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The Great Mughals and Their India

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A definitive, comprehensive and engrossing chronicle of one of the greatest dynasties of the world—the Mughal—from its founder Babur to Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last of the clan the magnificent Mughal legacy is an inexhaustible source of inspiration to historians, writers, moviemakers, artists and ordinary mortals alike.

Mughal history abounds with all the ingredients of classical drama: ambition and frustration, hope and despair, grandeur and decline, love and hate, and loyalty and betrayal. Mughal history deserves to be widely learned and reflected upon, because of its lasting cultural and socio-political relevance to today's world in general and the Indian subcontinent in particular. The Mughals have left us with a legacy that cannot be erased. With regard to the eventful reigns of Babur, Humayun, Akbar, Jahangir, Shah Jahan, Aurangzeb and their successors, crucial questions arise: Where did they succeed? Where did they fail? And more importantly, what should we learn from their triumphs and failures? In The Great Mughals and Their India, he has kept these objectives in mind in an attempt to narrate Mughal history from their perspective. At the same time, he does not shy away from dealing with controversial issues. Here is a fascinating and riveting saga that brings alive a spectacular bygone era—authentically and convincingly.

©2016 Dirk Collier (P)2023 Tantor
Anthropology Asia India South Asia Inspiring
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loved the parts on Aurangzeb, Akbar and Shah jahan. interesting parts on the Marathas and Sher Shag

fascinating detail

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This would seem to be the up-date to Banber Gascogne’s treatmento of this important period in the history of India: it’s roughly the same length and refers back from time to time to that classic book which is unavailable in Audible though not at the RNIB.
I couldn’t discern very much new in this account’ though the introduction is lucid and there is more politics and warfare than I remember.
The ‘and their India’ seemed to have been passed over which is only to say that a survey of the country and even the lifestyles of the Mughals themselves would need a far longer book which, having read Gascogne, would have been welcome.
As a concise account of the major figures and their conquests and doings and mis-doings, this is a perfectly reliable achievement which I’d recommend well ahead of the shorter efforts.

A reliable survey.

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I would have a bigger problem with an author quoting from his own historical novel in a work of nonfiction if it wasn't the only game in town. As it is, this was very informative if a little patchy: half the book is purely about Akbar and the Taj Mahal, while later decades get a few pages each.

An historical novelist's research notes.

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Not sure where the author is from but the bias shines through. It is always best to go to sources who wrote at the time, with no axe to grind and no hidden agenda. Provided you can find unbiased translations, which is another issue.

Biased

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