What news reports from 1600s tell us about life in Mughal India
Summary
Historians have studied thousands of news reports called akhbarat from Mughal India, written in Persian during the late 1600s. These reports, used as an information network, recorded military, political, and court events, providing detailed insights into the empire under Emperor Aurangzeb.Key Facts
- Akhbarat were daily news reports created by scribes and officials in Mughal India starting in the late 16th century.
- They covered topics like military campaigns, court appointments, finances, and gossip.
- The reports were written in Persian and circulated widely between imperial and provincial courts.
- These documents helped unify the large Mughal empire, which ruled much of the Indian subcontinent and nearly a quarter of the world’s population.
- Historian Munis D Faruqui studied over 6,500 pages of these reports over 20 years, focusing on the reign of Emperor Aurangzeb (1658-1707).
- The akhbarat collections exist in India and Britain, with major caches in Kolkata’s National Library, London, Bikaner, and Sitamau.
- Aurangzeb’s reports provide a near-continuous daily record covering about a third of his 49-year reign.
- The documents reveal everyday details of administration and politics as well as a broad view of how the Mughal empire was governed.
Read the Full Article
This is a fact-based summary from The Actual News. Click below to read the complete story directly from the original source.