Bâbürlüler: Hindistan’da Bir Türk İmparatorluğu

by Michael H. Fisher, M. Fatih Çalışır (translator)

HİNDİSTAN’DA ÜÇ ASIR HÜKÜM SÜREN
BİR TÜRK İMPARATORLUĞU: BÂBÜRLÜLER…

Atası Emir Timurʼun 14. yüzyılın sonunda gerçekleştirdiği Delhi fethi, Bâbür Şahʼın Hint topraklarını kendisine bırakılmış bir miras olarak görmesini sağladı. Azim, sebat ve kararlılıkla hareket eden Bâbür ve oğulları, 1526’da kurulan devleti adım adım genişlettiler. Zirve yıllarında Avrupa kıtasının yaklaşık üçte biri büyüklüğüne ulaşan Türk-Moğol kökenli bu imparatorluk, dönemin Avrupa nüfusunun yaklaşık iki katı bir nüfusa ve Hindistan topraklarının büyük bir bölümüne hâkim olmayı başardı.

Michael H. Fisher’ın elinizdeki kitabı, 16. yüzyılda Hindistan’da hâkimiyet kuran Bâbürlüler hakkında uzun zamandır beklenen bir çalışma ve bu alanda Türkçeye kazandırılan bir ilk eser olmasıyla büyük önem arz ediyor. Tarihî olayları zengin ve kapsamlı bir bağlama oturtan tarihçi Fisher, bir taraftan Bâbürlüler dönemi Hindistan siyaseti ve kültürünün ayrıntılı bir incelemesini sunarken öte yandan hanedan kadınları, dinî gruplar ve taşra memurları gibi pek incelenmemiş konulara dikkatleri çekiyor. Dönemin dil, şiir, sanat ve mimari arka planı da kitapta kendine geniş bir yer buluyor. Bâbürlülerden bugüne kalan maddi ve kültürel miras, Asya ve İslam dünyasındaki imparatorluk süreçlerinin doğasını anlamamıza ve Asyalılar ile Hıristiyan Avrupa’nın sömürgeci güçleri arasındaki ilişkiler hakkında etraflıca fikir sahibi olmamıza imkân sağlıyor.

Bâbürlüler: keşfedilmeyi bekleyen bir Türk İmparatorluğu’nu ve Güney Asya tarihini yakından tanımak isteyen okurlar için çarpıcı bilgiler içeren ve kolay okunur bir başucu kitabı…

Genres: History, India, Nonfiction, Asia

400 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2015

About the author

Dr. Michael H. Fisher is the Robert S. Danforth Professor of History at Oberlin College, where he offers a range of courses on the history of South Asia, the environmental history of the Indian subcontinent, Pakistan, Mahatma Gandhi, and early travel narratives about India. He earned his M.A. and his Ph.D. in History with a concentration on South Asia from the University of Chicago. He also holds a B.A. in English from Trinity College.

Professor Fisher has published 12 books and more than 50 articles on aspects of Indian history. His special interests include the interactions between Indians and Europeans, both in India and in Europe, from the 16th century onward. His books include biographies of Indian settlers and visitors to Britain and histories of the British Empire as it originated and developed in India. His most recent book is A Short History of the Mughal Empire.

Since 1971, Professor Fisher has lived, researched, and taught for long periods in India, with briefer trips to Pakistan and Bangladesh. He has been a visiting faculty fellow at the University of Delhi, University of Hyderabad, University of Allahabad, Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi, and the University of Dhaka in Bangladesh. Professor Fisher has also served on the major committees of the American Historical Association and the American Institute of Indian Studies, among others.

Reviews

[Ahmed · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading it. It was crisp and gave a great overview of the beginnings and the end of the Mughal Empire. After reading this book, it only increased my desire to know more about how people lived and rule during those times on a deeper level. The amount of culture and heritage developed by the Mughals was unknown to me before I read this book.

[John Hess · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you know little to nothing about the Mughal Empire but want to wrap your head around it quickly, this is the book for you. Full stop. I've read several and this is hands-down the best.

[teohjitkhiam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aptly titled, this short history of the Mughals is a concise book summarizing the founding of the Empire under Babur to acquisition of its Hindustani character under Akbar, and culminating in its imperceptible but inexorable decline under Alamgir, followed by a string of pretenders & puppets in thrall of regents. This short book does no justice to namely four of its most notable Mughal emperors - Akbar, Jahangir, Shah Jahan, & Alamgir - as each deserves a reading of a full biography on his own.

The concise nature of the book didn't lent itself well into a deep dive as to the causes of the decline of the Mughals but it offered clues that could be gleaned. Chiefly, the Timurid tradition decreeing collective sovereignty for all male descendants rather than primogeniture basically ensured successions would be nothing short of civil wars, squandering resources & paralyzing the empire, until one remained. The other chief cause may have been the increasing reliance on tax farming, a regressive move from an imperial perspective. It was largely displaced by Akbar -imposing greater central control over tax collection- but gained urgent utility under Alamgir & his increasingly powerless successors.

[Tanvir Chowdhury]

Brief , lucid portrayal of of mighty Mughal empire.

[Chris Linehan · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a nightstand book this one took a bit longer for me to get through. As I was coming to the unraveling of the empire Coronavirus struck and unraveled our trip to India. While neither my method of reading it in shorter chunks nor the pandemic were the author’s fault I think it plays a part in my review. Is it fair? No, but life rarely is.

Some of the parts were excellent. The main emperors’ histories were fascinating. I especially enjoyed the sections on Babur and on Akbar. The book tied up too quickly however for my liking. Obviously a short history must leave out details, but I keep coming away from books about the history of India feeling as though I’m not quite grasping a big picture. This is frustrating for me and I’m beginning to wonder if it’s not authorial malpractice and that it might just be the reader. I would recommend this though to anyone without familiarity with much of Mughal history as it does a good job of introducing the topic.

[Hamzah Raza · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was hard to find a Mughal Empire book. Hansen's The Peacock Throne isn't available as an ebook. It is hard to find Bamber Gascoigne's A Brief History of the Great Moghuls. The same is true of Abraham Eraly's work. Some of these exist as internet archive scans but reading them would make my eyes bleed.

Goodreads is useful as a tool to gauge the popularity of a work. Though, if Goodreads ratings are to be trusted at all, books about Mughal History are as obscure as some literature professor's failed novel or your mutual friend's self published memoir.

There's isn't much to say about this book. I was able to find it. It was insightful and concise. As far as I can tell, it's unbiased. It has the perverse effect of most books: rather than satisfying my curiosity, it increased it. Thank you Michael Fisher. Even though your prose is academic (lifeless), I love you.

[Serdar SARI · Rating 5 out of 5]

Babür Şah gerçekten atası Timur gibi bütün hayatı mücadele ile geçen bir lider. Savaş ve entrika ile dolu bu kitabı okumanızı tavsiye ediyorum. Ama bize biraz uzak bir coğrafya olduğu için bazı şeyleri anlamakta zorlanabilirsiniz, okurken yanınızda harita bulundurmanızda fayda var

[Reid · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brief history of the Mughals with particular focus on Akbar and the early empire. Interactions with the British East India Company are lightly treated. Decent, helped me to understand a bit more about this important empire and its challenges and successes.

[Peyton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good intro imo, clear and not overwhelming but not overly simplistic either

[Zachariah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seems to be very thoroughly researched and a great starting point towards discovering the Mughal empire

[Arjun · Rating 4 out of 5]

the chapters use imperial reigns for periodization