s Names

  Tomb of I‘timad-ud-Daula and Asmat Begum and Interior, Commissioned by Nur Jahan

  Imperial Farman with Shah Jahan’s Handprint

  Canopied Jharoka, Lahore

  Emperor Shah Jahan (detail), attributed to Bichitr, c. 1650

  The ‘Illuminated Tomb,’ Known as the ‘Taj Mahal,’ Today and Transection

  Cascading Perfumed Water (left panel) and Glazed Tiles (right panel) Adorned Shahjahanabad Palace Complex

  Jami‘ Mosque, Shahjahanabad, c. 1891

  The Moti Mosque, Red Fort, Shahjahanabad, 1890

  Cannon from Bijapur Fort, c. 1688

  Emperor ‘Alamgir, As Remembered (detail), c. 1725

  Prince Mu‘azzam, c. 1675 (detail)

  Emperor Muhammad Shah (detail), Presiding over Spring Festival of Colors (Holi), c. 1725–50

  A Sepoy Matchlock Infantryman, by W. Hodges, 1793

  Emperor Shah ‘Alam II (detail), Blinded but on Reconstructed Peacock Throne, by Khair Ullah Musawir, 1801

  Shahjahanabad, Last Mughal Domain, c. 1857

  Empty Diwan-i Khas, Shahjahanabad, c. 1890

  Indian Prime Ministers Deliver the Independence Day Address to the Nation from the Lahore Gate of Shahjahanabad’s Red Fort

  Note on Transliteration and Names

  Adapting Persian and Indic words into English requires simplification. Except in direct quotations, this book does not use diacritical marks (since they distract most readers and experts will recognize the original word). Since the Persian letters ayn and hamza have no English alphabetical equivalents, they appear respectively as single opening (‘) and closing (’) quotation marks. On first appearance, non-English terms are italicized. Most people who appear in this book had multiple names at different points in their lives. This book features the most prominent name, but indicates others on that person’s first mention.

  Introduction

  THE MUGHAL EMPIRE’S DYNAMIC

  COMPOSITION IN TIME AND SPACE

  Mogul: An important, influential, or dominant person; an autocrat. Now chiefly … a business or (esp. in recent use) media magnate.

  Oxford English Dictionary

  THE IMPERIAL DYNASTY AND ITS SUBJECT INDIAN PEOPLE AND LANDS<
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  The Mughal Empire consisted of the contested, cooperative and creative interactions between the imperial dynasty and people with a vast array of cultures in the various Indian lands currently under its rule. The Empire endured for three centuries. At its peak, the Empire contained 3.2 million square kilometers, extending across most of the subcontinent, and 150 million diverse people (roughly a third the size of Europe and double its total population). The Empire rose at its peak to be humanity’s most powerful and richest state (perhaps excepting China’s contemporary empire) with a vast military force and nearly a quarter of the global GDP.1 During the Empire’s final century-and-a-half, however, it fragmented: its administration faltered, its core supporters broke away, and Indian and European challengers dismantled it. Even as the Empire rapidly lost virtually all its territory, however, successor states and rising imperial powers—both Indian and European—continued to recognize nominal Mughal sovereignty down to 1857.

  The consequences and significance of the Empire continue in South Asia and internationally, with multi-faceted meanings (see epigram). Original sources from that time reveal their author’s understandings of the Empire, which often contrast with ours. Thus, even a short history of the Mughal Empire leads to insights about the nature of imperial processes, especially in Asia and in the Islamic world, about a key transitional period for South Asia and its many people and cultures, and about relations among Asians and the globally expanding colonial powers of Christian Europe.

  Empires all share some characteristics, but every empire is unique in its specifics. If an empire means a state incorporating and ruling over more than one people, then the Mughal Empire certainly fits. But this Empire was also distinctive in many significant ways.

  The Empire had improbable origins: a family of Muslim Central Asian warriors led two separate invasions (1526, 1555) and then conquered and settled in north India, extensively engaging in complex ways with Hindus, Muslims and other Indians, thus producing the Mughal Empire. This dynasty’s male founders claimed imperial sovereignty, even when not ruling any territory. They invaded and ruled not their long-remembered Central Asian homeland, but rather initially alien lands and people. Revealing their self-identify as leading figures in the larger world of Islam, they continued throughout their reign to highlight (in varying degrees and ways) their Muslim identity and to honor new Sunni and Shi‘i Muslim immigrants from Central Asia, Iran, Afghanistan, Ottoman Turkey and Arabia.