went to see “mughal india: art, culture and empire” at the british library today. it’s an excellent exhibit of art, some objects, and a lot of books – on astronomy, medicine, mathematics, literary classics like the poetry of hafiz and saadi, pages from the shahnama and akbarnama, stunning copies of the quran, a recipe book from shah jahan’s household (how to make the best samosas and pulao) beautiful calligraphy by emperor bahadur shah and much more. i was delighted to learn that akbar’s library (some 24,000 beautifully bound books) was equal in worth to his entire stash of weaponry. loved a letter written by ghalib and enjoyed the sometimes frosty, always hypocritical, correspondence between king william III and emperor aurangzeb. didn’t like the last part of the exhibit where india’s history is relegated to the orientalist interpretations of the east india company. the most harrowing, heartbreaking exhibit is the only known photograph of the last emperor of india, bahadur shah zafar. granted the mughals were conquerors themselves and not always the most human rights oriented rulers, but bahadur shah’s personal saga is profoundly tragic.
more here.
