Empire of the Moghul, Raiders from the North by Alex Rutherford

Empires were not built on mere diplomacy. Actions and results determined your fate. By far the biggest travesty to Pakistani history is the omission of Moghul history from the narrative. Nations have to have selective history, and for some reasons Moghuls have not really featured as favourites in the popular history of Pakistan, which is a great loss indeed. For which other dynasty was able to rule for about 400 years or so? Their aura was such that even after the end of the the greats reign with the passing of Aurangzeb, their reign managed to survive for another 90 odd years? That's huge when you compare with the British reign of 90 years starting in 1857.

This wonderful book is the first in series of narrative history detailing the life and times of the first great Moghul Babur, charting his course from his tiny kingdom of Ferghana to the mighty seat of Delhi. His trials and tribulations, harsh choices, tough lifestyle, life threatening decision making, allegiance to friends and family and most of all his unique personality is vividly brought to life in a thriller of a book, which cannot be put down. The book reads like a thriller movie, filled with suspense and drama containing love, rebuttals, revenge, heartaches, suspense, anger, passion, desires, all leading to a terrific legacy.

What about Babur personality? He was almost illiterate, who after becoming a king by birth the age of 12, fought most of his life trying to justify his Taimuri lineage. It's a classic recipe for  success repeated even today by the successful the world over. Belief in your destiny to succeed has to earned by sheer hard work and persistence. Easy you say, but the real feature of aha it's success were the very supporting family and friends who also shared this remarkable belief in his destiny. So correct support is vital to fulfil any dream which are all delusions to start with. This support is successful history for a young struggling nation like Pakistan on the macro level. Without owning our great Moghul past and understanding the real reasons for their huge success, how can we succeed?

I humbly salute the two writers for undertaking such a wonderful project. I remain a lifelong fan.