Monday, 24 August 2015

Betrayal of Mughal Prince turned the history of India:

THE ECONOMIC TIMES       Aug 16 2015
 Murad Ali  Baig




NEW DELHI:  In 1658 the Mughal  Empire  was  at the peak of its opulence,  but the escalating rivalry  between  Emperor  Shah Jahan's  sons  Dara Shikoh  and Aurangzeb   over the past two decades  had split not only the royal family  but also changed  the history  of the nation  says Author  Murad  Ali Baig.

"The book is about  a gap in Indian  history.  A lot has been written  about the great  emperors Akbar,  Jahangir,  Shah Jahan, Aurangzeb   but the battle  of succession   between  the sons of Shah Jahan  was actually  one of the turning  points  in Indian  history."  says  Baig.

Titled "Ocean  of Cobras"  the book is a historical  fiction  and is a recount  by a eunuch Mubarak  Ali. who is intimate  with  all the princes,  princesses  and  personages  of the Mughal court.  He takes  the reader from the magnificent   royal palace  into the harem.  to royal hunts and to the kjngdoms  of rival and vassal  rulers.

"Roughly  25 per cent of the book is work  of fiction  essentially  to fill in the gaps  and the rest is  based on pure historical  facts with  proper  foot notes.  The book is packed  with so much information  of five battles,  evolution  of the religion  history  of the period  and so on," Baig told
PTJ.



Dara, the pampered  prince  was  a poet and philosopher  who  had to turn a soldier  to combat  his bitter  but battle  hardened  brother.  The conflict  between  Dara's  love of all religions  and Aurangzeb's   narrow  Islamic  beliefs  was to make the battle much  more  than simply  one for the throne.  It became  a series  of battles  for the very soul of India.

"How were we to know that this battle for succession  would  also be a battle for the very soul of India; that this would  be a battle  between Dara's  belief in the essential  unity of all religions  and Aurangzeb's   conviction  that the straight  path  of Islam was the only way to human salvation?"  says the author.

Mubarak  Ali, the narrator.  fights  in the armies  of the rival princes  and describes  six exciting  battles.  His adventures  take the reader  from
the limpid  lakes  of Kashmir  to the deserts  of Sind and the lush forests  of every  part of India.  He tells the story  of the forgotten  Prince  of the
Mughal  Empire.



"Dara was  rather condemned   by the court  historians  as soon as he lost the battle of Samugarh  because  of the betrayal  by his own commander.   Because  of that  betrayal  the whole  history  of India turned.  Dara then vanished  from history.  Dara was probably  the most interesting  of all the Mughal  Princes  and therefore  his story  is the story that needed  to be told." says Baig.

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