The Mughal Throne: The Saga of India's Great Emperors Paperback – 5 Feb. 2004

One of my top 10 books ever, and one of only two that i read then immediately re-read. Erlahy brings his cast to vibrant life, making the reader feel as if they know some of the emperors personally. I never imagined before I read this that I would ever have a 'favourite' Mughal emperor (I do now!), tho I found myself liking them all (until the last one, that is).A beautifully written and absorbing saga that I would recommend to anyone who likes their history colourful and their tales tall.

This book is must read for those who are interested in Mughal India. Mughals loved India. They have decorated India. If world is fasinated about the India it is mainly due to Mughals.I am in the middle of reading this book. It is like I am transported to Mughal era. All the glamour of empire as we know on the outset are inter woven with the pain and heart ache. None of Mughal Emperor faces plain sailing; they all went thru lots of emotions.Facts are not just stated but are back-up by the quotation from other scholars or from the scriptures found from that era.I would recommend this book without any reservation.

Great read.. expertly written. Thoroughly enjoyed it

A brilliant read. This really brings the age of the Mughals to life

This is a fascinating account of the Mughal Empire of India and spans almost three centuries from the late fifteenth to the early eighteenth centuries. The book charts the Empire's path from its humble beginnings under Babur, its meteoric rise under Akbar the Great, its splendid apogee under Shah Jahan and its subsequent decline under Aurangzeb.Prior to reading this book, I had virtually no prior knowledge of this period of Indian history, my interest being primarily concerned with the British Raj. This was no impediment to my enjoyment of this book, as the author writes with flare about the subject and never wavered in his ability to keep me interested.Mr Eraly recounts in detail the magnificent opulence of the Mughal court and also its decadence and corruption. He covers the incessant wars, rebellions and coups that made stability in the Empire an all too rare and fleeting occurrence and his descriptions of the battles, the conspiracies and the diplomacy are never dull.The book is populated with a wonderful cast of colourful characters ranging from the Emperors and their scheming families, to duplicitous Generals and ministers and Holy Men and Rebels. The book is enlivened with accounts of their deeds and misdeeds, their virtues and vices and he really does manage to bring the past to life.My only (minor) criticism of the book has nothing to do with Mr Eralys writing, but there is a complete absence of maps, which if included, would have made the progress of the campaigns he describes easier to follow. I feel that the book would also have benefited from the inclusion of some pictures to accompany the text; maybe a plate section of portraits of some of the main protagonists and perhaps some photographs of the surviving forts and palaces he describes would have resulted in me awarding an extra star.To summarise then, this is narrative history as it should be written, fast paced, informative, sometimes a little gory, but always entertaining. Even if you do not have a particular interest in this period or in Indian history in general, but like the tale to unfold at a breathtaking pace and the events described to sweep over a wide canvas, I would recommend this book to you.

Perhaps it should have been given away by the title 'The Mughal Throne' but this book has a monarchical focus that detracts from it's ability to maintain a readers interest, or from their ability to remember much about the book. Having read it, I can tell you the succession of different rulers, some of their policies, but mostly about the campaigns and rebellions they fought.Although a great deal of the book is talking about campaigns, I have little conceptual understanding of them because their is not a single map in the book, and my knowledge of Indian geography is not extensive enough that I understand what it is flee with an army from 'Random Indian Town X' to 'Random Indian Town Y'.And disappointingly I still have very little understanding of what life was like under the Mughals for the people living there. I don't really even have a sense of what it was like for people living in the court. All told, I wouldn't recommend this book, but I don't know any better ones about that period of Indian history either.I the upside, it has given me a better basis to begin reading around about Indian history: I understand who the key emporers were; why; and what the major changes during the reigns were. So that's the good bit.

A great read - an unexpected page-turner given the nature of the material, but he really brings the people and events into sharp and very human focus

Very interestingly put together. I must say this book is an eye opener. There is a lot this book can teach us today. All that mughals did was to safeguard their own interest. Mughals were indeed the pioneers in rapid urbanisation in otherwise a predominant rural India. From literrary advancement to the life sciences reasearches, gardens to the most stunning mosques,forts and the Taj their contribution to India is immense. Thogh not very popular with masses they do actualy represent India to the world even now. Abrahm Early is a gifted book writer.