History: As told by new storytellers

M Rajivlochan

There are five points about this book that need to be mentioned at the outset: one, it is very easy to read and fun at that; two, it provides a lot of detail about the lives of two important officials of the Mughal court; three, it provides much interesting information about coeval literature; four, there is a lot of thick description about the educational, social and intellectual concerns of the nobility of Mughal times; finally, the book is very well produced.

Based heavily on contemporary sources, this book tells us the history of Hindustan during the first century of Mughal rule through the eyes of two of its most important officials, Bairam and his son, Abdul Rahim. It interweaves many stories and memories with official records to weave a rich historical tapestry of those times.

From an illustrious family, Bairam entered the service of Sultan Babar, who then ruled over Kabul. The sister of his great grandfather was Babar’s paternal aunt as well as mother-in-law. Whether this familial connection was of any help to him is not known; what is known is that Babar appointed him to the retinue of the young prince Humayun.

Bairam’s sage advice during the battle of Champaner in 1536 ensured a much-needed victory for Sultan Humayun and made him a close confidant. Sher Shah, the Afghan, who had recently ousted Humayun, offered Bairam Khan a place. Bairam refused and pleaded that his loyalty to Humayun was far too deep rooted.

Raghavan re-tells this story but leaves the reader mystified as he makes little effort to explain why Bairam persisted with his loyalty to Humayun, the perpetual loser.

Bariam would even win Humayun the first major battle against the Afghans — that of Machhiwara (May 1555) — which would pave the way for Humayun becoming the sultan of Hind once again. Humayun would, in turn, give Bairam the title of Khan-i-Khanan and make him the mentor of his son, Akbar. Five years later, Akbar would free himself from Bairam’s mentorship after some mutual slights.

Raghavan documents in considerable detail Bairam’s falling out of royal favour and his assassination by an Afghan whose father had been killed in the battle of Machhiwara. Raghavan tells us that the murder was not engineered by Akbar.

After Bairam’s death, his young son Abdur Rahim, then five years of age, reached Shahenshah Akbar’s court where he was received with great love. It was made clear to all that anyone who tried to harm the lad would be harmed severely by the Shahenshah. Akbar made arrangements for his education and grooming in the manner befitting important noblemen of the realm.

Abdur Rahim rose further in Akbar’s esteem when, at the age of 16, he was able to keep up with a forced march that Akbar took on camel back from Agra to Ahmedabad to quell a rebellion. Only 26 other nobles were able to match Akbar’s energy. Raghavan tells us that this march was important to teach a lesson to rebels that the emperor could strike quickly and at the furthest reaches of the empire with great effect. Having quelled the rebellion in Gujarat, Akbar returned to Agra — having travelled a total of 1600 km in under three weeks. In all this, Abdur Rahim proved himself to be a great soldier and was soon entrusted by Akbar with even greater responsibilities. At 19 years of age, he was appointed the Governor of Gujarat, a charge that he fulfilled ably.

However, at the same time, Abdur Rahim showed himself to be adept at writing poetry that was as beautiful as it was wise. Many of his verses — for example the one that went Rahiman pani rakhiye, bin pani sab sun — conveyed a strong moral sense in a pleasing manner. His writing in Hindustani/Hindi mixed with Persian and Sanskrit made his poetry quite accessible to the people. It was direct in nature, not given to unnecessary flourishes and quite popular.

Raghavan tells us a lot about Rahim’s poetry, his military campaigns and his role as one of the jewels of the imperial court. A few poems reproduced in the original, in the Roman script, rather than free verse translations into English would have been most welcome.