Introduction

• The expression “History is always written by the winning side” points to the imperfections and dubiety in historical narratives.
• History provides academic interest, while historiography, the study of historical records, offers a different scholarly approach by analyzing these records.
• This chapter focuses on historical records written by historians of the Mughal Empire, one of the most prosperouscountries in South Asia.
• It will cover various aspects of historical records:
  • Historians who wrote the records.
  • Sources used for historical records.
  • Purpose of historical writing.
  • Historical records in the context of the time they were written and the period they concern.
  • Different tendencies such as perspectives, bias, etc., related to historical records.
• The chapter will provide an in-depth analysis of the records and compare them with the societal or culturalbackground of the Mughal Empire.
• It will explore whether there was an individual historical approach or common tendencies in the historical records of the Mughal Empire.
• The chapter will analyze the sources chronologically, examining them in the order they were written.

Introduction of the Mughal Empire

• The Mughal Empire ruled South Asia (including modern-day northern India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan) from the early 16th to 19th century.
• The name Mughal means Mongol in Persian, and the empire was founded by Babur, a descendant of Timur and Genghis Khan.
• The empire was established in 1526 after Babur’s victory over the Delhi Sultanate.
• Babur’s son Humayun was defeated by Sher Shah Suri in 1540 and fled to Persia, but he returned in 1555 to retake Delhi and revive the empire.
• The golden age of the Mughal Empire is marked by emperors such as Akbar, Jahangir, Shah Jahan, and Aurangzeb.
• Akbar expanded the empire significantly, conquering Malwa Plateau, Gujarat, Bengal, Kashmir, and Kandahar.
• Akbar promoted religious tolerance, appointing Hindus to government positions, and established Din-i-Ilahi, a syncretic religion.
• Under Jahangir and Shah Jahan, the empire flourished economically and culturally.
• Aurangzeb expanded the empire to its largest territorial extent by conquering southern India, but his intolerantpolicies towards other religions (destroying Hindu temples, reintroducing a poll tax for non-Muslims, and forcing conversions to Islam) led to resistance and drained resources.
• After Aurangzeb’s death, the empire began to decline.
• By the late 18th century, the Mughal Empire lost control over India to the British, with the British East India Company taking power in 1805.
• Mughal emperors became nominal rulers under British colonial rule.
• In 1857, the Sepoy Mutiny saw Indian soldiers crown Bahadur Shah II as emperor, but the mutiny was suppressed, and the Mughal Empire ceased to exist.
• The economy of the empire developed through commerce and the fabric industry, and a monetary economyflourished.
• Trade with West Asia and Europe grew, promoting domestic industry and introducing goods to European markets.
• However, economic decline began in the late 17th century due to reduced agricultural productivity, corruption, and expansionist policies.
• The Mughal Empire also saw cultural prosperity with a blended culture of Islamic and Hindu elements.
• Sikhism, a syncretic religion combining Hinduism and Islam, gained followers under Mughal rule, especially in Punjab.
• Art, literature, and architecture thrived, with Mughal emperors like Akbar, Jahangir, and Shah Jahan supporting culture.
• The Taj Mahal, built by Shah Jahan, features a blend of Hindu (lotus pattern) and Muslim (spires, arabesque) art.
• Persian (Farsi) was the official language, but Hindi and Urdu, derived from Persian and influenced by Arabic and Turkic, were also widely used.
• Science, including astronomy and gunpowder technology, continued to develop.