Exclusive interview with Alex Rutherford and a review of his new novel, the third in his Moghul Emperor series
Rating: Three Stars
by Gabrielle Pantera
“Brothers fought brothers, sons rebelled against their fathers,” says Ruler of the World author Alex Rutherford. “Though they came to India to found their empire, their lives were still governed by the code they brought with them from the steppes of Central Asia of ‘taktya takhta’ – Throne or Coffin. The Moghuls’ story is just like a Jacobean revenge tragedy and all the more fascinating because the events really happened.”
Ruler of the World is a vivid portrayal of the rule of the Moghul Emperor Akbar. The descriptions of battles, landscapes and home life give a strong sense of who Akbar was and the challenges he faced. A fascinating look into a time and place that played an important part in history but is little known today. The novel switches from Akbar to his eldest son Selim. Since Akbar ruled for about 50 years there’s much more about him that could have been in the novel.
Ruler of the World is the third novel in the Moghul Emperor series by Alex Rutherford. Akbar leads his dynasty but also sows the seeds of his own destruction. As ruler to a sixth of the world’s people, Akbar was phenomenally wealthy and ruthless and a skilled commander with tens of thousands of men at his command. He ruled during the era of Elizabeth I, but their paths never crossed. His empire covered most of Asia.
Akbar’s home life was more complicated. He conquered the Rajput people and against convention married Hirabai, a princess of Amber. She detested him and groomed their son Salim, Akbar’s eldest, to defy and turn against him. Only three of Akbar’s sons are listed in this book.
During research, Rutherford visited the ruins of Chittor, the cliff-top fortress in Rajasthan. Rutherford imagined Akbar sitting down with his generals to devise a way of capturing this impregnable fortress. “We climbed up to the fortress from the east, the direction from which Akbar’s armies made their assaults,” says Rutherford. “Looking up at Chittor’s soaring walls made us appreciate his military genius.”
“What makes Akbar an appealing subject for an historical novel are the many paradoxes in his life,” says Rutherford. “In his early reign he was a ruthless warrior, putting down rebellions and expanding his empire east and west. As his position grew more secure he became a tolerant and inclusive ruler over his 100 million ethnically and religiously diverse subjects. All could flourish regardless of religion or race at a time when Europe was tearing itself apart with religious wars. Akbar challenged the beliefs of his conservative mullahs and even invented a new universal religion. Akbar had his people’s love but not of some of those closest to him. His private life was a failure.”
Rutherford found the key sources for Akbar’s life in Oxford University’s Bodleian Library and in the British Library in London. He also visited libraries in India and with the help of India’s Archaeological Survey looked at surviving records and inscriptions on buildings and tombs.
“The accounts of his friend and official chronicler Abul Fazl convey Akbar’s charisma and the glamour of his court,” says Rutherford. “They reveal how the emperor defeated his enemies and administered his empire but also more intimate details such as the prices paid for everyday items like sheep and chickens, how food was cooked, how it was tasted before being served to the emperor to protect him from poisoners, how Akbar’s huge harem with its hundreds of women was organised.”
Alex Rutherford is the pen name for Diana and Michael Preston. Diana’s was born in London and Michael was born in the north-west of England. When not travelling they live in London. “We’re working on books four and five of our Moghul quintet and will be returning to India this autumn to continue our researches, going deep into the deserts of Rajasthan,” says Rutherford.
Ruler of the World, by Alex Rutherford. Hardcover, 416 pages, Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books (July 3, 2012), Language: English, ISBN: 9780312597023 $26.99.
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