Чт. Ноя 7th, 2024
Who are the Mughals and the Great Mughals?

After the Western Campaign of 1236-1243, a significant part of the Mongol armies returned back to the previously captured lands of Khorezmshah.

The locomotive and driving force of ethnic histories for many centuries in Central Asian countries was inter-ethnic synthesis. Long-lasting and intensive interactions between representatives of different ethnic entities within the vast region could not but lead to the synthesis of ethnic components, the comprehension of which is still insufficient.

Sometimes the result of interethnic synthesis is the transition of identification characteristics of a people from one state to another. As early as in the XIV century, this collision was known to the Arab historian Al-Omari, author of the book «Ways of Seeing in the States of Different Countries». Characterizing the ethnic histories of the peoples of the Golden Horde, he, in particular, focused on the processes of Turkization of the Mongol conquerors. «In ancient times this state,» Al-Omari wrote about the ethnic fate of the Golden Horde, «was a country of the Kipchaks, but when the Tatars took possession of it, the Kipchaks became their subjects. Then the Tatars mixed and interbred with the Kipchaks, and the land overcame the natural and racial qualities of the Tatars, and they all became exactly Kipchaks, as if they were of the same race with them» [Tizengausen, 1884: 235].

XIII and XIV centuries are the epoch of Mongol conquests of the territory of Asia and a significant part of Eastern Europe. The conquest of the territory of Central and South Asia by Mongols is described in the works of Persian, Arab and Indian historians who were eyewitnesses or contemporaries of the historical events of this time.

After the Western Campaign of 1236-1243, a significant part of the Mongol armies returned back to the previously conquered lands of Khorezmshah, and the number of nomadic Mongols who moved to the conquered lands was not so large. They were mostly drawn into the civilizational orbit and eventually assimilated by the nomadic populations of the Eurasian steppes and the Middle East. The Genghisid era consolidated the Turkization of these territories, adding several new elements (Mongols, Tanguts and Inner Asian Turks) in Central Asia, Western Eurasia and the Middle East.

In the process of creation of the Mongol Empire, there was an inevitable process of destruction of previous ethnic interrelations and displacement of groups of Turkic tribes and other ethnic groups, redrawing and restructuring of their internal structure, and creation of a new Turkic-Mongol political system (Golden, 1992, p. 283). It is also known that as they conquered Eurasia, the Mongol armies proper did not include representatives of exclusively Mongolian ethnos, but were considerably replenished by the conquered Turkic contingent, because even before their arrival Dasht-i Kypchak was populated predominantly by Turkic-speaking tribes speaking Kypchak, Oghuz and other languages, as well as some sedentary elements. Thus, as a result of a kind of «globalization process» that united peoples with different cultures, languages and religions in a huge state union, a unique symbiosis was formed, where in quantitative terms the Turks prevailed under the leadership of the Mongolian elite [A. A. Arslanova, 2019].

The increasing assimilation of Genghisids and Mongols with Turkic forces created a new unique and peculiar socio-political system, which further could not but affect the socio-political, cultural-religious, linguistic, etc. spheres of the huge empire.

Who are the Mughals

In the academic environment, the term Mughal is associated with Moghulistan. This state was formed in the middle of the fourteenth century as a result of the collapse of the Chagatai ulus, which was one of the uluses of the Mongol Empire. «Mogolistan» — is a Persian name meaning «Land of the Moguls» or Mongols (the term «Mogol / Mogul» means «Mongol» in Persian, and «stan» means «camp site, stable, land». The term «Mogolistan» is mostly found in Soviet historiography, while Chinese historiography mostly uses the term «Eastern Chagatai Khanate» (Chinese: 东察合台汗国; pinyin: Dōng Cháhétái Hànguó), which contrasts Mogolistan with the Timurid Empire.

Timurid Empire in 1409.

The Mughal khans themselves considered themselves heirs of Mongol traditions and called themselves Monguls, from what the local Central Asian population called them Moguls. The Ming dynasty Chinese called the Moguls of the Eastern Chagatai Khanate «Mongol tribes» (Chinese: 蒙古部落; pinyin: Ménggǔ Bùluò).

The ethnic composition of Mogolistan in the fourteenth century consisted by then of jure Mongols, as well as various local and resettled Turkic tribes from various parts of Central Asia as a result of the Mongols’ introduction in the thirteenth century of the ulus system of government and possession with the conquered lands and peoples. It is known that these tribes were ruled by Mughal khans and noyons.

The ethnic name «Mughal» referred only to a certain part of the population of Mogolistan. Moguls were a community of nomadic tribes of predominantly Mongolian origin, acting as the ruling class in the state of Mogolistan. The consolidation of the ethnonym «Mogul» in the Chagatai ulus and later in Mogolistan was probably promoted by the desire of the Mogul nobility at first to preserve nomadic traditions and emphasize the continuity of the power of the Chinggisids. According to V. V. Bartold, the local Central Asian population called the invaders and their descendants Mogol (mogul, mugul). So, without «n», was pronounced the folk name of Mongols in Central Asia.

The territory of Mogolistan covered mainly modern Kyrgyzstan and adjacent regions in southeastern Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and western China.

The territory of Mogolistan in 1372

As part of the ruling class, the Mughals lived mostly in cities with other Muslims. They were traditionally known for their skill in horseback riding, archery and wrestling. It is noted that Mughal cuisine is similar to Mongolian cuisine, rich in various meat dishes. Over time, though, the Mughal cuisine has changed towards Central Asian cuisine. However, the Mongolian language was still preserved in the imperial chanceries [Usmanov, 2002, p. 107]. As Bartold wrote, «as early as the beginning of the 16th century the language of the Moguls was Mongolian».

In the XIV-XVII centuries, the Mughals, being a privileged military class, played an important role not only in the history of the peoples of Central Asia, but also in South Asia.

Mughals. Archery competition (Akbar-name)

From the Mughals to the Great Moguls

After the fall of the Timurid dynasty (1370 — 1507) in the early 16th century, Babur, one of the fifth-generation descendants of Emir Timur, captured most of Northern India in 1526, creating the Mughal Empire, which existed in India until the middle of the 19th century (Baburid dynasty).

«Great Moguls» Baburid dynasty called European travelers of the XVII century, neither the founder of the empire, nor his descendants did not call themselves so.

The Mughal Empire was lucky in the sense that its six most powerful rulers — Babur, Humayun, Akbar, Jahangir, Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb — ruled one after the other in succession until the mid-19th century.

The Mughal state reached its greatest prosperity under Shah Jahan (1592-1666). The Mughal state was a centralized feudal monarchy. In XVII century it included all India (except the extreme south) and Kabul. However, at the beginning of the XVIII century, despite the external brilliance and power, began to grow internal crisis, which led soon after the death of Aurangzeb (1707) to infighting and the gradual collapse of the Mughal Empire. By the middle of the 18th century, the Mughals actually owned only Delhi and the surrounding areas.

In the XVIII century, the British East India Company gradually established control over Bengal. In XIX century all possessions of the named dynasties were seized by the East India Company. The weakening of Mughal power and the suppression of the Sipayan rebellion provided an opportunity for the British to depose the Mughal dynasty and establish direct control over Delhi in 1857.

The boundaries of the Mughal Empire at different periods of time

Thus, the Mughal dynasty in India (1526-1858) originated from Emir Timur, who came from the Mongolian tribe of Barlas (in Mongolian «barulas» — those who went to the west).

At the official level in the Mughal Empire, the name of Emir Timur was mentioned predominantly, which was due to a number of important reasons. First, Timur was an ancestor in his father’s direct line — the line most significant for status self-determination in the socio-political stratigraphy. Secondly, Timur, as well as the Mughals themselves, practiced Sunni Islam. In addition, the name of Timur and his descendants were associated with the most significant political and military successes, the powerful rise of urban culture, the flowering of artistic arts and science, known as the Timurid Renaissance.

The Great Moguls positioned themselves as worthy and, more importantly, legitimate heirs of the Timurids and officially called themselves Gurkanids, after the title of Emir Timur (gūrkān, khūrkān — «son-in-law» of Chinggisid) [Jahangir 1999, XXIV]. In modern domestic and foreign (Western and Indian) historiography they are called The Great Mughals, and in Iranian and Tajik literature — Indian Timurids / Gurkanids (timuriyān / gurkāniyān-e hend).

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