In 1 303, the Muslim conqueror Ala-ud-din took the city of Chitor (chi-TOOR) in southeastern India, one of many conquests during his southern campaign. He besieged the city for the usual reason conquerors do such things: as a military, political, or even economic objective. However, a fanciful book called the Annals of Rajasthan (RAH-jus-tahn) put a much more romantic spin on it. According to this work of "history," it was because he wanted the lovely princess Pudmini (POOD-mi-nee).
The name Pudmini, readers of the Annals were assured, is "a title bestowed only on the superlatively [exceptionally] fair." According to this legend, Ala-ud-din promised to spare the city if they would give him the princess; but when that offer was refused, he said he would call off the attack if they only let him see her. This, too, seemed too great a request for those who knew of Pudmini's beauty, so Ala-ud-din— according to the legend—asked merely to look at her reflection in a mirror. The people of the city again denied his request, and instead its women fought alongside the men to defend the Hindu stronghold. In the end, it was said, all the men died in battle, and the women who were not killed committed suicide rather than surrender.
Doms divided northern and central India. By the end of the 1400s, Muslim life in India had shifted to the city of Agra, and away from Delhi.
It was in Agra that Babur (BAH-boor, "Lion"; 1483-1530) established his capital when he invaded India in 1526. His bloodline included Turkish and Persian strains, but as a descendant of Tamerlane, he was technically a Mongol. Hence the name for his dynasty was the Persian word for Mongol: Mogul (MOH-gul). The Moguls were Muslims, but Babur's grandson Akbar (ruled 1556-1605) would be noted for his open-mindedness regarding religion. For the half-century of Akbar's reign, at least, India's competing faiths were in harmony with one another.
World History
