Turks in India
Mughal contingent, Jama Masjid, Delhi |
That is due to the fact that Turks and Turkic people ruled these areas and served in the armies of local rulers as well, because of they were good able and skillful soldiers. They had ruled in almost every part of Asia except far east and south east.
Seljuk Cavalry |
Apart from that during the reign of Mamluk/Slave dynasty from 1206 to 1290 AD. Hordes of Turks came from Central Asia to settle in the Delhi-Western UP region due to the Mongol attacks in central asia during that era.
Oguz Turks |
During the reign of Mamluk Sultan Balban, he broke the Amir Chalgani which was a group of 40 nobles in the court which was formed by his predecessor Altamash. They fled and settled in western UP.
Later during the invasion of the Turko-Mongol ruler Timur Leng, the Karluk Turks settled in the hazara regions of modern day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Pakistan) and Punjab. In the time of Timur's descendant Mughal emperor Babur various other Turkic and Turco-Mongol tribes came and settled in the northern regions these were in particular the Barlas, Qazilbash, Uzbeks, and various Central Asian Turkomen tribes and other Non-Turks such as Persians, Tajiks, Afghans.
Mughal Court |
Today most of the modern populations of Turks are ignorant of their roots. But surnames such as Baig/Beg, Mirza, Mughal, Turk, Turkei, Khan tells alot about their history.
This fusion of the migrants and along with local muslim converts and non muslims developed the culture and tradition of "Ganga-Jamni Tehzib". This diversity made a culture which was famous for its cuisines and Urdu language which was the merger of Arabic, Persian, Turkish with Hindustani, Sanskrit. And this melting pot of cultures over the years gave rise to the Urdu speaking Indian muslim population of modern times in Delhi, Up, Bihar, Hyderabad and other states. Most well known example is of Mirza Ghalib aka (Mirza Asadullah Khan Baig) who himself was a Turk and widely known as the pioneer and most influential writer of Urdu literature. Some say he is the Shakespeare of Urdu language. During partition many of the Turks-Mughals migrated to Pakistan. Nevertheless there is still a big chunk of them living in Delhi and western UP thriving to make their lives better & prosperous.
Further Read:
https://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjb7c7_m4HSAhWBpI8KHcz0A6AQFggZMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Ftimesofindia.indiatimes.com%2Fcity%2Fbareilly%2FIstanbul-opens-its-eyes-to-Rohilkhands-11-lakh-Turks-%2Farticleshow%2F49263392.cms&usg=AFQjCNEe8gjPRXIs6LlUfdMoccJumdh9qA&sig2=gc_EwCQurMgTv8nniRS3Aw&bvm=bv.146496531,d.c2I
Its a great read, got to know so many things about the history of Turks. looking forward for a new post.
ReplyDeleteThanks mate.
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