> Early and classic literature was meant solely for the elites, so it featured flamboyant writing styles

That actually isn't universally true. For example, most people today probably consider Shakespeare's writing style to be "flamboyant" yet his audience was a wide swath of the public. The difference today is that we are post-Moderns and so we have inherited the Modernist rejection of the Victorian era and its excessive tendencies.

Akbar was also a contemporary of Shakespeare, interestingly enough.