Sunday, September 30, 2018

Empress: The Astonishing Reign of Nur Jahan by Ruby Lal - Review

At a time the whole world is talking incessantly about inclusion and diversity that includes equal employment for women, equal pay for women, Ruby Lal has come up with this great biography of Mihr-un-Nisa. Ah, my fault! We won't recognize her unless I use the name 'Nur Jahan' here. Never would most of us have thought that it requires a whole book to describe "The Astonishing Reign of Nur Jahan". Yes, I am using the same phrase that Ruby has used, because that is the most apt term and I or most of us will not be able to think anything better (I certainly could not think of anything better than this).




It would have become little difficult for the readers if the author directly went on to explain the unparalleled rule of Nur Jahan; the author being experienced in history realized this completely, and so has crafted the those introduction chapters beautifully well, so the readers will have the complete picture of her birth and her rise to the throne. For many readers, it might be overwhelming when the authors go in depth into who ruled Persia, who ruled India, the route that Nur’s parents took to reach India or who led that caravan. But, these are all the major things – the attention to minute details like this that separates a book and this book from everything else.

Ruby has quoted extensively from various sources to give a complete picture of Nur Jahan’s life. Whether it is the political shrewdness, her hunting skills, or her conquering various battles. No one should miss the chapter ‘Ascent’ and that one, probably by a cognizant decision occupies the middle pages and strengthens the book by connecting the earlier and the following chapters. The political alliances, how she helped various people and how ‘Light of the palace’ became ‘Light of the world’ are elucidated well in these pages. The chapter ‘The Rescue’ gives a detailed account of Nur’s abilities to plan meticulously to rescue Jahangir from the opponents.

As you proceed and read towards the end of the book, you feel the inevitable – a strong respect for the great empress that India had seen during the Mughal reign and possibly the only great empress the world has seen as well (I have heard about Cleopatra, but have not read about her in detail yet).

Few salient points about the book itself: The first thing that captures your mind in this book are the carefully selected magnificent images from various sources.  As I have mentioned in my previous reviews, the success of the book can be easily measured by how far the author succeeds in bring the images and visuals live in the eyes of the reader when he/she reads the book. Not every author succeeds in that. It is very evident to see Ruby’s hard work, research and the time she spent for bring out this marvel, because you can sit and see those events in front of your eyes when you are reading the book. The language used is very rich yet simple enough for everyone to understand and enjoy the exhaustive account of Nur Jahan’s life. The only thing that you must be aware is that this is a biography of the women who influenced and ruled the empire alongside her husband, which means that there are multiple other actors and happenings expounded to a great extent and some people might find it overwhelming. I will give more than a five stars for this marvel.