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“Alas for That Invaluable Jewel”: Attachment, Companionship and Loss in the Court of Aurangzeb

Presenter:

· Emma Kalb University of Chicago (Chicago, United States of America)

Timeslot:

07/28 | 11:20-11:40 UTC+2/CEST

Abstract

In 1685, Bakhtāwar Khān, elite eunuch servitor and intimate companion to the emperor, died after eight days of illness. In the days that followed, a grieving Aurangzeb publicly mourned his loss, making an unusual display of intimate attachment. This paper explores the longer history of the relationship between these two figures, over the course of three decades in which a close relationship was formed between emperor and servitor. This relationship and its various representations were crucially shaped both by Bakhtāwar Khān’s position as an educated, highly literate court figure as well as by the particular forms of intimacy made possible by his eunuch status. Drawing on both court histories and administrative documents, including texts written by Bakhtāwar Khān himself, this paper will explore the links between the language of these texts and normative ideals around intimacy and companionship. Through tracking the language used to describe this particular intimate and unequal relationship, the paper examines the relevance of normative discourses around the advising of kings and the roles of the wise and pious; by extension it also suggests productive ways to re-interpret the appearance of other elite enslaved individuals as influential companions and advisors. It will also consider how the depiction of love and intimacy between emperor and eunuch resonates with broader understandings of the intersection between the intimate, the social, and the political. In fact, a close examination of this entanglement shows how these relationships of intimate attachment were central to the discursive construction of the Mughal emperor and of the state.