In centuries past, women were sometimes the power behind the throne but seldom did they occupy the seat of power. Empire: The Astonishing Reign of Nur Jahan explores an historical anomaly: a woman who publicly shared the throne of Mughal India with her husband. According to historian Ruby Lal, the 17th-century Nur Jahan was a curious and intelligent woman with the good fortune to be born into a family of courtly advisers who cared about the education of their daughter. Empress is beautifully conjectured but drawn as much as possible by sifting through chronicles and travelers’ reports as well as the folklore in which Nur became a character. Lal brings to life South Asia at a time when Muslims, Hindus and multiple ethnicities coexisted culturally under Mughal rule.
