Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss The Mughal empire in one of the episodes of the "In Our Time" podcast.
The
Mughal Empire which, at its height, stretched from Bengal in the
East to Gujarat in the West, and from Lahore in the North to Madras
in the South. It covered the whole of present day northern India,
Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, and became famous for the Taj Mahal, the
Koh-i-Noor and the Peacock Throne.
In 1631 a Dutch naturalist Johannes de
Laet published his account of the vast Empire, “the nobles live in
indescribable luxury and extravagance, caring only to indulge themselves whilst
they can, in every kind of pleasure. Their greatest magnificence is in
their women’s quarters, for they marry three or four wives or sometimes more”.
But were they really the opulent despots
of European imagination? If so, how did they maintain such a vast
territory? And to what extent was the success of the British Raj a legacy
of their rule?
With Sanjay Subrahmanyam, Professor of
Indian History and Culture at the University of Oxford; Susan Stronge, Curator
in the Asian Department of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Chandrika
Kaul, Lecturer in Imperial History at the University of St Andrews.
Listen to this episode : http://podbay.fm/show/463700741/e/1077699600
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