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This chapter looks at the lives and texts of important Brajbhasha writers who were associated with the Mughal court. Although this court is most often linked to Persian literature, a surprising number of Brajbhasha poets also attracted the notice of Mughal patrons. Their achievements have been largely lost to the historical record; thus, uncovering the nature of the social, political and cultural interactions that the Mughal patronage of Brajbhasha represents opens up new perspectives on the period. Brajbhasha writers—prominent figures include Kavindracharya Sarasvati, Sundar, and Vrind—performed a variety of functions for the court. They could be teachers, poets, musicians, even ambassadors. Some members of the Mughal political establishment, such as Rahim, also tried their hand at Hindi literary composition. Contrary to conventional wisdom, this pattern continued into the reign of Aurangzeb and beyond.

This chapter focuses on Guru Arjan and his place in Indian history. It traces the historical origins of the Sikh tradition and looks at the social and political milieu of Guru Nanak's early life. It then moves on to discuss the historical setting of Guru Arjan's life, which encompassed the reign of two Mughal emperors, Akbar (r. 1556–1605) and Jahangir (r. 1605–1628). It constructs a brief outline of Guru Arjan's life, including the 25 years of his ministry during which he built the Darbar Sahib and compiled the first authoritative text of the Adi Granth. The growing strength of the Sikh Panth is first placed in context of the liberal policies of Emperor Akbar which sheltered the Guru and his followers for some time; and later with Jahangir, when it conflicted with Mughal authorities leading to the Emperor invoking the Yasa to impose the death penalty on Guru Arjan. The reconstruction of his life offers a chance to understand the dynamics of the history and culture of the Sikhs, as well as the rapidly changing religious and cultural landscape in Mughal India.

Guru Arjan's execution by Mughal authorities is the most controversial issue in Sikh history. Most historians of Mughal India look at this event from a political angle, while most Sikh scholars view it as only the first of a long series of religious persecutions suffered by the Sikhs at the hands of Mughal authorities. This chapter examines the contemporary and near-contemporary sources on Guru Arjan's execution and shows that it was Emperor Jahangir who sentenced him to death. Although the main reason for Guru Arjan's execution was his alleged blessing of the rebel Prince Khusrau, other urgent religious, socio-cultural, and economic factors also played a role. In particular, it was Bhai Gurdas who placed a reconstruction on the death of Guru Arjan in the ideal of martyrdom. Guru Arjan's martyrdom is significant to Sikh history because it contributed to the growth of the Sikh community's self-consciousness, separatism, and militancy.

This chapter explores Jahangir's—Akbar's heir—innovations to messianic kingship, which were in the form of sacred art. It is well acknowledged that painting was an important medium for Jahangir, one to which he applied a great deal of inventive energy. In the sphere of art, Jahangir distinguished himself from his father in both style and content. Instead of commissioning grand illustrated histories or epics, he ordered a series of highly innovative paintings, arranged in albums, which broke the mold of the Persian miniature tradition. Many of these Jahangiri paintings are thought to date from or after the period when Jahangir had moved his court to Ajmer for three years (1615–1618). Instead of writing down his miracles, he had them painted; thus, the painted image played a central role in the Mughal institution of imperial discipleship.

Sikri was ‘abandoned’ as a capital in 1585. Though Akbar never returned, the town survived into the next reign as a textile town where not only rugs were being woven but also indigo cultivation and production was taking place. The palaces and nobles’ quarters were abandoned, but the city continued to flourish. It was visited by Jahangir and later a number of times by Shahjahan, who also built his own lodge. Situated on the top of the ridge, the Shahjahani palace was initially identified by its excavator as ladies’ quarters. It was re-identified by the author as Shahjahan’s palace on the basis of its surface decorations and its reference in one of the sources from Shahjahan’s reign. The last reference to a royal visit to Fathpur Sikri is from the reign of Muhammad Shah, who is said to have remained there for some time.

This chapter examines the careers of Jahangir and Yusuf, two Sufi khwajas who led local resistance against the Qing-beg state in the early nineteenth century. The violent process of beg-initiated agrarian development contributed to the emergence of a rapidly expanding community of refugees in the rugged mountainsides of Pamir and Tianshan. By leading revolts, the two khwaja transformed themselves from being mere émigrés to “organic” religious leaders who represented the mountain people’s energy, frustration, and anxiety. The Qing response, the Nayancheng reform policies (1828 -1829) ironically increased the power of the khwaja coalition. The empire’s military reinforcement increased burdens of taxation and forced labor on the oasis villagers, contributing to an upsurge of number of the refugees. The Qing trade embargo on the Khoqand merchants also forced its ruler, who had been a reliable ally of the Qing, to join forces with the khwajas instead, if reluctantly.

Chapter 6 examines Persianate histories, literary retellings of Sanskrit stories, and manuscript notes in order to capture the wide-ranging Persianate receptions of Akbar’s cross-cultural interests in particular. Ultimately I argue that Mughal encounters with Sanskrit came to partially define Indo-Persian culture.

This chapter draws on Jesuit material and the autobiographical narrative of a Mughal notable, Asad Beg Qazwini, in order to consider how matters of succession were managed at the time of the demise of Akbar's reign. In particular, the text of Asad Beg and several other contemporary sources illuminates both the nature of the transition between Akbar and Jahangir and the last years of Akbar's reign, and in so doing map the forms of legitimacy that have come to shape Mughal authority in the succeeding years. Recent years have seen renewed attention directed by researchers on the evolution of Akbar's religious and social policy, which contributed to the image that he had.