The Untruth-full Indian HIstory

Every one of us, including the textbooks that we read, fantasise and eulogises the Moghul period. In fact, a few months ago, some so-called Islamic power-wigs garishly claimed that ‘Moghuls have given much to the generations by building a Taj Mahal, a Red Fort…’. Are you serious[?]

Let me list down what all did the Moghuls build [and, I am listing ONLY the famous one.]

Taj Mahal—a white marble mausoleum on the banks of Jumna at Agra, a red sandstone fort at Delhi; a white and red mosque near the fort, an octagonal mausoleum with arched gateways near to Dargah Nizamuddin, the Badshahi Mosque (one of the most substantial worldwide) at Lahore, and few baghs (gardens) at Kashmir, Lahore and other cities of India. *hmmm…*

If one deduce the mean of all these creations, one gets elaborate burial places, grand places of worship, elegant gardens and, residential houses. So, how did Moghuls made any contribution to Indian politics or administration or economy? What made them great? In fact, except Babor [despite being presented as unruly, and a despot], no other Moghul administrator showed any excellence, not even Akbar, who lifted all his administrative and military ideas from Sher Shah Suri.

Jahangir spent most of his time drinking cups of wine, Shah Jahan, (I would have hired him as Chief Architect if I own an Architectural House), and longest-living Aurangzeb was busy handling with the rising insurgencies at Bijapore, Malwa, Mahrattas, Rohilla, Sikhs. In fact, he has his eye on the Deccan and somewhat inclined to the western trading ports (on the Arabian Sea). The later Moghuls, after Aurangzeb died in 1707, were loose cannons—they splurge, they killed (Farukk Siyyar versus Sikh Gurus), lecherous homosexuals (read, Muhammad Shah Rangeela), or the tired, haggard (Akbar II and his son, Zafar).

On the other hand, Sher Shah Suri built a trading road, the Grand Trunk Road, connecting the prominent cities from Chittagong to Afghanistan. The new road was an alternative to Old Silk Route that runs from Khotan in China, Galwan Valley, Tibet, Kazakhstan, Badakshan to Central Eurasia. Five hundred years ago, a man from Bihar envisioned and challenged the Chinese Han and Qing dynasty plan. [That was the first CPEC project, got it.] Anyways, not only, the road but Suri built approximately 1700 caravansarais by the road to facilitate the traders, horsemen, and local marketers.

Suri revived the Ala-ud-din Khilji’s plan to have a central monetary reserve, government control on the military establishment, paymasters and salary hikes or the soldiers, percentile distribution (or remuneration) from the looted booty, and others. Alas, the man is known or portrayed only as thuggish, and coarse; and casting his roving eye on Padmini—a Singhalese princess married to Raja Ratan Sen or Chittaur. [Only a few aware of his devoutness for Hazrat Nizamuddin, the [in]famous Sufi saint.]

None of the Moghuls did any of the above…so, how Moghuls become great? [Now, I wondered.] Is it only because of Taj Mahal or a Red Fort? The problem [according to me] is the way the history was told or rescripted by the (allegedly paid) some historians.

The ‘Discovery of India’ [well, some will label me as bhakt or Nehru basher] serve as the template, and most historians don’t look beyond the Moghuls—a dynasty ruled before British. There are large numbers of research works by Jadunath Sarkar, B B. Lal, Sanyal, Elliot or Moore that NCERT never recommends to students. Famous travelogues by Forster, Tully or Fraser were sidestepped. Forget about the diaries of Megasthenese or Fa Hien or Hiuen Tsang or Al-Masoodi—hardly the junta even knows about them.

We are happy to be ignorant lest skeletons would tumble out of the closet and make us ‘think’. We are tired to think; hence, all that is said, either a truth or laughable (depends on the agenda we subscribe.) History makes us yawn, talk on ancient medicine or astronomy makes us laugh, customs makes us snigger; facts make us cringe—we are happy to be ignorant.

So, the next time, when somebody says, ‘Akbar is a Great King’ we would applaud, not realising he and his descendants have done nothing except building burial and pleasure houses. 

[Note: Some of the Moghul’s kins, however, are well-read; interestingly the majority of them are caged spinster daughters. They have different views on administration, religion, and even the social structure of society. Alas! There book, poems, and calligraphies either lies moth-eaten or locked in some unknown museum.]