Page 48 - SST Class 07

mansabdars who lived a life of luxury. The town
encouraged it. Babur himself wrote the
people comprised of traders, artisans and those Baburnama, an autobiography. Akbar was
who served with the nobles. They lived a good illiterate but he used to get books read to him. He
life and were able to meet their needs
got his biography written named Akbarnama.
satisfactorily. The villagers chiefly comprised of Jahangir was deeply interested in literature and
peasants who had to pay a large share of their wrote his memoirs by the name of Tuzuk-i-
produce as land revenue, due to which their
Jahangiri. In addition to them, Abdul Hamir Lahori
condition remained pitiable, though the rulers wrote the Padshahnamah. Dara Shikoh translated
tried to increase the produce from land and bring the Bhagwad Gita and Upanishads into Persian.
more land under cultivation. As such many
Aurangzeb was interested in literature to some
peasants abandoned their land and cultivated the extent. He himself copied the Quran to earn his
land of jagirdars. As constant wars and luxurious livelihood.
lifestyle of the nobles demanded more and more
money, the peasants’ life went from bad to worse, Hindi literature was also composed during this
and it was miserable during droughts or floods. period. The famous saints : Kabir , Surdas , Tulsidas
lived during the Mughal rule. Other important
Quiz Time Hindi works include the Prem
Vatika by Raskhan and Satsai
Fill in the blanks :
by Bihari . Urdu as a language
1. ____________ was collected from trade and was being developed and
land. literature was being written in

2. ____________ was responsible for law and it. Delhi and Lucknow were
order. important centres of Urdu Tulsidas
learning and literature.
3. The royal court under the Mughal rule was very
____________ . In music, fusion of Indian and Persian styles
continued, and new form of music called
4. The ____________ had the responsibility of Hindustani was developed during this period.
collecting tax.
Khayal and Thumri were developed. However,
Aurangzeb was averse to music and art, so he
ART AND ARCHITECTURE
turned out all musicians, artists and painters, who
The Mughal period as a whole witnessed a good sought the patronage of other rulers.
growth of art and architecture. A large number of
monuments and mosques were built throughout RELIGION
the territory. Art touched its peak during Jahangir’s
The Mughal court had two types of nobles and
rule and architecture touched its zenith during
officers—orthodox and liberals . The orthodox
Shah Jahan’s rule. Miniature paintings attained people wanted to rule according to the edicts of
new heights during the Mughal rule. Fusion of
the Quran and wanted to convert India into an
Indian and Persian styles of art and architecture
Islamic state. They were opposed to luxury and
resulted in very fine architectural marvels. opulence. They emphasised on simple way of life.
However, after Aurangzeb came to power, he was
On the other hand, the liberals favoured religious
against art and painting, and he ordered the tolerance and secularism. Akbar, Jahangir and
karkhanas to be shut down. Consequently, artists Shah Jahan were liberal in outlook and did not
and painters fled to other kingdoms to seek their
allow religion to mix with politics; therefore, the
patronage.
liberals were vocal during their rule. On the other
hand, Aurangzeb was very orthodox and he
LITERATURE AND MUSIC
wanted all people to convert to Islam and follow it
The Mughal emperors were fond of literature and in their life strictly. So, the orthodox became
Contemporary Social Science-7
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