See the Mughals in their true colours

lsquoWe were struck by misinformation around the Mughal emperorsrsquoExcerpts from an interview with coauthor Ashwitha JayakumarWhy did you pick Mughal emperors as the subject for your bookWe decided on the Mughals partly because they are more knowable than older dynasties thanks to the incredible archive of primary sources available and partly because there isnrsquot an accessible history of the empire that narrates the story of the empire from origins to declineBut as we worked on the book we were also struck by the sheer amount of misinformation about the Mughals thatrsquos being disseminatedmdashwe wanted to present something that counters this that is both fun to read and wellresearchedTell us about the collaborative process when you and illustrator Nikhil Gulati planned and executed the bookWe wanted this book to make people see history as fascinating interesting and relevant Working on the project involved many many conversations and arguments over how best to capture each emperorrsquos life how best to choose the information that allows us to see them as real people who lived in an extraordinary time and whose actions were motivated by ambition fear and lovemdashmuch like ours in the presentNur Jahan one of the most powerful women in the history of the Mughal Empire was married to the fourth padishah Jahangir Nur governed estates in her own right was deeply involved in political intrigue and was the only queen whose name appeared on coins On one occasion she even led an army to rescue her husband from the clutches of a rebellious generalTo achieve this we knew the art would be as integral as the text So much of what we know about the Mughals comes from their art and we wanted to capture their visual culture while also animating their story So the book includes doublepage spreads that were carefully chosen to highlight aspects of Mughal life from what a kingrsquos court looked like to the functions that gardens played to what a Mughal feast might entail The art also helped us to more clearly narrate the events of the very complex very confusing 18th century when the empire splintered into many smaller principalities and the number of people involved in court politics and battles can be overwhelmingWho would you say the book is meant forAlthough the illustrations often make people think of it as a book lsquofor childrenrsquo I wrote it for an all ages audience Wersquove had all kinds of readers tell us they enjoyed it from 10yearolds to 70yearolds from people who are already interested in the Mughals to people who want an introductory history on the dynasty The most gratifying thing is when a reader tells me that they previously thought of history as lsquoboringrsquo and that this book changed their mind So Irsquod say itrsquos really for anyone with even the slightest interest in Indian historyA single feast could go on for hours and include 30 or more dishes The early emperors brought with them the foods of Central Asia and Persia to which their cooks added local spices and ingredientsWhat are your favourite sections in the bookMy favourite emperor chapter is the one on Aurangzeb Alamgir Hersquos such a controversial figure and yet when I began reading about his life and especially the letters he wrote the humanity there is undeniable I tried very hard to portray him as he was warts and all The spreads are hard to choose from but I do love the one that focuses on the women of the empire who led far more exciting lives than wersquore led to believe and the one that shows a Mughal marketplace which displays exactly why somany European traders were drawn to India Excerpted with permission from The Book of Emperors by Ashwitha Jayakumar and Nikhil Gulati Penguin Random House