Tags
aurangzeb, book, book review, jahanara, mistress, mughal, review, shah jahan, throne
‘Our Empire had an abundance of everything- except trust and loyalty.’ says Jahanara. Daughter Shah Jahan; sister to Aurangzeb; wife to none and as aptly titled, lonely Mistress to the (Cursed) Throne.
Ruchir Gupta, debutant novelist, takes up the mantle of unfolding her life saga. Thankfully, he adds a family tree to clarify the baffling plethora of characters.
Steeped in debauchery & deceit; forbidden lusts & chilling cruelty. The Mughal Empire has always been a source of curiosity and wonder at their culture and their architecture.
However, there is a turbulent atmosphere within the palaces. There is deep insecurity for personal safety; burning ambitions and raging envy that lead brother to kill brother; sister to torture sister and son to imprison father!
Particularly deep chilling moments burst out, surprisingly, not from the blood-lusty men…***Spoiler alert…but from the frustrated and ill-fated women of the Empire. (Raushanhara’s lovers are boiled to death by the creator of Taj Mahal! Equally blood-curdling is the cruelty that drives Raushanhara to roast alive her younger sister’s lover!) Spoiler ends***
In spite of the female protagonist, the men get a fair deal in terms of character development, emotions and bravura. Especially noteworthy, Aurangzeb is not reduced to a sinister caricature. Instead we see his lonely childhood, under the relentless misguidance of NoorJahan. We also see his martial exploits and competent generalship; and yet see him facing constant ridicule from Shah Jahan.
If anything, it made me want to re-read the superb Marathi novel, Shahenshah by N.S Inamdar. (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16204056-shahenshah?from_search=true).
Note: I have not read Indu Sundareshan’s Mughal series. So no scope for comparisons there.
Verdict: Ruchir has evidently researched thoroughly and sifted through emotional depths instead of skimming the surface. Recommended, especially for Mughal era fans and History buffs.
Mughal rulers were very cruel.same the way in some Arab countries, rulers have killed their own families for the greed of power.
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They remind me of Romans and Greeks, who used gladiators as a source of entertainment.
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Ooh this sounds right up my street.
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Go for it , Bride. You will definitely feel the pain of a daughter whose father declared his romantic love in marble; yet who made sure romantic love was forbidden to his daughters.
Some things are just easier said than done.
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I’ve been reading a lot about the Mughal period (non-fiction) having gotten into it via Indu Sundaresan’s novels. It was Akbar who decreed that royal princesses should not be married so that the son-in-laws do not become a threat to the throne, though novelists seem to have made it out to be Shah Jahan’s doing to add colour to the story.
The bit about Roshanara getting her younger sister’s lover boiled seems to be fictional also, though the bit about her own lover seems to have been reported by a couple of historians (again, these are anechdotes, it’s not certain this actually happened.)
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Hmm, the thin line between fact and fiction will always be blurred. I am always confused about the sequence. Akbar comes before or after Shah Jahan?
Oh, before, of course.
Akbar was so encompassing of religions; feels out of character for him to give that decree. But one never knows…
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Oh but this had less to do with religion than political exigency.
Aurangzeb was not emcompassing of other religions but it was him that lifted the ban on princesses marrying and allowed his daughters to get married.
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Really? For me Aurangzeb till now, has only been the enemy of Shivaji Maharaj and the one who tortured Sambhaji Raje to death.
Like I said, need to read ‘Shahenshah’ for more details.
You seem to be quite knowledgeable about Mughals. History buff or Sundaresan buff?
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I’ve always loved history as a subject, but got into the Mughals specifically after Sundaresan’s novels. I then read a couple of history books on the Mughals, and will probably keep reading more.
The Mughal age was quite well recorded historically because the emperors themselves wrote diaries (starting with Babarnama), had court historians and then there were foreign travellers who also wrote accounts of the period. So if all the various accounts of an event match, then most likely the events did take place.
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I am sure. Does Indu romanticize her heroines or present them as they were. I mean, does NoorJahan move from innocent to scheming from novel to novel; or is she scheming from the word go?
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In Sundaresan’s novels, two of which centre around Nur Jahan, she’s favourably presented throughout, though she does have her moments of weakness. I think the tendency to characterise Nur Jahan is completely evil has something to do with the fact that she was a woman who managed to wield immense power, and this is somehow seem as terrible.
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Very true. A woman with power is difficult to accept and must be demonized over decades.
In the present novel, she is quite the scheming she-devil. Yet she holds enough power to influence Aurangzeb.
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The Great Akbar is my Favorite…….
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May I know why? Birbal factor, Hrithik Roshan factor or geo-politico-social?
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Nice brief review 🙂 Good to know and learn about people from that era. Jahanara the name, and what you have under spoiler alert, may be enough details for me to read this book.
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The macabre is always enticing, isn’t it? But I admit, with enough time and nothing to do, the frustrated women must have found such terrible outlets. Just imagine-having beauty and passion; and zero freedom!
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Oh, I can imagine! Beauty craves for attention, passion requires an outlet – restricting or breaking these burning desires invites the kind of wrath that can make any narrative not only deadlier but also lustful and provocative. Hots! 🙂
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Absolutely. It was just so cruel to gag and mute the women’s desires, while the men had harems.
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Do you think times have changed, and both men and women of today approach the zone of desires (secretly or otherwise) without fear?
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I think approaching and reaching desires has become easier, hence maybe more superficial and eventually may water down the intensity.
In cities today, desires are vastly exaggerated and influenced by TV sitcoms and films, which advocate stalking and eve-teasing as pathways to achieving the desired effect/woman/happy end.
Very rarely do they deal with desires beyond the flesh. Real life is much different.
Personally, I would prefer subtlety and reserve.
What are your views?
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Interesting point of view there! I agree – too much of it in the media has taken the soul out of the flesh, making the experience quicker and shallower – and this is only going to grow wider and weirder, isn’t this? Gone are the days when something led to something and the experience was in-depth and fulfilling. Now it’s a sheer exercise through which an urge – however confusing, sinful or abusive – is momentarily satisfied.
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Virgin, virtue and restraint would today be laughable items. Most would rather flaunt promiscuity, multiple partners and term it as ‘cool’.
Most recent films glorify the villains, item numbers, bandits and Dons.
Javed Akhtar once said, ‘It is not scary that such films are made by a handful of people. It is scary that such films are liked by millions of people.” How true!
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You’re right. Everything is accessible now – 24/7, anywhere, everywhere – no fear whatsoever! It’s my life and I don’t care.
The West has long been spearheading things culturally-deviant. The East has been following suit, but the adaptation hasn’t been a success because there’s a force – both external and internal, and rooted to the very existence of the East – that may tell us to either give up or do without.
But again, nobody should sit in judgement of those who wish to live their life the way they want to – and so long as they’re not committing a crime or are not illegal in their activities, we can only discuss.
If they’re treading the path of the current trend, the present lifestyle – and if there’re indeed millions of them – then the (cultural) movement may not stall. We just have to wait and watch if the direction taken by them has in it to become a commonality (like Valentine’s Day), or do a reverse movement (like, from nuclear to joint family?) more suited to the roots of the East.
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Totally agree with you on that. In some ways, our culture seems to get absorbed in the West, like yoga, vegetarianism, meditation, ISKCON; while we seem to absorb theirs.
I wish we would absorb their good parts, like the cleanliness, the well maintained restrooms, the smooth roads, the strict queue system. But naturally, we would rather adopt the easy but unhealthy habits.
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Good review makes me want to read it 🙂
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Thank you. I feel good that my comments can make a debutante novelist feel encouraged. I hope you enjoy the read.
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Thanks for the nice review. Will look for this,
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I hope you enjoy it, SG! Thank you for pausing in my world.
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