Emperors of the Peacock Throne: The Saga of the Great Moghuls

by Abraham Eraly

A stirring account of one of the world’s greatest empires

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 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 scholar and the high imagination of a master storyteller, he recreates the lives of Babur, the intrepid pioneer; the dreamer Humayun; Akbar, the greatest and most enigmatic of the Mughals; the aesthetes Jehangir and Shah Jahan; and the dour and determined Aurangzeb.

Genres: History, India, Nonfiction, Historical, Pakistan, Indian Literature, Science

555 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Abraham Eraly is an Indian writer. He has written many acclaimed books on Indian history.

Reviews

[W · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the saga of India's first six Mughal emperors, Babur,Humayun,Akbar,Jehangir,Shahjehan and Aurangzeb.The dynasty originated from Central Asia's Ferghana Valley.

Babar,the first Mughal,was orphaned as a boy. He would have liked Samarkand,but it eluded him,and he turned his sights to India. He defeated Ibrahim Lodhi's army in the famous battle of Panipat,thanks to his superior artillery. Thus began the era of the Mughals,but Babar was destined to rule for only four years,as he died.

Babar's son,Humayun soon lost the throne,to Sher Shah Suri. He had to flee for his life.
After years in the wilderness,and Sher Shah Suri's death,he was able to get it back. It wouldn't have been easy,had Sher Shah lived. Sher Shah Suri's rule,is described in detail,as well.

Humayun's son Akbar,though illiterate and orphaned very early,consolidated the empire and ruled for fifty years,starting a new religion, in the process,which did not outlive him. The frontiers of the empire,stretched far and wide,during Akbar's rule.

Akbar's son,Jahangir was a patron of the arts,and a more conservative ruler. He began to rely heavily on his chief queen,Noor Jehan. Jahangir's son,Shah Jehan was renowned for building monuments and gave the world the Taj Mahal,in memory of his beloved wife,Mumtaz Mahal. He became king,even though,he was the third son.

Shah Jahan's son,Aurangzeb spent most of his life in battle and killed three of his brothers,to claim the throne. He imprisoned his father,Shah Jahan. Killing and imprisoning brothers,to claim the throne,was now almost inevitable.

After that,the mighty empire fell into disarray,losing its power,as a series of weak rulers claimed the throne for short periods. None is remembered well by history.
This left the way open for the British East India Company to seize control of India.

The personalities of the great Mughals,their battles and the world they inhabited is described in fascinating detail.Eraly has done a great deal of research.This is history narrated as a riveting story,stays interesting despite its sheer length.

[K.J. Charles]

I am incredibly ignorant about Indian history (studied history in Britain to the age of 18 and don't recall words like 'empire' or 'colonialism' ever coming up, what a mystery) hence this 500pp starter pack on the main Mughal emperors. It does focus mainly on the emperors but there's a companion book on the culture and society, so will need that.

Highly readable, covering the massive amounts of internecine strife, invasion, murdering of one's siblings, etc, and giving a good sense of the key players and their personalities. Also quite a fascinating lesson in many respects, particularly on issues like social inequality (Shah Jahan was the richest man in the world) and religious conflict between the Muslim rulers and mostly Hindu ruled. Elegantly written with some very striking turns of phrase. I may not be wiser, but I am definitely better informed.

Two observations: a) Aurangzeb was a total dick, and b) I had always assumed Dryden's play about him was a historical, like Marlowe's Tamburlaine, and was startled to learn he was still on the throne when it was written.

[Riah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved most of this book, although I definitely skimmed some of the battles. A great historical account of the Mughal empire. Since I'm reading this in Pune, I was especially interested in how the Marathas managed to roust the Mughal empire - sadly, I thought that was the weakest section of the book.

On the other hand, there were so many things I enjoyed (potential spoilers ahead but it's also historical nonfiction so c'mon, we know how things turn out):

- I knew the least about Babur, and he sounds surprisingly FUN. Even while he's using people's skulls as drinking cups, Eraly keeps fondly talking about his playfulness and joie de vivre. Ah, the brutality / hilarity of medieval times.

- Eraly quotes a lot from contemporary texts of the time, which places things nicely in context. This is especially fun when the quotes are things like:
"Ease is for women, it is shameful for honourable men."
Also fun when Eraly doesn't believe the writer and follows up a long quoted account of something with "lolz, this did not happen".

- This was the first time I'd ever read an account of Akbar that portrays him as a real person, not just a great legend. The chapters on him and Jehangir were my favourite. Among many other revelations, I learned that Akbar embraced beliefs and customs from most common Indian religions today (including Zoroastrianism and Jainism), but considered Christianity totally puzzling. For instance:
"The Jesuit insistence on monogamy baffled him; he considered monogamy impractical, at least for the monarch."

- Jehangir is hilarious. He doesn't care about wars, he cares about nature and science and drinking. This all makes him fairly useless at his job, but if I were to pick a Mughal Emperor to be friends with, I'd probably pick him.

- Shah Jahan is annoying, mainly because he takes himself so seriously.
"He worked hard at being magnificent."
I didn't know that he was the wealthiest man in the world at his time, although I suppose that makes sense. A major redeeming quality is that he built the Taj, a visit to which actually inspired me to read this book in the first place.

- Eraly tries valiantly to paint a nuanced portrait of Aurangzeb, but it's still hard to not strongly dislike him. Especially when he slowly poisons his brother and forces his elderly father to surrender by cutting off his water supply for three days, in the height of Agra summer. Also, he outlaws anything fun. He is basically the opposite of his grandfather - and my new best friend - Jehangir.

- And of course, general Mughal-life-and-times anecdotes are amazing. Omens foretold by people who could read the future in sheep's bones, Akbar's love of elephants, kings who shot gold-tipped arrows around and showered gold wherever the arrows landed, Babur's bisexuality, and the everlasting mystery of the Kohinoor diamond.

[Arktos · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book covers the great Mughal period, ranging from the foundation of the empire with Babur to its zenith with Aurangzeb.

First and foremost, this is not an academic book but rather a popularization book. Apart from when the author directly quotes in text a primary source like the Baburnama, the author doesn't source his claims and simply provides a bibliography at the end of the work. I understand that it could have been repulsive for some readers but it is problematic because the author's prose romances the history. When the author writes what these historical figures thought or felt, I want a source otherwise it's not worth anything. The chapters dedicated to Ser Shah or Shivaji are particularly guilty of this problem, being written more like chapters from an adventure novel than a history book.

The other issue with the author's writting is that it's not linear. Focusing parts of the book on a particular ruler, the author writes his chapters by themes rather than by chronology, which can be nice, again, but is not really serious and can be totally ridiculous as for example the part with Aurangzeb that leaps into the future by several years, tells the end of the power struggle and begins a pseudo-epilogue that puts Aurangzeb's reign into perspective before ending the chapter with "and now, the history has to be told" just to spend the next chapters telling the story of what happened between the four brothers.
It is an incredible lack of editing, I do not understand how such horror could have been allowing to be published.

But generally speaking, it is all chapters from the appearance of Aurangzeb that have huge problems, because of the author's incredibly ridiculous and unprofessional bias against him.
When Akbar uses ploys, he's smart.
When Jahangir orders elephants to trample almost innocent people, it is put into perspective by his naturalist talents.
When Shivaji uses false marriage proposals to assassinate opponents and reign terror throughout the Deccan, he is a popular hero with legendary intelligence who has thus avoided bloodshed.
But when Aurangzeb uses false letters and rumors, he is "sly", "an hypocrite", "a liar" etc. Whatever Aurangzeb does, he got all kind of derogatory epithets. When he kills rivals he is a monster (yet when Akbar, Jahangir or Shah Jahan do it, there is no problem for the author). When he seeks to establish a merciful justice that forgives and guides instead of systematically killing, he is "weak" and "pathetic". Even his military prowess are not appreciated, the author describing him as a "studious" general who compensates his lack of talent by his motivation. Yet Dara Shikoh, the obvious favorite of the author, who managed to lose the battle of Samugarh despite his tremendous advantage is praised by almost all the good adjectives that the author knows, even from a military point of view.
It's definitely striking that there are as many chapters dedicated to Shivaji than to Aurangzeb (in a book about to Mughals...) or that the author allows himself to write a mockery paragraph after Aurangzeb's death. Is making fun of a dead ruler a historian job now ? Perhaps taunting a man dead for centuries help the author to cope with the lose of Dara ? It is truly pathetic.

Otherwise, the chapters on Babur are too vague and unconvincing. About Humayun and Sher Shah I have nothing to say. The chapters on Akbar were too admiring, sometimes even embarrassing and his often ridiculous excesses did not find any criticism. The same goes for Jahangir. As for Shah Jahan, I think that it was the best part of the book, being the most balanced. The Aurangzeb part was a disaster, passing very quickly over the Rajput wars and, of course, because of the author's bias against him, a bias I'm sure the editor was aware of because there is chapter inserted right in the middle of his part that unwillingly tries to put the character in perspective and that read as an afterthought addition to try to balance a bit the portrait drawn. The part about Shivaji was much too long in relation to its importance and is a testament to the author's bias.

A disappointing book.

[Sajith Kumar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Popular legends and colourful descriptions of contemporary chroniclers of emperors make the Mughals the most glamorous dynasty that ever ruled India. Babur established this dynasty in India by invading from central Asia through Afghanistan. The empire, which was seeded by Babur, reached the zenith of its glory under Akbar but Aurangzeb spread the seeds of its eventual disintegration. This book is the story of the first six emperors from Babur to Aurangzeb who are known as the Great Mughals. This is part of a four-volume study titled ‘India Retold’, covering the history of India from the beginning up to 1858. This volume deals with medieval history spanning the years 1526 and 1707. Abraham Eraly was a professor of history at colleges in Chennai and the US. He also edited a fortnightly current affairs magazine for a few years.

The author tries to find a philosophical reason for another book on Mughals who are well documented in contemporary as well as modern histories. History needs to be re-evaluated in the light of the prevailing consensus of each era. As time goes by, people rework it as all works of history are only interim reports. Herodotus opened his historical treatise with the line ‘this is a publication in order that actions of men may not be effaced by time’ which is equally valid for all re-interpretations. Eraly asserts that the historian is not a moral eunuch. His moral voice gives his work its unique timbre. There are no absolutes in history, but the historian must affirm his views. This makes it mandatory for interpreting history in light of new developments in society. We should not concentrate only on the major events because even though they shape the contours of history, the particulars and trifling incidents breathe life into it. This book faithfully reproduces the methodology outlined in these lines.

Eraly provides a neat comparison of the two legendary emperors of India – Ashoka and Akbar – even though they are separated in time by eighteen centuries. Ashoka is enveloped in ‘misty, golden glow of myth’ while Akbar lived too close to our own time and chronicled by many people whose accounts we have access to, so that we get to know the person behind the persona. He was a deeply troubled man, unhappy with himself and unsure of the world. Eraly claims that Akbar’s compassion was not of character, which was violent, but of intelligence. Towards the end of his life, he virtually gave up eating meat, saying that ‘it is not right for a man to make his stomach the grave of animals’. We have a clear parallel to Ashoka here. Some of Akbar’s idiosyncrasies are however not repeated. Akbar used Ganga water for drinking and arranged trustworthy persons stationed on the banks of Ganga to send the water in sealed jars wherever he was. While Ashoka promoted Buddhism during his reign, Akbar invented a syncretic religion and invited his courtiers to flock to it. The author states that Din Ilahi was a lost opportunity to India as a pathway to a religiously harmonious future. The new religion opened the potential for India to come out of medievalism into modern age. Discussions of a purely secular nature took place between Akbar and members of the Chosen Forty people who guided Din Ilahi proponents. This was unheard of in India for a long time. Eraly puts the situation in his golden prose: ‘for a brief, shining moment, a new and brilliant star blazed over Fatehpur Sikri. Then the moment passed. And the night closed in again’.

Like the leftist historians, Eraly too tries his best to paper over horrific acts of religious bigotry and spiff up the Mughal emperors by laboriously finding out mitigating factors. While in Gwalior, Babur ordered the destruction of idols in Jain temples as they were portrayed naked. The author redeems Babur by conceding that ‘it was Babur’s aesthetic sensibilities that were offended by the Jain idols, not his religious sentiments’ (p.31). Humayun decapitated some of his men for a minor offence committed when they were in a state of inebriation. Eraly justifies this wanton cruelty as ‘inflicting such savage and arbitrary punishment was a medieval royal privilege, a demonstration of the king’s absolute power’ (p.45). After capturing Chitor, Akbar ordered a general massacre, killing 30,000 people, according to Abul Fazal. This is being condoned as an attempt to ‘show that greater the resistance, greater will be the retaliation and also to strike terror in potential adversaries and cripple their will to fight’. Moreover, ‘there were no random, impulsive persecution of Hindus under Aurangzeb' (p.397) and Aurangzeb’s imposition of jizya was ‘possibly due to revenue considerations’ (p.404). See the author’s sheer reluctance to accept the plain truth that he is speaking about first-rate religious bigots? This is the sad state of affairs in most of Indian historiography.

The book includes neat asides on Sher Shah and Shivaji, who threatened the very foundations of Mughal Empire. Mughal rulers are often excused for their religious fanaticism on account of medieval zeitgeist. But here, the author exhibits a refreshing contrast between Shivaji and Aurangzeb. This book states that Shivaji had high respect for women, whether of his own or of his enemy. Even Mughal chroniclers who habitually damned Shivaji as ‘the hell dog’ praises his fair treatment of captives and subject people. Khafi Khan admits that Shivaji was ‘careful to maintain the honour of women and children of Muslims when they fell into his hands’. Shivaji, no doubt, had intense religious faith and was a proud Hindu, but he respected the devotion of other people to other religions. Even in that harsh age and brutal environment, he exhibited rare probity even in his depredations. Except in a single, exceptional case, did he ravage a Muslim holy place. Whenever a Quran fell into his hands in the course of plunder, he deferentially handed it over to the Muslim officers in his entourage. This reverential treatment of people of other religions was extended even to the Europeans. This discussion clearly shows that invocation of the medieval spirit does not acquit Mughals of the charge of bigotry and intolerance.

The author also examines the impact of Mughal rule on Indian society which does not appear to be as rosy as it is often made out to be. It transformed the lifestyle of the elite throughout India. The rich and powerful aspired to be Mughals. In architecture, cuisine, language, music and dance, the standards of excellence for a long time would be Mughalai. Yet, India did not change in its essence. There was no transmutation of civilization. The Hindu and Muslim worlds did not change under mutual influence. The most unfortunate fact was that the Mughals did not creatively respond to the stimulus of resurgent Europe and there was hardly any vigour in the economy and scant spirit of enterprise among the people. There was no ferment of ideas and Indian practices remained archaic. The apathy to novel ideas was so shocking that they showed little interest even in European military innovations. Mughal rule also debased the character of man. There was near total absence of civic morality and personal integrity. Hypocrisy and sycophancy were the hallmarks of the Indian ruling class. This is in sharp variance with the description of Indian people and aristocracy given by Fa Xien or Hiuen Tsang a millennium before. Over a quarter of the gross national product of the empire was forcibly appropriated by just 655 individuals while the bulk of its 120 million people lived in abject poverty. Eraly concludes that the contrast between legend and reality was grotesque in Mughal India.

Eraly’s works are a pleasure to read because of the mastery he employs in the narrative that often touches on the poetic. This book quotes liberally from the works of contemporary historians and chroniclers as to make the readers feel closer to the historical personalities. The book is somewhat big, but not a single page is redundant or dispensable. Reading history is immensely enjoyable when the author too rises to the occasion, which Eraly does amply in this work.

The book is highly recommended.

[Nathan · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Mughal Era of India gets a sweeping, if harried, overview in this sprawling account. Abraham Eraly is obviously proud of his subject and his engagement with the material powers his narrative through some of the more tedious bits. "The more tedious bits", however, do take up a healthy chunk of his book. Most of the time, this is a mere and boring catalogue of dates, rulers, uprisings and downfalls, with little distinction between this and that mughal. Eraly's prose style, a romantic, slightly archaic and occasionally flowery diction, does actually befit his subject, but it begins to grate after a while. The whole thing never seems to be quite under control, veering from subject to subject, constantly threatening to spin off on a tangent. It finally does wind down with an effective and concise conclusion, but one that seems to repudiate the gist of the preceding 500 pages. A frustrating near-miss.

[Samuel Rajkumar · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very well researched and written history of the Mughal Emperors from Babur to Aurangazeb, along with sketches of interesting personalities of importance, like Sher Shah and Shivaji. The book brings alive the rulers with a rich narrative and helps set in context most moments of the Mughal era.

On the plus side, the characters of the first six Mughal emperors are brought out very well, along with the court and harem intrigues and politics. However, this book is a only a story of the Mughal emperors themselves, and very little is said about the social and economic conditions of the people and the times.

[Sameer Nagpal · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although the book is excellently detailed and written well, it reads more like a love letter to the Mughal rulers rather than a historical account of their rule.

[Rohan Sangodkar · Rating 3 out of 5]

If I am to describe this mammoth work then it would be "highly informative".
This book gives you a very detailed and in-depth description of the Mughal rule in India. All the Mughal rulers have been described in detail.
There are few points I felt which make this work a little biased.
Eraly struggles to maintain a neutral stance from time to time. He becomes so favorable to Mughals in some of the parts that it is not less than serenading the evil.
Also, Eraly has moved quickly through a few of the important battles like Haldighati's battle as well as the second battle of Panipat. But at the same time goes into excessive detailing of the pompous Mughal rulers and their lifestyle.
If you decide to stop reading after Shah Jahan's fall, you will be coerced into believing that all the Mughal rulers were mostly favorable to Hindus and Sikhs, but such was not the case. It is only in the Aurangazeb's chapter Eraly describes atrocities inflicted by the cruel emperor, that too seems like out of the compulsion because the highlight and base of Aurangazeb's rule was extreme Islamism.
All in all, it is a good read, it provides you with a great deal of information. But you will have to do your research further if you are seeking real history and truth.

[Czarny Pies · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although my instincts tell me that "The Mughal Throne" is a three-star book, I am reluctantly giving it four-stars because I must admit that I am not really qualified to judge it. According to my GR database, it is only the ninth book that I have read on the history of India. However, it is the only one deals with a period prior to the British Colonial era and the only one not written by an Englishman. A British historian like William Dalrymple ("White Mughals") has the advantage of knowing what I know and do not know about India. Eraly who is clearly writing for an Indian audience fails on numerous occasions to provide context for the North American reader forcing him to consult Wikipedia in order to understand the narrative.
Like most English historians, Eraly sees the Mughals Empire as having failed. Successful imperialists, the Mughal emperors managed to bring most of what is now modern India and Pakistan under a single political regime. They left Urdu as a unifying language and created the belief that a nation of India could exist. They failed however to provide durable political and administrative institutions. They neither imposed Islam nor managed to create a culture of religious pluralism in the region.
Eraly's book covers the period from 1526 to 1707 during which time six Mughal Emperors ruled (Babur, Humayun, Akbar, Jahangir, Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb.) The book reads like six different biographies from Plutarch's lives. Like Plutarch, Eraly accepts the judgements of the contemporaries of the individual emperors and takes a consistently moral stance. Like Plutarch, he feels that their successes and failures were due to their moral character, determination and talent. He sees no underlying social, economic or intellectual forces driving events.
As a Keralite Roman Catholic, what Eraly deplores most is the failure of the Mughals to promote a climate of soldiarity and respect amongst India's many religious groups: Muslim, Hindu, Jain, Sikh, Christian, Pharsee, etc. Similar to most commentators, he applauds Akbar for having understood the seriousness of the issue and his prolonged efforts to find a solution. He is most critical of the Mughal emperors like Aurangzeb who frequently used the Islamic religion to whip up enthusiasm for their wars of conquest against Hindu states.
Eraly presents a distressing picture of the political culture of India during the Mughul era. Contrary to Europe, there was no consensus as to who the rightful successor was. Thus after the death of each emperor, war broke out among the sons to determine who the new ruler would be. The six emperors in the "Mughal Throne" followed a consistent pattern of territorial expansion but they never established a respect amongst the nobles for legitimacy of succession. The nobles simply picked a contender to back whenever an emperor passed on and joined in the war to put him on the throne. The result was that when the British arrived, they found India to be in a state of chronic anarchy with extremely weak governmental institutions.
"The Mughal Throne" is a very interesting book but one that inevitably frustrates the North American reader. It does not force events into any familiar model. However, at the same time, it does not make it clear to the American or Canadian reader what the big picture is.

[Udit Vikhe · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Emperors of the Peacock Throne" is a delightful introduction to the world of the Mughals in India. Abraham Early has done a fabulous job in presenting the bright sides and dark corners of the hearts of the Mughals. His writing is beautiful, precise and purposeful, making the book a very enjoyable and consistent read. The varying temperaments of the different generations of the rulers, their affection towards different forms of arts, their contributions to the world and their capricious relationships are portrayed in an unprecedented manner. Details from the Emperors' personal journals, notes from their biographers and their contemporaries give the book an authentic feel making it a perfect read for history enthusiasts. This book is for anyone who wants take a dip into the oceanic history of the Mughal Empire in India. It is truly the saga of the great Mughals!!!

[DBV Subbarao · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well written. Babur's enterprising exploits, Humayun's reserved nature, Akbar's pragmatic philosophy, Jahangir's conservative rule, Shah Jahan's pomp and Aurangazeb's religious fervour , here is a book that tells it all in a very gripping way. I enjoyed reading this book all through.

[Pradeep E · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this definitive biography of the Mughals, Abraham Eraly chronicles the saga of the empire from Babur to Aurangzeb. He traces the stirring transformation of a marauding force from Central Asia to a leading world empire based out of India and from there, slowly limp their way out to oblivion. This is a rich book with loads of information on the circumstances that enabled a nomadic group which traced its roots to Taimur and Chenghiz Khan to land in India, before making their home here.

Thankfully, this is neither a hagiographic mot a vindictive work, so it clinically draws one into the various forces that come into the theatre of India from the 14th Century till the early 18th century. This was a period where Akbar took the empire to its heights and then it slowly starts loosing its sheen till Aurangzeb sounds its death knell. Babur's fighting skills and acumen helped him overthrow the Lodhis with minimum effort but he had a limited reign before passing on the baton to the less valorous Humayun who spent most of his life on hiding before he reclaimed his throne. Akbar then took the kingdom to its finest moments in history, followed by Jahangir who managed to keep the kingdom as is and continued the prosperity, followed by the dour Shah Jahan who kept the empire rolling but at the expense of administrative laxity and eventually Aurangzeb who set into motion years of conflicts which culminated in the disintegration of the vast Empire.

No king comes off clean here and Eraly calls a spade a spade. Even an Akbar is not spared - despite his remarkable prowess as a general, he points out the lack of administrative reform carried out though he had the clout to do so much more. He has an interesting personality as somebody who has to continuously struggle between his inner turmoils and the need to continue his legacy. Eraly also points out that while the Mughals were Muslims, they were broadly secular and it is only from the time of Shah Jahan, that the assertion of religion started.

In many ways, it is Aurangzeb who gets the most conflicting character arcs. Vilified for the violent blood bath to come to the throne (just like his father) and his stringent religious views, he is however presented as a man who believes in the rule of law and was more obsessed with it than any other Mughal ruler. If would surprise many that his inability to punish many of his amirs was one of the biggest hurdles he faced - the cruel persona fed to us from time to time probably needs revision. His lack of administrative creativity, the incessant wars that drained the treasury, lack of diplomacy, inability to trust anyone hurt the empire more than anything else, as it to struggled to stay relevant after his death.

It is important not to judge history by contemporary standards of justice and fair play - medieval era witnessed blood baths, fratricides, appalling human right violations - and some of us would hardly these to be believable. Eraly keeps an important portion of the book to talk about Sher Shah Suri, who ruled Delhi, in Humayun's absence, till his death - this throws light on a remarkable man whose story is waiting to be told. Shivaji and the Marathas also form the last part of the book, and you realise how well suited they were to take over the mantle from the Mughals if they had the wisdom and understanding to take over. But it did never happened and this power vacuum created by the decline of the Mughals finally brought an empire that ruled India for almost 2 centuries - the British...

[Sofia · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book that will make you fall in love with mediaeval history

[Rajiv Chopra · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a marvellous book. I like the way in which he has written the book, as he brings the old, dead Emperors back to life. This was truly the last, in a sense, golden age of India.

What he does, is to present the emperors as people. People who lived, grew and developed in India. He does present a more nuanced few of Aurangzeb than is presented in school text books, and also analyses the demise of the Mughal Empire extremely well.

It is indeed a saga, where nothing could be taken for granted, and where accession to the throne was fraught with danger. Yet, despite Hindu fundamentalists, they left something lasting for India. This is their gift, and this is what he talks about.

[Nikhil Gulati · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is lucidly written and is an excellent account of the lives of the major Mughal emperors. The only problem I have with it is that it has no illustrations. There are no maps to make sense of the innumerable places, kingdoms, rivers etc the author speaks about. Moreover, when the author talks about Mughal art reaching its pinnacle during Jehangir's time it's sad to not be able to see some examples of it in the book itself. Would have definitely added to the book's charm.

[Anukriti Gulati · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great political history of the Mughal Empire. Gives a lot of details and primary source accounts.

Did not appreciate the last line of the book-- European domination of India seemed not only inevitable, but desirable... I understood the context the author came from but in my opinion this last line was not needed.

Would have appreciated more history into women and harem politics. But possibly that would be the subject of another book. This focused on traditional political history.

[E.T. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great introduction to 8 kings -> 6 Mughal and Sher Shah Suri and Shivaji in this book of 500+ pages. This was my third book by the author and all 3 have been very readable. Around 70 pages being devoted to each king means no unnecessary detail and yet u feel satisfied with some depth and a bit to learn about each of them. Recommended if u like history.

[Viral · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very detailed, if at time hagiographical, account of the Mughal era of India from Babur the First to Aurangzeb. I appreciate the amount of work that Eraly put into the primary source investigations that undergird this book. A great starting point into learning more about the Mughal Empire, even if it seems at times to be more of a personal biography than pure historical scholarship.

[Ajay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Colorful, witty, thought-provoking -- this book tells the history of the 6 emperors from the Mughal golden age (from Babur to Aurangzeb). One of the best history books I've ever read.

However the epilogue hurt me to read -- to conclude the book Abraham summarizes the themes and what he hopes are takeaways for the reader from the previous 500 pages in less than 5 pages. But as he does so he makes a series of unsupported assertions that went far beyond the role of the historian and put this book deeply into the realm of modern morals and politics.

Why did Abraham write this 500 page book on the two century long history of the Mughal emperors in meticulous detail?

In order to tell me that (note that I disagree with all 3 of these ideas):
- India was and would remain stuck in the middle ages forever
- India had no future of development and was in fact in a downward spiral for a thousand years
- the domination of India by a rising Europe was not only inevitable, but desirable

It's important to note that these are not central themes of the book that were apparent in anyway to the reader, the history I read in these pages was approachable, illuminating, and interesting -- and did not support these conclusions in the least. I can only imagine the propaganda that the author must have been influenced by while studying at the Madras Christian College (connected to the Church of Scotland) that led him to have such a severe lack of imagination and have bought into such a pro-British perspective.

I still really enjoyed the book and would love to read his other works. His work is clearly well researched and filled with incredible detail and captivating asides that entertain the reader every step of the way. But, found the epilogue highly disappointing -- it changed my perspective on the book and made me question the objectivity of the author. This has only become more clear as I look longer at the book -- some issues with subjectivity:

- He writes with a narrow perspective and focus and therefore doesn't engage in the perspective and events that are happening elsewhere (e.g. Bengal, Gujrat, Vijayanagara, the Dehli Sultanate, the European powers, other powers outside of India) -- this makes sense to keep this book concise, but given the scope of the history involved it feels a shame to have ignored how those developments are reflexive to the Mughal's own journey.

- The only factions that get ample attention are the Sur Empire and Marathas, whose leaders Sher Shah and Shivaji are the recipients of incredible praise and veneration from the author (likely influenced by the importance that the Indian nationalist movement places upon him)

- In parallel, he's extremely critical of the rest of the Marathas -- especially Shivaji's son Sambhaji. It's difficult to make sense of his understanding of the Marathas -- there a tremendous mix of ideas that don't feel entirely coherent -- one glaring example was when he applauds the escape of a living heir to the throne to the south as essential to preserving continuity of the Marathas, but the heir promptly gets sick and dies without having doing anything of note and he later describes the uprising and revitalization of the Marathas as decentralized and a people's movement

- He has clear respect for the imperial and cultural accomplishments of the Mughal Empire - and while he does discuss the endemic corruption and chaos that that is inseparable from their legacy, other topics like inequality, poverty, and other economic matters were not given much "screen time"

- He places an emphasis on "martial spirit" and subscribes to an almost "great man" theory of history which focuses on leaders' brilliance, cunning, and cowardice rather then describing military history in tactical or technological terms

The other nitpick I have with this book is that lack of maps -- there is one map at the beginning that helps a bit, but honestly so much of this book requires geographic perspective that adding maps more frequently and with relevant details would have been a huge benefit to readability.

[Palwasha Here · Rating 5 out of 5]

..lighten his neck from the burden of his head.
- Aurangzeb

I was very interested in reading about the Mughal reign in India.
I searched for the best books on this subject and considering various factors; positive reviews, availability, etc, decided to read this one.
I wasn't disappointed. It's authentic, unbiased, and interesting! What's so great about this book is how deliciously descriptive it is without exaggeration. I ate it up.
It details the reign of the six emperors telling us also about their individual personalies, hobbies, inclinations, love/married lives, their decisions and how they affected others, and more.
Babar (died at 47) was quite dynamic, to say the least. He was appreciative of Art, Music, Books, Gardening, he took pleasure in many a things. He knew how to live fully though he wasn't without adverseries. He conquered kingdoms, lost them, conquered again, lost again. Settling down in Kabul and gradually conquering India were his great feats. The way he fought Rajputs and Afghans show how his intelligence benefited him in war.
He had his illnesses from time to time. He didn't have an easy life and being a loving father he sacrificed his life for Humayun.

Humayun (died at 48) was different from Babar but not boring at all. He was very intelligent, a great mathematician, good in sciences (Astronomy, Astrology) brave on battleground. He sometimes acted silly or made stupid decisions but he wasn't weak of mind, not really.
What he lacked was ambition of Babar or for that matter his rival Sher Shah. But it's remarkable how, after being driven out of India by Sher Shah, he returned after 15 years to conquer it.

Akbar (died at 63) is considered the greatest of Mughal emperors and one of the only two emperors of India, including Asoka, that are considered the 'great' rulers of this landscape.
Akbar was the opaque one, no one knew what was going on in his mind. Physically strong and quite active he wasn't interested in academic learning and ended up not knowing how to read/write. But always had someone read books to him so he also was very knowledgeable and left 24000 books behind at the time of his death.
He was the first Mughal emperor that used to lead his army in wars. He had almost 300 women in his harem, had seven wives, six living kids. He loved his youngest daughter the most.
What's interesting is that he used to be very religious at first, then invented a new religion Deen-e-Ilahi; the purpose of which was to gather people of different religons under one umbrella.
He married daughters of Hindu rajas, which wasn't anything Mughals had not done before, but he didn't ask them to convert. He let them practice their religion and sometimes joined them too.
Overall a very interesting character in himself, to say the least.

Jahangir (died at 58) was actually Saleem's other name. Once an alcoholic he was a
likable king. A good hunter, a devoted husband to Nur Jahan. Other than Babar he was the one who wrote his memoir.

Shah Jahan (died at 75) an orthodox Muslim who restrained himself from alcohol, though he wasn't interested in the first place, and decided to keep a beard. Mourned his wife Mumtaz Mehel and cried so hard that he was forced to wear spectacles.
Though Dara, his eldest son, was the finest scholar among Mughals so far, having authored six books, didn't last in the game of succession.
While Dara cultivated culture, Aurangzeb sharpened his sword.
"Ya Takht, Ya Tabut"
Aurangzeb (died at 89) No Mughal worked harder at rule than him.
Hindus, even today, hate him considering him a Hindu hater but really this book showed (not told) in detail how he was not a Hindu hater at all. He hated their religion. He first ordered that no new Hindu temples will be built during his reign. Also the old ones will have no repairs.
He had in high positions more Hindus than in preceding Mughal eras.
A devoted brother to Jahanara, a cautious/untrusting father, a parctising Muslim, and a go getter.

Why I concluded these particular highlights in my review I to show that this book is not at all our usual boring and dense history books. It is dense but it's worth your effort and time. Highly recommended!

[Axe2008 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommended. I have read a lot of Eraly's past work, and love his style of writing history - he writes like a novelist and not a historian! The Emperors of the Peacock Throne too is has the same strengths, his prose makes the history accessible and also connects the dots between the events quite well. One of the things that is striking is the stories of each of the Mughal emperors could be a movie in its own right - there is patricide, fratricide, war, love, politics, hardships, and heartbreaks - all in the life of an individual. And Eraly does a great job in pulling all of these strings together seamlessly, making the reader enjoy the ride.

I liked the way he has structured the book by each individual king, and within each king's life he has broken it down by important events. Each of these are more or less self-sufficient units, so you will get a pretty good sense of the Marathas' insurgency during Aurangzeb's time if you just read that part of the book. In each unit, Eraly gives the history, the context, and any critical historical links. The reader might see some repetitions, but it really helps from a readability standpoint, as one does not need to refer back repeatedly.

From an information standpoint - as an Indian, we might have read parts of these stories in our school - but Eraly brings the pieces together so well, that sometimes our perception of Emperor changes from what we read in school. For instance, Sher Shah Suri's reforms and administration were remarkable for the age, and so well thought through, but I never really knew a lot about him except for the Grand Trunk Road built by him. Similarly, Shahjahan comes across as much more devious and violent than the general perception of an love-lorn old man gazing wistfully at the Taj, he wasn't a shrinking violet when it came to anti-hindu activities, and cold-blooded murder. And Jehangir as an opium-addled man, who is under the thumb of his wife and brother-in-law, comes across as a romantic tragic.

Finally, what good would be a history yarn without the wars - and Eraly gives detailed views on the wars and how they were won or lost. I especially liked the battle of Panipat's description of the war tactics and artillery barrage that Babur used to win. The other war of succession (which when described by Eraly seems to be a turning point in India's history) is the defeat of Dara Shikoh by Aurangzeb is wonderfully detailed, where you feel like a viewer following the armies maneuvering across the North and Central parts of India.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

"In the twelfth year of my age, I became ruler in the country of Fergana," writes Zahir ud-Din Muhammad, known to history as Babur, the "Tiger." Babur's father, the king, had died the day before, falling to his death in a ravine while tending to his pigeons. "Umar Sheikh Mirza flew, with his pigeons and their house, and became a falcon," Babur writes in his memoir.

Thus begins the unlikely story of Babur, and of the Mughal empire in India that he would found. Thrown into Central Asian warfare and politics at a young age, he managed to capture the jewel of Samarkand at the age of fifteen, the old heart of the Timurid empire that he claimed as his inheritance. But he quickly lost Samarkand to rival warlords, and then Fergana too. He recaptured Samarkand, then lost it again, and then again. Babur was a young man with an appetite for conquest, and having given up on his central Asian home, he struck south toward the plains of northern India. There, he defeated the weakened kingdoms around Delhi and formed an empire.

This book begins with the story of Babur: intimate diarist, tolerant and inquisitive, founder of a Muslim empire in a Hindu land, who wished to someday return to the mountains of his home, away from the heat and monsoons of India. The story then continues with his son and heir Humayun, who lost the empire to a rival Shah and wandered in the deserts and mountains for fifteen years before winning it back again. Then: Akbar the Great, who strived to build a religiously tolerant empire for both Muslims and Hindus, to his son Jahangir, and grandson Shah Jahan, who commissioned the building of the Taj Mahal as a monument to his late wife, and then to his rebellious son Aurangzeb, the last of the great emperors of the Mughals, who usurped and imprisoned his aging father (who spent his last days within sight of the Taj Mahal but unable to visit it until his own funeral).

The book does a good job of retelling the amazing life stories, colorful eccentricities, and wild family dramas of each of these six powerful men and the court figures that circled around them. These were medieval-era kings: brutish and fratricidal; debauched, opium-addicted, and religiously strict; superstitious, scheming, often foolhardy; and even the most benevolent of them was still a tyrant who massacred tens of thousands of civilians and had his rivals trampled under elephants. As a 500-page history detailing an empire that lasted over 200 years, you don't get to spend more than a chapter or two with any particular character, but I think it serves up the feel of the empire very well, and what time it does spend with the emperors was more than entertaining enough to keep my interest. A good read if you don't know much about Mughal-era India and would like to spend some time with some fascinating characters in history.

[Enrique · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are many excellent reviews of this book that reference its content. Instead, I'll just give my personal reaction. After reading about the impressive exploits of Tamerlane, I was curious about the life and times of his arguably more famous descendants: Babur and Akbar. As I was looking into history books regarding either one of them, I came across this title. The reviews were almost universally positive. So, I thought to myself: why not read about the entire dynasty? I'm glad I did. After all, it's the history of the fabled and legendary Mughal Court of India. Opulence the likes of which the World had never seen before and probably hasn't since. One of those critical points in history everybody who claims to have general culture should be acquainted with, like the birth of the British Empire under Elizabeth Tudor, the unification of Japan under Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the Punic Wars between Carthage and Rome, or the Conquest of Peru by Francisco Pizarro, to name a few. At about 70 pages per emperor, I guess it's a sort of primer in the Mughal Dynasty. If you can call an over 500 pages book a primer. The prose is accessible, yet quirky. Professor Eraly's University lectures must have been nothing less than spellbinding. It's a highly enjoyable and riveting narrative of the dynamics of power which delineated the Mughal Empire throughout its entire History.
ps. A few of the other reviews complain about the lack of more detailed maps. Others state in no uncertain terms that the book would’ve greatly benefitted from more illustrations. I agree. However, I solved these shortcomings by reading the book with a cell phone that has both access to internet and my Wi-Fi. If you’re unfamiliar with the multiple references within it, I suggest you do the same. It was spectacular!!!

[Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fascinating book that took me forever to get through. My only true complaint (my eternal complaint) is that there needs to be more maps and maybe some illustrations of battle layouts. My minor complaint is that Eraly assumes you have some level of understanding of the terminology of the times, which I didn't. A quick search on Duck Duck Go solves that problem though.

The book focuses on the time period approximately from the reigns of Babur to Aurangzeb. This seems like a good place to start to learn about Indian history.

Random things:
- People argued to Akbar that the beard drew nourishment from the testicles.

- Akbar thought there was an innate human language or religion. So he bought 20 infants and kept them in silence for three or four years. People weren't allowed to speak in their presence. The experiment was a failure.

- It was a little crazy how forgiving the Mughal emperor's were to their relatives who rebelled against them. Usually a son would rebel against the father. They would battle and the son would usually lose. Thousands would die; sometimes tens of thousands would die. Very often, the father would just forgive the son and welcome him back. Sometimes he would lose some privileges. It was very rare that a rebel would be executed. Sucks for all the peasants who died for the cause.

[Ali Akbar Zaidi · Rating 3 out of 5]

A tale of conquest, a detailed account from babar to aurangzeb. The common elements, the treacherous ways, the lack of succession mechanism, warfare, depravity, sedition, excesses and changes in the lives of millions of people of the sub-continent with changing personalities of Mughal heirs. The downfall natural and well-deserved. The Mughals were as medieval as they come. Hundreds of years of wasteful wars and aristocratic anarchy that destroyed countless lives bringing with it suffering and little improvements in the region.
A good book that describes the follies of the Mughals, their values, the connection with Persians, Rajputs and warfare. Relying on accounts of memoirs and Khafi Khan, the book is well written but incites a hatred in the reader for the Mughals. A must read for history students only.

[Nahian · Rating 5 out of 5]

We have all seen the grand monuments, the decadent jewels, roamed the gardens and absorbed the legend, there is plenty more to unravel in regards to the emperors themselves and prior to this book while I was aware of their feats, accomplishments and downfalls I was not familiar with them as humans.
Much has been written about the 300 years of Mughal rule from beginning to end yet none are as succinct and encapsulating as what Abraham manages to bring to us in an authentic, gripping manner and is highly recommended for anyone who is interested in the Mogul world yet struggles with boring, historical play by play.
Peeling each layer and discovering the human side to the greats such as Akbar struggling with depression, mood swings and religious curiosity adds a unique personal touch to the already familiar stories and legend.

[Taha Mazari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very nice book. Eraly makes each emperor become live in the mind of the reader.

Having said that, though Auranzeb can be atrributed alot to the Fall of The Mughals due to many of his policies, Eraly seemed a bit more unbiased towards Auranzeb and paintimg him as a devil. He should be judged as a King more than as an Orthodox Muslim zealot.

All of hus policies were should be as a power hungry monarch but not as an intolerant Mullah. Moreover, he tends to rely a bit more on the views of European chroniclers who themselves had to some extent a porochial view of the Subcontinent at that time.

Otherwise, fantastic book.

[John Harvard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Abraham Eraly's book, The Mughal Throne is aptly sub-titled, "The saga of India's great emperors." It is a book that chronicles the lives of the Mughal emperors and their personalities and ruling styles. It starts with the life of Babur in the 1480s and ends with the demise of Aurangzeb in 1707 - a period of approximately 225 years. The book is very well-researched and highly readable since the author has adopted an easy style to narrate the lives of the emperors.

Each of the emperors had a distinct personality and temperament that led to the Mughal empire developing in a different direction during each of their reigns. There is also a fair amount of discussion of the Marathas and Aurangzeb's struggle against them in establishing Mughal rule in the Deccan. Interestingly, that is the only military campaign that is discussed in detail along with the personality of the opposing leader, Shivaji.

The contrasting personalities of the emperors come across nicely despite the book not containing any deliberate discussion of this. For example, Akbar was an illiterate son of a wandering king. He was largely self-educated and relied on his inherent understanding of human nature to guide and manipulate people. He was a capable administrator who established the Mughal administration and land revenue system which his predecessors had little time to establish since they were busy consolidating their power in India. His establishment of the administrative and land revenue systems allowed the empire to continue to flourish despite the lack of focus on it of the next two emperors, Jehangir and Shah Jahan.

Akbar suffered from bouts of depression and melancholy and had seizes of self-doubt. His dark and strong personality led to his well-educated, sensitive son, Jehangir, becoming an opium addict who was more interested in sensuous pleasures and the company of women than in the administration of the empire. Jehangir’s son, Shah Jahan, who ruled at the peak of the power of the Mughal empire was much more conservative in his nature than Jehangir and was more devout and focused on displaying his vast wealth and power and building monuments to show his strength than his father and grandfather were.

Shah Jahan was imprisoned by his son, Aurangzeb, who grabbed the throne from him. Aurangzeb was wily and shrewd and did whatever it took to win, including changing his word to suit the situation to his benefit. He was the opposite of Shah Jahan in that he shunned ostentation and had the most austere lifestyle of all the Mughal emperors. He was constantly paranoid and solely focused on administration and his work of translating the Koran. Aurangzeb famously stated, “The art of ruling is so delicate that the king’s jealousy should be awakened by his very shadow.” He would act on this precept all his life; imprisoning his father, liquidating his brothers, and at one time or another, imprisoning or driving into exile four of his five sons. There can be no doubt that if any ruler after Akbar had the foresight to prevent disorder, it was Aurangzeb.

However, as described in the book, despite all his strengths, he could not keep the Mughal empire together. His religious fanaticism was not responsible for the decline of the Mughal empire, though it was a contributing factor. The empire declined because unlike Akbar, Aurangzeb was a micro-manager who had no faith in others and tried to do everything himself. Inevitably he failed. He did not have the broad vision of Akbar to match his vast empire; he was petty minded and he ruled by rote with the mentality of a clerk. He was cunning without being inventive, and active without being dynamic. Though he remained alert till the end and knew what was happening, he did not know what to do about the growing crisis, except to keep on doing what he had been doing all along.

The book ends with the demise of Aurangzeb in 1707 and does not go on to describe the reigns of his successors during which periods the demise of the empire began with the British ultimately ascending to power 150 years after his death. The last Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar II, was imprisoned by the British after the revolt of 1857. For those interested in reading more about the rise of British power and change in rule from the Mughals to the British, I highly recommend The Last Mughal: The Fall of a Dynasty: Delhi, 1857, by William Dalrymple.

[Pradeep · Rating 5 out of 5]

Abraham Early is a great writer and the book is an absolute page-turner. He does a great job of capturing the Mughal emperors and their foil such as Sher Shah and Shivaji at a human level, painting a great sketch of their personalities, what values drove them to do what they did, and their political ambition. A great read for anyone who wants a nuanced and balanced take on the Mughal rule incredibly rich in detail.