History · Medieval History
Mughal India witnessed a stark contrast between the opulence of the nobility and the poverty of the masses, a sophisticated trade and commercial network, vibrant cultural achievements in architecture, painting, literature and music, and an ongoing tension between liberal and orthodox religious currents that shaped the process of cultural integration.
The Mughal Empire reached the zenith of its economic, social, and cultural development during the first half of the seventeenth century. However, to fully understand this period, we must trace developments from the advent of Akbar to the mid-seventeenth century, as no basic changes in economic or social spheres occurred during the intervening period. The defining feature of this era was a glaring disparity between the ostentatious life-style of the ruling classes and the acute poverty of the peasants, artisans, and labourers.
Scanty clothing was conventional across South India and was observed by multiple European travellers. Babur noted that "peasants and people of low standing go about naked." Ralph Fitch (late 16th century) confirmed this, and Salbancke remarked that between Lahore and Agra, the poor mostly went naked. De Laet noted that labourers lacked sufficient clothing even in winter.
However, these observations must be treated with caution — European travellers came from colder climates and were unfamiliar with Indian traditions. Cotton production was widely distributed, but cloth was comparatively more expensive than food. The overall impression is one of insufficiency of clothing rather than complete nakedness.
Footwear was almost entirely absent among the poor. Nikitin observed the Deccan people went barefoot. Moreland notes that no shoes were found north of the Narmada, attributable to the high cost of leather.
Rice, millets, and pulses (khicheri) formed the staple diet. Fish was common in Bengal and coastal regions; chapatis of wheat or coarse grains, pulses, and green vegetables were common in north India. The common people ate their main meal in the evening and chewed parched grain during the day. Ghee and oil were cheaper than foodgrains, while salt and sugar were more expensive.
On balance, the common people ate reasonably — more grazing land meant more cattle and dairy products. But famines reversed this position drastically, and there are many accounts of devastating famines where parents sold children and there are even reports of people eating their own kind.
Mud houses in which villagers lived were not different from those at present. Furniture was minimal — cots, bamboo mats, earthen utensils made by village potters. Copper and bell-metal utensils were expensive and not used by the poor.
The standard of living ultimately depends on income and wages. Money hardly entered into transactions in villages — village artisans were paid in commodities fixed by custom. The salary of the lowest-grade servant was less than two rupees a month. Menials and foot soldiers received less than three rupees a month. It has been calculated that a man could feed his family on two rupees a month.
Moreland (writing in the early 20th century) found little change in the real wages of Indian workers over time. He concluded that conditions had not worsened under British rule — but this must be seen in a wider context of overall stagnation compared to rising European real wages during the same period.
The peasantry was the largest and most exploited class. There were two main types:
Famines hit this class and village artisans the hardest. Population at the beginning of the 17th century was about 125 million, with abundant cultivable land. Peasant proprietors (khudkasht) were probably more numerous than pahis and village artisans.
The nobility, along with the landed gentry (zamindars), formed the ruling class in medieval India. Theoretically, the doors of the Mughal nobility were open to everyone. In practice, aristocratic families had a decided advantage. The bulk of Mughal nobles were drawn from Turan, and its neighbouring areas — Tajikistan, Khorasan, Iran.
Although Babur was a Turk, the Mughals never followed a narrow racialist policy. From Jahangir's time, Afghans began to be recruited into the nobility. Indian Muslims (Shaikhzadas or Hindustanis) were also given service. From Akbar's time, Hindus — largely Rajputs — were recruited regularly. The Kachhwahas predominated among Rajput nobles. The proportion of Hindus in the nobility under Akbar in 1594 was about 16 percent.
Under Jahangir and Shah Jahan, the proportion of Afghans, Indian Muslims, and Hindus continued to rise. Under Shah Jahan, Hindus formed roughly 24 percent; by the second half of Aurangzeb's reign this rose to 33 percent (though their total number had doubled — Marathas formed more than half the Hindu nobles by then). Jahangir was the first monarch to realise that the Marathas were "the hub of affairs" in the Deccan and tried to win them over. Shahji, father of Shivaji, served Shah Jahan.
The Mughal nobility attained stability under Jahangir and Shah Jahan through careful organisation of the mansabdari system, orderly promotions, and discipline.
Mughal nobles received extremely high salaries but had extremely high expenses. Each noble maintained:
According to one account, 40 dishes were prepared for each meal for Akbar. The choicest fruits were imported from Samarqand and Bokhara. Ice was used year-round by the privileged classes. Jahangir introduced the fashion of men wearing costly jewels with ear-piercing.
Presents to the emperor had to be made twice a year, fixed according to the individual's status. Nobles received presents in return.
Despite enormous salaries, most nobles were deeply in debt due to extravagant living. There were no adequate outlets for profitable investment. Abul Fazl advised the nobles to invest a little in commercial speculation and engage in remunerative undertakings. The English factor at Surat noted in 1614 that "large and small are merchants" — members of the royal family, including princes and queen mothers, took keen interest in foreign trade. Akbar's widow, mother of Jahangir, owned ships. Mir Jumla (Aurangzeb's period) owned a fleet carrying on extensive commerce with Persia, Arabia, and South-East Asia.
Property of nobles: When a noble died, a careful inventory was made. The noble generally owed considerable sums to the central treasury, which had to be adjusted before property could be handed to heirs. The emperor reserved the right to distribute the property among the noble's surviving sons. Daughters did not receive a share. Aurangzeb made a rule that properties of nobles who did not owe money to the state were not to be attached.
Personal ownership of land was very old in India. The right of ownership depended mainly on succession, but new rights were being created all the time. The tradition held that whoever first brought land under cultivation was its owner.
The zamindar was not the "owner" of all lands comprising his zamindari. The peasants who actually cultivated could not be dispossessed as long as they paid the land revenue — both zamindars and peasants had their own hereditary rights in land.
For collecting land revenue, the zamindars received a share which could go up to 25 percent in some areas. This was called his talluqa or his zamindari.
Above the zamindars were rajas who dominated larger or smaller tracts and enjoyed varied degrees of internal autonomy. These rajas are also called zamindars by Persian writers to emphasise their subordinate status, but their position was superior to zamindars who merely collected land revenue.
The zamindars had their own armed forces and generally lived in forts or garhis. According to the Ain, in Akbar's reign they had 384,558 sawars, 4,277,057 foot soldiers, 1,863 elephants, and 4,260 cannons — but they were dispersed and could never field such large forces at one place.
Zamindars were generally a very numerous class found all over the country under different names: deshmukh, patil, nayak, etc.
The middle classes consisted mainly of merchants, professional classes such as vaidyas and hakims, and officials.
There was a high degree of professionalism among Indian merchants:
The hundi was a letter of credit payable after a certain period. Hundis were cashed at a discount which sometimes included insurance so that the cost of goods lost or destroyed in transit could be recovered. English and Dutch traders who came to Gujarat found the Indian financial system to be highly developed, and Indian merchants to be active and alert.
The Portuguese power declined in the second half of the 16th century. By the first quarter of the 17th century, both the Dutch and the English had broken the Portuguese monopoly for ever.
Dutch:
English:
The Indian link with world markets via European companies had negative factors too. Europe had little to supply India in return, forcing it to export gold and silver to India — which roughly doubled prices during the first half of the 17th century. Inflation hit the poor hardest.
The Mughals built magnificent forts, palaces, gates, mosques, baohs (water tanks/wells), and laid out formal gardens with running water — a special feature of their style.
Sher Shah gave a new impetus to architecture. His mausoleum at Sasaram (Bihar) and mosque in the old Delhi fort are architectural marvels — the climax of pre-Mughal style and the starting point for the new.
Akbar was the first Mughal ruler to build on a large scale:
Towards the end of Jahangir's reign: Practice of putting up buildings entirely of marble and decorating walls with floral designs of semi-precious stones. This method of decoration — pietra dura — became even more popular under Shah Jahan.
Shah Jahan's architecture:
Aurangzeb was economy-minded and built little, but Mughal architectural traditions (combination of Hindu and Turko-Iranian forms) continued without a break into the 18th and early 19th centuries, influencing palaces, forts, and local kingdoms. Even the Golden Temple at Amritsar, rebuilt several times during the period, was built on the arch-and-dome principle and incorporated Mughal architectural features.
The Mughals made a distinctive contribution by introducing new themes (court, battle scenes, the chase), new colours, and new forms.
Pre-Mughal tradition: No palm leaves older than the 12th century have survived, but the wall-paintings of Ajanta indicate the tradition's vigour. After the 8th century the tradition decayed, but palm-leaf manuscripts and illustrated Jain texts from the 13th century onwards show it had not died. Provincial kingdoms (Malwa, Gujarat) also extended patronage to painting in the 15th century.
Akbar's painting school:
Jahangir's painting school:
Post-Jahangir: Tradition continued under Shah Jahan. Aurangzeb's lack of interest in painting led to dispersal of artists to different parts of the country — helping in the development of painting in states of Rajasthan and the Punjab hills.
Persian: Persian remained the language of government at the all-India level. Persian prose and poetry reached a climax under Akbar's reign. Abul Fazl — great scholar, stylist, and historian — set a style of prose-writing emulated for many generations. His brother Faizi was the leading poet of the age. Utbi and Naziri were two other leading Persian poets. By Akbar's time, knowledge of Persian was so widespread in north India that he dispensed with the tradition of keeping revenue records in the local language (Hindavi), though this continued in the Deccan states till the last quarter of the 17th century.
Hindi: Medieval Hindi in the Brij form (dialect of the Agra neighbourhood) was patronised by Mughal emperors and Hindu rulers. From the time of Akbar, Hindi poets began to be attached to the Mughal court. A leading Mughal noble, Abdur Rahim Khan-i-Khanan, produced a fine blend of Bhakti poetry with Persian ideas of life and human relations. The most influential Hindi poet was Tulsidas — used a dialect of Hindi spoken in the eastern parts of Uttar Pradesh around Banaras. He pleaded for a modified caste system based on individual qualities, not on birth.
Regional Languages: Regional languages acquired maturity during this period. The finest lyrical poetry was produced in Bengali, Oriya, Hindi, Rajasthani, and Gujarati. Devotional hymns to Rama were composed. The Ramayana and Mahabharata were translated into regional languages. Both Hindus and Muslims contributed. Alaol composed in Bengali and translated from Hindi the Padmavat, written by a Muslim Sufi saint, Malik Muhammad Jaisi — using the attack of Alauddin Khalji on Chittor as an allegory to expound Sufi ideas on relations of soul with God, along with Hindu ideas about maya.
Sanskrit: Not much significant and original work was done, but the quantity was impressive, mostly in south and east India.
Marathi: Reached its apogee at the hands of Eknath and Tukaram. Eknath's famous assertion: "If Sanskrit was made by God, was Sanskrit born of thieves and knaves? God is no partisan of tongues. To Him Prakrit and Sanskrit are alike. My language Marathi is worthy of expressing the highest sentiments and is rich laden with the fruits of divine knowledge."
Malayalam started its literary career as a separate language in its own right during this period.
Music: Hindus and Muslims cooperated in music. Akbar patronised Tansen of Gwalior, credited with composing many new ragas. Jahangir and Shah Jahan, as well as many Mughal nobles, followed this example. Aurangzeb banished singing from his court (but not performance of musical instruments — he himself was an accomplished veena player). Music in all forms continued to be patronised by Aurangzeb's queens and by the nobles. The largest number of books on classical Indian music in Persian were written during Aurangzeb's reign.
The Bhakti movement continued apace during the 16th and 17th centuries. Among the new movements was the Sikh movement in Punjab and Maharashtra Dharma in Maharashtra.
The Sikh movement had its origin in the preachings of Nanak, but its development is closely linked to the institution of Guruship. The first four Gurus continued the tradition of quiet meditation and scholarship. The Fifth Guru, Arjun Das, completed the compilation of the Sikh scriptures — the Adi Granth or Granth Sahib. He began to live in an aristocratic style, collected offerings from Sikhs at the rate of one-tenth of their income, and started lofty buildings at Amritsar.
Akbar had been deeply impressed with the Sikh Gurus. A clash began with the imprisonment and death of Guru Arjun by Jahangir on a charge of helping rebel prince Khusrau. His successor, Guru Har Govind, was also imprisoned for some time but was soon set free, and developed good relations with Jahangir. He came into clash with Shah Jahan on a hunting incident. By this time the Guru had a sizeable following including a Pathan contingent. He retired to the Punjab foothills where he was not interfered with.
Thus there was no atmosphere of confrontation between the Sikhs and the Mughal rulers during this period. The occasional conflict between the Gurus and the Mughal rulers was personal and political rather than religious. Despite some display of orthodoxy by Shah Jahan at the beginning of his reign and a few acts of intolerance, he was not narrow in his outlook, which was further tempered towards the end of his reign by the influence of his liberal son, Dara — a scholar and Sufi who got the Gita translated into Persian and whose most significant work was an anthology of the Vedas, in the introduction to which he declared the Vedas to be "heavenly books in point of time" and "in conformity with the holy Quran".
Tukaram of Maharashtra, supreme exponent of Bhakti at Pandharpur, was born a sudra and used to do puja to God with his own hand. Dadu of Gujarat preached a non-sectarian (nipakh) path, refusing to identify with either Hindus or Muslims or to bother with revealed scriptures.
Raghunandan of Navadwipa (Nadia), Bengal — most influential writer on the Dharamshastras during the medieval period. He asserted the privileges of the brahmanas, stating that none except brahmanas had the right to read the scriptures or preach. He argued that in the Kali age there were only two varnas — brahmanas and sudras.
Ramanand of Maharashtra — while putting forward a philosophy of activism, was equally vehement in asserting the privileges of the brahmanas.
Among Muslims, while the trend of tauhid (unity of God) continued and was supported by many leading Sufi saints, a small group of orthodox ulama reacted against it. The most renowned figure in the Muslim orthodox and revivalist movement was Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi — a follower of the orthodox Naqshbandi school of Sufis. He opposed the concept of pantheistic mysticism (tauhid) and beliefs due to Hindu influence (use of music in religious gatherings sama, excessive meditation, visiting tombs of saints). He demanded reimposition of jizya and a stern attitude towards Hindus.
Jahangir imprisoned him for claiming a status beyond that of the Prophet. His ideas had little impact in his own time. Nor did Aurangzeb pay any special attention to his son and successor.
The recurrent cycles of liberalism and orthodoxy in Indian history should be seen against the structure of Indian society — one aspect of the struggle between entrenched privilege and power on the one hand, and the egalitarian and humanistic aspirations of the mass of the people on the other. The liberal thinkers made their appeal to the broad masses; the orthodox elements relied on those who held positions of wealth and power. The prestige and influence of the narrow orthodox elements and their re-assertion of narrow ideas was a barrier to the growing process of rapprochement and tolerance among the votaries of the two dominant religions — a hindrance to cultural integration. The clash between the two trends came to the surface during Aurangzeb's reign.
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This chapter covers Background and Context, Standard of Living: The Masses, The Ruling Classes: Nobles and Zamindars, Trade and Commerce, Cultural Developments. It is organized as revision-ready notes followed by a linked practice quiz.
For Daily Life and High Culture under Mughal Rule, focus on definitions, dates, places, institutions, distinguishing features, and factual comparisons in the chapter. Then use the quiz to check recall and identify gaps.
Use the Daily Life and High Culture under Mughal Rule chapter headings to organize an answer framework. Connect causes, consequences, comparisons, examples, and evidence wherever the notes provide them instead of memorizing isolated facts.