Diwali was also known as the Jashn-e Chiraghn and was widely observed during the Mughal era. According to Delhi chronicler and historian RV Smith, the Mughals were inspired to fall in love with the festival of lights by tales of how the Pharaohs celebrated Diwali by lighting up the pyramids and the entire Nile region, and later by the Persians. The Jashan-e-Chiraghan was born out of their fascination with it.
Despite being condemned by the orthodox ulema who saw it as an un-Islamic practice of devil worshippers in which the owl, the bird of omen, was sacrificed to the goddess of wealth, it quickly became a cause for celebration in the imperial court.
The principal location for the imperial Jashn-e-Chiraghan celebrations was the Rang Mahal in the Red Fort. The best confectioners from Agra, Mathura, Bhopal, and Lucknow would come to produce delights, and desi ghee would be provided from adjacent villages. Diwali preparations would begin a month in advance. Fireworks were set off nearby the fort to mark the occasion, while diyas, chandeliers, lampstands, and faanooses were lit inside the castle (pedestal chandeliers).
How the mighty Mughal emperors observed Diwali
The Mughals first celebrated Diwali in the Agra Fort and Fatehpur Sikri during the reign of Akbar, who was renowned for his secular and liberal worldview. During the reigns of his successors Jahangir and Shah Jahan, the Diwali festivities were less extravagant. From his Rajput generals, such as Raja Jaswant Singh of Jodhpur and Jai Singh I of Jaipur, Aurangzeb only accepted gifts. Smith claims that even after moving the capital to Delhi, Shah Jahan maintained the intensity of the Diwali celebration. Additionally, he added a new dimension to the festivities in the fort by introducing the Akash Diya (sky lamp).
The Mughal Diwali firework display
The exploding of fireworks close to the Red Fort’s walls, overseen by Mir Atish, served as the centerpiece of the Mughal Diwali celebrations (the firework in charge). According to historian R Nath, Surajkrant served as the constant supply of fire at a time when matches were invented. The royal attendants exposed Suranjkrant, a spherical chunk of dazzling stone, to the sun’s beams at noon. The hot stone was then used to light a piece of cotton that was placed close to it. This heavenly fire was placed in the custody of an officer and stored in a fire-pot-shaped receptacle known as an Agingir. It was replaced annually and used in the palace.
The Akash Diya (the lamp in the sky), which was lit on a tall pole during the Jashn-e-Chiraghan, was also a part of the festivities.
An attempt to become Indian Historians argue that the Mughal emperors’ celebration of Diwali and other Hindu holidays was an effort on their part to integrate themselves into traditional Indian customs and history. As true rulers of their subjects, the Mughal emperors, whose ancestors originated in Central Asia (Babur himself was from the Fergana Valley in Uzbekistan), took part in the celebration of a number of non-Muslim holidays with almost the same zeal and fervor as the local populace.
News Mania Desk
