The Spread of STDs and STIs amoung the Mughal Royalities and Emperors.

The Mughal harem, also known as the zenana, was an elaborate and complex system of women's quarters in the Mughal palace. The emperors and great Mughals had many wives and concubines, who were isolated in the women's houses, guarded by eunuchs, and helped by servants. Although the Mughal harem was known for its grandeur and luxury, it was also the site of power struggles, politics, and disease.

One of the most common diseases in the Mughal harem was sexually transmitted infections (STIs), which were rampant due to the high prevalence of homosexuality and the lack of effective treatment. Some of the most common STIs in the Mughal harem were syphilis, gonorrhea, and chancroid. These diseases were not confined to the Mughal harem, but were widespread, especially among sex workers and soldiers. The Mughal emperors themselves did not suffer from these diseases. Historical records show that many Mughal emperors including Babur, Jahangir, and Aurangzeb suffered from syphilis. Aurangzeb, in particular, was known to suffer from a severe case of syphilis, which led to his death in 1707. Jahangir also had many other health problems, including kidney failure and urinary tract infections, which were caused by many homosexual relationships. it's worse. . . Mughal emperors were known for their adultery, and many of them contracted STDs as a result. One of the most famous cases of a Mughal emperor contracting an STD is that of Emperor Akbar. Akbar is known to have had many wives and concubines and is believed to have contracted syphilis as a result of his sexuality. This disease eventually killed him in 1605. Another Mughal emperor who suffered from STDs was Emperor Jahangir. Jahangir was also known for his sexual promiscuity, which is believed to have caused him gonorrhea. This disease caused him a lot of pain and discomfort, and he talks about it extensively in his memoirs.

It wasn't just the Mughal emperors themselves who were infected with STDs. Promiscuous women are also at risk of contracting these diseases, especially those who have sex with emperors or other men. However, there is little literature on these women's health and it is difficult to say exactly how many people have STDs.

The spread of STDs in the Mughal harem was not the only result of adultery. Poor sanitation and inadequate health care are also to blame. The Mughal Empire had a sophisticated medical system, but this system focused on the health of the emperors themselves, and adulterous women were often neglected. Although STIs were common in the Mughal harem, there was little understanding of how these diseases were transmitted or how to treat them. Traditional remedies, such as herbal remedies and blood thinners, are used to treat illnesses, but they are ineffective and may even be harmful. It was only in the 20th century that effective treatments for STIs, such as antibiotics, were developed.

In conclusion, the Mughal harem is a complex system of women's quarters in the great Mughal palace, famous for its size and luxury, but also a place of power struggle, politics and disease. The prevalence of STIs, such as syphilis, gonorrhea, and chancroid, was high in the Mughal harem, and the Mughal emperors themselves were free from these diseases. Although traditional medicine was used to treat these diseases, effective treatments were not developed until the 20th century.

References:

Richards, J. F. (1995). Mughal Empire. Cambridge University Press.

Mukhia, H. (2012). Mughals of India. John Wiley & Sons.

Lal, K. S. (2006). Akbar. New Delhi: Vikas Pub. House.

Jahangir, Emperor of Hindustan, & Thackston, W. M. (1999). The Jahangirnama: memoirs of Jahangir, Emperor of India. Oxford University Press.

Shashanka is the founder of Bengali Calender, not Akbar

Who is the promoter of the Bengali year? In answer to this question, many of us will say, Emperor Akbar. But this claim is completely wrong.

We have been reading the textbooks since the time of Emperor Akbar, the founder of the Bengali year. It is said that Emperor Akbar introduced the Bengali year to facilitate the collection of taxes at the harvest time. Since this Bengali year is introduced for the convenience of the farmers to know about the time of harvest, this year is also called the harvest year.

This lie has been swallowing us for a long time.

According to simple calculations, if the year 1427 Bengal is 2020 AD, then the first year of Bengal must be 2020 - 1426 i.e. 594 AD. In the last decade of the 6th century, Shashanka, the feudal king of the Gupta Empire, declared himself the independent sovereign ruler of Bengal. To commemorate the beginning of his reign as an independent patriarch, Maharaja Shashanka introduced The Bangabada or Bengali Calendar according to the calendar based on the sun's position. In this regard, Sunil Kumar Banerjee, in an article titled 'The Source of Bengali Calendar', says,

"According to solar science-based mathematical, on Monday, April 12, 594, sunrise is the starting point of Bengal.”

We have been told that Akbar created the Bengali Calendar. Question arises, which historian discovered this fact? That historian is none other than Amartya Sen! He made this claim in the book 'The Augmentative Indian' published in 2005. Then he began to say this in various speeches. Gradually it turns on as the truth.

We know that Bengali New Year is celebrated according to the holy Boishakh Bangabda. April 14th or sometimes April 15th is celebrated as Pohela Boishakh. Now if we look at the different states of India. We will see that New Year is celebrated in different states at the same time. For example, Puthandu in Tamil Nadu, Bishu in Kerala, Baishakhi in Punjab, Rangali Bihu in Kamarupa (present name- Assam) are celebrated at the beginning of Bhaskarabda, Baisagu among the tribes of Tripura etc.

How come so many nations are celebrating New Year on the same day at exactly the same time? Did Akbar found all these calendars too?

Akbarists argue that in 1584, Akbar launched a solar calendar called Tarikh-e-Ilahi to facilitate the collection of taxes. The base year of that calendar was 1556, the first year of Akbar's reign. So, the Tarikh-e-ilahi begins in its 29th year. On the other hand, 1556 AD was 963 Hijri.

According to the Akbarists, Akbar introduced The Bangabada(Bengali Calendar) along with the Tarikh-e-Ilahi in 1584 ad, where first Bangabda year was 963(1556 AD) on paper, so that it maintains similarity with the Hijri Calendar year. That is, the actual Bengal year begins with its 963 + 29 = 991st year. Being a lunar year, hijri had by then again moved a year ahead. 1584 AD was 992 Hijri. According to the demands of the Akbarists, from this year onwards, the 29st tarikh-e-Ilahi and 991 Bengali year were started.

But did Akbar really launch 'Bangabda' or 'Bengali Calendar'? Let's see what history says.

First, the 'Ain-e-Akbari' contains chronological accounts of the various calendars of the world and India covering 30 pages. At the end of it all is Tarikh-i-Ilahi. But there is no mention of 'Bangabda' or 'Bangla Son' (Bengali Calendar). If Akbar had really introduced 'Bangabda' then why there would be no mention of it in the Ain-e-Akbari?

Secondly, Ain-i-Akbari clearly states that Akbar did not like the Hijri year, so he started Tarikh-i-Ilahi. At the same time, if he had really started Bangabda, would his base year have been matched with the disliked Hijri without equating it with his introduced date-i-Ilahi?

Thirdly, during the reign of Akbar, the Mughal Empire had a total of twelve states(Subha) like Bengal, Allahabad, Ayodhya, Agra, Patna, Multan, Kabul etc. So why did Akbar go to create a special calendar for Bengal only? He did not make any separate calendar for Kabul or Multan.

Fourthly, Bengal was then practically ruled by mighty Feudal Kings like Pratapaditya and Kedar Roy. They had a fierce feud with the Mughals. The capital of ‘Mughal Occupied Bengal’ was then Rajmahal, far away from Jessore or Sreepur, the center of Bengal politics. From the point of view of the Mughals, total chaos was running in Bengal at that time. In that situation, why would Akbar, known as a good ruler, take the risk of compiling a new calendar just for Bengal?

Fifth, from Punjab to Deccan, from Gujarat to Assam, Manipur, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and all-over Southeast Asia, wherever Indian culture has reached, the beginning of the year in all these places has the same time of the year; that is Pohela Boishakh. The first day of the Bengali Calendar is also the first date of Cambodian/Thai/Burmese calendar. So, what do you say? Akbar of Delhi introduced calendars in all these places? There is no mention of ‘Fasal-i-Shan’ or ‘Year of Good Harvest’ as there is no mention of ‘Bangabd’ or ‘Bangla Year’ in ‘Ain-e-Akbari’. As the Hijri year is a lunar calendar, there is a problem in collecting revenue untimely and there is no mention that Akbar prepared a solar calendar for that. Nowhere is it said that proper revenue is being collected after re-formulation.

In the official history of Akbar's time, it is said that the new calendar, Tarikh-i-Ilahi, was introduced to bring harmony between the calendars of the vast region of Hindustan. The question naturally arises here, why did this problem suddenly come to mind after three decades of rule? Why didn't this problem come to mind before Akbar who is known as a good ruler?

In fact, just a year and a half ago, in October 1582, Pope Gregory VIII revised the old Julian calendar and introduced a new Gregorian calendar. That gained Pope Gregory VIII a massive popularity in Europe, which made Akbar jealous and Akbar also wanted to become. That is why Akbar's astronomer Fatullah Shirazi compiled the Tarikh-i-Ilahi calendar based on the Gurgani calculation system of Samarkand in Central Asia.

There is also rocky evidence that Akbar did not establish Bangabda. Nitish Sengupta's book 'The Land of the Rivers' mentions the thousand-year-old terracotta Shiva temple at Dihargram and Sonatpan village in Bankura district of West Bengal. The two temples bear the inscription of Bangabda, which is older than Akbar.