31.(MEDIEVAL INDIA)RELIGION, FINE ARTS, SCIENCE &TECHNOLOGY DURING MUGHAL

References: Satish Chandra(Medieval India).Also minor facts from other books and figure and facts from verified Internet sources.

31. RELIGION, FINE ARTS, SCIENCE &TECHNOLOGY DURING MUGHAL

Religion

• Conflicting trends of liberalism and catholicity on the one hand, and rigid exclusiveness and conservatism, on the other, were noticeable both within the Hindu religion and Islam during the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. 
• Nanak, whose teachings led to the establishment of the Sikh religion, had many similarities with the nirguna saints in opposing the caste system, and was apart of the liberal, syncretic tradition.

Hindu Religion:

• Some of the Vaishnava and Nirguna bhakti saints and Tantrik teachers proclaimed the right of women and shudras to participate fully in the spiritual sphere. They welcomed the aboriginals and hill tribes into the Hindu fold, and also accommodated those Muslims who were prepared to accept Hindu ways of life and thought. 
• There was vehement opposition to these trends by the large body of brahmans, and by the writers on the Hindu Dharmashastras who laid the greatest possible emphasis on maintenance of ceremonial purity against contamination by people considered unclean. This implied drawing into a shell in order to keep away from contact with the powerful Muslim community. Hence, they tried to regulate the lives of the Hindus by insisting on the fulfilment of the minute details of the caste system. The most notable person representing this trend of thinking and the most influential was Raghunandan of Nadia. He wrote as many as twenty-eight works on different aspects of the social and religious life of the Hindus. Raghunandan asserted the privileges of the brahmans stating that none other except the brahmanas had the right to read the scriptures or to preach. He ends up by saying that in the Kali age there were only two varnas, brahmans and sudras, the true kshatriyas having disappeared long ago and the vaishyas and others having lost their caste status due to the nonperformance of appropriate duties. He also prescribed different penalties for reviling the brahmans, and people of different castes.
• Some brahmans, such as Tulsidas of Varanasi, while upholding the duties prescribed by the scriptures, were prepared for a compromise. Tulsi postulated salvation for the lowliest if he constantly repeated the name of Rama, and accorded him a status equal to the brahmans. At the same time,Tulsi regretted the attempts of the shudras to usurp the privileges of the brahmans, and to set themselves up as teachers. He defended the caste system, but postulated a caste system based on individual merit rather than birth. While he was reviled by the orthodox brahmans of his times, Tulsidas had enormous influence on the succeeding generations in North India and wrote Ramcharitmanas.
• Worship of Radha and Krishna, put forward by Mira and Surdas, continued to be popular, even more among women than among men.
• In the South, Saivism continued to hold sway, but we do not find any new or significant philosophical or sectarian movements arising during the period.
• In Eastern India, the followers of Chaitanya carried forward his tradition of making no distinction among his devotees on the basis of caste, religion or sex. However, the Goswamis of Vrindavan who edited and commented on Chaitanya's works did try to put forward an orthdox gloss on his thoughts.
• Tantrism which did not make much difference between brahmans and non-brahmans in the spiritual sphere remained widespread, as also Shaki worship or worship of female dieties.
• The disciples of Shankardeva, such as Madhavadeva, influenced many tribal people to give up human sacrifice, and embrace Vaishnavism in eastern India. Madhavadeva led the life of a householder, but his successors were ascetics.
• In Maharashtra, the most influential and the supreme exponent of bhakti was Tukaram, who lived in the first half of the seventeenth century. His songs or abhangs breath a spirit of love and devotion to Vitobha, an incarnate form of Vishnu at Pandharpur. Tukaram says of himself, "I was born in a shudra family, thus was set free from pride." 
• The orthodox section in Maharashtra was represented by Guru Ramdas who put forward a philosophy of activism, but was equally vehement in asserting the privileges of the brahmans. He set up large numbers of maths attached to temples to propagate his ideas. Shivaji became his disciple and gave some donations for the maintenance of the maths.
• There was a tendency for the brahmans preaching orthodoxy and the Hindu rulers to come together. Both upheld privileges, though the rulers were conscious of the need not to alienate the powerful Muslim community, or the non-privileged Hindus. Both emphasized social stability which implied keeping the "neech" or the lower orders in their proper place.
• Kabir's tradition of emphasizing the fundamental equality of man and rejecting differences based on caste, race or religion, his opposition to scriptural knowledge and adherence to empty rituals was carried forward by Nanak in the Punjab and by Dadu in Rajasthan. 
• Rejecting all external forms of religion, Dadu proclaimed that he was neither a Hindu nor a Muslim, nor did he have any faith in scriptural values (shat-darshari). He advocated the path of nipakh or non-sectarianism. 
• His successors were Sundardasa and Rajjab. Rajjab advocated, above all, a philosophy of devotion and labour: a man who did not labour could not only not feed his family, but had no right to repeat the name of Rama.
• The traditions of liberalism and orthodoxy continued side by side during the eighteenth century. Thus, Prannath who acquired great influence with Chhatrasal, the ruler of Bundelkhand, put the texts of the Quran and the Vedas side by side to prove that their tenets were not fundamentally different. He allowed his Hindu and Muslim disciples to follow the rituals and laws of their own religion. But both dined together at the time of initiation.

Sikh Religion:

• The Sikh movement had its origin in the preachings of Nanak. But its development is closely linked with 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 called the Adi Granth or Granth Sahib. To emphasize that the Guru combined both spiritual and worldly leadership in his person, he began to live in an aristocratic style. He erected lofty buildings at Amritsar, wore fine clothese, kept fine horses procured from Central Asia and maintained retainers in attendance. He also started a system of collecting offerings from the Sikhs at the rate of one-tenth of their income.
• The religious ideology of Guru Nanak was reinforced by the Gurus in a manner that "added a new dimension without minimizing the importance of his basic ideas".The concept of the unity of Guruship was combined with the concept of the office of the guru being more important than the Guru, and his decisions became as legitimate as the decisions of the founder. At the same time, the collective body of the congregation (sangat) was given even greater importance. It were these concepts and the growth of a separate set of rituals that bonded the Sikhs together as a separate community, and enabled them to take a stand against all forms of injustice. 

Islam:

• The struggle between the trends of liberalism and catholicity and rigid exclusiveness and conservatism was even more intense among the Muslims than the Hindus. The strife between shariat (Muslim Law) and tariqat (sufism) which had started in West Asia with the rise of sufism was very much in evidence in India also. 
• The official ulama who held important and lucrative posts at the court was hostile to any religious movement which in their opinion, was "calculated to mar the pristine purity of Islam and to open a way towards conciliation between kufr (infidels) and iman (faith)".
• Belief in the concept of Wahdat-al-Wajud, (unity of being) supported by Akbar was accepted by many sufi saints, but a group of orthodox thinkers objected to it on the ground that it abolished the distinction between the Creator and the created and opened the door to pantheism. Saints like Shaikh Abdul Haqq of the Qadiriyya order strongly supported the reinvigeration of sharia. 
• The lead in organizing a movement against the liberal, eclectic policies of Akbar was taken by Baqi Billah who belonged to the orthodox Naqshbandi sufi sect which had been popular in Turkistan. Baqi Billah settled near Delhi and many leading nobles from Akbar's court became his disciples. His spiritual successor was Shaikh Ahmad of Sirhind.
• Shaikh Ahmad took a stand against the concept of Wahdat-al-wajud. He tried to purge from sufism all such practices and beliefs which he considered un-Islamic. Thus, he opposed listening to religious music (sama) as a means of spiritual ecstacy, long vigils, going to the tombs of saints, etc. He denounced the practices and ceremonies which were derived from Hinduism, and advocated keeping no social intercourse with the Hindus whom he considered worse than dogs. Shiites were worse than infidels. He was a bitter critic of the indulgence shown by Akbar to the non-Muslims, and wanted that jizyah should be reimposed and cow-slaughter resumed. He wrote letters to various nobles to implement his policies and set up centres to propagate his ideas. He also condemned the worldly ulemas and sufis, considering them responsible for the rulers departure from sunni orthodoxy. "He believed that he was the renewer (mujaddid) of the first millennium of Islam and had been sent by God to restore Sunni orthodoxy to its pristine purity."
• He fell foul of the orthodox elements whom he had denounced. They argued that he claimed a status equal to the Prophet because in a letter he said that he was God's disciple and His will. This was the charge on the basis of which Jahangir imprisoned him. Shah Jahan paid little attention to his sons.
• Although Mujaddid's sons supported Aurangzeb's policy of eradicating all non-orthodox practices, Aurangzeb did not support the Mujaddid, despite being enrolled in the Naqshbandi order in 1665. Many ulama in the Punjab and other places wrote fatwas declaring the Mujaddid's letters as sacrilegious. In 1682-83, the Sherif of Mecca wrote to Aurangzeb that the ulama there were agreed that Shaikh Ahmad was an infidel. Hence, the Emperor was forced to ban the teachings of the Mujaddid's letters at Aurangabad which seems to have been the principal centre of the anti-Mujaddadiya movement in India.
• The Qadiriyya order had been popularized in the Punjab by Shaikh Abdul Qadir (1533). His sons were close supporters of Akbar and Abul Fazl. The Qadiriyya order strongly supported the doctrine of Wahdat-al-Wajud. Miyan Mir (1635) emphasized the mystical element in sufism. After many sojourns in jungles for ascetic practices, he had settled at Lahore, and attracted great admiration. The most famous disciple of Miyan Mir was Mulla Shah Badakhshani. Dismissing the attempt of the orthodox elements to paint the infidels, i.e. Hindus in negative terms, he declared that the infidel who had perceived the Reality and recognized it was a believer, and a believer who did not recognize Reality was an infidel.
• In 1639-40, both Dara and Jahanara enrolled as disciples of Miyan Mir. Dara, the eldest son of Shah Jahan, was by temperament a scholar and a sufi who loved to discourse with religious divines. With the help of brahmanas of Kasi, he got the Gita translated into Persian. But this most significant work was the Majma-ul-Bahrain, an anthology of the Vedas in the introduction to which Dara declared the Vedas to be "heavenly books in point of time" and "in conformity with the holy Quran", thus underlining the belief that there were no fundamental differences between Hinduism and Islam. It was on this basis of equating Islam with infidelity that the ulama decreed Dara's death after his capture by Aurangzeb.
• With the accession of Aurangzeb, greater emphasis was given on theological studies. A manifestation of this was the compilation of the Fatazva-i-Alamgiri by a board of theologians, bringing together fatwas issued on various points both in India and outside. 
• Although the Naqshbandi order is often considered orthodox, and the Qadiriyya liberal, no such hard and fast distinction can be made. Thus, we have seen that Shaikh Abdul Haqq, though belonging to the Qadiriyya order, was orthodox in his thinking. After Aurangzeb, Mirza Mazhar Jan-i-Janan, belonging to the Naqshbandi order, came to the conclusion that the Vedas were the revealed books, and the Hindus therefore possessed the status of the ahl-i-kitab, and could not be treated like the kafirs of Arabia.
• While theological studies forged ahead under Aurangzeb, it is wrong to think that it saw the decline of the concept of wahdat-al-wajud. Both the liberal and the orthodox trends in sufism continued during the eighteenth century. The Chishtiyya order staged a come back under Shaikh Kalimullah. Many people joined more than one order, thus making for a good deal of eclecticism. Even the sons of Aurangzeb were deeply interested in liberal sufism.
• The recurrent cycles of liberalism and orthodoxy in Indian history should be seen, in part, against the situation which was rooted in the structure of Indian society. It was 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. But liberal and orthodox thinking influenced the elites as well as the nonprivileged sections of the people.

Fine Arts:

• The Mughal period saw an outburst of cultural activity in the fields of architecture, painting, music and literature. The norms and traditions created during this period set standards which deeply influenced the succeeding generations. The Mughals brought with them Turko-Mongol cultural traditions which mingled with the rich cultural traditions existing in the country.The Sultanat period and the provincial kingdoms which grew up during the fourteenth and fifteenth century saw many-sided cultural developments. The Mughals absorbed these rich cultural traditions, so that the culture which followed was the contribution of peoples of different ethnic groups, regions and faiths. Such a culture could be called Indian or national in a broad sense.

Architecture:

• The Mughals built magnificent forts, palaces, gates, public buildings including sarais, hamams, mosques, baolis (water tank or well) etc. They also laid out many formal gardens with running water. In fact, use of running water even in their palaces and pleasure resorts was a special feature of the Mughals. 
• Babur was very fond of gardens and laid out a few in the neighbourhood of Agra and Lahore. Unfortunately, only a few of the Mughal gardens, such as the Nishat Bagh in Kashmir, the Shalimar garden at Lahore, the Pinjore garden in the foot-hills near Kalka and the Arambagh (now called Ram Bagh) near Agra have survived. These terraced gardens give us an idea of the Mughal concept of gardens. Babur the founder of the dynasty, had a fine aesthetic taste, though he did not find enough time to build many buildings in India. Most of what he built has not survived. For Babur, the most important aspect of architecture was regularity and symmetry which he did not find in the buildings, in India. Perhaps, his dissatisfaction was directed at the Lodi buildings which he saw at Lahore, Delhi and Agra. The mosques at Ayodhya and Sambhal attributed to him, were adaptations of earlier buildings, and do not therefore give an idea of his architectural concepts.
• The most notable buildings of the period were undoubtedly the ones built by Sher Shah at Sasaram and Delhi. The ones at Sasaram are a series of mausoleums, modelled on the octogonal Lodi tombs at Delhi. The outstanding amongst the tombs at Sasaram is the mausoleum of Sher Shah. It was built in the centre of a large pond, "Its reflection creating an illusion of movement at the same time duplicating its bulk". The building which is octogonal in shape, gains height and solidity by being based on a high square platform which is linked to the main building by kiosks at the corners. A terraced effect is given to the building by an arched verandah around the building, and the massive dome which rises in stages. The neck of the dome is covered by a wall over which are placed a series of graceful kiosks. The massive dome is covered by a lotus finiale. 



Mausoleum of Sher Shah

• It will be seen that many features in the mausoleum of Sher Shah are carried forward, with modifications to the Taj Mahal But while the Taj Mahal gives an illusion of being light and airy, Sher Shah's mausoleum give the impression of strength and solidity which are considered important features in architecture, and are appropriate expressions of Sher Shah's character.
• Purana Qila,on the banks of Yamuna, is the oldest fort among all forts in Delhi and, the oldest known structure of any type in Delhi. It was rebuilt by the Afghan king Sher Shah Suri, on the same site, which was perhaps the site of Indraprastha.It was completed by his son Islam Shah and then Humayun.Painted Grey Ware dating 1000 B.C has been unearthed.,with a continuous cultural sequence from Mauryan to Mughal through Sunga, Kushana, Gupta, Rajput and Sultanate periods, confirming the antiquity of the fort. It is where Humayun's capital Din Panah was located. Later it was renovated and named Shergarh by Sher Shah. Shahjahan built a new fort in Delhi known as Lal Qila here.
• The "Purana Qila" built by Sher Shah, is a massive structure with walls of grey stone and an impressive gateway of red sandstone with white marble inlay and occasionally inset with blue glaze. None of the palaces and public buildings of Sher Shah have survived. 
• The mosque-cum madarsa called Khair-ul-Majalis, outside the fort with a magnificant gate was built by Maham Anaga in 1561. 
• The only building inside the fort to have survived is the royal chapel, called Qila-i-Kuhna mosque. The main feature of the mosque is its pleasing treatment of the facade which consists of five arched entrances( five elegant arched prayer niches or mihrabs.Mihrab is a semicircular niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the qibla; that is, the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca and hence the direction that Muslims should face when praying ) of graceful proportions. Each of them is set within a rectangular frame. The central archway is larger than the Ones flanking it on each side. The three central archways have graceful oriol windows reminiscent of the Rajasthan style of architecture. The decorations are kept simple, consisting of white marble inlay, and inset patterns of coloured glaze. The narrow turrets(small tower extending above building) on two sides of the central bay and at the corners at the backwall of the mosque give strength to the building, and balance the single Lodi style flat roof. These buildings may be considered the climax of the Lodi style of buildings, and the beginning of a new phase.



Qila-i-Kuhna mosque



Sher Mandal,Humayus's private library(in Purana Qila) –octagonal tower of red sandstone- Humayun fell down the stairs here and died



Khairul Manazil, a mosque and later a madarsa built by Maham Anga, stands opposite Purana Qila.



Lake outside Purana Quila



West Gate, 'Bara Darwaza', present main Entrance



Sher Shah Suri Gate or Lal Darwaza, which was the South Gate to Shergarh, the city he founded, lies opposite the Purana Qila complex

• The real phase of Mughal architecture began with Akbar. Akbar had the means as well the strong desire to undertake construction on a large scale. Like Babur, he not only had a fine aesthetic taste, but was personally interested in the construction of building which he not only supervised, but sometimes himself engaged in the work. He was concerned, above all, to bring together the fine architectural traditions existing within the country.
• During the reign of Akbar, we find two traditions of architecture working simultaneously. 
• One was the Persian tradition with which Humayun had become familiar during his stay at the court of Shah Tahmasp. The Persian tradition is reflected in the mausoleum of Humayun, started by his widow Haji Begum in 1564 and completed in eight years time. This square building of red sandstone was placed on  a high platform and was topped by a white marble dome of graceful contours. The dome had a slightly constricted neck, and rose high in the sky. It was derived, though not exactly copied from Timurid architecture.It represents an Indian interpretation of a Persian conception. The Persian features were the true double dome which had appeared in India in the tomb of Sikandar Lodi, but had not fully matured. It had been familiar in West Asia for long.The double dome enabled a pleasing sky-line, and an interior roof In keeping with the enclosure inside.A second feature of Persian influence was the arrangement of the rooms inside. Instead of one enclosure, there were separate rooms in the corridors linked by passages. However, such an arrangement can be found in earlier, pre-Turkush buildings. The Indian feature was the entire building being placed in a formal garden with a large gate. The dome was supported by slender minaraets which was a feature of the Gujarat style of architecture. Graceful kiosks (a small, separated pavilion open on some or all sides)were a familiar feature in Rajasthan. The arches on all sides, and the fine white inlay work added to the pleasing effect of the building.



Humayun's Tomb



Geometrical sandstone and marble pietre dura inlay patterns over the entrance iwan or high arc, and the chhatris and small minarets that surround the white marble central dome.



The symbolically cut out mihrab facing west or Mecca, over the marble lattice screen.

• While Humayun's tomb was being built at Delhi, Akbar was busy building his magnificient fort at Agra, and laying the foundation of a new city and palace complex 26 miles away at Sikri.
• The fort at Agra was started in 1565 and completed in eight years' time. The Agra fort, with its massive battlements and crenalated walls, its gates consisting of two octagonal towers of dressed red sandstone linked to each other was the pattem of the forts which were built at Lahore, Ajmer and Allahabad later by Akbar. The Red Fort at Delhi built by Shah Jahan was also patterned on the fort at Agra. According to Abul Fazl, within the Agra fort, Akbar built "upward of five hundred edifices of red stone in the fine style of Bengal and Gujarat." Most of these buildings were demolished by Shah Jahan to make way for his own style of buildings(white marble palaces), the surviving portion of the Akbari Mahal and the Jahangiri Mahal give us an idea of the type of architecture put up(Together the Jahangiri and the Akbari Mahal was once known as the Bengali Mahal, owing its name to the Bengali designs used in the Mahal.). The roofs of these palaces were flat, and supported by exquisitely carved pillars. The palace is said to have been based on the Man Mandir in Gwaliyar fort, and has many Rajasthani features, such as the heavy red sand stone brackets and balconies, carved with peacock and serpent motifs. The walls and staircase carry geese, flamingoes and lotus carvings, as also figures of mythical animals, such as winged dragons, half elephants, birds etc.



Jahangiri Mahal 

• Fatehpur Sikri Complex: The building at Sikri, which was later named Fatehpur after the victory at Gujarat, were commenced in 1568-69 when the Kachhawaha princess was expecting Salim. Many palaces and public buildings were put up during the next fifteen years. The whole complex was on top of a hill by the side of an artificial lake. The city was circled by a wall built on the plains below where most of the building have disappeared.



Plan of Fatehpur Sikri Complex





• Some of the important buildings in this city, both religious and secular are:

Buland Darwaza: Set into the south wall of the Jama Masjid at Fatehpur Sikri, this is 55 metre high, from the outside, gradually making a transition to a human scale in the inside. The gate was added some five years later after the completion of the mosque ca. 1576-1577 as an 'victory arch', to commemorate the Akbar's successful Gujarat campaign. It carries two inscriptions in the archway.
The central portico comprises three arched entrances, with the largest one, in the centre. Outside the giant steps of the Buland Darwaza to left is deep well.
Jama Masjid: It is a Jama Mosque meaning the congregational mosque, and was perhaps one of the first buildings to come up in the complex in 1571-72.
Tomb of Salim Chishti: A white marble encased tomb of the Sufi saint, Salim Chisti (1478–1572), within the Jama Masjid's sahn, courtyard.
On the left of the tomb, to the east, stands a red sandstone tomb of Islam Khan I, grandson of Shaikh Salim Chishti, who became a general in the Mughal army in the reign of Jahangir. The tomb is topped by a dome and thirty-six small domed chattris, and contains a number of graves, all male descendants of Shaikh Salim Chisti
Diwan-i-Aam : Hall of Public Audience, is a building typology found in many cities where the ruler meets the general public. In Fatehpur Sikri, it is a pavilion-like multi-bayed rectangular structure fronting a large open space. South west of the Diwan-i-Am and next to the Turkic Sultana's House stand Turkic Baths.
Diwan-i-Khas:Hall of Private Audience, is a plain square building with four chhatris on the roof. However it is famous for its central pillar, which has a square base and an octagonal shaft, both carved with bands of geometric and floral designs.It is here that Akbar had representatives of different religions discuss their faiths and gave private audience.
Ibadat Khana: (House of Worship) was a meeting house built in 1575 CE by the Mughal Emperor Akbar, where the foundations of a new Syncretistic faith,Din-e-Ilahi were laid by Akbar.
Anup Talao: A pool with a central platform and four bridges leading up to it. Some of the important buildings of the royal enclave are surround by it including, Khwabgah (House of Dreams) Akbar's residence, Panch Mahal, a five-storey palace, Diwan-i-Khas (Hall of Private Audience), Ankh Michauli and the Astrologer's Seat, in the south-west corner of the Pachisi Court.

• Entering the palace complex through a gate with three arches, called Naubat Khana,(Also known as Naqqar Khana meaning a drum house, where musician used drums to announce the arrival of the Emperor.) with the royal karkhanas and the mint on the right, now in a ruined condition, one reaches the vast courtyard which formed the diwan-i-am. Behind the diwan-i-am on the right towards the west was building called the diwan-i-khas and by its side the treasury meant mainly for precious stones. 



Diwan-i-Aam,Hall of Public Audience

• The courtyard behind the Diwan-i-Am led to the Emperor's double storeyed palace or khwab-gah which was screened off from the public buildings by a wall which has been demolished. In front of the Emperor's palace was the Anup Talao with a platform in the centre. This was the place where Akbar sometimes held philosophical debates or organized musical parties. It was to the double-storied palace to which some philosophers were drawn up on a cot from which they discoursed. At a corner of the Anup Talao is small square building of red sand stone the walls of which are beautifully carved.This is miscalled Turkish Sultana's house(Hujra-i-Anup Talao)for no queen could have lived in such a public place. 



Hujra-I-Anup Talao orTurkish Sultana House, a pleasure pavilion attached to a pond.Above shown is carved design on the wall.

• The royal haram was on the side of the Emperor's palace. It has a guard-house, and a high wall to separate it from the public buildings. This wall, too, has disappeared. 
• Further, behind the palace was the Jama Masjid which also had an access from the city below on the plain.
• Thus, the palace complex had a plan. Water from the lake below was lifted up to provide for running water and the fountains. 
• The buildings at Sikri have been divided into two -secular and religious. The secular buildings are generally of a trabeate character(having straight horizontal beams or lintels rather than arches). 
• One of the palaces within the haram complex is called the Jodha Bai Palace. This palace may have housed the Emperor's Hindu wives. This was a large palace with suites of rooms around a courtyard - a traditional design which continued in residential buildings till recent times. The bases, columns, and capitals are borrowed from the traditional type of temple pillars. It also has a chapel or puja room.Within the haram complex, three other buildings are noteworthy. One is the palace wrongly ascribed to Birbal. This is a double storeyed building. The entrance porches on the ground floor have angular roofs with glazed blue tiles. It is a superb example of residential structure, remarkable for its balance and design. Structural and decorative elements also are in beautiful harmony with each other.



Jodhha Bai palace

• The second is the small but highly decorated palace ascribed to Akbar's mother, Mariyam. It is remarkable in many senses. The interior of the suite of rooms were embellished with large mural paintings. On the northern side of the bracket there is a carving of Rama being worshipped by Hanuman. Other brackets show carvings of life -geese, elephants etc. which were anathema to the orthodox.



Mariyam House

• The third building is the Panch Mahal whin was just inside the haram complex. However, the wall separating it from the public buildings has disappeared. It was a five storeyed building with receding terraces, each with a flat roof supported by intricately carved pillars, each of a different design. It was meant to be a place where the women of the haram could take air.



Panch Mahal

• It will be seen that these buildings were of an innovative and experimental type. The most interesting building from this point of view is the building generally called the diwan-i-khas. The diwan-i-khas is a single hall which has a large and substantial pillar supporting a circular stone platform. From this central platform, stone bridges radiate to each corner to connect with the hanging galleries. The central pillar, with various patterned shafts and brackets supporting the central platform appears to be based on a wooden Gujarati derivative. Once again, mythical animals can be seen on the friezes outside.



Diwan-i-khas,The Hall of Private Audience.

• The most magnificient building at Sikri is the Jama Masjid with an interior courtyard of unusually large proportions. It was built in the manner of Indian mosques, with iwans(rectangular space, usually vaulted, walled on three sides, with one end entirely open) around a central courtyard. A distinguishing feature is the row of chhatri over the sanctuary. There are three mihrabs in each of the seven bays, while the large central mihrab is covered by a dome, it is decorated with white marble inlay, in geometric patterns.The main-sanctuary had arched entrances, domes with pillared kiosks all along the parapet, and a cloister along the courtyard where various types of pillars and decorative devises are used. 
• In the courtyard is the tomb of Shaikh Salim Chishti with exquisitely carved stone screen. The marble verandah outside was added by Shah Jahan later. 



JAMA MASJID PLAN: 1.Badshahi Darwaja,2.Buland darwaja,3.Prayer room of Friday Mosque,4.Tomb of Salim Chisti,5.lsam Khan Mausoleam



Jama Masjid, built by Akbar



Tomb of Salim Chisti(white marble).Tomb of his grandson Islam Khan in red sandstone can be seen in side.

• On one side of the mosque is a massive gateway leading up to a flight of stairs. This is the Buland Darwaza started by Akbar in 1573 to commemorate his victory at Gujarat. The gate is in the style of what is called a half-dome portal. What was done was to slice a dome into half. The sliced portion provided the massive outward façade of the gate, while smaller doors could be made in the rear wall where the dome and the floor meet. This devise, borrowed from Iran, became a feature in Mughal buildings later. The parapet(A low wall along the edge of a roof or balcony) on top of the front of the gate has a series of kiosks with cupolas(roof in the form of a dome) which break the sky-line.This massive door-way throws the rest of the building out of proportion, it has remained a most impressive building meant to create a sense of awe.



Buland Darwaza(gateway to Jama Masjid), the 54 mt. high entrance to Fatehpur Sikri complex

Buland Darwaza,

• With the consolidation of the empire, the Mughal architecture reached its climax. Towards the end of Jahangir's reign began the practice of putting up buildings entirely of marble and decorating the walls with floral designs made of semi-precious stones. This method of decoration called pietra dura was used in the small, but slender tomb of Itimad-ud-Daula built during Jahangir's xeign. A special feature of this rectangular building were the octogonal towers at the corners with graceful cupolas. Like his own tomb started by Akbar but finished by Jahangir, it had no dome, but only a small cloister on the flat roof decorated with varigated design of perforated screens.



Entrance Gate From Exterior



Mausoleum of Itimad-ud-Daulah

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Cupola of minaret



Floral design on wall -Pietra Dura

• The Taj Mahal, justly regarded as a jewel of the builder's art, brought together in a pleasing manner all the architectural forms adopted by the Mughals earlier so as to make them their own. These included putting the mausoleum in a formal garden with streams of running water and fountains, erecting the main building on a lofty platform to impart solidity to the building and a beautiful sky-line to the dome. 
• Finally, there was the half-dome portal at the entrance. The chief glory of the Taj is the massive dome and the four slender, minarets linking the platform to the main Building. The decorations are kept to a minimum, delicate marble screens, pietra dura inlay work and kiosks (chhatris) adding to the effect. 
• That the Taj Mahal is the logical culmination of the development of imperial architedcture in the country is sufficient to set at rest the fable that the Taj was designed by an Italian, Geronimo Veroneo. Amongst others whose names are mentioned as architects is Ustad Isa Effendi and Ustad Ahmad from Lahore. 
• According to a manuscript which gives details about the construction of the Taj, Shah Jahan had appointed a council of experts to advice him, and designers submitted plans for the proposed tomb on paper. Shah Jahah had his own ideas and made valuable suggestions. On this basis a number of models in wood were prepared.
• It would, thus, appear that there was no single designer of the Taj. Like Mughal paintings, it was a collective effort. Thus, Amanaf Khan Shirazi, it is agreed, was the calligrapher, and Ismail Khan served as the dome builder.
• Mosque building also reached its climax under Shah Jahan, the two most noteworthy ones being the Moti Masjid in the Agra fort, built like the Taj entirely in marble, and the other the Jama Masjid at Delhi built in red sandstone. A lofty gate, tall slender minarets, and a series of domes are a feature of the Jama Masjid.
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Following figures shows exterior decoration in TajMahal:

Minaret of TajMahal



Finial of the dome of the Taj Mahal



Main iwan and side pishtaqs of TajMahal



Plant Motif outside wall of TajMahal



Calligraphy of Persian poems



Marble Lattice in TajMahal



The domes and vaults of the sandstone buildings are worked with tracery of incised painting to create elaborate geometric forms

Following figures shows interior decoration in TajMahal:

Pietra Dura in TajMahal



Jali screen surrounding the cenotaphs



Cenotaphs with Tombs of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal at underground level

• Red-Fort: The Red Fort, constructed by Shah Jahan, was built as the fortified palace of Shahjahanabad, capital of the fifth Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, in 1648. Named for its massive enclosing walls of red sandstone, it is adjacent to the older Salimgarh Fort, built byIslam Shah Suri in 1546.
Major structures:

(a)Naubat Khana:(Nakkar Khana), the drum house. Music was played at scheduled times daily. 

(b)Diwan-i-Aam: the Diwan-i-Aam, the Public Audience Hall.The Diwan-i-Aam was also used for state functions.The courtyard (mardana) behind it leads to the imperial apartments.

Diwan-i-Aam

(c)Rang Mahal: It housed the emperor's wives and mistresses. It was brightly painted and decorated with a mosaic of mirrors.(d)Diwan-i-Khas: Hall of Private Audience, constructed of white marble, inlaid with precious stones. François Bernier described seeing the jewelled Peacock Throne here during the 17th century. At either end of the hall, over the two outer arches, is an inscription by Persian poet Amir Khusrow:"If heaven can be on the face of the earth,It is this, it is this, it is this".

Diwan-i-Khas

(e)Moti Masjid:A later addition, it was built in 1659 as a private mosque for Aurangzeb. It is a small, three-domed mosque carved in white marble, with a three-arched screen leading down to the courtyard.

Moti Masjid

(f)Hammam: imperial baths, consisting of three domed rooms floored with white marble.

(g)Shahi Burj: 3 storey octagonal tower.The water feeding, the Nahr-i-Bihisht, is channelled up from the river with a hydraulic system through the tower and then carried by channels into various other buildings of the fort.

Shahi Burj

(h)Lahori Gate: The Lahori Gate is the main gate to the Red Fort, named for its orientation towards the city of Lahore.

(k)Delhi Gate:The Delhi Gate is the southern public gate, similar to the Lahori Gate.

(i)Nahr-i-Behisht(Stream of Paradise): The imperial apartments consist of a row of pavilions on a raised platform, overlooking the Yamuna. The pavilions are connected by a canal, known as the Nahr-i-Behisht  running through the centre of each pavilion. Water is drawn from the Yamuna via a tower, the Shahi Burj.The palace is designed to emulate paradise as described in the Quran.

Nahar-i-Behisht

(j)The Khas Mahal: was the emperor's apartment. Connected to it is the Muthamman Burj, an octagonal tower where he appeared before the people waiting on the riverbank.

From left: Moti Masjid, the hammam, Divan-i-Khas, Khas Mahal and the 'Rang Mahal

• While the Red Fort is famous for the trellised scale of justice in the Rang Mahal ,architecturally the most impressive is the flat roofed Diwan-i-Am where all the skills of the Hindu pillar maker have been used to provide clear vistas from the throne. The multi-foialiated arches give an effect of rippling water.
• Thus, we find a unique combination of the arcuate(resembling an arch) and the trabeate(not arcuate; having straight horizontal beams or lintels rather than arches) forms in the buildings of Shah Jahan at the Red Fort.
• Although not many buildings were put up by Aurangzeb who was economy-minded, the Mughal architectural traditions based on a combination of Hindu and Turko-Iranian forms and decorative designs continued without a break into the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Thus, Mughal traditions influenced the palaces and forts of many provincial and local kingdoms. Even the Harmandir of the Sikhs, called the Golden Temple at Amritsar which was rebuilt several times during the period was built on the arch and dome principle and incorporated many features of the Mughal traditions of architecture. 
• There was no attempt to establish some kind of a communal representation in the buildings between what were considered Hindu elements and those considered Islamic. The rulers used whatever elements and devises they considered useful and aristic. It was their fine aesthetic sense, and the skill of the Indian craftsmen which effected a conjunction which was both graceful and pleasing.

Painting:

• The Mughal school of painting has steadily gained recognition as a distinctive style of painting which had a rich tradition to fall back upon, and which reached full maturity during the seventeenth century. It created a living tradition of painting which continued in different forms in different parts of the country long after the glory of the Mughals had disappeared.
• Paintings are referred to in some of the Sanskrit literary works, and the murals of Ajanta are an eloquent testimony to the richness of the pictorial tradition in ancient India. Although the tradition decayed from the 8th century, that it had not died is shown in some of the illustrated Jain palm -leaf works. 
• A new phase was reached with the introduction of paper in the 13th century. The painter found more freedom in his choice of colours and more working space at his disposal. The miniatures, therefore, began to show "signs of improvement in colouring, composition, delineation and decoration detail." The change was slow and hesitant. Gujarat and Malwa appear to be the two regions where such improvements took place.
• We have no illustrated manuscripts of the Sultanat period, although Amir Khusrau tells us that the art of painting was practised among the ruling classes. Firuz had the wall paintings in his palace erased. 
• Meanwhile, a rich tradition of painting was developing at Shiraz in Persia. This school was influenced by the Chinese style of painting. During the fifteenth century when the provincial kingdoms of Gujarat, Malwa and Jaunpur emerged as patrons of the fine arts and literature, painters, litterateurs etc. moved from Shiraz to these kingdoms. Thus, the earliest contact between the Persian and the West Indian style of painting took place during the fifteenth century. The best example of this is the Niamat Nama or Cookery Book, illustrated at Mandu in which Indian rounded body contours are displayed against a background of Persian formalized leaves and vegetation.
• The foundation of the Mughal school of painting was laid by Humayun during his exile in Persia and Afghanistan. Bihzad, the master painter was at the height of his fame at the time. Humayun patronized many of his disciples, and two of them, Mir Saiyid Ali and Abdus Samad, joined him in Afghanistan, and then moved with him to Delhi.
• In about 1567, Akbar ordered the preparation of a lavishly illustrated manuscript of the Persian translation of the Hamza Nama a celebrated Arab epic about a legendary Hamza (no relation of the Prophet). Under Saiyid Ali and Abdus Samad, a group of roughly one hundred painters drawn from Gwaliyar, Gujarat, Lahore, Kashmir, Malwa etc. were collected. It took fifteen years to complete the work, and one thousand and four hundred pages of illustrations were made. This proved to be a training period for many Indian painters. 
• The illustration of many other manuscripts was also taken up during this period. Thus, Anwar Suhaili, epics such as Mahabharata and Ramayana, history books such as Chingiz Nama, Akbar Nama etc. were illustrated. Unfortunately, many of them have been destroyed, or scattered over many European libraries.This has made the study of the Mughal paintings a difficult task.
• Akbar was very fond of painting and during his reign, painting was organized as an Imperial establishment or karkhana. Abul Fazl says: "His Majesty from his earliest youth, has shown a great predilection for this art, and gives it every encouragement." 
• From the beginning, both Muslims and Hindus joined in the work. Thus, of the seventeen painters mentioned by name by Abul Fazl, thirteen were Hindus. Some of the Hindus were of the lower castes, such as Daswant who was a palki-bearer till Akbar's eye fell on him and he trained him up. The painters were given monthly salaries, and the Emperor gave them further rewards on the basis of their works which were laid before him regularly. Commodities needed by the painters were provided to them. 
• Attempts were also made to improve the mixture of colours.
• Some of the orthodox thinkers of the time objected to the art of painting as being un-Islamic. Abul Fazl answers their objection by arguing that painting made the painter and others recognize God because while sketching anything which had life they realized that God alone could provide individuality to them.
• The painters covered a vast field. Their themes included war, hunting scenes, mythical beings, building activities etc. Portrait painting was another favourite theme. Akbar ordered to have the likeliness taken of all the grandees of the realm. He also sat for his portrait. According to Abul Fazl, Basawan was excellent in drawing of features, ,portrait painting and several other branches. 
• However, there was little scope for specialization: two or even three painters could be used to complete a picture. If one drew the outline, another would fill in the colours, and a third complete the face. The person who drew the outline might be asked to colour the next one, and the one who drew the face draw the outline. 
• Later, Jahangir claimed that he could distinguish which painter had drawn the outline, and who had filled in the colours or drawn the face. 
• Desapite the composite nature of many of the pictures, differences of style did emerge. Overall, the Akbari period not only established painting firmly, it freed itself from the Persian rigidity of form by introducing the plastic roundness of Indian painting in order to give a three dimensional effect in place of the flat, two dimensional effect. 
• Indian trees and flowers, Indian buildings etc. were also introduced in the pictures. 
• Indian colours, such as peacock blue, the Indian red etc. also began to be used.
• Mughal painting reached a climax under Jahangir who had a very discriminating eye. Apart from painting hunting, battle and court scenes, under Jahangir special progress was made in portrait painting and paintings of animals, flowers, etc. Ustad Mansur was the great name in this field. Brushwork became finer and the colors lighter. Jahangir was also deeply influenced by European painting. During his reign he came into direct contact with the English Crown and was sent gifts of oil paintings, which included portraits of the King and Queen. He encouraged his royal atelier to take up the single point perspective favoured by European artists, unlike the flattened multi-layered style used in traditional miniatures. He particularly encouraged paintings depicting events of his own life, individual portraits, and studies of birds, flowers and animals.The Jahangirnama, written during his lifetime, which is an autobiographical account of Jahangir's reign, has several paintings
• Under Akbar, European painting was introduced at the court by the Portuguese priests. Abul Fazl praises the skill of the European style of painting. Under its influence, the principles of fore-shortening whereby near and distant people and things could be placed in perspective was adopted. However, Indian painters never fully mastered the art of perspective. Distant objects are often shown in a vertical manner rather than foreshortened as necessary. The earlier bird's eye-view perspective whereby action at different levels could be shown in the same picture was replaced by circular effect.
• Despite very lively studies of animals and birds, the Mughal painters had little interest in the study of nature independently. However, trees, birds, streams of water, hillocks often formed the background of many hunting and war scenes. A special feature was the tonal and rounded effect of the tree trunks.
• Painting continued to be patronized by Shah Jahan, but he lacked Jahangir's aesthetic sense in this field. Hence, there is a profusion of court scenes and a lavish use of gold.
• Aurangzeb's lack of interest in painting led to a dispersal of the artists to different places of the country. This helped in the development of painting in the states of Rajasthana and the Punjab hills.
• The Rajasthan style of painting combined the themes and earlier traditions of western India or Jain school of painting with Mughal forms and styles. Thus, in addition to hunting and court scnes, it had paintings on mythological themes, such as the dalliance of Krishna with Radha, or the Barah-masa, that is, the seasons, and Ragas (melodies). The Pahari school continued these traditions.

Language and Literature:

• The important role of Persian and Sanskrit as vehicles of thought and government at the all-India level, and the development of regional languages, largely as a result of the growth of the Bhakti movement and due to the patronage extended to them by local and regional rulers.
• These trennds continued during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. By the time of Akbar, knowledge of Persian had become so widespread in north India that he dispensed with the tradition of keeping revenue records in the local language (Hindawi) in addition to Persian. However, the tradition of keeping revenue records in the local language continued in the Deccani states till their extinction in the last quarter of the seventeenth century.
• Persian prose and poetry reached a climax during Akbar's reign. Abul Fazl who was a great scholar and a stylist, as well as the leading historian of the age, set a style of prose-writing which was emulated for many generations. The leading poet of the age was his brother Faizi who also helped in Akbar's translation department. The translation of the Mahabharata was carried out under his supervision. 
• Utbi and Naziri were the two other leading Persian poets. Though born in Persia, they were among the many poets and scholars who migrated from Iran to India during the period and made the Mughal court one of the cultural centres of the Islamic world. 
• Hindus also contributed to the growth of Persian literature. 
• Apart from literary and historical works a number of famous dictionaries of the Persian language were also compiled during the period.
• Although not much significant and original work was done in Sanskrit during the period, the number of Sanskrit works produced is quite impressive. As before, most of the works were produced in south and east India under the patronage of local rulers, though a few were produced by brahmanas employed in the translation department of the emperors.
• Regional languages acquired stability and maturity and some of the finest lyrical poetry was produced during this period. The alliance of Krishna with Radha and the milkmaids, pranks of the child Krishna and stories from the Bhagwat Puran figure largely in lyrical poetry in Bengali, Oriya, Hindi, Rajasthani and Gujarati during this period. Many devotional hymns to Rama were also composed and the Ramayana and the Mahabharata translated into the regional languages, especially if they had not been translated earlier. A few translations and adaptations from Persian were also made. Both Hindus and Muslims contributed in this. Thus, Alaol composed in Bengali and also translated from Persian. In Hindi, Padmavat, the story written by the Sufi saint, Malik Muhammad Jaisi, used the attack of Alauddin Khalji on Chittor as an allegory to expound Sufi ideas on the relations of soul with God, along with Hindu ideas about maya.
• Medieval Hindi in the Brij form, that is the dialect spoken in the neighbourhood of Agra, was also patronised by the 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. Thus, the Persian and the Hindi literary traditions began to influence each other. 
• But the most influential Hindi poet was Tulsidas whose hero was Rama and who used a dialect of Hindi spoken in the eastern parts of Uttar Pradesh. Tulsi was essentially a humanistic poet who upheld family ideals and complete devotion to Rama as a way of salvation open to all, irrespective of caste.
• In south India, Malayalam started its literary career as a separate language in its own right. 
• Marathi reached its apogee at the hands of Eknath and Tukaram. Asserting the importance of Marathi, Eknath exclaims: "If Sanskrit was made by God, was Prakrit born of thieves and knaves? Let these errings of vanity alone. 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."
• This undoubtedly expresses the sentiments of all those writings in local languages. It also shows the confidence and the status acquired by these languages. 
• Due to the writings of the Sikh Gurus, Punjabi received a new life.
• Another development during the eighteenth century was Urdu. Urdu, often called Rekhta, had developed in the Deccan, but can be found at the Mughal court during the second half of the seventeenth century. Thus, the satirical poet, Jafar Zatalli, wrote during the reign of Aurangzeb, Dwelling on the hardship of the nobles exiled to the Deccan, and the loneliness of their family members in the north, he lampooned Aurangzeb for the prevailing lawlessness all around by saying: "Darkness under the arse of the giant."
• Urdu acquired a definite form, content and style with the arrival of Wali Dakhani at Delhi in 1721. But the poets who raised Urdu to a status equal with Persian were, Mir, Dard and Sauda (1713-1781). Urdu became a literary language for the city elites, and both Muslims and Hindus contributed to its growth. The strains of mysticism, humanism and liberalism characterized Urdu poetry of the times.

Music:

• Another branch of cultural life in which Hindus and Muslims cooperated was music. Indian music had established itself in the court circles of the Sultanat during the fourteenth century, and even an orthodox ruler like Firuz Tughlaq had patronized music. 
• The rulers of the provincial kingdoms during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries were great patrons of music. Raja Man Singh of Gwaliyar was himself a skilled musician and a patron of musicians He is credited with creating many new melodies which were collected in a work, Man Kautuhal. 
• It was not only at the courts but in temples and sufi gatherings that patronage was given to music. Thus, Swami Hari Das of Vrindavan was considered to be a great connoisseur of music. Akbar himself is supposed to have gone incognito to hear his music. 
• Many of the writings of the bhakti saints were set to different ragas and surs.
• Among the rulers of Delhi, Adali, son of Islam Shah Sur, was a great patron of music and was an accomplished player of pakhawaj. 
• Abul Fazl tells us that Akbar was very fond of music from his early years. He says: "His Majesty has such a knowledge of the science of music as trained musicians do not possess; and he is likewise an excellent hand in performing especially on the nagara." It was due to his interest in music that Akbar took over the services of Tansen from Man Singh. 
• Tansen became the leading singer at the court of Akbar. Tansen composed many songs in Hindi and created new ragas many of which are sung even to-day. The style of singing which he took from Gwaliyar was the stately drupad style. 
• Shah Jahan patronised music at his court, and is said to have acquired considerable proficiency in the art himself. 
• Aurangzeb himself was an accomplished player of the veena, and patronised music during the first ten years of his reign. But growing puritanism and a false sense of economy made him banish the singers from his court. Instrumental music however continued. Despite Aurangzeb's jibe to the protesting musicians to bury music deep, Aurangzeb's reign saw the production of a large number of books on music. The most famous of these was Tuhfat-ul-Hind written for Aurangzeb's grandson, Jahandar Shah. Members of the royal family including ladies in the haram and many nobles continued to patronise music.
• The reign of Muhammad Shah (1719-48) is a period of considerable growth of music. His most famous singers were Niamat Khan Sadarang and Firuz Khan Adarang. They were masters of dhrupad but also trained many pupils in the khyal style of music which was considered more lyrical in theme and erotic in approach. This greatly enhanced its popularity. Muhammad Shah himself composed khyals under the pen-name Rangila Piya. Many courtesans also became famous for their music and dance.
• Tabla and sitar became popular during this period but we do not know when these were invented.

Science & Technology:

• India had a rich tradition of science and technology, advance in these fields had slowed down after the eighth century but not come to a standstill, as the works of Shripati and Bhaskaracharya II (AD 1150) in the field of mathematics show.
• Al-Biruni ascribed the decline of Indian science to the arrogance and growing insularity of the brahmans. 
• After the coming of the Turks, there was a greater interaction of Islamic or what was called Arab science with India. Thus, many new technologies were introduced, such as paper, the spinning wheel, the carder's bow, an improved version of the water wheel or rahat, and widespread use of the iron-stirrup. In the fields of science, interaction was mainly in the field of astronomy, mathematics and medicine, though agricultural and animal sciences were not completely neglected. 
• However, from the eleventh century onward, there had been a heavy onslaught on reason and science (in the name of philosophy) in the Islamic world. Al-Ghazali (1111) considered the great teacher played an important part in the assault on reason. As a result of this continuing campaign, science was virtually submerged under religion, mysticism, aesthetics etc. Various works on science were written during the period including those in India which have yet to be evaluated. They covered newer areas such as geography, physics especially optics and specific gravity, magnetism and concepts of motions and time. However, scientific works were generally mixed up with religion, mysticism, aesthetics etc. This was not a new feature because science, religion, magic and myth were mixed up in many religions. However, a sphere of rationality was a necessary condition for the growth of science. In Europe, science had grown from the 15th century onwards by setting out a sphere of rationalism away from religion. The inability of science to delink itself from religion or mysticism became an inhibiting factor in India and elsewhere in the Islamic world.
• Although a number of scientific inventions, such as a devise for cleaning many gun-barrels at the same time, a moving carriage for grinding-corn which developed under Akbar show a spirit of inventiveness, this did not spread out because the ruling class had little interest in devices affecting the labouring classes.
• The European impact on India was first felt with the coming of the Portuguese. Portuguese ships and guns were seen at the basis of Portuguese superiority at sea, and an attempt was made to copy them. Thus, the Zamorin of Calicut weaned away two Milanese from the Portuguese to manufacture guns for him. A Portuguese writer, Castanheda, writes that four Venetians came to Malabar in 1505 to cast guns. 
• In the field of ship-building, we are told that as early as 1612, the ships at Dabul were reported to have been made "Christian like with topps and all their tackings (sails) accordingly". Another contemporary, Bowrey, thought that the master carpenters of the Krishna-Godavari delta on the Coromandal coast could construct and launch ships as any shipwright. Many of them had learned the techniques of European construction from European craftsmen. Surat was another centre for such ship construction. 
• By the end of the seventeenth century, "European country-traders made little technical distinction between ships built in the west and those built in the countries of the Indian Ocean. If anything, they seems to have preferred the local ships, as the standard of finish and general workmanship remained high."
• Side by side with the improvement of ship-design, there was strengthening of their hulls to absorb the shock of artillery. Indian merchantmen began to carry guns and armed men for defence. The Ganj-i-Sawai, the biggest ship of Aurangzeb, was armed with 80 cannons and 400 muskets. However, the cannons of these ships were useless against European ships because of their often faulty location, the unskilled marksmenship of the Indian gunners, and their poor navigational skills. As a contemporary, Fryer, remarked in 1670 that "... some of their ships carry 30 or 40 pieces of cannon, more for show than service..." Thus, the Ganj-i-Sawai fell to an English ship even without a proper combat. 
• It seems that it were not so much the technological factors, as political and societal factors including individual dedication which were responsible for the Indian weakness on sea. When the Indians fought for themselves i.e. as pirates, than for a distant master, they did better. Even the Omani fleet built in India was able to deal with English piracy and threaten Surat.
• All this shows the capacity of the Indian craftsmen to copy and produce a model indistinguishable from the original, using primitive tools. An example of this was a horse-carriage on the English model built for Jahangir. But such models were often not disseminated, nor improved upon.
• Why with an abundance of skilled craftsmen, and abundance of liquid capital, India remained backward in the field of technology during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, although with the arrival of the English and the Dutch traders, there was increasing contact with the Europeans at various levels, and knowledge about Europe was growing?
• The rulers and the nobles were constantly on the look out for European novelties. Thus, we hear of globes of the world, glasses, spectacles, substantial house-clocks being purchased or presented. 
• However, the Indian ruling class was not concerned with "toys" only. Abul Fazl was aware of the discovery of America by the Europeans and expressed appreciation of European painting. The governor of Junnar interrogated Fryer in 1670 on "the state of Europe, the government, policy and learning".
• Bernier's patron, Danishmand Khan, was interested in the philosophy of Descarte, and was interested in scientific matters, such as astronomy, geography and anatomy
• These contacts did not, however, spread out, or induce a more systematic study of the western sciences.
• As Bernier lamented, there were no academies (except madrasas for religious study) where such subjects could be taken up for study. Thus, interest in western science and philosophy was individual, and died with the individual.
• Even in the field of manufacturing cannons and muskets India remained technologically backward. This was because the guns were not cast together as a single piece, but holes were made through the mould, and then brought together by a hot-ring placed over the pieces so that it fused with the barrel. A single piece could not be cast because the furnaces were too small, because of poor bellows. Good cast-iron could only be produced in large furnaces given high temperature by power-driven bellows. By 1550, bellows in Europe were being worked by "trip-lugs on water-driven shafts, or by system of cranks, levers and weights." In India, there was no improvement on the skin-bellows worked by wood or hands. 
• According to Babur iron from seven or eight furnaces was used for making one cannon. Since all the pieces could not be of the same quality, they were liable to burst. But it is a mystery why the European employed by Mir Jumla in 1666, and later at Bengal to cast guns did not teach the Indians the right method to cast guns. This seems to have been rectified by Mir Qasim in Bengal later, and by Ranjit Singh in the Punjab.
• Efficient water pump was another weak point. An Englishman had offered to Jahangir to pump water out of the Jamuna, like the Thames at London, for the use of the ordinary people. But the idea was pooh-poohed by Sir Thomas Roe, and went no further. The water-pump on ship was rejected in favour of water bailed out by the khalasi or labourer on board ships. However, the use of iron nails, the iron anchor, and the capstan to raise and lower it were accepted. Absence of water-pumps meant that mining could not go below water-level in mines. However, the rich Indian tradition of mining zinc, brass and silver in Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh is a point which cannot be forgotton.
• The absence of the humble screw and spring in India made manufacture of machinery difficult. In place of a screw, a piece of wire was soldered on.The absence of the screw and the spring may explain refusal to accept the European house clocks. House-Clocks were a representation of the new science of physics growing in Europe and depended on cranks, levers and weights. One reason for not accepting the house-clock was the different system of time reckoning in India. However, this did not prevent China from adopting the house -clock.
• In the field of weaving and dyeing, Indian technology was hardly backward as compared to the technology available at the time. Europeans complained of the width of the cloth produced, but this could be rectified easily. So also certain colours and dyes for which they sent their own craftsmen to Murshidabad. But India was backward in silk reeling where European technology was slowly adopted despite much opposition. 
• India also remained backward in the sphere of glass technology. Although bangles and jars were made, English drinking glasses, and mirrors were always in demand, so also spectacles. None of them was manufactured in India. A great lacuna, however, was the absence of the use of telescopes (dur-bin) till the eighteenth century. This meant hostile ships could not be sighted on sea. It also made Jai Singh's observatories outdated because he did not use the telescope for observation. He did send a series of embassies to Portugal, but Portugal itself was out of touch with new developments in astronomy in England and Holland based on observation. Also, Jai Singh's observatories were based on the Ptolemic view, repeated by Ulugh Beg, of the world as the centre of the universe, rather on Brahmagupta's and Copernican view of the sun being the centre.
• It has been argued that Indian response to western science was "scrupulously selective in its nature, depending on convenience, utility, exigencies, or other material or pragmatic considerations." It has also been argued that abundance of skilled labour combined with low subsistence costs inhibited improvement in tools. A finer product could be attained more cheaply by a larger application of labour and manual skill than by adopting a mechanical contrivence. But there were cases where use of more labour or skill the product could not be attained, or invention and improvement would be cheaper than enormous use of muscle power. Refusal to accept printing presses, and draw loom for weaving patterns have been given as examples of this. 
• Although block printing on textiles had been developed in India, and was used in China for printing on paper, the same did not take place in India. Whether it was due to the fact that scribes could work still more cheaply - a fact which suggests a far wider diffusion of literacy than accepted, or was due to other factors, it certainly limited the dissemination of knowledge.
• It has been argued further that "extreme specialisation" was promoted by the caste system, with the father training his son in the same profession since he had no option to move to another station. However, this argument has limited validity. In all pre-modern societies, including Europe, artisanal skills were passed on from father to son. Also, whenever a new profession, such as paper-making, making fire-works, dyeing, printing, painting of cloth arose, caste was no barrier for enlisting new entrants.
• Regarding resistance to labour saving devises, this again was not peculiar to India, as the Luddite movement in Britain during the 18th century shows.
• The question has been asked: could the merchantile class provide the capital needed for new technology since the artisan was too poor to do so himself? And could the ruling class provide the necessary scientific input?
• Regarding the merchants, although they did bring the artisan under their control through the putting out or dadni system, they showed no sign in investing in new technology, or changing the existing system of production. Thus, the tools remained under the ownership of the artisans. The merchants' lack of interest in new tools is shown by the fact that although the artisans were able to build the European type of ships, they continued to use the old, primitive tools. Thus, we do not hear of use of big saws or pulleys.
• Regarding the ruling classes, they had the utmost contempt for those who worked with their hands. Akbar's experiment of working in the karkhanas with his own hands was not continued by any of his successors. Hence, an attempt of using science to improve productivity or the product was beyond their ken.
• Finally, it must be conceded that the world view of the Mughal and the Hindu ruling classes was the product of a long tradition which was shaped by religion. The task of breaking this tradition entailed a long and difficult struggle. Jai Singh wrote: in this Introduction to the Zich of Ulugh Beg, "Religion disperses like mist, kingdoms are destroyed, but the work of the scientist remains forever." But Jai Singh was an exception in his time. 
• Abul Fazl lamented: "the blowing of the heavy wind of taqlid (tradition) and the dimming of the land of wisdom. Of old the door of "how" and "why" has been closed and questioning and enquiry have been deemed fruitless and tantamount to paganism".
• Thus, insularity, arrogance towards outside knowledge, and reluctance to undertake rational enquiry about which al Biruni had lamented with reference to the brahmans had become the hall-mark of the Mughal ruling classes. The Mughal ruling class which enjoyed the highest standard of living at the time, did not feel threatened by the European superiority at sea, and found no incentive to go out and learn their science and technology. Science and technology could hardly thrive and prosper in such an atmosphere. 
• Major innovations in technology can only take place when the technical knowledge is well-developed, in a theoretical framework, and is applied to improve or change the technology. It is detrimental to both society and science when the available scientific knowledge is divorced from technology, or when there is no inter-action between scientists and technologists or artisans and craftsmen due to social or other factors.