The Life of a Mogul Princess: Jahanara Begum; Andrea Butenschon



My prized possession! [At least I believe so].

Its 1931 edition by George Routledge & Sons Limited, Broadway House, Carter Lane, E.C..

I purchased this book from an antique collector in Australia.

The book is primarily written from the personal diary of Jahanara which accidentally fell into the hands of the writer (as claimed in the book), from behind a marble slab in the Jasmine tower of the fort in Agra. If this is true, this book is indeed a rare one existing now. The manuscript was in Persian and translated in English.
Awesome Book. First hand account of life of Jahanara Begum.

The book will take you back to year 1550-1600. Your mental clock re-winds and you will find yourself, interacting one-to-one with Jahanara Begum.


Interesting fact about Jahanara: Her grave is quite a simple one and with following inscriptions:
“Let no rich canopy over my grave: this grass is best covering for the tomb of the poor in spirit. The humble, the transitory Jahanara, the disciple of holy men of god, the daughter of emperor Shah Jahan: A.H. 1092 (A.D. 1680).

My rating 10/10.

Manish Tully




Comments

  1. Unknown12 September 2013 at 19:31

    I am searching for this book from some time.
    Is 1931 edition of book available in India??
    Please let me know if available and where..??

    ReplyDelete
  2. Manish Tully14 September 2013 at 00:51

    Hi Shiv,

    This old edition is not available in India (to the best of my knowledge). I understand there are only few copies left across the world of this book.

    I looked out for this for about a year and was able to source it from one of the antique collectors in Australia. I bought this from him.

    You may try British Archives.

    Furthermore, may be some recent publishers in India might be publishing its fake/ replica, I am not aware of the same.

    When I was searching for this book, I came to know that one of the publishing house in Pakistan is publishing this book. But I was interested in reading the original one rather than a reprint or a fake one or a copy.


    Cheers,

    Manish Tully

    ReplyDelete

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