Book review of the book BABUR
Parmanand Pandey
Although I
finished reading the book BABUR by Aabhas Maldahiyar almost four months ago,
for reference's sake, I had to go through it again. This book was recommended
to me by a friend, a well-read veteran journalist Jagdish Upasane, when I
visited his house in Raipur a few months ago.
There is no
doubt that the book epitomises deep learning and, the painstaking
hard work of the Author. The Mughal rule was established by Babur, who came
from Ferghana. He lived only for 47 years and ruled in India only for three
years. He had a diabolical hatred for Hindus and Buddhists and his
insensitivity knew no bounds.
During
the entire Mughal rule, India remained an exploited and backward country.
Some pro-Mughal historians keep on saying day and night that, unlike
Britishers, Mughals did not loot Indian money to be sent abroad. But there is
no denying the fact that despite vast resources at their command they did no
developmental work. People were thrown to live in abject poverty. No canals, no
roads worth name or arrangements for safety and security were developed.
While
people were dying of hunger, Babur used to send huge offerings to Mecca and
Madina. Money was paid to the people of Kabul by forcibly extracting it
from the people of Hindustan. He gave one crore forty-eight lakhs and fifty
thousand to one Shaikh Bayazid as a reward for crushing the rebellion.
Babur granted ninety lakhs and thirty thousand to Mahmud Khan and 23 lakhs to
Qazi Jia for the same task. The reward used to be given in Shahrukhi, which was
an Islamic silver coin of roughly 4.6 grams and continued to be
for almost the entire Mughal period.
Babur was
suffering from the vice of pederasty i.e. he used to have with young male
persons. Huge money used to be spent on Eid celebrations. Lakhs of rupees used
to be sent every year to the descendants of Prophet Mohammad. Records tell that
Akbar tried hard to become a Caliph but when things did not work well, he
insisted on declaring himself ‘Padshah-i- Islam.’ A few years later he
established’ Din-e- Illahi, as the religion was deeply embedded in
the Timurid psyche. After Akbar came to Jahangir, who
resumed the tradition of patronage for Haji. He writes in Tarikh-i-Salim Shahi
that Rs two lakh was allocated for Haji.
The fame of
India as a soft milch cow spread throughout the Middle and Near East. Records
state that around Rs 30 lakh was spent by Aurangzeb between 1661 to 1667 for
Islamic purposes. He used to send a gift of Rs lakh to Abdullah Khan, who was a
deposed king of Kashgar. The cash flow to Mecca continued flawlessly under
Aurangzeb through his agents. And this was done when the weavers who spun the
finest brocades and garments went about half-naked.
Shah Jahan
had organised a grand feast on Nauroz in AD 1628 and had gifted abundantly to
each member of royalty. The imperial consort, Mumtaz Mahal received Rs 60 lakh
from the treasury. Jahan Ara, his daughter from Mumtaz was granted 20 lakhs.
The Mughal state was largely unproductive. Their investments were made in two
main forms: hoarding precious metals and jewels. That was the British period in
contrast was highly progressive, evolved systems and undertook many
developmental works, but it is equally true that they also stashed away huge
money to their own country.
Thus, we
find through this book that the Mughal period was the darkest period of
India when subjects were exploited to satisfy the whims and caprices of
Mughal rulers.
