Cherished history
The Victoria and Albert Museum in London is currently exhibiting The Great Mughals: Art, Architecture and Opulence. This is the swansong of the curator, Susan Stronge, before she retires after a lifetime of wonders at the V&A. The exhibition showcases over 200 objects spanning the reigns of Akbar, Jahangir and Shah Jahan. Rarely shown paintings and illustrated manuscripts are displayed alongside delicate textiles, brilliantly-coloured carpets and fine objects made of mother of pearl, rock crystal, jade and precious jewels. The dazzling appearance of the court inspired Sir Thomas Roe, England’s first ambassador to the Mughal emperor, to write to Prince Charles (later King Charles I) that Jahangir’s empire was “the treasury of the world”.
The exhibition has an evocative video of the magical Taj Mahal in Agra, along with examples of inlaid marble work from the mausoleum. Everyone knew who the V&A’s director, Tristram Hunt, was targeting when he addressed 750 guests at a reception to launch the exhibition: “Great Moghuls is an especially important exhibition for the V&A, as we are responsible for caring for one of the most significant collections of South Asian art and design in the Western World, with 50,000 objects dating from 3,000 BC to the present. At a time when some might seek to deny the cultural diversity of South Asia’s past, when ancient mosques are bulldozed, histories hidden and heritage left to crumble, it is vital... that these artefacts and histories they testify to are not forgotten. That is why museums with global collections matter. We preserve the past even when it might be politically inconvenient.”
Different side
It just so happened that after The Great Moghuls at the V&A, I had the chance to see a play, Guards at the Taj, which took a less charitable view of Shah Jahan. Written by
the American playwright, Rajiv Joseph, the play, set in 1648 in Agra, is about two friends, Humayun and Babur, who guard the Taj Mahal. They are under instructions from the Emperor that no one should cast an eye on the mausoleum until the finishing touches have been completed. The stage is awash with blood as the two sever the hands of 20,000 craftsmen so that another Taj can never be built. When Babur rails against this cruelty, Humayun is given the task of silencing his boyhood friend for defying “His Most Supreme Emperor Shah Jahan”.
The play, put on at Orange Tree, a small theatre in Richmond, southwest London, is meant to be a commentary on how authoritarian regimes deal with those they accuse of ‘sedition’ in today’s world.
Helpful lot
One reason why I hold the English in such high regard is that they often use personal tragedy to help others. There is a story behind the charity that Sarah Hope has set up in India to help children with prosthetic limbs. A remembrance service was held at St James’s Church in Piccadilly, London, by RoadPeace, a charity which supports those injured in traffic accidents or the families of those who have lost people in such incidents. I was there with Sarah and her family. Her husband, Christopher Hope, is a colleague from The Daily Telegraph . On April 25, 2007, a bus crashed into the pavement killing her mother instantly. Her daughter, Pollyanna, then two, lost her right leg below the knee. Sarah herself was badly injured. At the service, Pollyanna, a cheerful girl, did a lovely ballet.
Sarah has set up a charity called HEAL (Health and Education for All) in Andhra Pradesh. There is an orphanage for children, with a clinic for amputee children whose lives have been transformed with prosthetic limbs. It is named after her mother, Elizabeth Panton. Sarah is always grateful for funds for her charity. The tragedy, she said, “has also taught us as a family about the needs for child amputees that we did not know before,” Sarah said. I also spoke to an Indian family that lost Sachin Kalia, 19, Davina Kaur Ruprah, 24, and Kiranjeet Sagoo, 36, who were travelling in East London when their car “lost control due to surface water” in July 2024.
Lessons from India
Baron Jon Moynihan, a highly regarded entrepreneur, has written a convincing economics book, Return to Growth: How to Fix the Economy (Volume One), arguing that a small state with lower taxes does more to stimulate growth. He says his philosophy has been shaped by his experiences in India. Moynihan, now 76, spent 1971-1972 working for War on Want and Save the Children in refugee camps during the Bangladesh civil war. “I made friends with Mother Teresa,” he recalls. Comparing India and China, he said that the Chinese “are literally done for because in 75 years their population is going to be half that of India. The Indian economy is going to be far larger in the end than China’s. I am a great fan of India.”
