Book excerpt: During the reign of Akbar, between the years 1557 and 1559, a European called Jean Philippe du Bourbon arrived at the Court of Delhi. He was French and claimed to belong to one of the noblest families of that Kingdom. He recounted that he had been made prisoner by Turkish pirates during a voyage, and was taken as a slave to Egypt. This had occurred in 1541 when he was only fifteen years old. Once in Egypt, due to his charm and qualities he gained the favour of the sovereign and joined the army being this start of the adventure that took him to India.The emperor Akbar, to whom the youth told his story, became captivated by his refined manners and his intelligent appearance and he offered him a position in his army after which he was appointed Master of Artillery. Full of honours and riches, Prince Jean Philippe du Bourbon died in Agra leaving two sons from the sister of the Emperor's Christian wife. The eldest, Alexander became a favourite of Emperor Jahangir who made him Hereditary Governor of the Palace of the Begums.The Bourbons retained their position in the Imperial Court until the invasion of India by Nadir Shah, when the exiled themselves to their feud of Shergar.The Indian King of France is a historical novel that narrates the lives of some of the most prominent members of the dynasty. It is written in the first person as if the joint conscious of all of them is recounting their story. It starts with the amazing account of the first Indian Bourbon, Prince Jean Philippe and then travels through time until our present days with a very interesting first hand account of his life by the current head of the family, Prince Balthazar IV of Bourbon-Bhopal and an essay by the heir apparent, Prince Frederick who is studying in California to become a film-maker. The novel is a fascinating account of this family who is the eldest branch of the Bourbons and thus would have the right to claim the throne of France