The Peacock Throne: Emperors, Queens, and Saints of Muslim India - Couverture souple

Khalil, Asmahan Mostafa Tawfik

Couverture souple

ISBN 13 : 9798165159596

Editeur : Independently published, 2026

Synopsis

In 1739, Nadir Shah of Persia marched out of Delhi carrying the most splendid throne ever made for a king. Its canopy rested on twelve columns covered with pearls, and above it stood a peacock of gold and sapphires with a great ruby on its breast. The Peacock Throne was never seen in India again.

But the throne was only the glitter. Behind it lay eleven centuries of men and women whose stories were stranger and finer than any jewel.

A general of seventeen answered a captive woman’s cry from across the sea and brought Sind into the world of Islam. A scholar from Khwarazm learned Sanskrit so that he could understand India in its own words. Razia Sultana ruled Delhi in a man’s coat and cap. Babur wept over a melon from Kabul, and sent an old night guard a gold coin so heavy he could barely lift it. Chand Bibi rebuilt a breached fortress wall in a single night. Jahanara, whose father sat on the Peacock Throne, called herself “a poor and lowly woman.” Aurangzeb got down from his elephant to pray in the middle of a battle. And a begum of Bhopal sailed to Mecca, wrote the story of her pilgrimage, and sent her greeting to the Ottoman sultan.

The Peacock Throne tells the story of Muslim India through its emperors, its queens, and its saints. It draws on the memoirs they wrote themselves, the chronicles of their courts, the accounts of travelers such as Ibn Battuta, Tavernier, and Bernier, and Ottoman documents that show how the Muslims of India and the lands beyond looked to Istanbul across the sea.

The throne was carried off. What these men and women built could not be.

About the author
Professor Asmahan Mostafa Tawfik Khalil teaches modern and contemporary history at Beni Suef University, Egypt. She taught for ten years at King Faisal University in Saudi Arabia, and her research centers on Ottoman archival documents on the Arabian Peninsula and the Gulf, and on the history of the Muslim peoples. This book was built and prepared on the original contemporary sources and on documents from the Ottoman archives.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Independently published
• Date d'édition: 2026
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 13: 9798165159596
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 172
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible