Viswanathan K's Thoughts

One of the reasons Akbar was “so willing to look beyond Islam for truths and validation” was the relative recency of the conversion of the Mongols to Islam, says Ira Mukhoty in Akbar . Thus, as a group, they were “less tenacious in their allegiance to religion alone”.   As mentioned in an earlier blog, this trend existed from Babur’s time. Babur had pragmatically added many Hindustani noblemen into his court. Very strict adherence to sharia would have been “politically catastrophic”. Being a Muslim was not mandatory to be in the good books of the Mughals.   Further, Akbar encouraged the entry of Persian Shia and Hindu Rajput noblemen into the ranks of the Mughal aristocracy. Why? To reduce the “worrying influence” of one large clan in the existing setup.   Of course, Akbar went far beyond what those reasons alone could explain – he was almost “cavalier” in his attitude towards the ulemas ! This wasn’t entirely because Akbar was, to apply a modern word, secula...

The royal women’s hajj in 1575 turned out to be an event of significance, writes Ira Mukhoty in Akbar . Concerns arose of the safety of the women since the departure port would be Surat, an area under Portuguese control. The Mughals, remember, were not a naval power, whereas the Portuguese were. An uneasy truce existed, but what if the Portuguese attacked the royal harem?   Eventually, the women did go for the hajj. Since the journey was so long and unlikely to be repeated, they stayed on in the holy lands for years. They participated in the communal events of the places they went to, and distributed the enormous wealth Akbar had given them for the trip. “The wealth was so ostentatious that it would cause a sharp reaction from the Ottoman authorities.”   The Ottoman sultan complained bitterly to the authorities at Mecca about the “extended stay” of the Mughal women, and their “anti-sharia activities”. He railed about the overcrowding caused by the huge retinue that ...

We think of Akbar a certain way today. But people change and evolve with time. That is even more true for emperors who rule for very long periods, like Akbar. And lastly, a boy king almost feels “compelled” to exert and demonstrate his authority, to enemies and courtiers alike.   After Akbar became the Padshah, he could see a major structural risk to himself, writes Ira Mukhoty in Akbar . One was that certain clans, like the Turanis, held too much power. How did he neutralize this? Over a decade, Akbar would purposefully promote more Persians and Rajputs into the nobility, thereby reducing the clout of the Turanis.   He also aggressively expanded the empire because he feared anyone at the borders could become a challenger. Defeat them before they became a threat became his motto.   The Rajputs had the practice of giving a daughter in marriage as a sign of subjugation. This is how Akbar got started with his Rajput wives. What he did differently was to allow the...

Timur (the Lame) was the most famous ancestor of the group that would come to be known as the Mughals. He was not a descendant of Genghis Khan himself, but had married women from Genghis’ line so he could claim Chingizid heritage.   When still in Central Asia, Babur was kicked out of his kingdom by the Uzbeks, who claimed Chingizid blood, writes Ira Mukhoty in her biography of the Mughal emperor, Akbar . No surprise that Babur hated the Chingizid. Obviously, he did not want to be called a Chingizid. Instead, he preferred to be known as a Timurid (descendant of Timur). It is ironic that when they came to rule India, Babur’s line came to be known as the Mughals, the Persian word for Mongols (Chingizid), not as the Timurids! Even the victors don’t get to decide what they are called.   Being kingdom-less also explains why Babur came to India to settle, not just loot and return the way Timur and so many other Central Asians had in the past. It also explains Babur’s tolera...