Shattering myths of a benign Babur

The Canadian historian Margaret MacMillan, in The Uses and Abuses of History , notes how Russians wryly observe that “ we live in a country with an unpredictable past.” How well that applies to India. Our history — especially of nearly a millennium of Islamic rule — is deeply contested: seen by some as culturally enriching and by many others as a civilisational affliction. Aabhas Maldahiyar’s Babur — The Quest for Hindustan is a case in point, positioned squarely within this dispute.

Maldahiyar’s book is history written with unambiguous furious intent. It seeks to shatter the prevailing myth of Babur as a benign, cultured poet and a lover of gardens and melons, asserting instead that he was a brutal Islamic fundamentalist. The book is deeply researched and relies on verifi