Mughal Administration c16.s2.3

c16.s2.3

The clerks and other office subordinates of the Mughal empire, both Hindu and Muhammadan, formed a brotherhood and lived on terms of the greatest intimacy and mutual aid, giving feasts and dances to each other, as we learn from the memoirs of Bhimsen. In addition to the tie of service in the same department, they were also united in a brotherhood by their love of Sufi philosophy, which formed the common meeting-ground for the Persian-cultured official classes of India in the 17th and more especially in the 18th century. Their letter-books often end with a collection of Sufistic verses of the munshi’s own composition or his favourite author’s.