Aligarh, October 19: Prof. M. Waseem Raja of the Department of History, Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), participated as an invited speaker in the International Symposium on the Mughal Empire (Bâbürlü Devleti Uluslararası Sempozyumu), held in Istanbul, Türkiye. Organised by the Istanbul Branch of Türk Ocakları and the Association of Women Academicians, the symposium commemorated the 500th anniversary of the establishment of the Mughal Empire.
Prof. Raja presented a paper titled “From Samarkand to Hindustan: Sovereignty, Mobility, and the Imperial Translation of Timurid-Turkish Statecraft in the Making of the Mughal Empire.” It examined how Babur’s Central Asian background and Timurid political traditions shaped the emerging Mughal state, highlighting the movement and adaptation of political ideas, institutions and cultural legacies across regions.
The paper situated Mughal state formation within a broader transregional history of migration, sovereignty and empire-building, emphasising the historical connections between Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent.
The presentation also highlighted the importance of studying Mughal history within a transregional framework, connecting Central Asia and India rather than treating them as separate historical worlds.
Prof. Raja’s participation provided an opportunity to present AMU’s historical scholarship at an international academic forum and reflected the Department of History’s engagement with research on Central Asian history, Indo-Turkic connections and the political and cultural foundations of the Mughal Empire.
