Author: Firdos Anwar
Publisher: Manohar
Year: 2001
Language: English
Pages: 300
ISBN/UPC (if available): 8173043167
Description
This study analyses the nature of the governing class during the reign of Shahjahan. Based on the major published and unpublished sources, it examines numerical strength and ethno-religious composition of the nobility. Most of the conclusions of the author are based on this immense material.
It confirms that racial or religious factors played but a marginal role in the political life of this group.
This work highlights the role of the nobility as mansabdars, jagirdars and as administrators at various levels. It underlines a link between the posts and the mansab and brings out some of the considerations on the basis of which subedaris, faujdaris and qiladaris were assigned.
A special feature of the book is the presentation of the family groups of leading nobles whose share in wealth and power is exhibited through statistical methods. It is almost a throw back to Barni’s Turkan-i-Chahalgani. Yet, with the help of contemporary evidence it is argued that merit and potential were then main criterion for recruitment as well as promotion of the nobles.
Partaining to the three proposed phases of this reign, three appendices are prepared with the help of contemporary records which contain detailed lists of Shahjahani nobles.