Author | Salman Rushdie |
---|---|
Language | English |
Genre | Novel |
Publisher | Random House |
Publication date | 11 April 2008 |
Publication place | United Kingdom |
Media type | Print (hardback) |
Pages | 352 pp. (first edition, hardback) |
ISBN | 0-375-50433-8 (first edition, hardback) |
OCLC | 187302674 |
Preceded by | Shalimar the Clown |
Followed by | Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights |
The Enchantress of Florence is the ninth novel by Salman Rushdie, published in 2008. [1] According to Rushdie this is his "most researched book" which required "years and years of reading". [2]
The novel was published on 11 April 2008 by Jonathan Cape London, and in the United States by Random House. [3]
The central theme of The Enchantress of Florence is the visit of a European to the Mughal emperor Akbar's court and his claim that he is a long lost relative of Akbar, born of an exiled Indian princess and an Italian from Florence. The story moves between continents, the court of Akbar to Renaissance Florence mixing history, fantasy and fable. [2]
The tale of adventure begins in Fatehpur Sikri, the capital of Mughal emperor Akbar the Great, when a stranger arrives, having stowed away on a pirate ship captained by the Scottish Lord Hauksbank, and sets the Mughal court talking and looking back into its past.
The stranger begins to tell Akbar the tale, going back to the boyhood of three friends in Florence, Il Machia, Ago Vespucci and Nino Argalia, the last of whom became an adventurer in the East.
The tale returns to the mobs and clamour of Florence in the hands of the House of Medici.
An eight-page bibliography follows the end of the story. [4]
The book relates a succession of interweaving stories by a variety of storytellers, travellers and adventurers and of course touches on the histories and cultures of the various settings including the Mughal and Ottoman Empires, the earlier Mongols, and Renaissance Florence. There is a strong theme of sex and eroticism, much of it surrounding the Enchantress of the book's title, who was inspired by the Renaissance poem Orlando Furioso . There is also a recurring discussion of humanism and debate as opposed to authoritarianism, and Machiavelli is a character in the book. [5] Like Rushdie's previous works, the book can be considered a work of magic realism.
Culture Critic assessed critical response as an aggregated score of 76% based on British and American press reviews. [6] On Bookmarks January/February 2011 issue, a magazine that aggregates critic reviews of books, the book received a (3.00 out of 5) from based on critic reviews with a critical summary saying, "The Washington Post sums up general sentiment: If one can overlook its flaws, The Enchantress of Florence is "so delightful an homage to Renaissance magic and wonder". [7] Globally, Complete Review saying on the consensus "No consensus, very differing opinions". [8]
Writing in The Guardian , Ursula K. Le Guin called it a "brilliant, fascinating, generous novel", and praised its "glamour and power, its humour and shock, its verve, its glory". [9]
Bayezid I, also known as Bayezid the Thunderbolt, was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1389 to 1402. He adopted the title of Sultan-i Rûm, Rûm being the Arabic name for the Eastern Roman Empire. In 1394, Bayezid unsuccessfully besieged Constantinople. Bayezid vanquished all the Beyliks and proceeded to conquer and vassalize the entirety of Anatolia. In 1402, he once more besieged Constantinople, appearing to find success, but he ultimately withdrew due to the invasion of the Mongol conqueror Timur. He defeated the Crusaders at the Battle of Nicopolis in what is now Bulgaria in 1396. He was later defeated and captured by Timur at the Battle of Ankara in 1402 and died in captivity in March 1403, which triggered the Ottoman Interregnum.
Bayezid II was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1481 to 1512. During his reign, Bayezid consolidated the Ottoman Empire, thwarted a pro-Safavid rebellion and finally abdicated his throne to his son, Selim I. Bayezid evacuated Sephardi Jews from Spain following the fall of the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada and the proclamation of the Alhambra Decree and resettled them throughout Ottoman lands, especially in Salonica.
Babur was the founder of the Mughal Empire in the Indian subcontinent. He was a descendant of Timur and Genghis Khan through his father and mother respectively. He was also given the posthumous name of Firdaws Makani.
Nasir al-Din Muhammad, commonly known by his regnal name Humayun, was the second Mughal emperor, who ruled over territory in what is now Eastern Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Northern India, and Pakistan from 1530 to 1540 and again from 1555 to his death in 1556. At the time of his death, the Mughal Empire spanned almost one million square kilometers.
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Mahesh Das, popularly known by his title RajaBirbal, was an Indian minister and commander of the Mughal Empire. He is mostly known in the Indian subcontinent for the folk tales which focus on his wit. He was appointed by Akbar and was one of his most important courtiers, part of a group called the navaratnas. In February 1586, he led an army to crush an unrest in the north-west Indian subcontinent where he was killed along with many troops in an ambush by a rebel tribe. He was the only Hindu to adopt Din-i Ilahi, the religion founded by Akbar.
The Akbarnama, is the official chronicle of the reign of Akbar, the third Mughal Emperor, commissioned by Akbar himself and written by his court historian and biographer, Abul Fazl. It was written in Persian, which was the literary language of the Mughals, and includes vivid and detailed descriptions of his life and times. It followed the Baburnama, the more personal memoir by his grandfather, Babur, founder of the dynasty. It was produced in the form of lavishly illustrated manuscripts.
Muhammad Bairam Khan, commonly known as Bairam Khan or Bayram Khan was an important military commander, and later commander-in-chief of the Mughal army, a powerful statesman and regent at the court of the Mughal Emperors, Humayun and Akbar. He was also the guardian, chief mentor, adviser, teacher and the most trusted ally of Akbar. Akbar honoured him as Khan-i-Khanan, which means "King of Kings". Bairam was originally called Bairam "Beg", but later became honoured as Khan. Bairam Khan was an aggressive general who was determined to restore Mughal authority in India.
Khanzada Mirza Khan Abdul Rahim, popularly known as simply Rahim and titled Khan-i-Khanan, was a poet who lived in India during the rule of Mughal emperor Akbar, who was Rahim's mentor. He was one of the nine important ministers (dewan) in Akbar's court, known as the Navaratnas. Rahim was known for his Hindustani dohe (couplets) and his books on astrology.
Kamran Mirza was the second son of Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire and the first Mughal Emperor. Kamran Mirza was born in Kabul to Babur's wife Gulrukh Begum. He was half-brother to Babur's eldest son Humayun, who would go on and inherit the Mughal throne, but he was full-brother to Babur's third son, Askari. A divan written in Persian and Chagatai is attributed to him.
Gulbadan Begum was a Mughal princess and the daughter of Emperor Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire.
The Medici giraffe was a giraffe presented to Lorenzo de' Medici on November 18, 1487, by al-Ashraf Qaitbay, the Burji Mamluk Sultan of Egypt, in an attempt to win the support of the Medici.
Khusrau Mirza was the eldest son of the Mughal Emperor Jahangir and his first wife, Shah Begum. The young prince displayed exceptional skills and wisdom and had the privilege to be groomed by the Mughal Emperor (Akbar) himself for the throne of the Mughal Empire. He turned out to be the most capable and qualified son of Jahangir but was befallen by an unfortunate destiny. Being Jahangir's eldest son, he was the heir-apparent to his father but Jahangir favoured his son Khurram Mirza as he held an animosity against Khusrau.
Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, popularly known as Akbar the Great, and also as Akbar I, was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Humayun, under a regent, Bairam Khan, who helped the young emperor expand and consolidate Mughal domains in the Indian subcontinent. He is generally considered one of the greatest emperors in Indian history and led a successful campaign to unify the various kingdoms of Hindūstān or India proper.
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Abu'l-Nasir Muhammad, better known by the sobriquet Hindal, was a Mughal prince and the youngest son of Emperor Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire and the first Mughal emperor. He was also the older brother of Gulbadan Begum, the younger half-brother of the second Mughal emperor Humayun, as well as the paternal-uncle and father-in-law of the third Mughal emperor Akbar.
Khanzada Begum was a Timurid princess and the eldest daughter of Umar Shaikh Mirza II, the amir of Ferghana. She was also the elder sister of Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire. She and her brother remained deeply attached to each other all their lives, a period during which the family progressed from ruling a tiny and obscure principality in Central Asia to ruling a large portion of the Indian subcontinent.
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