The Culture of the Mughal Empire

The Mughal Empire has captivated Europeans for centuries, and the massive turnout at the British Library's magnificent exhibition demonstrates that it continues to pique our curiosity. From 1526 to 1757, the Mughal Emperors ruled India with enormous strength. They grew up in a world of extraordinary affluence, built magnificent architecture, and cultivated arts and culture. India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan was under their dominion. The Empire lasted another hundred years in a diluted form until 1858, when the British arrived, and the Mughal Empire was subsumed into the Raj.

Even though the Mughals and their rulers descended from deadly invading predecessors like Genghis Khan and Amir Timur (also known as Timberlaine in the West), they strongly committed to their reign's arts and aesthetic concepts. It was an important aspect of their personality. Their magnificent citadels were a sign of strength and prestige. There was no shortage of wealth in India, with jewels, emeralds, sapphires, rubies, and diamonds aplenty.

The Mughal Empire dominated South Asian history in the early modern and modern periods, leaving cultural legacies in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan, including:

• South Asia's lesser polities were consolidated under centralized imperial power.
• The blending of Persian and Indian art and literature.
• The Badshahi Mosque is located in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan.
• Mughlai cuisine arose from a fusion of South Asian, Iranian, and Central Asian culinary styles.
• The use of lavishly embellished materials like muslin, silk, brocade, and velvet in the creation of Mughal clothes, jewellery, and fashion.
• The evolution of Hindi and Urdu is a result of the standardization of the Hindustani language (Bollywood's vernacular language).
• Through Mughal gardening, sophisticated Iranian-style waterworks and horticulture were introduced.
• Turkish baths were first introduced to the Indian subcontinent.
• The growth of later Rajput and Sikh palatial architecture resulted from the progression and refinement of Mughal and Indian architecture. The Taj Mahal is a well-known Mughal structure.
• The Pehlwani style of Indian wrestling, a hybrid of Indian malla-yuddha and Persian varzesh-e bastani, was created.
• Building of Maktab schools, where youth were taught the Quran and Islamic law in their tongues, such as the Fatawa-i-Alamgiri.

With the construction of their unique Indo-Persian architecture, the Mughals contributed significantly to the Indian subcontinent. During the Mughal era, many monuments were built by Muslim emperors, particularly Shah Jahan, counting the Taj Mahal, a UNESCO World Heritage Spot considered the ornament of Muslim art in India and one of the unanimously admired masterworks of the world's heritage, fascinating 7-8 million unique visitors per year. The dynasty's palaces, tombs, gardens, and forts may still be seen nowadays in Agra, Aurangabad, Delhi, Dhaka, Fatehpur Sikri, Jaipur, Lahore, Kabul and Sheikhupura and several more Indian, Pakistani, Afghan, and Bangladeshi cities, including:

INDIA

• Taj Mahal in Agra, India
• Agra Fort in Agra, India
• Buland Darwaza in Agra, India
• Akbar's tomb in Sikandra, India
• Tomb of Mariam-uz-Zamani in Sikandra, India
• Humayun's Tomb in Delhi, India
• Jama Masjid in Delhi, India
• Red Fort in Delhi, India
• Sunder Nursery in Delhi, India
• Purana Qila in Delhi, India
• Sher Mandal in Delhi, India
• Pinjore Gardens in Pinjore, India
• Shalimar Bagh in Srinagar, India
• Nishat Bagh in Srinagar, India
• Chasma Shahi in Srinagar, India
• Pari Mahal in Srinagar, India
• Verinag Gardens in Srinagar, India
• Allahabad Fort in Prayagraj, India
• Shahi Bridge in Jaunpur, India
• Bibi Ka Maqbara in Aurangabad, India
• Kos Minar in Haryana, India
• Baoli Ghaus Ali Shah in Farrukhnagar, India

PAKISTAN

• Badshahi Masjid in Lahore, Pakistan
• Shalimar Gardens in Lahore, Pakistan
• Lahore Fort in Lahore, Pakistan
• Shahi Hammam in Lahore, Pakistan
• Wazir Khan Mosque in Lahore, Pakistan
• Tomb of Jahangir in Lahore, Pakistan
• Tomb of Anarkali in Lahore, Pakistan
• Tomb of Nur Jahan in Lahore, Pakistan
• Tomb of Asif Khan in Lahore, Pakistan
• Begum Shahi Mosque in Lahore, Pakistan
• Akbari Sarai in Lahore, Pakistan
• Hiran Minar in Sheikhpura, Pakistan
• Mahabat Khan Mosque in Peshawar, Pakistan
• Shahi Eid Gah Mosque in Multan, Pakistan
• Mausoleum of Masum Shah in Sukkur, Pakistan
• Losar Baoli in Taxila, Pakistan
• Makli Necropolis in Thatta, Pakistan
• Shah Jahan Mosque in Thatta, Pakistan

BANGLADESH

• Mughal Eidgah in Dhaka, Bangladesh
• Lalbagh Fort in Dhaka, Bangladesh
• Shahi Eidgah in Sylhet, Bangladesh
• Mughal Tahakhana in Chapai Nawabganj, Bangladesh
• Sat Gambuj Mosque in Dhaka, Bangladesh
• Masjid-e-Siraj ud-Daulah in Chittagong, Bangladesh
• Allakuri Masjid in Dhaka, Bangladesh
• Chawkbazar Shahi Masjid in Dhaka, Bangladesh
• Laldighi Masjid in Rangpur, Bangladesh
• Khan Mohammad Mridha Masjid in Dhaka, Bangladesh
• Wali Khan Masjid in Chittagong, Bangladesh
• Shaista Khan Masjid, in Dhaka, Bangladesh
• Musa Khan Masjid, in Dhaka, Bangladesh
• Shahbaz Khan Masjid, in Dhaka, Bangladesh
• Kartalab Khan Masjid in Dhaka, Bangladesh
• Azimpur Masjid in Dhaka, Bangladesh
• Goaldi Masjid in Sonargaon, Bangladesh
• Atia Masjid in Tangail, Bangladesh
• Arifail Masjid in Brahmanbaria, Bangladesh
• Bazra Shahi Masjid in Noakhali, Bangladesh
• Masjid Kur in Khulna, Bangladesh
• Nayabad Masjid in Dinajpur, Bangladesh
• Ghayebi Dighi Masjid in Sylhet, Bangladesh
• Hussaini Dalan in Dhaka, Bangladesh
• Bara Katra in Dhaka, Bangladesh
• Hajiganj Fort in Narayanganj, Bangladesh
• Idrakpur Fort in Munshiganj, Bangladesh
• Choto Katra in Dhaka, Bangladesh
• Sonakanda Fort in Narayanganj, Bangladesh

AFGHANISTAN

• Bagh-e-Babur in Kabul, Afghanistan
• Shahjahani Mosque in Kabul, Afghanistan

The Mughal aesthetic legacy mostly expressed in painted miniatures and small luxury objects, was eclectic, borrowing stylistic and subject aspects from Iran, India, China, and Renaissance Europe. Due to the commonality of their Timurid aesthetics and the Mughal passion for Iranian art and calligraphy, Mughal rulers frequently took in Iranian bookbinders, illustrators, painters, and calligraphers from the Safavid court. The Mughal emperors' miniatures were initially focused on large projects illustrating books with eventful historical scenes and court life. Still, they later included more single images for albums, such as portrayals and animal canvases, exhibiting a thoughtful gratitude for the serenity and beauty of the natural world. Emperor Jahangir, for example, commissioned outstanding artists like Ustad Mansur to authentically depict unique flora and animals across the Empire. The Razmnama (a Persian conversion of the Hindu epic Mahabharata), historical memoirs or biographies of the dynasty such as the Baburnama and Akbarnama, and Tuzk-e-Jahangiri were among the literary works ordered to be illustrated by Akbar and Jahangir. Richly finished albums (muraqqa) were bound with covers of stamped and gilded or painted and lacquered leather, with calligraphy and artistic scenes affixed on pages with ornate borders. Aurangzeb (1658–1707) was never a big fan of painting, owing to religious considerations. He moved away from the court's pomp and ceremony after 1668, after which he probably didn't commit any more.

Although Persian was the Empire's main and official language, the aristocracy spoke Urdu, a Persianized variant of Hindustani. The dialect was given its name, Urdu. It was written in a sort of Perso-Arabic script known as Nastaliq, with literary rules and specialized terminology derived from Persian, Arabic, and Turkic languages. The Mughals spoke a language that would later be known as Urdu, and by the year 1700, they had formalized it.