The One Who Ruled

What makes NUR JAHAN the first Mughal feminist icon? Author RUBY LAL goes back four centuries to rediscover the empress who broke all the rules, empowered women and reigned sovereign

- Ruby Lal

I first met Nur Jahan when I was a restless nine-year-old growing up in Dehradun. I loved stories, and my mother had a bagful of wondrous tales. She would dish out selections as she played with my sisters and me on summer afternoons or even when she was tired after a long day of running the household. Though some of my mother’s stories were about animals—a parrot that advised its owner; a clever fox that fooled peasants—most were about unusual women. We heard about the brave Rani of Jhansi as well as the British Queen Victoria; Heer from the eternal love story Heer-Ranjha; the goddess Parvati, who stood up to her husband, the terrifying Shiva. Each story a reminder to us to behave more like these amazingly brave and independent women.

One lazy afternoon, my mother and I sat playing gaind-gitta, bouncing a small ball with one hand and moving five dice with the other. At some point, I grew bored. “I want a story,” I said. I can’t remember whether we finished the game but I remember the story well.

Her story was about Nur Jahan, wife of the 17th-century Mughal emperor Jahangir. Years later, my fascination with Nur’s story translated into my love for the history of the Mughal world—and the Mughal women, to be precise. In time I became a feminist historian, and soon I was writing Empress: The Astonishing Reign Of Nur Jahan, a biography of my childhood icon.

HOLDING COURT