Mughal dynasty

This article is about the historical imperial family. For the territorial state over which it ruled, see Mughal Empire. For rulers of that empire, see Mughal emperors.

House of Babur
Imperial dynasty
Imperial seal
(1837–1857)
Parent houseTimurid dynasty
CountryMughal India
Place of originTimurid Empire
Founded21 April 1526
FounderBabur
Final rulerBahadur Shah II
TitlesList
Connected families
Traditions
Dissolution1857
Deposition21 September 1857

The Mughal dynasty (Persian: دودمان مغل, romanized: Dudmân-e Mughal) or the House of Babur (Persian: خاندانِ آلِ بابُر, romanized: Khāndān-e-Āl-e-Bābur), was a branch of the Timurid dynasty founded by Babur that ruled the Mughal Empire from its inception in 1526 till the early eighteenth century, and then as ceremonial suzerains over much of the empire until 1857.

The Mughals originated as a branch of the Central Asian Timurid dynasty, supplemented with extra Borjigin (the clan which ruled the Mongol Empire and its successor states) bloodlines. The dynasty's founder, Babur (born 1483), was a direct descendant of the Asian conqueror Timur (1336–1405) on his father's side and of Mongol emperor Genghis Khan (died 1227) on his mother's side, and Babur's ancestors had other affiliations with Genghisids through marriage and common ancestry.[2][3] Many of the later Mughal emperors had significant Indian and Persian ancestry through marriage alliances as emperors were born to Persian princesses.[4][5] Akbar, for instance, was half-Persian (his mother was of Persian origin), Jahangir was half-Timurid and quarter-Persian, and Shah Jahan was three-quarters Timurid.[6]

During much of the Empire's history, the emperor functioned as the absolute head of state, head of government and head of the military, while during its declining era much of the power shifted to the office of the Grand Vizier and the empire became divided into many regional kingdoms and princely states.[7] However, even in the declining era, the Mughal Emperor continued to be the highest manifestation of sovereignty on the Indian subcontinent. Not only the Muslim gentry, but the Maratha, Rajput, and Sikh leaders took part in ceremonial acknowledgements of the Emperor as the sovereign of India.[8] The British East India Company deposed the imperial family and abolished the empire on 21 September 1857 during the Indian Rebellion of 1857. The UK declared the establishment of the British Raj the following year.

The British tried and convicted the last emperor, Bahadur Shah II (r. 1837–1857), and exiled him (1858) to Rangoon in British-controlled Burma (present-day Myanmar).[9]

Name

This section is an excerpt from Mughal Empire § Name.[edit]
The Mughal designation for their dynasty was Gurkani (Gūrkāniyān), a reference to their descent from the Turco-Mongol conqueror Timur, who took the title Gūrkān 'son-in-law' after his marriage to a Chinggisid princess.[10] The word Mughal (also spelled Mogul[11] or Moghul in English) is the Indo-Persian form of Mongol. The Mughal dynasty's early followers were Chagatai Turks and not Mongols.[12][13] The term Mughal was applied to them in India by association with the Mongols and to distinguish them from the Afghan elite which ruled the Delhi Sultanate.[12] The term remains disputed by Indologists.[14] In Marshall Hodgson's view, the dynasty should be called Timurid/Timuri or Indo-Timurid.[12]

History

The Mughal empire is conventionally said to have been founded in 1526 by Babur, a Timurid prince from Andijan which today is in Uzbekistan. After losing his ancestral domains in Central Asia, Babur first established himself in Kabul and ultimately moved towards the Indian subcontinent.[15] Mughal rule was interrupted for 16 years by the Sur Emperors during Humayun's reign.[16] Famed Russian linguist and physicist, Vladimir Braginskiĭ, also believed that the Hikayat Aceh literature from Aceh Sultanate were influenced by Mughal dynasty historiography, as he found out the literal structure similarities of Hikayat Aceh with Mahfuzat-i-Timuri, as the former has shared the similar theme with the latter about the lifetime and exploits of the protagonist of Mahfuzat-i-Timuri, Timur.[17] Braginskiĭ also found the similarities in structure of both Hikayat Aceh and Mahfuzat-i-Timuri with Akbarnama manuscript.[17]

The Mughal imperial structure was founded by Akbar the Great around the 1580s which lasted until the 1740s, until shortly after the Battle of Karnal. During the reigns of Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb, the dynasty reached its zenith in terms of geographical extent, economy, military and cultural influence.[18]

Around 1700, the dynasty was ruling the wealthiest empire in the world, with also the largest military on earth.[19] Mughals had approximately 24 percent share of world's economy and a military of one million soldiers.[20][21] At that time the Mughals ruled almost the whole of the South Asia with 160 million subjects, 23 percent of world's population.[22] The Dynasty's power rapidly dwindled during the 18th century with internal dynastic conflicts, incompatible monarchs, foreign invasions from Persians and Afghans, as well as revolts from Marathas, Sikh, Rajputs and regional Nawabs.[23][24] The power of the last emperor was limited only to the Walled city of Delhi.

The Mughal Lineage; represents all the descendants mentioned in written sources and verbal sources found and researched in the New Era. Contains male issues only.

Many of the Mughals had significant Indian and Persian ancestry through marriage alliances as they were born to Persian princesses.[25][26] Mughals played a great role in the flourishing of Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb (Indo-Islamic civilization).[27] Mughals were also great patrons of art, culture, literature and architecture. Mughal painting, architecture, culture, clothing, cuisine and Urdu language; all were flourished during Mughal era. Mughals were not only guardians of art and culture but they also took interest in these fields personally. Emperor Babur, Aurangzeb and Shah Alam II were great calligraphers,[28] Jahangir was a great painter,[29] Shah Jahan was a great architect[30] while Bahadur Shah II was a great poet of Urdu.[31]

Succession to the throne

Group portrait of Mughal rulers, from Babur to Aurangzeb, with the Mughal ancestor Timur seated in the middle. On the right: Shah Jahan, Akbar and Babur, with Abu Sa'id of Samarkand and Timur's son, Miran Shah. On the left: Aurangzeb, Jahangir and Humayun, and two of Timur's other offspring Umar Shaykh and Muhammad Sultan. Created c. 1707–12

The Mughal dynasty operated under several basic premises: that the Emperor governed the empire's entire territory with complete sovereignty, that only one person at a time could be the Emperor, and that every male member of the dynasty was hypothetically eligible to become Emperor, even though an heir-apparent was appointed several times in dynastic history. The certain processes through which imperial princes rose to the Peacock Throne, however, were very specific to the Mughal Empire. To go into greater detail about these processes, the history of succession between Emperors can be divided into two eras: Era of Imperial successions (1526–1713) and Era of Regent successions (1713–1857).

Disputed headship of dynasty

The Mughal Emperors practiced polygamy. Besides their wives, they also had several concubines in their harem, who produced children. This makes it difficult to identify all the offspring of each emperor.[32]

A man in India named Habeebuddin Tucy claims to be a descendant of Bahadur Shah II, but his claim is not universally believed.[33]

Another woman named Sultana Begum who lives in the slums of Kolkata has claimed that her late husband, Mirza Mohammad Bedar Bakht was the great-grandson of Bahadur Shah II.[34]

Yaqoob Ziauddin Tucy is a sixth generation descendant of the last Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar. Living in Hyderabad, he still believes that the government will release properties of the erstwhile Mughals to the legal heirs. He also demands restoration of scholarships for Mughal descendants, that was discontinued by the government a while back. He wants that amount be raised to ₹8,000 and that the government should grant the economically depressed Mughal descendants the money for their upliftment. Tucy has two sons.[35]

Yaqoob Ziauddin Tucy also has a younger brother Yaqoob Shajeeuddin Tucy. Shajeeuddin Tucy has served the country as a part of the Indian Air Force. He has been the state guest to Tashkent, Uzbekistan along with his two elder brothers. He frequently travels to the Middle East and central Asia. He lives in Hyderabad along with his two sons Yaqoob Muzammiluddin Tucy and Yaqoob Mudassiruddin Tucy.[36]

References

  1. ^ Zahir ud-Din Mohammad (10 September 2002). Thackston, Wheeler M. (ed.). The Baburnama: Memoirs of Babur, Prince and Emperor. New York: Modern Library. p. xlvi. ISBN 978-0-375-76137-9. In India the dynasty always called itself Gurkani, after Temür's title Gurkân, the Persianized form of the Mongolian kürägän, 'son-in-law,' a title Temür assumed after his marriage to a Genghisid princess.
  2. ^ Berndl, Klaus (2005). National Geographic Visual History of the World. National Geographic Society. pp. 318–320. ISBN 978-0-7922-3695-5.
  3. ^ Dodgson, Marshall G.S. (2009). The Venture of Islam. Vol. 3: The Gunpowder Empires and Modern Times. University of Chicago Press. p. 62. ISBN 978-0-226-34688-5.
  4. ^ Jeroen Duindam (2015), Dynasties: A Global History of Power, 1300–1800, page 105 Archived 6 December 2022 at the Wayback Machine, Cambridge University Press
  5. ^ Mohammada, Malika (1 January 2007). The Foundations of the Composite Culture in India. Akkar Books. p. 300. ISBN 978-8-189-83318-3.
  6. ^ Dirk Collier (2016). The Great Mughals and their India. Hay House. p. 15. ISBN 9789384544980.
  7. ^ Sharma, S. R. (1999). Mughal Empire in India: A Systematic Study Including Source Material. Atlantic Publishers & Dist. ISBN 978-81-7156-817-8.
  8. ^ Bose, Sugata; Jalal, Ayesha (2004). Modern South Asia: History, Culture, Political Economy (2nd ed.). Routledge. p. 41. ISBN 978-0-203-71253-5.
  9. ^ Bhatia, H.S. Justice System and Mutinies in British India. p. 204.
  10. ^ Zahir ud-Din Mohammad (2002). Thackston, Wheeler M. (ed.). The Baburnama: Memoirs of Babur, Prince and Emperor. New York: Modern Library. p. xlvi. ISBN 978-0-375-76137-9. In India the dynasty always called itself Gurkani, after Temür's title Gurkân, the Persianized form of the Mongolian kürägän, 'son-in-law,' a title he assumed after his marriage to a Genghisid princess.
  11. ^ John Walbridge. God and Logic in Islam: The Caliphate of Reason. p. 165. Persianate Mogul Empire.
  12. ^ a b c Hodgson, Marshall G. S. (2009). The Venture of Islam. Vol. 3. University of Chicago Press. p. 62. ISBN 978-0-226-34688-5.
  13. ^ Canfield, Robert L. (2002). Turko-Persia in Historical Perspective. Cambridge University Press. p. 20. ISBN 978-0-521-52291-5.
  14. ^ Huskin, Frans Husken; Dick van der Meij (2004). Reading Asia: New Research in Asian Studies. Routledge. p. 104. ISBN 978-1-136-84377-8.
  15. ^ Eraly, Abraham (2007), Emperors of the Peacock Throne: The Saga of the Great Moghuls, Penguin Books Limited, ISBN 978-93-5118-093-7
  16. ^ Kissling, H. J.; N. Barbour; Bertold Spuler; J. S. Trimingham; F. R. C. Bagley; H. Braun; H. Hartel (1997). The Last Great Muslim Empires. BRILL. pp. 262–263. ISBN 90-04-02104-3. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
  17. ^ a b V.I. Braginsky (2005). The Heritage of Traditional Malay Literature: A Historical Survey of Genres, Writings and Literary Views. BRILL. p. 381. ISBN 978-90-04-48987-5. Retrieved 17 March 2024. ...author shares T. Iskandar's opinion that Hikayat Aceh was influenced by Mughal historiography..
  18. ^ "BBC - Religions - Islam: Mughal Empire (1500s, 1600s)". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  19. ^ Lawrence E. Harrison, Peter L. Berger (2006). Developing cultures: case studies. Routledge. p. 158. ISBN 9780415952798.
  20. ^ Maddison, Angus (25 September 2003). Development Centre Studies The World Economy Historical Statistics: Historical Statistics. OECD Publishing. pp. 256–. ISBN 978-92-64-10414-3.
  21. ^ Art of Mughal Warfare." Art of Mughal Warfare. Indiannetzone, 25 August 2005.
  22. ^ József Böröcz (10 September 2009). The European Union and Global Social Change. Routledge. p. 21. ISBN 9781135255800. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
  23. ^ Hallissey, Robert C. (1977). The Rajput Rebellion Against Aurangzeb. University of Missouri Press. pp. ix, x, 84. ISBN 978-0-8262-0222-2.
  24. ^ Claude Markovits (2004) [First published 1994 as Histoire de l'Inde Moderne]. A History of Modern India, 1480–1950. Anthem Press. pp. 172–173. ISBN 978-1-84331-004-4.
  25. ^ Duindam, Jeroen (2016). Dynasties: A Global History of Power, 1300–1800. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-06068-5.
  26. ^ Mohammada, Malika (2007). The Foundations of the Composite Culture in India. Aakar Books. ISBN 978-81-89833-18-3.
  27. ^ Alvi, Sajida Sultana (2 August 2012). Perspectives on Indo-Islamic Civilization in Mughal India: Historiography, Religion and Politics, Sufism and Islamic Renewal. OUP Pakistan. ISBN 978-0-19-547643-9.
  28. ^ Taher, Mohamed (1994). Librarianship and Library Science in India: An Outline of Historical Perspectives. Concept Publishing Company. ISBN 978-81-7022-524-9.
  29. ^ Dimand, Maurice S. (1944). "The Emperor Jahangir, Connoisseur of Paintings". The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin. 2 (6): 196–200. doi:10.2307/3257119. ISSN 0026-1521. JSTOR 3257119.
  30. ^ Asher 2003, p. 169
  31. ^ Bilal, Maaz Bin (9 November 2018). "Not just the last Mughal: Three ghazals by Bahadur Shah Zafar, the poet king". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  32. ^ Dalrymple, William (2006). The Last Mughal. London: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. p. 44. ISBN 978-1-4088-0092-8.
  33. ^ Rao, Ch Sushil (18 August 2019). "Who is Prince Habeebuddin Tucy?". The Times of India. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  34. ^ "Destitute Mughal empire 'heir' demands India 'return' Red Fort". aljazeera.com. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  35. ^ Baseerat, Bushra (27 April 2010). "Royal descendant struggles for survival". The Times of India. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  36. ^ "Monumental issue Uae – Gulf News". 6 June 2024. Archived from the original on 6 June 2024.

Further reading