The travels of Mughal princess Gulbadan

In this excerpt from a new book, historian Ruby Lal explains Princess Gulbadan's pivotal role in her nephew Akbar's court

- Ruby Lal

Gulbadan was the first royal Muslim woman in the history of Islamic courts to initiate a group pilgrimage for women.

The fifty-two-year-old Princess Gulbadan sat across from her nephew Emperor Akbar, waiting for her turn to speak. She was of average height, somewhat stocky in build, with distinctive straight eyebrows shading her penetrating kohl-lined eyes. She was dressed in a long flowing shirt over loose trousers, a scarf thrown over her chest and shoulders, her face exposed. Ruby and pearl necklaces adorned her.

The emperor was fully cognizant of Gulbadan's status as a powerful elder, a key dynastic witness, and a memory holder. Bearing the wisdom of the migratory decades she spent in Afghanistan and India with her father and brother, the first two Mughal kings, she was now a matriarch in her nephew's harem.