We tend to associate historical personalities with a single instance: Akbar and his Navratnas, Shah Jahan and the Taj Mahal, and Aurangzeb's war with the Marathas. But Jahangir stuffing a rabbit into the mouth of a snake out of sheer biological curiosity isn't as known even though it explains his assiduous personality. Classifying emperors into "good" or "bad" is an unsound indulgence, Dr Supriya Gandhi reminds us in The Emperor Who Never Was (Harvard University Press). The book that released this month traces the life and works of Dara Shukoh, the eldest son of Shah Jahan, who is often seen through a mystical lens. Today, the Yale University lecturer attempts to unravel the prince's relationship with the spiritual and political — domains that are viewed in silos — at the KR Cama Institute of Oriental Studies.

Edited excerpts from the interview.