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Muzaffar Alam’s The Mughals and the Sufis: Islam and Political Imagination in India, 1500–1750 examines how Sufi traditions and Mughal political culture shaped one another. In a 2021 review, Avik Chanda describes the book as bringing spiritual authority, imperial legitimacy, court rivalries and princely succession into a shared historical account—not treating Sufis only as private religious guides.
What does the book argue?
Alam’s subject is the relationship between Sufi traditions and Mughal rule in South Asia from 1500 to 1750. As Chanda summarizes it, the book explores how religious ideas and Sufi leaders could matter in imperial politics, and how political circumstances in turn shaped religious affiliations and relationships at court.
That approach moves beyond a simple division between rulers and spiritual figures. Sufi leaders could advise, influence or become entangled in political affairs; affiliations could also intersect with court rivalries and questions of succession. The review’s account cautions against reducing these histories to a tidy contest between “tolerant” and “intolerant” rulers, or treating Sufi orders as uniform blocs.
How does the book connect spiritual authority to Mughal power?
Orders, rulers and political change
Chanda describes a chronological narrative that follows Sufi figures and traditions across the early Mughal period and the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, against a backdrop that includes Babur, Humayun, Akbar and Aurangzeb. Among the examples in the review are Khwaja ’Ubaid-Allah Ahrar and the Naqshbandi tradition, Shaikh ’Abd al-Quddus Gangohi amid the transition from Lodhi to Mughal rule, and the relationship between Aurangzeb’s court and the family of Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi.
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The review also discusses Dara Shukoh’s Qadiri association, the interrogation of Mullah Shah and the execution of Sarmad Kashani in connection with imperial and clerical conflict. These cases suggest how spiritual affiliation could have political consequences, but they do not support a single explanation for every court decision or a one-dimensional account of any ruler or order.
Princes, succession and spiritual learning
The book’s account, as presented by Chanda, gives attention to Mughal princesses Jahanara, Roshanara and Zebunissa, including their differing affiliations and political or literary roles. Their inclusion broadens the story beyond emperors and male religious authorities, showing that the imperial household itself was part of the religious and political landscape.
Dara Shukoh’s engagement with the Yogavasistha is another important example in the review. Chanda presents it as part of Alam’s account of spiritual learning and political imagination. The review quotes Alam’s judgment that Dara “is a step ahead of his great grandfather, Akbar”; this is an interpretive assessment of Dara, not a neutral measurement of his place in history.
What sources does Alam draw on?
Chanda emphasizes the breadth of the book’s source base: contemporary Persian texts, court chronicles, collections of letters, biographies of Sufi mystics and rare manuscripts. Alongside familiar works such as the Akbarnama and Badauni’s Muntakhab al-Tawarikh, the review names the Maktubat-i Khwaja Muhammad Saif al-Din, Nala-i’ Andalib and Sawati‘al-Anwar.
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In the reviewer’s view, this mix brings lesser-known figures and texts into the narrative and challenges accounts that rely too heavily on hagiography. The significance is not merely the number of sources: letters, biographies and court histories can illuminate different relationships between spiritual life and political power.
What does “new ground” mean here?
The review’s case for the book’s contribution rests on its framing: Mughal politics and Sufi spiritual life are examined together, rather than being treated as separate histories. Its emphasis on political roles for Sufi leaders, varied source material, and the religious and literary lives of imperial women helps make that connection visible.
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This is a description of the book as assessed by Chanda, not a systematic comparison with other scholarship. The review does not establish that Alam was the first historian to study these connections, nor does it provide a comparative survey of competing books. Readers looking for a broader historiographical judgment would need to consult the monograph and scholarship beyond the review.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Who should read it?
The book is a strong subject for readers interested in Mughal history, Sufi traditions, Persian sources, or the links between religion and political authority. Its scope also offers a way into questions of court culture and succession, including the roles played by members of the imperial family. Chanda’s review provides a guide to these themes, while the monograph is the place to follow Alam’s argument and evidence in full.
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