Read the following source carefully and give the answers of the questions. "Abu'l Fazl gives a vivid account of Akbar's darbar: Whenever His Majesty (Akbar) holds court (darbar) a large drum is beaten, the sounds of which are accompanied by Divine praise. In this manner, people o all classes receive notice. His Majesty's sons and grandchildren, the grandees of the Court, and all other men who have admittance, attend to make the kornish, and remain standing in their proper places. Learned men of renown and skilful mechanics pay their respects; and the officers of justice present their reports. His Majesty, with his usual insights, gives orders, and settles everything in a satisfactory manner. During the whole time, skilful gladiators and wrestlers from all countries hold themselves in readiness, and singers, male and female, are in waiting.
29 (a) Explain the function of Majesty in the court? (3)
29 (b) What were the locations of the men in the court? (2)
Please answer this question as soon as possible and answer correctly
Answers
Question 1.
“The granting of titles to the men of merit was an important aspect of Mughal polity”. Explain. (All India 2017)
The granting of titles to men of merit was an important aspect of Mughal polity as:
A man’s ascent in the court hierarchy could be traced through the titles he held.
The title Asaf Khan for one of the highest ministers originated with Asaf, the legendary minister of the prophet king Sulaiman (Solomon).
The title Mirza Raja was accorded by Aurangzeb to his two highest ranking nobles, Jai singh and Jaswant Singh.
Titles could be earned or paid for. For e.g. Mir Khan offered ? 1 lakh to Aurangzeb for the letter ‘Alif’ that is ‘A’, to be added to his name to make it Amir Khan.
Question 2.
How do you think that the chronicles
commissioned by the Mughal emperors are an important source for studing Mughal history? (HOTS; All India 2017)
Answer:
Chronicles are an indispensable source for any scholar wishing to write a history of the Mughals. At one level, they were a repository of factual . information about the institutions of the Mugal state, painstakingly collected and classifed by individuals closely connected with the court (especially courtiers). They were written in order to project a vision of an enlightened kingdom to all those who came under its umbrella.
On the other hand, they were meant to convey to those who resisted the rule of the Mughals that all resistance was destired to fail. The rulers wanted to ensure that there was an account of their rule for posterity. The histories that the authors wrote focused on events centred on the ruler, his family, the court and nobles, wars and administrative arrangements.
Their titles such as the Akbar Nama, Shah Jahan Nama, Alamgir Nama i.e. the story of Akbar, Shah Jahan and Alamgir (a title of the Mughal ruler Aurangzeb), suggest that in the eyes of their authors the history of the empire and the court was synonymous with that of the emperor.
Question 3.
How do you think that Qandahar remained a bone of contention between the Mughals and the Safavids? Explain.
Answer:
The following points in this regard are discussed below:
The political and diplomatic relations between the Mughal kings and the neighbouring countries of Iran and Turan hinged on the control of the frontier defined by the Hindukush mountains that separated Afghanistan from the regions of Iran and Central Asia.
Qandahar was a bone of contention between the Safavids and the Mughals. The fortress town had initially been in the possession of Humayun, reconquered in 1595 by Akbar. While the Safavid court retained diplomatic relations with the Mughals, it continued to stake claims to Qandahar.
In 1613 Jahangir sent a diplomatic envoy to the court of Shah Abbas to plead the Mughal case for retaining Qandahar but the mission failed.
In the winter of 1622 a persian army. besieged Qandahar. The ill-prepared Mughal garrison was defeated and had to surrender the fortress and the city to the safavids.