Corinne Lefevre. Pouvoir impérial et élites dans l'Inde moghole de Jahangir. Asie - Pacifque Series. Paris: Les Indes Savantes, 2017. 506 pp. EUR 35, paper, ISBN 978-2-84654-474-0.

Reviewed by Gail Minault (University of Texas at Austin)

Published on H-Asia (April, 2020)

Commissioned by Sumit Guha (The University of Texas at Austin)

Corinne Lefevre’s detailed study of the of tive view of Jahangir, however. More influential, the Mughal emperor Jahangir is a historiographic Lefevre argues, were Indo-Persian chronicles from tour de force. Her meticulously documented and early in the reign of Shah Jahan, whose rebellion carefully argued work also debunks the stereotypi‐ against his father had to be justified as maintain‐ cal description of Jahangir as an incompetent king ing the legitimacy of the , not against Ja‐ (roi faineant), who was not only addicted to opium hangir himself but rather in opposition to the un‐ but also under the thumb of his empress, Nur Ja‐ desirable infuence of Nur Jahan. han, and her , a lineage of clever Iranis who After questioning the image and reputation of rivaled the power of the Mughal dynasty itself. Jahangir articulated by these sources, Lefevre Lefevre marshals evidence from an impressive turns to an account of his roles as prince and em‐ bibliography that serves as a useful guide to the peror, gleaned from sources emanating from the feld, including most recent scholarship. court. The chapters devoted to imperial discourses Lefevre’s work is organized around different begin with Prince Selim, who took the regnal groups of sources, beginning with a prologue ex‐ of Jahangir (world-conqueror), the eldest son of amining the best-known European sources that Akbar (the great). Akbar enjoys a glowing reputa‐ helped generate the stereotypical image of Ja‐ tion in history, due largely to the accounts of his hangir. Portuguese Jesuits were disappointed in reign in the Akbar Nama and the ‘Ain-i Akbari, by their hopes of converting him to Christianity. Sir Abu’l Fazl, his court chronicler. Akbar’s long reign Thomas Roe, the English ambassador, attributed (1556-1603) saw Mughal rule firmly established in his own inability to secure a commercial treaty to India and the inauguration of a policy of sulh-i the incapacity of the . The Dutch mer‐ kull, roughly defined as religious toleration. Com‐ chants Francisco Pelsaert and Joannes de Laet ob‐ ponents of this policy included religious debates at served the Mughal court late in Jahangir’s reign, the court, patronage of different religious leaders when conflict between potential heirs was at its and shrines, challenge to the legal authority of height, adding to the image of the emperor as un‐ Muslim clerics (‘ulama), and recruitment of cos‐ der the influence of his queen and her relatives. mopolitan elites into the mansabdar officers who Western accounts were only a part of this cumula‐ constituted the highest ranks of the military and H-Net Reviews administration. This policy was solidified by mar‐ Most striking is a painting of Jahangir embracing riages of the monarch and of later princes to the his contemporary, Shah Abbas, ruler of Safavid daughters of Indian Rajput warrior lineages. Persia. The pair are framed by a golden halo and Akbar was a hard act to follow. Jahangir re‐ are standing upon a lion (Jahangir) and a lamb belled against his father, arranged to have Abu’l (Shah Abbas), while the beasts, in turn, are lying Fazl assassinated, and staved off a rebellion by his upon a globe, showing Asia and Africa. Apart from own son, Khusrau, who was blinded in retribution. the symbolism of this image of the peaceable king‐ Jahangir was no weakling, Lefevre argues, but dom and the brotherhood of these two monarchs, rather had mastered the complex politics of suc‐ with Jahangir on the lion, clearly in the superior cession in a system that did not recognize primo‐ position, the geographic exactitude of the globe geniture. The chronicles of his reign include the Ja‐ shows that Jahangir was familiar with European hangir Nama or Tuzuk-i Jahangiri, the emperor’s cartographic knowledge of the time. Another royal own account that continues the Timurid tradition album displays an image of Jesus holding a cross. It of autobiography begun by his great-grandfather, is little wonder that Portuguese missionaries were Babur. The better-known Babur Nama and Ja‐ optimistic about the emperor’s religious proclivi‐ hangir’s narrative are very different documents, ties. however, reflecting the hard-scrabble existence of Jahangir’s religious beliefs and actions, how‐ the founder of Mughal rule in India and the well- ever, were very much a product of his time and established formal court rituals of Jahangir’s time. place. During his rebellion against his father, he de‐ Other accounts of Jahangir’s reign include the Ma‐ scribed himself as a firm adherent to Islamic law, jalis-i Jahangiri by ’Abdus Sattar b. Qasim Lahauri in to win over the ‘ulama. He also chose to and Mau’za-i Jahangiri by Muhammad Baqir Khan use hijri dates rather than the ilahi Persian calen‐ Najm-i Sani. The Majalis, among other things, re‐ dar of Akbar, and he distributed land grants to the ‘ flects on Jahangir’s interest in the natural world, ulama. On the other hand, he affirmed his devotion his curiosity about the flora and fauna of his king‐ to Chishti Sufism, in the tradition of Akbar, and dom, and the strange customs of foreigners who even moved the court to Ajmer for a time to em‐ visited his court. An amusing example of the latter phasize that allegiance. He also continued Akbar’s is a discussion of “why ... men of that region wear practice of accepting spiritual disciples from black hats” (p. 134). The Mau’za extends the influ‐ among his courtiers, not to the Din-i Ilahi, but as ence of Persian Mirrors for Princes literature into personal devotees to whom he distributed minia‐ India with advice to the ruler on the administra‐ ture portraits of himself or coins with his engraved tion of justice and the need for forbearance, and to visage. subordinates on how to give advice persuasively to Following the review of sources centered on the monarch. the court, Lefevre devotes the next section to ac‐ Lefevre amplifies her discussion of court liter‐ counts representing the nobility in all its variety. ature with insightful descriptions of paintings and She emphasizes the cosmopolitan makeup of the albums produced in the royal ateliers during Ja‐ ruling class, noting that India was considerably hangir’s reign. Flora and fauna, mentioned above, more diverse ethnically and religiously than either were illustrated in detail in the albums compiled Timurid Central Asia or Safavid Persia. The Mughal for courtly viewing. The scientific exactitude of attempt to centralize power, by frequent transfers those illustrations reflects the ruler’s curiosity and of provincial administrators and by the division of interest, as do the depth and roundness of the fig‐ power between governors and fiscal officers, was ures portraying members of Jahangir’s entourage. constantly challenged by the centrifugal forces of

2 H-Net Reviews ethnic and sectarian differences, clan rivalries, One family not covered in this flowering of and local loyalties. A countervailing force was the sub-imperial literature was the lineage of I’timad- centripetal power of Mughal court culture. Lefevre ud-Daulah, part of a new wave of emigration from remarks that the reign of Jahangir was a key mo‐ Persia in search of wider opportunities. I’timad-ud- ment in the development of sub-imperial historiog‐ Daulah was known for his administrative and fis‐ raphy, with such sources reflecting the degree to cal acumen even before his arrival at the Mughal which provincial officials imitated the elaborate court, where he served as wazir (roughly finance lifestyle and rituals of the Mughal court. One of minister) of the empire from 1611 until his death in these accounts was the Ma’asir-i Rahimi by ‘Abdul 1621. He was succeeded as wazir by his son, Asaf Baqi Nahawandi, about the career of ‘Abdur Rahim Khan, who continued the family’s control of the Khan-i Khanan, whose father, Bairam Khan, had imperial purse until his death in 1641. Asaf Khan’s served as regent during Akbar’s minority. ‘Abdur sister, Nur Jahan, became Jahangir’s favorite wife, Rahim was thus related to the older generation of and Asaf Khan’s daughter, Arjumand Banu Begam Irani nobility who had accompanied Humayun (later Mumtaz Mahal), married Prince Khurram during his return to India from exile in Persia. ‘Ab‐ (later Shah Jahan). The Taj Mahal is her memorial, dur Rahim earned the Khan-i Khanan while but one could argue that the tomb of I’timad-ud- serving Akbar and participating in the conquests Daulah is the true jewel of Mughal architecture of Gujarat and the northern Deccan; he was then and testimony to the power of their family, absent recalled by Jahangir but later rehabilitated, and a major text. Lefevre points out that Jahangir served the son as he had the father. Another sub- sought the participation of Iranis in the fiscal ser‐ imperial source was the Tarikh-i Khan Jahani wa vice of the empire, a conscious choice given their Makhzan-i Afghani by Khwaja Ni’matullah Harawi connections to international commerce in the In‐ that described the career of Khan Jahan Lodi, an dian Ocean. The role of Nur Jahan, who backed the Afghan who served Jahangir at court and in the loser in the struggle to succeed her spouse, pales by Deccan. Khan Jahan’s ancestor, Daulat Khan Lodi, comparison with that of her brother and his pos‐ was the first Afghan leader to side with Babur terity. against Sultan Sikandar Lodi, his kinsman. The his‐ Jahangir’s religious beliefs, summarized tory of the Afghans that formed part of the Tarikh- above, are detailed in a third section of Lefevre’s i Khan Jahani traced the legendary origins of Pash‐ work, dealing with sources about religious policies tun tribes, and then pragmatically argued for an during his reign. From his patronage of the Chishti alliance between Afghans and Mughals—to urge order of Sufis as contrasted to the Naqshbandis, to the Mughals to trust Afghans and to convince his attention to the Vaishnavas of Mathura-Vrin‐ Afghans that loyalty to the Mughals was a good davan, the center of devotion for his Rajput ally idea. Evidence of the benefits of loyalty and ser‐ (and in-law) Raja Man Singh of Amber, as con‐ vice to the Mughals were the Rajputs, such as the trasted to his skimpier attention to Shaivites, Rajas of Amber, who found that subordination to Lefevre shows that Jahangir practiced sulh-i kull the ruling dynasty was an engine of social mobili‐ selectively. The emperor had a relationship with ty, and gained wealth, power, and cultural capital Jadrup, an ascetic who espoused a Vedantic philos‐ in the bargain. While the nobility weighed the op‐ ophy very close to Sufi mystical ideas, but the Sikh portunities of service to the central power, the and Jain communities, favored by Akbar, received court found that local knowledge and continuity less favor from his son. Lefevre also treats the in‐ were beneficial in maintaining the regime’s legiti‐ fluential writings on Islamic reform by the leading macy, and so frequent transfers and the division of Muslim legal scholar of the time, ‘Abdul Haq powers could be waived. Muhaddis Dehlavi, and the millenarian Sufi,

3 H-Net Reviews

Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi, known as the Mujaddid (renewer). Jahangir respected the hadith scholar‐ ship of ‘Abdul Haq, but he regarded Shaikh Ahmad as a troublesome self-promoter, whom he had im‐ prisoned. Finally, Lefevre discusses the works of Shaikh ‘Abdur Rahman Chishti, whose writings sought to compete with the influence of Shaikh Ah‐ mad Sirhindi and emphasized the paramount im‐ portance of the Chishtis in spreading the faith of Is‐ lam in India. Lefevre has written a monumental study us‐ ing the multifarious sources of Mughal history dur‐ ing the reign of Jahangir, as well as some that pre‐ ceded his time or succeeded it. Her is thor‐ ough and well organized, her arguments convinc‐ ing. Her documentation is exemplary, her com‐ mand of the languages and the literature truly im‐ pressive. The work is not flawless; it is long, dense, and sometimes repetitive (but with careful cross- references). It is also a valuable work of reference that would be more accessible if translated into English.

If there is additional discussion of this review, you may access it through the network, at https://networks.h-net.org/h-asia

Citation: Gail Minault. Review of Lefevre, Corinne. Pouvoir impérial et élites dans l'Inde moghole de Jahangir. H-Asia, H-Net Reviews. April, 2020.

URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=53562

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

4