Rushdie said Agra and Florence then had a very hedonistic culture of overindulgence in alcohol and opium. "All the Mughals were alcoholic and used an absurd amount of opium, including Shah Jahan and Jahangir, all of them. Meanwhile, in Florence you had a overindulgent hedonistic culture. I tried in my book to connect the two cities."
He said he has written about history before, but that he had never written such a deeply-researched novel. "Both Europe and India were in brilliant mode at that time when there were very little historical facts connecting the two. I thought if I could invent the connection and push them together that would be interesting."
Image: Author Suketu Mehta, right, with guests
Also read: Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children comes alive
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