Is this Rangila?

Arun : What is Rangila?

Arun is referring to Muhammad Shah "Rangeela", yes it is he.

Oh..thanks ! and I just said 'it'.... What would we do without Wiki : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Shah

Muhammad Shah Rangila had two gems in his court, Bhupat Khan (Manrang) and Feroz Khan (Adarang).Their father was Niyamat Khan (Sadarang). All of them have composed songs that are standards in Hindustani classical music. e.g. Pt. Basavaraj Rajguru - Albela Sajan Aayo Ri http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyPt_oZuxqI Pt. Amir Khan - Aaj More Ghar http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXYn8hM5dOw&feature=related

Subbiah: "Rangeela" denotes a person devoted to "raag-o-rang" i.e., pleasures of music and color. That is what Muhammad Shah was. He spent most of his time indulging (excessively) in worldly pleasures in his harem, paying litle attention to governance. This contributed greatly to the speedy downfall of whatever was left of the Mughal empire.

Asad: Indeed. He was responsible for the loss, to Nadir Shah, of the Peacock throne and the Koh-i-noor, among other things.

Arun: Yes, .........and the loss of a Royal Princess too.

Arun : As always you expanded the horizon....enjoyed the music links...especially Albela Sajan...sounds great even for untrained ears. Are these singers from the same gharana ? Asad : Your scholarly posts on the Mughals are generally welcomed as the last word. You have left us curious now....who is this Royal Princess ?

Thank you.

I just noticed: a. The king is a shade or two fairer than the palanquin bearers. Was the artist making a point here or merely depicting reality? 2. The art of falconry seems to be now limited to the gulf, but used to be a huge status symbol. Rangila clearly had the time of his life. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufstmgDtNrM

Its not just the color of the skin. There are other noteworthy details. The servants' head gear is different, footwear is the same. One servant is wearing a green gown under the orange robe. Also, interestingly, the two servants in the rear right are carrying the pole on the same side of the shoulder while the other six are using alternate shoulders. The detail is perhaps of no significance. Isn't Rangeela just a colorful personality?

Arun: While we do not know of the complexion of Muhammad Shah, a Jesuit priest in the court of Akbar wrote that the 'Great Mogol' had a fair complexion like that of a European.

Subbiah: Thank you. The imperial Princess they took away (by marrying her off to Nadir's younger son Mirza Nasrullah) was the daughter of Dawar Baksh and a great grand-daughter of Shah Jahan. The marriage took place on March 26th,1739 in the Deewan-e-Khaas in Lal Qila. The other booty (estimated to be between 15- and 70- crores i.e.,150-700 million Rupees by different authors) included millions in cash, thousands of gold coins, gold and silver plates, furniture, jewels - some unrivalled in the world - including Koh-i-Noor,the Peacock throne, and 9 other thrones (according to Anandram, who worked for the Vazier at Delhi). Karl Marx described Robert Clive of Plassey as 'the "greatest robber in history". Evidently, he had'nt heard of Nadir Shah.