I have always had a keen interest in the Mughal era of Indian history. One of my favorite authors is Indu Sundaresan, who wrote the following books. They are fiction, but based on historical facts. The painstaking attention to detail, the descriptions of the epic battles, political aliances, Mughal courts, zenanas, opulance…uff!!!
The first of the trilogy, The Twentieth Wife, lays out the rise of Prince Salim (Jahangir) and his asencion to the throne after Akbar, and ends with his marriage to Mehrunissa (Begum Noor Jehan). Tthe second, The Feast of Roses, is all about Jehangir & Noor Jehan, and how Prince Khurram and Arjumand become Shah Jehan and Mumtaz. The last of the books, The Shadow Princess, is all about the children of Shah Jehan & Mumtaz, and the of course, the monument of everlasting love he built.
Re: Mughal India Historical Fiction- The Taj Trilogy
I don't know much about Mughal Era or Sundaresan (Sounds like a south Indian guy to me), but i saw Taj Mahal on the title, i was there twice, and it was epic, its a real wonder of the world, the thing about the Taj is its size, i wasn't expecting it to be so huge and symmetric.
Re: Mughal India Historical Fiction- The Taj Trilogy
Indu Sundaresan is a she, not a he!
The beauty of these books is in how the author connects the dots and paints a picture of mystery and intrigue within the Mughal Empire. Meherunissa was a sovereign in her own right. She has her own royal seal, had coins minted, held court and issued farmans. Had she given birth to an heir, it’s highly likely there would be no Taj Mahal today. But alas, after rising to the top, she ultimately faded away into obscurity.
Re: Mughal India Historical Fiction- The Taj Trilogy
^^ Then Sundaresan must be her husband (or dad), there is no way that sundaresan is a female name, Indu and Sundaresan both are south indian names
And i have a family root to another empire (kind of, am the grand grand kid, if our place was a kingdom, i might be a king or a prince), so we dont talk about Mughals :p
Re: Mughal India Historical Fiction- The Taj Trilogy
^ lol! My family is also from South Central India…Andhra Pradesh (Hyderabad, to be exact!),
I grew up hearing/being taught about he splendor and Shaan of the Nizam’s of Hyderabad…I still have relatives who believe that Hyderabad is still a country in exile and not an actual part of India
And Indu is the author’s first name, Sundaresan her last name and a quick Wiki search shows that she was brought up in various parts of the country as her father was a military pilot.
Just curious, does being South Indian mean she is not qualified to right about the Mughals?
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Nope, nothing wrong with her or her name, its fine, anyone (qualified enough) can write about mughals, there is no south - north discrimination, i would like to read about the mughals too (all i know about mughals are either from high school history text books or Bollywood movies), i think i need to find some real history books :)
Re: Mughal India Historical Fiction- The Taj Trilogy
Nope, nothing wrong with her or her name, its fine, anyone (qualified enough) can write about mughals, there is no south - north discrimination, i would like to read about the mughals too (all i know about mughals are either from high school history text books or Bollywood movies), i think i need to find some real history books :)
Check out "The Mughal Throne, The Saga Of India's Great Emperors" by Abraham Eraly....it's very thick, a long read, but well worth it!
Re: Mughal India Historical Fiction- The Taj Trilogy
This series only concentrates on the obsession Salim had for Mehrunissa, thus culminating in her becoming his twentieth and last wife. The only other women it highlights as a key player in his life is Empress Jagat Gosini, Prince Khurram’s mother
Zamaana kitna bhi agay nikal jai, nothing can replace the feel of a real book and well turned pages in my hands..I have yet to succumb to the ereader/tablet/ebooks bimaari
Re: Mughal India Historical Fiction- The Taj Trilogy
Khatti have you read all 3 books of this trilogy? I just saw these books at Liberty today. Getting your input before investing around Rs 3000.
Yes, I have all three in my personal library and have read them many, many times! The Twentieth Wife & Feast of Roses are the best....I highly recommend you get them both. The Shadow Princess I didn't enjoy as much, it almost felt like a forced continuation and was seriously lacking in both character development and plot.
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I just got an other historical fiction today. Its about Wajid Ali Shah’s widow Begum Hazrat Mahal.
Once, I complete this, I will go for Taj trilogy 2 books. I also had a feeling that Princess Jahan Ara’s character might not have that strength to have a book on her.
Re: Mughal India Historical Fiction- The Taj Trilogy
Pundas duped Kattichic as well :D
Sundersan :D
Khattichic, try reading Mahabharat once, read it as story as there is hardly anything religious in it.
Your head would roll in the end, still people don't know who was the most righteous character in it. it is even better than RR Martin's work :)
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Not sure as much as you are @Southie, if someone who can send his son Vikarna to bring Druapadi in Sabha and still his morals doesn't induce anything him to counsel his best friend and the show goes on, never knew if this is called righteousness in any possible extent :)
There is one short lived character in Mahabharat who is my favourite, Abhimanyu :)
