It has been 500 years since the onset of Mughal rule. And that the way we discuss the dynasty in classrooms, and outside of them, is still all distorted. The assumption that the Mughals controlled the entirety of the subcontinent from the beginning really peeves me. This is largely due to the history textbooks in Telangana which, at least during my childhood, focused more on the Mughals than own city, Hyderabad.
I vividly remember reading about Akbar, Shah Jahan, and Mughal trade routes and economics more than the founders of Hyderabad.
On 21 April 1526, Indian history was changed forever after Babur won the First Battle of Panipat and the Mughal Empire began. The BJP-led central government has overlooked the landmark day for obvious reasons.
But what else was overlooked? Eight years ago, the end of the Bahmani empire (1347-1518) in the Deccan also marked its 500th anniversary. Its collapse led to the emergence of governors as independent kingdoms. This also resulted in the rise of Golconda, which was the capital of the Qutb Shahi dynasty from 1518 until 1590, before it was shifted to the newly established city of Hyderabad.
Although there has been some course connection since Telangana was formed in 2014, Hyderabadis and south Indians need to focus more on our own regions when we are taught history in school. This Mughal history obsession, to tell everyone that they ruled the entire country, is not only inaccurate but also unfair.
The story of Hyderabad
Hyderabad was founded by the Qutb Shahi dynasty in 1591, whose founder, Sultan Quli, originally came to Bidar under the Bahmani as a refugee.
He went on to become the governor of Telangana under the Bahmani kingdom and emerged as the king of Telangana/Golconda when the kingdom he saved collapsed. Not just him, but other states under the Bahmani empire, such as Bijapur, Ahmednagar and Berar, also had the same trajectory.
There were no Mughals in the region until 1526, eight years after Golconda came into the picture. This was not taught in school, but something I learned on my own. But what is truly confounding is that most people don’t know that the Mughals almost destroyed Hyderabad in 1687 during Aurangzeb’s southern campaign.
Apart from a few monuments, such as the Charminar or the Golconda Fort, Hyderabadis have no idea of what this city might have looked like, the monuments that might have stood at one point. The city was later rebuilt by the Nizams. While not ethnically Mughals, the Nizams were appointed as governors after their conquest of Hyderabad.
This isn’t a complaint about the Mughals because they destroyed Hyderabad some 400 years ago. It is a call to fellow Hyderabadis to learn our own history first.
Also Read: The Nizam heirs’ endless property disputes are costing Hyderabad its heritage
Branching out
The Mughals are, by all means, a significant part of Indian history. After the 1600s, they began conquering the Deccan and the south, but let’s not forget that they were not as mighty as we’re told, nor did they have all that wealth by default.
When Golconda and Hyderabad were thriving and booming with trade for over a century after the kingdom’s establishment, thanks to diamond mines in Andhra Pradesh, from where the stones were brought to the city for trade, the Mughals in the north were struggling, at least politically.
After Babur, the second Mughal king, Humayun, lost power for 15 years after his seat was captured by Sher Shah Suri. It took decades for his son, Akbar, to stabilise politically, which is why the Mughals from the 1600s onward started branching out to the Deccan and other parts of the country to consolidate power.
Hyderabadis were actually doing great without Mughal interference, and I can only imagine how the city would have been had it not been destroyed by Aurangzeb. But history is history, and if we’re going to laud Mughal contributions, then we also must speak about them from the perspectives of people belonging to cities that were destroyed by them.
Yunus Lasania is a Hyderabad-based journalist whose work primarily focuses on politics, history and culture. He posts on X @YunusLasania. Views are personal.
(Edited by Insha Jalil Waziri)