Empress: The Astonishing Reign of Nur Jahan

by Ruby Lal

Overview

A Finalist for the 2018 Los Angeles Times Book Prize in History


Four centuries ago, a Muslim woman ruled an empire.

When it came to hunting, she was a master shot. As a dress designer, few could compare. An ingenious architect, she innovated the use of marble in her parents’ mausoleum on the banks of the Yamuna River that inspired her stepson’s Taj Mahal. And she was both celebrated and reviled for her political acumen and diplomatic skill, which rivaled those of her female counterparts in Europe and beyond.

In 1611, thirty-four-year-old Nur Jahan, daughter of a Persian noble and widow of a subversive official, became the twentieth and most cherished wife of the Emperor Jahangir. While other wives were secluded behind walls, Nur ruled the vast Mughal Empire alongside her husband, and governed in his stead as his health failed and his attentions wandered from matters of state. An astute politician and devoted partner, Nur led troops into battle to free Jahangir when he was imprisoned by one of his own officers. She signed and issued imperial orders, and coins of the realm bore her name.

Acclaimed historian Ruby Lal uncovers the rich life and world of Nur Jahan, rescuing this dazzling figure from patriarchal and Orientalist clichés of romance and intrigue, and giving new insight into the lives of women and girls in the Mughal Empire, even where scholars claim there are no sources. Nur’s confident assertion of authority and talent is revelatory. In Empress, she finally receives her due in a deeply researched and evocative biography that awakens us to a fascinating history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393239348
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	07/03/2018
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	204,559
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Ruby Lal is professor of South Asian history at Emory University. She is the author of Empress: The Astonishing Reign of Nur Jahan, Domesticity and Power in the Early Mughal World, and Coming of Age in Nineteenth Century India: The Girl-Child and the Art of Playfulness.

Table of Contents

Dramatis Personae xi

1 Queen of Queens, an Introduction 1

2 Miracle Girl 14

3 Al-Hind 29

4 The Cupolas of Chastity and the Perfect Man 38

5 The Wak-Wak Tree 46

6 The Mirror of Happiness 60

7 Grave Matters 76

8 A Key for Closed Doors 94

9 Ascent 104

Editorial Reviews

Despite the spare record she has to work with, Lal paints richly detailed scenes from Nur's life…Lal has done a service to readers interested in the Mughal period and the many forgotten or poorly remembered women of Indian history. She has helped shine a little light on an enigmatic character many think they know but few actually understand.

The New York Times Book Review - Vikas Bajaj

04/16/2018
In this feminist biography of a strong and independent Muslim woman who, over the intervening centuries, has been reduced to a caricature of wifely devotion in the popular imagination, Lal makes clear her subject’s relevance. Lal, a history professor at Emory, goes far beyond the fables to demonstrate that Nur Jahan was a force to be reckoned with: she ruled jointly as co-sovereign of the Mughal Empire with her husband, the emperor Jahangir, from their marriage in 1611 and was recognized by foreign and domestic observers as the true power in the realm. The women of the royal household, including Jahangir’s 19 other wives, spent most of their lives sequestered, but “the harem offered women surprising opportunities—wide horizons behind high walls.” Jahangir was an aesthete who concerned himself primarily with “the grand ritual acts of ideal Mughal kingship,” such as “offering his subjects glimpses of his semi-divine person from the imperial balcony.” Meanwhile, it was Nur Jahan who commissioned palaces and gardens, issued royal edicts and minted currency, and even defended the realm from usurpers, “sitting atop a war elephant and armed with a musket.” Closely researched and vividly written, this telling finds that the truth is as fantastic and fascinating as myth. (July)

Publishers Weekly

This is an outstanding book, not only incredibly important but also a fabulous piece of writing. Here, India’s greatest empress is reborn in all her fascinating glory in a luminescent account of her life and times. Ruby Lal has written a classic—one of the best biographies to come out this year and certainly the best ever of Nur Jahan.

Amanda Foreman

What an extraordinary and detailed account of a remarkable woman—amazing! A very impressive, thorough, poetic, humane work.

Deepa Mehta

An enchanting evocation of the brilliant Mughal Empire and a tender tribute to India’s first female leader. Lush and sensuous, a jewel box of a book.

Rosalind Miles

A luminous biography…It is a captivating account, its depth of detail recreating a world whose constraints of lineage would seem to preclude the advance of an unknown, self-made, widowed queen…Lal’s book is an act of feminist historiography.

Rafia Zakaria - Guardian

There's much more to the story [of Nur Jahan], as historian Ruby Lal reveals in her fascinating new book

Randy Dotinga - Christian Science Monitor

Lal has done a service to readers interested in the Mughal period and the many forgotten or poorly remembered women of Indian history.

Vikas Bajaj - New York Times Book Review

Ms. Lal has not only written a revisionist feminist biography; she has also provided a vivid picture of the Mughal court, with its luxuries, beauties, intrigues and horrors. Moreover, at a time when India’s Hindu-nationalist government chooses to emphasise one strain in the country’s history, she offers a reminder of the diversity of Indian tradition.

Economist

Lal’s intriguing biography, with its chronology of [Nur Jahan's] relatively swift rise to power and even swifter descent, restores [her] to her full splendour.

Jane Ciabattari - BBC

Ruby Lal's marvelous account of Empress Nur Jahan's life is as intriguing, inspiring, and relevant to us today in 21st-century America as it was to her times in 17th century India.

Azar Nafisi

An engrossing tale of female power.

Shelf Awareness

★ 2018-04-16
Lal (South Asian History/Emory Univ.; Coming of Age in Nineteenth-Century India: The Girl-Child and the Art of Playfulness, 2013, etc.) shines a light on Nur Jahan (1577-1645), who ruled as co-sovereign in the Mughal court, taking her husband's place without actually usurping him.Before she ascended, her husband, Jahangir, had fallen victim to overindulgence in drink and opium, and she slowly assumed duties with his full support. Jahangir was mercurial, ill-tempered, but he loved the signs of royal power. His traveling procession consisted of hundreds of tents draped in velvet and brocade, an audience hall of more than 70 rooms with 1,000 carpets, a harem, and stables. He inherited none of his father's empire-building drive, but he was a patron of the arts, hunter, naturalist, mystic, and book lover. He loved statistics and traveled mainly to make measurements of flora and fauna and catalog the characteristics of his country. He saw his wife as highly intelligent, talented, and politically savvy, which was due in large part to an aristocratic upbringing in her Persian parents' household. Rather than serving as a quiet counselor and smoothing relations between the emperor and his sons, Nur took direct action. She was an accomplished adviser, hunter, diplomat, and aesthete. She designed her parents' tomb in Agra, anticipating the Taj Mahal, which was built by her stepson, Shah Jahan. Agra was also home to her designs for her and Jahangir's tombs and her famous Light Scattering Garden. The author's descriptions of Agra are superb, and her detailed explanations of Nur's upbringing reflect her long study, deep understanding, and modern take on a little-explored subject. When the emperor was kidnapped by his son's ally, it was Nur who led an army to attempt his rescue. She must be held as one of history's great independent, powerful women.A page-turning, eye-opening biography that shatters our impressions of India as established by the British Raj.

Kirkus Reviews

05/15/2018
Born to Persian nobility traveling to the Mughal empire, Nur Jahan (1577–1645) survived an uncertain birth and childhood to go on to hunt tigers, lead men in battle, and wield power and influence at a level almost unheard of for a Muslim woman of that time, reigning over India with her husband, the emperor Jahangir, from 1614 to 1627. Lal's (South Asian history, Emory Univ.; Domesticity and Power in the Early Mughal World) examination of Jahan's life attempts to look beyond slanted historical opinions, legends, and fiction to form a more balanced viewpoint of her life. And while that resulting portrait still contains gaps—little record remains, for example, of Jahan's early life, and none of exactly how she rose so quickly and so high from the ranks of Jahangir's other wives—the author makes use of the absences to explore the upbringing of girls and the responsibilities of royal wives in the Mughal empire in general. VERDICT More a narrative history than full biography, Lal's work nevertheless provides a vivid look at her subject and the world in which she lived. An excellent choice for popular history readers interested in women rulers.—Kathleen McCallister, Tulane Univ., New Orleans

Library Journal

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