Imperial Identity in the Mughal Empire

The Mughal Empire was a dynastic enterprise par excellence in which the sovereign incarnated the realm: the King’s body was the body-politic and the state a possession of the royal household. And yet such was the hold of the Empire that even after 1720 C.E., when its rulers could no longer freely control the flow of money, goods, information to and from its capital, the legacy of the imperial system remained. Or, as a modern scholar J. F. Richard, notes: ‘The imperial model for concentration and power retained its compelling appeal for Marathas, Jats, Rajputs, Sikhs, and ultimately the British. The expansion, and consolidation, of the empire had irrevocably reordered human relationships throughout the continent in virtually every aspect of society.’ The details of these survivals of the imperial rule are equally astounding: ‘The Mughal agrarian order decayed, but still offered a rationale and techniques for recognition and assimilation of aristocracies rooted in local control of land and peasants. The imperial land tax structures still set limits, levels and acceptable modes of assessment and collection for the state’s share of the agrarian production. Under East India Company and the princely states, the Mughal currency system flourished in its essential metrology, bi-metallic composition, coin types, and minting system.