The Twentieth Wife by Indu Sundaresan

Title: The Twentieth Wife

Author: Indu Sundaresan
Publisher: Penguin 
Pages: 388
Genre: Historical fiction
Rating: 9.5 out of 10

‘The Twentieth Wife’ is the first one from Indu Sundaresan’s Taj trilogy, though I read it after reading ‘The feast of roses’ which is the second one. There are three books in this series about Mughal empire but each can be read independently. But be rest assured, if you have read any one of them, you would invariably end up reading all of them. (By the way, the third one is called 'Shadow Princess')

I have always felt that writing a historical fiction can be very difficult, since you are dealing with historical characters and facts. You can fictionalize the interactions but you need to stick to the facts. The research required is also immense.

What drew me to this series is the love story of Jahangir and Nur Jahan. We have all heard enough about Shahjahan and Mumtaz Mahal, but little is known about Mumtaz’s more ambitious and powerful aunt Nur Jahan who defies convention and prevailing status of women in the society, to rule the empire alongside her husband Jahangir, of course, from behind the veil.

‘The Twentieth Wife’ begins at the time when Mehrunnisa was about to be born. Her parents and siblings were fleeing from Persia to India. She takes birth during the journey. From that moment, the penniless family’s fate turns and Mehrunnisa’s father Ghias Beg lands up with a job in Emperor Akbar’s court.

Mehrunnisa first encounters prince Salim (later known as Jahangir) when she is all of eight, when she accompanies her mother for the prince’s first marriage. Overawed by the glory of the palace, the freedom enjoyed by women of emperor’s harem, and captivated by the prince himself, Mehrunnisa decides that one day she too would marry prince Salim.

The book is about this unconventional and extraordinary woman, Mehrunnisa, but the book goes beyond her quest to become an empress. It offers glimpses of Mughal dynasty and conflicts around the throne. Encouraged by his cohorts, prince Salim revolts against his father Akbar to claim his rights on the throne. Ironically, he also finds his son Khusrau in contention for the throne.

Due to the turn of fate, Mehrunnisa is married to Ali Quli, a soldier, despite the fact that Salim wanted to marry her. The story has its cinematic twists, with Mehrunnisa and Jahangir separating for several years, and then reuniting after death of her first husband. On one hand, Jahangir is besotted with her; while on the other, Ali Quli though initially impressed by her beauty, never thinks much of her. Being a soldier, he is usually absent for several days.

It is also interesting to note that an emperor used to have hundreds of wives and thousands of concubines and slave girls in his harem. The marriages were usually for political and strategic reasons. Mughal emperors had also married Hindu princesses. The zanana harems were in itself a fascinating place of power play amongst the incumbents. The emperors would have several children and many times they would not even get to know or see their children for a long time. Their inter-personal relationships are quite apparent in the conflicts for the empire, where father-son would consider each other as rivals.

The book also has a passing reference of Salim and Anarkali affair. Anarkali was supposedly a slave girl.

In a society, and in times, when women were lost into ignominy in a male-dominated society, Mehrunnisa enters Jahangir’s harem at an age of 34 years as his 20^th and last wife. This ambitious lady grows in power and influences Jahangir’s rule significantly. Though in her determination to fulfill her dreams, she often comes across as haughty, manipulative and extremely ambitious.

Historical love stories are always alluring, and Indu Sundaresan’s deft handling of this little known love story makes it a very interesting read. The author succeeds in recreating the essence of Mughal era through her vivid description of prevailing culture, ambience, customs, food, etc.  

The book is interesting and will appeal to anybody who loves a good historical fiction, or even just a good book!


(Image source: flipkart.com)

New Books on my Shelf!

While reading 'The Feast of Roses', I got incredibly interested in reading more about the Mughal era in general and women in particular. Nurjahan's story was fascinating; and her ambition to possess the power to rule the kingdom, considered preposterous at that time, was in fact very courageous for a lady.

So, a little research, led me to 2 books:

The Twentieth Wife

This book is also by Indu Sundaresan and deals with Nurjahan’s life before marrying Jahangir. I have read good reviews about this book too. And after having read 'The Feast of Roses' myself, I can vouch for Indu Sundaresan. I liked her snese of detailing and making every character come alive. Best deal at Indiaplaza for Rs 287 with some shipping charges if this is the only book you are buying.

Taj: A Story Of Mughal India: A Story Of Mughal India

A book on one of the most remarkable architectures of India, not about the building but the story behind building it. It is written by Timeri N. Murari. Best Deal at Flipkart for Rs 275 with free shipping.

I’m itching to complete both at the earliest and will be back for the reviews for sure.

The Feast of Roses by Indu Sundaresan

Knowing the book-freak I am, one of my friends recommended this book to me. At that time, I had lots of books ordered or on the verge of ordering, so I just made a note and saved the icon of the book (means picture of the cover page for posterity). 

Anyways, I have completed this book in a record 3 weeks. Yup, it is a record of highest time taken to read the book. It has nothing to do with the attention-grabbing quotient of the book.

The book is about Emperor Jahangir’s ‘Twentieth Wife’ Noorjahan. Noorjahan is one of the most distinguished and illustrious of Mughal women. During those days, women had very little role in public life but Noorjahan dreams of such power – unheard of and unprecedented for any women - and accomplishes her goal. Noorjahan comes across as a shrewd, ambitious and gutsy woman who makes a lot of enemies along the way but no friends.

This intriguing and fascinating story of Noorjahan holds quite a few revelations (atleast for me):

• Noorjahan was actually the 20^th wife of the emperor
• She got married to Jahangir when she was 34 years old – quite old for the years of yore
• Jahangir was Noorjahan’s second husband. She was married earlier to someone else earlier and had a daughter from her first marriage
• Shahjahan (prince Khurram) was not Noorjahan’s son
• Shahjahan’s wife Mumtaz Mahal was Noorjahan’s niece and Noorjahan was instrumental in getting her niece married to Prince Khurram, who was later known as Shahjahan
• Noorjahan’s real name was Mehrunnisa
• In her pursuit of power, possessing the title of ‘Begam Padshah’ and authority to command the kingdom, Noorjahan makes and breaks several collaborations within the palace – with different sons of Jahangir in different times since she did not have a son of her own.

I think I have already blurted out half the book. But in any case, this book is not a thriller. It is the quest of a woman to become the most powerful lady of the kingdom.

The stories surrounding Mughal princesses are intriguing. We have often heard the love stories of Jahangir-Noorjahan and Shahjahan –Mumtaz Mahal. There is a prequel to the book called “The Twentieth Wife”. 


‘The Feast of Roses’ starts from the time when Noorjahan is already the wife of Jahangir. It is also a glimpse into the inner dynamics of harems (harem = living quarters reserved for wives and concubines and female relatives in a Muslim household) of kingdoms – how a king used to have several queens (mostly to form alliances), and were also allowed to have several concubines and slave girls; how women could just be spectators of court proceeding, never the participants and how there was a hierarchy inside the harems.

This book is an captivating story of how Noorjahan dreams and gets the role much powerful than any Mughal queen had ever dreamt of. I absolutely loved this book, more so because the narrative was quite illustrative – the prevalent social norms and the mannerisms. Must read!

P.S. It also has a very user-friendly family tree at the beginning for people like me who keep forgetting who was whose wife and who was whose son!

And by the way, my "The Twentieth Wife" is already on the way from India Plaza, and I have also bought this book called "Taj: A Story of Mughal India By Timeri N. Murari"

Reading: The Feast of Roses by Indu Sundaresan

I read a couple of books after Mahabharata but never got on to reviewing any of those. Primarily, because I am ecstatic of being able to buy so many of the rare books like 'Second Turn' for example. I have started this book recently and so far it is going great. The book is a sequel to "the Twentieth Wife" and both the books are on Mehrunissa, more popularly known as Noorjahan.

This book led me to research on books about Indian Princesses. I also came across a book called 'Jahanara: Princess of Princesses', which is also supposed to be a good one.

I will surely review "the Feast of Roses" but I will have to re-visit all the books that I read on Mahabharat to talk about why I liked them. So, watch the space!