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Did Mughals See Themselves as Indians

Did Mughals see themselves as Indians

Claim: After Babur every Mughal King was the product of an Indian wife. They knew no other homeland, lived, loved, died & were buried in India. So, they were Indians

Source: https://twitter.com/ShashiTharoor/status/1643854952484446208

Fact:

  1. Humayun’s mom Mahan Begum was a Persian.
  2. Akbar’s mom Hamida Banu Begum was a Persian.
  3. Aurangzeb’s mom Mumtaz Mahal was a Persian.
  4. Mughals definitely knew of their Turani homeland and dreamed of getting it back. Which is why Shahjahan conducted the expensive Balkh invasion at no real profit whatsoever.
  5. Even a late Mughal like Aurangzeb considered himself a Turani (Central Asian) and not Hindustani (Indian).
  6. Infact, Aurangzeb said Hindustanis are naturally inferior and mean. In Aurangzeb’s India:
  • Foreign Muslims such as Iranis and Turanis commanded high status and occupied high positions.
  • Mughals looked down upon native convert Indian Muslims for being dark and ugly.
  • This is why these native Indian Muslims married women from Kashmir so that their children could look fair and pass off for genuine “Mughals”.

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In Mughal India, foreign Muslims like Iranis and Turanis were around 1% of the population. Yet, they enjoyed most of the higher positions. Out of 51 Mansabdars with the rank of 5000:

  1. 45% were Persians.
  2. 17% were Turani Turks.
  3. Only 7% were Indian Muslims.

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Source

  1. https://twitter.com/TrueIndology/status/1644254557525147648
  2. The King and the People: Sovereignty and Popular Politics in Mughal Delhi by Abhishek Kaicker
  3. The Mughal Nobility Under Aurangzeb by Athar Ali
  4. The Mughal Empire by John F Richards