Historical fiction is undoubtedly my favorite genre. And the Mughal empire is undoubtedly the era I find most fascinating in the entire Indian history. So the moment I heard there is an upcoming web series based on a fictional novel about the Mughals, I absolutely had to read it.
Whenever there is a choice between reading a novel or watching a movie or show based on that novel, I prefer reading the novel. For two reasons: 1. Novels are more detailed and provide a peak into the workings of the minds of the characters that no visual medium can ever give 2. Usually novels that are based on real events tend to stay more true to the facts than the adapted movie or show, perhaps because novels don’t have the pressure of hooking on their audience in the first episode or with attractive dialogues in a trailer.
In case of this novel, I feel I would prefer the show over the novel: as the first reason worked against the novel for me. frankly, I could’ve lived without reading the gory details of how Babur and his soldiers played polo with the heads of their defeated enemies.
The brutality portrayed throughout the novel was a serious off putting point for me. not just cause it made me cringe, but also cause it made me wonder how fair is it in depicting the people of that era? Of course, I haven’t read any historical texts of the time and the author surely must have…so perhaps conquests really were marked by making drums out of the skin of the enemy ruler. But I often wondered while reading this novel, how much of this barbaric portrayal of the Mongols and the Persians and the Mughals was a result of the stereotypical Western perspective of the Eastern tribes as being ‘quite uncivilized’?
Also, I’ve known the Mughals for their opulence and grandeur in art, architecture and lifestyle. So reading about Babur’s nomadic existence and all the bloodshed that went into the establishment of that magnificent empire was a bit of a cognitive dissonance.
Overall, a fine enough book to read, if you can get past the brutality. I do feel that the web series might have taken some further fictional liberty in shaping the characters (especially that of the women) to suit the 21st century audience. Never the less, I’ll be watching the show as I absolutely must consume everything I come across that is related to the Mughal era. And then I shall decide whether to come back to the second book of this series (in the hopes that Humayun’s reign would have less bloodshed) or whether to wait for the second season of the show (which will surely present a less gruesome picture.
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