India and the Mughal dynasty

by Valérie Bérinstain

In the 16th century the Mughal emperors of India were among the greatest and most magnificent rulers of the East. Their arts of painting and architecture were peerless, their wealth fabulous, their courts renowned for culture and refinement, their jewels incomparable. This book follows the rise of the Mughal dynasty in the 16th century, its heyday in the 17th, and its decline in the 19th. Fabled India: here we meet the legendary emperors Babur and Akbar the Great; we enter their splendid courts and discover their political schemes and ambitions, their marvelous artists, their lavish ceremonies, their high learning. The Mughal kingdoms comprised both Muslim and Hindu Lands, and ranged from Kashmir to Afghanistan to Samarkand. Art, science, craftsmanship, political policy, and military strategy: all are here, echoing in the vast spaces of the Taj Mahal and the scented gardens of Shalimar.