Canberra, 5 March 2023 Before the 15th century, England was a backward agricultural country with no standing among the other kingdoms and States of the world. By the end of the 18th century, within a span of a mere three centuries, the same impoverished country had become the foremost political and economic power in Europe, […]
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Tag Archives: Akbar
Europeans in India Part 7 The Dutch Enter the Fray Section II Commercial Activities – Gujarat, The Coromandel & Bengal
January 29, 2023 
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Canberra, 29 January 2023 The Dutch arrived in India and faced great opposition from the Portuguese, who pushed back with force. The animosity was such that they moved on to the Far-East and established themselves in today’s Indonesia. From their base in the archipelago, they made gradual and initially surreptitious inroads into South Asia, initially […]
Continue readingThe Marathas Prelude: The Indian Sub-continent in the 16th Century – Politics & Religion
May 26, 2021 0 Comments
Canberra, 26 May 2021 Geographically, the 16th century Indian sub-continent was similar to modern India, with the inclusion of Afghanistan and Baluchistan within its borders. [In this series of books ‘From Indus to Independence: A Trek through Indian History’ that narrate the history of the Indian sub-continent, the countries of Pakistan created in 1947 and […]
Continue readingIndian History Part 84 Aurangzeb Section IV: Emergence of the Marathas
February 6, 2021 0 Comments
Canberra, 6 February 2021 Geography and nature had never intended the Deccan Plateau to be an integral part of the greater Indian sub-continent. The Vindhya and Satpura Mountain Ranges and the River Narmada form a triple barricade that divides the high tableland of Central India from the Gangetic Plains. These formidable geographical barriers should have […]
Continue readingIndian History Part 84 Aurangzeb Section II Alienation of the Hindus 1. The Jat Rebellion
January 20, 2021 0 Comments
Canberra, 20 January 2021 BACKGROUND Aurangzeb had won the Mughal throne as the champion of Sunni Muslim orthodoxy against the liberal-minded Dara, who had claimed the mantle of religious tolerance of his predecessors. On being defeated, Dara had been tried and convicted of being a heretic and subsequently executed, or more correctly, murdered. In the […]
Continue readingIndian History Part 83 Shah Jahan Section V: Magnificence – While It Lasted
January 2, 2021 0 Comments
Canberra, 02 January 2021 ‘With Shah Jahan a Pharaonic mask slides into place. The person virtually disappears behind the persona, as Shah Jahan’s official chroniclers scrub him clean of all the grime of life and present him as The Great Mughal, gilded, bejewelled and perfumed, larger than life but lifeless. — Abraham Eraly, Emperors of […]
Continue readingIndian History Part 83 Shah Jahan Section III: The Deccan Campaign
November 30, 2020 0 Comments
Canberra, 30 November 2020 Prior to Shah Jahan’s accession, Mughal interest in the Deccan had waxed and waned in direct proportion to the stability and turmoil in North India. Akbar had started a concerted effort to bring the Deccan under the Mughal flag and in 1569 had conquered Khandesh. By 1600, parts of Berar had […]
Continue readingIndian History Part 83 Shah Jahan Section II: An Emperor’s Ambition Laid Low
November 22, 2020 0 Comments
Canberra, 22 November 2020 Even after the Khan-i-Jahan Lodi was chased down and killed, the Deccan campaign continued. Gradually all the major Shahi kingdoms—Ahmadnagar, Bijapur and Golconda—were involved in the conflict in different ways and to different extent. The fortunes of these three kingdoms and that of the Mughal forces in the Deccan ebbed and […]
Continue readingIndian History Part 82 Jahangir Section IV: An Assessment
November 4, 2020 2 Comments
Canberra, 04 November 2020 ‘What is immediately striking as we look at the portraits of Jahangir and compare his face with that of his father is the contrast between the two. Akbar appears self-contained; there is about him the inner orientation of a man who has to prove himself to no one but himself. In […]
Continue readingIndian History Part 82 Jahangir Section I: Early Years – Quelling a Rebellion
October 21, 2020 0 Comments
Canberra, 21 October 2020 The 17th century was the great age of the Mughal Empire. Akbar had reintegrated northern and central India and given it a modified Persian form. At his death, Akbar left behind an empire populated by 100 million people—at a time when the total population of the British Isles could not have […]
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Sanu Kainikara 
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