Medieval-indian-history / Mughal Empire / Literature during Mughals
Literature during Mughals
- During the Mughal rule, several languages flourished, including Persian, Sanskrit, and regional languages.
- Persian was the official language of administration in the Mughal Empire.
- Urdu was developed as a common language for communication between people speaking different dialects.
- Babur wrote his autobiography, Tuzuk-i-Baburi, in the Turki language, which provides details about the flora and fauna of India.
- The Baburnama contains illustrations of the fauna of India.
- Abdul Rahim Khan translated the Tuzuk-i-Baburi into Persian.
- Abdul Fazl wrote the Akbarnama, a history of Akbar, and Ain-i-Akbari, a book on administration.
- Jahangir wrote his autobiography, Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri, while Mutamid Khan wrote the biography of Jahangir as Iqbalnamah-i-Jahangir.
- Shahjahan's biography, Padshanamah, was written by Abdul Hamid Lahori and Inayat Khan, with Inayat Khan also writing the Shahjahan Namah.
- Persian literature was enriched by translations of Sanskrit works, such as the Mahabharata under the supervision of Abul Faizi, and the Bhagavat Gita and Upanishads translated by Dara Shikoh.
- Badauni, a bitter critic of Akbar, translated the Mahabharata into Persian as Razanamah.
- Regional languages such as Bengali, Oriya, Rajasthani, and Gujarathi also developed during the Mughal period.
- Hindi poets were attached to the Mughal court, including Tulsidas, who wrote the Hindi version of the Ramayana, the Ramcharitmanas, and Jaganath Pandithraya, court poet of Shahjahan, who wrote two Sanskrit books, Ganga Lahari and Rasagangadharam.
