The Reign of Babur, 1526-1530

TURKS Turks were patrons of the arts and education. They often were poets in Persian or Chaghatai Turkish; amateur painters or calligraphers; and singers or instrumentalists. The Turks were fine warriors, capable of handling a sword as skillfully as a brush or a pen. They loved palaces, gilded tents, fine clothing and rich accouterments. The Turks were collectors of books and paintings who eagerly sought out every new luxury. Babur had attempted to capture Delhi more than once but had lacked the resources to mount a sufficiently large expedition. However, the steady decline in popularity of Delhi's Sultan Ibrahim was a factor working strongly in Babur's favor. Babur seized the opportunity by uniting his followers in an adventure which, if successful, would offer them boundless wealth. At the Panipat battle, Babur's guns and fine skills as a commander brought him a well deserved victory which changed the course of Indian history. Hambly writes that Humayun, the eldest son of Babur, was dispatched to seize Sultan Ibrahim's household and treasure at Agra while Babur, himself, advanced on Delhi. According to Hambly, Babur was unhappy to find no gardens in India like the ones he had known in Kabul. As soon as Babur arrived in Agra, he selected a site across the river, had a well dug and constructed a bath-house. This was followed by a tank and a pavilion. And soon a Persian garden was laid out that reminded Babur of his northern home. Babur was well organized with a keen eye for natural beauty of every kind. He was a brave man, humble and good-humored. His attractive personality combined a fine sense of taste and style with boyish gaiety and the obvious virtues of soldier and ruler. Although Babur's life was occupied with warfare and physical exertion, he enjoyed the company of artists and writers. Babur, himself, has serious literary contributions to his credit. He left to his successors a legacy of artistic sensitivity; a passion for beautiful, artistic objects; an articulate patronage of Persian as well as indigo. The Mughals were led into India by Babur who had been born in Central Asia in 1483. Babur's victory at Panipat in 1526 established the Mughal Empire and ended the reign of the Delhi Sultanate. Babur, the new conqueror of Delhi, had been ruler of Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, for 20 years. Racially, Babur was a Turk with a thin stream of Mongol blood in his veins; therefore, notes Hambly (1968), the term 'Mughal' by which he and his descendants were known in India was really a misnomer. In Persian, the word Mughal, always highly pejorative among the civilized inhabitants of Iran or Mawarannahr, simply means a Mongol. It is clear; however, from Babur's writing that he considered himself a Turk. Although Babur was descended on his mother's side from Chingiz Khan's second son, Chaghatai, it is clear that this Mongol lineage meant less to him than his paternal ancestry which linked him with the great Turkish conqueror, Timur. Turks boasted high-sounding genealogies from other conquering tribes and clans of Inner Asia, yet they were steeped in Persian traditions of culture and refinements. They delighted in war and the chase; in their skills with bow and scimitar and polo-stick; and in the possession of fine weapons, horses and huntingfalcons. The Reign of Humayun, 1530-1556 Babur's eldest son and successor, Humayun, was 22 years old when his father passed away. Humayun lacked the experience and the tough fiber necessary to consolidate a new dynasty. Thus, the first decade of his rule brought a steady erosion of Mughal authority in northern India. In particular, Humayun had to deal with the determined hostility of the Afghans who were still allied with the dispossessed Lodi regime. Humayun was defeated and dislodged by insurrections of nobles from the old Lodi regime. In 1540, the Mughal domain came under the control of one of those nobles, Farid Khan Sur, who assumed the regional name of Shir Shah Sur. Humayun would spend the next 15 years in exile in Sind, Iran, and then Afghanistan. During this exile, Humayun's Persian wife, Hamida Begum, a native of Turbat-I Shaykh Jam in Khurasan, gave birth to the future emperor Akbar. According to Blair and Bloom, Sheer Shah Suri was one of the finest rulers India had ever known. He introduced important fiscal and monetary reforms which were incorporated into the Mughal system of administration. Hambly writes that Shir Shah's Delhi, once again the capital of a great empire, was bounded on the east by the Jumna and extended northwards as far as Kotla Firuz Shah. Its southern limit, Hambly continues, must have been the enormous citadel known as the Purana Qala beyond which gardens stretched as far

as the Nizamuddin area, the traditional burial-ground of Muslim nobility. Shir Shah Sur, with his imperial vision and ability to translate that vision into constructive action, rates a place in the front ranks of India's statesmen. After Shir Shah's death, the kingdom survived for about nine years in the hands of his son, Islam Shah. But Islam Shah's unconciliatory nature alienated many Afghan chieftains. Eventually, the squabbling for succession among Shir Shah's followers allowed Humayun and the Mughals to return to power in 1555. Iran's Shah Tahmasb (1524-76) had provided Humayun with the necessary troops to recapture Kandahar and then Kabul. But less than a year after regaining power, Humayun died unexpectedly at the age of 48 when he fell down the steps of his library in his haste to obey the muezzin's call to prayer. Humayun's most noted achievement was in the sphere of painting. His devotion to the early Safavid School, developed during his stay in Iran, led him to recruit Persian painters of merit to accompany him back to India. These artists, writes Hambly, laid the foundation of the Mughal style which emerged from its Persian chrysalis as an indigenous achievement in which Indian elements blended harmoniously with the traditions of Iran and Central Asia. Humayun constructed a citadel at Delhi. Named Din-Panah (Refuge of Religion), this structure is thought to have been destroyed during the reign of Shir Shah Sur. The most celebrated building associated with Humayun is his tomb at Delhi, write Blair and Bloom. Humayun's mausoleum is a devotion of Hamida Begum, his widow, who supervised its construction during the reign of their son Akbar. According to Blair and Bloom, Humayun's tomb marked the beginnings of a major development in the history of Indo-Islamic architecture. The tomb is set to the east of the shrine of Nizam al-Din Awliya (one of India's most revered Sufi saints) and in the center of a large garden that is 348 meters square. The garden is divided into 36 squares by cross-axially arranged water channels and pathways. Blair and Bloom write that the flat surfaces, the restrained combination of red stone and white marble in the flat panels, and the massive size of the tomb create an impression of sobriety. On the interior of the tomb, continue Blair and Bloom, the central space contains Humayun's cenotaph; two stories of octagonal chambers containing cenotaphs for various members of Humayun's family fill the corners. Blair and Bloom add that this type of plan, often called hasht bihisht (Eight Paradise), is known to have been used in Timurid Iran. Contemporary historians believe the tomb was designed by Mirak Mirza Ghiyath, an architect of Iranian descent who had worked in Heart, Bukhara, and India before undertaking this project, note Blair and Bloom. Humayun's tomb fits into the Iranian tradition of imperial mausoleums -- a tradition that can be seen, for example, in Uljayatu's tomb at Sultaniyya and Timur's at Samarqand. Brend writes that it is obvious that the taste for Timurid architecture in the mid-16th century shows the Mughals attempt to connect their line in India with their forebears in Iran through the use of forms identified with the Timurid. The Reign of Akbar, 1556-1605 Akbar was only 14 years of age in 1556 when he succeeded his father Humayun. That year, a formidable anti-Mughal coalition, consisting mainly of Afghanis, tried to recapture northern India but lost its battle against the Mughals at Panipat. Mughal control over northern India was finally established. Akbar pursued a policy of vigorous expansion until his empire reached the greater part of the sub-continent north of the Godavari, writes Hambly. Akbar proved himself as sophisticated a commander and leader as any of his ancestors. Akbar's far-sighted policies also included the employment of talented Hindus in senior administrative positions in a regime that previously had been exclusively Muslim. In 1566, an attempt was made on Akbar's life. An assassin, posted on the roof of Khair al-Manzel, a madrasah built by Maham Anka near the Purana Qala, shot an arrow at the emperor as he rode back into Delhi. The arrow wounded Akbar's shoulder. This incident changed Akbar's method of rule, notes Hambly. Akbar now took into his own hands the supervision of the entire administration of the empire. Agra, Red Fort, Jahangiri Mahal (1565 AD) Courtesy -- Bloom, J. and Blair, S. (1994). "The Art and Architecture of Islam: 12501800". New Haven and London: Yale University Press. Agra, the new city, Fatehpur Sikri (1570 AD)

Sikandara, tomb of Akbar (1605 AD) Courtesy -- Bloom, J. and Blair, S. (1994). "The Art and Architecture of Islam: 12501800". New Haven and London: Yale University Press.

Akbar was an ambitious and noble commander who built the largest army ever in the history of the Mughal empire. By the end of the 16th century, a Mughal army in the field resembled a city on the move. Not all of Akbar's military expeditions were of an expansionist nature. Akbar also was compelled to quell formidable uprisings among his own subjects, especially the Uzbeks and the Afghans. The Afghans in India were the most turbulent and dangerous of the emperor's subjects, especially those who had been born in the time of the Lodi Sultans and still remembered the great era of Shir Shah Sur and his son Islam Shah. Akbar annexed Malwa, Gondwana, and Bengal to the empire, and the Mughal troops made their first appearance in the Deccan. Khandesh, Berar and Ahmadnagar became Mughal subahs (provinces). According to Hambly, the annexation of the formerly independent Sultanate of Gujarat provided the empire with: enormous additional revenue from the area's rich commercial centers; access to the Gulf of Cambay, and hence, to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina in the Arabian Peninsula; and opportunities for trade with the Portuguese and the Ottoman Empire. Akbar was well aware of the structure and stratum of the society of his empire. His bold and imaginative approach to the problems of his heterogeneous empire may have reduced some of the long-standing, although generally passive, Hindu antagonism toward an administration which was entirely Muslim in spirit. Akbar appointed the great Hindu Rajput chiefs to an active partnership in his government. Eventually, it became accepted practice for high-profile Hindus, like Amber or Jodhpur, to be governors of a major province or commander-in-chief of an army composed largely of Muslims. The Hindus were able to practice their own religion without disturbance. Akbar's policy toward Hindus must be seen in its proper perspective. There was consistent contact between Hindus and Muslims in many areas of social life. Not only Muslim sovereigns but the entire Muslim ruling class recruited Hindus into their services, often in positions of great responsibility such as the case with Todar Mal and his staff. Hindus also served as craftsmen, artisans, entertainers, concubines, soldiers and servants. The two communities acknowledged and respected each other's rights in all aspects of social and religious life, notes Hambly. Akbar, who was born at Amarkot in Sind in 1542, had spent most of his childhood as an Afghanistan. From his Persian mother, he inherited his princely manners, his love of literature and the arts, and a characteristically Persian delight in philosophical discussion. From his Turkish father, he inherited his fierce energy, his love of war and his ability to command. During the early part of his life, Akbar took the greatest joy in hunting, in elephant fights, and in intellectual games. Akbar reveled in all the varied pleasures of the chase, from facing charging tigers and leopards to pursuing the wild ass in the Rajasthan desert. Akbar became unhappy with the increasing criticism of his relaxed attitude regarding non-Muslims in his government. Akbar's attitude was undoubtedly related to his vision of an empire with a diversity of faiths and cultures. Akbar's ire also reflected a hardening of his iron will and his fiercely individualistic personality, writes Hambly. The establishment of a new religion, Din-i llahi (Divine Faith), was a result of Akbar's consistent confrontations with his orthodox opponents. The court of Akbar fostered a lively literary culture and encouraged translations of all kinds. Massive numbers of classics were rendered into Sanskrit and Hindi. Also, religious literature was translated into Persian from other languages like Chaghatai Turkish, Sanskrit and Arabic. Akbar's school of translation made a valuable contribution to the Indianization of the Mughal ruling class. Hambly writes that Akbar's vigorous personal influence over the life of his court was paralleled in his patronage of painting. During Akbar's reign, early Safavid style -which had been introduced into India by Humayun -- began to merge and blend with indigenous Indian elements, and a genuinely original Mughal style evolved. The new style brought a change of emphasis in subject matter. Traditional Persian painting had been concerned mainly with the illustration of literary classics such as the shahnameh, Nizami's Khamseh and Jami's Yusuf va Zulaykha. Mughal painters -many of whom were Hindus -- shifted their focus from illustrating the great classics of Persian literature to new subjects such as the life of Akbar and his court, as well as the representation of nature, landscape and portraiture. The most distinctive work in Akbar's ateliers was the series of illustrations commissioned for Abdul Fazl's Akbarnameh. This series demonstrates the unique and superb qualities of the nascent Mughal School and set it far apart from its Safavid or

Timurid precursors. In this series, crowded and bustling scenes of men and animals are full of vigor and movement; the use of color is uninhibited; and detail is finely observed. The languid is rejected. Unlike Babur or Humayun, Akbar had both the time and the resources to build on a monumental scale. Most of the monuments were constructed in or near Agra rather than in Delhi, Hambly writes. Akbar did not have great affection for Delhi, although most important Mughal structures had been built there. For Akbar, Delhi must have been a city of unhappy memories -- the scene of his father's death and his own narrow escape from an assassination attempt. Moreover, the principal landmarks in Delhi -- the Purana Qala, the city walls and gateways -- commemorated the greatness of Shir Shah whom Akbar considered as the usurper of his father's kingdom. Since Delhi was the capital of both the Lodi Sultanate and the Shir Shah Sur dynasty, the city was always restless and hostile to the Mughals. In light of these circumstances, Akbar must have found Agra a more attractive residence. Akbar initially ruled from Delhi, but two years later he moved to Agra. The city was renamed Akbarabad in his honor and became the greatest city in the empire. The main part of the city lay on the west bank of the Yamuna and was provided with a drainage system to control the flow of rainwater. A new city wall was erected, and the old mud-brick fortress used by the Lodis was built again in 1565 of sandstone. The building's red color, write Blair and Bloom, gives rise to its modern name, the Red Fort. Blair and Bloom note that the fort follows the irregular, semicircular plan of its predecessor. On the city side, it is enclosed by a moat and a double wall that is broken by the Delhi Gate on the west and the Amar Singh Gate on the south. The two massive gates are distinguished by rows of arched niches and stunning veneer in red and white marble with highlights in blue glazed tile. According to the historian Abdul Fazl, construction of the fort was supervised by Muhammad Qasim Khan, who is credited with various feats of civilc engineering and who bore the dual titles, Master of the Land and Sea (mir-I barr wa bahr)and Master of Pyrotechnics (mir-Iatish). Two palaces are located to the southeast of the Red Fort, the Akbar Mahal and the Jahangiri Mahal. Like the gates, the outer facade of the Jahangiri Mahal is articulated with an orderly series of blind niches and panels filled with geometric motifs. In contrast to the calm austerity of the exterior, many of the interior surfaces are extravagantly decorated in carved stone, painted and carved stucco, and tile. The geometric patterns on screens and flat panels in the Jahangiri Mahal derive from Timurid designs. A similar synthesis of diverse architectural traditions could be seen on a larger scale at Fatehpur Sikri founded in 1571. The city was known as Fathabad (City of Victory), a Persian name which was soon supplanted in popular usage by the Indianized form, Fatehpur Sikri. Most of the major constructions at Fatehpur Sikri date to the 14 years when the city served as Akbar's principal residence. The city contained imperial gardens, rest-houses, residences for the nobility, and an experimental school dedicated to the study of language acquisition in childhood. Within the city, the buildings are set in two distinct ways. The service buildings -such as the caravanseri, the mint or factory, and a long bazaar (chahar-suq) -- are set perpendicular to the southwest/northeast axis of the ridge. The imperial section of the city, which includes one of the largest congregational mosques in India, as well as a residential and administrative area known as the palace (dawlatkhana), is set at an angle to the ridge and aligns with the qibla, write Blair and Bloom. Akbar's tomb in Sikandara is set in a vast garden (about 760 square yards) enclosed by a high wall and divided by water channels. The red sandstone gateway on the south side, write Blair and Bloom, is crowned by four white marble minarets. It is boldly decorated in white, gray and black marble that is set in panels with geometric designs and large-scale floral arabesques which resemble the patterns on textiles. The numerous Persian verses in the frame around the arch, write Blair and Bloom, compare the tomb and its garden to paradise. They were designed by Abd al-Haqq Shirazi who was awarded the title Amanat Khan (Trustworthy Noble) and who was responsible for many of the inscriptions on the Taj Mahal. The tomb is a pyramidal arrangement of three tiers of red sandstone pavilions with domed pavilions (chatris) at the corners. On top is an open court containing the emperor's marble cenotaph surrounded by pierced marble screens, write Blair and Bloom. The white color of the marble, continue Blair and Bloom, contrasts sharply with the red sandstone used elsewhere. The play of light and shadow over the increasingly delicate superstructure contrasts with the powerful massing of the

basement. With its receding stories of pillared galleries, write Blair and Bloom, Akbar's tomb belongs to the indigenous tradition of trabeate construction used for palaces, while the podium, with its vaulted bays, vestibule decorated with painted plaster, and high portals whose strong intarsia reproduced the effect of tile, maintains the Timurid tradition of vaulted masonry. Because of his ideal of cultural synthesis and religious diversity, Akbar reserved a unique place for himself in Indian history. The Reign of Jahangir, 1605-1627

During his 50-year reign, Akbar accumulated much wealth from the political and commercial centers in northern India. His immediate successors, Jahangir and Shah Jahan, were able to surround themselves with a splendor and opulence unequaled by any other Muslim dynasty. From the beginning, Jahangir's life was overshadowed by the achievements of his father Akbar. Jahangir grew up resentful of his masterful parents and bitterly jealous of his father's long-established coterie of advisers who must have interfered between father and son. Hambly writes that despite Jahangir's acute intelligence, the Mughal ruler was generally indifferent to the larger interests of the empire. Moreover, he lacked any obvious inclination for warfare and was bored by the humdrum details of day-to-day administration. Jahangir was self-indulgent and sensual with a streak of cruelty that emanated from a weak personality. Despite Jahangir's disinterest in expansion, the imperial frontiers continued to move forward -- in Bengal, Mewar and Ahamadnagar. The only major reversal to the expansion came in 1622 when Shah Abbas, the Safavid ruler of Iran, captured Kandahar with impunity. Jahangir lived under the spell of personalities that were more colorful than his own; the most influential of these personalities was the beautiful Nur Jahan whom he married in 1611. Nur Jahan then became the real ruler of the empire until the death of her husband Jahangir. Nur Jahan's Persian grandfather was in the service of Shah Tahmasb; the grandfather died in Yazd laden with honors. His heirs, however, soon fell upon hard times, and his son, Mirza Ghiyas al-Din Muhammad, was forced to set out for India with his family. In 1577, during the trip to India, his wife gave birth at Kandahar to a eautiful daughter, Mihr al-Nisa (Sun of Women). Later, Jahangir would give Mihr alNisa the name of Nur Mahal (Light of the Palace) which he later expanded to Nur Jahan (Light of the World). Mihr al-Nisa's father, Mirza Ghiyas al-Din Muhammad, made his way to Akbar's court at Fatehpur Sikri and rose rapidly in the imperial hierarchy. He held many important positions including that of diwan of Kabul; he ended his days with the rank of commander and the proud title of Itimad al-Dawleh (Pillar of the State). His son, Asaf Khan, was an urbane and affable courtier and a sharp fiscal administrator who secured the favor of both Jahangir and Shah Jahan, writes Hambly. The son attained the highest provincial governorships and finally the rank of commander-in-chief. Hambly notes that in 1612, a year after Mihr al-Nisa's marriage to Jahangir, Asaf Khan arranged for his daughter, Arjumand Banu Begum, to marry Prince Khurram, one of Jahangir's younger sons. Fifteen years later, Khurram would ascend to the throne as the emperor Shah Jahan. Nur Jahan's niece would win immortality as Mumtaz Mahal, the woman in whose honor the Taj Mahal was built. According to Hambly, Jahangir's wife, Nur Jahan, was an excellent conversationalist, a fine judge of Persian poetry and a poet herself. Her accomplishments made her an irresistible companion for the emperor. Nur Jahan was a patron of painting and architecture whose interests also extended to the decoration of rooms as well as the designing of ornaments, brocades, rugs and dresses. The fashions in women's clothing that she adopted were still in vogue at the end of the 16th century. Nur Jahan was Jahangir's favorite companion. She shared his interests in fine artistic objects and precious stones. Nur Jahan also assisted Jahangir in the layout and design of Persian gardens like the beautiful Shalimar-Bagh on the Dal Lake in Kashmir. Jahangir's love of flowers and animals is reflected in the numerous miniatures

painted by artists who shared their master's keen eye for the beauties of wild nature. Sir Thomas Roe, the ambassador of James I of England, was amazed at Jahangir's knowledge and discriminating taste where pictures were concerned. Jahangir was not particularly interested in architecture, but one of the buildings that dates from his reign ranks among the finest achievements of the Mughal spirit. This is the tomb of Mirza Ghiyath Beg, usually known by his title I'timad ad-Dawlah (Pillar of the State), built at Agra by Nur Jahan (Light of the World) for her father who died in 1622. The tomb stands in a quadripartite garden. The enclosure walls, a guesthouse on the river Yamuna and the podium are made of traditional red sandstone inlaid with colored marble. Blair and Bloom note that the tomb of I'timad ad-Dawlah is the first structure in India in which white marble replaces red sandstone as the ground for polychrome pietra dura inlay. The tomb, measuring about 22 yards on a side, contains a central tomb chamber surrounded by square and rectangular rooms decorated with carved painted plaster in the Persianate style. Blair and Bloom write that broad octagonal towers, like minarets, mark the corners, and a small pavilion or upper story rises above the roof. Three arched openings on each side provide shadows which contrast with the gleaming surface, while the cornice and eaves mark strong horizontal lines. According to Blair and Bloom, the modest, jewel-like building is remarkable for its delicate but exuberant decoration and warm tonality. The traditional technique of inlay has changed; opus sectile, marble intarsia of various colors, has been replaced by pietra dura, in which hard and rare stones such as lapis, onyx, jasper, topaz, carnelian and agate were embedded in the marble. Traditional geometric designs and arabesques are combined with representational motifs of drinking cups, vases with flowers, cypress trees and visual descriptions of Paradise from the Holy Qur'an. Blair and Bloom add that the intricate inlay in yellow, brown, gray and black, contrasting with the smooth white marble, prefigures the later phase of white marble garnished with gold and precious stones that marks the most sumptuous buildings constructed under later Mughal patronage.

Jahangir (1569-1627), the fourth Mughal Emperor of India and patron of the arts, ruled for 22 years. Jahangir was an amicable, liberal Muslim - an emperor who loved painting, architecture, and the fine arts. A successful and benevolent ruler, he cherished the well-being of his Indian subjects, revered both Hindu and Muslim saints, and improved social conditions without interfering with customs. But Jahangir was not without military ambitions. A capable soldier, he dreamt of conquering Transoxiana, the seat of the government of the early Timurids. Jahangir was a child of many prayers - the eldest son of Akbar, one of the most notable rulers in Islamic history, and his Rajput wife Jodh Bai. The boy was brought up with all possible care and affection and when he grew up, arrangements were made for his education at the new capital, Fatehpur-Sikri. Expert tutors taught the prince Persian, Turki, Arabic, Hindi, arithmetic, history, and geography, but he was most influenced by Abdur Rahim Khan Khana, a versatile genius, soldier, and successful diplomat. Under his guidance, Prince Salim (Jahangir) also mastered the technique of composing verses.

Anxious For The Throne In compliance with the time, the prince was also given training in civil and military administration. During the Kabul expedition of 1581, he was placed in charge of a regiment of troops and subsequently conducted independent military expeditions. In 1585, he was elevated to the rank of an army officer, commanding 12,000 men. Unfortunately, he was familiar with wine at an early age and became addicted to the good life. He was also impatient. An estrangement developed between father and son due to the prince's scheming ambition to succeed to his father's throne without the customary death of his father. When Akbar was persuaded by his favorite courtier Abul Fazl to develop a brotherhood of "seekers" who viewed the emperor as divinely inspired and hailed him with the phrase allahu akbar, in 1602 the prince had Abul Fazl murdered. Akbar was so depressed by the death of his friend that he did not appear in public for three days. But there was no other reliable successor. Desperate to keep the dynasty alive, in 1605, a dying Akbar (from poisoning traceable to the prince) reluctantly had his

imperial turban placed on the head of his eldest son. A week later, Salim succeeded to the throne at Agra at the age of 36, assuming the name Nur-ud-din Muhammad Jahangir. But he was soon disturbed by the impatience of his own eldest son, Khusrau. When Prince Khusrau's troops were defeated by the imperial forces near Jullunder, the captive prince suffered total humiliation; Janhagir had his son ride along a street lined with the impaled bodies of his recent supporters. Khusrau had neither the capacity to organize a successful revolt nor moral and material support of any influential party in the state, and the people had no desire to have him as their ruler. Jahangir then turned to Sikh Guru Arjun, who had given money to the rebellious Khusrau, and fined him for his offence. But Guru Arjun refused to pay. Though the Sikh was subjected to torture until he died, evidence shows that the Sikh religious leaders suffered only when they interfered in politics. Jahangir did not persecute the Sikhs out of hand. In fact, Jahangir was determined to dispense justice fairly. One of his earliest orders was the setting up of a "chain of justice" made of gold. Anyone who failed to secure justice might pull the end outside the Agra fort in order to draw the attention of the emperor so that the latter might redress his grievances. Internal disturbances in India prompted the Shah of Persia to make a bid for the fortress of Kandahar. Owing to its strategic and commercial importance, the fort was a bone of contention between Persia and India during the middle ages. After the death of the second Mughal ruler Humayun, it was given to Shah Husain Mirza by the Persian emperor. Though Akbar had recovered it in 1594, it had again passed into Persian hands. Three attempts were made to recapture the fortress, but the Mughal armies were unsuccessful. These repeated failures had diminished the prestige of the Empire. Jahangir Gains Territories And Erects Statues And Mosques In pursuance of his father's policy of imperialism, Jahangir aimed at the conquest of the entire country. In 1605, he sent his second son to reduce Rana Amar Singh, a Hindu ruler, to submission. It was not easy to conquer the great fort of Chittor. In 1608, the Emperor sent another force. Eventually a treaty of peace was signed in 1615. Because the Rana recognized the suzerainty of Jahangir, the Mughal emperor restored all his territory, including Chittor. Jahangir's treaty is a landmark in the history of the relations between Mewar and Delhi. No ruler of the Sishodia dynasty had ever before openly professed allegiance to a Mughal ruler and a long-drawn struggle came to an end. Subsequently, Jahangir placed two lifesize marble statues of the Rana and his son in the gardens of his palace at Agra. By granting generous terms and adopting a conciliatory policy, Jahangir secured Mewar's loyalty for the empire which lasted until his grandson's (Emperor Aurangzeb) policy alienated Rana Raj Singh. Jahangir's Deccan policy was a continuation of that of Akbar's which, following ancient Hindu traditions, treated the north and south as indivisible parts of one country. It was the emperor's desire to annex Ahmadnagar and, if possible, the two remaining independent states of Bijapur and Golkunda. Jahangir placed his son, Prince Khurram, in command of his army in 1613 and ordered him to lead a number of campaigns against Rajput forces in Mewar and Kanga, and the Deccani sultanates of Ahmadnagar, Bijapur, and Golkonda. The long siege of Kanga was brought to a successful end in 1629. This was the most notable military achievement of Jahangir's reign, prompting him to visit the place of conquest and build mosques there. The complete success of the Mughal army over the forces of Ahmadnagar was not possible, however, owing in part to the strength of the Deccan kingdom and in part to the inferiority of Mughal weapons. Not only did Ahmadnagar defy the Mughal advance, but successful opposition came from an able Abyssinian named Malik Ambar, a former slave, who prepared for a war by training the mountaineers of Maharasthra in guerrilla tactics (later perfected by the great Hindu ruler Shivaji to the despair of Emperor Aurangzeb). When the Mughals had partial success in 1616, Prince Khurram was rewarded by Jahangir with the title of Shah Jahan ("King of the World"). But the Deccan was far from conquered. Wife And Son Vie For Power

The most important development in the first half of Jahangir's reign had been the rise of his favorite wife Nur Jahan ("Light of the World") and the emergence of this third son

Khurram (whose mother was a Rajput princess). Nur Jahan was a lady of great energy and many talents. Because of her, Persian poets and artists, architects, and musicians flocked to the Mughal court at Agra. She became an effective political power in India. But Shah Jahan was the leading contender for his father's mantle, and Nur Jahan resented his growing influence. Nur Mahal's first step was simply to persuade the suggestible Jahangir that Shah Jahan should leave court, get away from the center of affairs, and return to military service against rival kings in the Deccan. Shah Jahan accepted the commission in ill grace, and took with him Khusrau, who had remained popular despite his rebellion and had a strong claim to the throne. Hearing that Jahangir's health was worsening and that his death was imminent, Shah Jahan's first act was to kill this brother, who would otherwise have become the center of a rival faction. In 1623, Shah Jahan marched in open rebellion toward Agra. At Nur Mahal's behest an imperial army set out to track down Shah Jahan's forces, but the shrewd prince evaded his pursuers rather than meet them at a military disadvantage. The rebellious Shah Jahan was chased around southeast India for three years before finally agreeing to return to his father's fold. Meanwhile, Jahangir held an impressive court. For one thing, he was fond of religious discourse. Sir Thomas Roe of England would testify that the Emperor accorded equal welcome to Christians, Jews, and Muslims. Once again, Hindu festivals like Rakhi, Dasahra, etc., were allowed to be celebrated. Because of his father, Jahangir had come in contact with the Jesuits at an early age and treated them with great courtesy. He was too good a Muslim and too proud a Mughal, however, to convert to Christianity as they had hoped. The veneration he showed to the paintings of Jesus and Mary was due to his passion for works of art. Though in the spirit of the times there were incidents of fanaticism, for the most part Jahangir followed the policy of Akbar in showing general tolerance for Christianity and contributing large sums for the erection of churches. Soon the Jesuit mission at the Mughal court assumed the character and functions of an embassy with the intention of outplaying the English and furthering the interests of the Portuguese. But Portuguese power, owing to its contempt for orientals, was already on the decline. The English seized the opportunity and made a significant impression on Jahangir. English trade was then secured. In 1608, Captain William Hawkins arrived with a letter from James I of England. Though the emperor was impressed, the Portuguese effectively prevented Hawkins from gaining any tangible success from his mission. In 1615, came the aforementioned Sir Thomas Roe, England's first official ambassador to India, who tried to secure from the Mughal ruler a trade agreement for the young East India Company. The Portuguese had a head start in the lucrative business of exporting calicoes and indigo from India, and the Dutch also were ahead of the English. Though Roe failed to enter into any agreement with Jahangir, he secured some privileges for the English trading company that made it a factor in Indian politics. Roe's accounts provide valuable insight into the royal court. A notable military success of Jahangir's reign was the capture of the strong fortress of Kangra in the northeast Punjab on November 16, 1620. But this event, which Jahangir found cause for exultation, was quickly followed by disasters and rebellions which continued until he died. Alienated by the intrigues of his wife Nur Jahan, his son Shah Jahan rose in rebellion against him. Facing Persian pressure from the northwest and the defection of Shah Jahan within the heart of the empire, Jahangir's situation was grave. Though Shah Jahan's rebellion ended in futility, it caused substantial damage to the empire. Reign An Era Of Family Strife And Notable Architecture Jahangir's reign was noted for architectural works. When his chief minister Itimad-uddaulah died in 1622, his daughter, the powerful Nur Jahan, commissioned the construction in white marble of his exquisite tomb at Agra which was finished in 1628. Unlike the much larger Taj Mahal, with which it ranked in quality, the appeal of the tomb depended on its decoration. It looked like a brilliant casket, bejewelled with various styles of inlay. Its two major innovations - the extensive use of white marble as a material and inlay as a decorative motif - were to become the distinguishing features of the greatest period of Mughal architecture. The high quality of both paintings and coins during Jahangir's reign was a direct result of the emperor's personal interest. Having grown up at Fatehpur-Sikri in the busy days of Akbar's studio, he was a keen student of technique and claimed to be able to tell which master had painted the eye and eyebrow in a face and which the rest of the portrait. In addition, he seems to have invented and commissioned from his artists a new style of

political allegory in art which, however self-congratulatory and vain, provided some of the most magnificent paintings of the period. One such picture claims to celebrate a new spirit of peace with his Persian neighbor, Shah Abbas. Toward the end of Jahangir's reign, Nur Jahan took a more active role in the government and appointed her politically adroit brother, Asaf Khan, as the premier of the realm. In 1626, brother and sister decided to attack the powerful Mahabat Khan. An Afghan by birth, Mahabat Khan realized the precarious situation and so marched north with 5,000 Rajput troops toward the imperial camp on the bank of the Jhelum. As Jahangir and Nur Jahan traveled to Kabul, Mahabat Khan took the emperor prisoner. Though Jahangir managed to escape with the help of a clever scheme by Nur Jahan, Mahabat Khan then joined forces with Shah Jahan. The prince was now stronger than ever. A shaken emperor turned north to the only place where he now found solace. For several years, he had made an almost annual journey to Kashmir. There, he had found a natural paradise, but he and his court had done much to make it an artificial one. The Mughal gardens, which are one of the main glories of Srinagar, are the direct result of his enthusiasm. The Shalimar Bagh, built by Jahangir, is distinguished by a series of pavilions on carved pillars, surrounded by pools with seats which can only be reached by stepping stones. When Jahangir died in October on 1627 in a village at the foot of the Kashmir hills, Asaf Khan betrayed his sister by backing his son-in-law, Shah Jahan. Informed by Asaf's courier of his father's death, Shah Jahan rushed north to claim his throne, reaching the capital in 1628. Nur Jahan was pensioned off and went to live in solitude in Lahore until she died in 1645. While some European historians consider Jahangir as a fickle-minded tyrant, Indian authors regard him as a just and noble ruler. Most writers now agree that he was a highly educated and cultured man. His autobiography is a testimony of his interest in subjects like botany and zoology. Among the notable buildings renovated by him, Akbar's tomb at Sikandra is the most remarkable. He altered its design and partly rebuilt it. Under his patronage, a great mosque was built in Lahore; it rivals the grand mosque in Delhi, built by his son, Shah Jahan. But he did not possess the high idealism and genius of Akbar. The administrative machinery of his father was allowed to remain untouched. The vakil (chief minister) remained the highest dignitary next to the emperor. A liberal ruler, he made no departure from his father's policy of admitting Hindus to higher public services. On the whole, Jahangir was a successful ruler and his people were well off. Agriculture, industries, and commerce flourished. Jahangir's diary is brimming with his ideas for promoting social justice and administrative efficiency, and in most cases he tried to follow or outdo the liberal ideas of his father, but he was less successful in putting them into effect.
5. The Reign of Shah Jahan, 1628-1658

Prince Khurram was 35 years old when he ascended the throne as Shah Jahan (King of the World). Succeeding Jahangir in 1627, Shah Jahan enjoyed the support of experienced administrators and advisors -- like his father-in-law Asaf Khan -- who were holdovers from the previous reign. Shah Jahan, notes Hambly, revived Akbar's policy of pressing southward against the independent Muslim Sultanate of the Deccan. But almost all of his expansion expeditions were unsuccessful. The expenditures resulting from Shah Jahan's failed attempts at frontier expansion, as well as his insatiable appetite for new and grand architecture, were appreciable factors in the empire's eventual financial crisis. During the early years of his reign, Shah Jahan preferred Agra to Delhi as a place of residence. This preference is reflected in his selection of Agra as the site for a number of building ventures including the world's most famous and beautiful mausoleum, Taj Mahal. Many historians have -- perhaps unfairly -- accused Shah Jahan of building the glorious tomb as a tribute to himself and his rule rather than as a tribute to his wife. Shah Jahan was an exceedingly able man -- although less able than his father Akbar and less conscientious than his son Aurangzeb. Still, Shah Jahan is in the first rank of

Indian rulers. Endowed with all the qualities required of a medieval Muslim ruler, he was a brave and competent commander; a generous master who treated his servants with respect, dignity and affability; and a far-sighted leader with a strict sense of justice. Shah Jahan was an active patron of palaces and mosques. Blair and Bloom write that upon Shah Jahan's accession, the fort at Agra was renovated to include three major courts: Halls of Public and Private Audience (Diwan-i Khass wa 'Am); an area for treasures and private audience (Machhi Bhavan); and a residential court known as the Garden of Grapes (Anguri Bagh). The first court, note Bloom and Blair, is close to the entrance, while the other two courts, which were used by the emperor and his entourage, overlook the river. Inside the fort, write Blair and Bloom, is a congregational mosque known today as the Moti (Pearl) Mosque because of the translucent white marble used on the interior. The mosque, continue Blair and Bloom, comprises a rectangular prayer hall, about 53 by 21 yards, divided by cruciform piers into three aisles of seven bays supported on cusped arches and surmounted by three bulbous domes. The additive system of vaulted bays used in the Moti Mosque at Agra is the type of plan favored for smaller mosques constructed under imperial patronage. According to Blair and Bloom, the single-aisled plan that had been used for Shir Shah's mosque in Delhi was preferred for large, urban congregational mosques which have immense courtyards with narrow prayer halls fronted by pishtaq and surmounted by three or five domes. The mosque of Vazir Khan at Lahore, constructed by the court physician Hakim Ali of Chiniot in 1635, is but one example of this group. The congregational mosque at Agra, continue Blair and Bloom, was completed in 1648 under the patronage of the emperor's daughter Jahanara. Constructed of red sandstone, the mosque used white marble sparingly for calligraphic bands. In 1638, Shah Jahan moved his capital from Agra to a city in Delhi. Known as Shahjahanabad, the new capital city was laid out under the emperor's auspices from 1639-1648. According to Blair and Bloom, the massive project was designed by Ahmed Lahwari, the chief architect of the Taj Mahal, and by the architect Hamid. Ghayrat Khan and Makramat Khan, who also worked on the Taj Mahal, supervised the construction. The walled city, note Bloom and Blair, included broad avenues with water channels, souqs (markets), mosques, gardens, houses of the nobility, and the fortified palace known as the Red Fort or Lal Qala. Twice the size of the fort at Agra, the Red Fort was named for the high, red sandstone wall that surrounded the white marble palaces. From Shah Jahan to the end of the Mughal line the famous Red Fort was heart of the empire and the principal residence of the emperors. Hambly writes that in the 17th century, at the height of the Mughals' power, the Red Fort constituted not only the esidence of the emperor and his court but also housed the central dministrative machinery of the empire, a military garrison, an arsenal, the imperial treasury, factories (karkhaneh) for the manufacture of luxury commodities, and much more. Shah Jahan, like his father Jahangir, was a notable patron of gardens, write Blair and Bloom. Jahangir had developed Kashmir as a summer residence for the court where he constructed a garden around the natural spring at Vernag south of Srinagar. Shah Jahan received an order from his father to dam the stream around Shalimar on Lake Dal at Srinagar. This garden, known as Farah Bakhsh (Joy Giving), became the lower garden of Shah Jahan's famed Shalimar Garden. In 1634, Shah Jahan, note Blair and Bloom, added another quadri-partite garden named Fazd Bakhsh (Bounty Giving) to the northeast. Water was supplied by a canal linking the Ravi River to the city. The canal was dug by Ali Mardan Khan, an Iranian nobleman and engineer who had defected to the Mughal court in 1638. Lahore is also another site of the greatest of the Mughal water gardens known as Shalimar (Abode of Bliss), Brend (1991) notes. The garden was constructed in 1642 . Water flows under the bluster-legged throne and into the tank, whose edge is treated with a lotus ornament. The patform in the center of the tank, called a mahtabi or place for viewing moonlight, might be used for musicians. The gangways from it lead to pavilions on graceful sandstone columuns. According to Blair and Bloom, these gardens contained more than a hundred species of plants, including evergreens, screwpines and other trees, roses, violets, sunflowers, cockscombs, and several varieties of jasmines. The gardens were not only enchanting places of repose but also yielded a substantial revenue in roses and musk mallow. In the eyes of contemporary French travelers these gardens were the

equal

of

Versailles.

During Shah Jahan's reign, the Mughals penetrated deeper into the Deccan and the successful campaign in 1636 forced the state ruled by Adil Shah to acknowledge Mughal dominance. Shah Jahan returned north to concentrate on his new capital at Shahjahanabad, while his son, the young prince Aurangzeb, was appointed viceroy and commander-in-chief of Mughal forces in the Deccan. During the following two decades, note Blair and Bloom, the Adil Shahis at Bijabur enjoyed peace, and the dynasty's prosperity in the mid-17th century is exemplified by the tomb built for Mohammed Adil Shah. The tomb, known as the Gol Gumbaz, is famous for its formal simplicity, write Blair and Bloom. The tomb has a gigantic hemispherical dome (with an exterior diameter of 46 yards) and rests on an almost cubical mass with a staged octagonal turret at each corner. The dome is supported internally by arches set in intersecting squares. The floor area covered 1,725 square yards, exceeding that of the Pantheon in Rome. At the time of its construction, the tomb was the largest space in the world covered by a single dome, continue Blair and Bloom. From an early age, Shah Jahan's four sons, Dara Shukoh, Shah Shuja, Aurangzeb, and Murad Bakhsh, grew up in an atmosphere of bitter rivalry, writes Hambly, even though they were all children of the same mother, Mumtaz Mahal. In 1657, Shah Jahan became seriously ill. The expectation of an early death provoked the four sons into making a desperate bid for the throne. Only two candidates, writes Hambly, stood much chance of success -- Dara Shukoh, who was 42 years old, and Aurangzeb, who was 39. Dara Shukoh, Shah Jahan's favorite and his heir, was a man of broad intellectual interests, writes Hambly. He was a Sufi and a religious eclectic who had translated the Upanishads into Persian. Aurangzeb, notes Hambly, was well educated, knowledgeable in the traditional spectrum of Islamic studies, and strict in his religious orthodoxy. Aurangzeb had an acute sense of political realism and a fierce appetite for power. Although Aurangzeb's personality was considered less attractive than that of Dara Shukoh, writes Hambly, Aurangzeb was the superior in both military talent and administrative skills. Aurangzeb easily outclassed his brothers in the bid for power. In the summer of 1658, Aurangzeb held a coronation durbar, or reception, in the Shalimar-Bagh outside Delhi on the Karnal road. This probably was done in order to strengthen the morale of his supporters. It was not until the summer of 1659 that a second and more glorious ceremony was performed in the Red Fort at which time Aurangzeb became the new emperor and assumed the title of Alamgir (World Conqueror). During his 30-year reign, Shah Jahan had never expected that his last days would be so utterly tragic. With his old age and his poor health, Shah Jahan could only helplessly watch the serious outbreak of hostility among his sons. Shah Jahan was a mere spectator at the savage contest. The emergence of Aurangzeb as the undisputed victor led to the father's imprisonment in the Agra fort. Tended by Jahanara, his eldest daughter, Shah Jahan was confined to the fort for eight years. According to legend, writes Hambly, when Shah Jahan was on his deathbed, he kept his eyes fixed on the Taj Mahal which was clearly visible from his place of confinement. After his death, Shah Jahan was buried there beside his dead queen, Mumtaz Mahal. 6. The Reign of Aurangzeb, 1658-1707

Aurangzeb was a well educated person with a strict religious orthodoxy. He had an acute sense of political realism and a fierce appetite for power. In the summer of 1659, Aurangzeb held a coronation durbar in the Red Fort where he assumed the title of Alamgir (World Conqueror). After a bitter struggle with his three brothers, Aurangzeb was the victor who took the throne. Aurangzeb's harsh treatment of his brothers, Dara Shukoh, Shah Shuja and Murad Bakhsh, as well as of his father, Shah Jahan, is hard to justify. After having imprisoned his father, Aurangzeb was compelled during the first seven years of his reign to purchase the loyalty of Shah Jahan's amirs, writes Hambly. To provide plunder, Aurangzeb undertook aggressive frontier campaigns; these forays were generally unsuccessful.

Hambly writes that Aurangzeb maintained his court in the same manner as his father and grandfather. Like them, he celebrated the Nuruz (Persian New Year) and was publicly weighed against gold coins or precious stones. As his predecessors had done, Aurangzeb appointed the Rajput chieftains to many of the highest offices of state where they worked side by side with Muslims, writes Hambly. But, continues Hambly, Aurangzeb eventually ended this practice. Bothered by Hindu and other Indian influences encroaching upon the Muslim state, Aurangzeb sought to bring Muslim orthodoxy to the empire. Aurangzeb's policies totally alienated the Rajput element of the empire. Aurangzeb's inflammatory and discriminatory practices reached their zenith in 1679 when he reimposed the jizya, a poll-tax on non-Muslims that had been abolished by Akbar. Under Aurangzeb the Mughal empire reached its greatest extent, yet the emperor's puritanical outlook and his costly wars meant that the generous support given by his predecessors to learning and the arts was almost completely withdrawn. Aurangzeb was, by temperament, an ascetic who avoided all forms of luxury and ostentation; he even refused to wear silk against his body. Aurangzeb limited his reading to works of theology and poetry of a devotional or didactic character, writes Hambly. And the emperor found both music and the representational arts to be distasteful. Aurangzeb had none of his father's passion for the arts and architecture. Only a few monuments in Delhi are associated with Aurangzeb's name. These constructions, note Hambly, include the two massive outer defenses or barbicans protecting the gateway of the Red Fort and the exquisite Moti (Pearl) Mosque at Delhi. This mosque was built inside the palace to provide the emperor with a place for private prayers. The decoration of this mosque, note Blair and Bloom, is made noteworthy by its exuberant floral carvings. The vases with stems of flowers fill the spandrels and spreading tendrils echo the cusps of the arches which culminate in a fleur-de-lys. In this exquisite mosque, continue Blair and Bloom, the realistic floral motifs that had been typical of the Shah Jahan period became increasingly abstract. The most impressive building of Aurangzeb's reign, write Blair and Bloom, is the Badshahi (Imperial) Mosque which was constructed in 1674 under the supervision of Fida'i Koka. This mosque is adjacent to the fort at Lahore. The Badshahi is the last in the series of great congregational mosques in red sandstone and is closely modeled on the one Shah Jahan built at Shahjahanabad, note Blair and Bloom. The red sandstone of the walls contrasts with the white marble of the domes and the subtle intarsia decoration. The materials depart from the local tradition of tile revetment that is seen in the Mosque of Vazir Khan. According to Blair and Bloom, the cusped arches and arabesque floral patterns inlaid in white marble give the building, despite its vast proportions, a lighter appearance than its prototype. Additional monuments from this period are associated with women from Aurangzeb's imperial family, writes Hambly. The construction of the elegant Zinat al-Masjid in Daryaganij was overseen by Aurangzeb's second daughter Zinat al-Nisa. The delicate brick and plaster mausoleum in the Roshan-Ara-Bagh in Sabzimandi was for Aurangzeb's sister Roshan-Ara who died in 1671. Unfortunately, the tomb of RoshanAra and the beautiful garden surrounding it were neglected for a long time and are now in an advanced state of decay. Of all the men who sat upon the throne in Delhi no name evokes such an image of somber grandeur as that of Aurangzeb. His rule, which stretched across nearly half a century of Indian history, ended with his death in 1707. Despite Aurangzeb's personal hostility to the arts and his removal of the seat of government to the south, Delhi remained an artistic and cultural center and the foremost city of the empire. OBJECTION YOUR HONOUR The picture of aurangzaib's reign which Hambly has drawn is not perfectly matching the real history........ Here i would like to say that aspirants, opting for Indo-Pak history, are requested not to blindly believe such assessments of single historian as at that time many historians had personal biases and have misguided the people. It will be good to quote as many historians as one can and also try to jot down both positive and negative aspects. Instead of highlighting only brutal policies of muslim rulers one must mention their splendors.