A Glimpse of the Magnificent Mughals

Descendants of Genghis Khanand Timur, the Mughals ruled over South Asia from 1526 to 1858. At its peak, the empire encompassed most of present day India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and eastern Afghanistan. Babar, a Central Asian prince, conquered Kabul, Lahore and ultimately Delhi in 1526. He became the first of 15 Mughal emperors followed byHumayun, Akbar, Jahangir, Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb Alamgir, who are collectively known as the ‘Great Mughals.’ The gradual decline of the empire began when the later Mughal emperors began to face consecutive wars of succession as well as multiple invasions, and struggled to maintain control of a diminishing empire.

The Mughals were highly cultured and cultivated a sophisticated lifestyle based on both the Iranian and Indian examples. Architecture flourished under their patronage; they commissioned fortresses, palaces, mosques and mausoleums as a representation of their powerful stature. One of the greatest accomplishments of the Mughals was to initiate a new tradition of painting. Court historian Abu’l Fazl documented Akbar’s interest with these words:

“His Majesty from his earliest youth has shown a great predilection for this art and gives it every encouragement. Hence the art flourishes and many painters have obtained great reputation.”

From Babar’s Bagh-e-Wafa to Bahadur Shah Zafar’s defeated Golden Crown, the Mughal exhibit brings to life the Journey of a Legendary Empire.

Akbar’s Tasveer Khana was led by eminent Iranian artists and employed more than 100 Hindu and Muslim artists of various skills, for projects that included Hamzanama, story of Ameer Hamza, which took 15 years to complete. Akbar encouraged artists to follow a realistic depiction of subjects.There were 24,000 volumes in Akbar’s library at the time of his death.

Hamida Bano Begum, Akbar’s mother was one of the few Mughal women who had a library of her own. A late 16th century volume of Diwan-e-Hijri from her collection can be seen here. As are Shah Jahan’s books such as “Kabutarnama” — a treatise on the art of keeping pigeons. “The Notebook of Fragrance” dated 1698 is an interesting manuscript intended for gentlemen, containing formulae for perfumes and soaps,  techniques for arranging a house, a garden or a library and for igniting fireworks.

The tolerance of the Mughal emperors is a part of their legacy. Depicted in the exhibition are also Akbar’s efforts to hold inter-faith debates, his appointment of Hindu ministers and encouragement of multi-faith marriages and finally, his formation of Din-e-Elahi, a religion of his own, albeit controversial, which combined the features of various faiths.

The exhibit also brings out Aurangzeb’s commitment to religion and Shariah during his reign, symbolised by al-Fatawa Alamgiria, a vast compendium of Islamic jurisprudence in Arabic which took 50 Islamic scholars eight years to complete.