The last Mughal
the fall of a dynasty : Delhi, 1857
by William Dalrymple · first published 2006
2mentions
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2017first – last mentioned
100% recommend
On a dark evening in November 1862, a cheap coffin is buried in eerie silence. There are no lamentations or panegyrics, for the British Commissioner in charge has insisted, 'No vesting will remain to distinguish where the last of the Great Mughals rests.' This Mughal is Bahadur Shah Zafar II, one of the most tolerant and likeable of his remarkable dynasty who found himself leader of a violent and doomed uprising. The Siege of Delhi was the Raj's Stalingrad, the end of both Mughal power and a remarkable culture.
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If Indian history is up your alley, I heartily recommend William Dalrymple's set of three impressively researched and written books: 1. The White Mughals 2. The Last Mughal 3. Kohinoor I began reading The Last Mughal just as I had left Delhi and Agra and I regretted not starting it before my visit. Dalrymple knows his onions.
on “The East India Company, the original corporate raiders” ↗For those interested in this topic, I can't recommend "The Last Mughal" by William Dalrymple enough. It chronicles the crumbling Mughal Empire in Delhi, the slow shift in the Indian-British relationship from one of equals to a colonizer-colonized relationship, how perilously…
on “The Bibighar Massacre: The Darkest Days of the Indian Rebellion of 1857” ↗