Thoughts from my vacation- History of the Mughal Empire

I got back some time ago from my India vacation, and just realised that I hadn't blogged on it for a while. I've said it before and I'll say it again... when there is something interesting and bloggable going on I don't have the time, and when there is time, I don't have anything to write about.

Anyway, so India was full of concerts, good food and shopping. Am stunned by the number of shops and restaurants that have opened in Chennai. The place is simply booming. And also hideously expensive. Even if you convert from dollars. Or especially if you convert from dollars.

I read a lot while I was there (naturally). Started off with "Flowers for Algernon". A book that could be described as sad, but not really- if only in that it seems to ... take joy in those moments of discovery and learning, and brings out the value in every life, no matter the intelligence. Or at least that was the lesson I took from it.

Then I sat down with "India since 1526" I read only the rise and fall of the Mughals- always interesting. I was surprised by how much I hadn't learnt (or have forgotten) in History at school. For example, the number of power plays, the contradiction in the characters of each Emperor- Babur who conquered a land that he had no love for. Humayun who lost it all and never really won it again. Akbar- who came to the throne so young. The contradictions that plagued his life- in some ways the problems he faced resonate even now- in trying to forge a bi-partisan consensus (in modern parlance), he very nearly alienated his own people.

Then there was his marriage of Rajput princesses- romanticized in Jodhaa -Akbar- not so much a matter of romance as a political negotitation. His conflict with Rana Pratap- the Rana too proud to accept help, or even show respect for those who had accepted the Mughal Empire- so determined to keep his freedom, that in his pride he alienated those who would have helped him (he refused to meet with those who had married their daughters to Akbar).

Its amazing, the amount of intrigue and treachery that went on in these Mughal courts. Not one Mughal emperor seems to have made it through without his son(s) rebelling against him. Aurangazeb was probably the most famous- actually a younger son, he managed to kill and imprison his father and three brothers as he took the throne. Shockingly, as cruel as Aurangazeb was to the public, he was an absolutely virtuous man in his private life. On the other hand, Shah Jahan- known for his one great love- was actually a dissolute character- before his famous marriage and after his wife's death, he was an utter hedonist.

There were so many great loves it seems, in the Mughal court. The book also talks about Prince Salim (Jahangir's) love for Nur Jahan (who is not Shah Jahan's mother- confusingly- theere are so many wives)... Jahangir himself rebelled against Akbar, and was almost replaced by his son Khusrau- who later rebelled against J. and was killed off by his brother- who became Shah Jahan... thus continuing the line of fratricide and patricide.

Aurangazeb stretched the Mughal Empire as far as it would go. But in his intolerance he lost the trust of the Rajputs- whom the Mughals needed to govern the kingdom.... and shortly after the Mughal Empire slowly declined.

It was such a series of ups and downs - more like a novel than a history book, so full of heroes, and anti-heroes- sometimes both one and the same- their battles, their loves, their achievements- Akbar's strength- apparently enough to subdue wild elephants- Jahangir and Shah Jahan's loves, Aurangazeb's victories- which were also his failures.