THE WOMEN OF MUGHAL HAREM

Book excerpt: The Women of Mughal Harem: Secrets revealed gives an exhilarating account of the Mughal domestic life. Harem of the Mughals has been a subject of much speculation and debate amongst the scholars and the general public alike. While foreign travelers have painted it as a pleasure house, meant for the sexual gratification of one man-the Emperor. Native chroniclers have called it an abode of quintessential bliss. So what was the reality of harem? Just like any normal household, the life of harem inmates bears testament to joy and pain, hope and despair, love and loss- all the bittersweet emotions that add spice and flavor to human life. In fact the Mughal Harem was a far more diverse and vibrant institution than what it is believed to be- it was a unique all women's world. This book brings to life the trials and tribulations of generations of Mughal women who inhabited a world very different from ours. Today when a worldwide debate is going on to trace women's place in history, this work has become all the more relevant. A peek into the lives of Mughal women would give us a better understanding of an obscured and almost mythical world-the harem of the mighty Mughals.