Explanation:
Humayun’s fascination with Persia - Mughal King, Humayun, was driven out of India by Sher Shah Suri and spent 15 years (1540 - 1555) in exile in Persia. It was the support given by the Safavid Dynasty of Persia that helped him to regain foothold in India. Humayun, who was ethnically Chagatai Turk from Central Aisa, came from a rustic culture used to riding horses, living in tents akin to nomads. During his exile in Iran, he was bedazzled with Persia and its refined culture. This started a trend of Persian soldiers, nobles, artists, architects, poets, calligraphy experts, physicians, and administrators settling in India throughout the Mughal Empire. Centers like Isfahan and Shiraz would turn out to be sources of inspiration for later Mughal Kings. Persian became the official language of the Mughal Courts and would stay that way for few centuries before English took over.
Administration of the Mughal Empire - As the Mughal Empire grew rapidly, there was a need for able administrators and bureaucrats that only Persia could provide. The ablest prime ministers of the Mughal period – Bairam Khan and Abdur Rahim (under Akbar), Itimad ud daula (under Jahangir), Asaf Khan ( under Shah Jahan), and Naimat Khan Aali (under Aurangzeb) – were all Persian.
A book called Ma'âṣer al-Omarâ was written by Shah Nawaz Khan and his son, Abd al-Hayy in 1780. This book contains the biographies of 738 Mughal nobles of which at least 198 or 26.8 per cent were Persians.
Reasons for Migration - Many of the Persians who migrated to Mughal India were Sunni muslims who felt discriminated in Shia Safavid Empire. In fact, Humayun himself was a Sunni but had converted to Shia while in Iran to garner further support from the Safavids. There were also rebels and nobles who lost royal favour and migrated to Mughal Empire.
Persians’ perception of the Mughals - While the Mughal rulers always looked up to the refined Persian culture, the Persians traditionally disdained the Islamic courts of India. To Persian ears, the Indians spoke Persian badly, with a heavy accent. Their sense of aesthetics was quite different too. To Persian eyes, Mughal art, was too ripe and rounded, too bright and colorful, and lacked the classicism, restraint and geometric perfection of Safavid painting. But Mughals had amassed unparalleled wealth in form of huge tax revenues, precious gems, diamonds, and the financial incentive was huge for the refined Persians to go to Mughal India.
Persian Queens - Mughal kings married a number of Indian women but the most notable queens – Maham Begum (Babur’s wife and Humayun’s mother), Hamida Bano Begum (Humayun’s wife and Akbar’s mother), Nur Jahan (Jahangir’s queen) and Mumtaz Mahal (Shah Jahan’s wife and Aurangzeb’s mother) – were also Persian.
Nur Jahan is the most remarkable female icon in Mughal history. She was the daughter of Itimad-ud-daula, who was a Persian aristocrat who, after suffering a reversal in family fortunes in Iran, had moved to India and joined Akbar’s court. While Jahangir was known for his addiction to opium and alcohol, it was Nur Jahan who ran the empire for 15 years. She composed poetry and was a first-class horseback rider; she hunted tigers and lions in addition to owning ships, indulging in commercial transactions and foreign trade, designing gardens, introducing new culinary delights, revolutionizing dress and decorations, promoting new patterns of jewelry and embroidery, and financially patronizing needy and penurious women in society.She is the only Mughal queen to have her name inscribed on coins. Like other queens she possessed the imperial seal and signed imperial orders.
She introduced her niece, Arjumand Bano (later Mumtaz Mahal), to Jahangir’s favorite son Prince Khurram (later Shah Jahan), who immediately took a shine to her and was betrothed to this stunning beauty.
