New Delhi: Some events and statements have triggered a controversy around the Mughals in the recent past. On August 24, Manoj Muntashir, a Hindi cinema lyricist uploaded a video titled ‘Who are your ancestors’ on Twitter in which he called Mughal rulers Akbar, Humayun, and Jahangir “dacoits”, and said that India has been “brainwashed” into naming roads after them.
Then, OTT’s magnum opus ‘Empire’ was released on Disney+Hotstar on August 27 and became the target of a backlash for eulogising Mughal emperors.
Muntashir, who has written lyrics for films such as ‘Kesari’ and ‘Bhuj: The Pride Of India’, also appeared in an interview later in which he said the history of medieval India is “deliberately coloured” and that “90%” of it had been written by Left-wing historians with an “agenda”.
Speaking to ThePrint, Dr S. Irfan Habib, (retired) Maulana Azad Chair, National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration, New Delhi, said: “These things are so nonsensical that they are not even worth talking about. There is great jingoism in what he (Muntashir) is saying. The media is only providing it unnecessarily legitimacy.”
“Muntashir’s reading of history and his description of Mughal rulers as dacoits reflects the views of “those who have no familiarity with history, who are prejudiced … dacoits tend to carry their loot with themselves, Mughals did not flee with any treasures,” Habib told ThePrint.
The historian further told ThePrint that Akbar’s Mansabdars Mansingh and Jaisingh, both Rajputs, were key Mughal officials. The entire Mughal Empire was a collaborative project, which he (Muntashir) does not know. There were many people whom the Mughals did not remove from power at all, they only used to collect taxes from them and they remained kings of their estates.
Here is more on what Muntashir said and Dr Habib’s take on it
Muntashir: It is often shown that Jodha-Akbar’s love was like that of Krishna and Radha, which is quite shameful. Jodha was the third queen of Akbar, and he had 40 more in his harem.
Dr Habib: You cannot look for a hero in medieval India for the 21st century. If today you start reading history out of that context, you will certainly court trouble. There is no comparison at all between Radha-Krishna and Jodha-Akbar relationships. At least no historian has done this till date.
No Muslim gets offended by remarks on Akbar, Babur. Their history should not be misrepresented, he told ThePrint.
Muntashir: Why was Akbar shown speaking in Urdu in a film like Mughal-e-Azam, when Urdu was not even spoken during Akbar’s time?
Dr Habib: A similar case then can be made out against teleserials based on the Ramayana and Mahabharata as well. They were made in Hindi which then may seem wrong. Hindi was also not spoken at that time.
