Ans. The Ghurian conquest of North India towards the close of 12th century AD is an important event in Indian history. This attracted emigrants from the neighbouring countries who represent different cultural traditions. One of the traditions introduced by them was that of history writing. With the coming of Mughals in 16th century AD, the tradition of history writing achieved new heights. Among the Muslim elite, history was considered as the third important source of knowledge after the religious scripture and jurisprudence. Abdul Fazl, Nizamuddin Ahmad, Abdul Qadir Badauni, Khwaja Kamgar Husaini and Abdul Hamid Lahori were some important historians of the Mughal period.
The most dominant feature of the historiography of Mughal period is the tradition of history writing by official chroniclers appointed by almost all emperors till the reign of Aurengzeb. These chroniclers were appointed by the emperors and all official records were provided to them for the purpose. Another salient feature of the period is Autobiographical accounts written by emperors themselves. Tuzuk-i-Baburi by Babur and Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri by Jahangir are the important works in this genre. Apart from official works which had obvious constrains, a number of independent works were written by independent scholars which provide a critical appraisal of the policies and events of the period.
Early Writing
Zahiruddin Muhammad Babur, who invaded India and supplanted the Lodi rule by his own in 1526, was a prolific writer. His autobiography, Tuzuk-i-Baburi, written in Turkish is a literary masterpiece, containing the history of the rise and fall of the Timurid power in central Asia, biographical account about himself, the description of life and culture in India and the dairy of events that took place in the course of campaigns he led against his rivals.
Babur's son and successor, Humayun (1530-1555) was also interested in history writing. He commissioned a renowned scholars, Khawandmir, to compose the history of his reign. Khawandmir prepared a brief account of his reign from his accession up to year 1535 and named it, Qanun-i-Humayuni. It sheds interesting light on Humayun's state policy, particularly towards the Indian nobles and landed aristocracy
Akbar's Reign - Official Histories
With the accession of Akbar (1556-1605) to the throne, important change took place in the concept of history writing. Akbar proposed to have a written history of Muslim rulers from the death of prophet up to his own time on the completion of first millennium of Islam, i.e. history of one thousand years, called Tarikh-i-Alfi. Akbar constituted a board of seven scholars to compile it, each member of board was assigned a period to write its history in chronological order. As per this scheme the events are described year by year.
Gulbadan Begum's memoirs entitled Humayunnama is an important source as it sheds light on the lives and culture of the royal harem. It is considered unique as it reflects a women's perception of the events of the period.
Tazkirat-i-Humayun wa Akbar by Bayazid Niyat and Tazkirat-ul Waqiat by Jauhar Aftabchi provides useful information about Humayun's life and times.
Not satisfied with the account of his reign in the Tarikh-i-Alfi, in 1589-1590, Akbar ordered Abdul Fazal to compile the history of his reign, beginning with an account of Babur and Humayun, titled Akbarnama.
Akbar's Reign- Non-official Histories
Nizamuddin Ahmad and Abdul Qadir Badauni were the two most important non-official historians of the period. Nizamuddin wrote Tabaqat-i-Akbari in three volumes. He mentions all the important events that took place during Akbar's reign including the controversial Mahzar, which Abdul Fazl had left out.
Abdul Qadir Badauni translate Mahabharata from Sanskrit into Persian. The first volume of his history entitled Muntakhabat Tawarikh is related to history of Sultanate of Delhi. The second covers Akbar's reign while in the third volume we find the biographical notes on scholars, poets and sufi saints of Akbar's reign.
Jahangir's Reign
He decided to write autobiographical history of his own reign in the traditions set by Babur. Besides, he persuaded other scholars also to write the history of his reign. Qazi Nurul Haque compiled the Zubdatu't Tawarikh and closed it with the account of Jahangir's reign. It narrates the history of the Muslim rulers of India.
Shah Jahan's Reign
Mutamad Khan wrote Iqbalnama-i-Jahangiri after Shah Jahan's accession to the throne. His aim was to justify Shah Jahan's rebellion against his father. Khwaja Kamgar Husaini's maasir-i-Jahangiri is an important source for the events that took place during the last years of his reign.
Aurangzeb's Reign
He appointed Muhammad Kazim to write the history of his reign. His Alamgir nama reads as a panegyric in prose. Later on, Saqi Mustaid Khan compiled the history of Aurangzeb's reign titled Maasir-i-Alamgiri.
Conclusion
Among Muslim elite, history writing was considered as important part of history, which was third important source of knowledge. Under Mughals traditions of history writing continued and reached new heights. Abul Fazl, Nizamuddin Ahmad, Abdul Qadir Badauni, Khwaja Kamgar Husaini, Abdul Hamid Lahori were some important historians of the Mughal period.
Reference:
- IGNOU MHI textbooks
DISCLAIMER: This platform is intended to guide students how to write/study their respective subjects. This is a sample text, you can make it more valuable in your own words. All the best.
No comments:
Post a Comment