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Only one member of the family did Ommaney instantly dislike. This was Zinat Mahal’s beloved son, Mirza Jawan Bakht. Spoiled and callous, Jawan Bakht soon proved himself more than willing to give evidence about any of his family’s activities during the Uprising.
William Dalrymple • The Last Mughal
This beast is preceded by a reputation that transcends oceans and mountains: it is said to originate from the depths of the forests of Hyrcania, the wild, rugged, evergreen land that borders the Caspian Sea. Its name is at once a curse and an incantation.
It is reputed to be swift as an arrow, wild as the Tigris, the fastest flowing of all rivers,
... See moreThe Sultana, or ‘queen’, of Patani made a deep impression on Floris. ‘A comely oulde woman nowe about three score yeares…she was tall of person and full of majestie.’ She was also ‘a good sport’, thought nothing of hunting wild buffalo in the forest, and was a great patron of the arts. Her dance troupe was the best Floris had ever seen; and when by
... See moreJohn Keay • The Honourable Company: History of the English East India Company
Nader never wished to rule India, just to plunder it for resources to fight his real enemies, the Russians and the Ottomans. Fifty-seven days later, he returned to Persia carrying the pick of the treasures the Mughal Empire had amassed over its 200 years of sovereignty and conquest: a caravan of riches that included Jahangir’s magnificent Peacock
... See moreWilliam Dalrymple • The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East India Company
“Their stated object was a crusade against the infidel,” wrote Sa’id Mubarak Shah, “their real one was plunder.
William Dalrymple • The Last Mughal
“They were well-known and well-off people, men who were the pride of Delhi,” wrote Zahir Dehlavi. “They had had no parallels in their own day, nor will we ever see their like again.”
William Dalrymple • The Last Mughal
We, it is true, have now the same right and the same charter for our dominions that the Mahomedan founders of the house of Delhi had for the sovereignty they claimed over Hindustan [i.e., the right of conquest] but we did not come into India, as they did, at the head of great armies, with the avowed intention of subjugating the country. We crept in
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