A historical fiction on Mughal emperor Babur

Conceived as the first book of a trilogy on Mughal fathers and sons, a historical fiction "Babur: The Conqueror of Hidnustan" has been launched by author Royina Grewal.
Beginning in the battlefields of Panipat where the forces of Zahiruddin Muhammad Babur wait to fight the troops of Ibrahim Lodi, Grewal's book talks about the life and reign of Babur, who following a series of setbacks, finally laid the foundation of the Mughal dynasty in what was then known as Hindustan.
"Our perception of India is basically the realisation that it is the construct given by the Mughals which has survived till today in the form of food, architecture and culture" politician Salman Khurshid said at the launch here last evening. He was in conversation with Malvika Singh.

Khurshid pointed out that various monuments such as the Taj Mahal or the Red Fort or other attractive building that "we consider to be a part of our heritage or our perception of India, it reminds us of what the Mughals had done - how the roads were built, how the revenue system was laid out during Akbar's time and how that has lasted to our times."
"It is basically the construct that was given by the Mughals that has survived. What would be our architecture if we didn't have the Mughal architecture, what would be our food if we didn't have the Mughal food...What would our military strategies and ministerial structures be but most of all what would our identity be," he said.

The author Grewal attempts to put forward facets of Babur's character that go beyond him being a great warrior- she narrates the story of an emperor who was also a poet, writer, lover, aesthete and an inspiring general.

"There is a lot that has been written about Babur, the warrior. But I remember thinking that a warrior could not have built something so beautiful and verdant as these gardens. I wanted to recreate a Babur who was more approachable and was exciting- a father, a husband and more importantly a human being," she said.
The fiction by the author has been conceived as the first book of a trilogy on Mughal fathers and sons.

According to Khurshid, who has penned a play, "Sons of Babur," Grewal's book is a "very timely presentation of the history of Babur.