It is said that history repeats itself and it is also said that those who don’t know their history are condemned to repeat its mistakes. A corollary would be that the mistakes are more catastrophic when people think they know their history but are actually ignorant of it.
Think of the subcontinent in the second half of the 17th century. There was an emperor in Delhi. He was a simple man, with simple tastes. He wore lovely clothes. But that was a function of his position. He spent almost nothing on himself, earning his pocket money by selling calligraphy. He did
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