Daughters of the Sun: Empresses, Queens and Begums of the Mughal Empire

EMPRESSES, QUEENS AND BEGUMS OF THE MUGHAL EMPIRE

01 June, 2018

Ira Mukhoty

The women of the Mughal dynasty often worked behind the scenes, but there were some notable exceptions. Mukhoty reflects on remarkable characters such as Khanzada Begum, who, at the age of 65, rode on horseback through 750 kilometres of icy passes to parley on behalf of her nephew Humayun; Gulbadan Begum, who gave us the only document written by a woman from the Mughal court; Akbar’s foster-mothers Jiji Anaga and Maham Anaga, who shielded and guided the child emperor until he came of age; and Noor Jahan, who was Jahangir’s last and favourite wife.

Aleph Books, 320 pages, Rs 699