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Mughal India

Giles Henry Rupert Tillotson

Tillotson, Giles Henry Rupert;

Mughal India

Penguin 1991, 160 pages

ISBN 0140118543

topics: |  india-medieval | history | architecture | mughal

Mughal dates

       [based largely on Mughal India, Tillotson, but also other sources]

Muhammad-bin-Tughlak - raids Somenath, Mathura, Kanauj - 11th c.
          Death of Harshvardhan - 647AD - rise of Rajput's.

Muhammad-Ghuri 1192 - defeats Prithviraj Chauhan and troops in
	   Delhi and leaves his general Qutabbuding Aibek (formerly
	   a slave) in charge of province of Hind.
	   1206 - Ghori dies and Aibak declares separate kingdom
	   establishes sultanate.
	   1206-1526 - Five dynasties rule Delhi; Expansion to Jaunpur
	   and Bengal; Gujarat and down to Malwa, but periods of
	   peripheral loss of control leads to Islamic provincial rulers
	   stretching across India.

Babur	   1526-1530
	   Panipat - 1526, Khanua 1527
	   avid gardener, fruit connoisseur - "Mangoes when good,
	   are very good . . . usually plucked unripe and ripened in
	   the house. Unripe, they make excellent condiments,
	   On the whole, the best fruit of Hindustan . . . It is eaten
	   in two ways: one is to squeeze it to a pulp, make a hole in
	   it and to suck out the juice, and the other, to peel it and
	   eat it like a peach."
	   "Hindustan is a country of few charms. Its people have no
	   good looks, of social intercourse, paying and receiving
	   visits, there is none; of genius and capacity none; of
	   manners none; in handicraft and work there is no form or
	   symmetry, method or quality; there are no good horses, no
	   good dogs, no grapes, bread or cooked food in the bazaars,
	   no hot baths, no colleges, no candles, torches or
	   candlesticks.
Humayun	   1530-1556
	   Purana Qila 1530-45
Ser Shah Suri 1540-1555
Akbar	   1556-1605 b. 1543, came to throne at 13.
	   Hum Tomb 1560s,
	   Agra Fort 1565-70
	   F. Sikri 1571-76, Palace -1585  (religious studies)
Jehangir   b. 1569 as Salim, boon of Khwaja Chashti r.1605-1627
	      (took control 1602?)
	   Akbar's Tomb Sikandra 1605-12
	   Shalimar Bagh, Kashmir, 1619
	   Itmad-ud-daulah's tomb, 1622-8
	   Jahangir's tomb, Lahore, 1627
Shahjahan  1592-1666; ruled 1627-1658 (fell ill 1657, sons battled)
	   Taj Mahal 1631-1648, Sandstone outers -1652
	   Red Fort Delhi 1639-48
	   Jama Masjid (D) 1650-56
Aurangzeb  1658-1707
	   Moti Masjid, Delhi 1659
	   son, rebel prince Akbar, who joined with the Rajputs
	   and died in exile, writes to his father on his
	   religious bigotry: "Emperor Akbar, peace be on him,
	   strengthening the ties of alliance with them, conquered the
	   whole of India and on their strength made his empire
	   firm. . . [now] the inhabitants of the place find the
	   unable to praise and bless their king."
Bahadur Shah - 1712
Nadir Shah - 1739 - sack of Delhi
Ahmad Shah Abdali - 1761 from Afghanistan - sacks and returns
East India Co - 1803 - under General Lake, takes Agra and Delhi.
Bahadur Shah II - 1857 - stripped of title and exiled to Rangoon

Hindu-Muslim animosity


From Aurangzeb's death in 1707 to 1857, no Hindu-Muslim problem.

Apr 6, 1919: First Hartal in Kanpur to protest Jalianwala Bagh.

Azimullah (of Nana Saheb's court at Bithoor), published the newspaper
Payame Azadi (Message of Freedom):
  	Aaj shahidon ne tumko /
	ahilewatan lalkara /
	toro gulami ki janzire
	barsao angara

	Hindu Muslim Sikh hamara
	bhai bhai pyara
	ye hai azadi ka jhanda
	ise salam hamara.

Hasrat Mohani of Kanpur, in AICC Ahmedabad 1921, moved for "complete
independence free from all control" - failed, but "Sampurna Azadi" was
passed in 1929. Mohani originated the slogan "inquilab zindabad."
	- TOI 15/8/97, Dr .Munshiwar Nigam

1707: Death of Aurangzeb
1757: Battle of Plassey Palashi
1764: Battle of Buxar
1765 May: Battle of Jajmau,  Nawab Shuja-ud-Daullah defeated by EI
	Company c-in-c Carnac.
1765 Aug, Allahabad: Treaty between Emperor Shah Alam II, Shuja-ud-Daula and
	Lord Clive.
1803: Shah Alam II subdued by company c-in-c Lord Lake. the emperor's
	jurisdiction confined to walls of Red Fort.
1857: Sepoy Revolt
1858: Queen Victoria's govt


amitabha mukerjee (mukerjee [at] gmail.com) 17 Feb 2009