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SETTING: Various parts of the Mughal Empire between the years 1577 and 1611 AD.
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SUMMARY: A detailed account of the tumultuous love between Mehrunnisa, the daughter of a Persian aristocrat who was forced to relocate his family from Persia to Hindustan, and Prince Salim, son of the Mughal Emperor Akbar.
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FAVORITE QUOTE: "She pulled away, anger flooding out at his words. 'So this is why you offer me this exalted position of concubine, your Majesty? To protect me? You forget that I have looked after myself for four years now, with no help from either you or my Bapa [father]. I will doubtless be a fallen woman, but I will not - absolutely will not - come to your zenana [harem] as a concubine.'" - Chapter 19, pages 356-357.
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This is the only novel I finished reading over the holiday! Shocking, I know! This winter break was considerably shorter than past breaks, and it was absolutely packed from the start. And, most unfortunately, the little free time I had was spent studying. A few days ago I realized I hadn't read a single book cover to cover during the break, but I wasn't in the mood to continue the fourth novel in the A Song of Ice and Fire series. I wanted a quick read and found this book on top of the dryer at my parent's house. Seeing that it was about South Asia and the Mughal Empire, I decided to give it a go.
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Things I liked about this book:
- Mughal Empire! My heritage! As far as I know, there isn't much variation regarding the origins of my ancestors (although there is a story that one of my ancestors immigrated to South Asia from the Middle East, but not sure how much proof there is of that). And how much do I know about the Mughal Empire? Only the scant amount of information I remember from grade school history, which amounts to a whole lot of not very much. Quite a tragedy. After finishing this book, I put learning about the history of the Mughal Empire on my to-do list.
- Mehrunnisa. She is such a strong female protagonist. There wasn't a whole lot women could do back then, but she definitely knows how to hold her own and speak her mind. That's why the above quote is my favorite. There is a period of approximately four years where she fends for herself and her daughter, and she does so very successfully. She knows how to play her cards very well.
- Prince Salim changes his name to Jahangir, meaning "world conqueror." For those who aren't Bengali or did not grow up with me, my father's nickname is Jahangir. I knew his grandmother gave him the nickname after a Mughal emperor, so it was really great reading a novel about that emperor.
- The author's incorporation of words common to the Indic languages. As a Bengali speaker, I was able to understand most of these words, but I didn't realize I was reading transliterated words and not English words until well into the book. It was fun.
- Salim's love for Mehrunnisa. He wants her as is, and nothing else. It's pure and beautiful.
- Prince Salim/Emperor Jahangir is an incredibly horrible son! His greed and deep desire for the throne causes him to attempt to dethrone his father, Emperor Akbar, numerous times. As is seen later in the book, karma really is a bitch and Salim gets his due at the hands of his own son. He does, however, try to make up for it during his reign as emperor, and history books will tell you he was successful- he is remembered as a very just and generous ruler.
- Mehrunnisa's first husband. Total ass.
I finished this book in approximately three days, and when I started it I didn't think I'd like it all that much. Turns out I was totally wrong! I loved this book! There isn't a single thing I didn't like about the book itself. It kept my attention and was continuously interesting. If I had had the time, I'm sure I could have finished it in a day. It's a smooth and easy read, and the supporting characters, although numerous, aren't difficult to keep track of. There's a sequel to this novel that continues Mehrunnisa's story, and I will definitely keep my eye out for it. Realistically, though, that won't happen until the summer.
That being said, the next five months of my life (until early June) will be busy, but I'm hoping I'll be able to read at least two books within that time. I've adopted the habit of grabbing a book and sitting my bum down at the bar at the Busboys and Poets cafe located a half mile away whenever I get really stressed out. I'm sure I'll be super stressed the next five months, so perhaps there will be more visits than usual to this haven that allows me to slowly sip away at a cappuccino as I lose myself for a few hours in a fictional world :)
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Recommend? Yes!
