(Online Course) History for IAS Mains: Culture in the Mughal Empire - Persian histories and other literature

Culture in the Mughal Empire

Ans. The Mughal period constitutes a brilliant epoch in the cultural history of India. The period witnessed outburst of many-side cultural activities, of which very significant strides were made in the development of literature.

There were several factors responsible for the development of literature during the Mughal period. Foremost factor was the background provided by Sufi and Bhakti saints who preached in local languages.

The next important factor wass the patronage provided by the Mughal rulers to the various literatures like Persian, and Hindi.

Both original works and translations were produced in large numbers in Persian. Hindi also saw important developments and so did Punjabi, Urdu. Moreover, many other regional languages also found a period of growth during this period.

The greatest growth was witnessed in the Persian literature because it was the official language of the Mughals. All Mughal rulers patronized Persian literary figures and activities. Thus, Babur wrote poems in both Persian and Turkish.

Persian prose and poetry reached a climax during Akbar's reign. Many biographies and historical works were composed during his reign. Some of the important historical works included the Ain-l-Akbari by Abul Fazl, Muntakhab-ul-Tawarikh by Badaun, Tabagat-IAkbari by Nizamuddin Ahmed.

Besides original works, works in other languages were translated into Persian during Akbar's time. In this regard, the important translations were the translation of Mahabharat into Persian under the tile of Raim Namah is the most important. Similarly, Ramayana was translated by Baduui. Faizi translated Panchatantra, Lilawati, Naldamyanti, while Badauni translated Simhasana Batisi and Ibrahim Sirhindi did the translation of Atharvaveda.

Abu] FazI. a great scholar and stylist, was the leading historian and set a style of prose-writing. The leading Persian poets during Akbar's reign were Faizi, Urfi and Naziri.

During the reign of Jahangir, was composed works as Tuzuki-i-Jahangiri, Iqbal Nama-i-Jahangir. During Shah Jahan's reign, works o f history like Padshahnama, Turkish-i-Shah Jahani and Shah Jahan Namah were composed. Waqyat-i-Alamgiri, Khulasatul-Tawarikh, Muntakhah-ul-Lubab, Nushkha-iDilkhusa etc were works that were composed during the reign of Aurangzeb.

As far Sanskrit, although not much significant and original work was done during the period, the number of Sanskrit works produced during the period is quite impressive. Most of the works were produced in South and east India under the patronage of local rulers.

During the reign of Akbar, important Sanskrit works that were composed include the Shringar Darpan by Padma Sunder, Heer Shubhagyam by Deva Vimala. Moreover, Sanskrit-Persian dictionary was composed under the title of "Parsi Prakash" during Akbar's reign.

In the reign of Shah Jahan Kavindra Acharya Saraswati and Jagatnath Pandit enjoyed royal patronage. Pandit Jagannath composed RasGangadhar and Ganga Lahiri.

As far as Hindi literature is concerned, Akbar whole heartedly patronized it. The important Hindi poets associated with the Mughal court were Raja Birbal, Man Singh, Bhagwan Das, Narhari etc. Among those contributing to Hindi poetry by individual efforts were - Nand Das, Vithal Das, Parmanand Das, Kumbhan Das. Tulsi Das and Surdas were two notable poets who got immortalized owing to their works in Hindi. Abdur Rahim Khan-i-Khana and Rash Khan were other notable Hindi poets.During the reign of Shah Jahan, Sunder Kaviray wrote `Under Shringar'. Senapati composed 'Kavitt Ratnakari'. Several Hindi literatures were associated with provincial kingdoms. In this regard, mention may be made of Bihari, Keshavadas who were patronized by Rajput rulers.

Urdu language and literature also made progress during the period especially of later Mughals. Urdu beginning its career during the period of Delhi Sultanate acquired the status of literary language in Deccan. Among the Mughals, Muhammad Shah was the first ruler who invited and awarded the Deccani poet Shainsuddin Wali. Urdu gradually became the medium of social intercourse in northern India. Urdu produced brilliant poets like Mir, Sauda, Nazir etc.

Regional languages acquired stability and maturity and some of the finest lyrical poetry was produced during this period. The dalliance of Krishna with Radha and stories from Bhagwat figured largely in the lyrical poetry in Bengali, Oriya, Rajasthani and Gujarati. Many devotional hymns of Ramayana and Mahabharata were translated into regional languages.

Punjabi literature was enriched by composition of Adi Granth by Gum Arjun and Vachitra Natak by Guru Govind Singh.

In South India, Malayalam started its literary career as a separate language in its own right. Marathi reached its apogee at hands of Eknath and Tukaram.

Thus, the Mughal period saw the efflorescence of the rich literate tradition in the history of medieval India. Such high efflorescence made Urdu, Hindi and the regional languages the vehicle of though in the subsequent times.