Opening event features the Mughals

Islamabad : Celebrating the fascinating vitality of the period and engendering an appreciation of the unique legacy, the Asian Study Group opening of the season event featured a presentation based on, ‘The Magnificent Mughals’- an anthology that explores the religious, cultural, economic, political and military aspects of the Mughal Empire by one of the foremost specialists in the field, Zeenut Ziad. The event was attended by diplomats and Pakistanis, all of whom have heard of, or supported, ASG and its mandate of spreading knowledge about the positive aspects of Pakistan.

After a period of signing up for new members and renewing old memberships - along with a cup of tea and interaction among those present - the program began with president Parvin Malik welcoming the audience; saying a few words about the ASG and the fact that it was a is a voluntary, non-profit, apolitical organization that had been showcasing all aspects of Pakistan for the last thirty five years; needs the support of the community to keep functioning; introduced the new committee members including the new patron, High Commissioner of Australia, Margaret Adamson; thanked the outgoing patron, Ambassador of Austria, Brigitta Baha for the keen interest and support she gave the ASG; thanked Serena Hotel and others for their continued support and concluded by inviting Margaret Adamson to introduce the speaker.

Margaret Adamson began by thanking the committee for reposing trust in her to be the new patron and hoped she would be able to live up to the standards set by her predecessor; praised the ASG for its work in presenting diverse informative and interesting programs and hoped she would be able to attend more of them than I the past and then went on to introduce Zeenut.

She began by saying there was a lot of information/disinformation available on the Mughals and young scholars who wanted to set the record straight had overturned the accepted colonial narrative and were giving a more unbiased picture of what the Mughals had achieved with their main aim of living in peace and harmony with all people regardless of caste, creed or nationality.

As described in the ASG newsletter, the presentation was a voyage of discovery of the cosmopolitan, vibrant, Indo - Muslim Mughal Empire that was the exemplar of a religiously and culturally plural, multi ethnic state. Originating in Central Asia, the Mughal Dynasty (1526-1858) integrated the South Asian subcontinent and established the wealthiest and most magnificent empire of the time. Exceptional rulers created a system rooted in tolerance and respect for different traditions. Under the patronage of the talented men and women of this dynasty, diverse cultures were blended with incomparable refinement to produce one of the most artistically creative eras of world history.’

Interspersing her talk with a bit of humor and interesting short tales about the rulers, Zeenut kept the talk from being too ponderous so it was enjoyed and appreciated by the audience. There was a Q&A session after which Margaret Adamson thanked her for her excellent lecture and presented a token of appreciation on behalf of ASG.

Zeenut Ziad is a graduate of the London School of Economics. She has served, among other finance related professional assignments, as an Economic Consultant with the World Bank. Pursuing a long standing interest in South Asian history - in particular the Mughal period - she organized a lecture series on the Mughal Empire at the Smithsonian Institute. The success of the series and need for a comprehensive text covering major areas of Mughal history led to the creation of the book.