Mughals and Mangoes
By
Sumit Paul, New Age Islam
11 April
2022
" The overall class and pedigree of a
group of people can be determined by its fondness for food and fruits."
-Professor Sir Edward Gibbon, ' The Rise and
Fall of Roman Empire '
"Kah Mukri " by 13th century
Sufi Poet Amir Khusro :
बरसा-बरस वह देस में आवे,
मुँह से मुँह लाग रस प्यावे।
वा खातिर मैं खरचे दाम,
ऐ सखि साजन न सखि! आम।।
Courtesy: Indo Islamic Culture/ Twitter
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The
aforementioned famous statement applies to the Mughals, who are, 'uncouth and
barbaric plunderers' according to the neo-Hindus with half-baked knowledge and
who keep spewing venom against Muslims and Mughals on various social platforms.
Anyway, this is the season of mangoes, which is redolent of its fruity ripe
aroma. Like all gourmets, Mughals were also very fond of mangoes. So much so
that the Persian poet Urfi Shiraz, in the court of Akbar, called it, 'Sartaaj-E-Samar'
(king of fruits, Samar : fruit in Urdu) and wrote in Persian, 'Dull would he be
of soul and taste, who doesn't like mangoes.' Mughals not only loved mangoes,
they patronised the fruit by owning mango orchards as far as Kandahar and
today's Kohat (NWFP, also famous from its guavas and the great Urdu poet Ahmad
Faraz)..While Babur had dismissed the mango (he loved muskmelons-Kharbooza-of
Central Asia), Jahangir praised it, declaring that “notwithstanding the
sweetness of the Kabul fruits, not one of them has, to my taste, the flavour of
the mango.” It must be noted that
'throughout the reign of the Mughals, fruit occupied a special place in court
culture as well as on the court’s table. Fruit served not only as a foodstuff,
but also as an omnipresent statement of who the Mughals were and how they
viewed their relationship with their Indian subjects. Fruit was an edible
yardstick of civilization, the cultivation and appreciation of which was a key
indication of civilized culture' (courtesy, National Museum of Asian Art, Oct.
12, 2012).
Jahangir's
father emperor Akbar was so fond of mangoes from Malihabad region (near
Lucknow) that he ordered to preserve the slices of mangoes in honey to be
relished in off-seasons! It's worthwhile to mention that honey is a great
preservative. Interestingly, when Akbar was young, he was allergic to mangoes
and his skin would develop rashes after consuming the juicy fruit. But he loved
the taste. Fortunately, Faizi (the elder brother of Abul Fazl and one of the
Navratnas in Akbar's court) came to his rescue as he (Faizi) was also a hakim.
He advised Akbar to drink aam ka pana (I don't know, what is it called in
English) with a pinch of asafoetida (Heeng). Akbar followed the instructions in
toto and got rid of his allergy to mangoes! Akbar's court poets in Persian, Utbi and Naziri, wrote panegyrics on
mangoes. Utbi wrote a long nazm on Akbar's fondness for mangoes and he also
described the aphrodisiac attributes of mangoes. Akbar recommended the consumption
of a ripe mango (most probably, the Chausa variety) an hour prior to conjugal
intimacy. Raja Todarmal benefitted from the emperor's 'medical' advice.
Mirza Ghalib's love for mangoes is part
of our folklore .
Courtesy: Indo Islamic Culture/ Twitter
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Shahjahan
used to relish different varieties of mangoes and loved Aamras (sans milk). So
fond was he of mangoes that when his son Aurangzeb incarcerated him, he allowed
Shahjahan to have at least this privilege during summers. The usually stern
Aurangzeb was also very fond of mangoes and when he was in the Deccan
(Aurangabad and Ahmednagar), he tried new varieties of mangoes and found them
to be better than the mangoes of Shumaal (north). The last Mughal emperor
BahadurSshah Zafar was also very fond of mangoes. Alas, the poor soul was
deprived of it when the English exiled him to Rangoon (British-controlled
Burma). Zafar is believed to have penned a Nazm in praise of mangoes but
his mentor and poet Ibrahim 'Zauq' discouraged him to make it public as the Ustad-poet
thought that it was unbecoming, nay infra-dig, on the part of an emperor to
write on mangoes and eulogise the fruit! Zafar and Zauq's legendary coeval
Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib's fondness for the king of fruits is a part of Urdu
folklore.
Now when
mangoes are in the market, it's time to enjoy the fruit in all its tasteful
splendour. Alas, Aam Aaj-Kal Aam Aadmi Ki Resai Se Baahar Ho Gaya Hai, ruefully
observed Urdu short-story writer Intezaar Hussain. It's indeed out of the reach
of common people.
---
An occasional columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit
Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam.
He has contributed articles to world's premier publications in several
languages including Persian.
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islamic-culture/mughals-mangoes-ghalib-jahangir/d/126772