Bollywood stars give their newborn son controversial name of brutal Mongol conqueror

  21 December 2016    Read: 1996
Bollywood stars give their newborn son controversial name of brutal Mongol conqueror
Many Indians on Tuesday weighed in when one of Bollywood’s most stylish couples announced they had given birth to a new baby boy.
The baby`s name is Taimur Ali Khan Pataudi. “Taimur” is a name many Indians may recognize from their school history textbooks. Taimur the Lame, often known as Timur or Tamerlane, was a brutal Mongol invader who conquered many parts of Persia and central Asia. He called himself the “sword of Islam” and used religious symbols for his conquests.

Taimur slaughtered hundreds of thousands of Indians on his way to capture Delhi in the 14th century. In Indian history, his name is synonymous with massacres.

So when Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor Khan — who are fondly called “Saifeena” by the gushing Indian media, imitating the term “Brangelina” — announced their son`s name, it opened a Pandora’s box. News outlets immediately began dishing out short history lessons about the medieval tyrant, and some on social media attacked the choice.

/The Washington Post/

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