CHAPTERS FROM HISTORY: British version of the Mughal decline
By Mubarak Ali
Generally it is believed that the British came to power in India because of the decline of the Mughal empire; and at this juncture, the Indian society, loosing its cohesion and unity, became fragmented and divided .Its economy collapsed; its moral and ethical values and its traditions and institutions lost their credibility and authority. Consequently, this chaotic condition created a vacuum that was easily filled by the rule of the East India Company. Once in power, the Company inaugurated a new era that ended civil wars, crushed thugs and dacoits, and, by restoring peace and prosperity, established a government that laid down the foundation of political and economic stability. This interpretation of history was accepted for a long time without any challenge. However, in depth study of this period and new evidence proved it defective and one sided. It is now argued that the British historians and politicians present the whole theory of the Mughal decline with exaggeration in order to justify their rule.
There is no doubt that the Mughal empire was on decline after the death of Aurangzeb (1707). There were conspiracies and intrigues at the court that divided the nobility into different groups and weakened the structure of the state. It was the weakness of the state that encouraged Nadir Shah and Ahmad Shah Abdali to invade and plunder the accumulated treasury of the Mughals. In the end, as a result of political weakness, the emperor lost his prestige and depended either on the mercy of the Marathas or of the bounty of the Company. Not only did the emperor lose his glamour but the royal family and aristocracy was reduced to abject poverty. Those who observed the decline of the court and nobility from the point of view of Delhi; they interpreted it as the decline of the Indian society. In reality, the situation was quite different. As Delhi was loosing its past glory, the provincial states emerged with new vigour and energy to play their role. Lukhnow, Bengal, Hyderabad, Bikaner, Jaipur, and Poona were becoming centres of cultural activities. In the state documents of Poona state there are details about civil and rural life that clearly show that there was no disorder or dissatisfaction in the society. Interestingly, during the British rule, historians were not allowed to consult these documents because the government was afraid that the myth of decline would be challenged. In 1917, the governor of Bombay refused C.A. Kincaid to publish his book on Maratrha history fearing that it would contradict the official British point of view.
New research has also proved that the decline of the Mughal state was not the decline of its institutions. The successor states continued the Mughal system in their territories such as Murshid Quli Khan and Ali Vardi Khan in Bengal. Even Rajit Singh in the mid-19th century retained most of the Mughal institutions in his state.
Similarly, neither political decadence nor disintegration of authority exhausted the creative energy of the Indian society. Throughout the period, the society vehemently expressed its innovations in cultural and social activities. Herman Goetz in his book The Crisis of Indian Civilization in the Eighteenth and early Nineteenth Centuries writes: “For those symptoms of decadence which have been made a reproach to 18th century India, are clearly discernible in all those times which we consider as glorious periods in the history of other peoples. Can we overlook the fairy like palaces and gardens of Jaipur, Jodhpur, Dig, Udaipur, Lahore, Lukhnow, Murshidabad, and Poona? Can we deny the sweetness and the refined taste of the innumerable paintings of those times? Can we forget the Golden Age of Urdu, Bengali and Marathi literature? Can we doubt the high accomplishment of the music and dancing of those times? Or the refinement of social life and the important position of women in that society? Must we not come to the conclusion that the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries have been a period not only of political and economic decline, but also of the highest refinement of Indian culture?”
One of the positive effects of the decline of the Mughal court was that the high and refined culture which was the monopoly of king and nobility, was released from their clutches and spread all over India. Artists, poets, historians, and artisans wandered from one place to another for patronage. They experienced a new life outside the court that stimulated their creativeness. They found new venue to work and new topics to express their sentiments. Consequently, it enriched the Indian culture.
Neither did the society collapse because of economic standstill. Merchants and traders remained busy in their trade and supplied material to markets all over India. We find lots of details that how new markets were established in towns and cities and increasingly became hubs of commercial activities. These are documented by C.A. Bayly in his book Townsmen and Bazaars: North Indian Society in the Age of British Expansion 1770-1870.
Another important characteristic of this time was that the religious prejudices of people decreased. A popular religion was emerging with strong tendency to integrate different religious communities together. Shrines and sites for pilgrimages were thronged by common people where they buried their religious differences and mingled with each other.
Therefore, it is evident that the whole theory of the Mughal decline and the coming of British as replacement was invented by British historians and popularized so extensively that it had become a hard fact of history. It takes time to deconstruct myths and bring to light real facts. The task has been done and now, it is proved that the Mughal decline did not affect the Indian society as a whole. It remained alive, energetic and survived all political upheavals.
