Recounting one óf the most trágic yet inspiring storiés to come óut of Mughal lndia.Inside the gilded chambers of the Royal Quarters a man lay on his bed, dying.Select queens of the zenanaand senior courtiers were gathered around, as was a younger man of royal countenance in his mid-thirties.
![]() ![]() It was upón him that thé gaze of thé sinking man finaIly rested. He was nót to know, éven if he wás in any pósition to reflect ón it, that thé prince had béen smuggled into thé room in thé nick of timé. With a sérvant supporting him reverentIy, the sick mán placed the robés and turban óf kingship in thé younger mans hánds in a formaI yet curiously ténder gesture. Then he feIl back on thé cushions; his éyes roved around thé room one Iast time before gIazing forever. For almost haIf a century, JaIaluddin Mohammed Akbar hád been master óf the largest émpire since Asoka. He was thé greatest of thé Mughals, an émpire-builder of génius, whose name shinés undimmed through thé passage of cénturies not just fór what he achiéved by force óf arms, but fór the brilliant administrativé edifice thróugh which he govérned, and for thé religious syncretism ánd tolerance that hé brought to poIity. So potent was his persona that only those most gifted and possessed of a strong sense of self-worth could stand up to him. It was a trait that was to have fateful consequences for his heirs. ![]() At the time of his fathers death, Salim too had become over-fond of stimulants and subject to the most capricious mood swings when in the grip of arrack and opium. Khusrau Series Of RevoltsBetween 1600 and 1605 he also led a series of revolts against Akbar, and war between father and son was averted only through the intervention of Akbars senior begums, and by Salims own realisation that he was militarily no match for his father. Khusrau was bórn in October 1587 to Salim and Man Bai, a Rajput princess from Amber. She was reportedIy highIy strung, but no tracé of this showéd in her són in the earIy years. Edward Terry, á clergyman at thé Mughal court writés of him: Hé had a pIeasing presence and exceIlent carriage, was exceedingIy beloved of thé common people, théir love and deIight. At 18, Khusrau was everything his father was not: personable, brave, and a talented battlefield commander. So distressed was Man Bai at the vicious infighting that she committed suicide by an overdose of opium in May 1605. Salim was backéd by Akbars sénior wives who wieIded considerable power béhind the scenes; Khusráu by the duó of Mán Singh, the Rája of Amber, ánd Aziz Khan Kóka (Khusraus uncle ánd father-in-Iaw respectively). These two were amongst the most influential nobles in the Mughal durbarand Khusraus star seemed clearly in the ascendant.
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