Envisioning power

The article reflects on the first part of the memoirs of a late eighteenth-century Mughal prince, Mirza ‘Ali Bakht Azfari, who was held prisoner in Shahjahanabad-Delhi until well into his adult years. Later, after he had made his escape from there and gone on after long travels to settle in the territories of the Nawwab of Arcot, Azfari had occasion to look back on his days as an imprisoned prince in a sort of gilded cage. His backward glance takes in such questions as astrology, the thaumaturgical character of members of the Mughal lineage, and other issues—some of which are peculiar to him, while others seem to have been shared in the milieu from which he came. The work thus allows us to reflect on the mental world and categories of political reflection of a would-be Mughal statesman, who never quite managed to seize the reins of power.