The Mughal World: Life in India's Last Golden Age

Front Cover
Penguin Books India, 2007 - History - 420 pages
The Mughal emperors were larger-than-life figures, men written on a supra-human scale who exercised absolute power. The three centuries of their rule mark one of the most crucial and fascinating periods of Indian history. This study looks beyond the story of the empire's rise and fall--an exotic growth that was transplanted to India from Islamic Persia--to bring the world of the Mughal ruler and Hindu subject vividly into focus. Blending contemporary sources and detailed description, an India full of strangeness and contrast is introduced: sacred harems and suttee rites, brutal war and cultural and artistic refinement, staggering opulence, deviant indulgences, and abject poverty. The bizarre religious cults, the Mughal fondness for formal gardening, the murderous female bandits, the sex lives of the nobles, and beyond--almost every aspect of life is examined, making this a comprehensive and absorbing introduction to India's last Golden Age.
 

Contents

The People
21
The Right Royal Lifestyle
39
A Movable City
55
Living and Partly Living
79
The Amir at Play
100
Gilded and Other Cages
123
The Womans Lot
147
Producers and Predators
163
Masters and Slaves
219
All the Emperors Men
238
Sacred Laws Profane Justice
258
The Flabby Giant
290
The Razors Edge
313
Sword is God
332
A Crore for a Song
354
The Mughal Legacy
383

The Peasants Lot
182
Hamstrung Trade
198
Notes
397
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