I think Dara Shuko was heading towards a period of rapid decline. Yes he was slowly forming closer ties with native powers but it would have resulted in those native powers slowly holding the riegns over the moguls, so that the real power would have been in the hands of rajputs or a simmilar powerful native Indian nobility. By Aurangzeb taking power it meant that the Mughal empire had a chance to expand and remain the top regional power. Unfortunately Auranzeb tried to do too much and bit off more than he could chew in terms of his campaigns... many of which got bogged down in lengthy wars. One has to bear in mind the Moguls were the outsiders.
So Dara shukoh was integrating with the natives, which shows that he was tolerant towards masses... What were his weakest points against Aurangzeb that he could not succeed Shahjahan.. Is it only due to cunning nature of Aurangzeb supported by conspiracies 'Mehlati saazishen' or Dara Shukoh's personal weaknesses gave a chance to Aurangzeb for exploiting the situation.
Well it was partly Dara's own weakness and partly the fathers fault. Sha Jahan had always groomed the eldest as favourite and so Dara was always kept in a pampered suite while Auranzeb was sent to fight and conquer and basically do all the empires police work. Now when Sha Jahan made public the fact that Dara would be in charge, Auranzeb just could not accept it. From Aurangzebs point of view he had done all the fighting and won the empire its riches so he believed it should rightfully go to him or at least a portion of the empire... but Dara and particularly Sha Jahan had not made any preparations for this... in fact a third Brother Murad Baksh got involed on Aurangzebs side....
It basically is a fundamental flaw in the Mughal system and they inherited this from long ago... Mughals had always operated an ancient and very stringent Meritocratic system... basically only the strongest could succeed this was something that had been running for centuries. Sha Jahan made the mistake of assuming Auranzeb would simply accept his place... they forgot that he might excercise what he saw as his birth right. Furthermore Aurangzeb felt he was following the Mogul system most closely and deserved to rule the Moguls becuase of this. Dara no doubt had his good points and was a more a scholarly soul from what we know.... his dismal attempt to fight Aurangzeb shows us how little he knew about warfare becuase despite having a bigger and better equiped army with much more guns he still lost to the younger but better trained brother. Had Darah beaten Aurangzeb then no doubt the Mogul empire may well have prospered perhaps as a symbolic state more than anything... though its highly likely that various native federations were by this time on the rise not to mention outside forces too.... we may never know what could have happened.
My personal guess is Dara would have ruled in peace and largely the once mighty Mogul empire would then have taken a back seat.... the invaders would still have come but if Dara could integrate the various people he ruled to create a united front he might have helped the Moguls cling on a bit longer.... though the Marathas, Afghans and British would have come knocking sooner or later...
Ok.. how many of you consider Jehangir and Shahzada Saleem of 'Anarkali / Mughle Azam' same person.
Do you believe that this mega affair related to Akbar is a true story.. If you consider it true, what will say for Jehangir/Shahzada Saleem who at the one end was dying for Anarkali and on other hand historians say that Mehrunisa (famous as Noor Jehan) was Jehangir's most favourite wife amongst twenty wives to whom he married after murdering her first husband.
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Ok.. how many of you consider Jehangir and Shahzada Saleem of 'Anarkali / Mughle Azam' same person.
Do you believe that this mega affair related to Akbar is a true story.. If you consider it true, what will say for Jehangir/Shahzada Saleem who at the one end was dying for Anarkali and on other hand historians say that Mehrunisa (famous as Noor Jehan) was Jehangir's most favourite wife amongst twenty wives to whom he married after murdering her first husband.
[/QUOTE]
Hmmm this is one of the most enduring Moghul myths and centuries of gossip has produced such a romantic story. Heres what I know and what the majority of Historians agree upon.
There is no mention of Anarkali in the Memoirs of Saleem Jahangir, who in the typical Mughal fashion kept a long autobriagraphy. The fact such a character is not mentioned does seem surprising surely a man would have writine something about his lost love... and in fact it would not be a suprise if he did. Going right back to Baburs heyday as a raider in the Mountains around Ferghana Babur went into a lot of detail about his nocturnal exploits with a host of women. The fact Jahangir makes no mention of Anarkali suggest strongly that there never was such a character.
The was an instance of Jahangir and Akbar going to war, however the dispute was over land and wealth rather than some concubine. Akbars brother who was Jahangirs uncle had claims to territory coveted by Jahangir.... Jahangir assumed his father would not interfere in such a private war. But Akbar joined the side of his brother over his son... Akbar is often quoted as having commented to his son "I can easily marry again and have another hier... but Shirkuh, I cannot bring back my father to grant me a brother do not make me choose between blood!"
Jahangir did subsequently try and poison his father but the attempt failed as the dose was not strong enough to bring down the mighty Akbar. We do know that Jahangir had a long time interest in the Wife of legendary Afghan general Maghabat Khan and arranged for him to be murdered. Depending on the source the poor chap was either mobbed by hired thugs or was sent on a suicidal mission against Tartars... leaving Jahangir free to marry the Widow.
As for the Anarkali myth the only plausible explanation is that perhaps it was a later story or a hybrid tale of a separate romance. The famous director K Asif who produced the film Mughal e Azam captivated audiences with the romantic tragedy that culminates in Jahangir being given a memory loss potion.... its seriously doubtfull such a thing ever happened in reality.
While its impossible to rule out for definate that Anarkali did not exist, chances are that even if she did she would have been nothing more than a mere dancing girl who was used and abused... in fact many like her met a horrible end a lot of them being drugged and thrown into rivers etc... Supposedly being bricked alive seems a terrible fate. However thats not to say it could not have happened.
I believe however the story is more myth than reality... the Mughals tend to attract more myths than anything... the true history of the Mughals is far more exciting than some mere palace drama.
Thats what I believed too. Not mentioning his passionate love in his autobiography is a sufficient basis to believe that there was no such story.. Some ppl may ,however, say that he may intentionally skipped this affair in his autobiography.
The next thing that make me believe that there was no such affair is Imtiaz Ali Taj’s interview (who written Anarkali drama in 1920’s) where he mentioned that he conceived the character of ‘Anarkali’ in examination hall. I googled and found this research paper on Anarkali, which also states that Imtiaz Ali Taj was criticized for writing ‘Anarkali’ where Akbar, known for his justice as per then available historical sources , was shown as a cruel king.
Before K Asif’s ‘Mughle Azam’ a Pakistani movie with name ‘Anarkali’ was released and liked by masses. Madam Noor Jehan played the title and sung most of the melodious songs of this blockbuster movie.
**Link for the Movie:
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Shoaib Mansoor also did a wonderful job in his music video ‘Supreme Ishq’ to make ppl believe this myth as a reality.
It basically is a fundamental flaw in the Mughal system and they inherited this from long ago... Mughals had always operated an ancient and very stringent Meritocratic system... basically only the strongest could succeed this was something that had been running for centuries. Sha Jahan made the mistake of assuming Auranzeb would simply accept his place... they forgot that he might excercise what he saw as his birth right. Furthermore Aurangzeb felt he was following the Mogul system most closely and deserved to rule the Moguls becuase of this.
Faris bhai, wasnt there turkish rule of succession under which kingdom is divided among brother, for instance, Babar's kingdom was divided among four sons and Humayun, even though Babar's favourite got just delhi and other parts of modern day India??
we can only speculate what if daara shikoh would have become king, I think even Aurangzeb was responsible for fall of mughal, he ruled till his death upto the age of 97 years, this brought the kings who were aged and inexperienced in handling the kingdom, and unfortunately the faulty policies of Aurangzeb made many enemies from sikhs of punjab, to marathas in south, with minor communities like jats near delhi revolting to monetarily expensive expeditions of Deccan and Assam. though he won Deccan, Assam(Ahoms) remained an nonviable proposition till his death
That is a great example of how film directors personal styles can have a big impact on society as a whole. Technically speaking a big chunk of the Anarkali myth just like many other myths throughout history can be attributed to a simple and deliberate play. Just like John Ford and Sergio Leone both set the styles for the romantic old West likewise Imtiaz Ali Taj has created a whole new sense of the Mughal period with this simple creative twist.
Originally posted by the Kaur
To begin with yes the Turkish system of rule was to split the kingdom between sons. Unfortunately this had died out in the late Middle ages. My namesake Sultan Salim the Grim was well known for murdering everyone who got in his way to the throne, including his brothers and uncles. In India the Turkic dynasties that ruled in the time before the Mughals up to Ibrahim Lodi all somehow managed to choose succesors with as little bloodshed as possible. Though generally the rule of the Steppes from the the time of Ghengis Khan was that the whoever had the power or wisdom to take the throne could do so. Hence for centuries these dynastys witnessed brutal power strugles. Incidentally the Mughals in thier earliest days almost had thier empire fall in on itself. Kamran who was the second eldest son of Babur and closest in age to Humayun was more than prepared to fight it out after his fathers passing. Babur was lucky however that after he passed from this World his elder sister Khanzeenat Khatun kept check on Kamran who would govern Kabul and the Northern regions… while Humayun was free to rule the area of Hindustan from Delhi.
Oh indeed
The history that is taught in schools is merely the tip of the iceberg. The Mughals were a truly most colourfull dynasty. I still think Babur wins as the greatest of them all though the mere fact he took the mantle of his father at the age of 12 and in some aspects had a determination greater than Timur and perhaps even Ghengis means that he for me was and is still the Greatest of all the Mughals.
Ok.. Humayon (second emperor of Mughal Dynasty) lost his Indian territories to Sher Shah Suri and regained that after 15 years with the help of Persia (Iran). Sher Shah Suri during could survive only 5 years after gaining control over Indian territory, but in those 5 years he proved him as great administrator. GT Road which stretches across the breadth of South Asia from Sonargaon in Bangladesh to Peshwar in Pakistan is the example of his great abilities.
I personally like Sher Shah Suri more than any Mughal emperor.
In the above posts, there was mention of Turkic rule before the Mughals. You mean people from Turkey ruled India for a while? I recall Timur the lame, Genghis Khan and Mohammed Gazni ruled India before the Mughals. Were they all Turks? And what about the Mughals - what is their race - are they Mongols?
Once again, illegal use of alam, dobra, neest. This goes into your permanent record. Translation please!
Aalam = World; Dobara=Again and Neest= No
Babar justified his style of living (drinking and intoxicating with hasheesh, etc) by saying that: Baber ba aish kosh k alam dobara neest (means do what ever you want do, because you won't get life again)... bole to Zindagi mile na dobara.
in Indian academia, it is debated that jodha bai was buried in a tomb named tomb of mariam us zamani near agra. it is also suspected that it is the tomb of jodha bai
incidentally India now follows Turkic rule of succession in case of personal property, in Hindu rule of succession generally the eldest and most eligible son gets the throne and he has to keep offspring of his brother safe and sound, which is now not followed in India In Central Board of Secondary Education in India, class seven history is dedicated to medival India, akbar gets one full chapter, it starts from Slave dynasty and ends with the fall of mughal
the widow of Rana Sanga of mewar, who died after being seriously wounded in Battle of Khanwa against Babar sent Rakhi to shenshah nasiruddin humayun to save her from sher shah suri, to save her sister humayun form shershah, humayun lost battle of chausa and has to flee to persia, as far as I remember he converted to shia to get help from Persian king. shershah suri aka farid khan had killed tiger with his knife and babar had warned humayun of this slave, he reconstructed Uttar Paath made by maurya king samrat ashok back to full working condition. Uttar path ran from calcutta via patliputra, modernday patna, the capital of mauryan kingdom to Purushpur, modern day peshawar. Improved the system of administration, his unfortunate death became an opportunity for Humayun to recapture the throne. Humayun zindagi bhar ladkhadata raha aur akhir mein ladkhadakar girne se uski maut hui
Deen e ilahi was new religion it was mixture of both hindu and muslim belief, it included worshiping fire and sun too, actually Akbar wanted to become prophet of the new religion, he hardly had few follower including Pandit Birbal. Akbar was not the first one to initiate practice of sijdah for shenshah, Sultan Balban of Slave dynasty was the first one
How lovely! A single sentence to describe Humayon’s personality.
Do you believe the story that Babar saved Humayon’s life by offering his life. Look at the following scene from PTV drama Babar where Babar is praying for health of Humayon and offering his life.
Jodha Bai was given title of ‘Mariyam uz Zamani’ after she married to Akbar as per mughal tradition for giving titles to queens and princess. There is also famous mosque ‘Masjid Mariam uz Zamani’ in Lahore, Pakistan.
In India the Turkic dynasties that ruled in the time before the Mughals up to Ibrahim Lodi all somehow managed to choose succesors with as little bloodshed as possible. Though generally the rule of the Steppes from the the time of Ghengis Khan was that the whoever had the power or wisdom to take the throne could do so. Hence for centuries these dynastys witnessed brutal power strugles. Incidentally the Mughals in thier earliest days almost had thier empire fall in on itself. Kamran who was the second eldest son of Babur and closest in age to Humayun was more than prepared to fight it out after his fathers passing. Babur was lucky however that after he passed from this World his elder sister Khanzeenat Khatun kept check on Kamran who would govern Kabul and the Northern regions… while Humayun was free to rule the area of Hindustan from Delhi.