Empire of the Moghul, Brothers at war by Alex Rutherford.

To have your dearest wish fulfilled isn't always easy.

The second in the series of ‘Empire of the Moghul’, Babur’s hand picked successor to his new kingdom in Hindustan, the great Humayun. His reign appears as a mere footnote in the history of the great Moghuls as he was seen as he actually lost it all to the Pathan Sher Shah Suri. The book depicts him as a self conscious, unsure and dreamy young king who seeks isolation and gazes at the stars for inspiration. The pace is fantastic as we follow Humayun’s battles both against Sher Shah Suri and his own brothers all the way to the court of the Kizal-Bashi Shia king of Persia Shah Tahmasp.  I could almost feel the urgency as the deposed Padishah runs away from his brothers and the usurper Sher Shah. The book is written with suspense and drama, never boring of monotonous, a real page turner.

Humayun, probably because he lost Hindustan to Sher Shah, does not have a great perception among six great Moghuls. The authors have done a great service by charting his life because he was the father of the great Akbar, so must have been some influence to produce a son like him. On his final campaign to win back Hindustan, Humayun realises the value of collective confidence. For if he was to succeed he was to have troops confident in his success, for each victory would add to the tide of this confidence and deplete the strength of his opponents. There is another positive dimension when success is attributed to a particular family like the Moghuls, for each victory is attributed to the Moghul name, further enhancing their charmed reputation. The benefit is that even if you lose, people will still choose to back you because of your families reputation.

It is uncanny that the exact strategy is still employed by family based politicians in Pakistan when planning and executing their election campaigns.