The Formation of the Mughal Empire

by Streusand, Douglas E.

• ISBN13: 9780195647884
• ISBN10: 0195647882
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-04-29
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

This history of the Mughal empire examines the rituals of the Mughal court, the process of the empire's expansion, and Akbar's political and administrative initiatives in order to explain the fundamental characteristics of the Mughal polity. Streusand also places Mughal institutions and practices in their political and cultural contexts to explain how the Mughal ruling class coalesced from heterogeneous groups that retained their own identities.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	ix
Introduction	1	(22)
Themes and Historiography	2	(15)
Present-Minded Interpretation: The National Kingship Hypothesis	2	(6)
General Interpretations: Bureaucracy and the Gunpowder Empire Hypothesis	8	(5)
Themes and Structure	13	(4)
Sources	17	(4)
Terminology and Technicalities	21	(2)
In the Beginning	23	(28)
Islamic Precedents	23	(14)
General Patterns	23	(12)
Islamic Precedents in the Subcontinent	35	(1)
Babur and Humayun	36	(1)
Indian Precedents	37	(3)
Hindustan Before the Akbari Transformation	40	(10)
The Armed Peasantry	41	(3)
The Components of the Mughal Ruling Class	44	(5)
Geography	49	(1)
Conclusions	50	(1)
The Process of Expansion	51	(31)
Mughal Military Superiority and its Significance	51	(18)
Akbar's Battles	52	(5)
Akbar's Sieges	57	(8)
Evaluation	65	(4)
What Victories Meant	69	(3)
Comparison with the Ottomans	69	(1)
The Armed Peasantry and the Mughal Regime in the Provinces	70	(2)
The Course of Expansion in Hindustan	72	(8)
Recapitulation	80	(2)
First Initiatives	82	(26)
Bayram Khan's Regency	82	(6)
The Beginning of Administrative Reform	88	(1)
The Chishti Connection	89	(2)
The Revolt of Mirza Sharaf Al-Din Husayn Ahrari	91	(1)
Akbar, Delhi, Agra, and Fathepur Sikri	92	(2)
The Uzbeg Revolt	94	(8)
The Mirzas and the Atgah Khayl	102	(4)
Summary	106	(2)
The Definitive Reforms	108	(15)
The Mansabdari System and Provincial Administration	108	(6)
Constitutional Developments	114	(9)
The Akbari Constitution	123	(31)
Court Rituals	123	(6)
Abu Al-Fazl's Doctrine of Sovereignty and Society	129	(8)
Sulh-I Kull as Sovereign Cults	137	(1)
Emperor and Officers	138	(10)
Akbar as Spiritual Guide	148	(4)
Summary	152	(2)
Crisis and Compromise	154	(19)
The Great Revolt	154	(12)
Khwajah Shah Mansur Shirazi	166	(4)
The Akbari Compromise	170	(3)
Conclusions	173	(9)
The Status of Mansabdar	173	(3)
The Mechanism of Formation	176	(2)
The Nature of the Mughal Polity	178	(4)
Select Bibliography	182