Brijesh Kumar Singh,1655

Ba. History Hons.

Assignment – I
History of India – (1500-1600)
(1) With reference to Twarikh and Insha writings briefly discuss the significance of
Persian literary traditions as a source for the study of the Mughals till the reign
of Akbar?
(2) Analyze the factors that led to the growth of Persian as the language of Mughal
Administration?
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Answer (1)-: Introduction-:
Persian has had a long history in the subcontinent and with time, according to Muzaffar Alam
it came to imbibe the traits of the subcontinent, giving it a distinct increase in patronage and
usage. It became the dominant language of the Mughal Court and communication and a large
body of historical literature in Persian was produced. This literature followed the traditions of
classical Persian historiography.
The Mughal historiography dominated by the Persian sources can be grouped into various
categories on the basis of characteristics, types of writing and their contents. They are
autobiographies and biographies, Official court histories, histories written by the historians
without the sponsorship of the rulers, Farmans and orders of Mughal emperors, provincial
nobles and other rulers, Letters (Insha) exchanged by the emperors with nobles and other
rulers and court chronicles (Tawarikh).
Body-:
In the following paragraphs we will look at Insha and Tawarikh in detail and try to establish
the importance of Persian literary traditions as a source for the study of the Mughals till the
reign of Akbar.
Tarikh or Tawarikh are general histories or court chronicles commissioned by rulers to record
collective memory. They were often written in the 'Mirror for Princes' genre, which extolled
the kings and advised them on rules of governance. Two traditions of historiography - Arab
and Persian - determined the character of historical writing in medieval and early modern
period. The Arab tradition had a broader approach and did not dedicate their work to rulers or
nobles, while the Persian tradition was heavily influenced by monarchical institutions.
The Delhi Sultanate's practice of producing court chronicles was continued during the
Mughal era. And Akbar's reign witnessed efflorescence in history writing. The emperor
himself commissioned several histories, their illustrations and translations; to record his
reign, ancestral legacy, grandeur of the empire and to leave behind a testimony for posterity.
o Tarikh-I-Alfi written by a band of 7 scholars-: Rizvi points out that Akbar took
many measures to demonstrate that completion of 1000 years of Islam was only a
historical phenomenon and had no religious or spiritual connotation, one of the
measures was writing of Tarikh I Alfi. The text was compiled to evaluate the history
of 1000 years of Islam. Akbar ordered the scholars to follow high degree of
objectivity and perfection in writing. Account of each year was assigned to one
particular author. It also served as a source for a number of texts written after this.
 Brijesh Kumar Singh,1655
Ba. History Hons.
o Waqi’at I Mushtaqi by Rizqu’llah Mushtaqi-: One of the earliest works to throw
light on history of lodis and surs, it also has accounts on Babur, Humayun and Akbar.
It has a collection of anecdotes that arouse nostalgic pride of afghans dreaming of the
revival of their past glory. It provides great details about system of recruitment of
soldiers, grant of iqtas and various aspects of political and social conflicts and
tensions.
o Tuhfa I Akbar Shahi by Abbas Khan-: Contains extols of Sher Shah Suri based on
the reminisces of the author. The text is dedicated to Akbar, however, the date of
beginning and completion of the text remain unknown. The text was often referred by
all contemporary and later scholars to write about Sher Shah Suri.
o Tazkirat ul Waqi’at by Jauhar Aftabchi-: The book contains memoirs of Jauhar
Aftabchi who was a servant of Humayun and wrote mainly from memory. The writing
of the text was intended to provide authentic information about Humayun to the
authors of Tarikh I Alfi. As the author was very close to Humayun, the text provides
deeper insight into the king’s personal life. The text according to Rizvi was recasted
into ornate prose by Faizi Sarhindi.
o Humayun Nama by Gulbadan Begum-: Gulbadan Begum began writing the text on
Akbar’s order and is a unique source not only in terms of content but also style, as
pointed out by Rizvi. The text unfolds very interesting aspects and vivid accounts of
the feelings and sentiments of the women in Harem. The text deals with Humayun in
detail while Babar's account is very brief, the text also ends abruptly with the blinding
of Mirza Kamran.
o Nafa’isu’l Ma’asir by Mir Ala’ud Qazwini-: This is the earliest known work on
history of Akbar. The account was commenced between 1565-66, and is primarily a
biographical dictionary of poets divided into 28 chapters. The text lists Tuzuk I Babari
and Tarikh I Rashindi as it’s sources. Akbar is portraited as a Defender of Sharia and
patron of Ulama, while Raja Bhar Mal is also given titles like Muti’ul Islam. The text
also provides first hand information upon the construction of buildings at Agra and
Fatehpur Sikri.
o Tarikh I Akbari by Arif Qandhari-: The text is based on Nafa’isu’l Ma’asir but is
more extensive and valuable. It was complied in 1581 and was available for Tarikh I
Alfi. Other sources include copies of letters, orders and other papers in the hands of
Muzaffar Khan and Mukhdumu’l Mulk and other important dignitaries. Vivid
descriptions of emperor’s conquests to Gujarat and Bihar and his pilgrimage to Ajmer
and Patan. The text also praises Akbar’s Karori experiment and calls him Badshah I
Islam.
o Akbar Nama by Abul Fazal-: The Akbar Nama was commissioned by Akbar to
record his life and rule. He did not place any restriction on Abul Fazal' s style. There
were to be five volumes of which the first four constitute a narrative part, each
covering 30 years but Abul Fazl could only complete the first two volumes. The fifth
volume of the piece is the Ai'n-i-Akbari. Abul Fazl says he prepared five successive
drafts, to improve each stylistically. Apparently, as the re-drafting progressed, the
differences in original testimonies were also set aside in favour of either the
consensus approach, or of a decision adopted by Abul Fazl himself or obtained from
his sovereign.
 Brijesh Kumar Singh,1655
Ba. History Hons.
o Nizamuddin’s work of Tabaqat-E-Akbari-: Akbar’s reign saw the production of the
first general history of India, Tabaqat- i-Akbari. This work is in two volumes. The first
volume deals with the political history of entire India including the region of Deccan
and peninsular and the second volume brings out the history of the reign of Akbar.
So, Now were coming on the Arabic word ‘Insha’ means creation or construction and was
used in the time to denote a prose, composition, letter, document or state paper. Gradually it
came to denote a distinct genre in Arabic and Persian literature. The term ilm-i Insha is used
to denote refined prose writing.
The Mughals brought with them the tradition of Persian prose and Insha popular in Timurid
regions. According to Zilli, this tradition was also the contribution of the Mongol legacy.
During this period different styles of Insha writing flourished. The most significant
contribution was made by Abul Fazl who was the Mir-Munshi during the rule of Akbar. The
features of Insha on interacting with the composite elements in Akbar’s court acquired a
distinct character. When Abul Fazl wrote his letters or official documents, he conveyed the
message and also included his philosophical musings using the text at an abstract level for
reference. He avoided oft-quoted passages and phrases and would often coin new terms and
phrases and often used Sufi terminology.
We find his letters in two compilations. The Ruqat-i-Abul Fazl , a collection of private letters
compiled by his nephew Nur al-Din Muhammad. The Insha-i-Abul Fazl contains the official
dispatches of writings by Abul Fazl. It has two parts- the first part conatins letters of Akbar to
Abdullah Khan Uzbeg of Turan, along with his nobles like Abdur Rahim Khan-i-Khanan, and
the second part consists of Abul Fazl’s letters to Akbar, Daniyal, etc.
Abul Fazl rejected many stylistic features of Insha in the Akbarama and he condemned
authors who used ambiguous and ornate language. He excluded Arabic words and
expressions and replaced them with Turkish words and focussed on expression. Abul Fazl
also does not offer any explanation for Akbar’s acts and dismisses all objections alluding to
God’s glorious design. This also shows how the letters were used to reinforce Abul Fazl’s
idea of sovereignty. He was widely appreciated for his correctness of language while many
others criticised him for deviating.
The older brother of Abul Fazl, Faizi, who was also Akbar’s poet Laureate, also enriched the
Insha style and often Faizi would advise Abul Fazl on the correctness of language. His
collection was compiled in 1625 and called Lataif-i-Faiyazi. There were others also like
Hakim Abul Fath and Abul Qasim, who also reinvented Insha writing.
Conclusion-:
In Conclusion, Akbar's age was one of richness and variety, where culture flourished,
therefore to Nizami, it calls for different principles for the study of history, for it has to be
interpreted according to backgrounds, motivations and ideals. From the fathnamas, to the
different sources available to us, the patronage of Persian showed a distinct increase in the
body of Persian literature, but as students of history, we have to deal with these sources with
sensitivity and understand the socio-political context.
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 Brijesh Kumar Singh,1655
Ba. History Hons.
Answer (2)-: Introduction-:
The Mughal literary culture has been admired for its notable achievements in poetry and a
wide range of prose writings in Persian. From Akbar to Shah Jahan, Persian continued to
foster under the imperial patronage. Even though Aurangzeb showed his indifference to the
growth of Persian literature, the language continued to flourish till the 18th century. Although
at first sight the language seems to have become irrelevant in the 18th century with the
simultaneous growth of Hindavi, Hindustani and Urdu, Mohammed Umar suggests that many
individual Persian writings of the century are still available. What becomes essential here is
the trajectory of Persian throughout the Mughal Era and its interspersing with the regional
languages. In this context, the comparison and interplay between Indian and Iranian Persian
also becomes necessary. Muzaffar Alam’s The Pursuit of Persian: Language in Mughal
Politics provides insightful information on the subject together with the articles of Azizuddin
Husain and Mohammed Umar.
Body-:
In the body, we’re discussing tradition of Persian historiography was introduced in India
during the 13th century CE. Ziauddin Barani’s Tarikh-i-Firozshahi is the finest example of
the Persian historical literature pertaining to the Delhi Sultanate. However, as Muzaffar Alam
argues, pre-Mughal northern India also witnessed the rise of Hindavi which gradually
incorporated much of Persian culture; Malik Muhammad Jayasi’s Padmavat is the best
example of the fact. Inspite of their close association with Persian, most of the Afghan chiefs
could not speak Persian. Hindavi was recognized as a semi-official language by the Sur
Sultans (1540-55). Babur encouraged and favoured Turkish, as is reflected in his Tuzuk-i -
Baburi, to Persian. Even under Humayun, Turkish was the first language at his court. Turkish
poetry enjoyed an appreciable audience at Humayun’s court even after his return from Persia,
when he came reinforced with Persian support to reconquer Hindustan. Muzaffar Alam
asserts that in the matters of language, the Mughals had no other choice but simply to inherit
a legacy and continue with it.
As Muzaffar Alam maintains, the explanation for the growth of Persian under the Mughals
may thus be sought more in the convergence of factors within the Mughal regime than in the
Indo-Persian heritage of the earlier Muslim regimes.
When Mohibbul Hasan asserted that we find a qualitative change in historical writings during
the Mughal period, he meant, as Azizuddin Husain remarked, the growth of Persian from
Akbar’s reign onwards. Akbar’s reign inherited some eminent Iranian ulema – Hakim Abdul
Fateh Gilani, Fatehullah Shirazi, Mir Murtaza Shirazi, Saiyid Nurullah Shushtari – who came
to India with Humayun in 1555 and settled in Agra. These ulema were experts of both uloom-
i-din (religious subjects) and uloom-i-maqulat (scientific subjects). As Azizuddin Husain
remarks, the study of philosophy and other social sciences created a scientific environment,
which paved the way for the development of Persian historiography during the Mughal
period. The Persian historiography under Akbar was finely exhibited by Abul Fazl’s
biography of Akbar termed as Akbarnama; Ain forms an important component of Akbarnama.
The enthusiasm of Akbar to encourage the Persian language and literature is exhibited from
his invitations to Chalapi Beg, who was made the principal teacher at a royal madrasa at Agra
and Mir Sadr ud-Din. Indeed, Akbar’s Sulh-i-kul played a determining role in attracting these
 Brijesh Kumar Singh,1655
Ba. History Hons.
non-conformist and dissident Iranians. However, important is the fact that in the process,
India drew close to Iran naturally and Persian could attain the status of being the first
language of the Emperor and the court in Mughal India.
Increasingly, many previous works now began to be translated in Persian including
Baburnama and Gulbadan Begum’s Humayun-nama. Akbar himself composed couplets in
Persian, gave patronage to only Persian poets and instituted a formal position of malik-ush-
shuara for Persian poets only; the latter award continued until Shahjahan’s time. Jahangir also
had his own style in Persian and wrote his memoir in an elegant prose. Muzaffar Alam
remarks that he was also a good critic of Persian poetry and composed several verses and
ghazals. Indeed, later 17th century northern India witnessed numerous native poets of high
standard in Persian, including the great Mirza Abdul Qadir Bidil and Nasir Ali Sirhindi (d.
1696).
The frontiers of Persian expanded further when Akbar became the first among the Indo-
Islamic kings of northern India formally to declare Persian to be the language of
administration at all levels. Soon, Iranians as mutasaddis and minor functionaries could be
seen everywhere in the government offices, even though they were not in exclusive control of
these offices. Akbar’s enlightened policy and introduction of ‘secular’ themes in the syllabi at
middle levels ‘stimulated a wide application to Persian studies’. Hindus – Kayasthas and
Khatris in particular – joined madrasas to acquire excellence in Persian language and
literature, which now promised good careers in imperial service.
All Mughal government papers from the imperial orders (farmans) to the bonds and
acceptance letters (muchalka, tamassuk, qabuliat) which a village intermediary (chaudhari)
wrote were prepared in Persian. On the other hand, there was no bookseller in the bazaars and
streets of Agra, Delhi and Lahore who did not sell the anthologies of Persian poetry.
If, on the one hand, it created the prospects of good careers for the Hindus, on the other hand,
the language acquired a kind of religious sanctity for the Muslims. Farhang-i Jahangiri of
Jamaluddin Inju dwells at length on the point that Persian together with Arabic is the
language of Islam. In Shah Jahan’s time treatises on religious disputations in simple Persian
prose were written for common poor Muslims in order to prevent them from falling into the
Brahmanical ‘trap’ thereby leaning towards innovation, idolatrous practices and infidelity; the
best example was Hujjat-ul-Hind.
Since the Persian was the most functional, pragmatic and accomplished vehicle of
communication, Bernard Cohn asserts that by the 18th century it came to be recognized as the
language of politics in nearly the entire subcontinent. Mughals’ supporters and successors
with Persian in political and military management created a memory of the language as an
instrument of conquest.
Mirza Asadullah Ghalib, the last of the Mughal poets, believed that the depth, complexity and
variety of his ideas could be conveyed only through Persian words. Amir Khusrau, as early as
in the 14th century, stated that ‘Persian enjoyed uniformity of idiom throughout the length of
4,ooo pasasangs, unlike the Hindavi tongue, which had no settled idiom and varied after
every hundred miles and with every group of people.’ Arzu calls that Sanskrit could have
been a choice in place of Persian as the language of the Empire, but Mirza Khan noted in
Aurangzeb’s time that Sanskrit was not taken as an ordinary human toungue; it was Deva-
 Brijesh Kumar Singh,1655
Ba. History Hons.
bani. On the contrary, Prakrit or Patal-bani was considered too low for the Mughals to be
appropriated for lofty ideals.
Persian poetry, which had integrated many aspects from pre-Islamic Persia and which had
been an important vehicle of liberalism in medieval Muslim world, helped in creating and
supporting the Mughal attempt to accommodate diverse religious traditions. These ideas of
cultural syncretism reverberate in the masnavi of Jalaluddin Rumi and poetries of Faizi and
Nasir Ali Sirhindi.
Amir Khusrau (1253-1325) is attributed to have innovated a new Indo-Persian style. Carrying
the process forward, the Mughal court was concerned with the purification of Persian. Inju’s
Farhang and Majma-ul-Furs Sururi were taken as the sole standard lexicons in the first half of
the 17th century. Much more significant was the height of excellence the Persian poetry
scaled under the Mughals. While highlighting the difference between Indian diction and
Iranian Persian, Nasir Ali Sirhindi declared boastfully that “The Iranian nightingale possessed
little similar(ity) to the grandeur of the Indian peacock.”
As Alam asserts, there were attempts for Indian Persian to acquire an autonomous position,
but the result ended with the dominance of Iranian diction over the Indian one.
Simultaneously, many Indian words were persianized. As a result, the pressure from the high
Mughal culture vigorously supported an unmixed Iranized idiom. Arzu’s own writings largely
imply that the ideal Persian was the unalloyed Iranian one. Indeed, as Alam suggests, it was
through the vicissitudes of its growth under the Mughals that it required an unequivocal
Iranian identity.
Although this ‘alien’ language alienated the rulers from the ruled, importantly Shahjahan and
Aurangzeb had full command over the native languages like ‘Hindustani’ as well. From
Farrukh Siyar throughout Shah Alam II, Mughals accorded a respectable position to Hindavi.
As the Persianized Mughals adopted Hindavi, they changed its direction as well. From the
language of a region it turned to be the language of the royal camp.
Conclusion-:
While concluding, one may state that Persian became a particularly useful instrument for
political maneuverability in the 16th century. By the end of the 16th century and early 17th
century, Mughal rule saw an evolution of the language from a mere state-building tool to a
social and cultural signifier. Eventually, Persian became the major definer of Mughal identity.
With the popularization of Persian along the chain of administrative and political command
also continued its Islamic overtone. However, in the Mughals’ efforts to purge Persian from
the non-Persian, one could see a continuous endeavour to define their power and political
identity in non-religious idioms. By the 18th century, Persian was mainly used to
accommodate with people by extending hand to Hindavi, though it was persianized before its
entry into Mughal court. It is difficult to say if it was because of the intrinsic strength of the
language or just in consideration of its association with power and prestige that the
indigenous subordinate ruling groups and bureaucracy appropriated Persian.
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