Indian History

Mast of a Portuguese Ship at Bandel Church, Hooghly / Image Credit   Portugal was the first European power to establish factories and trading settlements in India in the early 16th century. In 1579–80, a Portuguese captain named Pedro Tavares received a firman from Mughal emperor to establish a city in Bengal for the Portuguese. The Portuguese were also allowed to preach their religion.  As a consequence, a Portuguese colony was established at Hughli (in 1579 AD). The famous church of Bandel in Hooghly was built by the Portuguese.  The friendly attitude of Akbar towards the Portuguese was continued by his son and next Mughal emperor Jahangir.   Jahangir died in October 1627 and after a short interregnum marked by violent conflict among the other claimants for the throne, his son Shah Jahan became emperor in 1628 by eliminating all other possible contenders to the throne.  Shahryar Mirza (youngest son of Jahangir), Dawar Bakhsh (Grandson of Jahangir and Khus...

Tomb of  Bibi Pari / Image Credit One of the famous Mughal monuments in Bangladesh, the seventeenth century tomb of Bibi Pari   was built by the Mughal Subahdar of Bengal Shaista Khan for her daughter Iran Dukht Rahmat Banu. She was married to Muhammad Azam Shah, son of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.  Tomb of Bibi Pari is located within the Lalbagh Fort in Dacca.  The construction of  Lalbagh Fort, then known as   Aurangabad Qila,  was started by Muhammad  Azam Shah  in 1678, and was being continued by his successor Shaista Khan.  Mirza Abu Talib, popularly known as Shaista Khan, was appointed Mughal Subahdar of Bengal by his uncle and Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb after the death of Mir Jumla in 1663.  Mir Jumla was made governor of Bengal in 1659 by Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. He died while he was on his way to Dacca and was entombed at Thakurbari on the Assam-Meghalaya border in the westernmost part of West Garo Hills.  Shaista ...

Chief components of Mughal paintings were Indian, Persian and Chinese. The imported style introduced by the Mughals mingled with the contemporary Indian schools of painting flourishing in different parts of the country. Gujarat, Rajputana and Kashmir were important centres of Indian painting in the early Mughal period. Court life and natural life inspire most of the subjects of Mughal paintings. Portraits of the Mughal emperors are also one of the themes of the  Mughal   paintings.  Persian painter Abdus Samad was appointed tutor to the Prince Akbar by Humayun. Abdus Samad and Mir Sayyid Ali were invited to the Mughal court to prepare a lavishly illustrated manuscript of the Persian translation of the Hamzanama, the celebrated Arab epic about a legend Hamza. Hamzanama had 1004 illustrated pages in its twelve volumes. Development of fresco painting (Frescoes on the walls of Fatehpur Sikri) was an important contribution to the field painting during Akbar’s period which als...

In   1581, Akbar was faced with one of the most critical periods of his reign when Mirza Muhammad Hakim, the governor of Kabul, advanced to Lahore.   Muhammad Hakim, Akbar’s half brother, was an orthodox and ambitious ruler who was planning to seize the Mughal throne for himself.   He was supported in his bid by some discontented officers of the Mughal court such as Khwaja Mansur. Thereupon Akbar proceeded to Kabul from his capital on 8 th February, 1581 with about 50, 000 cavalry, 500 elephants and great number of infantry.   He reached Kabul on 9 th August and defeated Mirza Muhammad Hakim and compelled him to submit. Hakim, however, was reinstated on vow of loyalty to the emperor. After the death of Muhammad Hakim in July 1586, the province of Kabul was formally annexed to the Mughal Empire. According to Smith, Akbar’s victory of Kabul “may be regarded as the climax of his career”.