Emperors of the Peacock Throne

When Zahir, the great-grandson of the Mongol conqueror Tamerlane, crossed the Indus river into the Punjab in 1525 with a modest army and some cannon, and then defeated the huge army of the Afghan ruler of Hindustan, Mughal rule in India had begun. It would continue for over three centuries, until 1857, and decisively shape India for all time. It is a colourful and dramatic story, full of incident and extraordinary characters: Zahir himself, the intrepid pioneer; Akbar, the greatest and most enigmatic of the Mughals; the aesthetes Jenhangir and his son Shah Jehan, who built the Taj Mahal; and the dour but determined Aurangzeb.