India Under The Mughals

Many historical works were written during this period. They include Ain-i-Akbari and Akabar Nama authored by Abul Fazl. The leading poet of that period was his brother Abul Faizi. The translation of Mahabharata into the Persian language was done under his supervision. Utbi and Naziri were the two other leading Persian poets.

Jahangir’s autobiography, Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri was famous for its style. He also patronized many scholars like Ghiyas Beg, Naqib Khan and Niamatullah. Shah Jahan also patronized many writers and historians like Abdul Hamid Lahori, author of Padshah Nama and Inayat Khan who wrote Shah Jahan Nama. His son Dara Shikoh translated the Bhagavat Gita and Upanishads into the Persian language. Many historical works were written during the reign of Aurangazeb. Famous dictionaries of the Persian language were also compiled during the Mughal period.

Regional languages such as Bengali, Oriya, Rajasthani and Gujarathi had also developed during this period. Many devotional works including the Ramayana and Mahabharata were translated into regional languages. From the time of Akbar, Hindi poets were attached to the Mughal court. The most influential Hindi poet was Tulsidas, who wrote the Hindi version of the Ramayana, the Ramcharitmanas.

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