History Quiz: The Mughal Empire (Contribution the field of Economy, Art, Science and Technology etc.) |14 May, 2021

The method of water-lift based on pin-drum gearing known as Persian wheel had been introduced during Babur’s time.

• A complicated system of water lift by a series of gear-wheels had been installed in Fatehpur Sikri.
• Akbar was also credited with popularizing the device of cooling water using saltpetre.
• In metallurgy, the inability to produce cast iron remained an obvious drawback.
• As Irfan Habib observed, ‘India’s backwardness in technology was obvious when the matchlock remained the most common weapon in Indian armies. In Europe the flintlock had long come into use.

• Indians continued to use the expensive bronze cannon, long after these had become obsolete in Europe.
• This was because of India’s inability to make cast iron even in the seventeenth century.’

Source: Tamil Nadu state board.

Akbar is also the first known person in the world to have devised the ‘ship’s camel’, a barge on which the ship is built to make it easier for the ship to be carried to the sea.

Some mechanical devices like the screw for tightening, manually driven belt-drill for cutting diamonds were in use.

Source: Tamil Nadu state board.

During Akbar’s reign, Humayun’s tomb was enclosed with gardens and placed on a raised platform.

• Built by Indian artisans and designed by Persian architects it set a pattern to be followed in the future.
• The Agra fort built with red sandstone is a specimen where Rajput architectural styles were also incorporated.
• The new capital city of Akbar Fatehpur Sikri enclosed within its walls several inspiring buildings.

• The magnificent gateway to Fatehpur Sikri, the Buland Darwaza, built by Akbar with red sandstone and marble is considered to be a perfect architectural achievement.

Source: Tamil Nadu state board.

The tomb of Itimad-ud-daula, father of Nurjahan, built by Jahangir was the first Mughal building built completely with white marble.

• Mughal architecture reached its apex during the reign of Shah Jahan.

• The Taj Mahal is a marble structure on an elevated platform, the bulbous dome in the centre rising on a recessed gateway with four cupolas around the dome and with four free-standing minarets at each of its corners is a monument of universal fame.

Source: Tamil Nadu state board.

The Shalimar Gardens of Jahangir and Shah Jahan are showpieces of Indian horticulture.

• Apart from the many massive structures, the Mughals contributed many civil works of public utility, the greatest of them being the bridge over the Gomati River at Jaunpur.
• The most impressive feat is the West Yamuna Canal which provided water to Delhi.
• Mughal architecture influenced even temple construction in different parts of the country.

• The temple of Govind Dev at Vrindavan near Mathura and Bir Singh’s temple of Chaturbhuj at Orchchaa (Madhya Pradesh) display Mughal influence.

Source: Tamil Nadu state board.

Architectural progress during the Mughals is a landmark in world art.

• Mughal buildings were noted for the massive structures decorated with bulbous domes, splendorous minarets, cupolas in the four corners, elaborate designs, and pietra dura (pictorial mosaic work).

• The mosques built during the time of Babur and Humayun are not of much architectural significance.
• The mausoleum of Akbar at Sikandra near Agra started by Akbar and completed by Jahangir includes some Buddhist architectural elements.

Source: Tamil Nadu state board.

Babur’s autobiography written in Chaghatai Turkish was translated into Persian by Abdur Rahim Khan-e-Khanan.

• Dabistan is an impartial account of the beliefs and works of different religions. Persian literature was enriched by translations of Sanskrit works.
• The Mahabharata was translated under the supervision of Abul Faizi, brother of Abul Fazal and a court poet of Akbar.
• The translation of Upanishads by Dara Shukoh, entitled Sirr-I-Akbar (the Great Secret), is a landmark.
• The Masnawis of Abul Faizi, Utbi and Naziri enriched Persian Poetry in India.

Source: Tamil Nadu state board.

Persian, Sanskrit and regional languages developed during the Mughal rule.

• Persian was the language of administration in Mughal Empire and the Deccan states.
• It influenced even the Rajput states where Persian words were used in administration.
• Abul Fazal patronised by Akbar compiled the history of Akbar in Akbar Nama and described Mughal administration in his work Ain-i-Akbari.

• The Ain-i-Akbari is commendable for its interest in science, statistics, geography and culture.
• Akbar Namah was emulated by Abdul Hamid Lahori and Muhammad Waris in their joint work Padshah Nama, a biography of Shah Jahan.
• Later Muhammad Kazim in his Alamgir Nama, a work on the reign of the first decade of Aurangzeb, followed the same pattern.

Source: Tamil Nadu state board.

The Guru Granth Sahib, the holy book of the Sikhs compiled by Guru Arjun in which the verses of the Sikh Gurus as well as Shaikh Farid and other monotheists are a landmark in the evolution of Punjabi language.

Source: Tamil Nadu state board.

The Mughals achieved international recognition in the field of painting. Mughal miniatures are an important part of the museums of the world.

• The Persian text of Mahabharata and Akbar Namah were illustrated with paintings by various painters. Daswant and Basawan were famous painters of Akbar’s court.

• According to Ain-i-Akbari, Tansen of Gwalior, credited with composing of many ragas, was patronised by Akbar along with 35 other musicians.
• Jahangir and Shah Jahan were patrons of music. Though there is a popular misconception that Aurangzeb was against music, a large number of books on Indian classical music were written during his regime.
• The Sanskrit works produced during the Mughal rule are impressive. Sanskrit literature of this period is noted for the kavyas and historical poetry.
• Rajavalipataka, a kavya, written by Prajna bhatta which completed the history of Kashmir belonged to reign of Akbar.
• Graeco-Arabic learning was transmitted to India through Persian works in the form of Sanskrit translations.

• Akbar’s astronomer Nilakantha wrote the Tajika Neelakanthi, an astrological treatise.
• Shah Jahan’s court poet Jaganatha Panditha wrote the monumental Rasagangadhara.

Source: Tamil Nadu state board.