 "Illustration: Binay Sinha")
History tells us there are two kinds of conquerors: One who consolidates after a victory and settles down to govern, improves the lot of the people, and remains content within the empire. The second is the constant campaigner, for whom conquest is an obsessive fix.
It is risky now to use examples from Mughal history although it is tempting to compare the relative legacies of a significant dynast in either category, Akbar and Aurangzeb, and see how history judges either. It is safer, and more illustrative, to talk about Emperor Ashoka, who represents both types in one life: A disruptive
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