In the beginning, this was going to be the title of the novel – The Badass Women of the Mughal Empire. But then I thought more of it, and it became a series of novellas called The Mumtaz Chronicles. I call her Queen Salimeh. Born in 1539. Died in 1613. She is, by far, the […]
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History tells us Mehr al-Nesa met Muhammad Salim when she was a middle-aged widower with a pre-teen daughter. He was the fourth emperor of the Mughal Empire with 19 wives (more, some say). Apparently, at the age of 42, he saw her, fell in love with her, and married this 34 year old woman. By
How did Mehr meet Prince Salim? Read More »
When I heard there were women working as guards in the Royal Harem, I reacted much like the main character, Mehr al-Nesa in Book 1. Completely surprised. I fell for the stereotypical belief that all the women in the harems were meek, protected things that had to be guarded by men (or in this case
16th Century Female Guards? How cool is that?! Read More »
I love how Downton Abbey told stories from the view of the domestics. Since very little is documented about medieval India, I love creating the world of the Royal Harem. Most of the women that lived there served in a domestic role. One of the reasons I was interested in writing this series was the
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When I was trying to think of a cover for the first book in The Mumtaz Chronicles series, I knew nothing about book covers. The series is about various women that lived during the Mughal Empire. What should appear on the cover? I watched a series of videos I found online about how to pick
How do you pick a cover for a book? Read More »
I wrote a short story describing why I bought this pendant which you can read here. I had no idea what it was or what it meant until very recently. It is a Maharashtrian stamp that can be dipped in ink, and the symbol can be stamped on…what? foreheads? ḍīka – a phrase corresponding with
What does that symbol mean? Read More »
I decided to write a short story about Mumtaz Mahal. She is the woman buried in the Taj Mahal. Her real name is Arjumand Banu and she was bestowed with the name Mumtaz Mahal later in life. The Mumtaz Chronicles series starts in 1593, the year Arjumand Banu was born. Reading about her aunt, Mehr
