Persian Literature in Mughal Empire

Reasons for spurt:

• Mughal-Iranian Collaboration: A large number of Iranians accompanied Humayun on his return
from Iran.
• Needs of Akbar: Akbar needed Iranian help too and encouraged them to join his imperial service
to overcome the difficulties he faced from ambitious Chaghatai nobles (Revolt of Mirzas ).
• Secterianism in Safavid Kingdom: A very large number of Persian writers and poets came into
India, many of them in search of better fortune, others fleeing religious and political persecution
in the sectarian Safavid regime, subsequent to the Mughal policy of sulh-i-kul (peace with all).

Persian literature may be classified under two heads, namely,

• Original compositions and
• Translations.

Original compositions
Prose
● Abul Fazl who was a great scholar and a stylist, as well as the leading historian of the age, set a
style of prose-writing which was emulated for many generations.
● Letter: Abul Fazl’s letters known as Insha-i-Abul Fazl, were regarded as models of epistolary
composition and were imitated by scholars throughout the Mughal period. Even the puritan
Emperor Aurangzeb, who condemned Abul Fazl as a heretic, commended the latter’s style to his
sons.
● Commentary: Many author of Persian Literature in India produced a commentary of the Quran.
Some of these commentaries possess independent literary value.
● Dictionaries: A number of famous dictionaries of the Persian language were also compiled
during the period.
● Akhlaq: Mughal political norms were enriched and defined by the growth and popularity of
Persian Akhlaq literature. The Akhlaq literature’s concerns were statecraft, political culture,
ethics and philosophy. The salient feature in Akhlaq literature is cooperation between the state
and its subjects through justice and not by force.

Poetry
● Faizi: The leading poet of the age was Abul Fazl’s brother Faizi who also helped in Akbar's
translation department. The translation of the Mahabharata(Razmnama) was carried out under
his supervision.
● Utbi and Naziri were the two other leading Persian poets. They were among the many poets
and scholars who migrated from Iran to India during the period.
● Hindus: Hindus also contributed to the growth of Persian literature.

● Themes: The main themes of the Persian poets in India were: beauty of the sweetheart;
praise of God; Prophet and the beloved; mysticism; divine love.
 ● Forms: All forms of poetry- ghazals, qasidas, qitaz- were produced in abundance during the
Mughal period. Most of the poets, however, expressed themselves through the medium of
ghazal.

Translation
Among the fIrst literary works in the reign of Akbar - at a time when he was consolidating Mughal power
in India - was preparation of a Persian translation of his grandfather's Baburnama.
Rest from Copy

Historiography
Historiography and Religion
We find extensive use of religious terminology in the texts which might appear to the extent of outright
communal at the first glance.

1. Education and Background of Scholars: But it must be kept in mind that in those days religion and
education were intricately linked. The scholars were invariably men of religion and they knew no
terminology other than religious. Thus they make indiscriminate use of such terms. For instance using
such terms lashkar-i-kufra and lashkar-i-islam even when both sides fighting each other were Muslims.

2. Assertion by Ulemmas: The history writing section mainly came from the religious ulemmas class and
wanted Sultan to be bound by the shariat and kuran so that he would have to consult them on all
matters and their importance in the politics grows. Sultans on the other hand were not willing to accept
any sovereignty above them.
So to please the ulemas and to show their complete loyalty towards sharia whenever it was possible
they tried to give religious color to actions otherwise necessitated by politico-economic considerations.
The historians naturally used to give lot of importance and communal color to such events.

Differences from Sultanate Era History Writing and causes of spurt

Causes of Spurt
1. Personal Attention and Autobiographies: The Emperors used to pay a lot of attention to history
writings themselves as is evident from the tradition of autobiographies in the Mughal age - Babarnama
and Tuzuk-e-Jahangiri.
2. Full Support: When they couldn't, they appointed highest scholars for the task and gave them full
access to all government records (including the classified ones) and other facilities. But as usual this
means these writings were often biased in the favor of the ruler.
3. Educated People and non-Official History: Educated people started taking special interest in the
works of history and this was the main reason for the progress of non-official histories. As they were not
patronised by the emperor, hence they criticized him freely. But we can't rely on these sources
completely as they had their own personal and racial biases. Eg Tabaqat-I-Akbari and Akbarnama
4. Technique: The techniques of paper making and binding showed marked improvement over the
sultanate era.

Differences
1. System and Chronology: In the Mughal works we can see events presented chronologically year after
year along with all the dates but in Sultanate period, especially in Barani's work we see lack of such
chronology.
2. History as History of Emperor: The rising might of the emperor had an influence on the
historiography as well and now the history of the age became the history of the emperor. The
completed works now came to be dedicated to the Emperor.
3. Divinity and Sovereignity: Divine association of the kings was emphasized upon to establish their
sovereignty. e.g. in Abul Fazl’s works.
4. The earlier Arabic tradition of giving sources was also discontinued here.

Persian vs Arabic Historiography

History written in Arabic in the Indian context has been rather sparse and has been dominated by the
impressive work of Albaruni and Ibn batuta.

● Isnat System: Persian historiography with its own strong writing tradition was breaking away
from the Isnat system or the chain of narrators employed by the Arab historians.
● Voluminous and Analytical type: Volume wise Arabic history works are less voluminous, Persian
more. Reason: Persian had been the court language of medieval rulers. Whatever was written in
Arabic was by travelers before Delhi sultanate, by religious scholars, Arab immigrants to India.
(list here famous examples)
● Perspectives -Arabic historians were not sympathetic to Indian traditions and culture. Most of
the works written by religious scholars, immigrants carry that tinge of fanaticism and superiority
complex with respect to India in general and Hindus in particular. Persian - more sympathetic as
they were written by those who settled here and non-religious historians.
● Content and style - No differences. Standard Muslim style of historical writing with plenty of
allusions to religious terms. Very few were objective. Most of them were written to praise their
patrons. eulogies and exaggerations.
● Genres: Political history, cultural history, economic history, military history etc were the genres.
● Methods of study - Both relied on general observations, literary sources written before them in
their languages. Very less or no importance was given to numismatics and archaeology and
other sources.

Zahir-ud-din Muhammed Babur and Tuzuk-i-Babri

● His autobiography is written in Chaghtai-Turkish.
● He divides his work in 3 parts - first part runs from his accession to the throne of Fargana and
ends with leaving Samarkand for the final time, second part tells us about his struggles and wars
in India and the third part tells us about the state of affairs in India.

(a) Importance

1. Autobiography: Its importance is that it’s an autobiography and this is where Mughal’s differed
from Sultans. This work is from someone who was shaping the India of the age and brought a
revolution.
 2. Personal: He also writes very frankly about his own mistakes. It also gives a good account of the
conditions prevailing in Humayun's initial years and tells us about his strengths and weaknesses
as well.
3. Politics- He describes the political situation of the country in great detail. He talks about
different provincial rulers like Gujarat, Malwa, Bijapur, Golconda, Vijaynagar, Bengal, Rajputana.
He talks about the difficulties faced in keeping the conquered areas firmly under his control and
difficulties faced in collecting land revenue from these areas.
4. Social- Being a foreigner in India he tells us in detail about all things which struck to him and
which may have been ordinary to a resident here. He was a keen observer and describes people
and geography. He writes about their clothes, food-habits, behavior, profession, social structure,
festivals, art forms, architecture, technologies etc. in great detail.
5. Nature: His main emphasis is on the flora and fauna of the country, which he notes with the
care of a born naturalist and describes with the eye of a painter. He separates and describes, for
example, five types of parrots and with astonishing scientific observation he announces that the
rhinoceros 'resembles the horse more than any other animal'.

(b) Limitations

1. His is also a broken account - sometimes it had long breaks.

2. Babur's account of Central Asia and Khurasan are marked by objectivity. But, he can be accused
of distortion of facts also specially while highlighting his military victories.
3. He also leaves out certain provinces like Sind, Kashmir, Odisha, Khandesh. He neglects
Portuguese and their colonies as well.
4. He forms a negative stereotype of Indians based on his observations of certain backward
sections of the society.

Akbarnama by Abul Fazl

1. Why ? : Not satisfied with the account of his reign in Tarikh-i-Alfi, Akbar ordered Abul Fazl to compile
the history of his reign.
2. Methodology :
● He studied all relevant Arabic and Persian history books,
● He used all relevant official records, farmaans etc.,
● He interviewed a lot of people including the amirs and Akbar himself,
● He knew intricate details of many things being a high amir himself.
● Whenever there was a dispute regarding anything he used to take opinion of maximum possible
number of people conversant with the matter and if there was still any dispute left then Akbar
used to take a decision.
3. Language:
● Simple Language: He rejects the highly ornamental style of Persian writing of previous historians
and instead writes in a very simple and yet lovable language.
● Neutral Language: Unlike other Persian historians he doesn't use any such language which can
even hint at religious intolerance. This was a big break from the history writing tradition of the
age.
4. Divine Kingship:
● Abul Fazl portrays Akbar's own views about his status and role in history.
 ● He presents Akbar as a cosmic man, Insan-i-Kamil(perfect man), having Farr-i-Izadi.
● He wanted people to believe that Akbar had an element of divinity in him so that they follow his
orders without any issues.
5. Liberal: Ain--i-Akbari reflects the liberal religious views of Fazl and sulh-i-kul thoughts of Akbar. It tries
to give a harmonious portrayal of Hindus and Hindu philosophy and presents them as being tolerant,
liberal and assimilatory.
6. Interpretation of differences in religion:
● He tries to portray the apparent differences between various religions as a result of different
languages, ignorance of the religious heads and interpreters, their traditional and fanatical
outlook, use of religion by them and the rulers to serve their personal ambitions etc. In reality
there is no difference between any religions.
● He rejects the claim of old historians that in India there is an inherent conflict between the
Muslims and Hindus.
● He also rejects any fanaticism be it in Hindus or in Muslims. Thus he praises Todarmal for his
qualities but criticizes him for his lack of tolerance.
7. Statistical Data: It contains statistical data which are important source for the study of economic
history with no parallel with any historical accounts prior to it or till 18th century.

Limitations
1. Arithmetical Errors: Numerous errors in totaling have been detected. These are ascribed to
simple slips of arithmetic or of transcription by Abu’l Fazl’s assistants. These are generally minor
and do not detract from the overall quantitative veracity of the manuals.
2. Skewed Data: Another limitation of the Ain is the somewhat skewed nature of the quantitative
data. Data were not collected uniformly from all provinces.
3. Elite: It does not tell us much about the life and conditions of the mass of peasantry or working
class.
4. Although it must be noted that he didn't know Sanskrit like Baruni and thus suffered from this
handicap.

Tarikh-i-Bada'uni by Al Badayuni
1. Background:
a. Badayuni represented the traditional fanatical ulema class.
b. He hated Akbar for his religious tolerance which he believed had led to the ignorance of
learned scholars like him. He believed that all the high posts and influence should be
exclusively reserved for Muslims and that too for learned scholars like him.
c. This was his biggest limitation but at the same time also lets us know the impact of
Akbar's policies on this section.
2. Cause of breach with Akbar:
a. Badayuni had been invited to Ibadatkhana affairs of Akbar. But he soon found out that
his orthodox views would have no impact on the emperor.
b. He was also dissatisfied from Akbar for his regulations imposed on madad-i-mash
3. Cause of breach with Abul Fazl:
a. He was also jealous of Abul Fazl whom he accused of poisoning the Emperor's mind and
this hatred shows in his work.
b. He believes himself to be a soldier of Islam and brands both Akbar and Abul Fazl as
enemies of Islam.
 4. His work has 3 parts - first one begins from Subuktgin and lasts till Humayun's death (this can be
considered as a summary of Tabakat-i-Akbar), second relates to Akbar and third relates to some
Sufi saints, poets and Muslim scholars.
Limitations
1. Intolerance: His work is full of religious intolerance and hatred for Hindus. But it must be kept in
mind that he was jealous of rich Hindus as they were richer than him and focuses his venom on
them. At the same time he ignores poor Hindus just like he ignores poor Muslims as this reflects
the typical mindset of the privileged class of the age.
2. His research and analysis was shallow as he was not really interested in describing any event of
the age. He merely wanted to pour venom on both Akbar and Abul Fazl.

Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri by Jahangir
● This is an autobiography
● Personal Life: He writes in detail about his daily life and his thoughts very honestly The work
reflects his desires, his efforts, successes, failures everything. He describes how he wanted to be
like his father and how he himself turned away from his responsibilities.
● Administration: He doesn't stay limited to his life only. He also describes his officers, his
perception about their thoughts and factional fights etc and transfers of mansabdars.
● Other: He also describes the geographical details of his journey to Kashmir, Punjab, Ajmer
Malwa and Gujarat.
● First 15 years of his reign were very good but from the 16th year onwards problems begin and
he starts to retire from active life. This is reflected in the form of irregular entries in the book.
● In the alter years he delegated the responsibility of history writing to Mutamad Khan who writes
in the name of Jahangir till the 19th year.
● From then on he writes Ikbalnama-i-Jahangiri in his own name which again is a very reliable
source.

Padshahnama (for Shahjahan)

● This has 3 versions.
● First was written by Kazwini which covers the first 10 years of his reign.
● Next was written by Abdul Hamid Lahori and covers first 20 years of the reign.
● The third version was written by Muhammad Waris which covers the last 10 years of his reign.
● This work covers in detail the princes, amirs, scholars, sufis, poets, campaigns, political events,
transfers etc.

Aurangzeb's Historiography
(a) Alamgirnama by Kasem Shiraji
● He covers the first 10 years of his reign. Like other official historians, he too had access to all the
governmental records. Where he needed more information he could investigate anyone and
was also free to consult the emperor.
● He liberally praises Aurangzeb and criticizes his brothers and even Shahjahan. He praises those
amirs who sided with Aurangzeb in his succession war.

(b) Muntakbh-ul-Lubab by Khafi Khan

● This is a critical work of Aurangzeb's reign and he writes how the peasantry was oppressed by
the Mughal and always lived in fear.
 ● He also criticizes the handling of Deccani affairs and his work contains the elements pointing
towards the decline of Mughal Empire.

(c) Futuhat-i-Alamgiri by Isardas Nagar

● This covers his reign up to 34 years and talks in detail about his relations with Rajputs.
● He writes how by 1691 Aurangzeb's policies had failed and his noblery had hatched ambitions to
carve out independent principalities.

European Sources:
Jean Tavernier(French)
● He was a merchant and hence was interested mostly in economic activities of the country.
● But a difference between him and other writers is that he didn't remain confined to the court
activities. He travelled across India and also wrote about the people, social life (whatever he
could understand) and economic life.
● Thus he becomes an important source albeit one which should be interpreted with proper
caution.
● He thus writes about the production activities in India, the merchants, the sarafs, the
involvement of amirs in trade, various temples etc.
● Limitation:
o One limitation is that he travelled through forests so he could have written about the
tribals there but he didn't.
o Then his writings on religious and cultural lives are at best shallow.

Francis Bernier(French)
● He had stayed in India for a long period. So he came to understand the circumstances here in a
better way.
● He had access to the royal courts and hence writes about the lives of the ruling class including
the princesses. He writes about the Rajputs as well.
● On amirs he writes that they lived a very consuming life. Despite large incomes they were
always indebted.
● Economy: He also throws sufficient light on the economic life. He writes about the craftsmen,
the craft production system, transportation system, the peasants etc. But he incorrectly asserts
that the emperor was the owner of all land here.
● Adminstration and Society: He talks about the Mughal army, the brahmans and their narrow
mindset and superstitions, the sati system, devadasi system .
● Medical Science

Education
Features
● The Education system in Mughal period during Akbar was in advance of his age and made an
attempt to raise the intellectual level of the people.
● The Mughal education system consisted of primary and secondary schools, and even colleges.
● Some of them were established and maintained by Mughal government, while others depended
upon private philanthropy.
Organization
● Primary: There was a maktab or primary school attached to every mosque where elementary
reading, writing and arithmetic, besides the Quran, were taught.
● Secondary: There were madrasas which may be called secondary schools or colleges.
● Colleges:
o Akbar established colleges at Fatehpur Sikri, Agra, Delhi and other places, and richly
endowed them.
o His example was followed by his courtiers. Quite early in his reign Maham Anga had
built a madrasa near the western gate of Purana Qila at Delhi.
o Khwaja Muin established a college at Delhi.
● There were many such colleges in all important towns with a sufficiently large Muslim
population. In these colleges Islamic theology, jurisprudence, philosophy, logic and astronomy
were taught by distinguished teachers some of whom had received education outside India.
● Women’s Education: Akbar established a school of girls at Fatehpur Sikri. Bega Begam, consort
of Humayun has established a school in the vicinity of Humayun’s Tomb.

Steps by Akbar

● Secular Subjects: Akbar made an attempt to revise the curriculum, to make it essentially secular
and to include certain important subjects at schools and colleges. Eg arithmetic, agriculture,
geometry, astronomy, physiognomy and foretelling, household economy, public administration,
medicine, logic, and history.
● Madarsas to Hindus: Another educational reform introduced during the Mughal period was to
open the madarsas to Hindus. For the first time in medieval India, Hindus and Muslims received
their education in common schools and read the same books. The reform was necessitated by
the fact that Akbar had made Persian compulsory for all the state officials and by his desire to
create a common nationality.
● Role of Court: Akbar encouraged men of letters and arts to produce standard scientific and
literary works on a variety of subjects. Books on religion, philosophy, literature, biography,
history, mathematics, astronomy, medicine and other subjects were brought out in large
numbers.

Effect: The Mughal educational system produced remarkable men in every walk of life who contributed
to the success of the later days of Akbar and of the reigns of Jahangir and Shah Jahan.

Cultural Renaissance: The age consequently witnessed a cultural renaissance of a high order. Works of
high literary value were produced in various subjects, particularly on historiography.

The Hindi poetry of Akbar’s age is unrivalled and has become classical for all time. Such high production
would have been impossible without proper educational organization and atmosphere.

Limitation:
● It must, however, be admitted that the scheme was meant mainly for the upper and middle
class people.
● Contemporary scientific developments were not incorporated in the curriculum.