Did Mughals Convert Rajputs?

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 19 October 2022 A Minute Study Of Mughal India's Persian Papers, Documents, Autobiographies And Biographies Reveal That Religion (Read Islam) Was At The Bottom Of All Mughal Emperors' Agendas ----- " History Is All About Fiction Becoming Fact(s) As Time Rolls By." Simon Schama " That Muslims Enslaved Hindus For The Last 1000 Years Is Historically Unacceptable." Romila Thapar " Rajputs Had Their Own Vested Interests To Embrace Islam During The Mughal Era." Govind Sakharam Sardesai, Historian from Maharashtra " Rajputs As Courtiers In The Mughal Court Had Ascendancy Aspirations That Made Them Accept Islam. " Historian Ramesh Chandra Majumdar, Calcutta and Dacca Universities " Did the Mughals, barring Aurangzeb, have any intention to convert Hindus and especially Rajput kings and chieftains to Islam? " Asked Sir Jadunath Sarkar, the legendary historian. He explained further that it's been one of the greatest myths of all time that Rajput kings and chieftains were converted to Islam at the behest of Mughal emperors. Before debunking this myth, it's imperative to know, why on earth did the Central Asian invaders (Mughals came from Central Asia and the part of Transoxiana) come to the sub-continent in the first place? (From left) Raja Bharmal, Raja Bhagwant Das, Man Singh I and Sawai Raja Sur Singh. (Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons) ----- Did they have the latent motive to Islamise the country? Not at all. Mughals were basically invaders, who were forever on the move. Historians call the Mughals, the ' cavalier invaders. ` Mughals had the stock of Changez Khan and Timur and they may be called their descendants or ' consanguine ramifications.' Timur and Changez were not exactly the followers of Islam as both dabbled in Buddhism and Islam for a very brief period and then gave up as religion wasn't their cup of tea. A minute study of Mughal India's Persian papers, documents, autobiographies and biographies reveal that religion (read Islam) was at the bottom of all Mughal emperors' agendas. Rajputs and Mughals always had a very cordial relationship and Mughals, especially Akbar and his son Jahangir, found them (Rajputs) to be very trustworthy. Akbar never tried to Islamise any of his Rajput chieftains and kings. Nor did his son indulge in conversions of Hindus (especially Rajput Hindus) to Islam. It was the overzealous wish of the Rajputs to be in the good books of the Mughal emperors. Contrary to the general belief that Rajputs value their dignity the most, they were the most sycophantic people during the Mughal dynasty. Apart from a few very upright Rajputs like Rana Pratap, Kumbha and Rana Sanga, most of the Rajputs could embarrass today's politicians when it came to ingratiating with the Mughals. British historian Percival Smith wondered how Rajputs were so fawning and fond of currying favour with the Mughals. There wasn't any political or religious compulsion from Mughals to convert to their religion. But in order to make them happy, many small time Rajput kings and chieftains embraced Islam. There’re Kayam Khani Muslims in Rajasthan. They're the descendants of Kayam Singh, a king of Rajasthan’s Kishangarh region. He accepted Islam on his own and when his eldest brother refused to embrace Islam, he beheaded him! Naya Mulla Zor Se Baang Deta Hai, Naya Musalmaan Zyada Pyaaz Khata Hai (A neo-convert recites the, Qur’anic, verses extra loud and a neo-Muslim eats more onions; just to prove their religious allegiance to the new faith). Who're Makranis of Rajasthan? Their forefathers were Rajput Hindus from Makrana, world-renowned for its translucent marbles. They embraced Islam to get more land and other privileges. The Khilji Muslims of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh have nothing to do with the fiendish Turkish invaders Alauddin Khilji and Bakhtiyar Khilji, who vandalised Nalanda and incinerated it. The Khiljis of Rajasthan are the descendants from Khilawar Singh, who became a Muslim to marry Tauqir Khan's (a nobleman in the court of Jahangir) third daughter Wajiha. Tauqir and even emperor Jahangir dissuaded him from becoming a Muslim just to marry a Muslim girl, Par Pyar Andha Hota Hai (love's always blind). One can see two letters with Jahangir's stamp exhorting Khilawar Singh to think before becoming a Muslim. The 'great' Man Singh was more than willing to become a Muslim, but for Akbar. The latter never encouraged him to do so. Man Singh (along with Jay Singh, who betrayed Shivaji) was one of the biggest 'boot-lickers', the Rajput community has ever had. He never hesitated to offer the women of his own family to the Mughals, just because he wanted Akbar's favour. Diwali Celebrations in Mughal Court ---- Vincent Smith wrote in his magnum opus 'Akbar: The great Mughal' that at least two hundred small chieftains belonging to the Rajput community became Muslims on their own to please the emperor'. The court historian Khafif Khan scathingly wrote in his diary that, ' Rajput Hindus debased themselves and humiliated their religion (read Hinduism) by becoming Muslims for a few gold coins' (from 'Khafif Khan's Persian despatches', available at India House, London). Rajputs indeed debased and prostituted themselves by becoming Muslims when there was no compulsion or order from the higher Mughal authority. Lastly, the ancestors of Maulana Shibli Nomani and Urdu poet and professor Shaharyar were Rajputs. ----- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. 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