Abstract

Rooted in the Turco-Iranian Islamicate context of Transoxania, the Mughal dynasty met different experiences of contingency when establishing a new dominion on the subcontinent. This contribution focusses on the strategies to legitimize domination developed by the Mughals in a context of contingency, examining both the bureaucratic and the ideological sphere. Particular emphasis will be placed on a narratological examination of the ‚Maǧālis-i Ǧahāngīrī‘ by ʿAbd al-Sattār b. Qāsim Lāhōrī and the text‘s narrative strategies to represent the emperor as a kind of ‚insurance against contingencies‘.