Mughal Empire Culture and Religion

Mughal Empire Culture and Religion After the decline of Hindu kingdom around 1000 AD, a number of Islamic invaders and merchants came and went but could not caste any significant impact on the cultural life of people. Most of the invaders were tribal kings from the clan Hun and Pathan whose main motive was to plunder the country, loot the property as much as they could. They had no ambition to establish an empire and that is why their cultural impact is insignificant. This could not remain for a long period. The Muslim empire was established with the first battle of Panipat in 1526 AD. Their after we find a continuous interaction between these two major distinct communities Hindus and Muslims. Muslims were the rulers and Hindus became the ruled. Hindus were employed in a number of jobs under their Muslim rulers. Continuous intermingling takes place between these two communities in the coming several centuries. Trade and Commerce: The middle Classes Nature and Standard of Living The middle classes in medieval India consisted in the main, merchants, professional classes such as vaidyas and hakims and officials. There was high degree of professionalism among the Indian merchants. Some specialized in wholesale trade and others in retail trade, the former being called seth or bohra and the latter beoparis or banik. In south India the chettis formed the trading community. There was a special class banjaras who specialized in carrying trade. The banjaras used to move from place to place, sometimes with thousands of oxen, laden with food grains, salt, ghee etc. The sarrafs (shroff) specialized in changing money, keeping money in deposit or landing it, or transmitting it from one part of the country to the other by means of hundi. The hundi was letter of credit payable after a certain period. The use of hundies made it easier to move goods or to transmit money from one part of the country to another. The hundies were cashed at a discount which sometimes included ins urance so that the cost of goods lost or destroyed in transit could be recovered. By these means the Indian merchants could easily ship goods to countries of west Asia as well as where there were Indian banking houses. English and Dutch traders who came to Gujarat during the 17th century found the Indian financial system to be highly developed and the Indian merchants to be active and alert. There was keen competition for inside information and whenever there was a shortage of some goods in some parts of the country it was made good quickly by the merchants. But this applied to goods of high quality. Food grains and bulk articles were costly to move overland but not so costly if moved by rivers. hence the major rivers carried much more goods in medieval times than now. However the total trade was limited since the villages, while not completely self sufficient, bought only a limited number of things from outside such as salt, iron and few consumer goods. Long distance trade generall y catered to needs of the affluent sections in the cities. The trading community in India was fairly large in number and included some of the richest merchants in the world. The names of virji or vohra who dominated the Surat trade for several decades and who had a large fleet of ships, Malaya Chetti on the Coromandal coasts, and Abdul Ghaffoor Bohra who left 85 lacks of rupees in cash and goods at the time of his death in 1718 are some of the noteworthy cases. There were many wealthy merchants in Agra, Delhi, Orissa and Bengal. The wealthy merchants in the costal ports of Gujarat lived in an ostentatious manner and aped the manners of the nobles. They lived in lofty houses with coloured tiles, wore fine clothes, rode well caparisoned horses and had people carrying flags and banners before them when they moved out in public. European travellers mentioned the commodious and well built houses in which the wealthy merchants of Agra and Delhi lived. But the ordinary sorts lived in houses above their shops. The French traveller Bernier, says that that the merchants tried to look poor because they were afraid they would be used like filled sponges that is squeezed of their wealth. But Sher Shah passed many laws for protecting the property of the merchants. The laws of Sher Shah are well known. Jahangirs ordinances included a provision that if any one, whether unbeliever or Musalman should die, his property and effects should be left for his heirs, and no one should interfere with them. If he should have no heirs, they should appoint inspectors and separate guardians to guard the property, so that it value might be expanded in a lawful expenditure, such as the building mosques and sarais, repair of broken bridged and digging of tanks and wells. Thus the concept of protection of private property, including the property of merchants clearly emerged. Organization of Trade and Commerce Role of European Trading Companies Trade and commerce expanded in India during the first half of the 17th century due to a number of factors. Perhaps the most important factor was the political integration of the country under Mughal rule and establishment of conditions of law and order extensive areas. The Mughals paid attention to roads and sarais which maid communication easier. Uniform tax was levied on goods at the points of their entry into the empire. Road cesses or rahdari was declared illegal though it was continued to be collected by some of the local rajas. The Mughals minted silver rupees of high purities which became a standard coin in India and abroad and thus help Indias trade. Another factor which helped Indias was the arrival of the Dutch and English traders towards the beginning of the 17th century. Ralph Fitch during Akbars reign, said Agra and Fatehpur Sikri were each larger then London. Montserrat says Lahore was second to none of the cities in Europe or Asia. The growth of town and town life is one of the significant features of 17th century India. The Indian traders welcomed the Dutch and the English because these traders helped them to break the Portuguese monopoly of sea trade, and in course of time, helped to establish a direct link between India and European markets. The Portuguese power have begun to decline during the second half of the 16th century, as was demonstrated by the defeat by the Spanish armada by England in 1588. The Portuguese remained at Goa and also at Daman and Diu. But their shares in overseas trade declined continuously and were insignificant by the end of the century. The British could not succeed in India as long as the Mughal empire was strong but it was not long incoming as soon as the weakness of the empire became manifest. Architecture There was an outburst of many sided cultural activates in India under the Mughal rule. The tradition in the field of architecture, painting, literature and music created during this period set a norm and deeply influenced the succeeding generations. In this sense, the Mughal period can be called a second classical age following the gupta age in northern India. In this cultural development Indian traditions were amalgamated with the Turko Iranian culture brought to the country by the Mughals. The Timurid court at Samarqand had developed as the cultural centre of west and central Asia. Babur was conscious of this cultural heritage. He was determined to set proper standards. The development of art and culture in various regions of India during the 14th and 15th centuries had held to rich and varied development from which it was possible to draw upon. The Mughals built magnificent forts, palaces, public buildings, mosques and baolis etc. They also led out many formal gardens with running water in fact use of running water in their palaces, resorts was the special feature of the Mughals. Babur was very fond of gardens and laid out few gardens in the neighbourhood of Agra and Lahore. Some of the Mughals gardens such as the Nishant Bagh in Kashmir. The Shalimar at Lahore and Pinjore etc have survived even to this day. We do not find the tradition of developing gardens in prior Hindu Kingdoms. It began with the Mughals and today is very much the part of Indian culture. Akbar was the first Mughal ruler who had the time to undertake construction on a large scale. He built a series of forts. The most famous of which is the fort of Agra. In 1572 he commenced a palace cumfort complex at Fatehpur Sikri. Build atop a hill, along with a large artificial lake; it included many buildings in the style of Gujarat and Bengal. The Gujarat style of architecture is used most widely in the palace built probably for his Rajput wife or wives. Akbar took a personal interest in the work of construction at both Agra and Fatehpur Sikri. Persian or central influence can be seen in the glazed blue tiles used for decorations in the walls or for tiling the roofs. The period of Shahjahan needs no mention. His period is the best period of architectural development. Mughal architectural traditions were based on a combination of Hindu and Turko Iranian forms and decorative designs continued without a break into the 18th and early 19th centuries. Thus Mughals traditions influence the palace and forts of many provincial and local kingdoms. Even the golden temple of the Sikhs at Amritsar which was rebuilt several times during this period was built on the arch and dome principle and incorporated many features of the Mughals traditions of architecture. Painting The Mughals made a distinctive contribution in the field of painting. They introduced new themes depicting the court, battle scenes and the chase, added new colours and forms. They created a living tradition of painting which continued to work in different parts of the country long after the glory of the Mughals disappeared. The richness of the style again, was due to the fact that India had an old tradition of paintings. While no palm leaves older than the 12th century have survived to indicate the style of painting, the wall painting of Ajanta are an eloquent indication of its vigour. After the 8th century, the tradition seems to have decayed, but palm leaf manuscripts and illustrated Jain text from the 13th century onwards so the tradition had not died. Apart from the Janis some of the provincial kingdoms, such as Malwa and Gujarat extended their patronage to painting during the 15th century. A vigorous revival of the painting culture began only under Akbar. During the reign of Akbar paintings were organized in one of the imperial establishments. From the beginning of both Hindus and Muslims joined in the work. Thus, Jaswant and Dasawan were two of the famous painters of the Akbars court. Apart from illustrating Persian books of fables, the painters were soon assigned the task of illustrating the Persian text of the Mahabharata, Akbar Nama and others. Indian themes and Indian scenes thus came in vogue and helped to free the school from Persian influence. Indian colours such as peacock blue, Indian red etc began to be used. Above all the somewhat flat effect of the Persian style began to be replaced by the roundedness of the Indian brush giving the pictures three dimensional effect. The Mughals reached the climax under Jahangir who had a very discriminating eye. While the tradition continued under Shahjahan, Aurangzebs lack of interest in painting led to a dispersal of the artist to different places. This helped in the development of painting in the states of Rajasthan and the Punjab hills. The Rajasthan style of painting combined the themes and earlier traditions of western India or Jain school of painting with Mughal forms and styles. Thus, in addition to hunting and court scenes it had paintings on mythological themes, such as the dalliance of Krishna and Radha, or the Barah masa, that is, the seasons or the Ragas (melodies). The Pahari School continued these traditions. Language, Literature and Music By the time of Akbar knowledge of Persian had become so wide spread in North India that he dispensed with the tradition of keeping revenue records in local language Hindavi in addition to Persian. Persian prose and poetry reached a climax under the Akbars reign. Abul Fazal was a great scholar and a stylist as well as the leading historian of the age, set a style of prose writing which was emulated for many generations. The leading poet of the age was his brother Faizi who also helped in the translation of the Mahabharata. Utbi and Naziri were the leading Persian poets. Though born in Persia they were among the many poets among the scholars who migrated from Iran to India during the period and made the Mughal court one of the cultural centres of the Islamic world. All though not much significant work was done in Sanskrit but number of Sanskrit works produced during this period is quite impressive. The dalliance of Krishna with Radha and the milk maids, pranks of the child Krishna and stories from Bhagawat figure largely lyrical poetry in Bengali, Oriya, Hindi, Rajasthani and Guajarati during this period. Both Muslims and Hindus contributed in this. A leading Mughal novel Abdur Rahim Khan I Khanan, produced a fine blend of bhakti poetry with Persian Ideas of life and human relations. But the most influential Hindi poet was Tulsidas who created Ramchritmanas in dialect of eastern u.p. During the Muslim reign Akbar patronised Tansen of Gwalior who is credited with composing new melodies (ragas). Jahangir and Shah Jahan as well as many Mughal nobles followed this example. There are many apocrvohal stories about the burial of music by the orthodox Aurangzeb. Recent studies show that Aurangzeb banished singing from his court, but not performance of musical instrument. In fact, Aurangzeb himself was an accomplished veena player. Music in all forms continued to be patronised by the Aurangzebs queens in the harem and by the nobles. That is why the largest number of books on classical Indian music was written during Aurangzebs reign. But some of the most important developments in the field of music took place later on in the eighteenth century during the reign of Muhammad Shah (1720-48). Religious Ideas and Beliefs The bhakti movement continued apace during the 16th and 17th centuries. The Sikh movement had its origin with the preaching of Nanak. But its development is closely linked with the institution of Guru ship. Akbar had been deeply impressed with the Sikh gurus, and it is said, visited them at Amritsar. However, a clash began with the imprisonment and death of Guru Arjun by Jahangir. Dara the eldest son of Shahjahan, was by temperament scholar and a Sufi who loved to discourse with religious divines with the help of Brahmins of Kasi he got the Gita translated into Persian. But his most significant work was an anthology of the Vedas in the introduction to which Dara declared the Vedas to be heavenly books in point of time and in conformity with holy Quran thus underlining the belief that there were no fundamental difference between Hinduism and Islam. Dadu a Gujarati poet preached a non sectarian path. He refused to identify either with Muslim or with Hindus. Among the Muslims too, while the trained of tauhid continued apace a were supported by many leading Sufi saints, a small group of orthodox Ulama reacted against it. But the influence of the orthodox thinkers and preachers was limited. Their chief hope was that their ideas would receive the support and the backing of those who held position of wealth and power in society and the state. On other hand the liberal thinkers made their appeal to the broad masses. The recurrent cycles of liberalism and orthodoxy in the Indian History should be seen against the situation which was routed in the structure of the Indian society. It was one aspect of the struggle between and entrenched privilege and power on the one hand and the egalitarian and humanistic aspirations of the mass of the people on the other. The prestige and influence of the narrow orthodox elements and their re assertion of the narrow ideas and beliefs was a barrier to the growing process of rapprochement and tolerance among the votaries of the to dominant religions, Hinduism and Islam, and Hindrance to the process of cultural integration. The clash between the two trends came to the surface during Aurangzebs reign. Conclusion The thousands years from the beginning of the 18th century to the end of the 17th century saw important changes in the political, economic and cultural life of the country and also, to a smaller extent, in its social life. In the field of social life, the caste system continued to dominate, despite the challenge posed to it by Islam and loss of political power by the Rajput rulers who were duty bound to protect dharma which implied, among other things, the upholding the fourfold division of society(varnashrama dharma). Although the Nath Panthi Jogis and the Bhakti saints vehemently criticised the caste system, they could hardly make a dent in it. A tacit agreement was arrived at the in the course of time. The criticism of the caste system by saints did not, with some notable exceptions, extend to day to day or secular life , while the Brahmans acquiesced in the advocacy of the path of devotion as the way for salvation for all castes, specially for the sudras. However, the Brahmans continued to claim a privileged position for themselves, including the exclusive right to preach and educate. The Bhakti and Sufi saints gradually brought about a better understanding of the fundamental tenets of Hinduism and Islam underlining the fact that they had a great deal of similarity. This resulted in a greater spirit of mutual harmony and toleration, although forces advocating a narrow, intolerant approach continued to be strongly entrenched and sometimes influenced state police. But such occasions were, on the whole, very few. The Bhakti and Sufi saints also brought about important changes in the approach to religion, laying greater emphasis on true faith than to the formal observances they also contributed to the growth of regional languages and literature. But the excessive concern with religious and spiritual affairs resulted in setback to the growth of rational sciences, epically to the cultivation of science and technology. While the Portuguese monopoly of some of the oriental trade and their domination of seas had, on the whole a harmful effect on Indian trade and commerce, the Dutch and English traders who broke the Portuguese monopoly, helped to open the European markets for Indian products such as textiles, indigo, and salt petre which were not exported to Europe earlier. Thus, India was linked more closely to the rapidly expanding European market. However in the absence of strong navy and a well developed mercantile fleet, the Indian trader and producer could secure only a marginal share of the profits of this new trade. On the other hand, the richness of the oriental trade further whetted the appetite of the European nation and quickened their economic and technological growth. Under the Mughals, political integration was accompanied by a deliberated effort to create a unified ruling class consisting of Muslims and Hindus. The development in various fields in India during this period should not be lost sight of the growth of political integration. Indian society was one of the few societies in the world which was able to develop a more or less unified culture despite differences in race, religion and language. This unified culture was reflected in an outburst of creative activity which makes the 17th century a second classical age. In the south, the traditions of the Cholas were continued by the Vijayanagra kingdom. The Bahmni kingdom and its successor states also contributed to culture developments in various fields. The rich cultural developments in the various regional kingdoms during the 15th century were, to some extent integrated in the new cultural forms developed by the Mughals. However, this integrated culture came under pressure from the religious dogmatists of the two faiths as well as from the competing and conflicting interests of various sections in the ruling classes. But that it survived, on the whole till the middle of the 19th century is no mean tribute to all those saints, scholars and enlightened rulers who helped to fashion it. The period was also marked by economic developments and growth. Trade and manufactures expanded and there was expansion and improvement of cultivation also. However, the growth was uneven in different areas and during different phases. Apart from the Ganga valley where the Mughals spent a substantial part of the revenue resources of the empire the areas which developed rapidly during the 17th century were Gujarat, the Coromandal coast and Bengal. Perhaps, it is no accident that these have been the areas in the forefront of economic developments of India in the modern period, particularly the post independence era. Would India have continued to progress economically and even attained Industrial Revolution on its own, if the Mughal Empire had continued? The question is too speculative. Perhaps the Mughal Empire had already reached the limit of its development. The feudal aristocratic nature of the state and the neglect of science and technology by the ruling class were already placing limits to the economic developments of the country. But whether India was able to develop faster and in a more harmonious manner under the British rule is a question which will be explained in the subsequent volume on modern India.

How Is Miss Ruddock’s Terrible Loneliness Conveyed In Alan Bennett’s Es

How Is Miss Ruddock’s Terrible Loneliness Conveyed In Alan Bennett’s A Lady Of Letters? Miss Irene Ruddock is an ordinary middle-aged woman who lives on her own. She was close to her mother who had recently passed away. Miss Ruddock has no real friends and finds it difficult to fill her time so she is often sitting in her chair, looking out of her window and noting what is going on in other people’s lives. She has no social life and she only leaves the house when she has to. Alan Bennett shows Miss Ruddock’s loneliness through her obsession of writing letters. She uses these letters as a way of communicating with the world outside her home. In the drama, before going to prison, we do not hear Miss Ruddock have a meaningful conversation with anyone other than her doctor, who she is talking to, not about her own health, but about her neighbour’s child, who she feels is being neglected. This shows that she is lonely because she has no close family or friends around her who she can talk to so she think that by writing letters she is helping the people around her and making herself feel useful. In the monologue Miss Ruddock writes letters to a wide range of people. All of the letters have one thing is common, which is that they are all letters of complaint. She goes to the funeral of somebody she barely knew and complained to the funeral directors about ‘grown men sulking in the rhododendrons with tab ends in their mouths’. She also, after a trip to London, wrote to the Queen to complain about some dog poo in front of Buckingham Palace. This tells the viewers that she is lonely because she will talk about the smallest things if it means she will be communicating with somebody. Miss Ruddock also replies to ... ... things with which to occupy her time. ‘I am that busy †¦ I’ve opted for bookbinding and dressmaking’. With these things she has had no time with which to write letters and she has nothing to complain about. The viewer also knows she is lonely as her last words in the monologue are ‘I am so happy.’ For most people prison is the worst time of their lives but prison gave Miss Ruddock a new license of life and now she has so little time for herself and feels so wanted and needed she loves life. I think that when Miss Ruddock is released from prison she will not continue to write letters. I think that, for most people the story had a sad ending, but Miss Ruddock learned a lot from prison, it helped her to overcome her ‘terrible loneliness’ by making her feel she had a purpose. It also taught her how to communicate with people orally, and how to make friends.

Conflict Can Be Character Building Essay

â€Å"Conflict Can Be Character Building† â€Å"Character building† is such a common phrase and has become a cliche designed to put a positive spin on painful experiences. While it is true to say that conflict is an inevitable aspect of life, it is not true to say that it always results in â€Å"building† people. In fact in some cases it tragically destroys them. While novelists and filmmakers, in particular, build a plotline which neatly introduces conflict, complications and crisis points which always lead to a positive resolution, real life doesn’t work that way. Stand by Me neatly follows this pattern, while real life conflicts such as friendship rifts, religious rivalries and political unrest may never be resolved and destroy many lives. Rob Reiner’s Stand By Me portrays conflict through its narrator and protagonist’s reflections of an important journey he took when he was twelve. It was a journey that helped him confront some of his own internal conflicts regarding the loss of his brother, grief and his relationship with his grieving parents. It also explored the personal conflicts of his peer group and their own internal struggles as well as the conflict they had with family and a rival â€Å"gang†. While Gordy’s â€Å"victory† in finding the body and standing up to Ace is a crisis point in which he emerges as a hero, we are aware that there are still conflicts that have been overlooked in the focus on the one experience. The other characters are glossed over as they return to their unhappy and dysfunctional homes and so too is the fact that the threat of retribution from their rivals. The film is tied up with a content Gordy who conveniently became the writer his older brother always told him he was, had a nice home and happy relationship with his own son and has memories of â€Å"friendship† to cherish. But we need to focus on the most tragic conflict from which his friend Chris does not survive. â€Å"He was stabbed in the throat; he died almost instantly. Although I hadn’t seen him for more than 10 years, I know I’ll miss him forever.† Group conflict is a reality most of us experience on a regular basis.It comes in many forms.It can be about friendship groups, family feuds, school or institutional authority, gang supremacy, sporting, political, religious or racial rivalries in the extreme state of outright war. Individuals and  groups do clash. Sometimes the conflicts are accepted as differences that will never change while other times they ignite violent reactions. Even bullying is seen as a conflict and for those who are truly affected by bullying and inturn suffer a life long struggle with mental health and self esteem-these people do not ‘build character’ whatever person they were has been destroyed. Instead of the polite, outgoing person-a new, changed character has come about and with it is drugs, self harm and eating disorders. Australia has seen many refugees and asylum seekers risking life and limb to reach our shores in an effort to escape conflict. We know that may of them don’t make it – many losing lives at sea and others scarred by the trauma of loss and their journeys. Our community has opened itself to many of the â€Å"lucky† ones who do make it here and yet they will tell you that the conflict in their lives haven’t â€Å"built† them but harmed them. Some have confessed that they will never recover, haunted by their experiences every day is a struggle. They don’t look back and say they are glad for the conflict as it gave them an opportunity to â€Å"build character†. Many people fear conflict with others but fail to consider the harm internal conflict has on them. There is an acceptance in dealing with or being concerned about conflict with others and internal conflicts still seem to be an issue most people are ashamed to acknowledge, much less discuss. True to its name they keep it all internal and wage a struggle on the inside.Internal conflict leads many to suffer silently on a daily basis and rather than build their character it can absolutely warp them and even break them. Depression, substance abuse (drugs and alcohol) as well as self harm, risky behaviours and suicide are all results of internal struggles that have not ended in â€Å"building† but instead ruining character. â€Å"Dealing with one young person’s sexual orientation was such an internal conflict that he turned to drugs and ended up a completely different personality who sadly overdosed. Friends and family just couldn’t understand why it ended so tragically.†- It is not an uncommon story. Character building happens in many ways. Ultimately, It happens through experience, growth, education, love, relationships, travel and support – to name a few. It is wrong to assume that true character growth can only happen  with painful experiences and conflicts. It may be the case that sometimes a conflict teaches us a great deal and can contribute another layer to our character, but it is also more often the case that conflict can start a chain of events that ends in tragedy and has a destructive effect on an individual or groups of people which can even reverberate for generations.

Characteristics of African Religion - 1769 Words

Characteristics of African religion A Supreme being: Throughout most of Africa there is belief of a supreme being, described by one or more names, either in terms of activities or place of abode. African people relate to or worship God through praying, singing and dancing, making sacrificial offerings, dedications and invoking blessings. In many respects, the attitude given toward the supreme creator resembles the respect given to African rulers. According to African tradition certain procedures have to be observed in order to gain access to a person of authority. For an ordinary person such contact can actually only take place through approved mediators or councillors. While it may occur that there is no cult devoted specifically to the†¦show more content†¦Allah is the one and only, eternal and absolute and unlike any other. Therefore although something can be known about Allah through studying his word and his creation, one can never know him completely. Belief in the prophets: The Shahaadah also states that mohommed is Gods messenger. According to tradition there were 124000 prophets altogether and in all cases there task has been to instruct and guide. Muhammed is known as the seal of the prophets. He is the last and final prophet chosen my God to bring his message to humankind. His message is a universal message for all humankind. Belief in the Books: Several prophets received divine revelations which where written in 104 books but only 4 of these have been preserved. These are : The Tawrat - Given to Moses : The Zabur - Given to David : The injil - Given to Jesus : The Quran - Given to Muhammed The quran is said to be the corrected version of all previous revelations of God. Belief in Angels: The Quran often mentions angels and there are several categories of angels namely the angel of revelation, The angel of providence, and the angel of death. There are also angels who wait on Allah and Angels who interrogate the dead. 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