The Emperor syndrome

Dominic Lieven's 'In the Shadow of the Gods' presents a breath-taking cavalcade of larger-than-life characters, many of whom have left deep imprints on human civilisation

In the Shadow of the Gods: The Emperor in World History 

Author: Dominic Lieven 

Publisher: Allen Lane 

Pages: 500 

Price: Rs 1,609

Dominic Lieven, the distinguished authority on Russian imperial history, has expanded his canvas to provide a detailed study of the emperors in world history. Starting with Sargon of Akkad, who ruled over much of present-day Iraq and Syria about 2,300 years before Christ, Dr Lieven brings his narrative to the Second World War.
 

His survey covers the emperors of Persia, Rome, India, China, the Islamic Caliphate, the Ottomans and the Mughals, before ending his story with the rulers of modern Europe. This is truly a breath-taking cavalcade of larger-than-life characters — warriors, statesmen, tyrants and villains — many of whom have left deep imprints on human civilisation.
 

Emperors exercised power over empires — vast territories with diverse peoples that bowed to their command or occasionally rose in rebellion — territories that basked in the security and glory provided by great leaders or were devastated and ruined through misrule. Most emperors were not just warriors and statesmen, they were also patrons of culture — with their support some of the world’s greatest achievements were obtained in architecture, painting, literature, poetry and music.
 

Though divided by time and geography, emperors have shared certain characteristics. They were heads of royal dynasties, were often military commanders, and the political and administrative heads of their realm. They were either divine themselves or gifted with divine affiliation, were clothed in splendour, presided over magnificent and beautiful courts, and were the principal sources of position and patronage.
 

The empire rotated at the emperor’s command, but the success or otherwise of his rule was determined by his personal qualities — charisma, leadership, intelligence, sound judgement, patience, understanding of domestic politics and foreign and military affairs, and the ability to manage family and court affairs, all the while remaining sensitive to the demands of the aristocracy and the needs of the common people. Very rarely did royal dynasties provide persons that combined these qualities. More often, even good monarchs became arrogant, capricious and prone to megalomania.
 

The book encompasses the stories of extraordinary personalities whose achievements reverberate in our own times. Ashoka, through intense missionary effort, ensured that Buddhism could become the global faith it is today. Over 2,000 years ago, emperors of the Han dynasty, who ruled for 400 years, brought most of present-day China into their empire, enforced a single national script, and, with a Confucian bureaucracy selected on merit, shaped a united state that has survived to this day.

Persian emperors of the early Achaemenid and Sasanian dynasties developed advanced forms of central and provincial administration that, even after military defeat, continued to influence Alexander’s court and later the Abbasid caliphate. Many Roman emperors have left behind a rich legacy of military and administrative achievement, while Constantine, in the fourth century, converted to Christianity and made it the principal faith across Europe that it is today.
 

The Ottomans ruled for 650 years and, at their peak, presided over one of the greatest empires in history. Dr Lieven describes Akbar as “one of the most impressive emperors in history”, and that, in his reign, “the Mughals ceased to be a conquest dynasty and became rooted in Indian soil”. Not surprisingly, he sees Napoleon as a “genius” and “one of the greatest generals in history … a shrewd politician and an exceptionally efficient chief administrator”.
 

Dr Lieven notes that monarchies in Europe were transformed by the twin impact of the Industrial and French Revolutions, which resulted in industry, urbanisation and mass literacy. Monarchs responded by basing their rule on nationalism and seeking glory through colonial conquest. Asian monarchies — the Ottoman, the Persian and the Chinese — increasingly came under Western domination. Japan followed a different trajectory — Emperor Meiji emerged from seclusion, did away with the Shogunate that had ruled in the emperor’s name for several centuries, while his ministers initiated a period of modernisation and militarisation unique, till then, in Asia.
 

The portions devoted to India are quite unsatisfactory. The text has several typos — Sisodia is written as Sisoya, Karan as Karna, and Jahanara as Jayanara. More seriously, while giving considerable attention to Ashoka, Dr Lieven has completely ignored the Guptas who ruled over large parts of India for over two centuries (320 – 550 AD), and provided at least six distinguished emperors whose period is regarded as India’s “Golden Age”.
 

Again, after such a grand survey, it is disappointing that Dr Lieven has hardly anything to say about what the legacies of the emperor mean today. He sees monarchs in Europe becoming constitutional rulers, reflecting the values of self-sacrifice and self-discipline, with their efforts frequently diluted by the public misconduct of the younger princes and princesses. He briefly discusses the emerging Sino-US competition, noting the different legacies of the two powers — one animated by recovering its traditional glory, the other seeking to harmonise its global power while preserving local self-government.
 

But what Dr Lieven fails to see is that the US, with its military prowess, its economic wealth, and the status imparted to it by its “exceptional” upholding of the values of freedom and democracy, and the allies bound to it with political, military and economic agreements, has all the attributes of a modern-day empire. Not surprisingly, its presidents see themselves confronting the contemporary version of the “Middle Kingdom” whose emperors had once controlled a large part of Eurasia.

The reviewer is a former diplomat