1. Literature: The Mughal ** witnessed a growth in literature. Many literary works were written in Persian, Hindi, Turkish and Arabic languages. Babar had written his memoirs or ‘Tuzuk – i – Baburi in Turkish. It was translated into Persian by Abdul Rahim. Humayun’* sister Gulbadan Begum wrote ‘Humayun Nama’. Abdul Fazal wrote ‘Ain- i-Akbari’ and ‘AkbarNama’. His style was grand and he was the most renowned Persion writer.
The Tabakat-i-Akbari was written by Nizamuddin. Ramayana (Haji Ibrahim), Mahabharatha (Nagib Khan), Atharva Veda and Leelavathi (Faizi), Rajatarangini, Panchatantra and the story of Nala. Damayanthi etc were translated from Sanskrit to Persian. Prince Dara (son of Shahjahan), translated the Upanishads into Persian.
Jahangir wrote a book ‘Tuzuk- i-Jahangiri’. Shahjahan patronized the scholars like Abdul Hamid Lahori who wrote Padshah Nama and Inayat Khan who was the author of Shahjahan Nama.
2. Hindi Literature: The well known Hindi poets. of Akbar’ time were Abdul Rahim, Bhagwandas, Mansingh, Birbal, Tulasidas and others. Birbal was the favourite of Akbar and was conferred the title ‘Kavi Raja’. Tulasidas wrote ‘Ramcharitmanas’. Surdas wrote the famous work ‘ Sur Sagar’, Ras Khan who was a ***** devotee of Lord Krishna, wrote ‘Prem Vatika’, Malik Mohammad Jaisy wrote the famous epic called ‘Padmavati’.
Sundar of Gwalior composed the work ‘Sundar Srinagar’. The great Sanskrit scholar Jagannath Pandit wrote ‘GangaLahari’. In Bengali, Marathi, Urdu, and Gujarathi also, literature progressed during the Mughal rule. Akbar, Jahangir, and Shahjahan were great patrons of literature in their courts.
3. Art and Architecture: The mughals were great builders and lovers of art and architecture. Their style of architecture was partly foreign and partly indigenous. The important features of the mughal architecture were domes, tall pillars, gateways with domes, arches, minars, etc.,
The mughals built a large variety of secular and religious buildings. Babar built the mosques at Kabulibagh in Panipat and
Jami Masjid at Sambal in Rohilkhand. Humayun built mosques at Agra and Fathepur. He built a palace at Delhi called Din-i-Panah. Sher Shah built his tomb at Sasaram and the Purana Qila at Delhi.
Akbar extended ** patronage to the growth of architecture in India. The first work of Akbar was the Humayun Tomb at Delhi which is in the persian style. Most of the buildings of Akbar’ time were built with red sand stone. The Jodha Bai palace and Panchamahal are the impressive structures by Akbar at Fathepur Sikhri.
The massive 176 ft Gateway or the ‘ Buland Darwaza’ is the tallest Gateway in India. Agra Red Fort. Jamma-Masjid, white marble tomb of Sheikh. Salim Chisti, Diwan-i-Am and Diwan-iKhas, house of Birbal, and Sonhal Makan are some of the most beautiful architectural pieces at Fathepur Sikhri built by Akbar.
The architecture of mughals reached its highest watermark during the reign of Shahjahan. He got built many buildings at Agra, Delhi, Lahore, Kabul, Kashmir, Kandhar, Ajmer and other places. The important buildings of Shahjahan were the Diwan-i-Am, Diwan-iKhas. Red Fort and Jamma Masjid in Delhi. Moti Masjid and Taj Mahal in Agra.
4. Taj Mahal (1632-1653): Taj Mahal at Agra is symbolic of the royal love. Shahjahan built it on the banks of river Yamuna in the memory of his beloved wife Arjumand Banu Begum, who was given the title ‘Mumtaz Mahal’. Taj was construced under the guidance of Ustad – Isa – Khan.
It took nearly 22 years for the construction to be completed and nearly Rs 3 crores was spent for the purpose. The height of the mahal is 187 ft. It was built of white marble. The Taj is certainly the “finest monument of conjugal love and fidelity”. It is considered as ‘one of the wonders of the modern world”.
5. Paintings of the Mughal Age: Babur, Akbar, and Jahangir were the most important mughal rulers who patronized painting. Babur was a lover of beauty and art. The mughal painting is a mixture of Indian and Persian styles. Indian artists under Akbar, caused the growth of this mughal style. Akbar created a separate department of paintings, under the control of Khwaja Abdul Samad.
He gained the title Shirim Khaim or Sweet Pen. They painted court scenes, historical events, and natural scenes. Portraits and miniature paintings were a Mughal speciality. Govardhan, Jagannath, Tarachand, Abdul Sammad, Mir Sayyid Ali, Basawan, Manohar, Bishen Das, Aqa Riza, Abul Hasan, and Ustad Mansur were some of the great artists of this time. Jahangir was an expert judge and critic of paintings.
6. Music: Mughal Emperors patronized music and musicians. Tansen, Ramdas, Briju Bavara and Surdas were the great musicians in the court of Akbar. Babar, Jahangir, and Shahjahan were themselves good singers and composed many lyrics.
