Hyderabad: The 12th Annual Krishnakriti Festival of Art and Culture kickstarted with a performance by well-known author and historian William Dalrymple and renowned singer Vidya Shah at the Centre for Cultural Resources and Training in the city on Thursday. The festival lasts for four days.
Creating a vivid picture of the Mughal era, Dalrymple narrated instances from history, starting with Shah Jahan’s rule over what is now Bangladesh, Iran and Pakistan and most of present day India.
Referring to US tycoon and Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump being called a “mogul,” the writer said, “The word still stands for power and wealth.”
Dalrymple said music thrived in the 17th century India, during the time of the last Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar who was known for his ability to write poetry in six languages.
As if on cue, Vidya sang a Dadra, which was popular in the courts back then.
Dalrymple said the Mughal era was a great age of learning, the madrasas imparted education on par with that of the Oxford University in 1840s. It was a period of poets, he said.
Dalrymple cited a letter that the poet Mirza Ghalib wrote to his friend, who was at that time mourning the death of his mistress. Vidya connected the story with Begum Akthar’s Dil Hi Toh Hai (written by Ghalib). They duo ended their performance with a rendition of a song, written by Bahadur Shah Zafar.
