[Sca-cooks] Moghul Food

[Volker Bach]

Am Donnerstag, 8. Juni 2006 00:27 schrieb Stefan li Rous:
> Duriel said:
>  > Not 'Mongol'...'Moghul'.  Persia/Afghanistan/India.  Lots of
>
> cookbooks from there.
>
> Oops. That caught me, too.
>
> When was this culture? Did it really cover Persia/Afghanistan, and I
> assume, parts of northwestern India? What effects did they have upon
> medieval Europe? Other than sitting astride some trade routes, so
> therefor either enhancing of inhibiting trade from the East?

Basically, the Mughal empoerors were responsible for a large part of the India 
'myth' of omnipotent tyrants living in untold luxury, dispensing largesse 
with an open hand and indulging their every whim. When the Europeans reached 
India in larger numbers by sea, they were just in time to meet their empire 
at its height, and that must have been quite a spectacle. They didn't quite 
understand the political role of conspicuous consumption, but they certainly 
were impressed. The Mughals were happy to trade, and by and large 
disinterested in matters maritime, so it was a match made in heaven. 

The Mughals were also instrumental to integrating much of northern India into 
the mental sphere that considers itself 'India', though that process did not 
get completed until the Raj, they created the role models for generations of 
Indian princes, and they were largely responsible for crushing political 
Hinduism (leading some influential Hindus to cast their lot with the 
Europeans when the time came), militarising Sikhism, and developing the modus 
vivendi between the religions that to this day obtains in the parts of India 
where that works. 

Last, but not least, they gave German its word for cheating, e.g. at games of 
chance - 'mogeln' - derived from an Indian technique of cutting very thin 
semiprecious stone slices to create the impression of large gems. . 

Giano


	

	
		
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