Indira Parthasarathy

I got into the rabbit hole of Aurangzeb and the Mughal Empire after reading the excellent historical fiction of Charu Nivedita - Naan Thaan Aurangzeb. (I wanted to share my thoughts on that book on Goodreads but couldn't. I don't know how to add a new Tamil book to Goodreads, I tried my best, but I couldn't)

This short book by Ee.Paa is a play about the rise of Aurangzeb, and his fight against Dara Shikoh, his last days fighting his demons. This play gives a glimpse into the life of Aurangzeb. In one way, it confirms all our biases against Aurangzeb and Dara, and there is significantly less space for a nuanced understanding of them. It paints Dara Shikoh as a liberal-minded person who understands the spirit of Hindustan better. It paints Aurangzeb as a zealot who wants to establish the Islamic Empire in India.

I gave five stars to this book because it was written at a time when there was not much public debate or research about Aurangzeb. This play provides an excellent intro to the conflict and sets the context for interested folks to delve further. It fails in the nuances because you cannot overwhelm the audience with multiple story plots in a stage play.

Ee.Paa might not have formed the same opinion on Dara or Aurangzeb had he referenced the works of Niccolo Manucci or Bhimsen Saxena or Audrey Truschke. Aurangzeb is a fantastic, complex figure worth delving deep into in a detailed manner, as Charu has done with Naan Thaan Aurangzeb.

If you are interested in Alamgir Aurangzeb, start with this play but don't stop here. Jump into the works of Charu Nivedita and Audrey Truschke for a more profound and exciting portrait of a king who ruled this land for many decades.… (more)