AKBAR A NOVEL OF HISTORY

<p>Description</p><p>Conventional historical accounts tend to paper over seemingly minor events related</p><p>to Akbar's life to the detriment of a comprehensive appreciation of one of the most</p><p>important figures of Indian history. Shazi Zaman fills the gap with this remarkable</p><p>novel rooted in history.</p><p>Akbar's writ ran from the Hindukush in the west to the Bay of Bengal in the east</p><p>an empire his father Humayun and grandfather Babur had only dreamed of. And</p><p>his religious policy boldly unorthodox was as fierce a contest with the clergy</p><p>particularly Islamic as were his military campaigns with his political opponents. Most</p><p>histories give us Akbar the commander who never lost on the battlefield and the</p><p>fearlessly iconoclastic ruler. But we rarely come across the restless questing soul who</p><p>wished to reconcile a sensitive and compassionate heart to the sometimes ruthless</p><p>obligations of statecraft; and the man who in his struggle for sulh-i-kul peace with</p><p>all could dare to treat as equal not only all faiths-Hinduism Islam Christianity</p><p>Jainism Zoroastrianism and others-but all life as well-human or animal.</p><p>With a scholar's rigour and a storyteller's insight Shazi Zaman in this transcreation</p><p>of his acclaimed Hindi novel sifts through fact and many an anecdote to paint</p><p>a complex yet enchanting portrait of one of the world's great monarchs. There</p><p>isn't another book as vast in scope and as layered to help us fully understand the</p><p>phenomenon that was Akbar: the unsparing pragmatist and benevolent ruler; the</p><p>austere leader and indulgent friend; the unlettered prince and philosopher-mystic. </p>