thefirst1000years: Mughals and the Spread of Islam

Harikha Kota

Professor Bertram

May 19, 2017

Mughals and the Spread of Islam in India

The Subcontinent of India has experienced many religions over centuries, despite being predominantly Hindu. Islam has been one of the most prominent religious in the history of India over the centuries along with Hinduism. The Mughal Empire was an important time during which the two prominent religions co-existed in peace as the culture flourished between them in India, culminating a golden age between the two religions. The Mughals ruled most of India and what is today Pakistan, in the 16th and 17th centuries. They spread Islam and also the arts and cultures along with the faith. Mughals also brought many changes to India from politics to culture. The emperors and their own tastes in Persian culture of Islam played a significant role in the spread of the religion in the subcontinent.

Muslims were present in India long before the Mughal Empire, and arrived around the 8th century. Beginning in the 10th century, Muslim ruler Ghazi Saiyyad Salar of Afghanistan, invaded the region of Punjab in India multiple times without much political success, other than looting the region’s wealth. By the end of the 12 century, another invasion occurred, when Muhammad of Ghor invaded Northern India, establishing the Delhi Sultanate. The Mughal empire officially took roots when Babur came by taking over the Delhi Sultanate from Ibrahim Lodi, the last ruler of the Sultanate, becoming the first Mughal Empire. The Mughal Empire grew out of the descendants of the Turko-Mongal Empire and the Timurid Empire, who were direct descendants of the great Mongolian emperor Genghis Khan.

Babur, the first Mughal Emperor claimed to be the descendant of Genghis Khan and Tamerlane. Following the capture of the Delhi Sultanate, in the Battle of Panipat, he imposed his rule on most of Northern India from 1526 AD. The empire he founded was very sophisticated and religiously tolerant. It had a mixture of Persian, Mongolian and Indian Cultures. Hinduism was tolerated and new Hindu Temples were allowed to be built with his permission. He also abolished the killing of cows as it was offensive to the Hindus, bringing in a broad minded Islam from Central Asia. Trade was an important factor in bringing in the Islamic culture and in the spread of Islam across the subcontinent, where new ideologies, philosophies, and languages intermixed, creating a mixture of cultures. Despite his claims to the lineage of barbaric rulers, Babur based his empire on bringing in and creating a harmonious civilization, by accepting the different religions. In order to keep the peace he made peace with the Hindu kingdoms of Southern India, by acknowledging their kingdoms and rights, and diminishing slavery. Despite having harmony in his empire, it is clear that the religion most revered under his reign was Islam and he portrays it grandiosely by establishing architectural resemblances by building Mosques and integrating the new prominent religion alongside the already existing Hinduism. He was significantly influenced by the Persian culture and so his empire also gave rise to the expansion of the Persian culture in Indian Subcontinent. Babar Masjid was built in his honor in Ayodhya, India following his death in his memory. It has significant Turkish and Persian architectural influence, showing the power and richness of the empire as well the family lineage also. Before his death he divided his empire between his two sons just as how it is done in the Persian culture, where both sons get equal share of the empire versus just the oldest one. With this division, one of his sons, Humayun, attains the empire.

Humayun ruled over the territories in what are now Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Northern India. Earlier in his reign, just like his father Babur, he lost parts of his kingdom, epitomizing the still unbalanced state of the empire especially due to wars, and successions. Humayun eventually wins back his empire with the help of the Safavid Dynasty of Persia, and gains additional territory in process. This alliance with the Safavid dynasty was heavily influential in the subcontinent, as Humayun loved poetry and was a poet himself and Persian culture and poetry continued to play a significant role in spreading Islamic culture throughout the empire. His love for poetry, music and art and architecture was passed on to his son Akbar who would eventually take the throne as the next emperor, beginning a golden and classical period of the Mughal Empire.

Abu Akbar or just Akbar as he is widely known as, was the greatest ruler of the Mughal Empire. At just the age of thirteen he rose to the throne as the third emperor of empire, and started to recapture the remaining territories lost from Babur’s empire. He worked hard to win over the hearts of the Hindu leaders, even marrying a hindu princess. While this might have been for political reasons as he did have many other wives, whom he married for political reasons as well, it portrayed the call for unity and diversity between the two predominant religions of the empire. Akbar believed that all religions should be tolerated and treat every one equally under his empire despite their beliefs. His establishment of a delegated government, which delegated provincial governors to keep their provinces running well was another way the religions integrated as most of the governors were Hindus. He also didn't enforce Islamic law on non muslims and allowed them to regulate themselves through their own laws and institutions. Akbar built a new capitol at Fatepur Sikri as a part of his attempt to absorb other religions into Islam. The building just like its purpose is made of both Hindu and Islamic architectures.

Akbar’s Successor to the throne was his son Jahangir. Jahangir was also an important figure in the spread of Islam as he readopted it as the state religion and continued the policy of religious toleration. His court also included a large number of Indian Hindus along with Persian sufi’s and members of local islamic sects. Jahangir was also the one that began building the magnificent monuments and gardens for which the Mughals are still revered for the most today. He brought in thousands of Persian architects fro build and create these architectures, epitomizing Islamic architecture, culture and religion even further and on a grander scale than any of the other emperors before him. Urdu was made the official language of the empire as well, which was language which uses an Arabic script but Persian vocabulary and Hindi grammatical structure.

Shah Jahan who came after Jahangir’s rule took the Mughal’s architectural achievements to its peaks. He commissions the building of the Taj Mahal, which is known to be one of the eight wonders of the world today. The Taj Mahal symbolized the stability, power and the greatness of the empire. The building is a mausoleum build in the honor of his wife Mumtaz and the marble design gave the image of great power and majesty. By his reign the capitol of the empire had also moved to Delhi, where he also built the majestic Red Fort and putting it at the center of the Mughal Power. But the money it took to build these grandiose structures was very taxying on the empire’s funds forcing Jahan to raise the taxes, aggravating the people of the empire. By the time of his sons reign, Aurangzeb, who was also the last of the Mughal emperor, taxes were very high. Also the way he came to power rose tension between the Muslims and Hindus. His violent rise the throne soon extended into the empire as well. He imposed Sharia law all over the empire and no longer allowed the Hindu community to live under their own laws and customs. Thousands of Hindu Temples and shrines were torn down and a punitive tac on Hindu citizens was re-imposed. By the end of his reign he has conquered and invaded Hindu kingdoms in the southern and central India. Eventually by the end of his reign the Maratha Kingdoms cut off his advances as well as eastern parts eel to the British and European backed princes, and the empire eventually fell.

Most of the emperors during the Mughal Empire played a significant role in the spread of Islam and culture throughout the subcontinent of India. The building and architectures, as well the trade that brought in poetry, ideologies and culture fro the middle east mixed well with that of the already existing culture of India, due to the religious tolerance practiced by most of the emperors. Letting the Hindus govern themselves while still under the Mughal rule, helped Islam become more accepted on the subcontinent. The open mindedness of the emperors and the Hindu-Islamic cultures is what made the impact of Islam on the subcontinent great.

References

Mitchell, Colin Paul. “Journal of Asian History.” Journal of Asian History, vol. 36, no. 1, 2002, pp. 101–103. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/41933282.

Blake, Stephen P. “The American Historical Review.” The American Historical Review, vol. 99, no. 3, 1994, pp. 953–954. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2167894.

Raeside, I. M. P. “Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.” Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, vol. 55, no. 3, 1992, pp. 623–623. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/620275.

Bose, Sugata. “The Journal of Economic History.” The Journal of Economic History, vol. 49, no. 3, 1989, pp. 746–747. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2122531.

Hasan, Farhat. “Modern Asian Studies.” Modern Asian Studies, vol. 29, no. 2, 1995, pp. 441–447. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/312822.

"Mughal Empire." Mughal Empire - New World Encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 May 2017. <http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Mughal_Empire>.

"Humayun." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 15 May 2017. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humayun>.

Images

Babur Masjid: Ayodhya, India; Google Images