THE NIGHT IS MY HAVEN, MY SANCTUARY; IT CRADLES MY MUSE, MY VIGOR, MY SANGUINITY.
WHEN THEE AFTER DUSK COMETH LOOKING FOR ME, I REFLECT UPON THEE THAT'D COMETH ONTO ME.

The Fellowship

Wednesday, September 14, 2005

HINDsight - 6

Babur came to India, unaware that the throne of Delhi was waiting for him... He ofcourse had to face some formal opposition... His opponents fought bravely, and like all those people in history who fought bravely, they were defeated... Babur wanted to do something different, and so he died on his own... Actually, his son Humayun was seriously ill, but Babur for the fear of "losing his thunder" decided to die....

Humayun kept the tradition going... He died on his own... He took a tumble down the stairs before his heart refused to beat again... He however made his contribution to history... He produced Akbar... "Akbar the Great"....

Akbar established a new capital at Fatehpur Sikri, not too far from Delhi though... He held a formal cabinet nine ministers strong, 'navratan'... Birbal ofcourse was the minister for humour... Akbar married a Rajput princess called Jodhabai and tried to end all feuds betwen the followers of Islam and Hinduism... but that did not work...

Salim, handsome and slim, was Akbar's son... When he grew up, he rebelled against his father and thus started a new tradition which his successors followed... Salim fell in love with Anarkali, one of his beautiful but careless maids, and Akbar had her burried alive in a wall... thus sparking a rebellion... Salim, later changed his name to Jahangir... just for the heck of it... Jahangir fell in love again... He married Noor Jahan... She ruled on Jahangir's behalf...

Shah Jahan kept the tradition started by his father of trying to stage a rebellion... When Shah Jahan eventually took over, his passion for architecture showed... He built the Red Fort at Delhi, The Taj for his beloved queen Mumtaz Mahal and also designed the peacock throne... The same peacock later became India's national bird...

Studies on Mumtaz Mahal have indicated that the fourteenth chid is very dangerous for the mother's health... Shah Jahan's third son Aurangazeb however proved fatal for him... He killed his brothers and nephews, and imprisoned his father... Aurangazeb ruled for 50 long years... He died in Aurangabad... Since none of his sons were gallant enough to challenge him, he had to die by himself...

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