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IGNOU HISTORY NOTES : India History From 8th to Mid 15th Century - State and Religion

IGNOU HISTORY Study Notes for IAS, UPSC Exams

History India From 8th to Mid 15th Century

State and Religion

Structure

30.0 Objectives
30.1 Introduction
30.2 Historical Perspective
30.2.1 Contemporary Scenar~o
30.2.2 Contemporary Histonography
30.2.3 Modern Historiography
30.3 Attitude of the Mughals Towards Religion
30.3.1 Akbar
30.3.2 Jahangir
30 3.3 Shah Jahan
30.3.4 Aurangzcb
30.5 Let Us Sum Up
30.6 Key Words
30.7 Answers to Check Your Progress Exercises

30.0 OBJECTIVES

After reading this unit you will know about the :

nature of the contemporary writings on religion;
observations of some historians on the religious policy of the Mughal Emperors;
att~tude of the Mughal Emperors towards religlon, and
influence of the Emperor's religious faith on his state policy.

30.1 INTRODUCTION

The change in the composition of the upper ruling classes in North India after the
Muslim conquests should be regarded as a watershed in Indian history. The most
important political reason for demarcation from the preceding period is the bare fact
that now the Muslims emerge as the dominant factor in the Indian polity-a procss,
that continued for many centuries including the Mughal rule. This has naturally
affected the periodization of Indian history. Some modern scholars are prone to call
medieval period "as" Musllm period: They think that since Muslims were the rulers,
Islam must have been the state religion. But this perception is erroneous, because it
places exclusive Importance on religion of the upper ruling-classes, completely
disregarding other significant compments of medieval society like economic, political
and social interests. Secondly, it is not rational to equate the religion of the ruler with
that of the state. Such perceptions complicate the issue of state and religlon.
In this Unit, at first, we will discuss the background in which the Mughal state was
working. We shall also take note of the observations of contemporary sources. The
attltude of the Mughal Emperors towards religious matters will also be examined.
This includes the personal beliefs of the ruler, state mies and relationship with the
non-Muslims. We have avoided the question of Mughal-Rajput relations as they have
. been discussed in detail in Unit 11.
We would like to stress here that one should be on his guard while using modern
terminology to evaluate medieval Indian history, especially the issue of religion
during this period. The terms like "fundamentalism", "fanaticism", "communalism"
"secularism", etc. are thrown in wide circulation and are being freely used. Many
tlmes this leads to distortion of facts. For a better understanding of such issues,
therefore, we should follow a disciplined historical perspective and carefully observe
some characteristic features of medieval period.