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this is Alex Rutherford's fifth book in the Empire of the Moghul series. The books depict the epic saga of the great Mughals who presided over the destiny of an empire that was incomparable in power, wealth and influence. As the readers know, it is a historical fiction that is compelling in its narrative through the judicious interlacing of imagination with facts gathered from various sources, including rumours and popular beliefs.
The husband-and-wife team of Michael and Diana Preston, writing under pseudonym of Alex Rutherford, undertook the fascinating subject of Mughals with the first book about Babar's indomitable will, burning ambition and unshakeable faith in his destiny but the saga and drama of human failings began after his death when Humayun was pushed into waging a war against his brothers. The seeds of retribution were really sown when the blood of brothers was spilled for the throne. The third book was about Akbar's ruthless ambition that created an empire more powerful than that of Queen Elizabeth but he also established the principle of Mughal kingship not knowing any kinship. With the advantage of hindsight we know that the fratricidal wars that were to later destroy this great empire were set on an irreversible path by the taint that was attached to the throne of Jahangir. He was the first to attempt to usurp the throne of his father.
But the book is not about just Shah jahan the emperor, who was gifted with creativity, but of a father who committed the cardinal sin of not keeping his sons close to his heart and hence reaped the bitter harvest. Like his father before him, he too had the stains of the blood of his brothers on his hands before ascending the throne and had wanted to bring an end to the evil course that each succession had taken. But the unexpected death of Mumtaz changed all that. Obsessed with the building of Taj Mahal, he had gone remiss in discharging his fatherly duties towards his sons. Consequently, he suffered the ignominy of having to see his authority diminish as his sons battled for throne. The fate that he suffered at the hands of his son Aurangzeb is all too well known, and he too, like King Lear, might well have said: "How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is/ To have a thankless child!" The author has used every conceivable source of history in recreating the period of Shah Jahan. He has not shied away from Shah Jahan's relationship with his eldest daughter Jahanara and has also found a perfect excuse to explain the fire accident that she is said to have suffered. However, it is difficult to justify the larger-than-life role attributed to the fictional character of the Englishman, Nicholas Ballantyne. In fact, he turns out to be one of the very few who remained loyal till the end! Some readers might find the graphic details of the battles, and there are many, a little boring and repetitive after a while. Perhaps greater space could have been given to the evolution of Dara Shikoh and Aurangzeb as representatives of syncretic and bigoted beliefs for that could have explained to the reader more about the reasons of divisions within the Mughal nobility. Finally, it would be interesting to see how in his next book, Alex Rutherford walks the great Mughal Empire through the life of the monarch who was primarily responsible for its decline and decay.
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The latest in the series
is about the magnificent fifth ruler of the Mughal dynasty who left a
legacy that has been the envy of the mighty of this world. In
Shahjahanabad, he built a Delhi that alone would have given him a
place in history but by having the Taj built in Agra demonstrated not
only his deep love for his wife Mumtaz but also his appreciation of
the finer aspects of not only architecture but also art and
craftsmanship.