Historiography in Mughal Period of India

     

           Short History

Salient features of historiography in Mughal Period of India 

The historiography of  Mughal India is much more advanced than the historiography of the Sultanate period in many ways. During the Mughal period the historians got success in overcoming the defects of the earlier period.  The following were the salient feature of Mughal histography. 

A) The Mughal period was an age of development in every sphere. Historiography also did not leg behind. We find nature and sober elements in historiography of this period.

B) The Society and common masses were altogether neglected during the Sultanate period but in Mughal period much stress was given on the neglected aspect of history. The historians of this period collected lot of source materials from different sources, therefore a lot of dependable material is available during this time for writing political and cultural history of this period. 

C) Owing to their biases and fanaticism the Sultan of this period did not pay attention  to the fine arts but the Mughal rulers and historians paid due attention to it as a result music, dance, drama and other fine arts flourished. 

D) The Mughal rulers were themselves great writers and they wrote autobiographies and appointed historians to produce their biographies. Hence under the guidance of the Mughal ruler, the historiography of this period developed very much.  

E) During Mughal period attempts were made to make history free from the influence of religion. Now the historian did not favour the theory of divine in history. Thus history become secular during this period. 

F) Independent history was also written in this period. Many historians  completed their works without the patronage of royal courts, hence their works were written without partiality. Their approach of writing was completely subjective. 

G) Now history was not only an account of recorded events but it was fully based on the theory of cause and effect. The historians also added their critical views in their works. 

H) Contrary to the Sultanate period a great number of specialized and general historians were written without the patronage of the royal court. It therefore, enriched the historiography of the Mughal period. 

I) The historians of this era tapped all the sources such as official documents, letters, firamans, accounts of travelers, before completion of their work. Hence now history was not based on traditional way of writing. The historians of Mughal period cared much for the authenticity and reliability. 

Professor Luniya categorises historical literature of Mughal period in eight categories. They are – 

i. Official Histories

ii. Government Records

iii. Biographies and Memoires 

iv. Non Official Histories 

v. Local or Provincial Histories

vi. Collection of Letters

vii. Official manuals and 

viii. Literary Works 

All these sources are available in one form or the other and they are the most significant source material for writing the history of the Mughal period.  No matter, that most of the source material is written in Persian, but its translation help the historians even then they are ignorant of this language.