GUNTHROAT

I finished reading the ‘city of djinns’ by William Dalrymple. Dalrymple is one of my favourite authors. This is his third book I have been reading. The others being ‘’the last mughal’’ and “in Xanadu’’. He is an expert in the history of oriental Christianity and Islamic history. I was attracted to this beautiful period known as medieval era when I was in 7th standard. History was taught by AnilKumar Sir who had a very unconventional method of teaching. He would after his lecture make students give a presentation of what was taught without referring to textbook. It was the one year in which I scored 100% mark in history exams consistently (including the annual exam). Those who know me will understand why this was a profound aberration in my academic history. So coming back the association with such an erudite man made me to closely follow the slave, khilji, tuqlaq, lodhi, mughal periods. City of djinns is the history of Delhi told by Dalrymple during his stay in Delhi for one year. He takes us into mysterious world of sufis and naked sanyasis (living in ruined tombs and dargahs) who offers to heal various ailments and mental troubles. They say that the city has lot of djinns who could be taken into control by fasting and prayer. These djinns could then be used for various purposes. References on nizamuddin and Khwaja moinudeen chisti were really touching and engaging that I felt like visiting these places where qawwali singers create a trance among the devotees to take them to unattainable heights of spiritual fulfilment. Most of the the real Dilli wallahs lament at the decay of the dilli culture making way for the Punjabi culture (with its trademark arrogance and assertion). The real dilli culture whose torchbearers were the legendary mirza ghalib and zauq can still be found in the narrow alleys of old dilli.
Some interesting information I got from the book are listed
Shahjahan who built the greatest monument of love Taj Mahal had a very strong libido and had hundreds of concubines to satisfy it. He even had an affair with his daughter Jahanara Begum (the justification being that the emperor can eat the fruits of the tree he himself planted). He continued his licentious ways till his old age until his son overthrew him. The story is the moral to all those who consider gestures and symbolism are more important than love itself. The bottomline is though Shahjehan was able to charm the world with his beautiful monument of love; he was never a true lover.
Another revelation was of the beautiful relation certain Englishmen had with the natives. A lot of them were fascinated by both Hinduism and Islam. The tolerance and syncretism of that era should be model for all those who are readying themselves for war in the name of religion. Infact the next book that I am reading of Dalrymple, ‘’white moguls’’ deals with this subject. It is the story of an Englishman who fell in love with a muslim princess.
Sufism was banned in many of the theocratic states after the revival of islamic fundamentalism. It is now slowly decaying in the dargahs of Pakistan and India. Sufism is a power that can bring the reconciliation between the two nations, and the two great religions. Sufi saints are venerated in a lot of ordinary hindu households and it is an axiomatic truth that hindus and muslims share common needs and interests.
The book is highly objective and doesn’t include any ideology or views of the author. At some points we even believe the exorcisms and mysticisms possessed by the dervishes are true. An engaging experience with none of the strong academic tone which most of the research based books has. I would recommend everyone to read it.
October 15th