The Enchantress of Florence

infobox Book |
name = The Enchantress of Florence
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption =
author = Salman Rushdie
illustrator =
cover_artist =
country = United Kingdom
language = English
series =
genre = Novel
publisher = Random House
release_date = June 2008
english_release_date =
media_type = Print (Hardback)
pages = 352 pp (first edition, hardback)
isbn = ISBN 0375504338 (first edition, hardback)
preceded_by = Shalimar the Clown
followed_by =

"The Enchantress of Florence" is a novel by Salman Rushdie published in June 2008. [cite web | title = Freshnews article |url=http://www.freshnews.in/rushdies-the-enchantress-of-florence-is-a-historical-novel-20224] According to Rushdie this is his "most researched book" which required "Years and years of reading". [cite web | title = Imagining the self and the world|url=http://www.hindu.com/mag/2008/04/13/stories/2008041350020100.htm]

Plot Outline

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. [cite web | title = Imagining the self and the world|url=http://www.hindu.com/mag/2008/04/13/stories/2008041350020100.htm]

The novel was published on 11th April 2008 by Jonathan Cape London.

Historical Characters in the Book

*Adham Khan, Akbar's foster brother
*Akbar the Great - Mughal emperor
*Abu'l-Fazl - Akbar's chief advisor and author of Akbarnama
*Miyan Tansen - Legendary Musician, well known for his voice and music
*Ali-Shir Nava'i - poet of Herat, author of "My Dark Eyed One"
*Amerigo Vespucci - explorer and cartographer after whom the Americas are named
*Niccolò Machiavelli - Italian diplomat, political philosopher, musician, poet and playwright
*Andrea Doria - Genoese admiral
*Angelica is a fictional character in the epic poem Orlando innamorato, who Rushdie cites as the inspiration for the character Qara Koz, Lady Black Eyes, in the book
*Babar - founder of the Mughal Empire, brother of Angelica.
*Bayezid II - Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1481 to 1512.
*Birbal - Grand Vizier (Wazīr-e Azam) of the Mughal court in the administration of the Mughal emperor Akbar and one of the nine jewels in Akbar's court
*Elizabeth I - Queen of England
*Giuliano de' Medici - reigned in Florence from 1512 to 1516.
*Janissaries - infantry units that formed the Ottoman sultan's household troops and bodyguards.
*Jodha
*Genghis Khan - founder of the Mongol Empire, and some of his descendants; e.g. Tamerlane
*Gulbadan - daughter of Babur, sister of Humayun, aunt of Akbar the Great.
*Hauksbank - fictional character, but the family may be based on Sir John Hawkwood, an English mercenary or condottiero in 14th century Italy.
*Humayun - second Mughal Emperor, father of Akbar the Great
*Khanzada Begum - Babur's sister
*Prince Khusraw - son of Prince Selim (Jahangir), grandson of Akbar the Great
*Leo, Pope Leo X - born Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, brother of Duke Giuliano in Florence
*Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli - Florentine diplomat, political philosopher, musician, poet and playwright.
*Maham Anaga - wet nurse of the Mughal Emperor Akbar. She was the de facto regent of the Mughal state after the exclusion Bairam Khan in 1560 to Akbar's assumption of full power in 1562, shortly before her death.
*Mariam-uz-Zamani - wife of the Mughal emperor Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar. She was also the mother of emperor Nuruddin Salim Jahangir, her husband's heir.
*Mir Sayyid Ali - first master of Akbar's royal art studio
*Petrarch - Italian scholar and poet.
*Qutlugh Nigar Khanum - mother of Babur
*Shah Ismail - victor of the battle of Marv
*Savonarola - Italian Dominican priest and leader of Florence from 1494 until his execution in 1498.
*Scáthach - legendary Scottish warrior woman - name of Hauksbank's ship
*Selim I "the Grim" - son of Bayezid II and Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1512 to 1520.
*Shaybani Khan (Wormwood)
*Sultan Mehmed II - Sultan of the Ottoman Empire for a short time from 1444 to 1446, and later from 1451 to 1481. He conquered Constantinople, bringing an end to the medieval Byzantine Empire.
*Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia called "Vlad the Impaler"
*Waldseemüller , Martin - cartographer of the 1507 Waldseemüller map, which shows an ocean between American and Asia 5 years before Europeans saw the Pacific.

References

* [http://www.abc.net.au/rn/bookshow/stories/2008/2220995.htm] Transcript of interview of Salman Rushdie with Ramona Koval on The Book Show, ABC Radio National 21st April 2007

External links

* [http://www.nypl.org/research/chss/pep/pepdesc.cfm?id=4248 Salman Rushdie in conversation with Jeffrey Eugenides about The Enchantress of Florence] at LIVE from the New York Public Library, June 27, 2008