What welfare measures did the mughal rulers provide ? What does this show ?
Answers
The Mughal (or Mogul) Empire ruled most of India and Pakistan in the 16th and 17th centuries. It consolidated Islam in South Asia, and spread Muslim (and particularly Persian) arts and culture as well as the faith.
1 Char bagh style of architecture.
2 Development of miniature painting which reached its zenith under Jahangir. Mughal painting led to introduction of other schools such as pahari school of painting.
3 Ain-i-dahsala or zabti system was introduced for land revenue assessment. The system of maintenance of land records and assessment developed by Todarmal was used for centuries.
4 Urbanization due to trade and commerce. Old delhi(shahjahanbad), Aurangabad, Farrukhabad, Faizabad and Murshidabad were built either by Mughals or Nawabs appointed by them.
5 Rise of Dhaka as financial capital (population of 11 lakhs in 1700) and Agra as political capital ( population of 8 lakhs in 1700) was witnessed. 25% of world GDP was share of mughal India making it the richest empire in the world.
6 After Mauryas and Guptas, Mughal Empire was the third empire which politically unified India. At its greatest extent, mughal empire stretched from kashmir in north to carnatic (Arcot in Tamil nadu) in South, from kandahar in west to Bengal (including present day bangladesh) in the east.
7 Hindustani music reached its zenith under Mughals. Tansen was patronized by Akbar. Dance and music were patronized by Muhammad shah.
8 Red Fort, Taj mahal, Agra fort, fatehpur sikri, humayuns tomb, etc are UNESCO world heritage. All these monuments were built by Mughals.
9 Mughal rule also led to the hindustani language from which hindi and urdu are derived. Bahadur shah Zafar was himself a renowned poet and he patronized Mirza ghalib who is one of the most prominent figures in the urdu literature. Sant kabir, Tulsidas (Contemporary of akbar) and other bhakti saints led to development of vernacular languages.
10 Due to tolerant religious policy of Akbar, a syncretic culture developed which led to Bhakti and sufi movements.