Society Under the Mughals

Mughal society was highly stratified but also dynamic in certain respects, characterized by diversity of classes, customs, and lifestyles.

Social Classes

Upper Class / Aristocracy: Included the emperor, princes, umara (high nobles), and the Rajput chiefs. This class lived in luxury, maintaining large households and patronizing arts. Middle Class: Composed of small mansabdars, merchants (sahukars, s arrafs), qanungos, muqaddams (village headmen), and skilled artisans. Traders formed powerful guilds, controlling trade routes. Lower Class: The vast majority – peasants, laborers, and unskilled workers. While agriculture was productive, the high revenue demand often left peasants with bare subsistence. Yet, compared to contemporary Europe, Indian peasants were not generally serfs—they had hereditary rights to land. Slaves: Domestic slavery existed, primarily for household work, but not on a plantation scale.

Position of Women

Upper-class women were largely confined to the zanana (harem) and observed purdah, but some (like Nur Jahan and Jahanara) wielded considerable political influence. Women could inherit property under Islamic law, but the practice of sati persisted among some Hindu communities. Widow remarriage was rare. In lower classes, women worked in fields and construction.

Food, Dress, and Lifestyle

The Mughal rich enjoyed elaborate cuisine – pilaf, biryani, naan, kebabs, sherbets, and imported fruits (melon, grapes). Common people ate wheat or rice with lentils and vegetables. Dress varied by status: muslins and silks for the wealthy, coarse cotton for the poor. Jama, angrakha, pajama, churidar were common attire.

Culture and Recreation

Entertainment included music (Tansen was a legend), dance, falconry, polo (chaugan), chess, and elephant fights. Festivals like Nauroz (Persian New Year), Diwali, Holi, and Eid were celebrated.

The society was largely agrarian, tradition-bound, but the Mughal era also saw urbanization and the growth of a composite Indo-Islamic culture.