A marvel in marble

The Moghul monarchs’ way of life was an extravaganza of such breathtaking splendour that in comparison the Sun King’s Versailles seems understated. Both Shah Jahan and Louis XIV came to the throne in 1643 and their courts had much in common: architectural grandeur, luxury, a love of jewels and a flair for excess. What was unique to the Muslim emperor was his devotion to a consort throughout their long marriage. Her death in childbirth and his desire to create a worthy mausoleum resulted in what many consider the most beautiful building in the world — the Taj Mahal.

A Teardrop on the Cheek of Time (a syrupy phrase from Rabindranath Tagore) gives us not only the story of the Taj, but palace intrigues, marriages and assassinations; military campaigns, the rise and fall of emperors. The authors take the reader at a brisk trot from Tamerlaine to the present day, their considerable research leavened by colourful story-telling. Occasionally, superfluous explanations (‘calligraphy — decorative writing’) carry a whiff of Readers’ Digest, but every page offers a vivid image or telling detail that captures the deeply weird and violent world of the Moghuls. We’re given internecine rivalry; the paranoia, poisonings, tortures and killings; the flaying, blinding, knifing, the general destruction of life, but, above all, the luxury. Never have jewels, fabrics, precious metals and coin of the realm cascaded over the page as they do here.

More intimately, we get a potent sense of the seraglio with its shimmer and glow, its silks and scents and gardens fragrant with pale blooms and the susurration of fountains; the sheen on the skin of a courtesan or consort who — oiled, massaged and perfumed — waited to pleasure the monarch.