A Game of Thrones and Some Remarkable Stories

In the 1360s, the Bahmani sultan of the Deccan received from a rajah the present of a throne. Reportedly six cubits long and two broad, "the frame was of ebony, covered with plates of pure gold, inlaid with precious stones of great value", and with "sky-blue" enamelling. The sultan was delighted—his old silver perch was retired, and this new artefact, the Takht-i-Feroza (Turquoise Throne) became the Bahmani seat of power.

- Manu S. Pillai

In the 1360s, the Bahmani sultan of the Deccan received from a rajah the present of a throne. Reportedly six cubits long and two broad, "the frame was of ebony, covered with plates of pure gold, inlaid with precious stones of great value", and with "sky-blue" enamelling. The sultan was delighted—his old silver perch was retired, and this new artefact, the Takht-i-Feroza (Turquoise Throne) became the Bahmani seat of power. For the next century and a half, his successors added gems to the frame, the value of which was said to total one crore gold hoons. It was all meant to advertise monarchical power, of course, but eventually ended up as a fixed deposit of sorts for weaker sultans. For by the 1500s, the last heirs of the dynasty—their power depleted and coffers empty—would strip the Takht-i-Feroza of its valuable metal and stone. As Bahmani power withered, the throne was taken apart, its gems set in "vases and goblets".

Thrones have never been merely glorified chairs. It is their symbolic power that matters, which is why relatively simple seats too might serve as thrones, if they are warmed by august bottoms. For the same reason, then, destruction, defacing or the seizure of these seats also had political connotations. Well known, for instance, is the shattering of prestige and influence the Mughals faced when the Peacock Throne—a masterpiece that took seven years to construct, and which incorporated in its design some of the world's greatest diamonds—was appropriated by Nadir Shah of Persia. It is never a good look when one's imperial regalia is transported overseas by a fearsome invader; that moment, in many ways, inaugurated what is seen as the age of Mughal decline. And in Persia, the throne was dismantled, in tandem with the status of Delhi's rulers back in India. It also, naturally, made its new owners very, very rich.