- Apr 2018
- 77
- Ayodhya
I have recently been reading Manucci's work (17th century). He seems to suggest that the Persians mocked the Indians, as they considered the latter as their slaves. They mocked the Indians for their dark skin, and their customs, etc... Shah Abbas II went so far to call Aurangzeb as "Blackamoor". Aurangzeb was conscious of this "inferiority" of the Indians in terms of skin color, in comparison to the Persians. During the preparation of the war with Shah Abbas II, Aurangzeb (in anxiety) ordered the book of Khwaja Hasan Shirazi, about Islamic doctrine, to be opened. Whichever verse his eye fell on was to be treated as prophetic, and he would regulate his future actions based on that verse. His eye fell on the following verse:
"I am greatly amazed that the black man should claim equality with his master".
Aurangzeb understood the import of this verse to be that he, a king of the blacks (Indians), should not dare to wage war against the superior Persians, generally considered the masters of the Indians. Aurangzeb was pissed off, and ordered all copies of this book to be burned. So, it does seem that there was a conscious inferiority that the Mughals felt, when comparing themselves to Persians and others in Central Asia. When your own rulers see the public in this way, stereotypes will penetrate quite deeply into the psyche of the masses, and consequently, the masses would try to overcome this "inferiority", by trying to appear less dark.
The stereotype of black Indians being inferior was a common one among Central Asians. With the Central Asians invading India, these stereotypes penetrated to the inner core of the masses.
"I am greatly amazed that the black man should claim equality with his master".
Aurangzeb understood the import of this verse to be that he, a king of the blacks (Indians), should not dare to wage war against the superior Persians, generally considered the masters of the Indians. Aurangzeb was pissed off, and ordered all copies of this book to be burned. So, it does seem that there was a conscious inferiority that the Mughals felt, when comparing themselves to Persians and others in Central Asia. When your own rulers see the public in this way, stereotypes will penetrate quite deeply into the psyche of the masses, and consequently, the masses would try to overcome this "inferiority", by trying to appear less dark.
The stereotype of black Indians being inferior was a common one among Central Asians. With the Central Asians invading India, these stereotypes penetrated to the inner core of the masses.