The Mughal World: India's Tainted Paradise

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 exploration 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. From bizarre religious cults to the Mughal fondness for formal gardening, from murderous female bandits to the sex lives of the nobles, almost every angle of life is examined, making this a comprehensive and absorbing introduction to India's last Golden Age.