| The Splendor and the Snakes of the Taj Mahal |
October 18, 2010
Beneath The Marble Sky by John Shors tells a highly fictionalized but absolutely riveting story of the Mughal dynasty, focusing in on the reign of Shah Jahan, who built the Taj Mahal as a mausoleum for his wife Mumtaz Mahal, and was later deposed and imprisoned by his son, Aurangzeb. Told through the words of Jahanara, Shors' fictional sister of the real-life Aurangzeb, we meet Jahanara as an old woman, out for a boat ride on the Yamuna river with her two granddaughters. Alamgir the Cruel reigns over Hindustan, and Jahanara reveals to the girls that he is her brother, Aurangzeb, and that the truth of their ancestry was kept secret for years to keep them safe from his bloodthirsty jealousy. She goes back to the beginning of her story, relating the lessons she learned at the knee of her beloved mother Mahal, lessons that would later save her own life. The most important lesson learned was the art of exercising power as a woman in the male-dominated society of the Mughal empire. This part of the novel is not entirely fictional, as during the reign which preceded Shah Jahan, the empress Noor Jahan ruled as the power behind the throne of the alcoholic Jahangir, and both within and without the harem walls, manipulation of power and accumulation of knowledge was a necessary tool of survival for women in the Mughal dynasty.
The question of religious tolerance was as much an issue back in the days of the Mughal Empire as it is today, and Shors' novel demonstrates the awful consequences then and now of religious war based on competing visions of piety. Shah Jahan, his wife Mahal, his son Dara, and Jahanara plead for a continuation of the past century of tolerance of the Muslim rulers towards their Hindu subjects, while the rebellious and fanatical Aurangzeb maintains it is his religious imperative to persecute all "heretics," Hindus included. Both sides use words from the Qu'ran to buttress their positions, reminding me of current debates, but when Aurangzeb wrests power from his father, it is his military might, and not the persuasiveness of his theological arguments, that results in the persecution of the Hindu population of the empire and allows unchecked violence against any who disagree with Aurangzeb's vision of an Islamic world.
Underlying the fanaticism of Aurangzeb is a deep-seated fear of rejection; the same fear of rejection leads Jahanara to strive to be honorable, brave, and self-sacrificing, especially after the death of her mother leaves her with the responsibility of caring not only for her father and her brother Dara, but for the entire kingdom. Faced with Aurangzeb as foe, Jahanara must use all her skills at deceit, negotiation, bribery, and sheer bravery to protect the empire, her family, and finally her lover and her child.
Jahanara's story as told by Shors is simply wonderful, and while the supporting characters of the novel are a bit romanticized and one-dimensional, Jahanara is a rich and inspiring personality. Set against the amply realized background of Agra and the court of the Mughals, her story of love, religion, honesty, honor, and passion Beneath the Marble Sky is rich and fascinating, and the final resolution, while unrealistic, is wholly satisfying, a happy ending to a very tumultuous life.
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