In the Name of the Fathers: Mughal Genealogical Strategies from Bābur to Shāh Jahān
Genealogy has always been a kingly preoccupation, especially in the Indic world where kāatriya status (whether genuine or fabricated) was a sine qua non for the exercise of legitimate power. It was no less true of the Turco-Mongol dynasty known as ‘Mughal’ which came to dominate vast expanses of the...
| Published in: | Religions of South Asia |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Equinox
2011
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| In: |
Religions of South Asia
Year: 2011, Volume: 5, Issue: 1/2, Pages: 409-442 |
| Further subjects: | B
Tīmūr
B dynastic genealogy B Iconography B Chingīz Khān B Mughal Empire B Legitimacy |
| Online Access: |
Presumably Free Access Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | Genealogy has always been a kingly preoccupation, especially in the Indic world where kāatriya status (whether genuine or fabricated) was a sine qua non for the exercise of legitimate power. It was no less true of the Turco-Mongol dynasty known as ‘Mughal’ which came to dominate vast expanses of the subcontinent from the sixteenth century onwards. True, the Mughals could boast of such illustrious ancestors as the world-conquerors Chingīz Khān and Tīmūr. Yet, from the moment they set foot in India, they became aware of the limited legitimacy they would be able to derive from such genealogical credentials in a region where neither Chingīz Khān and his successors nor Tīmūrhad left very good memories. On the other hand, their descent from such famous figures constituted a real asset vis-à-vis their Ottoman, Safavid and Uzbek competitors and among the Turco-Mongol and Iranian elements of their nobility. The fact that the Mughals could afford neither to alienate their Indian subjects nor to dispense with the international prestige they derived from their lineage explains to a large extent the fluctuating genealogical strategies they adopted during the first century or so of their dominance. |
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| ISSN: | 1751-2697 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Religions of South Asia
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1558/rosa.v5i1/2.409 |