Author: Abraham Eraly
Publisher: Penguin
Year: 1997
Language: English
Pages: 962
ISBN/UPC (if available): 067087518X
Description
In December 1525, Zahir-ud-din Babur, descended from Chengiz Khan and Timur Lenk, crossed the Indus river into the Punjab with a modest army and some cannon. At Panipat, five months later he fought the most important battle of his life and routed the mammoth army of Sultan Ibrahim Lodi, the Afghan ruler of Hindustan. Mughal rule in India had begun. It was to continue for over three centuries, shaping India for all time.
In this monumental and definitive biography of the great Mughals, Abraham Eraly reclaims the right to set down history as a chronicle of flesh-and-blood people. Bringing to his task the objectivity of a master scholar and the high imagination of a master story-teller, he recreates the lives of Babur, the intrepid pioneer; the dreamer Humayun; Akbar, the greatest and most enigmatic of the Mughal emperors; Jehangir and Shah Jahan, the aesthetes; and the dour and determined Aurangzeb. Because of their charisma and leadership the Mughal empire survived and grew despite the chaos and contradictions it carried within itself-the tumult of unending wars, the baffling opulence of the ruling elite and the desperate misery of the masses, the brutal feuds in the royal families, as also the flowering of art and culture.
Without ever sacrificing authenticity and academic accuracy, Eraly has written a stirring and vivid account of one of the world’s greatest empires that will be savoured by the general reader and the serious scholar alike for years to come.
Contents
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
PREFACE
PART ONE: EMPERORS OF THE PEACOCK THRONE
CHAPTER ONE: THE MUGHAL ADVENT
Like a King on a Chessboard
IF Fame Be Mine
Black Fell the Day
CHAPTER TWO: THE STRUGGLE FOR SURVIVAL
The dreamer Cometh
The Feast Is Over
What Is to be Done?
CHAPTER THREE: THE AFGHAN INTERLUDE
Man of Destiny
Peaceable Kingdom
Fiery End
CHAPTER FOUR: THE MUGHAL RESTORATION
Humayan in exile
The reluctant boy King
Behind the Veil
CHAPTER FIVE: THE EMPIRE TAKES HOLD
Earth Hunger
Invincible Emperor
Person and Persona
Illiterate Savant
CHAPTER SIX: AN EXPERIMENT IN SYNTHESIS
My Mind Is Not at Ease
Reason, Not Tradition
Allahu Akbar!
Tyranny Is Unlawful
The Long Farewell
CHAPTER SEVEN: THE MIDDLE EMPIRE
His Father’s Son
Scientist Emperor
Sons and Rebels
Another son, Another Rebel
Light of the World
An English Aristocrat in the Mughal Court
The Coup
CHAPTER EIGHT: THE PARADISE ON EARTH
The Man Behind the Mask
Pyrrhic Victories
Ya Takht, Ya Tabut!
For the Sake of the True Faith
Dara’s Last Stand
CHAPTER NINE: OVER THE TOP
God’s Elected Custodian
Fear the sighs of the Oppressed
Born to Trouble Others
The More One Drinks
Now That the Shadows Fall
CHAPTER TEN: THE MARATHA NEMESIS
Maratha Beginnings
Enter Shivaji
Lord of the Umbrella
Kirti Rupen
Maratha Collapse
Rafizi-Kush
Maratha Eruption
Of the Future There Is No Hope
PART TWO: THE TAINTED PARADISE
CHAPTER ELEVEN: THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE
The Land
The People
CHAPTER TWELVE: THE RIGHT ROYAL LIFESTYLE
The Emperor at Work
A Movable City
The Emperor at Play
CHAPTER THIRTEEN: LIVING AND PARTLY LIVING
Lordly Fireflies
The Amir at Home
The Amir at Play
Life at the Bottom
CHAPTER FOURTEEN: GILDED AND OTHER CAGES
The Imperial Harem
The Gilded Cage
The Woman’s Lot
CHAPTER FIFTEEN: PRODUCERS AND PREDATORS
The Poor Rich Country
The Peasant’s Lot
The Whip and the Artisan
Hamstrung Trade
CHAPTER SIXTEEN: MASTERS AND SLAVES
The Alien Face
Anatomy of the Empire
All the Emperor’s Men
Sacred Laws, Profane Justice
The Royal Revenue Squeeze
The Flabby Giant
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: PEARLS AND PEBBLES
The Razor’s Edge
The Ocean of Nectar
Sword Is God
Cultural Melange
A Crore for a Song
The Last Spring
Epilogue
Incidental Data
Notes
Bibliography
Index