A Begum and a Rani

A Begum and a Rani PDF Author: Rudrangshu Mukherjee
Publisher: India Allen Lane
ISBN: 9780670090662
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description

A Begum and a Rani

A Begum and a Rani PDF Author: Rudrangshu Mukherjee
Publisher: India Allen Lane
ISBN: 9780670090662
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description


A Begum & A Rani

A Begum & A Rani PDF Author: Rudrangshu Mukherjee
Publisher: Penguin Random House India Private Limited
ISBN: 9354920160
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 188

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Book Description
Exploring the lives of two remarkable women who chose to enter a field of activity which, in the middle of the nineteenth century, was seen a male domain, this book brings to light how unusual circumstances catapulted Begum Hazrat Mahal of Awadh and Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi into the rebellion of 1857. Both of them sacrificed their lives trying to overthrow the British rule, which they considered to be alien and oppressive. Their resistance and their deaths are heroic and poignant. The book captures the different trajectories of their lives and their struggles. In different but adjacent geographies these two women, both married into royal houses, decided to uphold traditions of ruling and culture that their husbands had established. These traditions had been subverted by the policies of Lord Dalhousie who had annexed both Awadh and Jhansi. While noting these similarities, it should be highlighted that Awadh was a large and sprawling kingdom with a long history whereas Jhansi was a small principality. The rani and the begum never met, even though they were embroiled in the same struggle. It is the rebellion of 1857-58 that provides the context, which makes these two outstanding women feature in the same narrative. This book tells the story of two women in a rebellion. The afterlives of the begum and the rani took on very different hues. The rani was made a nationalist icon: a woman on horseback with a raised sword, who died in battle. The begum was a relatively forgotten figure who did not get her due place in the roll call of honour. Revisiting the revolt of 1857 from a unique perspective and looking at their afterlives, the myths, this book attempts to set the record straight. Looking at the revolt of 1857 from a different perspective, A Begum & A Rani is an act of retrieval.

In the City of Gold and Silver

In the City of Gold and Silver PDF Author: Kenizé Mourad
Publisher: Europa Editions
ISBN: 1609452429
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 326

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Book Description
An enthralling historical novel based on the little-known female warrior in nineteenth century India who led a revolt against the British. Here is the long-forgotten story of Begum Hazrat Mahal, queen of Awadh and the soul of the Indian revolt against the British, brought to vivid life by the author of Regards from the Dead Princess, a major bestseller in her native France. Begum was an orphan and a poetess who captured the attentions of King Wajid Ali Shah of Awadh and became his fourth wife. As his wife, she incited and led a popular uprising that would eventually prove to be the first step toward Indian independence. Begum was the very incarnation of resistance: As chief of the army and the government in Lucknow, she fought battles on the field for two years; she was a freedom fighter, a misunderstood mother, and an illicit lover. She was a remarkable woman who risked everything only to face the greatest betrayal of all.

Rani Laxmibai

Rani Laxmibai PDF Author: Pratibha Ranade
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 9353026059
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
RANI LAXMIBAI was a capable ruler, an intelligent communicator, and defender of the faith. She was sagacious when it came to her people and astute in dealing with her enemies. The widowed Queen had to repeatedly face gruelling challenges but drew strength from adversity, relying on her sense of justice, her dignity, and her magnanimity. She never surrendered to destiny, choosing instead to shape her own life. The British annexed Rani Laxmibai's kingdom, took away her political rights, and humiliated her. But she valiantly fought the foreign power and died a hero. Written after extensive research, this book portrays the making of a remarkable queen. Rani Laxmibai, the brave warrior-queen, remains a source of inspiration to us all.

The Ranee Of Jhansi

The Ranee Of Jhansi PDF Author: D.V. Tahmankar
Publisher:
ISBN: 9788129112330
Category : India
Languages : en
Pages : 124

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Book Description
Born on the banks of the Ganges at Benares, little Manakarnika was a charged and precocious girl and she was destined to be etched in history as the towering queen of the Revolt of 1857. A touching yet accurate portrait of this Indian Boadicea, The Ranee of Jhansi as a biography also puts the events of the mutiny and the actual role of Lakshmibai in it, into perspective. The writer takes you on a journey through the plains and hills of central India which in 1857 could have but such is the fatalism of history turned around India s future forever. It makes for a breathless reading from beginning to end through the circumstances that led to the revolt and through the vivid scenes of the glorious battle at Jhansi. A woman of the strongest Mahratta mettle, Lakshmibai had an intuitive grasp of warfare, astute judgement of the enemy s power and an indomitable will that made her fight even in the face of defeat. And being a young Brahmin widow of thirty who led a whole army, she inadvertently created one of the greatest ironies in Indian history, when she was declared the best man on the rebel side !

Memoirs of a Rebel Princess

Memoirs of a Rebel Princess PDF Author: Abida Sultaan
Publisher: OUP Pakistan
ISBN: 9780199068425
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Written shortly before her death and based on the diaries that she kept throughout her life, this book documents the activities of a Muslim princess who rebelled against societal conventions to take an active public role, first, as heir-apparent and chief secretary of an Indian princely state, then as diplomat and dissident in independent Pakistan.

Royals and Rebels

Royals and Rebels PDF Author: Priya Atwal
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0197566944
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 326

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Book Description
In late-eighteenth-century India, the glory of the Mughal emperors was fading, and ambitious newcomers seized power, changing the political map forever. Enter the legendary Maharajah Ranjit Singh, whose Sikh Empire stretched throughout northwestern India into Afghanistan and Tibet. Priya Atwal shines fresh light on this long-lost kingdom, looking beyond its founding father to restore the queens and princes to the story of this empire's spectacular rise and fall. She brings to life a self-made ruling family, inventively fusing Sikh, Mughal and European ideas of power, but eventually succumbing to gendered family politics, as the Sikh Empire fell to its great rival in the new India: the British. Royals and Rebels is a fascinating tale of family, royalty and the fluidity of power, set in a dramatic global era when new stars rose and upstart empires clashed.

An Account of My Life

An Account of My Life PDF Author: Sultan Jahan Begam (Nawab of Bhopal)
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Bhopal (Princely State)
Languages : en
Pages : 412

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Book Description


Nehru and Bose

Nehru and Bose PDF Author: Rudrangshu Mukherjee
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 9351188493
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
‘Nobody has done more harm to me . . . than Jawaharlal Nehru,’ wrote Subhas Chandra Bose in 1939. Had relations between the two great nationalist leaders soured to the extent that Bose had begun to view Nehru as his enemy? But then, why did he name one of the regiments of the Indian National Army after Jawaharlal? And what prompted Nehru to weep when he heard of Bose’s untimely death in 1945, and to recount soon after, ‘I used to treat him as my younger brother’? Rudrangshu Mukherjee’s fascinating book traces the contours of a friendship that did not quite blossom as political ideologies diverged, and delineates the shadow that fell between them—for, Gandhi saw Nehru as his chosen heir and Bose as a prodigal son.

The Women Who Ruled India

The Women Who Ruled India PDF Author: Archana Garodia Gupta
Publisher: Hachette UK
ISBN: 9351951537
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 312

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Book Description
‘People say that I am a quarrelsome woman...’ TARABAI, MARATHA QUEEN (1675–1761) The history of India, more often than not, is a history of the men who were in charge. Largely forgotten are the women who, even centuries earlier, shaped the fates of entire kingdoms. In The Women Who Ruled India, writer and researcher Archana Garodia Gupta revives 20 such powerful figures from the archives, offering us a glimpse of their fascinating lives. Among them are Begum Samru, a courtesan who went on to become the head of a mercenary army and the ruler of Sardhana; Didda of Kashmir, known for her keen political instinct and a ruthlessness that spared no one; Rani Abbakka of Ullal, the fearless queen who took on Portuguese colonizers in their heyday; and Rani Mangammal of Madurai, the famed administrator who built alliances at a time when going to war was the order of the day. These women and others like them built roads, instituted laws and were generous patrons of the arts and sciences. Their stories of valour and diplomacy, leadership and wit continue to inspire today. Peppered with anecdotes that showcase little-known facets of their personalities, the accounts in this book celebrate heroic rulers who – ‘quarrelsome’ though they might have been – were iconoclasts: unafraid to forge new paths.