The Peacock Throne, by Abdul Hamid Lahori

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Of the eleven jewelled recesses formed around it for cushions, the middle one, intended for the seat of the emperor, cost one million rupees (nearly £100,000). Among the jewels set in this recess was a ruby worth a hundred thousand rupees (about £10,000), which Shah Abbas, the King of Iran, had presented to the late Emperor Jahangir, who sent it to his present Majesty when he accomplished the conquest of the Deccan. On it were engraved the names of Sahib-kiran (Timur), Mir Shah Rukh, and Mirza Ulugh Beg. When it came into the possession of Shah Abbas in course of time, his name was added, and when Jahangir obtained it, he added the name of himself and of his father. Now it received the addition of the name of his most gracious Majesty Shah Jahan. At the command of the emperor, a poem by Haji Mohammad Jan, the final verse of which contained the date, was placed upon the inside of the canopy in letters of green enamel. On his return to Agra, the emperor held a court and sat for the first time upon his throne.*

by Abdul Hamid Lahori ?-1654

From ‘A History of India’ Volume V (1907), edited by A. V. Williams Jackson (1862-1937), from a translation of Badshah-nama by Abdul Hamid Lahori (?-1654) in ‘Shah Jahan’ (1875), edited by Sir Henry Miers Elliot (1808-1853).

* This was on March 22nd, 1635, marking the seventh formal anniversary of Shah Jahan’s accession. The home of the throne would later be the Hall of Audience in the Red Fort at Delhi. Agra lies about 137 miles southeast of Delhi.

Précis

Lahori did not forget to describe the seat of power itself, set in the centre of a wide platform with eleven cushioned and jewelled alcoves. The names of great forebears were graven there, to which each Emperor afterwards added his own, and in the canopy above a poem marking the date on which Shah Jahan first ascended it, in Agra.

Questions for Critics

1. What is the author aiming to achieve in writing this?

2. Note any words, devices or turns of phrase that strike you. How do they help the author communicate his ideas more effectively?

3. What impression does this passage make on you? How might you put that impression into words?

Based on The English Critic (1939) by NL Clay, drawing on The New Criticism: A Lecture Delivered at Columbia University, March 9, 1910, by J. E. Spingarn, Professor of Comparative Literature in Columbia University, USA.

Sevens

Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.

What was inscribed in the ceiling of the canopy?

Suggestion

A poem commemorating the throne’s first use.

Jigsaws

Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.

The Persians looted the throne in 1739. The Indians made another. The British looted it in 1857.

See if you can include one or more of these words in your answer.

IFate. IIReplace. IIITrophy.

Précis

Questions for Critics

Sevens

Jigsaws

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