Seminar for the Mughal-Maratha Period, May 4

While India has been invaded by various groups over her history, the Islamic invasion and eventual Moghul rule brought a new culture to the subcontinent.  Occupying the large mass of land and people is not an easy task, the old village system had to be modified to create a middle layer of tax collectors and enforcers.  Gradually this middle layer increased in size and went on usurping the land in the guise of enforcement.  Artisans had to lose their homes to act as commissioned labor in royal projects.  Farmers toiled the land though they lost most of the produce to pay the heavy taxes.

India’s story in the Mughal period is one of helplessness.  Possibly it was caused by her internal complacency.  Each region was prosperous but there was no central ruler to provide security.  A handful of people of militia type could terrorize the country and eventually occupied.  Being the foreigners, they had to be suspicious of the locals and an entire culture of distrust and arbitrary killing became the norm.  The Empire ran as a top-heavy bureaucratic overhead.  Eventually Empire became unstable and buckled.

Guru Nanak in Punjab called out against the injustice but militancy developed only after a lot of sacrifice.  The young man Shivaji among the Marathas rose up and organized his own militia to take on the Moghuls.  He declared freedom from the foreign rule and coronated himself as the Emperor.  The follow up Marathas built up an Empire for themselves but were eventually ousted by the British forces.  The British took advantage of the division among different regions and tribes and became the new ruler for the next two hundred years until removed through India’s Freedom Movement. A 25% player in the world economy in 1700AD was left starving by the time the British left India in 1947 AD!

It is a long and complex story, but India survived.  We will narrate it in six tracks:  Geography and People, Economy and Politics, Philosophy and Religion, Art and Culture, Language and Literature, finally Science and Technology.  To help us understand specific areas we have invited Dr. Mukund Chorghade to speak on “Chhatrapati Shivaji and Maratha Empire”, Dr. Mawdudur Rahman on “Advent and Proliferation of Islam in Bengal” and Mr. V. S. Ramapriya on “Bhakti Literature in Kannada.”  There would be vocal renderings of Marathi Abhang by Ms. Shuchita Rao, of Tyagaraja kirtana by Ms. Aparna Balaji and recitation of SriHanuman Chalisa by Mr. Sudhir Parikh and group.  There would be book and artifact displays with books available for sale. 

It is an all-day educational event with celebrations, reflections and discussions.  We meet in Bemis Hall in Lincoln with the beautiful spring ambiance.  The date is May 4, 2019, Saturday.  Please join.  Please tell friends, particularly the college youth.  A flier is attached.  You can contact me at misra.bijoy@gmail.com with any question.  Please register via https://www.indiadiscoverycenter.org. 

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