Culture of Encounters: Sanskrit at the Mughal Court

South Asia Across the Disciplines

by Audrey Truschke

Culture of Encounters documents the fascinating exchange between the Persian-speaking Islamic elite of the Mughal Empire and traditional Sanskrit scholars, which engendered a dynamic idea of Mughal rule essential to the empire's survival. This history begins with the invitation of Brahman and Jain intellectuals to King Akbar's court in the 1560s, then details the numerous Mughal-backed texts they and their Mughal interlocutors produced under emperors Akbar, Jahangir (1605-1627), and Shah Jahan (1628-1658). Many works, including Sanskrit epics and historical texts, were translated into Persian, elevating the political position of Brahmans and Jains and cultivating a voracious appetite for Indian writings throughout the Mughal world.

The first book to read these Sanskrit and Persian works in tandem, Culture of Encounters recasts the Mughal Empire as a polyglot polity that collaborated with its Indian subjects to envision its sovereignty. The work also reframes the development of Brahman and Jain communities under Mughal rule, which coalesced around carefully selected, politically salient memories of imperial interaction. Along with its groundbreaking findings, Culture of Encounters certifies the critical role of the sociology of empire in building the Mughal polity, which came to irrevocably shape the literary and ruling cultures of early modern India.

Genres: History, India, Nonfiction, Religion, Islam

384 pages, Hardcover

First published March 8, 2016

About the author

Audrey Truschke is assistant professor of South Asian history at Rutgers University, Newark.

Reviews

[Soulinpages · Rating 1 out of 5]

I refuse to read anything written by a person who does not have the dignity to respect other people's personal choices and beliefs.

I refuse to read anything written by a person who believes it's okay to be offensive and spread hate based on jumbled and false interpretations of their own.

I refuse to let a white person benefit (make money or otherwise) by talking about Indian (PoC) history.

Enough is enough.
You don't have to degrade a whole nation of people to make yourself feel better.
Hating other religions does NOT glorify your own. In fact, it does the opposite.

Learn to celebrate differences. Learn to respect individual liberty and choice. Learn to spread acceptance and understanding. Learn to live with love.
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This review is in response to the author's extensive history of spreading hate on twitter.

Edit-
My review is based on the following articles
- Reddy, Srinivas. "What does Sita really say in Valmiki's Ramayana?". The Caravan. 10 July 2021.
- Vardhan, Anand. "The Unscholarly Dishonesty of Audrey Truschke: The objections to Truschke's tweets were never about interpretation". Newslaundry. 30 April 2018.
- Swarajya Staff. "The Scholar Whom Audrey Truschke Cites Finds Her Tweet ‘Shocking’".
Swarajya. 24th Apr 2018.

I am happy to engage in academic discussion in defense of the author in the comments below.

Edit-
Apparently, me reviewing a book I haven't read is a bigger problem. So, I just bought it. I'll edit this review to add my thoughts.

[Sajith Kumar · Rating 2 out of 5]

India’s language and culture underwent great changes during the six hundred years of Islamic invasions and occupation. An oligarchy attached to the rulers and who had no roots in the country subjected it to autocratic rule. Earlier, Sanskrit served as the link language on its position as the primary medium of literature all over the subcontinent. With the advent of the Sultanate and later Mughal dynasties, Sanskrit fell from grace. The sultans co-opted Persian as the court language. After Mughal power was consolidated during Akbar’s reign, he looked for ways to establish post-factual legitimacy by understanding and assimilating traditional royal claims to the throne. With this requirement in mind, they translated epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata and a few other works into Persian. This book is a case study of how the Mughals engaged with Sanskrit texts, intellectuals and ideas and how Sanskrit scholars responded to and participated in this demand for Indian stories, practices and philosophies. It deals with Sanskrit at the Mughal court from 1560 to 1660 CE, that is, from the reign of Akbar to Shah Jahan. A few minor works are artificially enlarged to match with the author’s high assessment of its worth and impact. The book also accepts that Sanskrit tradition collapsed entirely by 18th century. Audrey Truschke is an assistant professor of South Asian History and is the author of two controversial works on Indo-Islamic interactions. Her book on Aurangzeb had received much criticism in its dishonest handling of descriptive sources to paint the bigoted sultan in an admiring light.

Akbar declared Persian as the official language of his empire in 1582. Even before this event, Mughal court had extended lavish patronage that attracted Persian poets, thinkers and artists from across Asia. With this virtual takeover by a foreign tongue, little space was left for Indian languages. However, Akbar sensed the disconnect this move had engendered with the numerically majority community of India. With this in mind, he initiated links with the Sanskrit tradition that were concentrated around the central court. Akbar sponsored the translation of many Sanskrit texts into Persians, hosted dozens of Jain and Hindu Sanskrit intellectuals at court and hired Sanskrit-medium astrologers. Initial Mughal engagement with Sanskrit was about music and dance. Akbar very much enjoyed Indian performance traditions. However, the favourite theme of court poetry centred on eroticism. The title of one such treatise if ‘Akbar Shahi sringaradarpana’ (mirror of erotic passion for Shah Akbar). This book devoted bulk of its attention to the erotic mood and typology of heroines. Mughals were voracious readers of such concepts in other languages like Hindi, Arabic and Persian too. Such were the subject matter of original books composed during this period.

The Sanskrit intellectuals in Mughal court were not solely interested in translation or helping Persian scholars gain insight into Indian treatises by explaining their meaning in the vernacular language. Truschke claims that Hindi had become the most common vocal language of the palace. Perhaps she means Urdu, as the Braj Bhasha was still not used by Muslim aristocracy. The Indian scholars also managed to gain a few meager political concessions due to their proximity to the sovereign. Jain monk Hiravijaya elicited from Akbar a prohibition of animal slaughter during the Jain festival of Paryushan. Similarly, a punitive tax on Hindu pilgrims visiting Varanasi and Prayag was rescinded for a while. But it seems that nobody took these prohibitions seriously and nothing changed on the ground as we see Jahangir reissuing the same injunction a quarter century later. Their position at court was not secure either, depending solely on the whim of the emperor. Mughals occasionally grew suspicious of the Jain doctrine as harbouring atheistic notions. Atheism was such a serious offence to Mughal sensibilities that even Akbar was not prepared to countenance it. Jahangir banished all Jain monks from the empire and stopped the stipend of his Jain court scholars by 1620. Some scholars moonlighted as court performers. Kavindracharya Saraswati and Jagannath Panditaraja were renowned Hindi singers as well. The author claims that development of vernaculars led to the gradual eclipse of Sanskrit.

The book displays the entire spectrum of Sanskrit literary work other than translation of epics in the time of Akbar and translation of philosophical texts like Upanishads commissioned by Dara Shukoh, a truly India-minded Mughal prince. Other genre included hagiographies such as Allopanishad (Upanishad of Allah) penned in the Vedic style on Akbar’s own request. This work alluded to Akbar’s status as a prophet. The vassal rulers imitated the fashion in the central court in the form of sending Sanskrit praise poems to the Mughal court. Rudrakavi, a Deccani king’s courtier, created panegyrics for Jahangir, his brother Danyal and son Khurram - later Shah Jahan. The rulers did not understand Sanskrit, but these were primarily intended as gifts rather than a literary article to be read and understood.

This book is the product of a clever agenda to present the period of Islamic occupation of India as something beneficial and benevolent to India’s culture. The very need for such highly organized and heavily financed high-decibel campaign provides the answer to the question of how it affected Indians. Through the translation of Indian texts into Persian, the Mughals had had some definite plans in motion. The translators often bitterly complain about their unsavoury task in having to handle a religious text of the unbelievers. Akbar had Mahabharata translated into Persian as Razmnamah (Book of War). Mulla Shiri, a translator in the project, characterized the book as ‘rambling, extravagant stories that are like the dreams of a feverish, hallucinating man’ (p.110). Abul Fazl was instructed to write a preface to the Mahabharata against his will. So, he remarked in the preface that the translation is intended to bring the religious texts in a clear, expressive language intelligible beyond elite circles, so that simple believers would become so ashamed of their beliefs that they will become seekers of truth (Islam) (p.131). Badauni refused outright to write a preface to his own translation of the Ramayana, denoting it to be a ‘rotten, black book’. Badauni even writes out the Islamic profession of faith in the translation and begs Allah to forgive him for translating a ‘cursed book’ (p.138). The content of the texts were also altered to suit the need. Praises of Akbar were made to come out of the mouths of the heroes of epic poems! The Islamic god was inserted into a supreme position in the Mahabharata translation and Hindu gods were preserved as mere intermediaries between humans and Allah. This is replicated in the Ramayana translation also. The Bhagavad Gita is condensed into a barebones sketch of the conversation, eliminating most of the source version’s abstract reflections and philosophical concepts.

The book is replete with gross exaggerations and conclusions disproportionate in magnitude to the available evidence. Just because the Mughals had encouraged a few intellectuals whose number can be counted on the fingers of our hands, it does not mean that Sanskrit was a part of the Mughal cultural milieu. Truschke then makes a leap of wishful thinking and claims that this suggests a multicultural imperial context. In fact, the real seeds of development of Indian culture grew outside the Mughal court, often in fear of royal oppression. Persian court texts very rarely mention the Indian scholars or if at all, portray them as marginal figures of no consequence. Only Hindus and Jains developed bilingualism by learning Persian while even Indian Muslims did not study Sanskrit. Other than classical works, only very insignificant books were produced after nearly a century of ‘encouragement’ and very few copies survive in manuscript form. Glimpses of Truschke’s pet program of glorifying Aurangzeb’s hate-filled actions are seen in this book also. His withdrawal of encouragement to Sanskrit is described as ‘a sensible political act’ in view of his rivalry with Dara Shukoh. Oxymoronic statements like ‘Sanskrit was an undeniable part of Mughal court culture, and yet the language itself remained grammatically inaccessible’ betray the lack of careful analysis of facts. Readers also encounter pompous statements like ‘I stand on the shoulders of many giants in shaping this book’ undeservedly presuming that this is a masterpiece. Last time we heard this statement was from Isaac Newton commenting on his ground-breaking discoveries on gravity and calculus.

The author repeatedly stresses on the term ‘multicultural’ to characterize the Mughal court. In every chapter, you see it used again and again as a form of conditioning the reader. A glance at the number of individuals and texts in each courtly language would expose the fallacy of this argument. The book includes a chapter on Abul Fazl’s Ain-i-Akbari which introduced Indian and Sanskrit literary concepts to the Persians in a comprehensive way. The author unduly pits the Jains against Brahmins and Rajputs by exaggerating scholarly and professional jealousies common among competing intellectuals in a royal court to the level of bitter enmity. This fight is then portrayed as moderated under the benevolent gaze of the Muslim rulers. The book is a drag on readability due to its complex formation of sentences and ideas.

The book is recommended only for serious readers.

[Indra · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disgusting Hinduphobic filth as expected from Western inodologists. Waste of time.

[Vishal Kale · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book delves deep into The Socio-Cultural realm of the Mughal Court during Akbar, Jahangir, Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb’s time, giving us a surprise every few pages that causes us to recalibrate our thoughts and our knowledge. The book contains proof and evidence which you can check for yourself; more of this in the bibliography. The book is a unique and fresh look at a period of history that we clearly do not understand fully, one that needs scholarly examination. The one regret that I have is that this was thought of, researched and written outside India by a person not an Indian! Why cant such telling research be conducted in our universities; and if it is being conducted – why isn’t it being made popularly available?


This is an examination of the socio-cultural multiculturality of the Mughal Court, and the focus of successive Mughal Emperors to engage with Sanskrut {and increasingly Hindustani – precursor of Modern Hindi, which was standardized & Sanskrutised into the tongue we now speak}. This covers translations as well as deep engagements with Sanskrut texts – a myriad of Sanskrut texts, right from the most Famous, like The Mahabharat & The Ramayan to the comparatively lesser known works like Nal-Damayanti and many others folklores and books.


It looks in depth at the Brahman and Jain influence at The Mughal Court, the Sanskrut translations and texts written for the court, translations of Sanskrut works into Farsi {Persian}, examination of Indian History basis Sanskrut works, re-examination / alteration / rejection / questioning / acceptance of both Sanskrut literature & {Sanaatani} practices as well as questioning {in one case} prevalent Islamicate Practices, literature on The Mughal Empire in Sanskrut, and incorporation of Sanskrut in the Persian world. The book closes on a deep but potent note – asking as to how did Sanskrut become extinct, a question that naturally arises from the text, given that it was a living, thriving and robust tongue right till the early 1700s, and given that texts were produced in it right till the late 1700s, and early 1800s.


Read More : https://reflectionsvvk.blogspot.in/20...

[Partha · Rating 1 out of 5]

A book by a fictionist historian

[Haaris Mateen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book itself has been on my TBR for a long, long time. Audrey Truschke first announced herself on the South Asian history circuit with this book that is basically her PhD dissertation at Columbia. I waited quite a bit for the book to become cheaper but that didn't happen. In a fitting move - Columbia History PhD writing a book published by Columbia University Press - I borrowed the book from the Columbia University Library.

Before I talk in detail about the book, a caveat. Whether you're on the Aurangzeb-was-terrible side, or the Aurangzeb-was-a-great-king end, or somewhere in the convex combination between these two points, this book is NOT about Aurangzeb. So hold your tongue.

The book. The book is gorgeous in its own way. It captures a rich history of the cultural and aesthetic interactions between the Indo-Persian and Sanskrit schools of thought at the Mughal court. For instance, one learns about the representatives from the Tapa Gaccha and Kharatara Gaccha at Akbar's court (and later Jehangir) and how Jain Sanskrit scholars sought to integrate the Mughal court into traditional Sanskrit accounts and histories.

The book can be deceptively off-putting because Truschke starts this book - quite unlike her later Aurangzeb book - with typical academic caution and dryness. In fact, the introduction and the first chapter - a kind of an encapsulation of all major Sanskrit scholars at the Mughal court across several kings - is very boring. She does this, I assume, because she wants to set the context and the stage as one would do when writing an academic paper.

It's in the chapters that deal with Akbar's reign that the book soars, and how. The second chapter deals with the different kinds of Sanskrit encomiums addressed to Akbar written by different Sanskrit scholars. The praises throw light into the unique reign of Akbar, when the best artists and scholars of the era held residence at the Mughal Court, many of whom are part of contemporary Indian lore. Truschke shows off her hold over these many written works and describes many of them in rich detail.

The third chapter contains a gripping and very interesting account of how Akbar commissioned some of the best Persian and Sanskrit scholars to sit together to translate the Mahabharata into Persian, called the Razmnamah (Book of War). This is a glorious chapter and talks about many details about this unprecedented mission undertaken at the behest of Akbar, and executed by his grand vizier Abu Fazl. There are many interesting tidbits here, including the focus and attention that the translators gave to different books of the grand epic, and the way the translators made sense of the content for an (ostensibly) Persian speaking audience.

There are far too many details for me to put out here (watch out for my blog) but one does come away with one conclusion. The moniker of Akbar the Great (I hasten to add that Truschke NEVER uses or suggests this term) is well-deserved.

The other chapters deals with aspects such as how Persian thought was introduced into Sanskrit texts and vice versa. Richly detailed.

There is the overarching question that Truschke grapples with: why did the Mughals do this in the first place? Her main contention is that the Mughals sought to integrate themselves culturally and aesthetically with the Sanskrit history of India mainly because that is how they envisioned their place as being in a long line of kings of India. This was, in other words, their way of becoming a fabric of the land. This makes sense to me. However, the added motivation for doing this can be seen in a emotional sense or in a transactional sense. My own reading is that the prolific investment in Sanskrit based culture made by the Mughal court (including by Akbar, Jehangir and Shah Jahan) must have involved a mix of both factors. Truschke doesn't enter these waters of trying to disentangle the two sources.

There are some minor errors but really trivial ones that escaped proof-reading efforts. They have absolutely no bearing on the substantive content of the text.

For a deeper discussion, including with excerpts, visit my blog!

[Naman Rawat · Rating 4 out of 5]

A few major mistakes in the book though, the author has stated that Dara Shikoh was Aurangzeb's younger brother on various occasions. It is a known fact that Dara was Shahjahan's eldest son and first in line to the throne. Apart from that a very descriptive coverage of the topic. A little repetitive at times but contains many peculiar details about the Mughal court and the political and religious environment of that era.

[Bob Finch · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting examination of little-known (to me) interactions between Mongol rulers in India and the Indians over whom they ruled. Although this is a scholarly work likely to have very limited appeal, but the history described by Truscke has broad relevance (which she makes clear enough).

[Anamitra Roy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A dull subject made very interesting.

500 years ago during the Reign of Mughal Emperor Akbar , there was intense competition between Jain Monks and Brahmin Priests to get the attention of the monarch. The Jains seems to have an upper hand, Harivijaya managed to get the concession for Fishing to be prohibited in and around the Damara Lake near Fatehpur Sikri. Akbar even banned Animal slaughter in many parts of his country during a Jain festival for 9 days. Akbar used Brahmin Astrologers and Astronomers in his court. He even created a joint Vikram Samrat / Arabic Calendar. During this intense struggle between the Brahmins and the Jains, the Brahmins were generally on the losing end. Then , they had a brilliant idea. They created a Manuscript called the Allopanishad or Allahs Upanishad, and even tried to say that this was part of the Athervaveda. This was written in the Sanskrit vedic style and ended with Calling Akbar as the last incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Akbar initial was quite pleased but then decide that this was rubbished and banished the Brahmins from his court, The Allaopanishads died a quick death .
Wish all Indian Kings had the wisdom on Akbar.
Persian was a court language in India for a long time, it was not Hindi , Urdu or Punjabi. The Mughals patronized persian and india was primarily a Persian enclave, the Mughals didn’t bring any Mongol influence with them. Akbar Shah Jahan and Daro Shikoh was very inclined to indianize the Mughal rule and knew it was through Sanskrit. The Jains had a much stronger say in political life, then they do now.
The Sanskrit books and the persian translations are well documented . All the Brahmin and Jain Monks who were in the courts of Akbar , Jahangir and not there during Aurangazebs time are very well illustrated. The Persian Mahabharat , Razamnamah is a revelation, and how it influenced the Mughal courts . Abu Al Fazl and his influence on the Persian literature.
Audrey Trushke tries to brush aside any criticism of Aurangazeb, but it becomes amply clear that He was responsible for the downfall of the Empire.
The book illustrates how the Brahmin priests and Sanskrit poets negotiated concessions from Akbar or Jahangir. Daro Shikoh was a strong supporter of these literature and translations.

Audrey keeps a very good chronicle of the variety of Sanskrit books and eulogies written during this period and persian translations. Her knowledge of Sanskrit and Persian is excellent and shows her deep passion for this subject. This book does gives some hints on why Sanskrit died out in India. And we can make inferences though she does not spell it out explicitly.

Overal a very readable book though I find the language is repetitive.

[Shikha Bhatt · Rating 1 out of 5]

First of all, this book is outright waste of time.
Halfway through it, you understand that the author has no real experience of Indian culture and is framing the historical points on mere fiction and imaginary tales. Many portrays are more dramatised as if written after taking reference from a Bollywood film. Absolutely nothing here are facts, with many details wrongly quoted.
Very Disappointed.

[Khayyam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most of the 1 stars are hindutva idiots who even admit they haven't read the book.

This book does an excellent job at portraying the cultural exchange happening between Sanskrit and Persian from most Akbar's time Dara Shikoh. Aurangzeb is given a few paragraphs in conclusion.

Truschke makes excellent arguments in the book as well like how Akbar's court functioned on multiple levels (performative, political, cultural exchange, philosophical). Also how Akbar's Din I Lahi religion wasn't solely based on adjudicating an ultimate "Truth." and many more

[Siddarth Srinivas · Rating 1 out of 5]

propagandist trash from a Hindu-hating bigot and self-proclaimed historian who has a vested interest in proselytizing India. Don't waste your time