Islam in Central Asia and Mughal India

1. Islam in Central Asiaand Mughal India January 8, 2013

2. Review: • How long did people normally live in pre-modern societies? Why has the average life span changed? • How much formal education was available for the average man and woman in pre-modern societies? • What kind of government did China have in 1500? • What kind of government did India have at that time? • What about Southeast Asia? Besides Vietnam, what sorts of governments do we see in 1500?

3. Predatory Governments • Pre-modern governments tended to be quite different from governments today. They usually did not even try to represent or help the people they governed. Instead, they were predatory governments: • They existed for the benefit of the rulers at the expense of the ruled. They used the revenues they collected from their subjects to enrich the rulers instead of doing as modern governments do and use the taxes they collect to better the lives of those they ruled with schools, social housing, medical care, etc. Neo-Confucian governments were somewhat better, but even they didn’t exert much effort to improve the material living conditions of those they ruled over.

4. Two types of societies • Nomadic---pastoral societies in which those who rely on flocks of sheep or other such animals for sustenance move regularly with their flocks to find places for their animals to feed. In pastoral societies, horses are important, men are often warriors, and women have more authority than they do in sedentary societies. • sedentary societies--usually agricultural societies rather than pastoral. They need to stay in place to reap the harvest from the grain they sowed months earlier. There are also sedentary societies that rely primarily on commerce. They need a set location to store their goods.

5. Religious Geography Today • Islam is the dominant religion in Central Asia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Malaysia • Theravada Buddhism is the dominant religion in Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, and Cambodia • Mahayana Buddhism is the dominant form of Buddhism in Japan, Korea, China, and Vietnam. Confucianism still influences China, Korea, Vietnam, and, to a lessor extent, Japan • Tibetan Buddhism is dominant in Tibet and Mongolia • Hinduism is dominant in India. • Christianity is strong in the Philippines (not in 1500)

6. The spread of Islam • Central Asia: Islam was spread by Arab, Persian, and Turkic merchants (and some Sufi missionaries) who traveled along the Silk Road. (Not all Central Asians were nomads. Some lived in oasis towns rather than moving around in the steppe.) Among the groups converted were the Uighurs, who used to be Christians. By 1600, Central Asia was mostly Muslim. • Maritime Southeast Asia: Islam was spread by merchants from South Asia. Melaka, on the Malay peninsula, was one early Islamic trading centre. • Why did mainland Southeast Asia stay mostly Buddhist?

7. Identifying elements of Hinduism • belief that there is hierarchy of gods, with one god at the top,though they don’t always agree on which god that is. • respect for the Vedas (the ancient texts of northern India) • belief in dharma (duty according to station in life), in reincarnation, and in karma, the law of spiritual cause and effect--which is used to explain caste (hereditary occupational status) • respect for the cow • belief that salvation (escape from suffering) is possible • what you do is more important than what you believe.

8. Defining Islam • Monotheism--there is but one God • Respects the Quran as the word of God. • Doctrine, what you believe, is very important. • believes in heaven and hell, not in reincarnation • refrains from eating pork, but eats beef. • Requires ritual prayer five times a day, and fasting during daylight during the month of Ramadan.

9. Hindu-Islam Contrasts • Hinduism has statues of many gods. Islam believes in only one god, who cannot be depicted. • Sunni services lack music. Hindu rituals can be very noisy. • Muslims don’t eat pork, but can eat beef. Hindus tend not to eat beef or pork. • Islam teaches the equality of all men. Hinduism accepts the caste system. (However, in actual practice in South Asia, Muslim communities also have a hereditary status hierarchy.)

10. First Muslims in India • Arab Muslims settled in the Sindh in 711. • Turks established a sultanate in Delhi in 1206. This, and the sultanates that followed, were among many states in India at that time. The first Delhi sultanate was called a Slave Dynasty (Trautmann, p. 148) Why was it called that? • Were many Indians part of these Muslim governments? (Trautmann, p 151) • Were Indians forced to be Muslims or did many Indians convert to Islam of their own free will? (p. 152)

11. The Mughals come to India • Who were the Mughals? Muslim Turks from Central Asia, who also spoke Persian • Mughal rulers: Babur (1483-1530) • Humayun ( 1530-1540, 1555-1556) • Akbar (1556-1605) • Jahangir (1605-1628) • Shah Jahan (1628-1658) • Aurangzeb (1658-1707)

12. Were the Mughals Indians? • Saw themselves as Turkish-Mongolian descendants of Genghis Khan and Timur the Lame. Followed Central Asian Islam • continued Turkish tradition of bloody battles among brothers when their father, the ruler, died. • Enjoyed Timurid gardens, in which they held parties at which they recited poetry, drank, and used drugs. • They like to stay on the move, living in both palaces and tents. • Persian and Turkic were used at court, along with what became Hindi-Urdu.

13. Resistance to the Mughals • Resistance from the Hindu states of southern India (though Vijayanagara was destroyed in the 16th century) • Rajputs ---Hindu warriors from Rajasthan in northwestern India. • Sikhs---a new religious group that took up arms in self-defence in the Punjab. • Marathas -- a Hindu group from western India who rose up in the 17th century under the leadership of Shivaji.

14. Mughal Government • Centralized, but staffed by warrior-aristocrats, who led armies personally loyal to them. • Collected taxes on agriculture (with the help of zamindars) and commerce throughout the entire empire • Ritual, both secular and religious, was used to enhance the authority of top officials. • Personal nature of ties that held the government together led to fighting at the top over succession, with emperors being overthrown by their own sons. • Sometimes levied a special tax on non-Muslims. (p.146)

15. the Mughal economy • Was the world’s leading producer of cotton textiles. Also produced silk, and indigo (a dye) • Had a vibrant internal economy, with goods circulating throughout the empire. • Towns serving as commercial centres appeared all over the Mughal empire, both along the coast and inland. • This commercial activity led to occupational diversification, from weavers and spinners to wholesalers and retail merchants and financiers.

16. Mughal Culture • Indo-Persian Culture • Persian language, and the rise of Urdu • Architecture and miniature paintings. • New styles of music (the sitar)

17. Religion under the Mughals • Growing consciousness of differences between Muslims and non-Muslims, because of the stance of many of the Mughal emperors. Did many Indians convert to Islam? (p. 152) • Besides encouraging religious debates at his court, raising hope among Christian missionaries that he would convert, what other original steps did Akbar take in regard to religion? (p. 159) . • The birth of the Sikh religion, South Asia’s first indigenous monotheistic religion. Sikhs are neither Muslims nor Hindus, though they share the Hindu belief in reincarnation and Muslim monotheism. Though Sikhs are important, they remain a small religious minority in South Asia outside of the Punjab region.