How Nur Jahan ruled Mughal India as the only female emperor

January 5, 2019 9:26 AM

“In act after act—hunting, advising, issuing imperial orders and coins, designing buildings—she ensured that her name was etched indelibly in public memory and in history,” the feminist historian Ruby Lal writes
posted by infini (1 comment total)

Thanks for posting this! I appreciate how history can make the present-day more open to possibility.

I want to emphasise that Nur Jahan is the history of India. She was a Shia married to a Sunni Muslim who was also half Hindu Rajput... As far as Islam is concerned, people should know that there were incredible and powerful women in Islamic history all the way through. We have Ayesha, Raziya, we have Nur Jahan Begum, we have any number of powerful women. It is also the multicultural world.

In the modern world, we tend to think in terms of fixed identities. People in early modern times were much more open. Jahangir was engaging with Siddichandra, a Jain monk. Nur Jahan used to tease him about the pleasures of the flesh. What does this tell you? It tells you about an open engagement. It tells you about how experimental Islam is, how mixed Islam is, how vibrant Muslim women are, and how Islam is so deeply attached to India.

posted by spamandkimchi at 2:21 PM on January 5, 2019 [4 favorites]