The religious policy of the Mughal emperors

Can the Mughal State in India be described as an oriental despotism? Was it a theocracy? Did the Mughal rulers claim divine honors? These and other questions concerning the religious policy of the Mughal emperors have raised a dust of controversy. This study, based not only on original historical data upon the subject but also the theories of the early Arab jurists, the practices of Muslim kings elsewhere and the verbose discussions of writers outside India, holds that though the Mughal rulers were despotic, the entire field of the personal law of their subjects was covered by the Hindu and Muslim law which they had no authority to change. The Mughal State could not be called a theocracy, for Islam did not set up an organized church, recognize a system of ordained priests or establish a hierarchy of religious officials. The emperors, however, called themselves agents of Islam; this left a very wide margin of freedom to them, both in theory and in practice. The chief merit of the book is that the author has utilized all available sources with industry and skill and has attempted an evaluation of the religious policy of the Mughals in comparison with the religious policies of contemporary European governments. For this third edition, the text has been revised in the light of the works published recently. An appendix to Chapter I examines the nature of the state in medieval India and a new chapter on Aurangzeb’s rebellion against Shah Jahan challenges the view that Aurangzeb ascended the throne as a champion of Islam. Sri Ram Sharma (1900-1976) taught history, politics and public administration at the Punjab, Bombay and Poona Universities for many years. He was a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, a member of the Indian Historical Records Commission and Director of the Institute of Public Administration of the Una district in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh.