Mughal Administration c17.s4: § 4. Muslim influence on society, architecture and arts.
Mughal Administration c17.s4
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§ 4. Muslim influence on society, architecture and arts.
c17.s4.1
Fifthly, many elements of modern Hindu social manners in Northern India are due to Islamic influence, which also modified the dress of our gentry and popular literature to some extent. The masses, however, remained unaffected by it.
c17.s4.2
Next, hunting, hawking and many games became Muhammadanised in method and terminology. Persian, Arabic and Turkish words have entered largely into the Hindi, Bengali and even Marathi languages. An exact parallel is afforded by the influence of the Norman Conquest upon English life and language.
c17.s4.3
The art of war was very highly developed by the Muslims, partly by borrowing from Europe through Turkey—and, to a lesser extent, through Persia. The rajahs of the Hindu period used to lead petty forces or the confederation of a number of distinct petty contingents. But the Mughal Emperors commanded vast armies obeying one supreme voice, the handling of which required greater organizing power and capacity, and thus gave greater opportunities for the display of generalship than was possible in the Hindu period. From the point of view of mere organization [as distinct from real efficiency as an instrument of war], the Mughal army was almost perfect in every branch, according to mediæval Asiatic standards.
c17.s4.4
The system of fortification was greatly improved by the Muhammadans in India, as a natural consequence of the general advance of civilisation and the introduction of artillery.
c17.s4.5
Muhammadan rule caused a distinct advance in architecture. The Hindu kings lavished their wealth and skill on temples ; their palaces have all perished, and seem to have been of no high or costly pattern. But the Muhammadans built palaces and tombs in addition to mosques. The semi-circular radiating arch and the vaulted dome are peculiarly Muhammadan, and so also are geometrically laid out gardens.
c17.s4.6
In the domain of the fine arts the richest contribution of the Muhammadans is the Indo-Saracen school of painting. The Mughals introduced Chinese painting by way of Bukhara and Khurasan, and at the Court of Akbar this art mingled with the indigenous Hindu painting, of which traditions still lingered amidst neglect and poverty. The result of the fusion was that the Chinese characteristics were rapidly dropped and a purely Indian appearance was given to pieces marked by undeniable foreign technique. (Studies in Mughal India, 290-291.) Thus, in painting there was a true revival and the highest genius was displayed by our artists in this field in the Mughal age. This style holds the field even now under the name of "Indian art" or "Mughal painting." The so-called Rajput school is only the Mughal or Indo-Saracen style with Hindu mythological or epic subjects. The motifs were different, but not the technique or style.
c17.s4.7
We have seen that Muslim rule in general, and the Mughal empire in particular, achieved many things great and good for mediæval India. Why then did it fail? In order to answer this question it is necessary for us to examine the strength and weakness of the Muslim State in India.