Social Conditions during Mughal
Period
The Mughal period proved to be an age
of invention from the social and religious points of view. Both the rival
cultures had influenced each other to a great extent due to prolonged contact
and the ties of caste system which began to loosen during the Mughal period and
the low-caste Hindus being motivated by the principle of Millat of Islam began
to swing towards Islam. As a result, a new era began to emerge in the social
sphere. The process of synthesis began to flourish rapidly during the regime of
liberal Mughal rulers, and Hindu-Muslim unity reached its zenith due to the
liberal outlook of Emperor Akbar. He not only appointed Hindus on high and lucrative
posts without any distinction of caste and creed but also married Hindu
princesses and strengthened the tie of Hindu-Muslim unity. During his reign
Hindu and Muslim students used to study Sanskrit and Persian in the same school.
Urdu was the medium of expressing views for
Hindus and Muslims which facilitated the amalgamation of both the cultures. Jahangir
and Shahjahan also maintained this tradition but with the accession of
Aurangzeb all the efforts of Akbar and his successors ended in smoke as
Aurangzeb was a fanatic ruler and did not wish to see Hindus with an equal eye,
therefore, once again a gulf emerged between the two rival cultures.
Feudal system was the basis of Mughal
society whose crown-head was the emperor himself. Mansabdars, scholars and
craftsmen formed another group but labours and peasants were the poorest and
the most miserable. Thus, there was a wide gulf between the privileged and the
unprivileged.
During the Mughal period, the general
people of both the Hindu and the Muslim communities wore similar dresses. Babur
refers in his memoirs that the labourers and peasants moved about mostly naked.
The males used mostly languta and the females covered their body only with one
cloth. Normally, Hindus wore dhoti and Muslims trousers. Turban was used by
Hindus and Muslims alike but their style was different. Woolen and cotton shawls
were also used by men. People belonging to rich families used to wear clothes
stitched with gold thread, pearls and they put diamonds on their clothes. Qaba (a
long coat) was also used by Hindus and Muslims. Hindus women wore Saree and
angia but Muslim women used paijama, ghaghra, jacket and dupatta. People used
to wear clothes of cotton or silk according to their status. Muslim ladies used
to wear burka when they went to a public place.
Monserrate has written about the
dress of the emperor : “His Majesty wore clothes of silk beautifully
embroidered in gold. His Majesty’s cloak comes down to his hose and boots cover
his ankles completely and (he) wears pearls and gold jewellery.”
Men and women both used ornaments
during the mughal period. Women used to load their bodies with various
ornaments from head to toe. In his book Ain-i-Akbari Abul Fazl refers to
37 types of ornaments which women used to make use of. Men and women both wore ear-rings,
finger-rings and necklaces; but bracelets, bajuband, bangles,
champakali and guluband etc. were put on by women only.
People belonging to high and meddle
class also made use of cosmetics in order to increase attraction in their
personality. Ain-i-Akbari relates a long list of perfumes along with
their price which were used by the people of the Mughal period. Noorjahan’s
mother Begum Asmat invented the rose perfume and fashions were improved by
Noorjahan and Mumtaz Mahal. Artificial hair, menhdi and kajal
were also in vague and polishing on nails and lips was also prevalent during
the Mughal period.
As regards the sources of
recreations, people besides using intoxicating material such as liquor,
tobacco, opium and bhang, also took keen interest in wrestling, animal fights,
chess, chaupar, hunting, dancing and singing. All the Mughal emperors
were fond of intoxicants except Aurangzeb, Babur, Humayun and Jahangir used it
in excess.
Women were held in high esteem in
ancient India but with the passage of time, their condition began to
deteriorate and during medieval period their condition worsened. Child marriage,
polygamy, Sati, Jauhar and Purdah system made their condition all
the more deplorable. However, there were very influential and intelligent woman
like Rani Karanvati, Jodha Bai, Durgavati, Rupmati, Chand Bibi, Noorjahan,
Mumtaj Mahal, Jahanara, Roshanara, Jebunnisa, Jija Bai, Tara Bai etc. who
affected contemporary politics. Butthese were royalladies or women belonging to
the upper class. Women in general who were deprived of education and
fundamental rights suffered a lot during this period. Akbar, who was a great
reformist endeavored to restrict child marriage and fix the age of marriage but
he could not succeed completely in his mission. He also prohibited sati and
encouraged female education but he succeeded in his goal only partly.
Purdah was very much strictly
observed in Muslims society as compared to Hindus. Badauni writes, “If a young
woman was found running about the streets and bazaars of the own and while so
doing did not veil herself or allowed herself to become unveiled ….. she was to
go to the quarters of prostitution and take up the profession.” But queen
Noorjahan was an exception who gave up purdah and presented herself
before public without adopting veil.
In Hindu society, divorce and widow
marriage were discouraged. Dr. A.S. Altekar mentions, “No divorce was allowed,
even though the husband was morally weak and grievously ill-treated his wife.”
Peter Della Valle comments, “Widows were not re-married. Their hairs were cut
and were made to spend their lives as creatures neglected by themselves and
others.” But the Muslim ladies could have divorce easily and they married after
divorce or death of their husband.
Indian women had a special
characteristic of putting themselves on the funeral pyre of their husbands
after their death and they often performed jauhar when they felt defeat
of their men-folk in war inevitable. Thus
in order to save themselves from the clutches of the licentious Tatars, they
burnt themselves to ashes alive. Jahangir has written in his autobiography
about jauhar, “It (Jauhar) is the fire of fame and chastity so
that the hand of no unlawful person should touch the skirt of their chastity.”
As regards the diet of both the
communities, the Hindus and the Muslims, there was not much difference between
the two. Both used roti, rice, meat, fruits, milk butter etc., but the
people belonging to lower class of society took ordinary food. Most of the
Hindus, i.e., Jains and Brahmins, did not even touch meat.
Festivals were also a source of
entertainment for both the communities. Muslims celebrated Nauraj, Id-ul-Fitr,
Id-ul-Zuha, Bara Wafat, Ramzan etc., whereas Hindus used to celebrate Holi,
Diwali, Dashehra, Basant, Durga Puja, etc. Liberal Mughal rulers also
participated in Hindu festivals along with the general masses but Auraangzeb
prohibited their celebration.
In spite of all the changes that took
place in the social conditions of the people of India during the reign of the
Muslim rules no progress was made in the field of culture, as Dr. A. L.
Srivastava writes, “The Hindu society remained practically static throughout
the medieval age (A.D. 1200-1803). In fact, it deteriorated morally and
materially.”
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