In the given question, a statement of Assertion is followed by a statement of Reason. Mark the correct answer.

Assertion: Akbar consciously set out to make Persian the leading language of the Mughal court.

Reason: Cultural and intellectual contacts with Iran, as well as a regular stream of Iranian and Central Asian migrants seeking positions at the Mughal court, might have motivated the emperor to adopt the language.

Both the Assertion and the Reason are correct and the Reason is the correct explanation of the Assertion.

The correct answer is Option 1 - Both the Assertion and the Reason are correct and the Reason is the correct explanation of the Assertion.

Assertion: Akbar consciously set out to make Persian the leading language of the Mughal court.

Reason: Cultural and intellectual contacts with Iran, as well as a regular stream of Iranian and Central Asian migrants seeking positions at the Mughal court, might have motivated the emperor to adopt the language.

The Reason provides a plausible explanation for why Akbar might have chosen to make Persian the leading language of the Mughal court. The influx of Iranian and Central Asian migrants and the cultural connections with Iran would have supported the adoption of Persian as the court language.

Mughal court chronicles were written in Persian. Under the Sultans of Delhi it flourished as a language of the court and of literary writings, alongside north Indian languages, especially Hindavi and its regional variants. As the Mughals were Chaghtai Turks by origin, Turkish was their mother tongue. Their first ruler Babur wrote poetry and his memoirs in this language.

It was Akbar who consciously set out to make Persian the leading language of the Mughal court. Cultural and intellectual contacts with Iran, as well as a regular stream of Iranian and Central Asian migrants seeking positions at the Mughal court, might have motivated the emperor to adopt the language. Persian was elevated to a language of empire, conferring power and prestige on those who had a command of it. It was spoken by the king, the royal household and the elite at court. Further, it became the language of administration at all levels so that accountants, clerks and other functionaries also learnt it.