Mughal dynasty
{{Short description|Dynasty of the Mughal Empire}}
{{About|the historical imperial family|the territorial state over which it ruled| Mughal Empire|rulers of that empire|Mughal emperors}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2023}}
{{Royal house|
| surname = House of Babur
| native_name =
| country = Mughal India
| origin = Timurid Empire
| parent house = Timurid dynasty
| native_name_lang =
| coat of arms = Seal of Bahadur Shah II of India.png
| coat_of_arms_caption = Imperial seal
(1837–1857)
| titles = List
- Badshah of Hindustan
- Khan of Khans
- Sultan of Sultans
- Shah of Shahs
- Mughal Caliph
- Gurkani{{cite book|title= The Baburnama: Memoirs of Babur, Prince and Emperor|publisher= Modern Library|isbn= 978-0-375-76137-9|author= Zahir ud-Din Mohammad|author-link= Babur|editor= Thackston, Wheeler M.|editor-link= Wheeler Thackston|location= New York|page= [https://archive.org/details/babarinizam00babu/page/ xlvi]|date= 10 September 2002|quote= In India the dynasty always called itself Gurkani, after Temür's title Gurkân, the Persianized form of the Mongolian {{lang|mn-Latn| kürägän}}, 'son-in-law,' a title Temür assumed after his marriage to a Genghisid princess.|title-link= Baburnama}}
- Sardar
- Khan
- Baig
- Mirza
- Shah
- Sultan
- Malik
- Shahzade
- Shahzadi
- Hazrat Ishaan (Title), special title for a distinguished branch of Princes, descending from Jahangir and Aurangzeb, leading the Naqshbandi Sufi order
| founder = Babur
| dissolution = 1857
| final ruler = Bahadur Shah II
| final_head =
| founding year = 21 April 1526
| deposition = 21 September 1857
| cadet_branches =
| traditions = {{ubl|Sunni Islam (1526–1857) | Din-i Ilahi (1582–1605)}}
}}
The Mughal dynasty ({{langx|fa|{{Nastaliq|دودمان مغل}}| Dudmân-e Mughal}}) or the House of Babur ({{langx|fa|{{Nastaliq|خاندانِ آلِ بابُر}}|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.{{Cite book
| last1 = Berndl
| first1 = Klaus
| year = 2005
| title = National Geographic Visual History of the World
| publisher = National Geographic Society
| pages = 318–320
| isbn = 978-0-7922-3695-5
| publisher = University of Chicago Press
| page = 62|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=COOGFSH_jUkC&pg=PA62|isbn=978-0-226-34688-5
| last = Dodgson
| first = Marshall G.S.
| title = The Venture of Islam|volume= 3: The Gunpowder Empires and Modern Times
| year = 2009
}} Many of the later Mughal emperors had significant Indian and Persian ancestry through marriage alliances.Jeroen Duindam (2015), [https://books.google.com/books?id=5ky2CgAAQBAJ&pg=PA105 Dynasties: A Global History of Power, 1300–1800, page 105] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221206075722/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=5ky2CgAAQBAJ&pg=PA105 |date=6 December 2022 }}, Cambridge University Press{{cite book|first=Malika|last=Mohammada|title=The Foundations of the Composite Culture in India|publisher=Akkar Books|date=1 January 2007|pages=300|isbn=978-8-189-83318-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dwzbYvQszf4C&pg=PA300}}
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.{{Cite book|last= Sharma|first= S. R.|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=OnP0Lcp0TGoC&dq=mughal+emperor&pg=PA297|title= Mughal Empire in India: A Systematic Study Including Source Material|date=1999|publisher=Atlantic Publishers & Dist|isbn= 978-81-7156-817-8|language=en}} 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.{{Cite book
| last1 = Bose
| first1 = Sugata
| author-link1 = Sugata Bose
| last2 = Jalal
| first2 = Ayesha
| author-link2 = Ayesha Jalal
| year = 2004
| title = Modern South Asia: History, Culture, Political Economy
| edition = 2nd
| publisher = Routledge
| page = 41
| isbn = 978-0-203-71253-5
}} 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 ({{reign | 1837 | 1857}}), and exiled him (1858) to Rangoon in British-controlled Burma (present-day Myanmar).
{{Cite book
|title=Justice System and Mutinies in British India|last=Bhatia|first=H.S.|page=204
}}
Name
{{excerpt|Mughal Empire|Name|paragraph=2}}
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.{{citation |first=Abraham |last=Eraly |author-link=Abraham Eraly |title=Emperors of the Peacock Throne: The Saga of the Great Moghuls |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h7kPQs8llvkC|year=2007 |publisher=Penguin Books Limited |isbn=978-93-5118-093-7}} Mughal rule was interrupted for 16 years by the Sur Emperors during Humayun's reign.{{cite book|title=The Last Great Muslim Empires |first1=H. J. |last1=Kissling|author2=N. Barbour |author3=Bertold Spuler |author4=J. S. Trimingham |author5=F. R. C. Bagley |author6=H. Braun |author7= H. Hartel |year=1997|publisher=BRILL |isbn=90-04-02104-3|pages=262–263|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-AznJs58wtkC&pg=PA262|access-date=17 May 2020}} 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.{{cite book |author1=V.I. Braginsky |title=The Heritage of Traditional Malay Literature: A Historical Survey of Genres, Writings and Literary Views |date=2005 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-48987-5 |page=381 |url=https://brill.com/display/title/23610?language=en |access-date=17 March 2024 |language=En |quote=...author shares T. Iskandar's opinion that Hikayat Aceh was influenced by Mughal historiography..}} Braginskiĭ also found the similarities in structure of both Hikayat Aceh and Mahfuzat-i-Timuri with Akbarnama manuscript.
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.{{Cite web|title=BBC - Religions - Islam: Mughal Empire (1500s, 1600s)|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/history/mughalempire_1.shtml|access-date=15 June 2020|website=www.bbc.co.uk|language=en-GB}}
Around 1700, the dynasty was ruling the wealthiest empire in the world, with also the largest military on earth.{{cite book|title=Developing cultures: case studies|author=Lawrence E. Harrison, Peter L. Berger|publisher=Routledge|year=2006|page=158|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RB0oAQAAIAAJ|isbn=9780415952798}} Mughals had approximately 24 percent share of world's economy and a military of one million soldiers.{{cite book|last=Maddison|first=Angus|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rHJGz3HiJbcC&pg=PA256|title=Development Centre Studies The World Economy Historical Statistics: Historical Statistics|date=25 September 2003|publisher=OECD Publishing|isbn=978-92-64-10414-3|pages=256–|author-link=Angus Maddison}}Art of Mughal Warfare." Art of Mughal Warfare. Indiannetzone, 25 August 2005. At that time the Mughals ruled almost the whole of the South Asia with 160 million subjects, 23 percent of world's population.{{cite book|author=József Böröcz|title=The European Union and Global Social Change|page=21|publisher=Routledge|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d0SPAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA21|access-date=17 May 2020|isbn=9781135255800|date=10 September 2009|author-link=József Böröcz}} 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.{{cite book |last=Hallissey |first=Robert C. |year=1977 |title=The Rajput Rebellion Against Aurangzeb |publisher=University of Missouri Press |pages=ix, x, 84 |isbn=978-0-8262-0222-2}}{{cite book |author=Claude Markovits |date=2004 |orig-year=First published 1994 as Histoire de l'Inde Moderne |title=A History of Modern India, 1480–1950 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uzOmy2y0Zh4C&pg=PA172 |publisher=Anthem Press |pages=172–173 |isbn=978-1-84331-004-4}} The power of the last emperor was limited only to the Walled city of Delhi.
File:More Simplified Mughal Lineage.jpg; 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.{{Cite book|last=Duindam|first=Jeroen|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5ky2CgAAQBAJ&pg=PA105|title=Dynasties: A Global History of Power, 1300–1800|date=2016|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-107-06068-5|language=en}}{{Cite book|last=Mohammada|first=Malika|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dwzbYvQszf4C&pg=PA300|title=The Foundations of the Composite Culture in India|date=2007|publisher=Aakar Books|isbn=978-81-89833-18-3|language=en}} Mughals played a great role in the flourishing of Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb (Indo-Islamic civilization).{{Cite book|last=Alvi|first=Sajida Sultana|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RHJaPgAACAAJ&q=mughals+and+indo+Islamic+civilization|title=Perspectives on Indo-Islamic Civilization in Mughal India: Historiography, Religion and Politics, Sufism and Islamic Renewal|date=2 August 2012|publisher=OUP Pakistan|isbn=978-0-19-547643-9|language=en}} 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,{{Cite book|last=Taher|first=Mohamed|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qRLXDBX5KzkC|title=Librarianship and Library Science in India: An Outline of Historical Perspectives|date=1994|publisher=Concept Publishing Company|isbn=978-81-7022-524-9|language=en}} Jahangir was a great painter,{{Cite journal|last=Dimand|first=Maurice S.|date=1944|title=The Emperor Jahangir, Connoisseur of Paintings|journal=The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin|volume=2|issue=6|pages=196–200|doi=10.2307/3257119|jstor=3257119|issn=0026-1521}} Shah Jahan was a great architect{{harvnb|Asher|2003|p=169}} while Bahadur Shah II was a great poet of Urdu.{{Cite web|last=Bilal|first=Maaz Bin|date=9 November 2018|title=Not just the last Mughal: Three ghazals by Bahadur Shah Zafar, the poet king|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1444563|access-date=24 June 2020|website=DAWN.COM|language=en}}
Succession to the throne
File: Khalili Collection Islamic Art mss 0874.3.jpg 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 {{circa|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.{{cite book |last=Dalrymple |first=William |title=The Last Mughal |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing Plc |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-4088-0092-8 |location=London |page=44}}
A man in India named Habeebuddin Tucy claims to be a descendant of Bahadur Shah II, but his claim is not universally believed.{{Cite web |date=18 August 2019 |first=Ch Sushil |last=Rao |title=Who is Prince Habeebuddin Tucy? |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/who-is-prince-habeebuddin-tucy/articleshow/70720992.cms |access-date=4 September 2022 |website=The Times of India |language=en}}
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.{{Cite web |title=Destitute Mughal empire 'heir' demands India 'return' Red Fort |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/12/30/heir-mughal-empire-demands-india-return-red-fort |access-date=4 September 2022 |website=aljazeera.com |language=en}}
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 {{currency|8000|INR}} and that the government should grant the economically depressed Mughal descendants the money for their upliftment. Tucy has two sons.{{Cite web |date=27 April 2010 |first=Bushra |last=Baseerat |title=Royal descendant struggles for survival |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/royal-descendant-struggles-for-survival/articleshow/5862064.cms |access-date=4 September 2022 |website=The Times of India |language=en}}
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.{{cite web
| title = Monumental issue Uae – Gulf News
| url = https://gulfnews.com/uae/monumental-issue-1.305043
| date = 2024-06-06
| archiveurl = https://archive.today/20240606071523/https://gulfnews.com/uae/monumental-issue-1.305043
| archivedate = 2024-06-06 }}
References
{{Reflist}}
Further reading
- {{cite book |last=Asher |first=Catherine Ella Blanshard |year=2003 |orig-year=First published 1992 |title=Architecture of Mughal India |series=The New Cambridge History of India |volume=I:4 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=368 |isbn=978-0-521-26728-1 }}