Enquiring minds enquire what the Mughals left us as a legacy. A topic often brought up by television show hosts and various writers in the media. The question acquires greater poignancy when compared to the British: after all the British left us with railways, canals, telegraph and roads. What they forget to mention is the other baggage: an insurmountable barrier of language, class and privilege.

In terms of legacy, first we have to understand that the Mughals’ purpose was not the creation of a nation state. They were here to form an empire. After the dissolution of the Amir Timur’s vast empire, small feudal states were the lot of his descendants; Samarkand, Fergana, Afghanistan and other Central Asian principalities. With changing tides and circumstances, but very aware of their heritage, the rulers, including Babur, were forced to seek their fortunes elsewhere. After managing to establish a base in Afghanistan, earlier ruled by a cousin of his, Babur managed to establish a tentative hold in the subcontinent after defeating the Lohdi Sultanate and warding off the Rajput challenge, led by the Raja of Mewar. Thus the foundation of an empire was laid which continued for the next 331 years.

The comparison with the British is a non-starter as the Mughals did not come as a colonial power to siphon off all natural resources to the motherland. Agreed, they also monopolised the resources and used them according to their whims. Yet, the resources stayed within the country and the dynasty eventually became a part of this soil. The Mughals’ excesses were many, but exclusion, segregation, intolerance and demeaning of the local populace, were not a part of the agenda. Their secular credentials and inclusiveness can be easily discerned through their marriages to locals, their martial and other alliances. Even Aurangzeb’s apparent religious fanaticism had some linkage with the raising of funds to finance his almost perpetual warfare in the Deccan and the South.

During the Mughal rule, there was no racial segregation and no analogy of the locals with dogs was on display on the club doors. The land system devised by one of Akbar’s nine jewels, Raja Todar Mal, a Hindu, still forms the basic framework of our land revenue system. Other Mughal accomplishments remain numerous. Their contribution to art, architecture, music, poetry and other fine arts remain incomparable and that forms an integral part of the our cultural heritage even today.

However, not much remains of the majestic past of the race. — AM Lahori (AmLahori@gmail.com)

Published in Dawn, September 26th, 2016