Ebba Koch, The Planetary King: Humayun Padshah: Inventor and Visionary on the Mughal Throne (Ahmedabad: Mapin in association with The Aga Khan Trust for Culture, 2022). ISBN: 978– 93 –85360 –88 – 6
https://www.mapinpub.com/products/the-planetary-king?variant=43461357207766
Humayun, the son of Babur and second Mughal ruler, reigned in Agra, Kabul and Delhi intermittently from 1530 to 1556. Until now, his numerous achievements, including winning back the Mughal throne, have not been well recorded. Humayun neither wrote an autobiography nor had an historian to glorify him; the eccentric accounts of his historian Khwandamir elude general comprehension. The Planetary KIng follows Humayun's travels and campaigns during the political and social disturbances of the early sixteenth century. It delves into Humayun's social and intellectual life; demystifies his magico-scientific world view, draws attention to his deep involvement with literature, poetry, painting, architecture, mathematics, astronomy, astrology, occultism and extraordinary inventions, and offers a new analysis of Humayun's mausoleum as the posthumous sum of his visions and dreams.
CONTENTS
Preface and Acknowledgements
Introduction
Part I: The Planetary King
Assessments of Humayun
Humayun's Life
Part II: Humayun's Inventions
Interests
Inventions
Humayun's Court: Reality or Literary Utopia?
Humayun and the Construction of the Mughal Myth:
The Emperor as Sun King
Humayun as Founder of the Mughal School of Painting
Humayun's Buildings
Gardens and the Attitude to Nature
Part III: Humayun's Tomb: Invention and Memorial of the Padshah
The Architect and the Key Design
The Garden and its Subsidiary Buildings
The Mausoleum
Conclusion
Glossary
Bibliography
Index
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