‘The Book of Emperors: An illustrated History of the Mughals’ by Ashwitha Jayakumar and Nikhil Gulati challenges the preconceived notions about the Mughal Empire. The authors will be sharing more at the Goa Arts and Literature Festival today
RAMANDEEP KAUR | NT KURIOCITY
Ashwitha Jayakumar wants to change the common narrative that ‘history is boring’. In fact, the Delhi-based author wants to inspire people to engage more thoughtfully with the past. It is this approach that shapes her latest book, ‘The Book of Emperors: An illustrated History of the Mughal’.
The book has been done in collaboration with Nikhil Gulati, a Goa-based illustrator and co-author of the book. “Nikhil and I met a few years ago at an Indie Comix Fest in Delhi, and I’d been wanting to work with him ever since. This book provided the perfect opportunity,” she recalls.
And the idea for the book, says the passionate medieval history enthusiast, was born out of a desire to break free from the usual stereotypes and preconceived notions about the Mughals. “People often come to the Mughals with a lot of preconceived ideas, shaped by textbooks, pop culture, and misinformation,” she explains. “But the Mughals are just so fascinating, and we wanted to show that.”
The book, which was launched last year, adopts a narrative approach, using text and art to immerse the reader in the Mughal world. It includes chapters on each emperor who ruled, interspersed with double-page illustrations that depict the court, the food, the battles, and more. Written in an easy-to-understand style, the book is accessible to both younger readers and adults, making it ideal for anyone interested in the Mughals and their world.
When it came to research, Jayakumar and Gulati didn’t cut corners. “It was long and intense!” she says. “The Mughal period is incredibly well-documented, both in text and in art.” Over the course of two years, they poured over primary sources such as the Baburnama and Jahangirnama, alongside court chronicles and scholarship on the period.
Also, balancing historical accuracy with engaging storytelling wasn’t easy and required many drafts. “The format we chose, with its page limitations, actually helped us stay focused on the most important people and events. We also wanted to bring out the human side of history—so often, historical figures are reduced to one-dimensional characters or just names in a book, and we wanted to make them feel real and relatable,” says Jayakumar.
However, the biggest challenge was keeping the narrative interesting while conveying a lot of information. “Also, making sure the text and art worked together to tell the story took some trial and error,” she says.
Unlike many traditional Mughal histories, the book does not stop at the reign of Aurangzeb. “We were really fascinated by the empire’s decline and the political upheavals that paved the way for British dominance in the subcontinent, and the misfortunes of the later emperors,” explains Jayakumar. “While the rise of empires is often dramatic and well-documented, we wanted to focus on the drawn-out, bloody, and chaotic process of their downfall.”
To depict daily life in the Mughal Empire, they focused on Mughal art, particularly the miniatures. “These paintings offered glimpses into food, clothing, celebrations, battles, and courtly darbars, while also capturing the lives of those often overlooked in history. We combined these details with primary sources to create a richer sense of what life in the Mughal Empire would have looked, smelled, and sounded like,” says Jayakumar, who is also an editor and former English teacher.
And while ‘The Book of Emperors’ is a history book it also offers timeless lessons. “The first lesion is not overextending limited resources, as it can lead to economic disaster. Second, cooperation is far better than conflict. Akbar’s alliances were key in building the Mughal Empire, but the collapse of these alliances later on contributed to the empire’s downfall,” shares Jayakumar, who is already working with Gulati – an illustrated history of another Indian dynasty. Besides this, she is also working on comics, picture books, and other exciting projects.
(The authors will be in conversation with Aniruddha Sengupta about ‘The Book of Emperors’ on February 14, 11.50 a.m. at the Zuari Hall, International Centre of Goa (ICG), Dona Paula. The session is free and open to all.)
