Haven't we seen this movie before?

"At the beginning of this period, there was music and drinking, noisy entertainers and crowds of prostitutes, a time of foolery and joking, effeminacy, and chasing ater transvestites.

"All pleasures, whether forbidden or not, were available and the voice of the spiritual authorities grew indistinct, drowned out in the uproar of partying. 

"People got used to vice and forgot to promote what was decent, for the mirrors of their hearts could no longer reflect a virtuous face -- so much so, that when the catastrophe happened and socierty was torn apart, it was no longer capable of being mended."

Shakir Khan, a contemporary nobleman, describes social conditions at the time of the fall of the Mughal empire in India, c. 1740 AD. Quoted in The Anarchy: The East India Comopany, Corporate Violence, and the Pillage of an Empire, by William Dalrymple, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2019.

It was under the emperor Muhammad Shah Rangeela that the degeneration of the Mughal empire began in earnest, as did the decadence and degeneration of Muslim society in India. His pleasure-loving and merry-making pursuits expedited the process of downfall of the empire. 

When the Persian Nadir Shah invaded India in 1739, he found the Mughal army in complete disarray, defeating them easily in the battle of Karnal. There followed the massacre of hundreds of thousands, unprecedented looting, rapine and plunder. 

Nadir Shah took away billions of dollars (in today's money) of treasure, as well as the Peacock Throne. He left Mughal Empire impotent and vulnerable to complete decomposition. It never recover its glory and power. All that remains of the Mughal empire in India are a few crumbling ruins to be seen in Delhi and elsewhere, as well as the famous Taj Mahal, which is also crumbling.

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." (George Santayana)

Book review: The vanishing Christians of the Near East

William Dalrymple has written three travel books: In Xanadu: A Quest; City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi; and From the Holy Mountain . Having discovered Dalrymple only recently, I have read them all over the course of the last two months. They are that good.

Mr. Dalrymple has a deep interest in art, architecture and archaeology. He has a tendency to rabbit on about the arcania of arches and architraves. [That's enough alliteration. ed.] But there's a generous admixture of historical trivia, social commentary and humour, which renders his writing the opposite of dull.

From the Holy Mountain records Dalrymple's meandering journey through the Holy Land, as it used to be called, from Mount Athos in Greece to Al Kharga in upper (southern) Egypt. Along the way, the author, a not-quite-lapsed Catholic, finds himself touched and perplexed by the plight of the Christians of Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel/Palestine and Egypt.

He paints a grim picture of the dwindling and downtrodden Christian communities, and gives vivid and provoking details of their persecution by Muslims and Jews alike. He makes the point that for the six centuries until the rise of Islam in the 7th century, the Near East was predominantly Christian. It boasted thousands of fine churches, monasteries, shrines and other holy sites. The 21st-century Christian pilgrim will see almost none of these, because they are being vandalized and wilfully obliterated by Muslims and (especially) Jews.

Whereas Christians are nowadays generally tolerant of the religious minorities in their midst, the same is not true of the Jews and Muslims of the Holy Land. Dalrymple hears and records the voices of survivors of deportation, persecution, humiliation and even massacre. Their graphic accounts give life and meaning to the sterile term "ethnic cleansing". And they are unanimous in their belief that within a decade or two, there will be no indigenous Christians left in the Holy Land.

Dalrymple writes "Christianity is an Eastern religion which grew firmly rooted in the intellectual ferment of the Middle East. John Moschos [Syrian monk and ascetical writer, c. 550-619] saw that plant begin to wither in the hot winds of change that scoured the Levant of his day. On my journey in his footsteps I have seen the very last stalks in the process of being uprooted."

From the Holy Mountain was written in 1997. In one section the author describes the confiscation of thousands of acres of Christian-owned land on the West Bank, where the Israeli government is busy building settlements on top of the rubble of Christian churches and Muslim mosques. Thirteen years later, the occupation and settlement of the West Bank continues.

William Dalrymple is no raving anti-Semite. But his travels in Israel lead his inexorably to the conclusion that the Israels intend to continue in their "settlement" until there are no Muslims and no Christians left in their "promised land".

In this hate crime -- for that's what it is -- the Israelis apparently have the full support of America and Canada. Such is the power of the Jewish lobby in New York and Toronto. Dear reader, if you want to make your pilgrimage to the Holy City, do it now, before it's razed to the ground.

Book review: "City of Djinns"

Spring has sprung, but in this part of North America you'll never lost money betting on snow in April. So before you break out the BBQ and patio furniture, let me recommend a good book to curl up with in front of the fire.

William Dalrymple was born and raised in Scotland. Somewhere along the line, perhaps at Cambridge, he developed a fascination with Asia in general and India in particular which looks like lasting a lifetime. He has written five books (that I know of) on the subject, of which I have read one and a half, so far.

The one I borrowed from the library yesterday and am already half-way through is City of Djinns, an account of a year spent in Delhi. Having visited Delhi, all too briefly, a couple of years after Dalrymple was there, I must say that I wish I'd read his book before I went.

Dalrymple appears to have a strong interest in architecture as well as history, and readers of City of Djinns will learn lots about both. But the entertainment value of the book cannot be praised enough.

You'll meet Sir David Ochterlony, the British resident who "went native" and established a harem of several wives and concubines, fathering countless children along the way. He might be called the Father of Anglo-India! Then there's Balvinder Singh, the Dalrymples' favourite taxi driver, with a keen eye for "Delhi womens with breasts like mangoes".

And Mr. Puri, the landlady's husband, who kept pursuing Olivia Dalrymple around the house, aided by his tin Zimmer frame. Best of all (?), you'll meet the Haxby sisters, two of the few remaining British residents of Simla, who are convinced that Jewish prostitutes are coming down their chimney and up through their floorboards at night to poison them.

On a more serious -- in fact depressing -- note, you'll read what happened to Delhi during and as a result of the Partition of India in 1947. Readers in Greater Vancouver and Greater Toronto will find out why their Hindu, Muslim and Sikh neighbours hate each other.

All in all, City of Djinns is a great read. I also highly recommend Dalrymple's first book -- the first one I read -- In Xanadu. If we get an early spell of warm weather you can take either of them to the beach!