The Mughal Empire

The Colonial Mughal Legacy in Modern South Asia

The Mughal legacy in modern South Asia is a major theme in the political, cultural, and intellectual history of contemporary India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. The British colonial state made significant use of Mughal symbols, the Mughal administrative and legal traditions, and the Mughal cultural inheritance, and the post-colonial states of South Asia have had to come to terms with the considerable Mughal legacy that they inherited. The principal treatment of the British presence is the British East India Company and the Mughals page, and the formal end of the dynasty is treated in the Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last Mughal emperor and the rebellion of 1857 pages. This page focuses on the colonial inheritance, the post-colonial uses, and the contemporary significance of the Mughal legacy.

The British Use of Mughal Symbols

The British colonial state made major use of Mughal symbols, particularly in the early decades of the British raj. The British authorities, having formally deposed the Mughal emperor in 1857, were nevertheless conscious of the significant symbolic capital that the Mughal dynasty still commanded, and they made selective use of Mughal symbols to bolster the legitimacy of their own rule. The most prominent example of this was the use of the Mughal title of Emperor of India by Queen Victoria from 1876, a title that explicitly connected the British Crown to the Mughal imperial tradition. The title, examined in the Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last Mughal emperor and the Mughal decline overview pages, was a major event in the history of the British presence in India, and it had considerable consequences for the political symbolism of the British raj.

The British authorities also made use of Mughal architecture, particularly the Red Fort in Delhi, which was used as the principal ceremonial centre of the British Indian government. The Delhi Durbar of 1877, 1903, and 1911, examined in the colonial Mughal legacy page, were major ceremonial events that explicitly connected the British raj to the Mughal imperial tradition. The 1911 Durbar, in particular, marked the formal transfer of the British capital from Calcutta to Delhi, a city that had been the principal capital of the Mughal empire.

The British colonial state inherited and adapted the Mughal legal and administrative tradition. The diwani of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa, granted to the Company in 1765 and examined in the Diwani of Bengal page, was the foundation of the Company’s fiscal administration, and the Company’s revenue system drew heavily on the Mughal revenue system examined in the land revenue administration page. The Company’s judicial system drew on the Mughal judicial tradition, including the qazi and the sadr-us-sudur, examined in the Mughal administration overview page.

The British use of the Mughal administrative tradition was major, and the British Indian administrative system preserved many of the features of the Mughal system, including the mansabdari-jagirdari arrangement examined in the mansabdari system page, the revenue assessment procedures, and the postal system. The British authorities also preserved the use of Persian as a language of administration, and the major use of Persian in British Indian administration is examined in the Mughal administration overview page.

The Influence on the Indian National Congress

The Mughal legacy was a major influence on the Indian National Congress, the principal political organisation of the Indian independence movement. The Congress, founded in 1885, drew significantly on the Mughal political tradition in its articulation of the Indian national identity, and the significant use of Mughal symbols in the Congress’s political discourse was a major feature of the independence movement. The Congress’s claim to represent the Indian national inheritance was significantly based on the Mughal legacy, and the Congress’s vision of an independent India was significantly connected to the political and cultural inheritance of the Mughal empire.

The Congress’s relationship with the Mughal legacy was complex. The Congress drew significantly on the Mughal legacy in its political discourse, but it also drew on the broader Indian inheritance, including the Hindu, Muslim, and Sikh traditions. The Congress’s vision of a secular Indian state, examined in the Mughal decline overview page, was significantly influenced by the Mughal tradition of religious accommodation that had been a feature of the imperial state since Akbar’s reign.

The Role in the Pakistan Movement

The Mughal legacy was a major influence on the Pakistan movement, the political movement that led to the creation of Pakistan as a separate Muslim state in 1947. The Pakistan movement drew significantly on the Mughal political and cultural inheritance, and the considerable use of the Urdu language, a major inheritance from the Mughal court, was a major feature of the Pakistan movement’s political discourse. The Pakistan movement’s claim to represent the Muslim political inheritance of the Indian subcontinent was significantly based on the Mughal legacy, and the major use of Mughal symbols in the Pakistan movement’s political discourse was a major feature of the movement.

The role of the Mughal legacy in the Pakistan movement was complex. The Pakistan movement drew on the Mughal legacy, but it also drew on the broader Muslim political inheritance of the Indian subcontinent, including the political traditions of the Muslim League and the cultural traditions of the Indian Muslim community. The connection between the Mughal legacy and the Pakistan movement is examined in the Mughal decline overview and the Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last Mughal emperor pages.

The Role in the 1947 Partition

The 1947 partition of British India, examined in the Mughal decline overview page, was a major event in the history of the Indian subcontinent, and the Mughal legacy was a major influence on the partition. The partition was the culmination of a long process of political fragmentation that had begun with the significant weakening of the Mughal state in the early eighteenth century, and the considerable connection between the Mughal decline and the 1947 partition is examined in the relevant cluster pages.

The partition was a major event in the history of the Mughal legacy. The major transfer of population that accompanied the partition, the significant violence that occurred, and the political reorganisation of the Indian subcontinent were all major events in the history of South Asia, and the considerable consequences of the partition are examined in the colonial Mughal legacy and the Mughal decline overview pages.

The Contemporary Use of the Mughal Legacy

The Mughal legacy continues to be a major influence in contemporary South Asia. The major architectural inheritance of the Mughals, including the Taj Mahal, the Red Fort, the Jama Masjid, and the numerous other Mughal monuments, is a major feature of the cultural inheritance of contemporary India and Pakistan. The significant use of Mughal symbols in the political discourse of contemporary India and Pakistan is a major feature of the political life of the two countries, and the considerable debate about the Mughal legacy is a major theme in the political and cultural discourse of contemporary South Asia.

The cultural inheritance of the Mughals is also a major feature of contemporary South Asian culture. The major Urdu literary tradition, which was significantly developed in the Mughal court, is a major inheritance of contemporary India and Pakistan. The significant musical traditions of the Mughals, examined in the Mughal culture and society and Mughal art pages, are a major feature of contemporary Indian and Pakistani culture. The considerable culinary traditions of the Mughals, examined in the Mughal cuisine page, are a major feature of contemporary Indian and Pakistani cuisine.

The Cultural Significance in Modern South Asia

The cultural significance of the Mughal legacy in modern South Asia is enormous. The Mughal inheritance is a major part of the cultural identity of contemporary India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, and the major debate about the Mughal legacy is a major theme in the cultural and political discourse of contemporary South Asia. The significant connection between the Mughal inheritance and the contemporary politics of South Asia is examined in the Mughal decline overview and the Mughal culture and society pages.

The Mughal legacy is also a major feature of the contemporary cultural production of South Asia. The considerable use of Mughal themes in contemporary South Asian literature, film, and television is a major feature of the cultural production of the region, and the major connection between the Mughal inheritance and the contemporary culture of South Asia is examined in the Mughal culture and society and the Mughal art pages.

The Broader Significance

The colonial Mughal legacy is a major theme in the history of modern South Asia. The British colonial state made significant use of the Mughal inheritance, and the post-colonial states of South Asia have had to come to terms with the considerable Mughal legacy that they inherited. The major connection between the Mughal inheritance and the contemporary politics and culture of South Asia is examined in the Mughal decline overview and the Mughal history overview pages. The broader context of the Mughal legacy is treated in the Mughal architecture overview and the Mughal culture and society pages.

Sources

  • C.A. Bayly, Indian Society and the Making of the British Empire (NCHI II.1, 1988), ch. 1.