Shadow Princess by Indu Sundaresan is a narration of the life journey of the Emperor Shah Jahan
and Empress Mumtaz Mahal's oldest daughter, Princess Jahanara. Mumtaz Mahal died during the
birth of her fourteenth child. Mumtaz Mahal’s death was as an absolute shock and nobody knew
what needs to be done. Shah Jahan was broken into pieces by the death of her beloved wife and
young Jahanara has no other choice but to pick up the reigns and be strong for everybody else. The
role of Padsha Begum fell on her, which is usually in traditional account would have gone to her
father’s other wives. She ascended up to the situation and proved that she had that potential and the
mental supremacy to manage it all. She not only administrated everything, …show more content…
She steered during her father’s griefstricken state, her brother’s strife and her
sister’s backstabbing.
Shah Jahan was then became depended on her so much that he even disdained to ponder about her
marriage. He needed and wanted her to support him all the time with the ruling of the kingdom.
Jahanara leisurely became the most powerful woman in the kingdom after her aunt and late
Empress Nur Jahan, the beloved wife of late Emperor Jahangir. This book is an fictious account of
Princess Jahanara’s story which fetched the ancient Mughal Court and its politics to life. Brothers
brawling for the throne, sisters in dissension for the power, associations were made for seizing
power. In the royal life, where sometimes what one really want, he never get that, although one
have the access to all the jewelery, the money, and the power that one could possibly want.
Jahanara was having all the luxurious pleasures of life but that was not a life she wanted to spend
like. As Jahanara’s story progresses, there was also a glimpse of the Taj Mahal shaping up. The
monument of love and the most known symbol of the Mughal Period as well as the most
acknowledged and commendable Indian monument even after centuries have …show more content…
But only one of the sisters will succeed. With an enthusiasm for history and
a flair for rich detail, Indu Sundaresan brings readers deep into the complicated lives of Indian
women of the time period and highlights the profound history of one of the most celebrated works
of architecture in the world, the Taj Mahal. June 17, 1631, In the southern edge of the Mughal Empire, an Empress died in childbirth. By her
side are her husband and her oldest child, Princess Jahanara. This single event of her mother’s
death had changed Jahanara’s life forever. At seventeen, she was forced to bear the weight of her
father’s sorrow, becomes the chief lady of his harem, assumes the responsibilities of an Empress
without being one, is granted immense wealth and her mother’s income, engages in a rivalry with
her sister Roshanara to put opposing brothers on the throne and does not succeed. Jahanara fell in
love with a noble at court, Najabat Khan, but it was a love that remained largely unfulfilled
because her father does not allow any of his daughters to marry.
In the end, all these events overshadow Princess Jahanara’s life and none more than the
magnificent tomb her father builds for her mother, the Taj
and Empress Mumtaz Mahal's oldest daughter, Princess Jahanara. Mumtaz Mahal died during the
birth of her fourteenth child. Mumtaz Mahal’s death was as an absolute shock and nobody knew
what needs to be done. Shah Jahan was broken into pieces by the death of her beloved wife and
young Jahanara has no other choice but to pick up the reigns and be strong for everybody else. The
role of Padsha Begum fell on her, which is usually in traditional account would have gone to her
father’s other wives. She ascended up to the situation and proved that she had that potential and the
mental supremacy to manage it all. She not only administrated everything, …show more content…
She steered during her father’s griefstricken state, her brother’s strife and her
sister’s backstabbing.
Shah Jahan was then became depended on her so much that he even disdained to ponder about her
marriage. He needed and wanted her to support him all the time with the ruling of the kingdom.
Jahanara leisurely became the most powerful woman in the kingdom after her aunt and late
Empress Nur Jahan, the beloved wife of late Emperor Jahangir. This book is an fictious account of
Princess Jahanara’s story which fetched the ancient Mughal Court and its politics to life. Brothers
brawling for the throne, sisters in dissension for the power, associations were made for seizing
power. In the royal life, where sometimes what one really want, he never get that, although one
have the access to all the jewelery, the money, and the power that one could possibly want.
Jahanara was having all the luxurious pleasures of life but that was not a life she wanted to spend
like. As Jahanara’s story progresses, there was also a glimpse of the Taj Mahal shaping up. The
monument of love and the most known symbol of the Mughal Period as well as the most
acknowledged and commendable Indian monument even after centuries have …show more content…
But only one of the sisters will succeed. With an enthusiasm for history and
a flair for rich detail, Indu Sundaresan brings readers deep into the complicated lives of Indian
women of the time period and highlights the profound history of one of the most celebrated works
of architecture in the world, the Taj Mahal. June 17, 1631, In the southern edge of the Mughal Empire, an Empress died in childbirth. By her
side are her husband and her oldest child, Princess Jahanara. This single event of her mother’s
death had changed Jahanara’s life forever. At seventeen, she was forced to bear the weight of her
father’s sorrow, becomes the chief lady of his harem, assumes the responsibilities of an Empress
without being one, is granted immense wealth and her mother’s income, engages in a rivalry with
her sister Roshanara to put opposing brothers on the throne and does not succeed. Jahanara fell in
love with a noble at court, Najabat Khan, but it was a love that remained largely unfulfilled
because her father does not allow any of his daughters to marry.
In the end, all these events overshadow Princess Jahanara’s life and none more than the
magnificent tomb her father builds for her mother, the Taj