Audiobook8 hours
Empress: The Astonishing Reign of Nur Jahan
Written by Ruby Lal
Narrated by Suzanne Toren
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
()
About this audiobook
In 1611, thirty-four-year-old Nur Jahan, daughter of a Persian noble and widow of a subversive official, became the twentieth and favorite wife of the Emperor Jahangir, who ruled the vast Mughal Empire. An astute politician as well as a devoted partner, she issued imperial orders; coins of the realm bore her name. When Jahangir was imprisoned by a rebellious nobleman, the Empress led troops into battle and ultimately rescued him.
The only woman to acquire the stature of empress in her male-dominated world, Nur was also a talented dress designer and innovative architect whose work inspired her stepson's Taj Mahal. Nur's confident assertion of talent and power is revelatory; it far exceeded the authority of her female contemporaries in Renaissance Europe, including Elizabeth I. Here, she finally receives her due in a deeply researched and evocative biography that awakens us to a fascinating history.
The only woman to acquire the stature of empress in her male-dominated world, Nur was also a talented dress designer and innovative architect whose work inspired her stepson's Taj Mahal. Nur's confident assertion of talent and power is revelatory; it far exceeded the authority of her female contemporaries in Renaissance Europe, including Elizabeth I. Here, she finally receives her due in a deeply researched and evocative biography that awakens us to a fascinating history.
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Reviews for Empress
Rating: 3.911764705882353 out of 5 stars
4/5
34 ratings3 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fantastic piece of history! Works like this are vital to keeping important legacies alive and not buried by Nur Jahan's contemporary political enemies.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A story that should be far more widely known. Scholarship and storytelling are drawn together to convey not only what can be known of the woman (far too little in my opinion) as well as the context of her Mughal world. Solid production and reading.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I first encountered Nur Jahan, a seventeenth-century Mughal empress, in historical novels, which either portrayed her as a romantic figure or as a female villain who usurped male power. This biography dispels some these myths and presents a more balanced and nuanced woman, albeit still an incredible woman. The author opens this book with a scene drawn from historical sources of Nur Jahan carrying a musket and killing a tiger while her emperor and husband watches at her side. It's a scene which marks Nur Jahan as a powerful woman and one who came close to fully embodying the role of a monarch. Furthermore, Nur Jahan's journey to becoming the powerful wife of a Mughal emperor is fascinating and tied to the story of her family, which remained influential even after her fall from power. The insights offered in this book peaked my curiosity, and I hope to discover more about Nur Jahan and the other woman of her era.